After the CNN Behind the Scenes tour I grabbed some lunch (which turned out to be the worst sweet and sour chicken (?) I have ever eaten) from a Chinese place in the food court, bought some souvenirs from shops in the atrium and then hustled out to catch the train to my next stop, the High Museum of Art.

The High (as Atlantans call it) had two specific exhibits I wanted to see; Louvre Atlanta: Kings as Collectors, comprised of more than 30 works assembled during the reigns of Kings Louis XIV and Louis XVI of France and Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990 - 2005, an exhibit of 175 photographs Leibovitz created on assignment as a professional photographer, as well as personal photographs of her family and close friends.

Ironically (but not surprisingly), there is no photography allowed in the museum.

I arrived in time to take the one hour guided tour at 1pm so I could get an overview of where everything was in the museum and then spent another hour and a half just strolling through and enjoying the exhibits I came to see and other art on display. I was a little disappointed that they only had one Monet painting on exhibit, “Autumn on the Seine”, but since I was fortunate enough to have been at his home and garden just 2 months ago I shouldn’t grouse too much. The Louvre exhibit was beautiful and reminded me of my several visits to the Musée du Louvre in May.

The Annie Leibovitz exhibit was spectacular and easily the most crowded part of the museum’s exhibits. The exhibit was composed of both fully processed works and, perhaps even more interesting, proof shots. Ms. Leibovitz is truly an artist with a camera, carefully posing her subjects with their individual personalities in mind in what she is striving to capture. This famous photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono attempts to show the nature of this famous couple’s love and relationship. Tragically, this photo was taken the morning of December 8, 1980; at approximately 11pm that night Lennon was shot and killed outside his home.

After Atlanta, the exhibit moves to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. from October 13, 2007 through January 13, 2008 and then on to the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco from February 9 through May 11, 2008. If you’re in either of those places during those times, I highly recommend this exhibit.

Leaving the High I got back on the train and made my way to Underground Atlanta. I wish now I hadn’t wasted my time.

Underground Atlanta used to be the street level for this section of town, back in the days when the train ran through it. In the 1900’s with new-fangled automobiles and an ever-increasing pedestrian population causing the streets to be dangerously crowded, the city decided to build viaducts, not to rise above bodies of water but to rise above the crowded railway street.

These days, Underground Atlanta is (this is my opinion) a horrible mutation that resembles a shopping mall with heavy flea market influences. There are shops on each side of the street and the street itself is filled with cheap kiosks that appear to have reproduced as prodigiously as rabbits. But I’m probably the one out of sync on this because the place was incredibly crowded and it was only 4 o’clock in the afternoon. I kept a hand on my wallet because pickpocketing would be so very easy in this atmosphere. I’m told by residents and friends that it is a very enjoyable place at night when the clubs open up and music acts are performing, but I’m not sure I’d enjoy it with even more people crammed in the area. Plus, the place smelled bad. I don’t even know how to describe the odor that was constant during my walk through, but it wasn’t pleasant by any means.

Here I am (somewhere, just not sure where) on the street level above Underground Atlanta where you will find several of those white archways letting you know that beneath your feet is the world famous Underground Atlanta. Like I said, I wish I hadn’t wasted my time.

Anyway, this Sunday I’m looking forward to my first Major League baseball game when I go to see the Atlanta braves play the Pittsburgh Pirates at 1:05pm. I already have my ticket and, if you want to watch for me, I’m in the field seats that are just beyond first base, 18 rows up. Of course I won’t have my mask on, so you won’t recognize me anyway. Still and video cameras are allowed so I’m hoping to get some good photos and a little bit of video, besides enjoying the game.

And finally, before I go I’ve been meaning to mention that not only is former WFTV reporter Ross Cavitt here at the Atlanta ABC local affiliate, but so is Jodie Fleischer.

Things have been going well here in Atlanta, except for the fact that my little old head is about to explode from all the policies, practices and procedures that are being crammed into it. I have the distinct feeling that I’m being quietly tested on different fronts to gauge not only my knowledge but my judgment (that’s it, I know I’m done for now) and my demeanor. But, no one has said “Get out” yet, so I guess I’m doing something right.

