Articles
These were published in a number of Online and Print mediums.
Though I appear critical about our modern culture. I consider myself to be
cautiously optimistic about the future of humankind and I'm a real Dog lover.
"He has a natural conversational style that is occasionally unconventional,
sometimes controversial, but is always a quick and amusing read."
Dragons and Ogres
A fable for our times
A fable for our times
There once was a beautiful village that lay far away across the big water. The people in the village were a unique and proud sort, and had overcome much adversity and tyranny at the hands of their previous ruler. They wanted a village that protected their uniqueness and that would grow to be the largest and richest anywhere, so they hatched a Dragon’s egg for its protection. They knew that once it had grown, this Dragon would in turn protect the village from ogres and help it to prosper and grow strong.
At first the Dragon was small and fragile and it was up to the people to protect it from the evils that roamed the world. It was a lot of hard work and money, but the people realized if everyone worked together it would minimize everyone’s sacrifice. They knew if they wanted the best from the village they had to give their best to the village. So they struggled on, and through their cooperation and diligence they forged a society second to none.
The villagers soon realized that they could not do their jobs to keep the village growing and still have time to take care of the Dragon. They knew that they had to find someone in the village that had time to spare. Of course, the ones who had the most time were the ones that had the most money and property. They were chosen to be dragon keepers, and they promised that they would always protect and feed it for they had the most to lose if the ogres came. Once the villagers were relieved of their burden they worked even harder and the village began to prosper.
The dragon keepers gathered money and goods from the villagers, which they sold and traded to feed the Dragon. Because he was still small, they bought weapons and created an army to protect him. As he grew strong, so too did the village, it became the richest and most powerful of all and so too did the dragon keepers.
Now it came to pass, some of the keepers decided to change the rules and began to demand more from the common villagers and less from the other land owners. Their friends became richer and more powerful, and soon they influenced all of the decisions regarding the village. The common people, forced to work longer and harder, did not rebel because they had become very dependent on those in power and felt that they knew best.
It has been said that absolute power corrupts absolutely. As the dragon keepers’ egos grew they began to convince the Dragon that its primary duty was to maintain the status quo that they had carefully created. Soon it began to protect just the ones with money and influence, and allowed the weak and the sick to fall along the wayside. The poor, undereducated villagers were sent to foreign lands to fight and die, trying to acquire more wealth for the glutinous elite.
The village began to change. Soon soot and filth covered the once splendid towers, and the fresh rivers lay stagnant, fouled by the waste of the ruling classes. Not wanting to pay a fair wage to workers it became dependent on sometimes dangerous imports. Self-indulgence and laziness overcame the artists. Unable to create new art, they could only try to mimic the works of the past and to showcase the idiocy of the present. The people of the village became crass and ignorant and driven by the basest instincts.
It was truly a dark time for the formerly glorious and powerful village. Its financial structure began to tremble under the weight of its excesses. Vanity and folly had stretched its once mighty army to the breaking point, and old enemies, sensing the growing weakness, began to taunt and to threaten. The previously proud Dragon, finding that he was no longer capable of fire, could only show his teeth and growl ineffectively.
The moral of this story is simple. If you want to protect your village from ogres, don’t put them in charge of raising the Dragon.
At first the Dragon was small and fragile and it was up to the people to protect it from the evils that roamed the world. It was a lot of hard work and money, but the people realized if everyone worked together it would minimize everyone’s sacrifice. They knew if they wanted the best from the village they had to give their best to the village. So they struggled on, and through their cooperation and diligence they forged a society second to none.
The villagers soon realized that they could not do their jobs to keep the village growing and still have time to take care of the Dragon. They knew that they had to find someone in the village that had time to spare. Of course, the ones who had the most time were the ones that had the most money and property. They were chosen to be dragon keepers, and they promised that they would always protect and feed it for they had the most to lose if the ogres came. Once the villagers were relieved of their burden they worked even harder and the village began to prosper.
The dragon keepers gathered money and goods from the villagers, which they sold and traded to feed the Dragon. Because he was still small, they bought weapons and created an army to protect him. As he grew strong, so too did the village, it became the richest and most powerful of all and so too did the dragon keepers.
Now it came to pass, some of the keepers decided to change the rules and began to demand more from the common villagers and less from the other land owners. Their friends became richer and more powerful, and soon they influenced all of the decisions regarding the village. The common people, forced to work longer and harder, did not rebel because they had become very dependent on those in power and felt that they knew best.
It has been said that absolute power corrupts absolutely. As the dragon keepers’ egos grew they began to convince the Dragon that its primary duty was to maintain the status quo that they had carefully created. Soon it began to protect just the ones with money and influence, and allowed the weak and the sick to fall along the wayside. The poor, undereducated villagers were sent to foreign lands to fight and die, trying to acquire more wealth for the glutinous elite.
