201 Street

Tires are the symbol of the modern world. The wheel has been around a while, but tires demonstrate that change from things around for a while to improving on those things. Everything about tires are modern, from the synthetics that go into making them to the mechanical process through which they are made where hardly a single person touches them during their in utero state. The perfection with which they are designed is modern too. The grooves in them might look like some ancient language stretched out on a cylindrical scroll made of rubber for future generations to scrye from, but the grooves are there to make the drive smooth for the navigator and the passengers. But it is a kind of language. The grooves in tires are whispering to the road and telling it to make the drive smooth and good for their people.

Miranda Donne helped me to buy new tires . It was a couple of months ago. We had met at a local theatre production by some stray cats. It was a good show, but I forgot the name of the show but not the meeting. Miranda was perhaps the most fascinating person I had met. She was an auto mechanic with cherry bomb red nails. She was a theatre buff with a collection of trashy pulp films from the seventies. She was a vegan who celebrated Nation Bacon Day because according to her, you had to indulge in the bad at least once in while, or at least the slightly less than good: it was healthy for you. She can be pseudo philosophic like that a lot.

When we went to get my tires, she knew exactly what I wanted. That was really amazing to me because I didn’t even know what I wanted. But she was right. She found me the perfect set of tires and even installed them for me at her shop. I walked around and around my car until she told me stop because it was making her dizzy. She said it reminded her of the way tires start to whirl around so fast on the road you have a hard time reading the grooves. It made me wonder if the language of the road and tire was better than our language because it was so fast and that was what the modern is about: going harder, better, faster, stronger . We went to a play afterwards. Me with my dizzy walking and her with her red nails and oil tip manicure. I forgot that play too.

We started our day visiting the world’s largest McDonald located in Orlando, Florida. We had breakfast there, we are all huge suckers for stopping off anywhere that has the words ‘World’s Largest’, in it, so this was no exception. The Largest McDonald’s really doesn’t look that big on the outside, but when we went inside, we were impressed. There was a large arcade area, a painted jungle, that singing Mac Tonight, a 50′s style jukebox and of course food. We ordered off the bistro menu, which serves your food on an actual porcelain plate and real cutlery. We felt it was worth the stop.

We then headed off to Tallahassee where we had reservations at one of the better Florida luxury hotels for a night, in order to make it there to day we had to really push the 256 miles. We wanted to explore Florida’s Capital before we headed on to New Orleans. We made it into Tallahassee by 3pm and after we checked into our fabulous hotel, we checked out the downtown area and the Capital Building. We some how stumbled upon the Governor’s Mansion, so we took several photos and walk around the park nearby. We were tired for a long day of driving, and wanted to take full advantage of all the amenities of what a luxury hotel can offer. On our way back to the hotel, we spotted a Cracker Barrel, our favorite place to eat, but we pushed ourselves past the restaurant and forced ourselves step by step back to the hotel.

The first thing we did is go to our room and order room service, we ordered almost everything on the menu, and then we made an appointment at the spa tomorrow morning, for a full treatment.

Tomorrow, we have no real set plans besides heading west on I-10, all we could hope for is seeing more ‘The World’s Largest Something’ sign.

Vincent really needed a change. He had grown up in a small town in Wyoming and as will most people from that state he had strong ties to his hometown and loved the big sky country. However, he felt a strange stirring in his heart from a very early age and instinctively he knew that he would move on from his hometown as soon as he graduated high school. Fortunately for Vincent, buy the time he was old enough to articulate this desire he also realized that college would be just the ticket to get him out of town. He looked around for schools that he felt he would like to go to as well as cities that he wanted to live in.

During the summer of his senior year of high school his family took a trip to visit relatives just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. It was a major family reunion and to be honest Vincent really wasn’t looking forward to going. Click here to see where his family and others stayed that summer. Once they arrived in Salt Lake Vincent felt a sudden calm come over him and a knowledge that this was where he needed to be. It was absolutely beautiful to him and he couldn’t imagine going anywhere else. At first it was the geographic beauty and the feeling that the city was nestled in among cradling mountains. He felt a little silly thinking that, but it was true. He would come up with a more masculine way to describe the sensation to friend however.