Earlier last week I decided I would go out this past Saturday and see a little of what Atlanta has to offer. I’m fortunate in that the rail system (MARTA) has a station about 10 minutes from my hotel and the train has stops very close to the places I was planning on visiting. I wish O-town had a mass transit rail system to move people. I rode all the way into Atlanta (about 30 miles if I had been driving) for $1.85 in comfort and no traffic in just 20 minutes.

Anyway, my first stop was CNN Headquarters to take the “Behind the Scenes” tour of the world’s first Cable News Network. Behind that ticket kiosk in the photo below is a security setup that rivals those at the airports in terms of thoroughness. Obviously, when you think about it. the headquarters of this news organization would be an attractive target to some moron(s).

Standing in the atrium and looking up you see the world’s longest free-standing escalator, leading into the huge world globe on the 8th floor. That is the escalator people take to start the tour and it’s a spectacular view from the top. Unfortunately, once you pass through security there are no photos or video allowed. This photo and the one below it were taken from the floor of the food court in the atrium.

The first stop is the CNN theater where you get to see the same screens that are in the control room and listen to the director and producer (and the on-air talent during commercials) talking about which shots will be cued up when, what stories are coming up and counting down when they come back from commercials. We happened to be watching and listening just as the news broke that John Mark Karr had been arrested on domestic violence charges and so during the commercial break we heard the director order up file footage and explain to co-anchor Betty Nguyen what the intro would be while the other co-anchor, T.J. Holmes, moved to another location in the studio for a different story. We saw the file footage come up on one of the multitude of monitors, heard the director confirm that the footage was what he ordered and then listened as the producer counted down and watched Betty Nguyen get herself set for the camera shot and ready to deliver the intro the director was giving her verbally and via the teleprompter. If you enjoy knowing what goes on behind a live broadcast, it is one of the best parts of the tour.

From there we went to a small studio set up to demonstrate the “blue screen” or sometimes “green screen” effect used in broadcasting the weather, where the weatherperson stands in front of what looks to viewers like a map but is really just a blue (or green) screen with the map inserted in the camera only. They also had a news anchor desk set up just like the “live” one and for $20 you could sit at the desk and have your picture taken as if you were delivering the news. No thanks, been there, done that.

By the way, these three photos are from the CNN website “Virtual Tour”. You didn’t think I had been sneaky and taken these pictures, did you?

Then it was on to the floor above the main news floor that you see behind the CNN anchors during the broadcast; the one where all the people are moving around in the background. Those are the live news checkers, writers, directors and producers who put together the pieces you see presented as news. We stood above them in a glass-enclosed hall looking down and watching them do their thing. For this part of the tour a big, burly, armed security gaurd joined us, I imagine to make sure no one tried to shatter the glass or something. All I know is I had my black duffel bag with both my cameras and some other stuff in it and he was watching me all the time, lol. Maybe he didn’t think his colleagues downstairs had done a proper job of checking me and my bag.

After that we dropped by the Headline News studio, which is of course MUCH smaller because they are just re-airing packages that have already run on the main CNN broadcast. Most of them are cut down in time and then made part of a 15 minute or so combination package and run continuously for several hours before being updated with “newer” news. We also got to peek in on the CNN International studio and the separate CNN Spanish broadcast. We finally ended up in another small theater watching a little “puff piece” by various CNN personalities like Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Christiana Amanpour and Robin Meade explaining why the love the news business.

Then, just like the Disney, Universal and Sea World rides, we ended up at…the CNN Gift Shop. I laughed out loud when the tour guide brought us in, but quickly stopped and told her “thank you” for the excellent tour. I REALLY enjoyed it.

