With the 2012 elections just over a year away, the political heat is rising in Washington and in Tallahassee. While Governor Scott will not face voters until 2014, the voters will have the opportunity to show their support or opposition to his policies through the legislative races. Additionally, the impact of budget cuts will be evident in the court houses and school boards across the state.
As to Washington, there is more to discuss than we have space for. Is there an effort to dismantle Medicare ? Should we eliminate some of the tax loopholes ? Should taxes be increased on the top income earners ? Is it time to get out of Afghanistan and Iraq ? Lots of questions, but so far, not many answers.
Please take some time to vote in our survey. And check back in to see just what others in the Tampa Bay area think as well.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
TCM Classic Film Festival - Monday
The festival ended quietly as the screenings stopped and attendees began to depart for home or for further destinations. The Vibe Hotel was a most interesting place to stay. As the news about the killing of Osama Bin Laden had broken Sunday night, the response from the International hotel guests was very non committal. Only the Americans were paying a lot of attention to the breaking news, while other nationalities just occasionally showed some interest. The feeling of just another day and another time seemed to be on their mind.
Monday was a day of travel and transition as I took the MetroRail to Long Beach to connect with the Catalina Express to Catalina Island. Long Beach is a beautiful, business oriented community. The city features a convenient transportation system with free buses, light rail, and wide bicycle trails. Parking in the downtown core is easy with plenty of pull in spots to allow drivers to run in to pick up lunch or more as they need to. There are plenty of sidewalk restaurants. The pace is very business like and for the first time while I have been in California there are plenty of neckties and suits being worn.
The Catalina Express takes almost exactly an hour to get to Avalon. The 15o passenger catamaran provides for a noticably smooth ride. We pass the Queen Mary, now a permanently docked resort hotel, and tankers from variou ports. A short walk from the dock takes me through the downtown area with restaurants, golf cart rental shops and various tourist related businesses of all types. The roads rise quickly as this town is clearly in the mountains. The Aurora Hotel is about one hundred feet above the town providing an expansive view of the harbour. This is a very modern hotel and spa with rooms in subtle blues and dark woods. Flat scren tvs, in room coffee, and very comfortable beds provide for a break after the franticness of the past few days.
You can see the pics here
Monday, May 2, 2011
TCM Classic Film Festival Sunday
The weather continues to be perfect. Highs in the Mid 80s and low humidity.
On my way I stopped by a two block local market. Plenty of produce, honey, and more for sale. The artichokes had to be the largest I have ever seen.
After scrambling to get to the first film of the day, it is sold out. Night Flight was produced in 1933 with John and Lionel Barrymore. Drew Barrymore was to introduce the film. So much for that plan.
I decided to visit China Town, it was a short rail ride, but noticing the train continued on to the Sierra Madre Mountains. I kept riding until reaching a quaint looking area at a stop called Mission. A small museum and downtown center offered a chance to stop for coffee and replan. The convenience of the train is greatly appreciated. It has only taken about 30 mins to significantly change my environment. But back to Chinatown.
What a disappointment. There were plenty of shops and a large market with plenty of tacky things for sale, but it was not as large as I had expected. It was still early in the day and might have gotten better. Back to Hollywood I went.
As a ghost hunter, I always seem to find time to wander cemeteries and Hollywood was not going to be an exception. The graves of Cecile B. Demille, Charlie Chaplin, Rudolf Valentino, and more were only a few blocks from the Vibe Hotel.
With the conveneience of the rail, I had started in Hollywood, visited the mountains , China Town, the Cemetery, and was back in Hollywood and it was only just after noon.
The lines for the film screenings had not been too long for the first few days, but Sunday had brought everyone out and again I was turned away. Apparently people had been in line for almost two hours. So, I started walking west to Beverly Hills and the Sunset Strip.
See the pics here,
On my way I stopped by a two block local market. Plenty of produce, honey, and more for sale. The artichokes had to be the largest I have ever seen.
After scrambling to get to the first film of the day, it is sold out. Night Flight was produced in 1933 with John and Lionel Barrymore. Drew Barrymore was to introduce the film. So much for that plan.
I decided to visit China Town, it was a short rail ride, but noticing the train continued on to the Sierra Madre Mountains. I kept riding until reaching a quaint looking area at a stop called Mission. A small museum and downtown center offered a chance to stop for coffee and replan. The convenience of the train is greatly appreciated. It has only taken about 30 mins to significantly change my environment. But back to Chinatown.
What a disappointment. There were plenty of shops and a large market with plenty of tacky things for sale, but it was not as large as I had expected. It was still early in the day and might have gotten better. Back to Hollywood I went.
