~ Artist and designer Ron Finley could not help but notice what
was going on in his backyard, South
Central Los Angeles. Describing the area as “the home of the drive-thru and the
drive-by,” Finley decided that it was way past time to try and do something
about just one aspect of the many issues facing the area―and that was (and is)
the area’s poor health and high mortality rate, with one in two kids
contracting a curable disease like Type 2 diabetes.
He started working with the organization L.A. GreenGrounds to install a vegetable garden on the 150
ft x 10 ft patch of ground in front of his house, that strip between the
sidewalk and the street that the city owns but the resident has to keep up.
What happened when he did this, becomes the heart of this inspiring talk, which
has in turn inspired many other people in L.A. and elsewhere to take control of
their health and urban environments.
"We’ve got to make this [gardening] sexy,” he
proclaims. “Let’s all become renegades, gangsta gardeners. We have to flip the
script on what a gangsta is. If you ain’t a gardener, you ain’t gangsta. Let
that be your weapon of choice!”
This odd building stands on the corner of 161st Street
and Melrose Avenue, New York City. It is a bit over 4ft. in depth, 17ft.
frontage, and one and a-half storeys high, with a basement and sub-basement
built under the broad sidewalk, extending to the curb. The house itself is of
wood, on a steel frame, and has a slate roof.
Its owner is an eccentric tailor, who lives and carries
on his trade below the street. The interior consists of a small show-room, a
store-room, and spiral iron stairway going down to the "lower
regions." The upper storey seems to have been constructed merely as a
finishing touch. It is reached by an iron ladder from the store-room. The
entire construction, appointments, and fittings are very ingenious, and are all
the ideas of the owner.
The story of the house is that the original lot was cut
away in opening the avenue, save only the few feet now occupied by the
building. A controversy arose between the tailor and the owner of the adjoining
property regarding the disposal of the small strip, and the tailor becoming
enraged because his neighbour would neither sell his property nor pay the price
the knight of the shears demanded, built this odd structure out of spite. The
photo. was taken just at the completion of the building, and before the street
had been fully paved. It shows, however, the dimensions of the building, and
also the construction under the street, etc. Photo. sent in by Mr. W. R. Yard,
156, Fifth Avenue, New York City."
Recently, I was indulging my curiosity on the Gutenberg site, and on a whim decided to take a look at a copy of The Strand Magazine, dating from February 1899. To my delight I saw a piece called 'The Spite House', which I have reproduced in full above. Of course, I immediately had to Google the address (161st
Street and Melrose Avenue, New York City), and used Street View to see what
buildings were standing at the intersection today, and not surprisingly this
odd little building has long disappeared.
I love the serendipitous nature of the Internet, and how one link leads to another and then another. I also take delight in discovering amazing facts and bits of information about any number of things I may not have been specifically searching for, but gain great satisfaction from learning about anyway. One such example, out of many, involves my regular monitoring of the latest uploads to Gutenberg.Org. I have written before about this wonderful organization that has digitised more than 40,000 books, which are now in the public domain (that is, copyright free). The books are then made freely available via their website.
I’ll have more to say about Project Gutenberg at a future
date, but until then, why not check the site out for yourself.
You will be amazed at the range of books and authors available via the site.
~ On Saturday, June 14, 2008, a Festival of Greek Dance was
held in the village of Rahes, on the Aegean island of Ikaria, and this film,
one of several I have put together, shows the final dance of the night. The
tune is known as the Ikariotiko (or The Ikarian), and is the island’s
traditional tune and dance.
The festival took place on the village basketball court,
under lights that attracted hundreds of moths and other airborne insects which
fell constantly onto the heads of the audience below. This probably explains
why only half the lights were turned on during the performances. Unfortunately,
this also made it extremely difficult to get good, well lit footage of the
dances.
Audience chatter and the constant movement of children and
adults across the 'stage' seems to be part and parcel of any event of this
type, given the location, and the hot summer night. In the end, it all goes
towards creating yet another unforgettable and unique Greek island experience.
