Greetings and blurry Monday morning salutations, Race Fans.
I had the good fortune to do a wee bit of traveling over the last couple of weeks. Last week from Wednesday on I was in the office trying to dig my backside out of the landslide of paperwork that awaited me upon my return from the open road. So, this post is a little bit tardy -sorry about that.
First stop: ATLANTA-G-A. 18 wheels and trucking. We're going to do what they say can't be done. I stayed at the Stone Mountain Hampton Inn. Not bad. Not great. But definitely not bad and better than the one right near the airport. I said it before in a previous post and I will say it again... if you can avoid Atlanta's airport and especially the Habi-Trail thing they have going on at security (upon your return), do so. Security lines here, suck. This place, you may remember, is the gig where they have two display cases near the scanner-metal-detect thingy. They have one display case on one side of the multiple lines (mostly closed) and one on the other side of the multiple lines (mostly closed). Inside said display cases are items you should not carry on board the aircraft or even try to get through security. Included in this round up of "no dice" items are: a two gallon gas can and a CHAINSAW! Look, if you can get a chainsaw past security or if you even think you can get a chainsaw past security, give me a call. Drop a line. I want to talk to you because you are either incredibly fascinating or incredibly stupid. Either way, I would like to talk to you because I enjoy extremes.
At any rate, Atlanta is divided into the downtown, midtown and Buckhead areas. (I think that's what they call them.) The downtown and midtown are cool -especially all of the John Portman buildings. The Buckhead area smells of money. Very nice with a slightly criminal feel. Our man on the street in ATL, GA tells me that a shooting or some other kind of violence took place in Buckhead with a major sports star in the not too distant past. Still cool. I suggest you take a peek when down Smokey and the Bandit way.
The other thing to check out is SEAR -good food for a chain and a good price. The added bonus is that you get to check out one of Portman's best works. The hotel looks like the inner rib cage of a giant in need of some serious chiro care. Which would put the observer in either the gut or the intestine of the building. Draw what metaphors you will, however I am one who digs Portman. Back in the early days, I thought Big John was very cool because he was the original architect as developer. John is also the master of the catch and release... or compress and release... he shoots you through Habi-Trail tubes (there's that analogy again) and then releases you into these phenom type of spaces. "Whoa, Nelly!" Our man on the street says that more than one person has either been pushed, jumped or fell off of the upper terraces.
Before SEAR, we went over to the Sundial and took some nice snaps of the skyline. This is one of the original rotating bar/din-din joints. Jump on, order an over priced Bombay Saphire and Tonic, and enjoy the view. Make sure you go on a clear day, though. It was fairly hot and hazy when we were there. I did manage to grap a few interesting context and texture shots.
Overall, I dig Atlanta. Nice town. Higher in elevation than you may think. And surrounded by nice areas. Check it out.
I then went home, bought a house, moved and on Sunday morning I jumped a big bird for Denver. On the way in I saw crop circles from the window and thought, "Oh man, it's New Mexico Dos." When we touched down I could not see the big white pup tents. Bummer. Then, after jumping the Atlanta-esque train to the main terminal, I popped off of the train and VOILA! Pup tent city. I know that it is an architectural reference to the mountains. And the interior space is very fun. However, from the outside, driving up to it on my way back, it reminded me of a bunch of mishappened women in white burkas. Google BURKA and look at some of the images... no kidding. Burkaville.
I then jumped into the trusty MALIBU by Hertz and headed for Vail, Edwards and Glenwood Springs. I always wanted a photo of a cheeseburger in paradise (ode to Jimmy B.) and thought that only way to top this was to have a cheeseburger in paradise while driving over the mountains and taking a photo -all at 55+ MPH. Foolhardy? Yes. Fun? Not really. Cool picture? That's debatable. Done? Yes. Now I can sleep at night.
After the big important meetings in Edwards, I drove back to Denver and was lucky enough to see some of the city. Check out the big blue bear bare butt at the convention center. And don't forget the flip side of the performing arts center. And of course Danny L's masterpiece (think zinc), and 16th street marketplace and... what a cool town. Somewhere I got the notion that one percent of all construction costs go to art in Denver. This could definitely be true judging by all the cool sculpture, art and architecture in this town. DENVER ROCKS!
I took a few snaps and have to say that the construction photos and the underpass photo are my favorites. No kidding. I used to do the triangular forms ad nauseum in arch school. Still do. And Dan's place is definitely cool (DENVER ART MUSEUM -DAM). But there is something about formwork or the bare shell of columns and floors or the texture in the underpass that get's to me. I know, I know. "Shut your pie hole, traveling man." Sorry. Take a look, though, next time you pass a construction site. The colors, the texture and the activity will grab your attention if you let it.
Anywho, I had a very limited window of time and did not get to see and do all that I would have liked to in this city. Of course, that could take a lifetime in a place like Denver. I definitely recommend that you check it out. And check out Glenwood Springs and Vail and ... you get the idea.
Until next time....
Disclaimer: Bare Butts in public are not cool. They could be cool, but if your butt is blue or looks like cottage cheese, please do not do as our friend the blue bear in Denver does. Thank you for your attention during this important public welfare and safety notice.
