One year ago today: August 30, 2019, fried pickles.
Five years ago today: August 30, 2015, no clear instructions.
Nine years ago today: August 30, 2011, 2003 was better.
Random years ago today: August 30, 2009, eTrade went ballistic.
Good morning from brunch at the Peabody, Union Avenue, in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. It’s a muggy morning as we strolled downtown for a look around. We slept in, the place was mighty comfortable, plus I had taken the dogs out before dawn for a lengthy walk this time. We arrived at the trolley station just missing the car, so had to decide to wait or have brunch. The stops are every twenty minutes. The Peabody won out, they have a Sunday brunch around noon, but oddly, there is no dining area in the complex that is run by the hotel. Hence, you are there for the atmosphere, not for gourmet food. You done been told.
The hotel is restored, which demanded we take a walking tour. The rooftop was closed, so stroll the mezzanine. The place is chock full of history, spend a few minutes in the memorablia room. You want to know about the ducks. It’s a parade of trained birds that head for the water fountain in the center of the main lobby. We just missed that, too, so here’s the part of the story they don’t tell. The ducks are raised on a private estate in Arkansas, live the life of luxury at the hotel, five feathers are clipped from their right wings. They grow back in, around six months, whence they are returned to a natural life on the estate.
The tradition began with a couple of hunters who showed up at the hotel many years ago. They brought a few ducks with them, at the time it was permissible to use live bait, and in a moment of upper-class frivolity, put the ducks in fountain. The Reb had a mimosa (careful, it isn’t half & half, get an extra orange juice on the side) and a special order egg and friend* potato shown here. *This word should be "fried", but won't change.
Krasnoyarsk.
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Failing again to see the river, we headed for Graceland. Neither of us are Elvis fans. Still, one should say they visited the shrine, so we drove out there. It’s on the south-eastern outskirts of Memphis and for a national tourist attraction, the route is not well-marked. We’ve both been driving cars most of our lives and we missed it twice. We arrived on a quiet scene and were quickly put off by the $73 per adult entrance fee. This blog is not a tourist guide, so don’t expect such things to be hidden. But it is hard to find that price tag until you get there. Even then, nobody will tell you if it is the only or cheapest tour available. Like many, we snapped a couple pics and were on our way.
Separate from the site, there are other items concerning the estate. Elvis, never that great at handling success, has left a family not that great at handling failure, marriage, etc. These two women are gifted a money machine and the best they can do is price a house tour out of the reach of most Elvis fans. The second story is off-limits, as is too much of the remainder, and rumor is the tour is so guided, all that’s missing is the leg shackles.
Most sad is the front fence. This borders the property and main entrance, however the only way to get in is a shuttle that boards across the highway. That means most people who get to the fence never get much closer to the mansion. These days, $73 is a whack out of paycheck. So they scrawl their names on the stones in the fence. The forlorn part is that so many thousands have already done that so the new writing obscures the old. This photo is one tiny segment of the fence, you gt the idea. We added our scribble who what I have now dubbed, “Elvis’ Wailing Wall”.
Do I blame the coders? Yes. Prior to the Internet, not quoting prices was almost a guarantee of failure. Those who would not state a price were called sneaks. They still are, but “sneak” is not on the official liberal approved word list. So coders only think they are respected. I think they are a disgusting lot who have brought shame to a once-proud career.]
That’s my double pointing a thumb at Graceland. Notice the fashionable “Memphis” ball cap? Shouldn't he be thumbing his nose? As for costs to stay in Memphis, remember that the corrupt American system often quotes prices without mentioned hidden fees, sales taxes, and sneak tipping. Count on around $140 for a safe room for one, make that $190 for two. And in Yankee parlance, walking distance to an attraction usually means hiking distance. One more dismal aspect of this situation is how, due to leasing arrangements, franchises, and non-competition zones, American business can rarely “bunch up” to meet consumer demand. Thus, on that hike, there will be no place to sit down, buy a cold drink, or take a piss.
ADDENDUM
The political scenery shifted while we were away. There is normally little political pressure in America, so when it rears up, the effects are more noticeable. I don’t follow most of it, but I can tell you any poll that says Trump is behind is fake news. Unless you drive into the slums, there are no Democrat supporters left anywhere—except an uninformed bloc of die-hards and older people who remember what the Democrats used to be.
I missed the broadcasts. Apparently Biden, who is becoming a bit more of a prick every day now, has said the Democrat funded riots and looting in American cities are caused by Trump, but does not explain how because he can’t. Or how about blaming Trump for 600,000 flu virus infections. These show how anemically-brained the whole Democrat faction has become. I may not be that politically inclined, but I love watching liberals make fools of themselves.
TMOR, if you hear American news that Big Tech is anti-Trump, it is only partially true. My blog calls them eFAG (eBay, Facebook, Amazon, Google) but include lots of others like MicroSoft. They are not Democrats, which to them means taxation, but against anything that affects their flow of income. They have kept their taxes low by years and years of expensive manipulation of the laws (bribery), but Trump is a danger for another reason. He will act on what taxpayers want—and he could arbitrarily cut of their flow of private information. They can’t chance it.
I won’t explain, but Big Tech can influence voting. Some estimates say they can sway things by more than 5%. This is dangerously significant, particularly in swing states. These are defined as states where in past elections the winning party does so by a tiny margin. Hence, you get nothing places like Wisconsin suddenly getting news coverage. The Democrat support in many of them has nose-dived in the past few weeks.
This makes the Democrats desperate, ans unlike Trump, they have methodically stocked the civil servant with their party faithful for some 40 years. They must steal this election by any means and probably consider it their mission from God. That bloated civil service is the support mechanism, and that organization depends on high taxation to keep their jobs. Trump may be silent on this point, but I doubt he is ignoring it. As a businessman, he should introduce the element of competition. I hear the libtards screaming that would cause some services to decline. Exactly.
(Fake wedding, Argentina)