While his family was visiting, he talked his parents into taking him on a tour of the University of Utah campus. He loved the campus though he became a little confused, for the first time since his arrival. He knew he wanted to study law, and was greatly attracted to the S.J. Quinney College of Law, though he didn’t want to get his undergraduate and law degree from the same school. After a great deal of consideration, Vincent decided he would go to the University of Wyoming in Laramie and then apply to law school in Salt Lake. At last Vincent felt like he was headed in the right direction and his age old restlessness abided a bit.

Twenty years ago already, I was living in a cowtown, and against my better judgement I let my friend have access to my key to the university’s black box theater.  I’d been living in Phoenix before that, and saw a rise in alternative art, and was fueled by it.  In this unnamed cowtown, there wasn’t a lot going on with alternative anything, except for music, so I was hungry to see interesting people doing interesting things.  My friend had a group of collaborators who liked to get together in cowtowns and spend weekends creating large events with unusual art, and of course unusual people.

This was a lot like a happening, except a version 20 years later, and there wasn’t much formal training.  Not that they needed it, because the aesthetic was supposed to be rough and chaotic, and it certainly was.  Some people read new work out loud, there were couples performing in front of video screens with live music, and people dancing while tearing pieces of plastic off the walls.  It was pretty great.  I was getting ready to read a poem, and one of the L.A. artists told me that poetry was dead.  At the time, it seemed like an ironic quotation of something we already knew, because we were all participating in something that had been done already, only not in this particular combination.  So, when there are events in Phoenix that are worth looking into, and sound as inviting as a luxury hotel, Phoenix is the place to be.

Who knows why, but the alternative art scene here never died, and neither did poetry, although you might have to dig for it.  The 2010 Annual Poe Show is one such event, where some of the most essential experimental artists in Phoenix and Tempe will be coming together again for an evening of dada poetry in performance, as a birthday party for Edgar Allen Poe.  Some of the town’s most iconic artists, including Robert X. Planet (still edgy), Trish Jus Trish, Jeff Falk, and the Klute, will be there to demonstrate that poetry, performance, and Poe might all indeed be dead, but that’s not stopping any of us.

We headed down the turnpike and went around Miami going south. It was a beautiful day to travel. We stopped at the Visitor Center at Key Largo and stopped at one of the resorts at the Keys and on one was at the gate, so we drove in and found a place to park by the sea. We found a Gazebo with which to have the lunch we packed for our journey, it was nice a quiet by the bay.

While eating we read one of the brochures we picked up at the Visitor Centers and we learned that Henry Flagler built a railway line in the 1920′s down here to Key West, he needed a port that would enable him to bring in all the cargo necessary up from South America. But, after a few hurricanes the railway was pulled out and replaced with a road. So, all these small islands are linked by two way bridges and the longest, just south of Marathon is approximately 7 miles long.

The beautiful water is a light blue color and it’s calm today. There are houses and several Florida West hotels that are strewn all the way around the outside of the islands. Some seem to be 2 to 3 miles long and some about a mile long. We arrived to one of the better Florida West hotels and checked in. After unpacking, we went straight for the pool. It was nice to know that some parts of the US is receiving snow while we’re here soaking up the sun.

We then drove into downtown and walked about. We came across Mallory Square right at sunset. There were a few street performers, one doing acrobatics and another doing a one-man band show. There was a very large cruise ship in the harbour, plus catamarans and sailboats all bouncing delightfully about as the sun began to disappear. It was a spectacular site and one we were glad to have witnessed.

There are some haunted places in the Texas city of Austin.  If you are anything like me, part of taking a trip to a new destination involves the learning of and the searching out of such haunted establishments, and understanding the people through their myths and their legends.  On of the noted luxury hotels of Austin with reputation of being haunted by spirits, is the Driscol.  Upon finding that there were many stories surrounding this hotel, my friend and I booked a room there for a few nights, hoping to meet up with some of the players in the ghost stories.

One of the spirits we were expecting to see was that of a young girl who fell down the stairs.  Legends of the city state that sometimes, throughout the night, her laughter can be heard seemingly coming from the bottom of the stairs.  A bride who was distraught when her bridegroom canceled their wedding, died in the hotel as well.  Many guests of the hotel have reported seeing a woman in a wedding dress roaming through the halls.  And on any given night, should you see a man walking through the halls smoking a cigar, you may just be catching a glimpse of a long time resident of the hotel.  Upon his death, many people will see the cigar smoking man, on the grounds as well as inside.