The village began to change. Soon soot and filth covered the once splendid towers, and the fresh rivers lay stagnant, fouled by the waste of the ruling classes. Not wanting to pay a fair wage to workers it became dependent on sometimes dangerous imports. Self-indulgence and laziness overcame the artists. Unable to create new art, they could only try to mimic the works of the past and to showcase the idiocy of the present. The people of the village became crass and ignorant and driven by the basest instincts.
It was truly a dark time for the formerly glorious and powerful village. Its financial structure began to tremble under the weight of its excesses. Vanity and folly had stretched its once mighty army to the breaking point, and old enemies, sensing the growing weakness, began to taunt and to threaten. The previously proud Dragon, finding that he was no longer capable of fire, could only show his teeth and growl ineffectively.
The moral of this story is simple. If you want to protect your village from ogres, don’t put them in charge of raising the Dragon.
Copyright 2007 David Spangenburg
The BP Wire
Sad to say I am a little under the weather today. I have a bad case of CD. Hey! I hear you chuckling out there. I said CD not ED, Cerebral Dysfunction. My doctor has traced it back to the late ‘60’s. I got some bad brown rice at a free Krishna feed. Anyway, even though my brain has let me down I would never let you readers down, so I came up with an alternative. Here are some breaking news stories from the BP Wire (the Boomerville Press Wire, not second rate just second hand).
Sept 14, 9:51 AM EDT
WALL ST, NYC, (BP) – The Fertilizer Market crashed today and experts say it will not recover any time soon. Results were felt as far away as Washington, D.C. where all the candidates for the 2008 Presidential race immediately dropped out of the running.
Sept 14, 9:52 AM EDT
WASHINGTON, DC, (BP) – The U.S. and Russia took a step closer to a Second Cold War last night, when President Bush ‘malapropriated’ the dialogue at a formal State dinner at the White House. The dinner was honoring Russian President, Vladimir Putin, who is recovering from an encounter with some Poison-Ivy while clearing brush with the President at Crawford Ranch. The incident occurred during the first course of the meal when President Bush innocently inquired, “How’s that rash, Putin?”
Sept 14, 9:53 AM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, (BP) – Barry Bonds was forced to retire from the San Francisco Giants today after stealing Hank Aaron’s MLB Career Home Run Record. It seems that Bonds’ later-life growth spurt has made it impossible for him to even fit in the dugout. He will not be leaving Baseball however; he will be joining fellow ball players, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sousa, in the brand new Pharmaceutical League.
Sept 14, 9:54 AM EDT
LOS ANGELES, CA, (BP) – In a surprise move the NRA has join forces with the newly formed GRA, (Gangster Rap Association) in their fight against censorship of their music. The NRA issued a statement saying that it was every American’s right to be stereotypical. The NRA also said that the constitution protects the Gangster Rappers right to bear arms, “…as long as they keep them in their own neighborhoods”. The GRA reply “word!”
Sept 14, 9:55 AM EDT
MIAMI, FL, (BP) – Forecasts continue to predict Hurricane Groucho will grow in the next 12 hours to become a deadly Category 5 storm with winds of 160 mph before it makes landfall at Miami, FL. President Bush has ordered Democratic Senator, Patrick Leahy to be rendered immediately to the South Beach area to provide on-the-spot reports on Groucho, adding he should “…take his subpoenas with him”. As the Senator was led away he sang, “Hello, I must be going.”
***
Before I get going, I have to tell you about this movie ad I heard on the radio today. It shows you where all of this violence has lead us. You’re going to have to imagine dramatic film trailer music running underneath.MUSIC UP FULL THEN DROPS UNDERNEATH
NARRATOR:
They killed his mother!
They burned his home!
They filled his life with tragedy and thought they could get away with it!
But, they were wrong because now he’s back….and boy, is he Pissed!
MUSIC CRESENDO, THEN DROPS UNDERNEATH
Bambi…II !!!
The buck stops here!
Ah well, so it goes. I guess you can’t believe everything you hear…….or read. I’ve got to go lay down. Puns always make me nauseous.
Copyright 2007 David Spangenburg
Dangerous Art?
Some art should have a warning label, Caution, could be hazardous to normal people! Case in point, two local artists Chris Chomick and Peter Meder. While doing research for this article, I visited their website, http://chomickmeder.com/. It was quite alarming.
Their background material seemed pretty standard; Dutch Boy paints, dancing monkeys, their quiet reserved demeanor. And, their Bio, was quite impressive; the exhibitions, the awards, the travel. These people seem like a typical red blooded American couple. However, after viewing their work, I must warn you that this is just a thin veneer to lure in unsuspecting art enthusiasts, similar to, a Venus Fly Trap.
