JFK's Assassination at 50 Revisited - the Day the Music Died

Many of us - myself included - remembered where we were 50 years ago today, but perhaps none of us witnessed JFK's assassination at Dealey Plaza. I sure don't know anyone who was there.

For modern music fans, you know what "the day the music died" means. If you don't, it refers to Buddy Holly, who was lost along with others in a fatal plane crash a few years earlier in 1959. Interestingly, his birthplace of Lubbock is due West from Dallas - not that far away.

What he represented to the nascent world of rock and roll, along with what was to become youth culture, was exactly what JFK meant to the idealism of post-war America and all the promise that the 1960s was showing. After November 22, 1963, nothing was ever the same again, and my feeling is that this was historical high point for America and we may never get back there.

If any of this resonates with you, then today is pretty special, and that's why I'm re-sharing one of my older blog posts here.

I wasn't at Dealey Plaza in 1963, but I WAS there in 2008, and given what made that day special, I'd say this is the next best thing, and a pretty good proxy for getting a first-hand flavor for what happened then.

So what was so special in November 2008? Well, Obama got elected, and I happened to be in Dallas the day the results were announced. If you care about these things, the stars really couldn't have lined up any better, and I took full advantage of the moment in both time and place.

I don't often cite old posts, but just after that trip, I put a photo-essay together based on my experience, and if you're even just a bit reflective of what today means, I think you'll enjoy seeing it. There was hardly any social media then, so if you don't follow my blog, you probably never saw it.

As a taste, here's one of my photos. What's this?

Well, it's the USA Today headline announcing Obama's win and "dream fulfilled" at the base of the JFK cenotaph in Dallas, where another big dream died 50 years ago today. How's that for linking one American dream to another?


If you don't remember my photo essay - or have never seen it - I hope you take a look. I'm pretty sure you'll find it time well spent and maybe learn a few things you never knew or saw. If you like that, you may also enjoy my Americana posts, which I do from time to time. Whatever you do, I'd love to hear what all this means to you too!

Obama Redux - Flashback Photo Essay - Nov. 5, 2008 - Obama, Dallas and JFK

Four more years - that's the storyline for the U.S. election. Great win for Obama, but not much has changed across the board in the mix of power, and let's hope the two parties can find ways of working together. Nothing like a financial crisis to force the issue, and I hope they figure this out before China calls our hand and starts dictating economic policy. Yeesh.

Well, let's stay with the afterglow for now, and I wanted to share a photo essay of mine from 2008. Some of you may remember this, but many of you weren't following me then, and I hope you enjoy this.

On November 5, 2008, I happened to be in Dallas, Texas - the day after Obama got elected. Wow. Talk about a happy accident. Clinton sure had his JFK parallels, but nothing like what Obama had. While we're still living off the hope 2008 brought, it was a pretty inspiring message then.

So, if you're a fan of.... Obama, JFK, conspiracy theories, or just America, I hope you'll check out my post from my day in Dallas. Also, if you like this type of posting, please check out the other posts in the Americana section of my blog.

Enough said - let's go back to 2008, and sadly, to 1963 - would love to hear your thoughts!


Semi-Random Thoughts on Texas, the Alamo, Gun Culture and Elvis Costello

If you want to read about my impressions of Interactive Intelligence's conference, this isn't the place to be. Texas is a big place, and whenever I come here, all kinds of things synapse for me in ways that just don't seem to happen anywhere else. Maybe it's all the sun and hot weather...

Anyhow, this is a very different type of blog post, and if you're wondering what the Alamo, Elvis Costello, guns and Interactive could possibly have in common, bear with me.

I'll start with a walkabout I did yesterday afternoon. Everyone knows what this is...



How can you NOT pay a visit to the Alamo, esp when it's about 3 blocks from our hotel? I love history and really enjoyed seeing this for the first time. Being from New England, I never had a true appreciation for what the Alamo means to Texans. You'd think it's considered a national historic site - and it probably is - but it's on a whole other level here. As the sign says, it's a "shrine" - and no pictures are allowed inside.



This sure is holy ground for Texas, and after learning more about the story, I realize this was their Boston Massacre. Am sure kids down here learn about that in passing, but my guess is that their history classes focus more about the Alamo. Texas really has its own sovereign identity that you just don't see anywhere else. So what is this a shrine to? Well, sure it's about independence and freedom, but around here, nothing embodies that more than guns. Frontier justice may be a thing of the past, but as they say, don't mess with Texas...