The wonderful thing about this festival is the way the
community totally involves itself in the event. Rather than assume the constant
chatter and movement as being disrespectful to the musicians and dancers, it is
instead a sign of the audiences involvement and connection with the music and
dancing.
Quite frankly, I'm surprised the adults didn't get up and
dance during the three hour show themselves. Greeks find it very difficult to
sit and watch something like this, when their natural inclination is to get up
and join in.
Throughout the night, local children stood at the edges of
the performance space intently watching the feet of the dancers, while they
tried to follow the steps of each dance. As everyone (dance troupes and
visitors alike), got ready to join the final dance.
This was the signal for children of all ages to join the
long lines―generally at the end of each line, as tradition dictates―to learn,
and carry on the island traditions. It would of course be unthinkable to tell
the children to keep out of the way while the adults did 'their thing'. The
children are literally learning at the feet of the adult dancers.
The music is performed here on a Tsampouna, an instrument
made out of goat skin, which has obvious links to the Scottish bagpipe and the
gaida. I should also add, the Ikariotiko is played constantly at festivals,
weddings, parties, in deed at celebrations and occasions of all types. And not
just once per night, but many times. Each musician has his or her own variation
of the tune, and some musicians are still remembered and spoken about today,
long after their passing, because of the way they played the dance. I love how
the musician actually spends a full minute and 20 seconds (1:20), playing an
extended introduction to the main tune. This gives audience and performers
alike plenty of time to make their way onto the basketball court and join lines
in readiness for the dance to begin.
To my great regret, I did not get the name of the female
playing the Tsampouna, nor did I take any footage of her during the dance,
which finished off the evening's entertainment. However, as chance would have
it, she happened to walk past my camera just before I turned it off at the end
of the dance. I have captured a frame from the video and added it as a still
image just before the final credits appear as a way to acknowledge her
performance.
A comment added to one of my other videos suggests the
musician is Eva Kratsa. Another source thought she lived on the island of
Mykonos.
I stayed at the Palace Hotel during December 2010. Don’t be
fooled by the name, though. As hotels go, this is basic at best, but for my
money, the price couldn’t be beaten. I paid just €35/night – or €350 for a ten
night stay in a budget hotel that was within easy walking distance of some of
Paris’s most popular attractions. Oh, and don’t confuse this Palace Hotel with
the much grander Golden Tulip Little Palace hotel nearby, where the same ten
nights would have cost me €2,300 or more!
Given that it has been more than two years since my stay, I
must stress that this review may be doing the hotel owners a great disservice,
since any number of conditions may have changed during the intervening 28
months. However, I have read more recent reviews for the Palace Hotel, and
judging from the comments left by other guests, it seems that
little has in fact changed.
Room 5: At least the bed was comfortable
While writing this entry, I checked current room rates and
to my amazement the prices are almost the same as they were in 2010. However,
it is a well known truism that ‘You get what you pay for’, so I can’t stress enough
that you get the absolute basics for this price: a wardrobe, small desk, bed,
and bathroom. My room did not have the usual extras such as hair-dryer,
television, refrigerator, air-conditioner, complimentary tea and coffee, free
Continental breakfast, or much else in that regard.
The hotel does offer breakfast (baguettes, butter and jam,
coffee, tea etc), but at an additional cost of €4.50 each day. WiFi was also
available when I was there, but the signal was quite weak in my room, despite
the fact that it was almost directly above the reception area.
Room 5: bathroom
I should also point out that some rooms do not have their
own en-suite bathroom/shower, in which case guests must use shared facilities.
These rooms are of course priced at lower rates than those with en-suites – currently
€25-€30/night.
The hotel owners were friendly and despite their limited
English (and my non-existent French), were always eager to help in any way they
could to ensure my stay there was positive.
The neighbourhood around the hotel has many good local cafes
and Boulangerie’s, as well as other low-cost shopping outlets. A brisk 30
minute walk will get you to the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, Les Halles, the
Pompidou Centre, the Louvre and the Tuileries Garden. Even the famed Basilique
du Sacre-Coeur in Montmartre can be reached on foot in less than 45 minutes.
