Unleash your inner animal or just get stoned with Cifre

One of the best and most innovative tile manufacturers I saw at Cevisama in Valencia and Coverings in Las Vegas was the Spanish company Cifre. Cifre is one of the member manufacturers of ASCER, the Spanish Ceramics Manufacturers Association that's branded in North America as Tile of Spain. ASCER and Tile of Spain is who paid my way to Cevisama, in the interest of full-disclosure.

With that out of the way, it's great to see a Spanish manufacturer come to the marketplace with a swagger and savvy that heretofore belonged to the Italians exclusively. Those days have passed and the great innovations these days are coming out of Spain.

The big news in North America is the vast improvements in porcelain tile that looks like wood planks and Cifre does a great job with them as shown here in their Bergen collection.

Porcelain tile absorbs almost no water and it can be used outside as things like pool and patio decking, even in temperate climates. Imagine a deck that never fades, never ages, lasts for 40 years and looks as good then as it did when it was installed.

The other big break through that's showing up on this side of the Atlantic is ceramic and porcelain tile that mimics the appearance of stone. Cifre handles that trend beautifully too. I left these images as better-resolution photos. Ignore the slow loads this morning and click on these photos to see them in better detail.

Again, imagine a slate or travertine bathroom that never needs to be sealed and can't stain.

But where Cifre breaks into new ground is their development of ceramic and porcelain tile that looks like hide. Yes, hide. Whether it's cowskin, pony, zebra, tiger or what have you, these tiles have the grain, texture and color of real hide. Again, click on the images to see them in greater detail.

Amazing stuff, all of it. Tile wants to come out of the bathroom and out of the kitchen and into the rest of your home. This hide series that Cifre calls Cavallino is leading the way. Some of these patterns would give a whole new meaning to the term "pony wall."

Remember what I was saying about sophisticated marketing? Check out their video for their Cautive series.

Cautive by Cifre ing from Cifre Group on Vimeo.

Three cheers for Cifre. Look for their products anywhere Spanish Tile is sold.

Further proof that US suburbia is an unsustainable dystopia

In a world where this is the reality of far too many kids in the west.

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And in a country where government is seen increasingly as the root of all evil.

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And in a world where the First Lady's involvement in childhood obesity prevention is a political handicap comes this.

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A suburban, pseudo-governmental Homeowner's Association Volusia County, FL has decided that it's in the best interest of its residents to ban kids playing outside without adult supervision .

The subdivision in question is Persimmon Place in Edgewater, FL and in addition to banning kids' playing outside unsupervised, they seek to ban skateboarding, playing games like tag or using loud toys. [source]

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Every scofflaw who lets his or her kids play outside without adult supervision or who dares to let those kids play tag will face a $100 fine. Persimmon Place is holding a final hearing on 4/27 and for the life of me I can't find a link to that HOA. If anybody does, leave the link in the comments below, I'd love to give them a piece of my mind.

I grew up in a small town without the benefit of an HOA. My grass-stained summers and impromptu games of Kick the Can or Fox and Geese gave me a foundation I rely on to this day. Those neighborhood, spontaneous games are how I learned that other people lived lives different from mine and it didn't matter. We were seven, or 10 or 12 and all that mattered was that we were kids and it was summer and the nighttime world was ours.

Without a doubt, our parents were thrilled with the fact that we were outside and not underfoot. We were outside running off our extra energy and best of all they were inside, alone, and with the rare chance to reconnect. None of us were obese either and the idea of us kids staying in and watching TV was unthinkable.

What kind of a neighborhood bans kids playing outside? Has an orderly, suburban facade really grown so important and oppressive that kids don't matter?

Hey unhappy suburbanites here's a hint. Come back to the urban cores. We may value such foreign concepts as diversity and sustainability, but we also embrace the idea of kids being allowed to be kids. The vacant lot behind my house is the neighborhood soccer and all-purpose field and those kids are out there 'til all hours. Nobody threatens their parents with fines and the kids get to run off all their extra energy and they learn how to get along. Nobody cares that Jean-Luc's parents were Haitian refugees or that Angus's parents are professors at the university. So what if Alain's from France and Pilar was born in Spain? Who cares  Mohammed's family is from Libya and Darrell's mom was born in the 'hood. All that matters is that they're the same age and Jim (whose dad is a city maintenance guy) has a soccer ball.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf at St. Pete's American Stage

Richard B. Watson, Betty-Jane Parks, Matthew Stephen Huffman and Christine Decker in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf at St. Pete's American Stage

Last night, some friends and I went to see the American Stage Theater Company's production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? Wow, what a night and what a play.

Subtle is not something that describes Who's Afraid in any way and if you've ever seen the 1966 movie you know what I'm talking about. What made it onto the screen in 1966 was the scaled back version of this story though. The stage version is as a raw as it is nuanced and the incredible cast at the American Stage kept the play's three plus hours from devolving into a non-stop screaming match.

There's a neediness and something resembling love that undergirds George and Martha's dysfunction and watching Christine Decker and Richard B. Watson explore that onstage captivates as it repulses.

Christine Decker as Martha and Richard B. Watson as George on location somewhere in St. Pete. These two add a horrifying twist to the idea of a power couple.

Nick and Honey were played by Matthew Stephen Huffman and Betty-Jane Parks and their naivete and unspoken dissatisfaction adds the perfect fuel to George and Martha's fully realized volatility.

Bravos go out to the actors and the technical cast. The set and costumes were perfect and the American Stage's new theater was the perfect venue for this production.