This brings me to synapse #1 - guns, Texas and Interactive.

At the Interactive general sessions yesterday, the stage props included some vertical towers with circular cut-outs for lights inside them. Like this:



I have no doubt I'm the only person in the room who made an instant association of this with a well known building that leads me to synapse #2. Anyone recognize this building?



Unless you're from Austin or a big Elvis Costello fan, it's extremely unlikely you'll know what I'm talking about.

This is "The Tower" building at the University of Texas campus in Austin, which is not far from San Antonio. Locals will know why the building is bathed in orange - the color of the Texas Longhorns - and they light the building when their teams win. I get that - and found it a bizarre coincidence that the "tower" prop here at the conference was lit in a similar way.

None of this registered for me until hearing a song from Elvis Costello's country music phase called "Psycho." It's such a departure from his style, and the back story is incredible. The song was penned by a blind country singer name Leon Payne, and Elvis did this amazing version that has become one of my favorite tunes of his.

The song is a very chilling rendition of the Texas Tower Sniper massacre in 1966. Once you read the story, you just can't get Elvis's song out of your head. In short, the story is about Charles Whitman, who was a student there, as well as an ex-Marine. He was also mentally unstable, and simply snapped and went on a shooting rampage. First he stabbed his mother and wife to death, then took his rifle and ammo up the tower and opened fire on helpless students below, killing 16 people before being gunned down by the police. This happened WAY before Colombine, and probably set the template for these types of killing sprees that now seem to be the inspiration for video games. Don't get me started on that one. Anyhow, I have no idea what inspired Elvis to sing about such a morbid event, but he sure captured its essence - check it out if you're still with me here.

I've never been to Austin, but San Antonio is close enough by to make these unlikely connections work for me. It also reminded me of my 2008 trip to Dallas and my experience visiting Dealey Plaza, yet another landmark symbol of the U.S. gun culture, esp deep in the heart of Texas.

Oh - finally - you'll love this. As I'm writing this, the most bizarre tune is playing now on my iTunes - Pantera's "Cowboys From Hell". Aside from Psycho, I couldn't have picked a more appropo tune for this post. Could you?

Enough synapsing for now - back to the conference...

Adtran and Jack Daniels - Quality the Old Fashioned Way

Just a quick afterthought about the Adtran analyst event from last week. In my earlier post, I included some narrative and photos about the various tours we got of their production and testing facilities. These tours were really great, and I can't recall ever getting to see so much of the inner workings of companies I follow.

Mind you, Adtran is on the high end of vendors who manufacture a lot of products (1,700 different ones if you can believe it), most of which are made right there in Huntsville. Only high volume/low margin products are made offshore. These days, most companies are software shops, so there isn't much to see. Adtran does a lot of software too, but most of what we saw was bona fide product manufacturing and all types of testing facilities.

Anyhow, I wasn't the only one struck by how accessible all of this was to us. While I was pretty much the only one taking pictures as well as blogging, they were happy to have me do this. I asked in advance if it was ok to take photos, and they were most obliging. Not only that, but we didn't have to pass through a maze of security or sign any confidentiality documents. We were quite free to move about, most all the doors were open, and I don't recall seeing ID badges on anybody.

This sure felt like a throwback to a more innocent time, and that openness really stuck with me. I'm not sure if that's the particular culture of this company, or if it's simple Southern hospitality, or maybe they're just not used to having a lot of visitors. Whatever the reason, it was a treat to be so up close to their everyday operations, and I certainly felt they had nothing to hide. To me, that's a virtue, as well as a sign of quiet confidence in the quality of their products. I think it also goes a long way to explaining why the company continues to grow and stay profitable. And in a humble way, it's a great example of the "Made in the U.S.A." quality that used to be a hallmark of America's economic strength.

Just when you thought I was done, there's a Part 2 that stands in total contrast to this, and I couldn't help but bring these story lines together.

So...after the event wrapped up Thursday morning, some of us opted to take the tour of the Jack Daniels distillery. I couldn't pass that one up - who knows when I'll ever get to Lynchburg, Tennessee again, right? The tour was a lot of fun, and you sure come away with an appreciation of what goes into making whiskey. Of course, the biggest irony is that Lynchburg is in a dry county - apparently they were the first to go dry during Prohibition. While you get to see every step of their time-honored tradition of making Jack Daniels, at the end of the tour, all you can do is smile. If you want to take home a bottle - well, you'd best drive over to the nearest county for that. Only in America, right?

