Saturday, May 09, 2009
Fins to the left, fins to the right
I've been a pretty big Jimmy Buffett fan for the past three decades, and I understand and appreciate that he has a reasonably broad appeal, especially in South Florida. Yesterday, Dolphin Stadium was renamed Landshark Stadium for the next 9 months -- from now until early February 2010, when it will host Super Bowl 44, reverting once again to Dolphin Stadium.
In the coverage of this temporary name change, I did not see (though I may have missed) any discussion of whether dolphins and sharks actually get along in real life. A bit of Googling revealed this tidbit:
"In the wild, similar-sized dolphins and sharks pretty much leave each other alone. Some 75% of wild dolphins show some degree of shark scarring — and we usually see only the ones that got away. I have pulled dolphin remains from the stomachs of many sharks over the years, particularly from Tiger Sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier). Thus, it seems that in most battles between dolphins and sharks in the wild, dolphins get the worst of the encounter."So, it's not quite the same as if the New England Patriots renamed Gillette Stadium and called it Redcoat Stadium, but still.
4 Comments:
By 
Christopher Chambers, at
Sat May 09, 07:50:00 PM:
Buffet's an Obamaholic, by the way. Had he gone to Princeton, I'm sure he would've been in TI...or in Quad but hung at TI...
On vacation in Harbour Island, Bahamas, we ate at Ma Ruby's, which was the place originating the "Cheesburger in Paradise." It was as the song described. Ruby's place is basically a large shack with a tiled terrace. You forget all that after a few Kalik beers and a bite of that burger. She has photos of her on the shack walls with Buffet.
By Foxfier, at
Sat May 09, 09:12:00 PM:
Big sharks kill dolphins; small sharks are killed by dolphins.
Apparently, it's kind of like the relation between humans and sharks-- sure, one on one the shark wins; otherwise.....
By JPMcT, at
Sat May 09, 10:57:00 PM:
Buffet has been doing free concerts for Democrats for a long time. Good Lord, he even supported Jimmy Carter.
A common illness of the rich.
By Escort81, at
Sat May 09, 11:14:00 PM:
Christopher -
Buffett is a Southern Democrat who stayed a Democrat. He is much too smart a businessman and merchandiser (grossing close to $100 mil./year with all of his various interests) to ever pull a Dixie Chicks, understanding that a significant part of his fan base would not be happy. That said, his fan base probably skews more Democrat than you might think.
After the detention center at Gitmo was established earlier this decade, he was one of the first entertainers to go there to put on a show for the personnel on base. That is not something that an entertainer from the Michael Moore wing of the Democratic party would have done.
Since Cottage was the most southern in flavor of all of the clubs, Buffett probably would have been a member there, but he might have really liked Trees and Trolls at TI -- maybe that would have convinced him. He was a Kappa Sigma at University of Southerm Mississippi, if that provides any insight.
One of life's great pleasures is to go to places like Ma Ruby's or Le Select in Gustavia, St. Bart's, a place that Buffett likes to frequent when he is on island, and does not object to the restaurant using "Cheesburger in Paradise" on its signs. Even more fun is going from beach bar to beach bar (preferably by sailboat in my case), whether it's in the Bahamas or the Caribbean. Johnno's in Anguilla and Sunshine's in Nevis are two of my favorites, and there are quite a few others, mostly neat spots that are, as you described Ma Ruby's, "basically a large shack with a tiled terrace," sometimes without the tiles! The drinks tend to be killer and the food can be very tasty.