If you are in the Tampa/ St. Pete metro area, go see this play. It's running through April 23rd and there are still seats available. You can buy tickets through their website directly and while you're on that site, check out the rest of their season this year and look over the line-up for next season.

Florida has a reputation as a cultural wasteland and in most cases that's not very far from the truth. But there is culture here and I'm fortunate to live in a city where I'm surrounded by it. The American Stage is this area's oldest Equity theater and that it's thriving in a time when arts organizations everywhere are slowly dying is as much a testament to the management of the the theater as it is a statement about the people of St. Pete.

Local arts organizations are an incredibly important part of what makes a place unique and worth living in. If you're not in my area and you can't support The American Stage, The St. Pete Opera, The Florida Orchestra, our many smaller theaters, dance companies and our amazing museums, your community has assets similar to ours and they need your support and patronage now more than ever. Make it a point to go see a play or go see a symphony or go to an art museum. Unpatronized arts groups, organizations and facilities go away and that's nothing short of tragic.

Here's the American Stage's video excerpt from their production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?

Just say no to multi-level marketing

The other day, someone with whom I have a passing business relationship called to tell me about a "business opportunity" he had in mind for me. Warning sign number one; authentic opportunities never refer to themselves as "business opportunies."

Because I'm a courteous man, I listened to the details of this "opportunity" for about ten minutes. What I got was a canned spiel about financial independence and the chance to latch onto the American dream. God and country want me to proper!

As I suspected, the "opportunity" was a multi-level marketing scheme. During the course of this pitch, never once did this passing acquaintance mention the product being sold. Rather, all he talked about was the opportunity for me to make money from the network I'd build. Seriously. To this day I have no idea what's for sale here. But what's for sale is always secondary when it comes to multi-level marketing. The actual thing that's being sold here is a snowball's chance in hell that I'll convince enough people to get into this network to make this worth my time.

When he stopped for a moment to ask me if he could e-mail me a link to a video that would explain the whole system I told him I wasn't interested. He was taken aback by that and he asked me why. I told him that I think multi-level marketing plans rely on on an immoral business model.

He was taken aback even further by that but he opened the door when he mentioned that he'd been introduced to this program by someone at church. Warning sign number two; church isn't for making money.

We ended the phone call on a courteous note and honestly, I don't bear him any ill will. What he was selling just isn't for me. But it has left me wondering, is it for anybody? Really. The only people who make money from these schemes are the ones who dream them up. Is it possible to gain some kind of financial freedom from these schemes? If so, at what price?

Well yesterday he sent me another e-mail and he asked me to expound on why I think that multi-level marketing plans are an immoral business model. Here's what I wrote back to him.

Ordinarily, when a product comes to market, someone sells it as a value proposition. I mean that the person selling the product convinces a perspective buyer that there's value in the product itself. Network marketing ignores the product and instead sells the system for making money by selling the product. The product itself is usually an inferior one but not always. In any case, the product comes second, The System comes first.

Add to that the cloak of secrecy that surrounds these enterprises and who wouldn't be suspicious? In our conversation the other day, never once did you mention the product or describe it in any way. Instead of talking to me about a product and its benefits you wanted to send me a link to a video for me to watch. Before I watched it, I already knew was going to be about a system for making money from selling a forgettable product by foisting it on my friends and loved ones. But more importantly, convincing them to sell it too so that I can start making money from their labor rather than from the direct benefits of of a product that has value in and of itself. People in multi-level marketing programs never make their money from the mark up on a product, rather, they make money from the other people they convince to sell the product.

I find this business model to be distasteful, mostly because it's so secretive and deceitful. Yet, like Amway or Shaklee or any of the rest of them, that deceit is wrapped in a veil of altruism and virtue. Products sold in this manner usually can't compete in an open marketplace, they need a captive audience who's obligated to buy them.

I have no problem at all with someone making money from me when he sells me something I find to be valuable. In fact, I go out of my way to shop in places where I know the salespeople are commissioned and I avoid places where they're not. I want to pay for good products and I want to pay the people who are knowledgeable about them. When I buy a washing machine at Apsco in St. Pete or a pair of shoes a Pelz it's a commercial transaction --a business deal and that's it. They have something I want I have the money to pay for it. There's no veil of secrecy or claimed virtue in the exchange of my cash for their goods. The person selling to me is concentrating on the sale, not convincing me to start selling washing machines or shoes so that he can get a cut of my sales down the road.

And that [name redacted], is how I see it.

Am I wrong? I highly, seriously doubt it, but is there some hidden virtue to multi-level marketing that I'm missing? Is it ever OK to shake down your loved ones to convince them to buy something they'd never buy otherwise?

Welcome to the world Xavier Vincent

Endless congratulations to my amazing niece Sarah and her equally amazing husband Andrew on the birth of their son Xavier Vincent last night.

Good luck coping with the sudden appearance of competition goes to his big sister Pauline who'll always be number one. But that's a tough concept for an 18-month-old to grasp no matter how smart she is.

You know it's funny, in my own mind I'm still somewhere between 25 and 30. It's only when I see my nieces and nephews moving out into to the world and striking out on their own that I can see that I am a middle-aged man, despite my protests to the contrary. To keep myself from mourning my lost youth, I remind myself that I have siblings who are grandparents. Great uncle is a bit easier to deal with than grandpa or grandma must be.

But who cares about that? Sarah and baby are healthy and happy and there's a new life in the world today. He carries in him all of the potential and wonder that all new lives do and he's one fortunate baby to be born to parents who will give him the foundation he needs to go out and realize every ounce of potential he has. Congratulations to Sarah and Andrew!