Room 5: wardrobe and 'desk'
Would I stay at the Palace Hotel again? Most definitely. I
think it would be hard to beat the current prices being asked at the hotel, and
given its location, it still remains a great choice for visitors on a limited
budget.
Craft & Vision use as their tag
line: More Great Ways to Make Stronger Photographs, and the talented
photographers who comprise the Craft & Vision team of writers surely live
up to that motto. More than 50 beautifully produced eBooks are available as PDF
downloads from the C&V website.
Incredibly, most of the eBooks cost as little as US$5.00
each, and all are packed with stunning images, and great content by
writer/photographers who know intimately the topics they are writing about.
Right now, C&V are offering free downloads of Craft
& Vision II (see link below), so I thought I should give you a ‘heads up’
about the freebie, and mention a couple of other great photography eBooks you
might want to check out. However, as mentioned, there are many other books
worth examining in detail, so head over to the Craft & Vision website and take
a look through the complete collection.
Craft & Vision II: Another Free eBook
This gorgeous 45-page PDF eBook has nine articles that will
help photographers of all levels make stronger photographs. Martin Bailey, Piet
Van den Eynde, Nicole S. Young, Dave Delnea, Sean McCormack, and David duChemin
have written articles exclusively for this eBook.
Articles cover such topics as making sharper images and
learning to shoot in manual mode; developing smarter; balancing flash with
ambient light; learning to see light; developing style and consistency;
isolating your subjects; experimenting with B&W; and coping strategies for
challenging light.
Speaking about this free eBook offer, Craft & Vision say:
“Consider it a random act of kindness to the photography community we so
passionately serve. Aside from the great articles contained in the eBook, you
will also discover an exclusive promotional offer, we call it the C&V
Starter Kit, where you can save USD $16 and get another four amazing products
to help take your photography skills to the next level.”
The best things in life may be free, but generally we have
to pay for the things we want. The Craft & Vision team have produced a
whole range of great eBooks aimed directly at all photographers – whether
amateur or professional. Here are a couple of my personal favourites…
Beyond Thirds: A Photographer's
Introduction to Creative Composition This inspiring eBook from Andrew S.
Gibson, is about taking composition past the so-called rules. It’s a
thoughtful, practical book about the way we build our photographs within the
constraint of the frame.
Andrew moves past the traditional discussion of thirds by
showing how a more holistic approach can turn a conventional rule into a
powerful tool. The eBook explores important subjects like the creative use of
balance and focal points, insights into how to shape a subject, and using
aspect ratio to establish an ideal foundation for making photographs, and so
much more!
The diagrams and creative exercises will provide you with
the ideas and insights you need to compose more engaging photographs.
BELOW THE HORIZON: Understanding Light at the Edges of Day,
was written by Dave Delnea, a photographer whose commercial work includes some
of the finest resort properties in the world.
Delnea’s ability to see and capture the mood present in
light at the edges of day have garnered him some exceptional clients and
produced some amazing images.
His secret is no secret at all; simply to understand and
capture the light that is uniquely present when the sun is below the horizon
and other photographers have put their cameras away. Highly recommended.
I am on the organization’s mailing list, and their latest
‘On The Hip’ e-newsletter lists a number of forthcoming activities, including
the very popular Hidden [New York] Harbor Tours.
I have joined three previous Hidden Harbor Tours (two in
2010, and another in 2012), and I consider them to be some of the best ‘hidden
gems’ of any visit to New York. You can read my account about one of those
tours here…
Image courtesy of Working Harbor Committee
Among events scheduled from now until the end of summer, are
a series of narrated tours under the theme: Beyond Sandy: Keeping the
Conversation Alive, as well as more Hidden Harbor Tours.
Beyond Sandy,
is described as a series of special Hidden Harbor Tours exploring the many
issues and plans arising from Super Storm Sandy, that focus on the array of
global warming and sea-level rise protection alternatives being discussed by
government, private institutions and citizens. Special guest speakers will
discuss and pose questions such as: Are Netherlands-style sea barriers the
answer? How did various neighborhoods fare and why? Fight the ocean or retreat?
And How did the working harbor fare and help?