As a ghost hunter, I always seem to find time to wander cemeteries and Hollywood was not going to be an exception. The graves of Cecile B. Demille, Charlie Chaplin, Rudolf Valentino, and more were only a few blocks from the Vibe Hotel.
With the conveneience of the rail, I had started in Hollywood, visited the mountains , China Town, the Cemetery, and was back in Hollywood and it was only just after noon.
The lines for the film screenings had not been too long for the first few days, but Sunday had brought everyone out and again I was turned away. Apparently people had been in line for almost two hours. So, I started walking west to Beverly Hills and the Sunset Strip.
See the pics here,
Sunday, May 1, 2011
TCM Classic Film Festival - Saturday
Time keeps moving quickly when at an event like this. Yesterday I watched Peter O'Toole leave his footprints at Gruman's Chinese Theatre, then moved on to see The Parent Trap introduced by Hayley Mills at the Egyptian Theatre. The British born actress gave much credit to her success to Walt Disney. He had selected her on the insistence of his wife to appear in Pollyana. Her successes were many.
The afternoon brought Reds with a discussion by Warren Beatty and Alec Baldwin. This three hour film focuses on communist politics in the US and the Russian Revolution. The discussion between Alec Baldwin and Warren Beatty on film making was the best of the festival. Beatty said that Reds would probably not have been produced in today's environment. "Producers cant take the risk of boring the audience. " Beatty starred in, directed, and produced the film. With the three hour run time, it was the last film produced with an intermission. When Baldwin asked what it was like to act in, direct, and to produce a film Beatty replied with "It can't be done, but sometimes it is better than the alternative." He explained that trying to describe a role can be difficult to do. Beatty called the liberation of females as the biggest revolution of the past. The advance of the internet and technology leads him to believe the delivery of movies will become the most significant news in the business during the next years. How to get people's attention is the main task today with it now being unforgivable to be boring. In a discussion about other actors, Beatty described working with Gene Hackman and others: "It makes you a better actor. Talent is energy." "The masses don't always understand the absence of art, but they do the presence of art."
The final movie of the night was Gaslight preceeded by a discussion between Robert Osborne and Angela Lansbury. Acknowledging that seeing a film you have acted in can be "terrifying", Lansbury described the changes in filmmaking and promotion. Initial films were released in sneak previews that provided time for additional shoots to respond to audience reactions. When she moved in Los Angeles in 1942, she remembered the musty smells in the costumes area of MGM Studios. She described it as a cold place to work where actors stayed in private trailers and little interaction seemed to occur. Her original contract with Louis B. Mayer was for $5oo per week. He had a habit of looking through screen tests for talent and had found her there. Her first film was Gaslight. She went on to the Portrait of Dorian Gray, and National Velvet at the age of 18.
That was a solid 7 hours of movies. Somewhere in the middle of all of that I still found time to walk, eat, and sleep. . See my pics from Saturdayincluding Hayley Mills, Angela Lansbury, Alec Baldwin and more here
The afternoon brought Reds with a discussion by Warren Beatty and Alec Baldwin. This three hour film focuses on communist politics in the US and the Russian Revolution. The discussion between Alec Baldwin and Warren Beatty on film making was the best of the festival. Beatty said that Reds would probably not have been produced in today's environment. "Producers cant take the risk of boring the audience. " Beatty starred in, directed, and produced the film. With the three hour run time, it was the last film produced with an intermission. When Baldwin asked what it was like to act in, direct, and to produce a film Beatty replied with "It can't be done, but sometimes it is better than the alternative." He explained that trying to describe a role can be difficult to do. Beatty called the liberation of females as the biggest revolution of the past. The advance of the internet and technology leads him to believe the delivery of movies will become the most significant news in the business during the next years. How to get people's attention is the main task today with it now being unforgivable to be boring. In a discussion about other actors, Beatty described working with Gene Hackman and others: "It makes you a better actor. Talent is energy." "The masses don't always understand the absence of art, but they do the presence of art."
The final movie of the night was Gaslight preceeded by a discussion between Robert Osborne and Angela Lansbury. Acknowledging that seeing a film you have acted in can be "terrifying", Lansbury described the changes in filmmaking and promotion. Initial films were released in sneak previews that provided time for additional shoots to respond to audience reactions. When she moved in Los Angeles in 1942, she remembered the musty smells in the costumes area of MGM Studios. She described it as a cold place to work where actors stayed in private trailers and little interaction seemed to occur. Her original contract with Louis B. Mayer was for $5oo per week. He had a habit of looking through screen tests for talent and had found her there. Her first film was Gaslight. She went on to the Portrait of Dorian Gray, and National Velvet at the age of 18.
