Month: May 2006

T – 3 Days: Good Bye Atlanta, Hello $3 + Gas!

Today is a packing day, getting the needed goodies ready for the roadtrip. And cleaning the apartment, so when we arrive back in the ATL, we aren’t confronted with a mess.

Monday and Tuesday will be hectic, with a planned very-good meeting, and a potentially very-bad car repair appointment.

The Good; I am being brought onboard to advise and consult with an Atlanta architecture firm about a new project of theirs. Meeting on Monday to flesh out our relationship. Details will be purposefully vague for the near future. But like most of my jobs, I will be a big cheerleader. Partially to kiss ass and mainly because I am lucky enough to like/love what I do. “Excelsior!“

The Bad; a trip to the mechanics for a a mildly expensive air-conditioning repair that has the potential to move onto the low 4 digits. But at the beginning of a 5-week trip, neither one of us is willing to worry about the A/C crapping in the Nevada desert. Our little car has been relatively cheap to maintain so this expense doesn’t fill us with resentment. It just makes our credit card people very happy.

I have resolved that this trip will not be filled to the brim with visits to roadside attractions and other oddities of Americana. I always have hopes about seeing collections of bizarre places, and my high expectations are usually dashed. It comes from a mix of not wanting to bake our cat in the car, trying to keep to a budget and not adding too much travel time. But I do know that each place of interest passed will bring a little twinge of regret, as I don’t know if we will ever pass these places again.

I guess I can do without a visit to the World’s Largest Mallard or whatever else when my copilot is a rocking sweetie who makes my life a joy.

And that’s what the trip is all about: QT with the cutie.

"The Small Giantess and the Elephant of Royal of Luxe"

The following is art at its best. A spectacle for spectacle’s sake. Pure, creative expression. I can only imagine what it must be like to witness this in person. The lucky Parisian’s got to see this in 2005, and now the City of London will be playing host to The Sultan’s Elephant, Thursday 4 – Sunday 7, 2006.

Since the Royal de Luxe website is in French and I don’t speak or read a word of it, this is the story as far as I can tell…

Large, wooden capsule crashes in church’s square. Inside is revealed the young pilot. The small giantess is received by the Sultan, astride his even-larger elephant. Once they have met, exhausted by her trip the giantess takes a nap.

– Fin-

The Royal de Luxe has loads of pictures and some video of this event, which are all worth viewing.

From the British Site:

“The Sultan’s Elephant is a spectacle you’ve only imagined… Created by theatrical magicians Royal de Luxe, it tells the story of a sultan from far-off lands and his magical, time-travelling mechanical elephant. Forty feet high and 42 tonnes in weight, this beautiful creature will capture the hearts and minds of everyone who sees it.

The Sultan’s Elephant is played out over four days in the streets, squares and public spaces of central London. Whether you dip into it for three hours or follow its progress for three days, this breathtaking show will live in your memory forever.”

I know this is all but an impossiblity, but I wish Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts could play host to this.

Notice of Non-Payment: Well, Umm…

“We, the Escorts and Masseurs of DC, are taking charge of these negative situations. We are tired of no-show appointments, traveling to doors that don’t open, and not getting paid for the quality work we give.”

On this page is a listing of clients who have caused trouble for us.”

Is your phone number here?

Cheap bastard!

Psychic Landmine Detecting Dogs: Courtesy of the US Armed Forces

From the Memory Hole’s article Army Report on ESP in Animals…

” In the early 1950s, Dr. Joseph Banks Rhine, based at Duke University, was the foremost researcher in the field of parapsychology, or, using the term he coined: “extrasensory perception.” The Army hired Rhine and his Parapsychology Laboratory to research the possibility of using dogs and other animals to detect buried landmines.

The final report for one such contract with Duke University, dated 10 July 1953, remained classified as Confidential for more than 50 years, until it was recently declassified after a long, laborious process. It took ten separate offices five years to clear this short report for release. “

Musicals, Circus Freaks and Another Place to See on the Roadtrip?

Tony Quinonez as Tom Cruise , photo copyright 2004 Les Freres Corbusier, Ltd.

My post-musical-theater-work surfing has me finding a strange assortment of musicals. I would go see A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant if it were to show in town! Les Freres Corbusier produced this children’s show to some pretty great reviews and the soundtrack will certainly be appearing on my christmas list. A trip to the label that is selling the cast recording also offers a discounted bundle of “A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant” and with the musical Debbie Does Dallas.

Please, please, please, someone in Atlanta do these shows. And hire me to do… something.

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Previous web surfing had me checking out some strangeness in the form of circus freaks. Ironic Sans posted an article titled Freaks stay at Marriott? which provided a link to the Johnny Ecks Musuem. Dedicated to the man, who when not being a circus attraction, drove around Phili in a specialized car, photographed friends and his loving family, and maintained a small fleet of rideable scale trains.

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Also recently found, the American Dime Museum. Based in Baltimore, this museum is the last remaining of its kind; a celebration of people’s desire to see the odd and freakish in a place where the items may not be all that they seem. Many of the exhibits in old dime museums were just fabricated oddities to attract people that would otherwise not put down the 10 cent admission. Based on differing reports, due to funding issues it may or may not be open.

I don’t know if this will be a place visited on the summer roadtrip, but it’s another reason besides John Waters that makes us want to go to Baltimore.

Also see: American Dime Museum – a photoset on Flickr