Each tour will have two guest speakers from a number of
sources: the maritime industry, government agencies, private industry, think
tanks and universities, as well as other noted experts. The tours are two hours
in length and visit Red Hook, Sunset Park, The Verrazano Bridge, Staten Island,
Bayonne and Hoboken, the lower Manhattan shoreline and many points in between.
The tours leave from Pier 16 at the South Street Seaport
District (itself heavily impacted by Sandy – under 6 feet of water) at 6:30
p.m. on the large three-deck motor vessel Zephyr
There will be three different tours:
Tour 1 - High Seas
on the Inner Harbor: From Wall Street to Snug Harbor This
tour is from the Verrazano Bridge to Hoboken, including Brooklyn, Staten
Island, New Jersey, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. See where giant sea
gates are proposed.Tuesday
- 21 May, 2013Tuesday
- 18 June, 2013
Tour
2 - Fire, Floods and Floating Containers: East River - Hell Gate to Governors
Island This
tour traverses the East River from Queens to Governors Island, including the
East Side of Manhattan, Newtown Creek and Brooklyn Navy Yard. See the site of
the giant electric sub-station explosion.Tuesday
- 28 May, 2013Tuesday
- 25 June, 2013
Tour
3 – Protecting Our Ports: From Red Hook to Newark Bay.This
tour traverses Kill van Kull to Newark Bay, including container terminals, oil
docks, tug yards, and rail yards. Learn how close we came to a goods delivery
crisis.Tuesday
- 4 June, 2013
Hosted by Bill Miller, this tour will begin by passing
around the southern tip of Manhattan and the large ferry terminals to Staten
Island and Governors Island.
It will also travel north up along the west side of
Manhattan passing the Battery and Castle Clinton, then most of Hudson River
Park, including historic ships, ferry terminals, fireboat terminals, historic
Pier 57, Chelsea Piers, excursion boats, the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space
Museum and finally the passenger ship terminals.
The tour will then cross over to the New Jersey side passing
the historic Hoboken waterfront, scene of "On The Waterfront",
another active shipyard, Morris Canal entrance and finally, as all tours do, it
will visit the Statue of Liberty before returning to Pier 16.
The tour departs from Pier 16 at the South Street Seaport
District at 6:30 p.m. on the large three-deck motor vessel Zephyr
TICKETS:
Adults: $39.00 | Children (3-12 yrs): $25.00 | Seniors:
$32.00
WHC, South Street Seaport and THIRTEEN Members: $32.00
Here is a short video I put together after my 2012 Hidden
Harbor Tour:
I would dearly love to join one of the above Hidden Harbor
Tours, but sadly, I won’t be visiting New York City this year. However, if I
visit again in 2014 as I hope to do, a fourth tour will be definitely part of
my trip.
Additional Hidden Harbor Tours including Port
Newark/Port Elizabeth and Brooklyn are being planned for July, August and
September. If you think these unique tours might appeal to you, I highly
recommend you signup for ‘On The Hip’, the official e-newsletter of the Working
Harbor Committee, and bookmark the organization’s blog for ongoing news and information.
Famous last words, perhaps? Click to view full size.
In a previous entry on this blog, I wrote about my visit to
the Museum of Natural History in New York City. Part of what I wrote concerned the destruction of the
passenger pigeon. Once numbering in the billions, the last surviving member of
that species died almost 100 years ago, in 1914. But what if there was a way to
bring back the passenger pigeon? Or the woolly mammoth? Or any number of other
extinct species?
Incredibly, utilising science, technology and advances in
DNA research, scientists are now close to the point where it is possible to
bring extinct species back to life. In this TED Talk, Stewart Brand (the Whole
Earth Catalog, The WELL, the Global Business Network, the Long Now Foundation,
etc), outlines ongoing research and long term plans to de-extinct some of the
animals that have disappeared from the planet.
Granted, resurrecting the woolly mammoth using ancient DNA
may sound like mad science. But Brand’s Revive and Restore project has an
entirely rational goal: to learn what causes extinctions so we can protect
currently endangered species, preserve genetic and biological diversity, repair
depleted ecosystems, and essentially “undo harm that humans have caused in the
past.”
