Australian speakers seem to be few
and far between on TED, so I was particularly pleased to watch this talk by the
former cross-country skier, Janine Shepherd.
Janine was aiming for an Olympic
medal―until she was hit by a truck during a training bike ride through the Blue
Mountains (60-90 minutes from Sydney). Shephard’s doctors did not expect her to
survive, and when she did, they warned her that she would never walk again. But
she not only learned to walk again―she learned to fly.
Janine focused intently for years on healing both her broken
body and crushed morale. A turning point came watching small planes flying
overhead. She decided: “If I can’t walk, I’ll fly.” While still in a full body
cast, Janine was lifted into an aircraft for her first flight. Within a year
she had her private pilot’s license. Later, she earned her commercial pilots
license and instructor’s rating. Janine recently served on the board of
Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and became its youngest―and
only―female director.
Despite being a walking paraplegic, Janine Shepherd is also
a pilot and aerobatics instructor, as well as a powerful motivational speaker
and author. In this TED talk she shares her inspirational story about the human
potential for recovery. Her message: you are not your body, and giving up old
dreams can allow new ones to soar.
Today, Janine is the patron of the Australasian Spinal
Research Trust and is committed to helping find a cure for spinal cord injury
in the near future. In the meantime, she seeks to inspire those coping with
physical disability. She is the author of five books, including Never
Tell Me Never. And while doctors told her after her accident that she would
never have children, she now is a mother of three.
This 19 minute TED talk was first posted in November 2012.
“It [doesn't matter] what you look like, where you come
from, or what you do for a living. All that matters is that we continue to fan
the flame of humanity by living our lives as the ultimate creative expression
of who we really are.” ~ Janine Shepherd
TIM HAHNE is not only the founder of StereoScreen, but also a multi-talented visual artist who loves to
combine style and content with a very unique pictorial language. Tim started
his professional career in 1994, and has mainly been working as a director, but
also shoots, cuts, writes and composes music.
About The Beat of New York, Tim writes thatThomas
Noesner, the Director of Photography for StereoScreen, was in New York for a
Mercedes shoot. Right after the job, he took his camera and strolled through
the bustling streets of New York City. Tim adds, “While screening the pictures
of a drummer in the tube station, I had the idea of creating a remix of the
recorded drum sequence to use it as a soundtrack for the film. That’s when our
sound designer Toussaint came into play. We simply composed a track around the
drum beat of this guy. Watch and listen to the beat of New York!”
Want to see more? Last year, Tim co-directed the most
watched commercial in U.S. television history―the 2012 Superbowl ad for
Cadillac, which you can see here on YouTube. And make sure you visit Tim’s Vimeo page to see more of his excellent work.
Updated April 2016. Please note, this review refers to the former Hotel Brunswick in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and in no way reflects or refers to the new Hotel Lancaster which today occupies the same building. At the end of this review I wrote, "... the current owners/managers must pay more attention to details, and push staff to provide a better, friendlier service - and they need to do it soon, or the hotel may continue its decline beyond the point of no return."
That 'point of no return' occurred in late 2013, when the hotel was closed down and taken over by new owners who have refurbished the building and rebadged it as the Hotel Lancaster. The transformation from the old rundown hotel into an updated and renamed hotel seems to have given the building a completely new 'lease of life', so much so that the reviews on TripAdvisor and other sites are today overwhelmingly positive, whereas once they were almost all negative. I was tempted to delete this post, but have decided to keep it for historical purposes.
- o0o -
The Hotel Brunswick in Lancaster, Pennsylvania promotes itself as
“A full service hotel with a three-star rating to accommodate all your needs
while travelling. We boast 221 spacious rooms and over 12,000 sq. feet of
meeting and banquet space for conventions and family gatherings.”
I like to make a point of being as honest and as positive as
possible with my reviews, but quite frankly I had to work hard to be positive
reviewing the Brunswick. The hotel website is full of beautifully presented
images that do not always reflect what I saw during my five night stay during
August 2012. In fact, on initially viewing the website I thought I was looking
at a completely different hotel.
An image on the hotel website shows a group of uniformed,
smiling staff who look like they are bursting with energy and enthusiasm, and
who want nothing more than to please hotel guests. I suspect this is a stock
photo image, or at best reflects much better days for the hotel. I saw no
uniformed staff during my stay, and while the few staff I did see carried out
their duties well enough, reception staff came across as mostly bored and
indifferent. However, my stay was not a disaster by any means, and I even
extended my initial three night stay by an extra two nights.