That was a solid 7 hours of movies. Somewhere in the middle of all of that I still found time to walk, eat, and sleep. . See my pics from Saturdayincluding Hayley Mills, Angela Lansbury, Alec Baldwin and more here
Saturday, April 30, 2011
TCM Classic Film Fest - Fri
Having some computer, conections, and times issues here. Caught Debbie Reynolds yesterday.. Peter O'Toole again this morning. Due to catch Hayley Mills now. Lots of stories coming, just issues and time causing probems, but watch for later in the day.
However, Some pics are uploading now to here '
However, Some pics are uploading now to here '
Friday, April 29, 2011
TCM Classic Film Festival - the Red Carpet
Sorry, but don't have much time to post today. The Red Carpet was awesome. The South Tampa Community News had a designated space right next to Time Warner Cable - Wow !
There were plenty of stars and more to see. Mickey Rooney, Robert Osborne, Hugh Hefner, Margaret O'Brien, Leslie Caron, Jerry Mathers, and more. Will post an extensive story when I get the chance soon. Saw two movies yesterday, The Day the Earth Stood Still and A Night at the Opera. Stories a plenty coming, but I have to be at a presentation of Becket by Peter O'Toole and I am running late. BUT , you can see my pics from yesterday here. One great help was PR staff that carried small signs indicating who some of the celebrites were. Hope that helps for now.
There were plenty of stars and more to see. Mickey Rooney, Robert Osborne, Hugh Hefner, Margaret O'Brien, Leslie Caron, Jerry Mathers, and more. Will post an extensive story when I get the chance soon. Saw two movies yesterday, The Day the Earth Stood Still and A Night at the Opera. Stories a plenty coming, but I have to be at a presentation of Becket by Peter O'Toole and I am running late. BUT , you can see my pics from yesterday here. One great help was PR staff that carried small signs indicating who some of the celebrites were. Hope that helps for now.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
TCM Classic Film Festival 2011 - Getting Here
When you have as much going on as we always do, getting out of the office for an hour sometimes is difficult, much less going to California. My last planned vacation came from accumulated air miles that were about to expire. The plan was to go as far as they would let me go - Buenos Aires here I come. But it was not to be. Four days from leaving I cancelled the trip and did manage to save the miles for a future date. Sigh...
This time it looked doubtful as recently as a few days ago, but things finally cleared enough for me to escape. Also helping was the commitments I had made to advertisers and sponsors and having a team that can take care of the misc. stuff back in the office.
I don't fly very much anymore, and as always, I enjoy the experience. With all the security stuff at the airport, it is not as easy as it used to be. One poor guy just ahead of me must have met all the profile issues, because he was being searched, scanned, questioned, and more. Saw him having a beer later, probably needed it.
The amount of electronics everyone carries now is incredible. I am think I am virtually low tech, but my carryons didn't show it. Camera - with cords for downloading pics and charger. Ipod with headphones and charger connection. Cell phone with charger. Laptop with power cord.
It seems to me that the economy should be booming. I spent sometime watching a very professional business lady take over a space with her laptop, cellphone, and notebook. She was on the phone making things happen. You could tell this was very familiar territory for her. Actually the larger companies are making big profits, the problem is they also have fat piggy banks. Overall, the large companies have more cash on hand than ever, but they aren't spending it. They could help employ a lot of people if they spent some of it.
The trip was easy, American Airlines to Dallas then to LA. I had carefully shopped airfares and managed a round trip for $320. Not bad.
The problem started when I got to LA. Finding a shuttle was easy, but getting here was not. The driver kept circling the airport seeking enough riders to fill all the seats. One lap of the airport and it was done, but then began the task of getting to Hollywood. I was expecting the horrible LA traffic we have all heard of, but not so bad. However, the driver seemed to like shortcuts that weren't. Having not been to LA in over 20 years, I didn't say anything as the 9 passengers spent almost two hours getting to Hollywood. But two locals next to me started to get annoyed after an hour and fifteen minutes. But a two hour ride for $15 was not too terrible. Except he stopped about 6 blocks from my hotel. At that point I just wanted OUT ! So I got out and walked.