While my friend and I kept watch, we saw no spirits the few nights we spent in the hotel, but we did find an spooky plot of land where an old school once stood.  In 1990, construction workers encountered many strange occurrences and accidents when they tore down the Metz Elementary School. There machinery and bulldozers would simply stop working, their tools would constantly disappear, and many of them suffered falls from ladders.  We walked through the open area and felt certain indescribable feeling.  I thought it felt a bit like restlessness.  But my friend told me that I was always feeling restless.  We have toured many of the legendary haunted places in the Western United States, and I have yet to have had a feeling such as I did that day in Austin, but I also have yet to see the misty, mythological beings that many claim, still walk the world of the living.

Kelly graduated from law school three years ago and had been working in small time offices as a law clerk when she finally had the opportunity to interview for a larger firm and as an associate. She planned her trip three weeks in advance and continually double-checked her plan reservations as well as those for her room in one of the luxury hotels DC. Sure it seemed a little extreme that a poor law clerk could be splurging on luxury accommodations, but Kelly felt like treating herself to the best she could afford. Well, by afford she meant charge. She felt that a day in the resort’s spa would help her to perform her best during the next day’s interview.

She also wanted to celebrate the fact that she landed the interview in the first place. And on top of that it was going to be a symbolic introduction to the rest of her life, which she hopped would begin in DC. Kelly invited her good friend Callie to go with her and Callie readily accepted. The two of them were going to have one fabulous time in DC, and maybe even tour some of the neighborhoods and pick out a small condo or apartment for Kelly to eventually move into.

While they were there they both wanted to tour the White House but they were surprised to learn that all of the tours were completely filled up. They found out that they could have scheduled an appointment for tour up to six months ago and that they should have at least scheduled one thirty days ago. Then they couldn’t believe that they didn’t assume as much or at least check it out in advance. Oh, well, they decided there would be plenty of time to make the tour once Kelly lived there and Callie could visit anytime she wanted. As expected, when they arrived at Capital Hill reservations were required for that too. They suddenly laughed at their lack of preparation and enjoyed walking along this symbolic stretch. Fortunately, they knew they would need tickets for the Kennedy Center and would be able to attend the ballet that night.

With arts programming constantly under threat of being radically under-funded, it is always inspiring to see young, and old, artists who are willing to continue doing the work at any cost.  It’s always a labor of love to make a career in art, and is often tantamount to a calling of an almost spiritual dimension.  No one in their right mind considers make art, outside of film and television, to be a potentially lucrative career path, so when we meet artists with intelligence and a few years’ experience under their belts, they usually have something important to offer the culture at large.

It’s even more exciting when one discovers that the work is, indeed, splendid, according to many definitions, and to see work that speaks to a local as well as a global audience.  These are some of the reasons why Philadelphia has risen up in recent years as a place to watch.  Rather than scaling back and doing fewer works, and safer works, the art scene here seems to be producing lots of exciting new things.  When visiting Philadelphia, cheap hotel prices make it even more attractive to stay longer, and it’s possible to really get connected to a wonderful community.

If you have the opportunity to see work by the local Headlong Dance Theatre, by all means, take it.  This is an exciting group that does consistently excellent work.  They were groundbreaking over 15 years ago, and they still are.  Those years of accomplishments have also honed their ability to tell edgy and interesting stories that spin contemporary culture in simultaneously absurd and necessary directions.  If you have the chance to see them in the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, that’s even better, because there’s hundreds of other exciting acts performing stunning new work that might make you decide visiting the city is not enough.

Laura Robson is easily a favorite for the Australian Open Tennis coming soon because of her roots: she has Australian blood through her family, though her accent gives away where she was raised—the United Kingdom.  Her family has deep ties to Australia due to the fact that her great grandfather was president of the Australian Rules Football Club, for which the grandstand they hold is named after him.  Her uncle also has something to do with sports in Australia: in the seventies, he helped in the Premiership win of South Fremantle.  With athletics in her blood, she will be playing with Andy Murray, a favorite for the Australian Open too, which coincidentally is the initial event for the grand slam.  The whole thing starts on a Monday.

