What swine flu?

Smoke a cigar, keep everybody in the country, have a some rum and you should be fine. If that does not help, try these...

I can see my house from here?

At one point Victor Alvarez lived right next to the famous Bodeguita del Medio. Without a doubt, this is one of the most famous Cuban restaurants in the world, not only because it is an obligatory stop-off for all artists and writers who visit Havana, but also because Ernest Hemingway was a regular, at the Bodeguita del Medio, at Calle Empedrado, enjoying his mojitos. Legend has it that Victor was also introduced to Cuban ron....

Drive to Havana?

Cuba has banned passenger flights until midnight 1 May although it has made an exception if the airline is planning to only transport Mexicans wishing to leave Cuba and return home. Should we drive?

Guayaberas

The origin of the name Guayabera may come from a Cuban legend that tells of a poor countryside seamstress sewing large pockets into her husband's shirts for carrying guava (guayabas) from the field. Guayaberamay also have originated from the word yayabero, the word for a person who lived near the Yayabo River in Cuba.

Today, they come in different colors, and are sometimes worn inside the pants. An original Guayabara is white like an innocent young girl!

Juan Lopez

Here is one of the few Havana brands which is offered only in handmade styles, started in 1876 by Juan Lopez Diaz. The range of sizes is limited, but the workmanship is first-rate and the flavor is considered to be medium to strong, with light and almost aromatic overtones. A sampling of this cigar may develop into a long term love for it.

I had the pleasure smoking a couple of them last week with a friend and need to get more, soon....

It's not the camera, but who's behind the camera

Tony Gaye – An award winning photographer, his work is found in many permanent collections, including the prestigious International Museum of Photography at The George Eastman House in Rochester, NY, and Graphis in Zurich.

Tony was the first studio photographer to introduce high-resolution digital photography to the Philadelphia market in 1991. A Vietnam veteran and musician, he holds an MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology and is a member of the faculty at the Art Institute of Philadelphia. A specialist in commercial and location photography.

His hundreds of clients have included Martin Guitars, Winterthur Museum, Hewlett Packard, Anheuser Busch, Johnson & Johnson, Campbell Soup, Coca Cola, Crayola, Glaxo Smith Kline, Hershey, McDonalds, Panasonic and Sunoco. He is currently shooting on the PBS Production, "The Soundtrack Of Our Lives", the history of recorded music, that is scheduled to air in the Fall season 2010.

Tony is working on a multimedia book about Savor, and Cuban Harely riders called Harlistas, due this fall.

Tony has lived and worked on five continents. www.tonygaye.com