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The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg is one of Tampa Bay's true cultural highlights, but you have to be careful when introducing your children to Salvador Dali's eclectic works.
Last summer, I set out with my two sons to discover exactly what made Dali an artistic genius. We toured the museum with a docent and I learned a lot. My kids, however, learned a little too much about some of Dali's R-rated eccentricities. Luckily, I didn't have to answer one of those questions that make parents squirm.
Now comes an opportunity to take the kids back without worry. "Breakfast With Dali" on Aug. 21 is being billed as a family event. The tour, which starts at 9 a.m., will be suitable for kids ages 6 to 12 and breakfast will follow. Registration is required, and the tour is limited to 20 children plus adult companions.
Call Anne Otero at (727) 823-3767 ext. 3026 for information.
SEEN ON A BUMPER STICKER in Seffner: I'm Out Of Bed and Dressed. What More Do You Want?
IF HE WERE A BOASTFUL MAN, Joe Roman could have bragged about working as a Columbia Restaurant waiter for 48 years.
Roman, however, had a greater goal. The man who started at the famed Ybor City institution in 1954 when he was just 26 wanted to work a full 50 years. In 2002, after 48 years of work, Joe had to retire because of problems with his knees.
But the Gonzmart family knew of the importance of Roman's goal, so they made him the Columbia's ambassador as part of the preparations for the restaurant's 100th anniversary celebration next year.
Today, Roman will receive more recognition. He will get the Iris D. Larson Hospitality Award at the Florida Governor's Conference on Tourism in Orlando.
I RECENTLY WENT to a friend's engagement party and got caught up in one of those conversations that usually prompt me to turn on ESPN, slap myself with some Aqua Velva and grab a cold Miller High Life.
Somehow I ended up talking about fashion trends and the hot, new colors for the fall season. Yeesh! In case you haven't heard, they are pink and black. Usually, I think of those colors only when envisioning a steak, but ever since this information was bestowed upon me, I've had this inkling to buy a rose-colored oxford shirt.
I used to wear pink back in the '80s, when I was masquerading as a sensitive man. (My wife fell for it hook, line and sinker.) Now, I have a few pastel-colored shirts - all gifts - but nothing pink.
Still, it's tugging at me. I notice the pink-and-black trend everywhere: work, mall, even my kid's middle school.
Only one thing has stopped me.
If I know pink and black are in, how trendy could it really be?
SPEAKING OF MIDDLE SCHOOL, my older son's rail-thin frame doesn't have me worried about obesity, but I'm still disappointed physical education isn't offered every day at his school. Budgetary restraints have forced schools to cut back, and some weeks PE is offered only twice. It's needed every day.
I would love to see our professional sports leagues and maybe even our college sports programs create a money pool that could help boost PE. Sure, most of them already have their charities and youth initiatives, but it seems to me we need to find a way to make PE more of a daily routine. Call it seed money for all the future stars those classes would help create.
That's all I'm saying.
Ernest Hooper can be reached at 813 226-3406 or Hooper@sptimes.com