I have a new one to add to my list.
The Arizona Biltmore.
It should not have the great reputation it has. It has, in my book, earned its place among the other expensive, famous, classic hotels in this country that do not live up to their name.....
The List
The Drake in Chicago
Waldorf Astoria in New York
The Breakers in Palm Beach
I am going to add a small disclaimer here though. Remember that I look at hotels differently than the average person. Being as I not only stay in them, I also have to view these places from a logistical and operational standpoint. Not just as Joe Schmoe on vaca.
Disclaimer 2: Please don't think I necessarily hate these places....I don't. (Well, actually I truly loathe the Drake.) I just don't think they are worth the money they feel they can charge because of their historical reputations.
And for the curious, here are the ones that I think earn their stripes as outstanding classic hotels:
The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, CO
The Greenbriar in West Virginia
The Lodge at Pebble Beach, CA
The Willard in Washington DC
Friday, January 16, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Quickie: Quote of the Day
"Luckily, Americans make much better movies than they do cars."
- Studio Executive Patrick Wachsberger (who I believe is French) on the number of Oscar worthy films and performances this year.
Wow. I know there were some fabulous movies out, but talk about hitting below the belt!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
No Way!!!!!
DISCLAIMER: This blog entry was not written by Vivian, but by her 16 year old alter ego.
L......OMG!
Stop all the super crazy rumors already. I am SOOOOOOOOO tired of hearing that Vanessa Hudgens of High School Musical fame, will be cast in New Moon (the second movie in the super fab Twilight series).
Everyone is talking about it. She is supposedly going to play Leah Clearwater....one of the werewolves in Jacob's pack. It's been on Perez Hilton. Its been on all the fan sites. It's been on MTV. I even saw an article in the LA Times. It seems like all of the entertainment cyber world is talking about this!
Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, and also to point out the obvious (well, it SHOULD be obvious for worshippers of the series, like me) but....
The character of Leah Clearwater is not even in New Moon.
We do not meet her until the 3rd book, Eclipse. Duh.
(Sidenote: she IS mentioned in a story that Jacob tells Bella in the second book. And there is a brief reference to her eating spagetti. But that's it. No speaking part at all.)
So, I hope this rumor gets put to rest pretty quickly. It would be kinda hard to cast a character that doesn't exist yet! No Vanessa Hudgens. At least not until they talk casting for the 3rd movie. Thank God cuz.....I can't stand that annoying little wench.
Twilght DVD out on March 21st! Afterall, the 4 times I saw it in the theater wasn't enough. Can't Hardly Wait.
I heart Edward Cullen.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Enough Aready
I just watched a clip from a website called "HowObamaGotElected.com". Basically the site is the lovechild of sour loser Republicans and bitter Conservative conspiracy theorists that are still trying to blame the media biases for Obama's win.
The clip I saw was a Gov. Sarah Palin interview from 2 days ago where she is still stickin' to her guns (yes pun intended) about the evil Internet and the big bad bloggers.
Come On!!!!!
It's over. We got it. You think Obama was the media favorite and that is why he won. The argument is getting very stale.
However...here's a another theory for Conservatives to ponder......
Maybe, just maybe, if the Republican party and all of its candidates throughout the election had embraced the media, and the Internet and the bloggers, and tried to use them to their advantage (just like Obama and his peeps seemed to be very very good at) the media would have been a little more on the Republican side.
But, no...at every opportunity possible, Palin, McCain, and their teams decided to berate the media, call out the biases, and negatively label bloggers, popular political websites, and even respected journalist for their reporting of the campaign happenings. I mean hey... there's a good way to get people on your side...make fun of them, call them useless, and attack their motivations. I wonder why it didn't work?
I actually think the election results are a revenge for 6 or 7 years ago. I think the media back them had a very right wing leaning stance. How else would have all the Pre-Iraq war crap happen? it seemed like anyone who wasn't totally proWar and proBush was torn apart in the press and the court of public opinion.......
Or should I say....they were "Dixie Chicked"?
I don't remember any Conservatives or Republicans asking the mainstream media to back off, or accusing them of being biased them. Of course not, the press was the driving force behind the Iraq War buildup, and the Bush Administration was certainly enjoying the ride.
So, to end this...I just have to say that I'm tired of the argument. If the Repubs want to blame the media, that's their prerogative. I think the real problem is that this is the first election in awhile where the Republican PR machine wasn't able to scare the voters with their "attack the opponent" style of campaigning. That's how they beat Kerry. The press was an asset to them in the "Swiftboating" of that candidate. In this most recent campaign, no one was buying it. They tried: first with the inexperience angle...that failed. Then with the Rev. Wright thing...no on really cared. Then they tried the Elitist angle, the anti-American angle, and their last ditch effort - the fundraising discrepancies thing. None of it worked.
And I'm not surprised. Bush and GOP had gotten cocky about how they could use the press to their benefit for the last 7 years, and the American people finally saw through it. So with this election, it was a new breed of news and information. And since the Repubicans only had accusations, and nothing to back them up, the stagedy crashed and burned...and all they had left in their PR arsenal was to attack the press.
Combine that with the fact that Obama had been embracing all aspects of new media. He and his people knew how to get their message across in this age of 24 hour news, blackberries, and the Internet. He had lots and lots of very public rallies. He encouraged and supported Democratic bloggers and websites. Even his official website was so interactive and involving, that he was raising ridiculous amounts of money, and organizing thousands of volunteers without anyone even picking up a phone. He had a simple message. He got it out there. Through a lot of different forums. The media ate it up.
Say what you will about the campaign, but Obama knew how to use the press and play the game. And he won.
