Miami's Welcome Mat -- The Pink Pussycat's Lewd Neon Humor

Club Pink Pussycat always welcomes me to Miami.  Whenever I take the bus from the airport, I am cheered -- truly happy -- to see the colors and broad humor of this strip club (see photo to left, with the bus windows appropriately steamed).  I, too, like the eponymous pink feline sitting in a most improbably (for a cat) position.  

During the day, the building loses the lurid benefit of neon.  The Pink Pussycat, however, holds its own.  It is bright and colorful in the strong South Florida sun.    

I have been visiting the city for years, and still take pictures of this place if I have my camera handy.  I must be easily amused by the non-subtle humor of this place. 

(Accidental) Humor as Effective Communication -- The Neon Virgin at the Colégio Notre Dame Ipanema

Sometimes humor is intentional. Sometimes it is accidental. I believe that the facade of the Colégio Notre Dame Ipanema, in Rio de Janeiro, falls into the latter category.

Neon is my favorite lighting source. It carries an unusual combination of associations -- age, tawdriness, and festivity. I usually think of it as a marker of some sort of commerce -- liquor stores, dance halls, and other activities presented as unwanted in Frank Capra's film "It's a Wonderful Life".

The high school's Virgin is wonderful, bathed in the light of her neon halo. She stands guard over the children at the main entrance and does so with a wink. The Virgin is both modest and eye-catching. She must do both, living in a community known world-wide for the beauty of its residents.