Monday morning Blog Girl and I were up bright and early so she could drop me off at the airport on her way to the Mouse’s corporate offices. I had done almost all my packing the night before and gathered all my remaining items and we were out the door and at the airport 2 hours before the flight departed. We kissed on the curb in front of the departing flight level and I went inside with my baggage and got in line, happy to have everything going so smoothly. Some 5 minutes later when I stepped up to the ticket counter the young lady took my e-ticket, greeted me and asked, “May I see a picture ID, please?” I reached to my back pocket for my wallet and as my hand closed on empty space my stomach simultaneously gave me that sinking feeling that you dread having. I had forgotten my wallet!!

I stepped out of line, pulled out my cell and called BG and we quickly worked out a plan; she would return home, retrieve my wallet and bring it to me at the spot we kissed. Here is one of those (many) reasons I adore her; though this would probably make her late to work she never uttered one word of unpleasantness or displayed any kind of bad attitude. When I thanked her profusely later when she handed me the wallet, she said “You would have done the same for me”. Yes, I would have…just not as nicely. Thank you, ma chérie.

Other than that self-imposed glitch, everything else went very smooth. my flight arrived 10 minutes early, and even though I had to wait in line almost an hour, the folks at the car rental desk were gracious and helpful (I ended up with a Hyundai Sonora, a nice car that even has a sunroof which I haven’t tried out yet). I arrived at my hotel at 1:30pm and they were adamant that I could not check in until 3pm, so I grabbed some lunch and then went to the office to meet folks and get started on some paperwork and training. When I got off at 5pm I drove the 15 minutes to my hotel and checked in without a hitch. My room is a suite with a front room that has a 32″ TV in an entertainment center on the front wall, a three-person sofa on the left wall with an end table and a stuffed upright chair cornered to the sofa. The right wall has a two-seat dining table then a small sink, mini-fridge and microwave. Opposite the little kitchen area is my bathroom and then the back room is the bedroom with a king-size bed, nightstands, spacious closet and a set of drawers with another 32″ TV on top facing the bed. The back wall is a double window that gives me a beautiful view of…the front parking lot. Oh well, lol. Best of all, the rooms have wireless Internet!

I went back out after getting everything unpacked and hung up and/or put in drawers to buy a few groceries, then came back to the room ate dinner and sat down to watch TV. More on that later.

Work is going well. There is a lot of training, reading of policies and practices and classes to attend. Friday I get to drive to Americus, GA for a big press conference that will involve both of the U.S. Senators from Georgia and several U.S. Representatives, a mayor, etc. I just have to “shadow” one of my trainers, keep my eyes and ears open and my mouth shut, lol. But I have a LOT to learn in a month and while I am enjoying it, I am mentally exhausted at the end of the day. Tomorrow I’m going to try and start using the hotel’s fitness center for an hour each night to de-stress. Amazingly, they have no pool! I was looking forward to swimming while here.

This is not as hard on me (I’m a cave-dweller, remember?) as it is on BG, because of my hermit-like ways, but it’s still lonely here without her. Fortunately, we have a cell phone plan that allows unlimited cell to cell calls and long-distance that is free all the time, because we have been logging a lot of hours on the phone. Last night we chatted on webcams for about an hour and it was nice for both of us to see each other. Technology definitely makes being apart easier to take. Plus I’ve been in e-mail contact with lots of friends and loved ones (keep them coming!) and spent some time talking to my oldest friend, Dave, on the phone last night.

I noticed tonight, while watching the news on WSB-TV (the ABC affiliate) that former Orlando TV reporter Ross Cavitt is working here in Atlanta for WSB-TV. I always enjoyed Ross’ space shuttle program reporting and it was nice to see a familiar face in an unfamiliar city.

Speaking of seeing a familiar face, I also saw John Morgan doing a commercial for Morgan & Morgan, which I thought only had offices throughout Florida, but apparently has expanded. I almost felt at home!