And that's all I got on this topic.
The clip I saw was a Gov. Sarah Palin interview from 2 days ago where she is still stickin' to her guns (yes pun intended) about the evil Internet and the big bad bloggers.
Come On!!!!!
It's over. We got it. You think Obama was the media favorite and that is why he won. The argument is getting very stale.
However...here's a another theory for Conservatives to ponder......
Maybe, just maybe, if the Republican party and all of its candidates throughout the election had embraced the media, and the Internet and the bloggers, and tried to use them to their advantage (just like Obama and his peeps seemed to be very very good at) the media would have been a little more on the Republican side.
But, no...at every opportunity possible, Palin, McCain, and their teams decided to berate the media, call out the biases, and negatively label bloggers, popular political websites, and even respected journalist for their reporting of the campaign happenings. I mean hey... there's a good way to get people on your side...make fun of them, call them useless, and attack their motivations. I wonder why it didn't work?
I actually think the election results are a revenge for 6 or 7 years ago. I think the media back them had a very right wing leaning stance. How else would have all the Pre-Iraq war crap happen? it seemed like anyone who wasn't totally proWar and proBush was torn apart in the press and the court of public opinion.......
Or should I say....they were "Dixie Chicked"?
I don't remember any Conservatives or Republicans asking the mainstream media to back off, or accusing them of being biased them. Of course not, the press was the driving force behind the Iraq War buildup, and the Bush Administration was certainly enjoying the ride.
So, to end this...I just have to say that I'm tired of the argument. If the Repubs want to blame the media, that's their prerogative. I think the real problem is that this is the first election in awhile where the Republican PR machine wasn't able to scare the voters with their "attack the opponent" style of campaigning. That's how they beat Kerry. The press was an asset to them in the "Swiftboating" of that candidate. In this most recent campaign, no one was buying it. They tried: first with the inexperience angle...that failed. Then with the Rev. Wright thing...no on really cared. Then they tried the Elitist angle, the anti-American angle, and their last ditch effort - the fundraising discrepancies thing. None of it worked.
And I'm not surprised. Bush and GOP had gotten cocky about how they could use the press to their benefit for the last 7 years, and the American people finally saw through it. So with this election, it was a new breed of news and information. And since the Repubicans only had accusations, and nothing to back them up, the stagedy crashed and burned...and all they had left in their PR arsenal was to attack the press.
Combine that with the fact that Obama had been embracing all aspects of new media. He and his people knew how to get their message across in this age of 24 hour news, blackberries, and the Internet. He had lots and lots of very public rallies. He encouraged and supported Democratic bloggers and websites. Even his official website was so interactive and involving, that he was raising ridiculous amounts of money, and organizing thousands of volunteers without anyone even picking up a phone. He had a simple message. He got it out there. Through a lot of different forums. The media ate it up.
Say what you will about the campaign, but Obama knew how to use the press and play the game. And he won.
And that's all I got on this topic.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Personal Highlights (and lowlights) in 2008
Another List....
I am going to put 10 minutes, and only 10 minutes into this. Here is all the things I can remember from 2008 that happen to or around me....in no particular order.
1. I got really political this year. More than I ever have in the past. I think that the election season this year will be the one I remember for the rest of my life. I doubt I will ever be as involved again. I think I have both Hilary and Obama to thank for that.
2. I was out of town for work more this year than any other year in the last 10 years. Very strange. I felt like "work" was the only constant in my life in 2008.
3. I did a lot of drinking this year. I know that sounds bad, but its not. It just means I was part of a lot of drinking occasions. I feel like I really branched out on the places I went, and the people I partied with. This is a good thing.
4. I got rid of cable, and starting reading again. It funny that those two things would be related, but I really think that they are.
5. I became a blogger. If you would have asked me in 2007 if that would have happen....I would have laughed.
6. I stopped caring about missing episodes of TV. Probably related to the no cable- no dvr thing. Might even be a product of the writers strike earlier this year. Or the working all the time thing, but I really stopped caring. I'm totally cool with the fact that I can catch up this spring and summer when the shows release their DVDs.
7. I embraced text messaging. And it is awesome. I don't know how I ever survived before.
That's it. I'm done writing this. It is starting to sound repetitive to a blog I wrote at Thanksgiving.
Happy New Year y'all.
I am going to put 10 minutes, and only 10 minutes into this. Here is all the things I can remember from 2008 that happen to or around me....in no particular order.
1. I got really political this year. More than I ever have in the past. I think that the election season this year will be the one I remember for the rest of my life. I doubt I will ever be as involved again. I think I have both Hilary and Obama to thank for that.
2. I was out of town for work more this year than any other year in the last 10 years. Very strange. I felt like "work" was the only constant in my life in 2008.
3. I did a lot of drinking this year. I know that sounds bad, but its not. It just means I was part of a lot of drinking occasions. I feel like I really branched out on the places I went, and the people I partied with. This is a good thing.
4. I got rid of cable, and starting reading again. It funny that those two things would be related, but I really think that they are.
5. I became a blogger. If you would have asked me in 2007 if that would have happen....I would have laughed.
6. I stopped caring about missing episodes of TV. Probably related to the no cable- no dvr thing. Might even be a product of the writers strike earlier this year. Or the working all the time thing, but I really stopped caring. I'm totally cool with the fact that I can catch up this spring and summer when the shows release their DVDs.
7. I embraced text messaging. And it is awesome. I don't know how I ever survived before.
That's it. I'm done writing this. It is starting to sound repetitive to a blog I wrote at Thanksgiving.
Happy New Year y'all.
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