I will admit their art is startling. You can easily see it was created by natural talents, honed, through the years, to razor sharpness, with a strict devotion to detail, a full dose of dark humor and sheer brilliance in the communication of thought. Ah, but you see, that’s what makes it so dangerous. They don’t create safe art. Not, the type of art you’d want to hang over that floral patterned sofa in the living room.
Their art breathes intrigue. It captures you from the first disquieting look and draws you into a head space that can be, unsettling. It opens your mind to other worlds, just outside of ordinary imaginations. You can almost hear the sinister, slightly menacing tones of a carnival barker, just daring you to enter.
True art should catch your attention the moment you first experience it. Theirs’ certainly does. However, their work is, subversive. If you visit their website, you’ll see what I mean. The bawdy women, the side show, the seditious fashions and, even more alarming, links to other distorted artists and organizations.
I suppose that there are some free thinkers that will actually enjoy their work. They find the strange and weird, stimulating. Nevertheless, to you normal people, who know that art should conform to the other color patterns in the home, this art can be hazardous. It might upset the delicate equilibrium that you have so carefully established in your lives. These pieces, if left alone in your den, would devour a Thomas Kincaid print as a midnight snack.
Even more frightening, Chomick and Meder, “create moving figures”. Automata, they call it. Just imagining these bizarre figures, wandering the dark streets of our city looking for an unguarded family room, Oooh, it gave me the willies! When I set up the interview I just knew that it was going to be a disturbing experience.
We met on neutral ground, at a small café. The dangerous duo were waiting at an outside table, with one of their little friends. I recognized him from the website; it was Dr. Messmore, M.D. the servo controlled programmable automaton, Meder designed and they created as a grant project. I sat down and introductions were made.
They looked fairly normal. Youthfully, middle-aged, casually but tastefully attired, not the least bit gothic. Dr. Messmore was standing on the table directly across from me. Meder asked casually if I’d like to see the Dr. operate and started the Dr. through his paces. It was very intriguing; the Dr. is standing behind this small podium on which sits this device with a round disk on the front. The disk is painted with these black and white continual lines which start at the outer ring and wind around into the center of the disk.
His body and head started moving and his little hands were working the handles and levers and the disk started revolving, round and round and the continual lines kept swirling inwards towards the center. Drawing my attention like a vortex. It was all so compelling and distracting at the same time. I suggested that we commence with the interview.
C & M agreed and as the Dr. kept cranking and the disk kept revolving, I began.
D: I thought that we would forgo the standard interview technique and try phrase association. I’ll mention a subject and you just let go and say what comes into your heads. Ok? Let’s go.
D: Art?
C&M: It is what courses through our veins, if we wanted to try another profession we would not know what to do with ourselves
D: Advertising?
C&M: Both our backgrounds are in advertising -- Chris in print production, Peter in special effects for TV commercials. Invaluable experience working with tight deadlines, you learn how to get things done quickly, efficiently and see the job through to the end, even now we can still pull all-nighters.
D: Major influences?
C&M: We find inspiration in strange and unusual imagery; beautiful but disturbing, intriguing yet provoking feelings of uneasiness. When we come across an interesting image, interesting faces, outrageous hairstyles we wonder, "Who would wear such a thing?" and design a character that would.
D: Collaboration technique?
C&M: Our design process starts with an attitude. The disposition of the character influences, facial expression, choice of fabric, style of hair, and if it is an automaton, the movement needed to project this attitude. Chris makes sketches of all our figures, establishing a color scheme which helps with costume design and allows us to maintain focus on the original concept and not be confused with too many “new and improved” revisions that can result in a character's design feeling “forced”. If a new idea is inspiring, but not right for the character, or compromises the design, we will save it for the next character.
D: Automata?
C&M: Automata is our life's work, making things move and come to life, if ever so subtly. Our art style is moving toward an iconic approach as unconventional symbols in a parallel universe. Presently, I am developing a programmable automaton using servo electronics controlled by a laptop computer. This means each Automaton will have customized movements, essentially creating one-of-a-kind moving figurative sculptures.
Throughout the interview I kept observing the Dr. cranking and the disk swirling, round and round, all the while feeling, what a friendly face he has. Chomick and Meder were so direct and passionate with their responses, I began to feel a little foolish about all my previous apprehensions. Seeing one of their creations, up close and personal, I began to see why they have so many art collectors, world wide, who are extremely interested in having their very own, one of a kind, moving figurative sculptures.
During my drive home I was feeling a strange elation. I kept thinking about the Dr. and his compelling revolving disk, which went round and round and I felt better and better. It seemed silly that I was so anxious about Chomick and Meder and their strange but somehow cute little friends. They had appeared more frightening before I met them and the good Dr. with his disk, which went round and round and I felt happier and happier, and I now realize that….IT IS MY MISSION!!... to tell you about Chomick and Meder and their fantastic website,
http://www.chomickmeder.com/
It is where they offer these fantastically, fascinating one of a kind, limited edition figures and automatons. And, it is such a fun place to visit. You can see the Bawdy Women Revue and all of the great artwork by ChrisArt Designs. Check out the Sideshow and print out Captain Panic and create your own flipbook and while you are there!
