Robin ‘Roblimo’ Miller’s Personal Web Site

“…Just walking distance from Bradenton, Florida’s downtown district, in a quaint artist community called The Village of the Arts, Kaos Gallery and the arts studios of Miki Boni and Tom Paulsin sits among a gathering of 1920’s style cottages and bungalows.

“In 2001, Miki Boni and Tom Paulsin bought a house in the newly forming village, realizing a long-time dream — to live and work in a creative community. They rehabbed a delapidated old 1920’s duplex, turning the downstairs into an art gallery and studios. They make their home upstairs over the gallery.”

A brief tour of The Village Bookshop given by owner Doug Knowlton. He carries fiction (including science fiction and mysteries), poetry, books about art, architecture, new age healing, photography, and many other topics, plus a smattering of used and collectible material. Located in Bradenton’s Village of the Arts.

Singer and songwriter John Stewart has always been best-known in his native California. Aside from his time in the Kingston Trio, his performing career has been relatively low-key. He’s written plenty of hit songs, though, and he has a hard-core following of devoted fans — mostly California-born types like, well…. me.

Anyway, one of Stewart’s songs that keeps running through my mind as I watch the 2006 election campaign is Survivors, which was on his 1975 Wingless Angels album. Here’s the first verse and the chorus:

He broke his back
To put the food on the table
In Columbus Ohio he said to his wife
“I believe that the flag
It was more than a rag
But the outlaws in office
Have shattered my life”

Can you hear me Ohio?
You are the country
You are the nation
You will survive
Can you hear me Ohio?
You are the country
You are the nation
You will survive

Complete lyrics (with chords) here.

Stewart always wrote poetically about the lives and trials of ordinary people. A later verse in Survivors includes these words:

Just keep on plugging
You old nine to five
For you are the heartbeat
That keeps us alive

And this is the point of what I have been thinking as I watch the current election follies and listen to all the crap and mudslinging, as I watch the corruption and hypocrisy in Congress: that no matter what happens in government; no matter who wins which election; no matter who’s in the White House or the Governor’s Mansion; those of who work to put food on the table are the ones who matter.

When you come right down to it, despite the yammer from the ultra-partisan politicians, the overmonied greedheads who want to turn America into a medieval fiefdom they own, and the power-hungry slaverers who hypocritically spout “family values” platitudes to get into office…

We are the Nation.
We will survive.

Debbie’s Art Garage opened today. It’s the newest and farthest-south gallery in Bradenton’s growing Village of the Arts. I love this place — and not just because owner Debbie Miller is my wife. She has impeccable taste (except, obviously, in husbands), and is an ace, number-one bargain shopper, so her merchandise is not only lovely but is also “priced for locals, not for tourists,” as it says on her brochures.

Right now, Debbie’s Art Garage is only open Fridays and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., plus late on Village of the Arts ‘Artwalk’ nights (first Friday of each month). Since she’s three blocks away from the “heart” of the Village, you’ll need to make a special trip to get here - Google Map - but it’s well worth it if you enjoy beautiful paintings (all by Debbie) crafts (by Debbie and others), and a fine selection of affordable gifts, trinkets, jewelry and even a few unique greeting cards. You can spend as little as $1 (for small bits of costume jewelry) or as much as $300 for one of Debbie’s impressionist Florida beachscapes.

“Priced for locals, not for tourists” sounds like a glib marketing line, but in this case it’s simply the truth. Come on over and see for yourself!

This is an unrehearsed, impromptu video of Manatee County Commision candidate Sarah C. Meaker speaking to a group of ordinary Manatee County citizens gathered on the outdoor deck of the Snook River Grill on Route 64 (hence the traffic noise in the background), not a consultant-designed TV spot that cost thousands of dollars to make.

Local jewelry designer and graphic artist Vicki Rollo has opened a new boutique/gallery named Hearts Desire in Bradenton’s Village of the Arts. The gallery features Rollo’s eclectic jewelry created with semi-precious stones, fresh water pearls, Bali silver and beads from around the world. (This is part of my “Cool Bradenton stuff” informal video series. See others in my Bradenton/Local site section.)

I’m attending the 2006 Online News Association annual conference. I came a day early to catch an all-day pre-conference session called CRAFTING MULTIMEDIA CONTENT: A hands-on workshop in storytelling. These two videos — one containing a few words of wisdom from the session itself, the other a glimpse of our (included) tour of the WashingtonPost.com newsroom — were taken during that workshop. I edited them hurridly, late at night, in my hotel room.

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Whoops! Sorry! Videos removed October 13 at the request of a Washington Post lawyer. It seems it’s okay for me to have *taken* them, but sharing them with the whole world instead of just with friends and close associates is a no-no. If you really want to see a few minutes of innocuous nonsense (which is all they contain) — and you’re my “friend” — I suppose I can email you compressed copies.

Amusing, ain’t it?