However, though these two are favorites, especially among the Australians because of Robson’s heritage, they do face some heavy opposition and the games up until the tennis open and during it may provide them with fiercer opposition than either of them suspected.  While he won against Sabine Lisicki and her partner Philipp Kohlschreiber (who is placed in the twenty seventh rank), both representatives of Germany, it was not the easy wins for which people know him for his impressive skills.  It was 2 to 1 win, which forebodes that Robson and Murray might need to put in more effort and time than previously expected.  Yet Robson is an impressive player, even after a few false starts during some of her games, as Sabine Lisicki commented on when playing against the talented fifteen year old.

Due to her age, Robson does not qualify for all that the Australian Open offers.  She can only play about twelve games with 3 wildcards.  If she ever wants to play against the primo players of tennis, she will have to  improve upon her ranking even though her talent on the court more than qualifies her for greater fare.  She is someone to watch out for as a young, up and coming star of the courts.

The summer months are the best time to visit Seattle Washington. So start your search for a room at a great hotel, Seattle awaits. There is plenty of things to do while you visit this quaint city. You could start with a great view of the city and surrounding areas by spending some time in the Space Needle. It is the defining landmark of the city. It was built for the 1962 Worlds Fair in the cities center. It stands 605 feet tall and for the year it was built it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. It was built to stand tall even with 200 mile per hour winds and 9.1 magnitude earthquakes. It would have survived the 1700 Cascadia Earthquake, so they thought. Oh and if you look hard enough you can see the 25 lightning rods on the roof to protect it from the lightning storms.

In the summer time on a clear sunny day visitors can take a 43 second ride to the top and grab some cocktails in the rotating SkyCity restaurant, which was originally called Eye of the Needle. The floor will move you around in slow moving circle while you enjoy a featured dish. Every table has a great view so you don’t have to worry about getting stuck in some dark back room. With in an hour you will have been on a full rotation and been able to see every view from its towering, central location. See the city below, enjoy the Olympic Mountains as they light up with a sunset or enjoy watching all the fairy boats come and go from the near by Vashon or Bainbridge islands. For a breath of fresh air and continued enjoyment take your martini out onto the observation deck.

This wonderful building has been featured in a few movies and television shows. The animated show The Simpsons has mentioned or shown the needle at least five times as well as SpongeBob SquarePants making their version call the Sea Needle. It made it’s movie debut with It Happened at the Worlds Fair in 1963 with Elvis Presley. Then made an appearance in The Parallax View in 1974 with Warren Beatty. Most recently, in the 1999 Mike Myers smash hit, Austin Powers: They Spy Who Shagged Me.

Ever since its inception, the internet has had far reaching implications for every aspect of society.  It has changed the way we communicate.  It has changed the way we think.  It has changed the way we do business.  The recent fiasco with sports figure Tiger Woods is perhaps a great example of this.  Though he plays sports, his name has become a brand.  He has numerous advertisements that he does and tons of money from doing them.  His name and fame have made him a fortune.

Unfortunately, the way in which he handled the extramarital affairs scandal has affected that brand name he has worked hard on producing and cultivating.  Proper reputation management would have helped him out immensely, rather than the silence he chose for those few days after the allegations came out.  His brand took years to build, but yet had been destroyed in a matter of days.  Some could probably argue hours.  Bloggers and other social media sites tore him down, and his silent approach only fertilized their efforts.

Good online reputation management could have prevented all that.  It helps a company to protect its brand and name from customers who have no real grievances: there are times when a company has done all it can to help a customer out, but that customer simple has a chip on their shoulder.  However, in instances where a company has fault, online reputation management has a more difficult job of fixing things, though not an impossible one.

There are certain things to track and keep an eye on, namely, everything about your company.  The employees, your services, your products, your customers, and so on.  After all, online reputation management can only do so much if your company has a bad rep for a good reason.   You should also know your competitor and information related to your industry and what you do.  There is also more monitoring to consider: news feeds, search engine keywords, message boards, groups.  The point of monitoring sites like this is to see where your company stands on the internet.  Then from there, you can understand where you need to take your company or what you need to do to maintain it.