Anyhow, the point of all this is how different this tour was from Adtran. We had a great tour guide - Ron - who gave us a well-honed, but folksy narrative of their history and process that makes Jack Daniels so special. While the basic ingredients are common to all types of whiskey, their secret sauce has three elements. First is water, which has always come from one source - Cave Spring - and as we were told, this water is iron-free. Second is charcoal filtration, with the charcoal made onsite. Third is the barrel, which they also make onsite. Apparently, this is the only distillery going that still makes its own barrels.

The tour was fascinating, but unlike Adtran, they make it very clear that no photos are allowed. As simple as the ingredients are, they don't want the world to see the inner workings and process that goes into making Jack Daniels. I'm sure they would argue that Jack Daniels - in its own subtle way - is just as complex as anything Adtran makes, and clearly they want to keep it that way. I guess the moral of the story is don't be fooled by something that looks simple and easy to do.

With that said, I took photos where permitted, and here's a few to share with you for posterity.




How can you not be relaxed here?







The secret sauce troika - Cave Spring (behind Ron), charcoal, and the barrel (well, at least one I could photograph)



My Dealey Plaza Experience: "Who Shot JFK?" - Ask Ron

In my earlier post about coming to Dallas, I mentioned feeling an inspiring opportunity being in this city the day after the election and being so close by to Dealey Plaza. Everybody knows the history around this place, but how many of us have actually been there? I just had to do it. I won't go into rant mode about how modern technology is great at connecting people virtually, but it's rapidly destroying the importance of the physical world. Maybe that's the germ for another blog - I'm game - anybody out there want to sponsor it?

Back to JFK. For a variety of reasons, I haven't been able to prepare this post until now, but if you're even remotely interested in JFK and American politics, I think you'll find the wait worthwhile. Otherwise, you'll be bored to tears, and I suggest you move on to something else or go back to watching Family Guy now.

I'll preface this post by saying I'm not a JFK history buff, but having grown up in the Boston area, and being old enough to remember 'where I was when JFK was shot', the lore holds a pretty central place in my mind. We all know how historic Barack's victory was, and I can't possibly be the only one out there making these instant and profound connections to JFK. However, I sure felt that way during my pilgrimage to Dealey Plaza early Thursday morning. During my travels to get there, two things really struck me.

First, nobody seemed to know where Dealey Plaza was! Armed with a simple street map, I took the light rail train 3 stops from my hotel to the West End stop. That's the old part of town, and while walking in the general direction of Dealey Plaza, I couldn't help doing the Jay Walking/Rick Mercer man-in-the-street interview. I asked a handful of people where Dealey Plaza was - and we couldn't have been more than 3 blocks from it - and not one person had a clue what I was talking about. Wow. It's like asking a New Yorker where Ground Zero is - you're not going to get too many blank stares on that one. I'm not even at Dealey Plaza, and I'm in trouble already!

Second, I thought I would see some signs of life or evidence that others had the same idea as me, and realize what a special time this would be to visit Dealey Plaza. Nada. Granted, this is a Republican state, but still, this was a pretty historic moment. Maybe people's sense of history isn't what it used to be. Tell you what, though - here's a small aside. For all the bravado and outlaw nature of Texas culture, I couldn't get over the fact that nobody jaywalks. Even at intersections where there was no traffic, people waited obediently until the light turned green to cross. Huh? This never happens in places like New York or Boston.

The other interesting thing is that their light rail service works on the honor system. You buy your ticket from a machine at the platform, and simply board any car. Nobody ever checked my ticket going either way. Very civil and very impressive. Of course, I'm sure half the people riding on the train own guns, and I guess that's part of what makes America so interesting, right? Enough preamble - let's get to the pilgrimage.


First stop - the JFK Memorial - designed by Philip Johnson, this is a very reflective experience that makes you feel the emptiness and collective sense of loss from his assassination. The memorial is a cenotaph - an open tomb - to show how his spirit has never left us.