The Vibe Hotel was generous and is one of my sponsors of the trip. It is right on Hollywood Boulevard, about 10 blocks where most of the Film Festival is happening. It doesn't look like much from the street. With approximately 50 rooms it is a motor hotel with some real character. Rates are under $100 per night. NO cost to park and your car nearby, that is pretty good, but it only gets better. The Vibe Hotel attacts predominantly young people from around the world. The rooms are very clean and art deco decorated. My "suite" has a small kitchen with dining nook. The bed is round. It has a flat screen tv and plenty of room. The bath is recently redone and looks great. Real test is - the hot water arrives quickly. BUT the best about the Vibe Hotel is the vibe. This is a community. Wednesday nights feature a free cookout and free beer. A band from Mexico was setting up to play. But don't think mariachis, think rock and funk fusion. They were very good. Karaoke is the usual Wednesday night program, but the band was staying at the Vibe, so... Grilled chicken wings and beer lead to plenty of conversations. I met visitors from Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. Their travel experience was most impressive. Australia, Indonesia, South America, India, and plenty more countries had been on the trip lists. Americans seem to want to visit 20 countries in 5 days while most other travelers want to spend at least 3 weeks in a country to really see it. Americans sort of travel in Twitter Style while Europeans travel in novel style. I think they have that right.
The three hour time delay along with the travel should have done me in, but the conversations were too enjoyable to miss and karaoke did start later. Plus the beer had not yet run out. More to come as the days go on. Today is the first day of the TCM Classic Film Festival. I have to pick up Press Credentials and more today. Plus tonight is the opening event - AN American In Paris at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Plenty of stars to be there. Watch for more soon.
This time it looked doubtful as recently as a few days ago, but things finally cleared enough for me to escape. Also helping was the commitments I had made to advertisers and sponsors and having a team that can take care of the misc. stuff back in the office.
I don't fly very much anymore, and as always, I enjoy the experience. With all the security stuff at the airport, it is not as easy as it used to be. One poor guy just ahead of me must have met all the profile issues, because he was being searched, scanned, questioned, and more. Saw him having a beer later, probably needed it.
The amount of electronics everyone carries now is incredible. I am think I am virtually low tech, but my carryons didn't show it. Camera - with cords for downloading pics and charger. Ipod with headphones and charger connection. Cell phone with charger. Laptop with power cord.
It seems to me that the economy should be booming. I spent sometime watching a very professional business lady take over a space with her laptop, cellphone, and notebook. She was on the phone making things happen. You could tell this was very familiar territory for her. Actually the larger companies are making big profits, the problem is they also have fat piggy banks. Overall, the large companies have more cash on hand than ever, but they aren't spending it. They could help employ a lot of people if they spent some of it.
The trip was easy, American Airlines to Dallas then to LA. I had carefully shopped airfares and managed a round trip for $320. Not bad.
The problem started when I got to LA. Finding a shuttle was easy, but getting here was not. The driver kept circling the airport seeking enough riders to fill all the seats. One lap of the airport and it was done, but then began the task of getting to Hollywood. I was expecting the horrible LA traffic we have all heard of, but not so bad. However, the driver seemed to like shortcuts that weren't. Having not been to LA in over 20 years, I didn't say anything as the 9 passengers spent almost two hours getting to Hollywood. But two locals next to me started to get annoyed after an hour and fifteen minutes. But a two hour ride for $15 was not too terrible. Except he stopped about 6 blocks from my hotel. At that point I just wanted OUT ! So I got out and walked.
The Vibe Hotel was generous and is one of my sponsors of the trip. It is right on Hollywood Boulevard, about 10 blocks where most of the Film Festival is happening. It doesn't look like much from the street. With approximately 50 rooms it is a motor hotel with some real character. Rates are under $100 per night. NO cost to park and your car nearby, that is pretty good, but it only gets better. The Vibe Hotel attacts predominantly young people from around the world. The rooms are very clean and art deco decorated. My "suite" has a small kitchen with dining nook. The bed is round. It has a flat screen tv and plenty of room. The bath is recently redone and looks great. Real test is - the hot water arrives quickly. BUT the best about the Vibe Hotel is the vibe. This is a community. Wednesday nights feature a free cookout and free beer. A band from Mexico was setting up to play. But don't think mariachis, think rock and funk fusion. They were very good. Karaoke is the usual Wednesday night program, but the band was staying at the Vibe, so... Grilled chicken wings and beer lead to plenty of conversations. I met visitors from Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. Their travel experience was most impressive. Australia, Indonesia, South America, India, and plenty more countries had been on the trip lists. Americans seem to want to visit 20 countries in 5 days while most other travelers want to spend at least 3 weeks in a country to really see it. Americans sort of travel in Twitter Style while Europeans travel in novel style. I think they have that right.
The three hour time delay along with the travel should have done me in, but the conversations were too enjoyable to miss and karaoke did start later. Plus the beer had not yet run out. More to come as the days go on. Today is the first day of the TCM Classic Film Festival. I have to pick up Press Credentials and more today. Plus tonight is the opening event - AN American In Paris at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Plenty of stars to be there. Watch for more soon.
You can see the pics so far here
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