...YOU MUST BUY!!...their T-Shirts, posters, journals, beautiful mugs, comfy pillows, nifty refrigerator magnets, ceramic coasters and their unique handmade Art Pins. Don’t wait! Go now, to their website! You must see it for yourself!
http://www.chomickmeder.com/
And, when you get there, don’t forget to visit, Dr. Messmore, M.D.
He will change your life forever!
http://www.chomickmeder.com/pages/cmaut-arfgrant.html
Toy Story
You’re having a quick bite of breakfast before dropping the kids off at daycare and heading for work. It’s a beautiful morning and all seems to be right with the world. All of a sudden, your 3 year old starts gagging. She’s choking on something and can’t seem to breathe. You rush to her, pull her from the highchair and start probing her mouth with your fingers, nothing’s there. Something is lodged in her throat. You begin to panic, not sure what to do. Afraid to try the Heimlich maneuver on her small chest, you smack her on the back and she coughs out a small piece of chewed plastic. Her cries of terror are the sweetest sounds you’ve ever heard. Who would have thought that the Playskool Toddler Sippy cup spout she loved to teethe on would be soft enough for tiny teeth to chew through.
You are out at the park; the older kids are having a great time on the slides. As you stand, laughing with them, your 14 month old son is safely sleeping in the Baby Trend Backpack Carrier on your back. It’s really comfortable with an aluminum frame which distributes the weight more evenly to prevent backache. In a quick instant, one of the straps tears loose from the sturdy frame, your stomach lurches as you feel your infant falling behind you. Luckily mom was there to stop the fateful fall.
Pretty scary scenarios, eh? Even, scarier? They’ve actually happened and the outcomes were far direr. Wait a minute! This is 2007; we have standards and safety regulations! Our kids’ toys and supplies are safe, aren’t they? In August of this year, the Mattel Toy Company alone had to recall over nineteen million toys. When you consider that Mattel, due to its long standing record of producing toys in China, has the best record of oversight and quality control you wonder about the output of the smaller toy companies.
Taking in to account that four out of every five toys bought in the U.S. are made outside of the U.S. the odds get absolutely frightening. Considering the growing list of toxically tainted Chinese exports; toothpaste, pet food ingredients, seafood, etc, one doesn’t have to be paranoid to be desperately concerned.
The core of the problem seems not to be with the Chinese manufacturing itself but with their imported materials suppliers in Indonesia and Thailand who provide; paints, plastics, fabrics, magnets and all the other needed materials. As China’s companies now scramble to keep their prices down they subcontract out to these low bidders who have equally low standards of quality and safety and China’s underdeveloped regulatory capabilities cannot seem to manage acceptable quality control over these second and third tier suppliers’ products. That means that it is up to the American toy and children’s supplies companies like Mattel to provide the needed oversight which more often than not ends with these words, TOY RECALL!
What about Christmas, this year?! The sad truth is that it is already too late. Many of the deals for this Christmas were made at the major toy fair last February and September and October are the height of the shipping season in terms of products arriving into American ports. Many of those toys are already in containers, sitting in Hong Kong and others are already being unloaded in the U.S. If concerned parents want to avoid Chinese toys this holiday season there’s going to be a big empty space beneath the tree and it is kind of hard to tell the kids that Santa had a recall.
Copyright 2007 David Spangenburg
Shark Week
What is this fascination we have with being eaten alive by a large sea creature? It must be a popular fantasy, when a large cable network like the Discovery Channel devotes a whole week of programming year after year for the past twenty years! You just know that the viewership is there (19 million worldwide last year).
This year they kicked off Shark Week with a documentary on the USS Indianapolis incident, called the Ocean of Fear, which premiered on August 29th. She was the Portland Class heavy cruiser that delivered the critical parts of the Atomic Bomb, Little Boy to Tinian Island, just before they dropped it on Hiroshima. She was torpedoed and sank; leaving almost a thousand survivors floating in the waters of the Philippine Sea. A veritable smorgasbord for the sharks that were cruising the area at the time. 900 survived the capsizing but after 4 days in the water only 317 were left. It’s been called the largest incident of shark attack in the history of the world even though most of the fatalities were from exposure to the elements. Now that’s what I call, family programming.
Sharks have been portrayed as the Freddy Krueger’s of the ocean, lean mean eating machines ready to put you on their menu at the drop of a fin. Ever since Jaws they have become a global terror phenomenon, and have been hunted almost to extinction. Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws has actually apologized publicly for the bad rap he placed on sharks and now champions their protection. It seems that they are not quite the menace that we’d like to believe. Oh sure, they have killed and maimed humans but with the frequency far below that of being struck by lightning.