My camera doesn't have enough depth of field to convey the experience, but it's pretty neat. The cenotaph is surrounded by 4 open walls that appear to float; it's very heaven-like I guess. It's quite an effect, and my photos don't do it much justice. As pristine as this memorial is, it was in maintenance mode - another bad omen - so there was a lot of scrubbing and sanding going on. Ugh. I guess they weren't expecting anybody, so there goes my theory about this being a natural attraction to visit after the election. Looks like I'll have to come back another time to get the intended effect of tranquility.






This juxtaposition below came to me out of the blue, and the image links Obama to JFK in ways words can't express. In the background on the face of the cenotaph is "John Fitzgerald Kennedy" - which you really can't read here - and the foreground is my USA Today. The effect is more dramatic if you view a bigger version of the photo, but hey, this is a blog, not a photo gallery (but if you want to see a bigger version, let me know). Yet another point to support my tech rant earlier!

If I'm Obama, and wanted to invoke the spirit of JFK and reinvigorate it for today, can you think of a more inspirational spot to stage a speech from? Where have you gone, Joe Dimaggio?...


Ok, so here we are - the corner of Elm and Houston - the Book Depository Building (now a museum for what happened here) - Ground Zero - and...Ron.



I can be a very in-the-moment kind of guy, and this was one of those times. As I looked every bit the gawking rube, Ron came up to me and asked if I wanted to buy a pamphlet that recounted the whole event. After declining, he offered to give me a personal tour - 'I work for tips'. How could I say no? Let's just say he could sure use the money, and he turned out to be an incredible source of knowledge about what went on when JFK came to town. Either he spins some truly Texas-league yarns, or he's just one of these treasures who has seen it all but nobody pays any attention to. Except maybe me!


Let the tour begin, and of course that means the fabled Grassy Knoll. Nothing much happening here, and if you've seen earlier photos or JFK documentaries, it seems virtually unchanged since the sixties. So peaceful - so...deserted.



Thanks Ron. Gee, he sure is a good sport.


Mise-en-scene. November 22, 1963. See that 'X' on the road? That marks the spot where JFK was shot. The Grassy Knoll is on the left, and the motorcade would have come toward me. Building on the left is the Book Depository. More on that and the building beside it in a moment.

In case you're wondering, yes, I walked out into the middle of the road to take this picture. It's like 9am - rush hour, right? Not a car to be seen - it was like being on a movie set. Doesn't anybody care about this any more?


The official story is that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and did the shooting from a 6th story window in the Book Depository - circled in black. Well, that's a pretty good vantage point. However, Ron explained that the building next door had an even better line of sight and I've circled the window area in yellow where he explained that other shots were fired from. By whom? Well, that's another story, but he believes that's where many of the fatal shots came from. The plot thickens.


Let's shift locations to get a bit deeper into the mystery. This picket fence - the Stockade Fence - is at the top of the Grassy Knoll, and Ron took me around the back to have a look. Notice all the missing slats. That's from souvenir hunters; but the joke's on them, as Ron explained that the original fence was replaced in 2000.


Lots of graffiti all around, but how about this one? There is no shortage of cynics out there, and the only conspiracy theory that rivals JFK is 9/11. You'd think the people who look after Dealey Plaza would clean this up - or maybe they want it there for shock value.


Not many people buy the lone gunman theory, but if you were looking for the ideal spot to make sure you hit your target, wouldn't it be right here? That's Ron's story and I know he's not alone. It's perfect. In between two leafy trees and behind a fence - nobody would see you. Presuming you had a clear line to the street without endangering onlookers, a slow moving motorcade coming towards you - not going away - would be a pretty easy target - which I've noted with a circle around the 'X' spot.


The 'Manhole Theory'. Am not going to get into the details, but Ron pretty quickly refuted it. He had many other very interesting theories and angles that were far more plausible: the Umbrella Man, the Tague wounding, why the motorcade slowed down, the Zapruder film, LBJ's motives, etc. - but that's another conversation.

While you're still looking at this picture, I can't help but see it as a symbol of the U.S. right now - going down the drain and decay all around - it's hard to see, but there's an empty beer can and a crushed up Marlboro package. Obama sure has his work cut out and is going to need all the help he can get channelling JFK's mojo.


