our bay

this afternoon we went to hear a lecture on the effect of Climate Change on Sarasota Bay.  After that we went to grab a quick meal at Nancy's BBQ and then had a drink at Muse before joining John, Barb, Barbara and Joanne at Asolo for the play "The Great Society" (reviewed in the What If post)

And because we live by MFK Fisher's words around here "first we eat..." we will start with photos of the BBQ place we had our grab a bite meal here-

I had the brisket and pulled pork combo with beans and cole slaw- and Phil got ribs and pulled pork with beans and brunswick stew- all good but the brisket won IMO-

and amazingly it was the lecture that got us here- LOL- the slides shown to the attendees had one of this very intersection and it reminded me that we had been wanting to try this place for a really long time..... so off we went from the lecture to explore the traffic circle from the slides- LOL

so back to the lecture itself-

check out this info - there are many great tidbits in here-

here are some eye popping stats about the economic effect the bay has on the area via tourism to jobs to activities and even specifics about property values as you get closer to the waterfront property -

much less diurnal divergence in heat island areas

after more than 700 heat related deaths in that horrible Chicago summer of 1995... more than half of July over 100* (we remember it clearly) the city started a green roof program and has had great success with it-

for those who live around here this is a waaaay cool website about climate for our own backyards - and you can see how micro climates can vary dramatically -

more eye popping stats on who uses fresh water and it isn't you in the shower!

here it is on a global basis - with the winter (and less leaf cover hence less use of CO2) you can see how much more CO2 is produced in the photos from NASA of the atmosphere - the summer when we have full leaf cover shows a vastly different picture! (the whole year can be watched on the Internet)

so an informative lecture (and Jeff Rodgers is coming up with more fun and games during his lecture on 3/22 which Phil will attend when I am elsewhere LOL) and a good bite pre-theater

A winning day all around! Stay tuned for more!

our local dolphins

so this afternoon we went to hear a lecture by a local scientist who leads a dolphin research program supported by the Chicago Zoological Society and various other foundations - located at the Mote Marine Labs in our area.

here is a blurb from their website-

Based in Sarasota, FL, the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program is the world’s longest-running study of a wild dolphin population, focusing on many aspects of dolphin biology, including health, behavior, genetics, environmental change, and adverse interactions with humans. The program is unique in many respects – nowhere else in the world can researchers work with a group of wild dolphins in their natural habitat where the medical and behavioral history of each individual is so well known. “Discoveries” take place over years and decades, and knowledge about health and behavior of coastal bottlenose dolphins has been greatly enhanced by the Sarasota study. In addition to this pioneering research, the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program provides unique education and training opportunities to researchers around the world and helps establish dolphin conservation research programs in other countries.  The program is led by Chicago Zoological Society Senior Conservation Scientist Dr. Randall Wells, whose lifetime dedication to dolphins is featured in the book "Dolphin Man." 

I took some photos (from the back of the room) of the slides to remind me of relevant facts later- because the lecture was heavily fact laden....

here is a totally unknown to us fact- adult male dolphins pair bond for life with another adult male - and they protect each other as well as support each for reproductive success and usually when the female lets males mate with her she will allow only the two who are pair bonded - no others...

needless to say that humans and human activities are the biggest threat to the dolphin community here in Sarasota Bay- boat propellers, fishing gear accidents, pollution, toxins like Red Tide...etc.. poor guys -they really are fighting for their lives in many ways...and ours is a healthy community by comparison to those affected directly by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

there were many other slides and much of interest to learn about these dolphins but nearly two hours was more information than I could hold in my head - LOL.... we found it fascinating and so did the lecturer - he started working with this program in high school as an intern and then went on to study through college and grad school and doctorate and post-doc level on the subject and has been involved with the program for nearly forty years now... interesting guy- interesting subject... time well spent! Tomorrow Doug MacLeod  see prior post from the concert we heard last summer at SPACE in Evanston -

http://blog.semifreelife.com/2015/06/reporting-back.html

then Friday night- Aztec Two Step-

so as always- there's more to come! stay tuned!

perfect weather!

Was such a nice change from last year's rainy evening... we have now attended three years (all three years) Wine Walk to Ca d'Zan the Ringling mansion and estate. For those of you who know us or have attended the IPNC (International Pinot Noir Celebration) with us in Oregon, the ALL three years will not surprise you. My IPNC attendance -at ten plus years- and Phil's -at closing in on- 20 years would indicate that we are loyal to our wine events LOL....

here were the good and bad things about this year's Wine Walk

THE GOOD:

• Number One thing - the weather was perfect
• Number Two thing - the terrace at the Ringling was the VIP Lounge and was an absolutely perfect spot to - well - lounge around waiting for the sunset and finish off the eating path that takes you from the front door to the Bay... 
• Number Three thing- although I found nothing fabulous in the extra wines poured for the VIP ticket holders - it was a nice idea to have some extra stations along the way
• Number Four thing- several of the food stations were wonderful! The France one was my personal favorite but the American and the Spanish also had some good eats as well. 
• Number Five thing- the band was really good and well located so the music could be heard but wasn't overwhelming.
• And a shout out to the Cake Zone for the fabulous cup cakes!

THE BAD:

• The very first station was not at all ready and had no food or wines out despite it being more than five minutes after the opening time when we arrived  - hence no review of the German station except to say I would recommend against using this caterer as they clearly can't get their shit together...
• None of the wines were fabulous- and now I know that we have been seriously spoiled at the IPNC over the years with fabulous tastings of wines up to and including the Madame Bize-Leroy's wines, but seriously, this is a one night event - not a three day festival and yet a higher per hour cost than the IPNC.... 
• On a beautiful night like last night NOTHING should be held inside like the American station was last night - not that I don't like the circus museum but with such stunning weather - this part should have not been in a dark hall inside - and they too had issues - no one there to serve the beer they were hyping (not that it matter to me)  and the security woman was way over the top officious at that location - she clearly had the "gun and badge" syndrome...

However- nothing could have put a damper on the lovely evening - a great way to spend a few hours!

here are links to the two prior years:

http://semifreelife.semifreelife.com/2014/03/we-walk-walk.html

http://semifreelife.semifreelife.com/2013/04/march-madness.html

the entrance - you can see the blue sky weather we were blessed with!

the bay side of the house-

 
as the sun set the windows reflect its glorious hues

the menus-

an interior view

this would be an impressive thing to win-

because you can see the view of the tower in this aerial shot of the mansion-

and here is the menu that we missed because they weren't ready despite the security forces holding everyone for five minutes past the opening hour- I would definitely skip having these folks do any catering for you!

all in all a lovely evening but with some execution of logistics issues that made it just a shade under perfect...but hey, not everyone can be Pat Dudley! (the woman who ran the IPNC for many years) and so we continue towards our season's end- up tonight Itzhak Perlman at the Van Wezel. Stay tuned for more...