Finally, this was in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper under their “The Vent” section (similar to the Orlando Sentinel’s “Ticked Off” column) which was in response to an article a few days ago about people moving to the Peach State, and made me laugh out loud;

“Floridians are now moving to Atlanta? Just what we need - more Yankees”

Today marks the start of the 2007 Hurricane Season, even though we’ve already had a sub-tropical storm in the Atlantic back in mid-May. Predictions from NOAA call for there to be “…13 to 17 named storms, with seven to 10 becoming hurricanes, of which three to five could become major hurricanes of Category 3 (111 - 130 mph) strength or higher,” and Colorado State University hurricane guru William Gray has predicted a 74 percent chance of a major hurricane making landfall in the U.S., with a 50 percent chance of one making landfall on the east coast.

Yet in spite of those predictions, and this country’s experience with hurricanes in the past 3 years, a recent Mason-Dixon poll showed that most coastal residents, from Texas to the Florida Keys in the Gulf of Mexico and from the Florida Keys up to Maine on the Atlantic coast side, still haven’t made hurricane survival plans. 53 percent of the surveyed in 18 Atlantic and Gulf Coast states said they don’t think they’re at risk from hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding, and 52 percent said they had no disaster plan in place.

Darwin was right.

Anyway, hopefully you’re not one of those with your head in the Florida sand. Here at the Blog Cave we’ve been preparing by stocking water, food, batteries and such, as well as testing flashlights, the battery-powered TV/Radio and the new weather alert radio we purchased this year. Important documents will be sealed over the next few days and we’ll add some things like rope and extra ice. We’ll keep cash on hand in case the ATM’s go out and gas in the Blogmobile for the same reason, although this year any gas station within a half-mile of an interstate, turnpike or designated evacuation route must have generators installed to run their pumps if power is lost. I just don’t like the lines and the waiting and the way some people turn into assholes during these things. I’d much rather be prepared and ready to ride something like Charley out on my own with loved ones.

Plus, I’m trying to be sure Blog Girl has everything she needs in case I’m somewhere else in the country when another 100 mph Charley comes roaring through here. I’m going to feel helpless enough by not being here, but at least I can be sure she is prepared, should that happen.

Also remember that, starting today and through June 12th, certain hurricane supplies in designated price and type categories will be Florida Sales Tax Free. That’s especially helpful if you’re purchasing a big ticket item like a generator.

Here are some helpful links to city, county, state, federal government and voluntary agency hurricane and disaster resource sites online:

City of Orlando Office of Emergency Management

City of Orlando Citizens Corps

Orange County Government Emergency Management

Osceola County Emergency Management

Seminole County Emergency Management

Volusia County Emergency Management

Brevard County Office of Emergency Management

Lake County Emergency Management

Florida Division of Emergency Management

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

American Red Cross

Volunteer Florida Disaster Response and Recovery

Personally, I’m looking forward to the day when Blog Girl and I move the Blog Cave to North Carolina.

From the White House on May 15, 2007:

“In respect for their devotion to America, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved on May 11, 1950, as amended (64 Stat. 158), has requested the President to issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and designating a period on that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer. The Congress, by Public Law 106-579, has also designated the minute beginning at 3:00 p.m. local time on that day as a time for all Americans to observe the National Moment of Remembrance.”

Please take a moment today to remember what this day is about for Americans. It’s not about beaches, cook-outs or sleeping late. It’s about honoring those who have paid the ultimate price in service to our country.

My gratitude goes out to them, their families and their loved ones.

I went to the bookstore Friday evening and bought Al Gore’s latest book, “The Assault on Reason“. You’ll see it over on the right under “What I’m Reading Now”.

When I was returning from overseas last week I picked up the latest issue of Time Magazine at the airport newsstand, which had the former Vice-President (or as he likes to wryly introduce himself in the “An Inconvenient Truth” film, “I used to be the next President of the United States”) on the cover and discusses his new book (with a nice excerpt) and the question of whether he might run for President in the 2008 elections.

This country could do a hell of a lot worse. In fact, we currently are.

I also watched Mr Gore on Larry King earlier this week. His consistent answer when asked if he would run for President was “I have no plans to run for office” but I noticed that when Larry asked him if he would consider a cabinet post, his response was an unequivocal, “No, I have no interest in a cabinet post”. So, it does seem that the door might be open should Clinton, Obama or Edwards end up in a 3 way split of party support. Although I would be thrilled with any of the previously mentioned candidates, it would be a kick to see Mr. Gore finally get what was stolen from him 8 years ago.