Watch Stuart Brand’s TED Talk now...
Stewart Brand's newest book is Whole
Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto. He is also the author of How
Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built.
~ So when you travel, where do you prefer to sit: window,
aisle or middle seat?
I am definitely a window seat traveller. When I take
international flights, I prefer the window seat, not because I can spend most
of the flight looking at the scenery from the window – at 30,000 feet, there is
not a lot of scenery to see passing over the Pacific Ocean between Australia
and North America.
No, I choose window seats because I can wedge myself up
against the internal fuselage of the aircraft and get a reasonable amount of
sleep without being disturbed by the comings and goings of the other passengers
sharing my seating section. The ability to look at the landscape once the plane
is passing over areas of country is an added bonus
Gulf Coast from Greyhound Bus window
When travelling by bus or train, I again choose window
seats. I am not one of those travellers who bury their head in a book or
digital device, or who try to blot out my surroundings by listening to music
through a pair of tiny ear buds.
I spend most of the trip looking out the window at the
passing parade of small towns and villages, with their pedestrians and local
traffic; examining the local architecture, both civic and private; and trying
get an understanding (no matter how brief and fleeting) of the lives and loves
of the local population.
How about you. Where do you prefer to sit, and why?
Feel free to share your opinions and thoughts via the Comments section below.
~ I paid a visit to the National September 11 Memorial in New
York City during August 2012. I
expected to be much more emotionally affected by the site, but I wasn't.
On my way to the Memorial site, I also dropped into St. Paul's
Chapel, a building I have visited on numerous occasions during my trips to New
York, and here I was once more emotionally engaged with the Chapel and the
displays there – although these seem to be shrinking as the years pass.
I think the difference between the two sites is that St.
Paul’s Chapel connects with you on a personal level, partly because of its
accessibility and scale, while the National September 11 Memorial is massive
and almost impersonal - despite the almost three thousand names displayed
there. Of course, the Chapel still stands, while the towers of the World Trade
Center now only exist in our memories, and in the multitude of audio-visual
artifacts that remain.
Clearly, visitors with a direct connection to the site will
be much more emotionally engaged than myself, and indeed while there, I saw
visitors making rubbings of the names of people they knew who were victims of
the attacks. Also, once the museum, with its many artifacts and exhibits is
finally open, I am sure the whole experience will be much more affecting.
I expect to return to the completed Memorial on subsequent
visits to New York City, and I will be interested to see how the experience
compares to my August visit. If you are visiting New York, a visit to the
National September 11 Memorial is certainly worth the long queues and security
checkpoints. Like other major memorial sites (war memorials, Holocaust
memorials, and such), the Memorial serves to remind us of the tragedy it
commemorates, and to keep alive the memories of the thousands of men, women and
children (some unborn), who were victims of the attacks.
Here is a short video I made following my visit:
The song is Sweet Forgiveness, by one of my favourite
artists, Iris DeMent… www.irisdement.com
~ During my three week house sitting stint in Melbourne over
January, I frequently found myself hanging out at the city’s Federation Square.
The square has become the active heart of Melbourne with some type of event, or
events taking place there throughout the summer, and at other times of the year.
While I was there, a major installation, Ballroom,
attracted much attention from visitors and locals alike. The installation was
created by American artist, Patrick Dougherty, who bends, weaves, snags and
flexes a humble pile of sticks to create works of art that are inseparable from
nature and landscape. Over the last twenty five years, Dougherty has build more
than two hundred works throughout the Untied States, Canada, Europe and Asia,
with every piece mesmerising in its ability to fly through trees, overtake
buildings, and virtually defy gravity.
In addition to freestanding structures, Patrick’s art
functions just as easily as adornments. What shape the works take, depends very
much on the site and methodology used.
The work took three weeks, or 2000 hours, to build with the
help of 70 volunteers. In part inspired by the architecture of Flinders Street
Station, Patrick named this piece, Ballroom.
