Miami Book Fair, Day 1

Saturday kb and I went to Miami, to the Miami Book Fair. The first famous person I saw was Cal Thomas. I know him as a regular panelist on Fox Newswatch (the only show I watch on Fox News, and it hasn't been on recently). I pointed him out to kb, and we did our best to avoid him. He's very tall and well-preserved looking. We headed out to the booths - books, books, and more books. Books from Books and Books, a much-loved independent bookstore in Miami. Books in Spanish, books translated, fiction, non-fiction, children's books.

We headed to our first authors' talk - Wesley Clark and Rajiv Chandrasekaran, from the Washington Post. Very long line to get in to the room - most people seemed to be there for Clark, I suppose because he ran for president. Rajiv spoke first, about his experiences in Iraq, and how the people put in charge there had no idea what they were doing, while experienced, competent people were turned away because they were perceived as not sufficiently loyal to Bush. He told how the Maryland traffic laws became Iraq's traffic laws, which seems a bit incongruous. Clark talked about his military experience, how after the Cold War ended abruptly and unexpectedly, the US no longer had an effective military strategy for maintaining its superpower status. Or something like that (I didn't take notes and my memory is fading). Clark is a good speaker, but I'm not sure that he presented a direction the US should take at this point. He's also supporting Clinton, and answered some questions about that.

Next, in the same room (we moved closer to the front), Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. Dave is so funny, as expected. I got a kick out of seeing Ridley crack up at everything he said. Afterwards, kb and I got our Achenblog bookbags signed, and got our picture taken with them. Very cool. We went to get lunch, and saw Dave and family at the next booth (we were not following him, honest).

On to Mark Halperin, of ABC News and Time. I've seen him on the Charlie Rose Show - he's very funny and cute, to boot. He's written a book with profiles of the presidential candidates, which he's hoping will help people figure out who is the best candidate for them to vote for. It sounds interesting - he asks them some unusual things, like favorite junk food, in order to get an idea of who they are. He says Mitt Romney waxes on about pie. I didn't buy the book - thought I would get it from the library - but they don't have it, at least not yet. Ah well.

Then it was time for the Rock Bottom Remainders, Dave Barry's band. They were very good - lots of fun, and better musically than I would have thought beforehand. Scott Turow was one of the vocalists, as was Crystal Zevon, and Jeff Toobin even joined in toward the end (possibly ending his career as a serious legal analyst).

When they were done, it was about 6:30, dark, booths shuttered. We needed dinner, so we went across the street to the Bayside Market Place. It's a very lively shopping mall, all kinds of music and entertainment and things to buy, from tacky T-shirts to art and upscale clothing. They have parrots you can get your picture taken with, and fishing boats to charter. We eventually decided to eat at the Mambo Cafe, a Cuban restaurant with outdoor seating. We both had Ropa Vieja, which I had never had before - it's wonderful. Along with black beans and rice, and fried plantains, and salsa music, it was a good way to end the day. Then to the hotel to fall into bed.