Another perspective taken from a spot most people wouldn't normally get to. The road - Elm Street - slopes down at this point and goes under the bridge upon which I'm standing. Ron took me up here to show another spot where a gunman might have considered shooting from. Train tracks cross the bridge and if a train came by while the motorcade was there, the sound of the shots would have been muffled. While this provides a great sightline for a shooter, it's too public and there's really no place to escape. Besides, the Secret Service and police no doubt would have staked this space out for themselves.


Here's another juxtaposition I couldn't resist. This city worker was blowing leaves off the sidewalk onto the road, exactly over the 'X' spot. He didn't think anything of it and I'm sure most people around here are pretty blase about Dealey Plaza. All I could see in this was turning over a new leaf and the changing winds of history ushering in a new era of hope - for the U.S., for the world, and especially for African Americans. I'm just happy he was so obliging!


Plaque at the base of the Grassy Knoll across from the 'X'. Very interesting language here: 'this site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America'. How generic can you get? No mention of JFK at all, and I know Ron has some views on this. It's pretty clear to me this is still a very touchy subject and Washington isn't ready yet to totally come clean. An apologist would say - no - this plaque is about Dealey Plaza, not JFK.

As I learned that day, this is where Dallas was founded, but somehow, I don't think this city is of such 'national significance' to warrant this level of recognition. America sure is filled with contradictions. Oh, interesting aside - I'm a big fan of urban history and there's always a good story behind major cities that are landlocked. Turns out to be pretty simple for Dallas - they settled there because it was safe - hardly any Indians around. Ok....


Believe it or not, this excursion barely took an hour, but I sure learned a lot. As I left the West End, I saw these ads for some local BBQ and seafood restaurants. Boy, did these look good, but at 10am it was a bit on the early side. Next time I'm back I know where I'm going for dinner.


This post is a bit out of the norm for me, but I hope you enjoyed it. I'd love to hear your thoughts, and like Ron, I work for tips too, so let me know if you want to hear more. :-))


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New Orleans - the 2 Hour Tour

It's impossible to visit New Orleans and not play hooky at some point - that's why it's The Big Easy. Way too many diversions for all the senses - there's just no place like it in the U.S. So, I ducked out for 2 hours yesterday morning to wander about town and make sure I didn't come home empty-handed.





Always nice to start with a Canadian connection! Statue of Jean-Baptiste Bienville, the city's founder - who was born in Montreal. Learn something every day...



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Street scene around the French Quarter, mostly Jackson Square - very familiar stuff, but just can't help taking a few photos on such a gorgeous day...



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I had an Andy Abramson-inspired moment while walking about. I'm no globetrotter, but one of Andy's signature blog posts is a photo of the coffee cup he's enjoying at the various cafes and bistros he frequents overseas. So, here's my homage d'Andy, New Orleans style. Cafe du Monde is the obligatory place to do this in the Quarter, but even at 9:30 there was a lineup, so I made do a few blocks down at another cafe. It's a bit like having your Montreal deli at The Main, which is a very good Plan B when the lineup at Schwartz's right across the street is too long...



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From this angle, the spoon makes a pretty good sundial in my cup...



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Check this out. I love to rant about oversize SUVs, but y'know, before compact cars came along, everyday cars were pretty big too. Here's a big black Caddy, and it's as long as anything on the market today. Look a little closer and you'll see why. It's got THREE side doors! I did a huge double take when I saw this - never seen that before...



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Ok, enough of the Quarter. Time to head over to the river walk. Here we go again - the river, the bridge, the train - all staples of life here and Southern folklore. You just can't escape it here, and now I can't get Proud Mary out of my head. Rollin' on the river...



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Rip Rap - sounds like a good name for a rap song, but this is the stuff that saves live in this part of the world. I'm no Army Engineer, but something tells me you need a whole lot more than this to stay dry when the river swells up and crests over the banks and levees.



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The river walk is a great public space, and there's no better place to walk about on a day like this. Quite a few monuments along the way, and I came across the Holocaust Memorial. Really nice to see this, and was another reminder of the contrasts and contradictions of New Orleans and the South in general. You don't generally associate the Jewish community with New Orleans, but there's a strong presence here, and the Jews actually have a very long and important history in the city's economic development. The same is true, actually for other important Southern cities like Charleston, which in fact is the first place that Jews settled in the U.S. Believe it or not, there were Jewish slaveowners before Emancipation - the world was a very different place then. Given that it's Passover now, I couldn't help but think how this is yet another quirk of Southern culture that could not have existed anywhere else.