Being a Gulf Coast resident, I spend quite a bit of my time in the Gulf of Mexico and I am always amazed how people never seem to swim in the sea. They just play in the surf at about thigh to waist deep water. They freak out at any shadow beneath the surface and the occasional Manatee or Dolphin presence strikes terror in their hearts. I’m not making fun of these chickens of the sea because I admit that I’ve been one too. However, I have a totally different perspective now because I just came face to face with a Lemon Shark.
Actually it was more like face to calf because I was standing in this knee deep channel when something caught my eye. It was a large fish about twenty feet away swimming towards me in the narrow channel. As it got closer I noticed that it was torpedo shaped, too streamlined to be a fish, and when it was about 5 feet away I realized it wasn’t a large fish, it was a small shark. A Lemon Shark, I surmised, because it was a dusky lemon color with a pale belly. It was probably a newborn, about 24 inches long, timidly swimming along the shallow surf line off St Pete Beach.
We were both quite afraid of each other, for even before I could escape the couple of steps to the shore, the shark shifted course and went up and over the sand bar, which was about eight inches shallower, skirted around me, then swam back to the safety of the deeper channel.
The encounter, over in less than a minute, was one of those magic moments, when you get to define yourself as what you really are, just another creature on this planet. Not even a blip on the radar screen in the grand scheme of things. At that moment I was neither more, nor less important than that baby shark. More importantly it showed me that sharks are not these mythical terrors of the sea, they are just living, fearing creatures of this world ,just like you and me and dogs and insects, and all the other species on this incredibly unique planet.
So as you sit back with your calamari and dip, watching reruns of this year’s Shark Week, just remember that sharks are beautiful creatures, perfectly in sync with their environment. As predators, they play a critical role in the ocean’s eco-system and most importantly, they should command our respect not our fear.
Copyright 2007 David Spangenburg This year they kicked off Shark Week with a documentary on the USS Indianapolis incident, called the Ocean of Fear, which premiered on August 29th. She was the Portland Class heavy cruiser that delivered the critical parts of the Atomic Bomb, Little Boy to Tinian Island, just before they dropped it on Hiroshima. She was torpedoed and sank; leaving almost a thousand survivors floating in the waters of the Philippine Sea. A veritable smorgasbord for the sharks that were cruising the area at the time. 900 survived the capsizing but after 4 days in the water only 317 were left. It’s been called the largest incident of shark attack in the history of the world even though most of the fatalities were from exposure to the elements. Now that’s what I call, family programming.
Sharks have been portrayed as the Freddy Krueger’s of the ocean, lean mean eating machines ready to put you on their menu at the drop of a fin. Ever since Jaws they have become a global terror phenomenon, and have been hunted almost to extinction. Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws has actually apologized publicly for the bad rap he placed on sharks and now champions their protection. It seems that they are not quite the menace that we’d like to believe. Oh sure, they have killed and maimed humans but with the frequency far below that of being struck by lightning.
Being a Gulf Coast resident, I spend quite a bit of my time in the Gulf of Mexico and I am always amazed how people never seem to swim in the sea. They just play in the surf at about thigh to waist deep water. They freak out at any shadow beneath the surface and the occasional Manatee or Dolphin presence strikes terror in their hearts. I’m not making fun of these chickens of the sea because I admit that I’ve been one too. However, I have a totally different perspective now because I just came face to face with a Lemon Shark.
Actually it was more like face to calf because I was standing in this knee deep channel when something caught my eye. It was a large fish about twenty feet away swimming towards me in the narrow channel. As it got closer I noticed that it was torpedo shaped, too streamlined to be a fish, and when it was about 5 feet away I realized it wasn’t a large fish, it was a small shark. A Lemon Shark, I surmised, because it was a dusky lemon color with a pale belly. It was probably a newborn, about 24 inches long, timidly swimming along the shallow surf line off St Pete Beach.
We were both quite afraid of each other, for even before I could escape the couple of steps to the shore, the shark shifted course and went up and over the sand bar, which was about eight inches shallower, skirted around me, then swam back to the safety of the deeper channel.
The encounter, over in less than a minute, was one of those magic moments, when you get to define yourself as what you really are, just another creature on this planet. Not even a blip on the radar screen in the grand scheme of things. At that moment I was neither more, nor less important than that baby shark. More importantly it showed me that sharks are not these mythical terrors of the sea, they are just living, fearing creatures of this world ,just like you and me and dogs and insects, and all the other species on this incredibly unique planet.
So as you sit back with your calamari and dip, watching reruns of this year’s Shark Week, just remember that sharks are beautiful creatures, perfectly in sync with their environment. As predators, they play a critical role in the ocean’s eco-system and most importantly, they should command our respect not our fear.
Step into the Way-Back Machine!
