Over the summer, I had a party. A number of my photographer friends were there and when they all looked at what I was doing, how I was working with my photos, in an almost chorus they chanted, “Dude, you have GOT to get a Mac.” I had heard that mantra before from a huge Mac advocate earlier in the year (a non-photographer friend) and with that song being sung in my ears at full volume this time around, I made the decision to get a Mac.

Worst decision ever.

Why? It hasn’t made my life easier. On the contrary. It’s made my life far more complicated. I can’t process photos in the same way at all that I could before because of a lack of support for the filters I use on the Mac. The filters I frequently use are designed for the PC only.

But wait, Scott… you can run Windows on your Mac! Problem solved!

No, problem not solved. Despite running Mac’s boot camp utility, I could NOT successfully install Windows on my Mac. So I can’t process photos on my Mac the way I want.

And I have to stop and ask a question here: Seriously, isn’t it a tad telling that Mac would include (in their core OS install) an application that allows you install Windows on top of it?

For me, Mac = fail. Sorry to everyone that loves the Mac. Just not for me. Oddly, the first computer I ever had was a Macintosh. You remember the ones. When they first came out and the mouse was a new concept. WAAAAAY back in the day. I loved that computer. But today? The Mac does not do what I need.

I’ll be at Felt (12th and Washington in South Beach) tonight from 11pm to 1am for a lingerie show put on by the beautiful girls of SoBe Darlings. Like last week, this promises to be a very entertaining evening.

Welcome to the new ipanemic.com.

The design of the front section of ipanemic will be changing over the coming weeks, however, fundamentally, this is what you can expect to find here:

• Site news including updates to photo sets with links provided.
• Any upcoming events that I’ll be covering will be listed.
• Featured works, rates, and contact information.
• Links to local area sites, to local blogs, and to local photographers.

From the front page, you’ll be able to access the galleries directly; both The Model Shoots and Street +/ Life.

The actual layout of this page will more than likely change, but these are the fundamentals of the new ipanemic.com. Let me know what you think.

A couple of new photos from the second shoot with Kesley are up in The Model Shoots. I heart you, Kesley.

Photos from Sunday’s King Mango Strut festival/parade in Coconut Grove are up in Street +/ Life. All the photos have been tagged for easy reference.

I’m not a fan of the small town festival. Mix in politics and I’m all but looking for the closest open building with a restroom. That’ll be after fighting the crowds of people in their sneakers and tennis socks and cotton/linen blend shorts and halters who’ve come inside to order the Giant Onion Swirl.

Yeah. Not a fan.

But yesterday, I knew the King Mango Strut was going on in Coconut Grove. And I hadn’t spent much time in the Grove. But, ugh… festival. I debated going there to take photos. I debated walking the five short blocks to the beach here in South Beach on a perfectly sunny and warm day. And I thought to myself, “King Mango Strut… will happen again and I could probably wait a year to see it. But eh, it’s here now, I’ll see what it’s all about. And hey, I can probably get a mango drink or something.”

I drove out to the Grove on my scooter, not knowing the area, but knowing that there was a big festival going on somewhere. A blocked off primary street gave me just the clue I needed. I parked my scooter as I watched cars inching around the blocks in circles. I patted myself on the back again for getting that scooter.

Honestly, for me, the festival isn’t really even worth writing about. I was bothered that I wasted an hour of my life when I could have been on the beach. While I was trying to find a good vantage point to take photos, I ran into a friend who grew up in Miami and she provided me with the history of the festival. Fascinating. All I saw were people with purposefully crappy floats trying to be witty. Ohhhhhhh, I get the joke now.

And that was the gist of King Mango Strut: political/social satire. The jokes were old, the jokes were tired. And 2.5 minutes in, you heard and saw them all. Yet for an hour, they came. They came on floats. They came in costume. They came on foot and they came in cars.

I found my interest in the festival (and photographing it) waning moments after arrival. I decided to look at the crowd because people are always interesting. But…. crap, I’m at a small town festival.

Hm. Baby boomers. I see Hawaiian shirts are still in fashion with the older set. Where are the black people? Oh, there’s one. I should’ve asked my friend for a demographics lesson on Coconut Grove.

I felt badly for the kids there. Both the ones who sat antsily with parents in the crowds and the ones in the parade. Really? In the parade? Why is that child carrying a sign about Rod Blagojevich? Is this fun for kids? Because if I were 7, I would want some balloons. And probably a chocolate-covered mango. Not an explanation to me of why this woman dressed in a drab business suit is carrying a chair from my schoolroom with Obama’s name written on the back and “see the humor in that one, dear?” Who is Obama?

I feel like I should give props to the people involved in the parade for their efforts in organizing the event. I’ve been so down on the thing in this post. But again, I’m not one for festivals and I really hadn’t planned on attending what felt like a political fight-the-establishment-fight-the-power-fight-whitie-wait-i’m-whitie rally. I’m clearly not a Grovenite. Or a Grover. Or a Groovie. Or whatever the hell it is they call themselves out there.

Anyway, I’m sure they spent a lot of time and effort putting it together. So, hey, congratulations. You did it.

The Grove is beautiful, by the way. I’m looking forward to actually exploring it, during the day and during the night. Just, not where any festivals are happening.