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The Canal Street ferry, making its way to Algiers on the other side. Can't help but try and channel Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn here, wondering what this must have looked like 150 years ago.



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Wrapping up my walk at the foot of Canal Street, which is truly the great divide in New Orleans - another contrast in cultures, attitudes, religions, etc. Historically, the roots of the city lie on the right, which is where you find the French Quarter and the early heritage of both the French and the Spaniards. No business is done here other than tourism, but this is definitely where the good times roll. On the left is the "American" side, which is more recent and where you find most of city's commerce and nicer residential areas.



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So, there you go. N'awlins in 2 hours, and I got back just in time to pack, check out, and get on my way home. Can't wait til next time...





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Posted by jonarnold at April 25, 2008 11:01 AM




Comments




Thanks for a fantastic morning tour of New Orleans!

(my morning, not necessarily your morning)

The balcony photos always make me want to visit and see it for myself!



cheers,

jules



Posted by: jules at April 28, 2008 08:00 AM




Thanks Jules - much appreciated. I'm no longer getting email alerts for blog comments, so sorry about being late on this. It sure is a fun place!

Mardis Gras World - a Little Fun, N'awlins Style

Not only does MetaSwitch put on a great customer event, but they know how to have fun, and there's no better place for that than New Orleans. Last year's Harley-Davidson party was a blast, and this was even better and way more colorful. If there's one word to describe New Orleans, esp at night, it's colorful. Here's a taste of what I mean....
Crossing the Mississippi River Bridge from Riverside to Algiers, where Mardis Gras World is located. It's quite a bridge and really dominates the local skyline.



Mardi Gras World - site of the party. Having never been there before, I had no idea what to expect - I don't think anybody did. Nothing prepares you for how colorful, fun and so N'awlins this place really is.



Mardis Gras World is actually a 3rd generation family business that's world famous for designing props and floats for parades. Before getting too caught up in the good times, though, we were just a stones throw from where the locals live. This is actually quite a respectable house, but I can tell you it's much nicer than most of the houses we saw as the bus meandered through the sidestreets once we got off the bridge enroute to the venue. I don't hold any morbid fascination looking for remnants of Katrina, and no doubt, with a few detours we would have found much worse. This house is a very plain reminder that New Orleans is a huge bundle of contradictions and constrasts, with race and income being right up at the top. It was literally on the other side of the tracks from where we were, and you don't have to look far to see how our party is not their party. I'm being both figurative and literal here, as there is a live set of train tracks embedded in the road running right by the front door of Mardis Gras World, and this house was on the other side of the street.


Once inside Mardis Gras World, this kind of goes away, and you're immediately overwhelmed by an endless stream of garish, oversized heads and figures - some more famous than others. Call it what you like - macabre, tawdry, honky-tonk, folk art, surreal, circus-like - once you see it, the spirit of New Orleans make so much more sense. Reminds me of the chase scene in Broadway Danny Rose which takes place in an abandoned old movie studio on Coney Island, I think. While that was in B&W, this stuff is what color photography was invented for...






Not quite done yet. This is N'awlins right? What party wouldn't be complete down here without a parade? We got one, alright - never seen an INDOOR parade before. What a riot - complete with a police escort motorcade, blaring police sirens, kings and queens, festive floats, and of course, a local high school marching band...




Thanks to all the folks at MetaSwitch who worked so hard, no doubt, to put this together. Not sure how you're going to top this one next year, so we'll just have to wait and see!

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Yankee Stadium Visit - First and Only Time

As mentioned in earlier posts, the Dialogic analyst event last week included a guided tour through Yankee Stadium, and I've finally been able to post my photos. I've never been to this ballpark, and don't expect I'll ever have a chance to see it again. The Yankees were on the road, so this was a full tour, and we got to see a lot of the ballpark. Pretty inspiring for any baseball fan, even a life-long BoSox fan like me.



Up until last week, my Nokia N81 had been quite reliable, but all of a sudden it's got a mind of its own, and most of my photos are scrambled, and probably beyond recovery. I was able to salvage what's here, but had so many other good ones, and it's going to take a while to get over this meltdown. Perhaps it was the ghost of Babe Ruth who didn't want a Sox fan getting too close and cozy on his holy ground. Whatever --- here's what I got - enjoy.....