Is life too overwhelming? Is it always, too much of this, not enough of that. Are you so crushed by the sheer presence of your existence that you have to take a step back, away from it all? I’ve got just the thing for you. Your very own WABAC Machine (scoot over Mr. Peabody).
It is Echo Interiors, at 48 Ninth Street N. (MLK), St Pete. I just love the place. All the great retro furniture, lamps and accessories, creatively laid out just like rooms from our past. Not a bunch of cheap imitations made in China, but the real deal. Just browsing around there makes me feel like a kid again. So warm and fuzzy inside; I just want to put on my footie, PJ's, snuggle up in a cloud chair and read a Classic Illustrated comic underneath a beautiful Danish Modern Lamp.
Marcia Hamburger and David Richards, the owner/operators’, know how to make you feel at home. I can spend hours there, and do. Kate and I got our Danish Modern bedroom set and coffee and end tables for our mid-century modern home at Echo Interiors when we first moved here to St Pete. We’ve been friends ever since. No high pressure sales, just insightful design advice and quality merchandise. They know their stuff.
They should, they’ve been helping people to stylishly furnish their homes since 1973 when they opened their Gramercy Park shop in New York. Lucky for us they opened here in St Pete in 1990. Through the years customers have included; Mikhail Baryshnikov, Terry Garr, Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Cruise, Karen Allen and even Bernie Goetz (the “Subway Vigilante”).
He called frantically one morning, needing to redecorate his ‘police trashed’ apartment before an interview there with Barbara Walters. Marcia and David put it all together for him, in just one afternoon. From the famous to the “infamous” to the little people like Kate and I (well, we’re not quite that little). Marcia and David always give that “extra something” when you do business with them.
And, the furniture, it is to die for. Their primary focus is on the Vintage Heywood Wakefield Lines. Smooth streamlined shapes of flaxen blond birch wood with supple curves, so aesthetically pleasing to the eye, make Heywood Wakefield, “classic designs for a modern time”. If you think blondes have too much fun, they have a number of dark sable Danish Modern pieces. They have treats for all tastes.
Kate and I like our furniture, alive with echoes from the past, so we favor the vintage pieces. For you who love the retro look but prefer to buy new, Echo Interiors is the sole authorized dealer for the Rickam Corp.’s The Cloud Art Deco Living Room Suites, which are painstakingly hand crafted to your specifications from your preference of hundreds of fabrics or leathers and numerous show woods such as Birds Eye Maple and Elm Burl to your choice of high density foam cushions or feather and down, stuffed. Just cruise on down and let Marcia help you with all the possibilities.
If you prefer the convenience of shopping online, they’ve got an elegant website http://www.cloudfurniture.com that makes it easy as pie to order. It will be created just for you, just the way you want it. They also carry the Heywood Wakefield Revival Line. The unchanged, fine quality craftsmanship and materials but brand spanking new, it is tastefully amazing!
If you already have vintage furniture but it is looking a little worn out, these two professionals will breathe new life into it. Marcia has the most fabulous fabrics on the planet from the elegant textures of the art deco period to kitschy “atomic-age” designs in all the colors of the spectrum and David the maestro of wood, will work his incredible magic on those marred or just plain dull looking pieces.
You’ll have “new” furniture, at half the price. They have an amazing selection of period lighting that will brighten any room and everything else from ashtrays and cocktail shakers to knickknacks and lots of vintage Bakelite jewelry
Echo Interiors; pure, classic elegance with just enough kitsch to make it really fun. Besides, you just gotta’ love someone named, Marcia Hamburger. We sure do! And, David, you need to meet him, to believe him. They are beyond a doubt, two of St Pete’s most unique personalities.
So put all your worries aside, and step into the Way-Back machine for a trip back to more simple and stylish times. It is all waiting for you at Echo Interiors at 48 Ninth Street N. (MLK), St Pete. Just don’t let Sherman, hog the popcorn.
Copyright 2007 David Spangenburg
It’s the Latest Craze!!
Copyright 2007 David Spangenburg
Have you ever done the St Pete Shuffle? No it’s not like the Montezuma two steps, or even the Hokey-Pokey. It is the latest craze from the olden days and it’s positively free. Well, you can throw a buck or two in the donation jug but you don’t have to.
Every Friday night from 7:00 pm till 11:00 pm, an eclectic blend of music fills the air over Mirror Lake as the Historic St Petersburg Shuffle Board Courts, 559 Mirror Lake Dr. N. opens its doors to one and all and believe me, they all come and shuffle the night away at the St Pete Shuffle.
You’ve got the whole cross section of St Peteians (or is it St Peteites?) well, everybody; from the ever present baby boomers, to the families, the thirty-forty groups to, surprisingly, the teenage through twenty-something date circuit makes its way to the St Pete Shuffle.