Speaking about the installation, Patrick had this to say: “I
think that a good sculpture is one that evokes in the viewer a wealth of
personal associations. My viewers see stick castles, lairs, nests,
architectural follies; and they remember moments in the woods building forts
and hide outs.
I hear stories about the Garden of Eden, favourite trees,
and secrets about first dates. Some viewers touch the surfaces and talk about
the momentum of wind of other forces of the natural world. Most important,
people love to explore strange shapes and hidden spaces, particularly if they
encounter them in unlikely spots. I like to see children running towards the
openings and people standing on the street and pointing. I like to spark
people’s imaginations and connect them with nature in a surprising way.”
Here is a brief video I
shot of the installation during my stay:
~ For most of my life I have lived in Adelaide, Australia, and
although I like to say that Adelaide is a nice place to come home to, the more
I travel the more I am beginning to feel that I have roots in other countries
and cities around the world.
My parents were Greeks who immigrated to Australia
just prior to the Second World War, and of course I have visited the island my
parents came from – Ikaria – on multiple occasions.
Two of my sisters have
returned to live on the island, and both have children and grandchildren
growing up there. I consider Ikaria to be my first home away from home, having
visited several times during the 1970s, and again in 2008 and 2010.
South Street Seaport, NYC.
New York City Dreaming
When I landed at New York City’s JFK airport following an
exhausting flight from Australia, my return to that city in 2012 for my third
visit in six years, also seemed like coming home.
When I boarded the A-train
for the Washington Heights apartment (and two cats), I would be ‘house’ sitting
for the second time, it was a great feeling, and it was all I could do to
suppress an open smile. Let me tell you though, smiling openly on a 6:00am
A-train full of sleepy New Yorkers heading into Manhattan for the start of the
working day is probably not a good idea.
I first went to New York in 2008, and have returned every
two years since. There more I go, the more I love it, and the more that city
also begins to feel like home. I hope to return to the Big Apple again in 2014,
which should pretty much cement its place in my mind as my second home away
from home.
Federation Square, Melbourne
Wherever I Lay My Hat I have been house sitting for friends in Melbourne for the
past four years, and every time I return to that city, it too feels like coming
home. Then there are my visits to an American cousin in Tucson, Arizona in 2010
and again in 2012. If I get a chance to visit again – and I certainly hope to –
I know that Tucson will also join the list of cities that have become my
surrogate homes as I continue to travel and occasionally retrace my steps
around the world.
What all these locations have in common is the familiarity I
have developed with them: knowing how to find my way around what were once
strange cities and landscapes; knowing where the nearest supermarket, ATM,
subway station or bus stop is to my home away from home; and knowing enough
about a location to be able to offer advice and information to people who are
themselves looking for assistance. Then there is the joy I get from returning
to favorite locations within each of these cities: Federation Square and the
crowded alleys of Melbourne; the South Street Seaport and Bryant Park in New
York City; the tiny villages and summer festivals of Ikaria; and the giant
Saguaro cactus plants that dot the dry desert landscape around Tucson, Arizona. But most of all, it is great to be able to continue my
explorations in each of these locations to broaden my knowledge and
understanding about each city, and the people who live and work there.
Adelaide is a great place to return home to, but I
can’t wait to again revisit my various homes away from home, and add other
countries and cities to those already mentioned here.
~ I checked into the Value Inn Worldwide hotel in Los Angeles on Monday, July 30, 2012, after an 18
hour flight from Adelaide, Australia (which included a brief stopover in
Melbourne).
Although I was on my way to New York City, I figured even one night
in L.A. would help me deal with the inevitable jet lag I knew I was going to
experience. The hotel was the first of eight hotels stays I would have during my
three month visit to America.
Check in: The check in process was quick and uncomplicated. Just the thing you need after an 18 hour flight.
Reception Staff: The Indian lady on reception was friendly
and efficient. She said she used to live in Sydney, and knew of Adelaide as the 'City of
Churches'. So far, so good.
Image courtesy of hotel website
Cleanliness: I was allocated room 202. Although the hotel is
a little dowdy, my room had been cleaned just before my arrival, and everything looked ship shape and gave me no reason to complain.