Room 912 bathroom had plenty of towels, mini shampoo, and hair dryer, etc
LOCATION: The Hotel Brunswick is located in the heart of
historic downtown Lancaster. Within walking distance of the hotel are many
restaurants, the city’s famous Central Market, Fulton Opera House and numerous
shops and art galleries. The hotel is also directly opposite the local bus
station which is perfect for travellers (like myself) who don't have their own
transport. Note: the Greyhound/Amtrak terminal is about 3/4 of a mile away at
the end of North Queen Street. For those visitors with their own vehicles, a
privately run parking garage is located right next to the Hotel Brunswick.
Separate fees apply when using this facility.
Room 912 general view
FACILITIES: Room 912 had everything most travellers would
expect to find in a typical hotel room and while I have no complaints about the
size of the room or its amenities, it was immediately obvious on entering
(judging by the bits of paper and other detritus on the floor), that the carpet
had not been vacuumed for what seemed like several days.
Other facilities listed on the hotel website include:
Free Wireless Internet service [which worked fine for my
purposes]
Cable TV and Showtime Channels [umm, can’t remember much
about these]
Voice Mail [if it was available, I never used it]
Coffee Maker, Ironing Board/Iron, and Hair Dryer [yes]
Individual Climate Control [yes, if they mean the ability to
adjust the air-con yourself. In fact, the air-con unit in my room was so
efficient that I had to turn the temperature up to warm the room. And this was
during August.]
BREAKFAST: Breakfast was passable (two cereals, bread for
toast, frozen waffles, mini-muffins, coffee, apple and orange juice, etc.), but
the service was very poor. Sometimes there were not enough plates, and at other
times, no napkins, or the coffee had run out. To cap it all off, no one
appeared responsible for cleaning tables after they had been vacated, which
often meant tables were smeared with jelly and butter, or covered with food crumbs
of one type or other.
Large comfortable queen size beds
GENERAL IMPRESSIONS: According to the ‘History’ section of the hotel’s website, “The
property operated under the “Hotel Brunswick” name until June of 2001 when it
acquired the “Ramada” flag and was named the “Ramada Inn Brunswick Conference
Center.” In February of 2005 the hotel was purchased out of bankruptcy
[my emphasis] by a California based company and the “Ramada Flag” was removed.
The hotel owners decided to keep the historic name of “HOTEL BRUNSWICK.”
Clearly, the hotel has seen better times, and even though it
apparently underwent some renovations a couple of years ago, it looks like it
has never quite recovered from the financial crisis that hit in 2010. It is
possible that renovations are still taking place at the hotel, albeit very
slowly, which might account for the very divergent reviews for the Brunswick
that can be found on TripAdvisor and other websites. The website advertises an
on-site restaurant but it was not operating during my stay, and I would venture
to say that the restaurant has not operated there for quite some time, although
the dining area was being used as the breakfast space.
Room 912, general view
I checked the hotel website while writing this entry. Under
the ‘Dining’ tab, the site states clearly that, "Our restaurant &
lounge are temporarily closed.” However, under the ‘Guest Rooms’ section of the
website, I found this: “The Hotel Brunswick offers an on-site restaurant and
versatile meeting rooms.” I can’t vouch for the meeting rooms, but I am
prepared to guess that the restaurant and lounge are still closed. It seems
little has changed in that respect in the ten months since my stay.
Despite everything I have written, the Brunswick was not the
dump some reviewers seem to think it is. Yes, the escalators leading to the
reception area were not working while I was there (and still appear to be out
of order), however the lifts were and still are operational.
The view from room 912 overlooking Lancaster Square
The excellent location and the great price make the
Brunswick a perfect place from which to explore the city of Lancaster and the
surrounding Amish country. However, the current owners/managers must pay more
attention to details, and push staff to provide a better, friendlier service -
and they need to do it soon, or the hotel may continue its decline beyond the
point of no return.
Here is a short video I put together from footage recorded just after my arrival in room 912:
HOTEL BRUNSWICK, LANCASTER, PA | My Rating: **1/2
151, North Queen Street, Lancaster, PA. Ph: (717) 397-4801