According to my favorite reference source, Wikipedia, “you can trace shuffleboard’s origins back as far as 15th century England. The game continued through the ages until it began to appear on luxury cruise ships and ocean liners. It finally found its natural home in Florida (naturally) in the early 20th century with rules defined in St. Petersburg in 1924. Later the National Shuffleboard Association was founded here in 1931.”
The court is 39 feet long by 6 feet wide. The object of the game is to propel discs, by means of a cue, across the length of the court and onto a triangular scoring diagram at opposite end. If the disk lands within the tip of the triangle without touching any part of the borders, it is worth ten points, the second tier of the triangle, eight points, and the third tier, seven points. If the disk lands in the “10 off” trapezoid at the bottom of the diagram (the kitchen) you lose ten points. Shuffleboard can be played either one-on-one or by two teams of two.”
Shuffleboard is an equal opportunity sport. There is no need for strength and endurance it is more a game of finesse and technique. Every player is equal in the eyes of the great and grand shuffler, which makes it a perfect game for couples. You get to compete on a level playing field. Kate and I often take out our frustrations at the St Pete Shuffle. Kate is such a sweet person, gentle and kind but she can be quite ruthless on the shuffleboard court. Get a couple of points up on her and you’ll be careening off into the alley before you know it.
Kate’s game is more aggressively offensive. I am impressed (and frightened) by her sheer Machiavellian strategies and the subtlety of her disking technique. Not to mention the precision she exerts as she is removing my disk from a scoring area whilst leaving her own in its place, much like a surgeon removing an unwanted growth. My technique is more defensive, gaining points and trying to protect them from Kate’s skilled and insistent attacks. We are pretty evenly matched which makes for an interesting and long evening, full of thrills and excitement.
Judging by the uproar at the packed courts all around us everyone else is having a great time too. Sodas are offered at a serve yourself table and again you donate what you can. The music, provided by means of a sweet PA system, is such a diverse mixture of styles and eras you can never guess what is coming up next but you love every minute of it. They occasionally have live music and art displays and just recently we were treated to India Night with cultural dance demonstrations, exotic foods and art and crafts vendors. Turkish Night is coming up in November.
Speaking of art, checkout the enlarged photos of shuffleboard times past in the clubhouse. The whole complex is a doorway into the grand days when shuffleboard reigned supreme in St Pete. In its heyday The St Petersburg Shuffle Board Club, had 5,369 members in 1942 alone. You can see more of the history of the Courts online at, http://www.stpeteshuffle.com/yearbooks/1944_history.pdf .
While its historic value is well known, it is the future of the S.P.S.B. Courts that is being determined as part of a Mirror Lake development project. Due to recent tax cuts there is some concern but after seeing Mayor Rick and his happy family enjoying a night on the courts several Friday’s past and knowing the determination of Chris Kelly and all the other S.P.S.B.C. Members I believe that the St Pete Shuffle will continue to be the Latest Craze of the new millennium.
Every Friday night from 7:00 pm till 11:00 pm, an eclectic blend of music fills the air over Mirror Lake as the Historic St Petersburg Shuffle Board Courts, 559 Mirror Lake Dr. N. opens its doors to one and all and believe me, they all come and shuffle the night away at the St Pete Shuffle.
You’ve got the whole cross section of St Peteians (or is it St Peteites?) well, everybody; from the ever present baby boomers, to the families, the thirty-forty groups to, surprisingly, the teenage through twenty-something date circuit makes its way to the St Pete Shuffle.
According to my favorite reference source, Wikipedia, “you can trace shuffleboard’s origins back as far as 15th century England. The game continued through the ages until it began to appear on luxury cruise ships and ocean liners. It finally found its natural home in Florida (naturally) in the early 20th century with rules defined in St. Petersburg in 1924. Later the National Shuffleboard Association was founded here in 1931.”
The court is 39 feet long by 6 feet wide. The object of the game is to propel discs, by means of a cue, across the length of the court and onto a triangular scoring diagram at opposite end. If the disk lands within the tip of the triangle without touching any part of the borders, it is worth ten points, the second tier of the triangle, eight points, and the third tier, seven points. If the disk lands in the “10 off” trapezoid at the bottom of the diagram (the kitchen) you lose ten points. Shuffleboard can be played either one-on-one or by two teams of two.”
Shuffleboard is an equal opportunity sport. There is no need for strength and endurance it is more a game of finesse and technique. Every player is equal in the eyes of the great and grand shuffler, which makes it a perfect game for couples. You get to compete on a level playing field. Kate and I often take out our frustrations at the St Pete Shuffle. Kate is such a sweet person, gentle and kind but she can be quite ruthless on the shuffleboard court. Get a couple of points up on her and you’ll be careening off into the alley before you know it.