If you’d like to join the “Draft Al Gore” movement, you can do so here, here or here.

Originally I wasn’t going to post anything about the tragic shooting deaths and injuries at Virginia Tech. Our friend Hanni is a graduate of VT and after checking with her to see if she had any friends still on campus (she didn’t, thank goodness) I thought I would leave it to others to write about the sad events there earlier this week. And I still will leave that to others.

But then I found out a woman who works in a department I supervise has a son who is a professor at VT. Thankfully he was not on campus the day of the shootings. Then I was told that a man in another department in our office has a son who was shot in the leg during the rampage. Again, thankfully, he will heal. Physically, I’m sure, faster than he will emotionally.

Anyway, the son who is a professor sent the photo below to his mom and she shared  it with me today. In turn, I thought I would share it with you.

April is Autism Awareness Month. The optimal treatment of autism involves an educational program that is suited to the child’s developmental level. 

The year was 1997.

Bill Clinton began his second term as President of the United States.

Tony Blair was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

IBM’s Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, the first time a computer beat a chess World champion in a match.

Timothy McVeigh was convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and received a death penalty sentence.

The first book in the award winning Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling is published. (The last will be published this year)

NASA’s Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.

Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in a Paris tunnel.

Scotland voted to create its own Parliament after 290 years of union with England.

The domain “Google” was registered.

Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule

The Florida Marlins won Game 7 of the 1997 World Series against the Cleveland Indians 3-2 in 11 innings.

The Green Bay Packers win Super Bowl XXXI, defeating the New England Patriots 35 to 21 on January 26th in New Orleans’ Superdome. (Sorry Jason)

The term “weblog” (later shortened to “blog”) is coined.

The late Elvis Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker passed away, as did poet Allen Ginsberg, magician Harry Blackstone, Jr., French explorer Jacques Cousteau, American actors Robert Mitchum, Burgess Meredith, Chris Farley, Denver Pyle and James Stewart, American television reporter Charles Kuralt, Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace, United States Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, American comedian Red Skelton, professional wrestler Brian Pilman and American musician John Denver, among others.

And while celebrities such as Woody Allen and his adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn were getting married, an obscure man and woman (to everyone but each other) in Orlando, Florida were married in the beautiful backyard garden of the bride’s parents, writing their own vows, choosing their own music and surrounded by family and friends.

As I told my children shortly before the ceremony; outside of the days they were born, this was the happiest day of my life.

It still is.

Happy Anniversary, Blog Girl. Thank you for the 10 happiest years of my life. And thank you for loving the man behind the mask.

MegaCon 2007 opened yesterday at the Orange County Convention Center and runs through Sunday at 5pm. You can get my take on the first day here, and ZenGrrl’s here over on Orlando MetroBlog.

As expected, today is a madhouse! Saturday is always like this. Friday is light because it’s a workday, Sunday because things are winding down. Saturday is most people’s favorite day to come. It began with the line to get into the parking lot stretching out to International Drive (when are they EVER going to build a parking garage for the West, or “old” concourse?), the long walk from the satellite parking lot that we had to be directed to because the regular one was filled and they no longer offer a timely shuttle service from that location, and then the shoulder to shoulder crowding within the “C” Hall as thousands of fans, many of them adorned in costumes of their favorite character from comic books, movies, novels and video games.

We finally made our way to the room for the first panel we wanted to attend, “Not My Character” which featured Brian Pulido, Mike Carey and my favorite, Barbara Kesel (I thoroughly enjoyed her panel at last year’s Orlando Comic-Con) speaking and answering questions about how they, as writers, take on a character that was created by someone else and move the character forward. They offered some very interesting insights into the process and their thinking on what works and what doesn’t.

