#GOP2012 Friday August 24

You can still get into Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, but it's empty and looks unfriendly:

The slogan at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts is "See what's developing", but for security reasons the building is fenced off and a plastic tarp covers the windows:

Some parks weren't completely finished:

The solution is to put signs like this around the dirt:

Barricades have been erected along the waterfront:

And boats patrol off shore:

The organizers aren't sure where everything is yet:

Put they have planned where the news crews will be, in chalk outside the Convention Center:

The lighting of the Tampa Bay Times Forum has been completed:

And if you're lucky you can catch the moonrise:

The History Museum has been fenced off:

As have a few roads:

The old town hall:

And even empty buildings:

Professional photographers are starting to appear:

They're taking pictures of things like this (a wall of flags decorating a parking garage):

The banks are closed:

But if you have money you can visit the anti-Obama store (which, as I told the tourists, wasn't there last week):

#GOP2012 Monday August 20

Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park is surrounded by high fences:

Red, white, and blue disco balls have been set up in the Convention Center:

The lighting is being adjusted outside the Tampa Bay Times Forum:

There is a billboard outside the Times Forum with some interesting ads. Some are friendly:

But there is also a Chevy Volt ad:

And ads quoting Republicans talking about how they believe in global warming. Such as former President George W. Bush:

And Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkoski:

This is a popular spot for people to have their picture taken:

Inside the Convention Center, rooms of phones have been installed. A lone TV is tuned to CNN, and of course no one is watching:

This flyer was the only evidence of any protest activity I have seen so far:

There's also a lot of work being done late into the night. Here are men working outside a bank:

I've heard the banks will be closed and the ATMs have been removed to protect them from protesters.

Getting ready for the RNC - Sunday August 19

Almost all the decorations are up:

And it's a bright and sunny day:

I've seen the first camera crew, a woman doing her own camera work:

A few local stores are selling RNC memorabilia:

Color change memorabilia!

Channelside, the local shopping center, has hung some decorated elephants. This one is a pirate (a symbol of Tampa):

And this one is a beauty queen:

#GOP2012

Next week Tampa will be hosting the 2012 Republican National Convention. I'll be taking pictures of what can be seen from the street.

At Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, where skirmishes with Occupy Wall Street have happened in the past, they seem to be building an air conditioned tent:

The convention center is one of the two main buildings in Tampa hosting the event:

A few security cameras are present, and they were nice enough to mention which hash tag to use on their banners:

The trolley goes past the other main building hosting the convention, the Tampa Bay Times Forum:

Nearby, at the Tampa Bay History Museum, they are setting up some outdoor stages:

Some piles of fencing nearby tell me I shouldn't expect easy access next week:

Here's the main decoration on the Tampa Bay Times Forum:

And a view inside the soon to be air conditioned walkways between the two main venues:

Sign of the times

An anti-Castro flyer in Ybor City:

Ybor City Celebrates Communism

Today I went to Ybor City for what was billed as a "Cuban Sandwich Festival". Strangely, it had a Communist distribution system. Let me explain.

All the food was "free". Politically powerful people got to gorge themselves on sandwiches while ordinary people stood in line, waiting for leftovers:

Only a lucky few actually got anything.

If you had American currency you could stand in another line to buy actual, full sized, Cuban sandwiches:

A long line:

Food shortages were endemic, and even the two capitalist establishments had problems keeping food in stock. The first of the two places selling sandwiches ran out as soon as I got to the counter.

This place was in an isolated area and had them in stock:

The festival was a disgrace to the Cuban community, not that any of them noticed.

Also on display were cigars:

And antique cars:

I guess I got a genuine Cuban experience!