As they say in this part of the world, "it's hard to be humble"...



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Any 7 year American kid has this image etched in his memory forever. Your first visit to a ballpark, and you're walking up the ramp that will momentarily reveal the hallowed ground of the field in brilliant green and the vastness of the stadium itself. You never forget it...



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Can you imagine sitting here to watch a game? There's a great story that I learned on the tour about the origins of the Yankees logo, which I never knew, but am sure is first nature to any Yankee fan.



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Views from the Press Box...



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Monument Park



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Lou Gehrig, Miller Huggins, the Babe



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View from the third base line in shallow left field, looking home...



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Right place, right time. The Sox were playing here the next night. Gotta love this - Sox glory in the belly of the beast. I can die happy now...



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Don't get to do this everyday - sit in the Yankees dugout. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. We analysts may be smart people, but I don't think we'd do to well in this ballpark...



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The bullpen phone in the dugout. I wasn't able to determine if it's VoIP, but at least this lets me work in a telecom angle for my post...



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All the key extensions, including Brian Cashman's. I'm sure there are lots of clever Red Sox fans who would love to try hacking their phone system and making a few prank calls to the GM...



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Thanks for tour, Dialogic - see ya........



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Happy Town

I haven't been in the city of a major sport championship when a team has actually won it since the Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series in 1992-1993. That was really great, but it's tough to beat being in Boston when the Sox swept the Rockies Sunday night. Luckily, I've been here since Saturday for Fall VON, and Jeff Pulver sure had some competition today.

The victory parade was today, and I think pretty much the whole town saw it, except for all of us holed up at VON. The convention center is pretty far from where the parade was, and there was no easy way of getting there to see it. All I could do was take in the street scene up til this morning, well before the parade made its way from Fenway Park to City Hall. The route ran right by where I'm staying, so I got a chance to see the calm before the storm.

So, the best I can do is share some photos from my N95 to capture the mood leading up to the parade last night and early this morning. Happy town, indeed....

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Looking towards Fenway Park, maybe a mile away, where the parade starts...

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Then, continuing along Boylston Street going towards City Hall...

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The venerable Prudential tower, a real icon of the Boston skyline. All Sox fans remember how during the 2004 playoffs, the building had a huge silhouette of "Go Sox" that lit up the side facing Fenway Park.

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True fans, getting a front row seat for the parade at 7:30 this morning...

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BroadSoft Connections 2007 - More Highlights

Have a chance now to post some photos from Day 1, courtesy of my Nokia N95. When the lighting conditions are good - the photos are very sharp, and you really get the benefit of the 5.0 megpixel lens. The N93 had something like 3.0 MP, but could never get quite this level of quality under ideal conditions. How's that for a nice Nokia plug?


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Mike Tessler's keynote
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Scott Wharton setting the stage for the conference


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Guy Kawasaki - key takeaway - "don't let the bozos grind you down!". If that needs explaining, drop me a line.....

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Panel sessions throughout the day. They were all well done, and what I really liked was the mix of customers speaking. Really speaks well to the breadth of coverage BroadSoft has in the market today.


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The Biltmore. This place is Art Deco heaven. I had no idea it had so much history, and for architecture fans like me, the photo opps are endless. Am just sharing a few here.

On the topic of The Biltmore, I've got to say that I don't think the inspiration of this place has rubbed off enough on the event itself. I didn't catch all of Mike Tessler's opening comments yesterday, but from what I did see, there was no reference made to the setting of the event.

I don't know who's doing all the messaging and writing for this event, but I think there was a missed opportunity here. Lots of strong themes to draw on. Could have talked about the "jewel in the desert", much like BroadSoft is trying to lead the industry forward. Or, like Art Deco, we're in a golden age right now of innovation that's finding expression in society at large. A real sense of what's possible when man starts to master the machinery/technology around him. Maybe I'm thinking about this too much, but if you host your event in such a fabulous place, why not take full advantage of it?

Interestingly, on the topic of living well, last night's dinner event was held at the Wrigley Mansion, which is Phoenix's version of San Simeon. Just an incredible 1920's home - a villa, really - built at the top of a hill overlooking the city. Wow - what a view - even though there wasn't much to see at night.

