Tampa Taxi Shots

NOTICE NO CALLS ON THE BOARD DURING THE PIRATE INVASION! This is an image of my tablet at around noon on Gasparilla day 2017. It was a clear board. In years past, there would have been 1,500,000,000 calls on the board. The business is gone. There is not anything more I can say about that. I used to blame the HCPTC for taking no action to stop a gypsy cab operation. They were compromised early in the process of negotiations, and with the billions behind Uber, is that a surprise? The only mystery now is why do so many drivers continue to work for a leasing operation. There are no real perks to that anymore. The airport will soon be open season. When that happens, you won't be able to find a taxi in this town anymore. I did pick up a couple south of Gandy who told me the reason they called United Cab was they did not want to pay 10x surge. A 10 dollar fare would now be over 100 bucks. Apparently many were willing to pay that instead of getting into a taxi. Its over fo...

Marshall Law downtown Tampa 2012 I produced a documentary film about my experiences during the Republican National Convention was in Tampa. I am rather proud of that doc even if it does not have many hits on YouTube. Tell me what you think. Kevin helped me out with much of the video and still photography. He got some awesome images. Check it out.

Watch the video below This is one of the best sunset shots you will see of Downtown Tampa and the surrounding area. It was shot by a cab driver...Tony Cowen #309 with his new Phantom 3 Drone which has 4k resolution. You get a clear view of Downtown and the University of Tampa as the sun sets. You also get an awesome horizon shot as the sun is now under the horizon. Lets see and Uber driver match this.

My taxi friend, Tom Castros (pictured) is a taxi driver for United Cab - Tampa's finest cab company. He and I have driven by Oaklawn cemetery for years but never understood the history of it. It is Gothic in design and was created in 1850 for "slave and freeman." We were able to find the most famous grave in there. The grave of William & Nancy Ashley is a testimony to eternal love. Nancy was a slave and William was her master. They were in love and married. Because of this, they were both hanged. What is strange is the executioner was named Jackson. He is the one that put this tombstone on the grave. That's a little creepy. posted from Bloggeroid

Well, searching for a good image. I had this concept of juxtaposing the modern skyline of downtown Tampa with the Gothic theme of Oaklawn cemetery. Sunday morning was calm with nobody around. I found my shot but could only notice the state of care for this historic place. They need to at least cut the grass. Everyone from slaves to a Florida governor are buried here. posted from Bloggeroid

The Occupy movement was right about Wall Street Corporate greed. The advent of Uber shows they don't care about jobs (they are destroying them) they only care about investors. Uber drivers would be better off working at McDonald's where they would receive benefits. Fuck Uber!

These cab drivers are fighting over a fare, I guess. The Yellow cab driver parked behind them must have seen this coming and turned on his cell phone video. Clive said it was because his most recent fare only went two blocks and he thought thee other guy would hold him out...WTF? If you get a short fare that is just the breaks man. Clive has been around a long time and knows this.

A view from Kennedy blvd A shot of downtown Tampa to test the quality of shots. It's amazing how far the technology has come.

I saw this dude by the courthouse downtown Tampa. He had a microphone with a speaker and was spreading the word. The cops nearby can't stop him on constitutional grounds. The sad thing was his equipment was not very good and it was hard to understand him. Anyway, glad to see someone spreading the word. He was putting on a good show.

There is something optimistic about sunrise. Today, there was an unusual sunrise that was all aglow. There must have been humidity or something. The humidity is on the rise and I hate it.

I saw this "mother ship" flying over downtown Tampa very close to the office towers. As I got closer, I could see it was the Direct TV blimp. It was acutely broadcasting HD TV on the side of it that could be seen from the ground. How cool is that!?

I thought Ivwas seeing things on the Kennedy Bridge today. The Hillsborough River by Curtis Hixon Park was green. This was in honor of St. Patrick. Recreational boaters were out in mass and the city made it an event with live bands and food trucks. BTW, I can't tell you how sick I am. We were rained on hard at the camping trip and I have bronchitis and I'm coughing so hard I'm fainting. I need to go home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CXxlzE9x14&feature=youtube_gdata_player

These people were celebrating this morning from the balconybof a downtown Tampa condo. They were chanting "USA..USA" while cars were blowing their horns. I found out from a fare that we had just beat Russia in hockey at the Winter Olympics. Considering they said they would sacrifice all their gold medals just to win hockey, how cool is that,!

I hear they want the old Floridian hotel reopened by the RNC in August. They were working on remodeling it in 2008 before the economy collapsed. Then, it sat idle. Its claims to fame are that it once was the tallest building in Florida and that Elvis stayed there in the 1950's.

Tom and I recently went to Oaklawn cemetery in downtown Tampa. This was in July and I ended up changing my shirt! This was in the Catholic section Tom knew there were many Civil War veterens and Jose Martinez Ybor, amoung others, buried here.  Tom taking my photo!  The tomb of Ybor of Ybor City fame  Tim Fasano checking it out   The entry to Oaklawn Cemetery Tampa 

Many people in Tampa have had a drink at The Hub Bar downtown Tampa. Many even remember its old location on Zack st. The Hub always drew an eclectic crowd and these people fit that mode. From the cool, run down, loft apartment, and the way they dressed, it had hipster written all over it. Not wannabe hipsters, for they had been at this fir a while. In fact, they even remembered Rocky, the ex boxer, who used to hang around. I asked them if they knew a big guy named Larry. They said he was a good guy but he hasn't been around much anymore. Anyway, when leaving I noticed a Yellow Cab pulled up and it looked like it might make a cool picture. You can see the Tampa Theatre in the background.

Former news anchor Arch Deal, and photographer Tony Zappone, and former police officer Russell Grover (seen on motorcycle in image) hosted an event today to honor JFK. All these men had close contact with the president just days before the assassination. Zappone remembered when I did a post about him on the old Tampa Taxi Shots and that meant a lot to me. All these men expressed profound grief for the slain President 50 years later. There could be no greater testament to greatness of JFK.

What a cab driver will do to make a living is beyond what most people can handle or comprehend. One thing we do is go into very bad areas of town and pretend it is normal. At least I still think it is normal. Like the Pakistani store owner who sells smokes, beer, lotto tickets and blunts to the people who walk in his door while all the time hoping he doesn't get shot, you begin to think this is normal. I got this call about 4 in the morning today. Things got a little weird. Not to bad, but not what I was expecting. It was the Downtowner Motel, one of Tampa's swankier joints. Its the kind of place that has "weekly rentals" and calls them apartments; imaine what kind of crowd that will draw. The dude was on the balcony and very anxious to get going, a clear sign that someone wants to buy drugs. I guess his buzz has worn off and he needs to get more. He and some chic with sunken cheeks and a glazed stare get in the backseat. They seem to have a bunch of nervous ene...

NOTE: this was from one year ago this week If you live in Tampa and ever wondered what Marshall law looks like, just go downtown. There is a steel parameter fence too rival the Berlin wall. Citizens that pay taxes are not allowed in. All this because of a private event? Mitt Romney is a citizen (he says he's unemployed) and they have drones flying overhead and the crosstown is closed. Before I start sounding like Alex Jones,  I stand to make a lot of money off this event. Go GOP.