Location: the hotel is located on West Century Boulevard, which leads straight too and from LAX international airport - just three or four miles away. The neighbourhood itself seems typical for Los Angeles: fast food outlets, cheap hotels and motels, dollar supermarkets, car wash establishments and such like. There is a Chinese take away across from the hotel, and a Panda Express a couple of blocks away. These are handy since meals are not available at the hotel.
Facilities: These include free wired and wireless high-speed
internet, free unlimited local and long distance domestic phone calls, and guest laundry.
Image courtesy of hotel website
Additional features and services include in-room coffee
makers, microwaves, refrigerators, iron and ironing boards, hairdryers, safes,
satellite TV with premium movie and sports channels, and much more. A full list
of hotel facilities can be accessed here…
The WiFi reception was fine in my room and came free, a
service Australian hotels would do well to emulate. Traffic noise was bearable.
This was LA after all, and there was no noticeable aircraft noise despite the
proximity of the airport a few miles down the highway.
Breakfast: The Value
Inn website refers to their breakfast offering as a "complimentary deluxe continental breakfast", however, I thought it was fairly basic even though there was plenty of it. Choices consisted of apple
or cranberry juice, tea and coffee, Cornflakes or Cheerios, muffins, waffles,
toast and jam, and I guess water if you include that as part of breakfast.
Image courtesy of hotel website
So much for my Los Angeles stopover. From airport to hotel
to bed to airport again. Still, it was never intended to be more than a short
break to help me get over the long flight, and reset my body clock from the
southern hemisphere to the northern one.
The hotel does not provide a pick up or drop off service for
LAX. My taxi fare to the hotel from the airport was $20.00, and the return fare
was $15.00 – including tips.
Recommendation: Let's face it, most hotels near large international airports are designed to cater to clients who are generally looking for one or two nights accommodation while they are on the way to somewhere else more interesting, and the Value Inn Worldwide fulfils this brief perfectly well. Based on my one night stay (hardly a scientific study, I know), I am happy to recommend the hotel for just this purpose. As budget hotels go, it was clean, the staff I spoke to were friendly and welcoming, the price was right, and it was close to the airport which is another reason I chose it. 3.5 stars.
After hotel costs, transport and food, one of the biggest
additions to the cost of any travel is the cost of sightseeing and visiting
city attractions. In a city like New York, which has more places to visit than
one could reasonably expect to see in a life time of travel, any system that
helps reduce costs has to be worth looking at. In this post I want to write
specifically about my two favorite ‘go to’ sites that offer the chance to score
tickets to a wide range of events at vastly reduced prices. These are TKTS and
Goldstar.
Most visitors to New York City, and the locals living there
full time, are aware that discounted tickets to many New York theatre
productions – including popular Broadway shows – can be found by visiting one
of the city’s TKTS outlets.
The Theatre Development Fund (TDF), is the not-for-profit
performing arts service organization that operates the TKTS Discount Booths.
TKTS Discount Booths offer tickets to Broadway and Off Broadway musicals and
plays at up to 50% off. The (TDF) operates three TKTS Discount Booths in New
York City.
1. The Times Square Booth (under the red steps at
Broadway and 47th Street), sells day-of-performance discount tickets. You can
also purchase full-price tickets to future performances for all shows and
same-day full-price tickets to shows that aren't being discounted.
2. The Downtown Brooklyn Booth (in 1 MetroTech
Center, at the corner of Jay Street and Myrtle Avenue Promenade, Brooklyn),
sells tickets to evening performances on the day of the performance and matinee
tickets the day before as well as tickets to Brooklyn performing arts events.
3. The South Street Seaport Booth (in the Seaport Marketplace at the corner of
Front and John Streets, Manhattan) sells tickets to evening performances on the
day of the performance and matinee tickets the day before. NOTE: As of this
posting, the booth is closed until further notice due to water damage from
Hurricane Sandy. Keep an eye on the TKTS website for
news and information regarding when this booth will reopen.
