Memphis, Tennessee

We just got back from a short trip to Memphis. We were there for the Memphis International Film Festival where Jordan's film Body/Antibody was shown. We met lots of great folks there and ate tons of health food (BBQ). The hotel where we stayed was a short walk to the theatre. When the French Quarter Hotel was built, I am sure it was a great place to stay but the years have taken their toll. Our room even had a huge jacuzzi tub but I was not tempted to use it. I won't talk about what I found under the mattress. Everyday we had to get our key card reactivated because it didn't work and staff didn't really seem that familiar with the area restaurants and could only recommended the Applebees, McDonalds or the IHOP. Luckily we stumbled upon some really awesome restaurants just by walking around. The staff was really nice though as was everyone we met in Memphis. We had one cab driver who could have been the mayor of the town. On our trip to lunch he had at least three conversations with folks in other cars- one guy he rode bikes with in grade school and hadn't seen in years.

Lobby of the French Quarter Hotel.

I liked this wallpaper in our room


This is the oldest store in Memphis.


The window displays.






This bar (Ernestine and Hazels) used to be a flop house where ladies practicing the oldest profession would peddle their wares.


A poster in the BBQ restaurant the Rendezvous


Memphis has no shortage of cool old signs


This sign is not so cool. It was posted outside a bar. I saw a similar sign in a shopping mall also.


We did make it to Graceland. Here are some highlights.

Living room with 9 foot sofa


Lamp in the jungle room


The pool room. Good luck finding the sofa




The TV room--watching 3 televisions at once--was Elvis "The Man Who Fell to Earth"


Takin' care of business in a flash


The Pink Cadillac


24K gold sink basin in the big "E"s private plane. Also, he had 24K gold plated seat belts onboard


Some of the Jumpsuits


What a tiger!


My favorite in the collection


Belt buckle detail


Cool Ad for show


Fun movie poster


A button collection

Berch in Ditmars Area

Here are some of the works of Berch that can be found in the Ditmars Area in Astoria. Often he paints seasonal greetings on windows. The following image is just one example. Many shops have this same motif on their windows.


This pastural scene looks as though it could be an early work.


A shop gate makes an excellent surface to convey a bridge scene at sunset.


One of the best Greek restaurants in Astoria, Taverna Cyclades, has scenes of Greece depicted on the outside building.

A close up at the Taverna


This tropical scene has been tagged


This scene seems to depict the American dream




Berch's eagle has landed


A textured wall poses no threat to Berch's talent. This one is like a pointillist cityscape


This seems like some of Berch's more mature work. Skillful use of the medium. The wall finish must have been a dream surface to work on.






Every where I look I notice more Berch in the neighborhood. Just the other day I was on Broadway in Astoria and noticed some works. I know there is more to find in the Ditmars area and beyond the search continues.........

Easter Sunday Stroll

Who is the Captain of this ship? Why is there a Captain Morgan statue outside a local hookah bar? Why not. That is why we live in an awesome neighborhood. Jordan and I took a stroll through the neighborhood on a crisp but sunny Easter Sunday. We crossed over the Grand Central Parkway to the Ditmars neighborhood where Jordan spent many years as a bachelor and where we first got to know each other. We passed McCanns pub and the Greek restaurant where we met for our first date. Memory lane.... Some things changed but alot stayed the same. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, there are a lot of great representations of the work of Berch (more Berch File and Old Signs posts to come soon). There are a lot more Japanese restaurants (we had dinner at one and it was delicious). There are some more cute restaurants and cafes. The Top Tomato fruit stand is still awesome and still open 24 hours. We wondered which neighborhood had more cool stuff going on? I don't know. Luckily 30th Ave. and Ditmars are very close to each other.

Inspirational colors/patterns

I am liking these colors right now. Okay, who am I kidding? I usually gravitate towards these types of colors.

This is from a garment that is currently for sale where I work


These are some papers I picked up today.

Magic nature

Saturday morning Jordan went out for milk and brought me back these beautiful tulips. The flowers were nice and tightly closed. I snipped the ends and put the tulips into a vase. Before our eyes the flowers opened up. I thought they would only last for a day. We went out and when we came home that night they had closed up again. Here it is Monday and they look just like they did when we came home on Saturday night. So pretty and magical.
This photo was taken on Saturday morning

This photo was taken Monday evening

Friday at the MOMA

Friday I found out that I was able to leave work early. So what did I do? Went to MOMA and boy was it crowded. Tried to take in the new show "Design and the Elastic Mind" I couldn't spend to much time there. So many people that it was hard to move around and see the exhibits. A friend went on Saturday and said it was the same situation. I did like this piece. I guess the idea is that the plant would twine its way through the hoops and become a screen.



I also checked out the color show while I was there. I enjoyed that. I really liked the installation of the Dan Flavin piece. It was in a spot where it could really be appreciated. It confirmed to me that where the Dia Center has their Dan Flavin pieces installed is unfortunate.
I also enjoyed lunch in the cafe and this cardboard sculpture .

Star Trek Convention in NJ

A young fan


A not so young fan



This weekend Jordan and I made our way to Secaucus, New Jersey for the Official Star Trek Convention. Jordan is a big fan and is in the midst of watching every single episode of the Star Trek franchise starting with the original series. He is currently up to watching The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. He alternates between the two because they were on at the same time. It will take him a long time to finish this project and he is very committed to see it through. I do admire Jordan in his ability to start a project and see it through to the end. Like the year he read one book a week or the year he watched 365 movies and kept a journal to document all the movies. He still keeps a movie journal but doesn't see as many as he used to on account of the Star Trek Project. So the convention was fun. It was pretty much what I expected. Jordan was a little disappointed that there weren't as many people in costume as the Las Vegas convention. I was surprised at how many middle aged women there were. There were alot of folks there that perpetuated the nerdy/socially awkward stereotype. And the fashions.........I forgot to make sure to wash my "I'm with illogical" t-shirt. Jordan got a lot of compliments on his t-shirt. He did warn me in advance that he was going to buy a lot of toys........... and he did.



The Second Place Winners in Costume Contest (Should have been First Place)