After that was the “Marvelous Men” panel in the same room (no fighting the crowds) that included Steve McNiven, Mike Perkins, Tim Townsend, David Finch and, sitting in the for the absent Jimmy Cheung, Brandon Peterson, talking about what is happening within their own titles and across Marvel Comics as a whole. I stayed for almost all of this one, then ducked out early to attend the “What’s New In The DCU” panel right next door (again, no fighting the crowds) that was run by DC Comics Senior Editor Mike Marts, writer Jimmy Palmiotti, and artists J.G. Jones and Ethan Van Scriver as they discussed the possible ramifications of the “52″ storyline and it’s follow-up, “World War III”, the All-Star line and some of the non-superhero genre books (specifically Palmiotti’s Jonah Hex western).

After that I fought the crowds to go downstairs to the main dealer’s hall and there had to be 10 times more people there than the previous day. It took short, shuffling footsteps and was so crowded that I thought some people should have at least asked me out to dinner first. After scoping out the celebrity area I shuffled my way back out to the front hall and took several pictures of fans in costume. I was hungry but the food court area was completely filled (so much so that people were sitting on the floor in the front hall trying to eat) and I really did not want to eat at a place that serves worse quality food than the theme parks at even higher prices.

It’s 2:30pm now and I’m sitting in a chair in the front hall that I grabbed as soon as someone moved their ass out of it so I could write this and not have to sit on the floor. I’m watching a man inventory a pile of comic books he just bought, checking them off of a list he brought with him that he undoubtedly printed at home. I know, I’ve been there and done that. (Hey, I’m wearing my “Say No To Kryptonite” tee shirt! I know I’m geeky.) The crowd is mostly younger adults in the 18-35 year old range, but there are also younger teenagers and senior citizens in attendance. People in costume continue to stream through the entrance doors and make their way to the dealer’s room area. From my vantage point I can see the attendees of the Orlando Trucker’s Convention lined up at the hall entrance next door, staring at the parade of what I am sure they regard as weirdness (and let’s face it. it is) walk past them. Of course the sight of so many shapely young women in various stages of undress who are not asking them for a lap dance might be appealing to the majority of them.

Time has passed for me, but not for you unless you got up and stopped reading after the previous paragraph.

I went back to the first room we had been for a “Special Panel TBA” which turned out to be a tribute to MegaCon Guest of Honor Dick Giordano. Mr. Giordano has been in the comic book industry since 1951, working as an artist and inker, then serving as Editor in Chief of Charlton Comics and later as the Executive Editorial Director of DC Comics. In recent years, he and his creative partners formed Future Entertainment, a multi-media company. Comic book luminaries and legends such as George Perez, Adam Kubert and Brian Pulido, among others, took to the dais to honor Mr. Giordano. As a crowning touch, a proclamation from Orange County Mayor Crotty was read, designating February 17, 2007 as “Dick Giordano Day”.

The surprise tribute was over just in time for me to then head over to the “2007 Web Cartoonist Choice Awards” presented by CCA. A list of the nominees and winners can be found at their website. An interesting situation has occurred. I grabbed a chair and table at the back of the room after the Web Cartoonist Choice Awards ceremony was over to do some writing. The next event had been cancelled because the guest who was scheduled to appear was stuck up north due to the blizzard. In the course of 45 minutes 20 people or so have approached me while I’m banging away on my laptop, apparently under the impression I am in charge of something. Fortunately, I know what is going on and what the schedule is so I can direct them to the correct room or give the information they need, but it kind of troubles me that I LOOK like such a huge geek, LOL.

Time has passed, I hope you’re still here.

At 5pm, I joined Michelle for the “Meet The Stars” panel featuring a question and answer session with Battlestar Galactica stars Mary McDonnell and Jamie Barber. I don’t watch the show (I know, sacrilege. I’ll catch up by watching the DVD’s one day) but my friend Kirk is a huge fan so I was wishing he had been there to enjoy the interaction between the show’s stars and fans. I thoroughly enjoyed both of these performers and watching them and listening to how passionate they are about their show makes me want to watch it even more than before.

See you there tomorrow?