Kate’s game is more aggressively offensive. I am impressed (and frightened) by her sheer Machiavellian strategies and the subtlety of her disking technique. Not to mention the precision she exerts as she is removing my disk from a scoring area whilst leaving her own in its place, much like a surgeon removing an unwanted growth. My technique is more defensive, gaining points and trying to protect them from Kate’s skilled and insistent attacks. We are pretty evenly matched which makes for an interesting and long evening, full of thrills and excitement.
Judging by the uproar at the packed courts all around us everyone else is having a great time too. Sodas are offered at a serve yourself table and again you donate what you can. The music, provided by means of a sweet PA system, is such a diverse mixture of styles and eras you can never guess what is coming up next but you love every minute of it. They occasionally have live music and art displays and just recently we were treated to India Night with cultural dance demonstrations, exotic foods and art and crafts vendors. Turkish Night is coming up in November.
Speaking of art, checkout the enlarged photos of shuffleboard times past in the clubhouse. The whole complex is a doorway into the grand days when shuffleboard reigned supreme in St Pete. In its heyday The St Petersburg Shuffle Board Club, had 5,369 members in 1942 alone. You can see more of the history of the Courts online at, http://www.stpeteshuffle.com/yearbooks/1944_history.pdf .
While its historic value is well known, it is the future of the S.P.S.B. Courts that is being determined as part of a Mirror Lake development project. Due to recent tax cuts there is some concern but after seeing Mayor Rick and his happy family enjoying a night on the courts several Friday’s past and knowing the determination of Chris Kelly and all the other S.P.S.B.C. Members I believe that the St Pete Shuffle will continue to be the Latest Craze of the new millennium.
Copyright 2007 David Spangenburg
“You want fries with that?”
“You want fries with that? “ It’s not quite the corporate catch phrase or business buzzwords that you want your young adult to be using. We all had that nightmare of our kids being stuck in “dead-end” McJobs. However, Jim Skinner, the current CEO for McDonalds started out flipping burgers in 1971 and through years of hard work he hamburgled his way into the boardroom proving that he had what it takes to be top fry. A good store manager in the right location can make over a $100,000 a year and in turn make the store’s owner a millionaire.
Currently McDonalds has 31,000 stores in 118 countries. It is a global behemoth with annual revenues that top 21 billon dollars. What innovation did they showcase? Just this simple equation; fast foods with low prices plus great marketing equals an international phenomenon. Even though Ray Kroc was the master salesman that drove this juggernaut just who is the true hero in this story? Was it the hamburger that was the cornerstone of this gigantic global conglomerate? Nope, it was the hamburger’s skinny sidekick, the McFry. Fries are and always have been the biggest seller on the McDonalds menu. The whole world just loves the Fry.
Though there has been considerable debate as to the origins of the Fry (some say Belgium, some say France, some say Spain) there is no doubt that humans have been hooked on them ever since they first came out of the proverbial pan. According to Wiki, in 2000 alone, an average American consumed, about fifty pounds of fresh potatoes and thirty pounds of frozen fries. Currently, Americans eat about four servings of fries every week. Global frozen potato production is estimated to be at least 9.6 million metric tons a year.
Some say that the Fry is the next great health hazard to strike the world due to its starch content and amount of cooking oil and salt it causes us to consume. Fries are always heavily salted and liberally dunked in primarily Ketchup although they are also consumed with everything from béarnaise, tarter, barbeque and brown sauce to mustard, ranch dressing, tzatziki, and malt vinegar. The latter being the quintessential topping for British “chips”. There are also a myriad of ‘seasoned’ Fries coated with whatever suits the palate.
I am in no way critical of the Fry per say, quite the contrary I consider myself a connoisseur, it is the style of the Fry that I tend to critique. With so many variations; the thick cut, the shoestring, the steak fry, the waffle cut, the crinkle cut, the curly fry and oh so many more it seems that the top Fry in the U.S. is the skinny little McFry. Quite frankly, I can’t see what anyone sees in the little fellow.
To give a critical one sentence review I would say that to me; they have the consistency of a salty hollow stick that encloses just a breath of warm air. There’s no meat in this potato! I will say that they are consistent, they are always luke warm, you could put them in the freezer over night and when you take them out they’d still be luke warm and as Morgan Spurlock found out, they will not grow mold. It’s all relative I suppose because my wife, Kate, just loves McDonalds’s Fries, they are her favorites. Me? I lean more towards the thicker fries with seasoning on them. I actually like all cuts of Fries except the McFry or any of the other skinny pretenders.
Alas, all is not well in McDonaldland. A Zagat Survey, spring 2007, named Wendy’s with 30% of the best burger votes compared to 22% for Burger King and only 13% for McDonalds. However, in the Fry division of the same survey McDonalds won easily with 63% of the vote compared to just 10% each for runners-up Burger King and Wendy's. McDonalds is still the largest buyer of potatoes in the United States. So if you want your fast food business to be a success. You must always remember to keep your eyes on the Fries.
Copyright 2007 David Spangenburg
