Going on hiatus for the Christmas holidays. See you after New Year's.
Recently in General Category
Just when we were ready to get back on line a death in my wife's family caused us to drop everything and head west.
Back now. There was a problem with our archive files. That's been fixed.
Cleaning out a drawer in my old rolltop desk the other day and came across a Gulf Travel Card, a gas credit card from the early 1960s.
That card was the first credit card I carried, not so much because Gulf gas was all that great (it wasn't) but because Holiday Inn honored the card for lodging and meals.
Those where days before American Express, Visa or Mastercard. The only way you charged an airline ticket was by using the Universal Air Travel Card, a charge card system owned by the airlines, and most hotel and motel stays were cash on demand.
But the Gulf card started a trend, allowing the traveling motorist to venture from coast to coast and charge his lodging on a gas card. A girlfriend and I once drove coast-to-coast with only $200 between us. But we both had Gulf cards and they paid for the lodging and food on the trip. Soon, others followed the trend. Best Western honored the Shell card. Quality accepted Sunoco and so on.
Holiday Inn stopped honoring Gulf cards in the late 1970s and the company soon disappeared, swallowed up by Chevron. The arrival of bank cards, American Express and Diners Club put an end to the use of gas cards for hotel stays although British Petroleum still uses a "Multi-Card" that can be used for lodging at some hotels.
At first I thought of cutting the old Gulf card in two and throwing it out but I tossed it back into the drawer with other relics of the past -- including a Playboy Club key, but that's a story for another day.
That card was the first credit card I carried, not so much because Gulf gas was all that great (it wasn't) but because Holiday Inn honored the card for lodging and meals.
Those where days before American Express, Visa or Mastercard. The only way you charged an airline ticket was by using the Universal Air Travel Card, a charge card system owned by the airlines, and most hotel and motel stays were cash on demand.
But the Gulf card started a trend, allowing the traveling motorist to venture from coast to coast and charge his lodging on a gas card. A girlfriend and I once drove coast-to-coast with only $200 between us. But we both had Gulf cards and they paid for the lodging and food on the trip. Soon, others followed the trend. Best Western honored the Shell card. Quality accepted Sunoco and so on.
Holiday Inn stopped honoring Gulf cards in the late 1970s and the company soon disappeared, swallowed up by Chevron. The arrival of bank cards, American Express and Diners Club put an end to the use of gas cards for hotel stays although British Petroleum still uses a "Multi-Card" that can be used for lodging at some hotels.
At first I thought of cutting the old Gulf card in two and throwing it out but I tossed it back into the drawer with other relics of the past -- including a Playboy Club key, but that's a story for another day.
Always nice to discover something interesting in your own backyard. We recently set up a new studio in Floyd County, Virginia -- the Blue Ridge Mountain Community where I attended high school and worked at my first real newspaper job.
An Alabama transplant came by the studio. We were on the road but his visit led me to Fragments from Floyd, a Blog about life and issues from someone who clearly enjoys rural life. His photography is worth a look too.
Haven't had a chance to meet Fred First yet, but I'm looking forward to it. Sounds like an interesting guy and Floyd of late is attracting a lot of interesting people.
I'm sitting in a Borders bookstore, sipping coffee and running my business, thanks to T-Mobile's Wi-Fi network and a Sony Vaio laptop that is more powerful than the 2.4Ghz Pentium IV sitting in my office back in Arlington, Virginia.
I've been on the road for a while and the Vaio and Wi-Fi networks have made it possible to connect to the 'Net at T-1 speeds in coffee shops, hotel lobbies, airline clubs and bookstores.
Life on the road sure ain't what it used to be. For example:
T-Mobile operates Wi-Fi "Hotspots" not only in Borders bookstores but also many Starbucks coffee shops;
Boingo, a competing Wi-Fi service has Hot Spots in hotel lobbies, airline clubs, coffee shops and restaurants;
While T-Mobile, Boingo, Verizon and others charge a daily or monthly fee for access through their services, a growing number of businesses offer the service for free. Panera Bread, for example, has free Wi-Fi in many of its shops around the country.
Roanoke, Virginia, installed Wi-Fi transmitters in the city's downtown area and offers the service for free to anyone with a laptop or PDA with a wireless card.
Wi-Fi beats looking for a modem-capable payphone or suffering through the agonizingly-slow data connections of a cell-phone.
I've been on the road for a while and the Vaio and Wi-Fi networks have made it possible to connect to the 'Net at T-1 speeds in coffee shops, hotel lobbies, airline clubs and bookstores.
Life on the road sure ain't what it used to be. For example:
T-Mobile operates Wi-Fi "Hotspots" not only in Borders bookstores but also many Starbucks coffee shops;
Boingo, a competing Wi-Fi service has Hot Spots in hotel lobbies, airline clubs, coffee shops and restaurants;
While T-Mobile, Boingo, Verizon and others charge a daily or monthly fee for access through their services, a growing number of businesses offer the service for free. Panera Bread, for example, has free Wi-Fi in many of its shops around the country.
Roanoke, Virginia, installed Wi-Fi transmitters in the city's downtown area and offers the service for free to anyone with a laptop or PDA with a wireless card.
Wi-Fi beats looking for a modem-capable payphone or suffering through the agonizingly-slow data connections of a cell-phone.
Yeah, yeah, I know. We haven't updated in a while. Been busy, very busy, opening a new studio and gallery in Floyd, Virginia.
The studio, called Blue Ridge Creative, becomes the focal point for our operations.
For those of you who don't know, Floyd sits in the middle of the Blue Ridge Mountains, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, about 50 miles Southwest of Roanoke. I spent a good part of my young life in Floyd (ages 5-8 and 12-17), worked my first newspaper job at the town's weekly (The Floyd Press) and graduated from Floyd County High School where I was school photographer.
So
opening the new studio was a homecoming as well as embarking on a new
venture. It will allow us to explore a new area of photography as part
of Floyd County's growing arts community and give us a base of
operations away from the hustle and bustle of Washington (although we
will alternate our time between Floyd and our home in Arlington).
Visit Blue Ridge Creative when you get a chance. Now that we are settled in, American Newsreel will resume.