All locations sell tickets at 50%, 40%, 30% and 20% off full
price (plus a $4.00 per ticket service charge, which helps support other TDF services
and programs. Availability and ticket inventory change throughout the day and
are always at the discretion of individual theatre productions. Currently you
are not able to purchase discounted tickets to shows in New York City via the
Theatre Development Fund website. You have to visit a TKTS Booth personally, or
use one of the apps available for this purpose (see below).
Goldstar states that it has the largest online listing of
half-price offers to live entertainment in the world, and I’m not about to
argue with that. I first learned about Goldstar in 2010 while on a nine hour
cruise from Manhattan to Bear Mountain (up the Hudson River) with the Classic Harbor Line, for which I had paid US$160.00. A
fellow passenger, who had purchased her ticket through Goldstar had only paid
US$90.00, for her discounted ticket.
Unlike TKTS, which only sells discounted tickets to theatre
shows in New York City, I have since used Goldstar to buy discounted tickets to
major league baseball games, theatre shows, roller derby events, harbor
cruises, and more. As I write, Goldstar are selling tickets for the three hour Bateaux
New York Dinner Cruises during March and April priced at around $99.65-$103.65,
compared with the full price of $166.10-$172.75. Considerable savings by any
measure. Alternatively, the Central Park Walking Tour they are also
currently selling is half priced ($22.50 instead of $45.00) for dates during
March and April.
The really great news is that again, unlike the TKTS Booths
which are only available in New York City, Goldstar offers discounts to
hundreds of events in more than 30 cities across the United States. These
include Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Diego, San
Francisco and Washington, D.C. An added bonus is that Goldstar tickets can be
bought online through their website, and via their
iPhone app (see below).
There’s an App For That!
Both TKTS and Goldstar have apps available to make it easy
for visitors to purchase tickets without the hassle of joining long queues.
According to information about the TKTS app at iTunes:
The Official TKTS app, available free of charge for
iPhone, Android and Windows Phone, is the only way to get fast, accurate,
real-time listings of all Broadway and Off Broadway shows available at the
world-famous TKTS Discount Booths in New York City. The Official TKTS app is
directly linked to the display boards at the TKTS Discount Booths, so what you're
seeing, in real time, is exactly what the people waiting in line are seeing.
Note: This app is being marketed specifically as the Goldstar Weekend app, and as the name suggests, the app appears to offer event discounts
for weekend performances only. Here’s what Goldstar themselves say about the
app:
You might be busy this weekend,
but a packed schedule doesn’t mean you have something fun to do, right? That’s
where Goldstar Weekend comes in. Goldstar Weekend helps you discover and buy
tickets to music, sports, theater, comedy and more in two minutes or less. Upon
launch, you are taken to the closest weekend day. There you can browse up to 10
top events in your area, read about them and share with friends.
I myself have not used either of the above apps, so I can not
offer comments or reviews of their ease of use or other comments. In fact,
until I sat down to write this post, I didn’t know the two companies had apps,
and for all I know the apps weren’t available when I was visiting New York City
during the summer of 2012. However, I have used the TKTS booths while in New
York City, and in the case of Goldstar, I have always made a point of
pre-booking events via the full website, before my arrival in the city. Using the Goldstar website, you can purchase discounted tickets non-weekend events.
I don’t know if readers are familiar with TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design). Each year, this organisation brings together some of the world’s leading thinkers, innovators, entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, and others for conferences that inspire and offer hope that the world really is a wonderful place, and that there is some hope for humanity, if we can only get over our ignorance, prejudices and arrogance.
I have been watching some of the archived videos of many of the fantastic talks delivered at TED conferences over the years, and have downloaded a bunch of my favourite speakers. One of my current favourites is the following talk and video from Louie Schwartzberg, titled: Nature. Beauty. Gratitude.
As the introduction to the video states on the TED website: Nature’s beauty can be easily missed -- but not through Louie Schwartzberg’s lens. His stunning time-lapse photography, accompanied by powerful words from Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast, serves as a meditation on being grateful for every day.
So my gift to you on this, the first day of 2013, comes to you by way of TED, Louie Schwartzberg, and the remarkable young girl and venerable monk seen in the video presentation within this video. Enjoy.