Anyhow, the theme last night was very much the Roaring Twenties, and it was pretty hard not to have a good time. That said, as we all know, the 1920's did not end well - unless you were a Yankees fan - so I couldn't help but see some shades of the dot-com era here - which obviously, nobody wants to repeat. Great party guys, and let's just say hopefully I'm not reading too much into this.

I'll stop talking now - enjoy the photos. Lots more of these, but this will have to do for now.


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Cooperstown - Will the Holy Grail Save the Sox?

I don't often do a baseball-only post, but I think this one has merit for any baseball fan. My sons and I visited Cooperstown this weekend, and it sure was fun. I can now check that one off the father/son bonding checklist, but something tells me we'll be back.

The Baseball HOF is camera-friendly, and I'm just going to post a few photos here, courtesy of my Nokia N93. Got lots more if anyone's interested.

In case you're wondering, the Holy Grail - at least for Red Sox Nation - is the "bloody sock", and we found it alright - see below. I can now say that I've lived a full life - seen all 4 Boston teams win championships, and now I've seen the sock. I can die happy now.

Oh - Cooperstown is very much Yankees country, and it's not hard to tell with all the New Yawkers there - can't miss them. I can report no incidents though, while wearing my Red Sox cap, as there were tons of New Englanders there too. And Max wore a vintage Toronto Blue Jays jersey, which registered about zero on the attention scale there.

Aside from being Yankees country, this part of NY state is classic small town America. I just can't get that Arlo Guthrie song out of my head - "City of New Orleans". Good morning, America how are ya?....

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Baseball heaven - literally and figuratively...

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The Phil Rizzuto "Holy Cow"; Dean in a staring contest with Christy Mathewson

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Everywhere you look around Cooperstown, it's Yankees-Red Sox...

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Yankees-Red Sox....

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You get the idea. They sure know their market (tons of Mets stuff too). Pretty tough to be a Jays fan around here...

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And to give you a warm fuzzy feeling while waiting in line to buy your tickets to the hall, you're greeted by these 2 guys....

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The Red Sox Holy Grail! We finally found it - in a rather inauspicious corner, but it's there. The sock...


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The shoe...

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The ball...

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The Holy Trinity of Red Sox Baseball...

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As much as I hate to say it, the Red Sox are very much in a pennant race, thanks to their indifferent play the past 2 months, and the Yankees catching fire - and you knew they would. There's a huge NY logo in the Red Sox rear view mirror, and all of a sudden, things are looking scarily like 1978. We were up 14 on the Yankees then too, but I'd rather not complete that sentence.

So, while far from being a practising Catholic, I needed to see this Holy Grail to restore my faith that the Red Sox can hang on, and find a way to play like they were earlier in the season. They did beat Baltimore the day we were there, so that was a good sign. And the mojo from seeing Schilling's sock here sort of carried over to his start yesterday. He only gave up 1 run, so he did his job. The bullpen didn't though, and the O's won again. It's 4 games now, and Yankees look upstoppable. Better focus on something else... (but how can you?)...


Well, I will shift gears just for moment. Aside from Max's Blue Jays jersey, there were 2 visible references to Canada at Cooperstown. First, of course, is Fergie Jenkins. As far as I know, he's the only MLB player inducted to both Cooperstown and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, which we visited the week before. Are my kids, lucky, or what?

Anyhow, the second Canada siting was a rather obscure plaque outside the hall commerating a maple tree planted to recognize our links to the game, and the fact that we have a HOF too. We only stumbled across this by accident, but I can at least say Canada is part of Cooperstown. Sure hope that tree grows big and strong.

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Lunch! Could there be a more perfect spot to go? As American as apple pie...

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MetaSwitch - Harley Time....

Last night was MetaSwitch's party, held at the Harley-Davidson dealership. Even here, it seems like a slice out of DisneyWorld, but is sure was fun, and brought out the inner biker in everyone.


This is definitely Harley-land - home of the brave, God bless our troops, and hold the quiche, please. In this world, men are men, women look great in leather, and geeks - well, they play pool in the back and drink wine. Once inside, it didn't take long for all the requisite tunes to kick in and set the mood - Born to be Wild, Allman Bros., Bob Seger - you get the idea....



I had no idea that SO many women were into tatoos - even if they're not real.....


There's always a Canadian connection....


Why would anyone want to drive a car after taking all this in? No doubt, bikers have more fun. Way to go, MetaSwitch - great party! As Ahh-nawld would say, "I'll be bahhk...."


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