Author: Trips with James

Film/Theatre director-producer, teacher, author, traveler. Currently resides in Atlanta, GA.

PortFringe, Part 2 – Portland, Maine

Fringe festivals are very interesting events. Some are by invitation, some you just pay a fee and come do your thing. Some are small and some are huge in terms of numbers of shows and people coming to see them. Some feature local artists and some draw on international artists. No one (well very few) make any real money but the festivals continue to spring up around the world because someone has a passion for presenting weird theatre experiences and hopefully they can find an audience that will support that desire.

Portland, or PortFringe as it is called, is a small festival (31 artists), by invitation (names are drawn out of a hat), and this year mostly featured local artists. There was a wide spectrum of material from storytelling to magic to Shakespeare to dance to physical theatre. There were 3 artists from the West Coast and a bunch from along the East Coast, and about 50% local artists. And when you come to a festival the politics of fringe begin to take effect.

You have to hustle up an audience in order to play before people and get the name of your show out. You go to other shows and support other artists so that they will come see your show. You go to events where you talk to other artists and you exchange post cards and ‘excitedly’ talk about your shows. Anything to get the word out so you don’t end up performing for no one. Hustle, schmooze, sell, support and repeat! And if done correctly, you get a decent audience, other artists begin to talk about your show, you support them, and really work to see shows and be seen. This results in awards from the festival (audience awards, critic awards, best this and that award, etc.) that you use for PR in advancing and advertising your next fringe festival performances.

(I won a PortFringe 2018 Critics Choice Award – that is pretty cool!!!)

I chose Portland for a few reasons. I need to get back onstage, the fees were some of the cheapest, it was small with a good chance I could get in, they found housing for the artists, and I had never been there. When I got selected – I was surprised. Not because my show is not good, but I had only applied for 3 festivals and to get into any of them is by chance.

Drydock

So I pulled  my show out of mothballs (been over a year since I last did it in San Diego), rehearsed it, got my ad materials together, bought my ticket and waited for the dates to arrive. I was giving the name of a couple that would host me and my partner, and we planned of seeing all the shows that we could. Our goal was to get one of those awards – either critic or audience – whether it was based on actual quality of the performance or just that we had supported everyone else and played the game correctly.

PortFringe just never told us how effing beautiful the city of Portland was! It was gorgeous! The small city, the bay, the islands in the bay, the parks, the old houses and working class neighborhoods, the water front, the lobster boats and always the light and sky. Summer in Portland must be heaven.

Our plans to see all the shows went out the window because we were so busy seeing the Portland area. Our hosts were always telling us about some new place or adventure we should take. The city is so walk able – so the parks – West Prom and East Prom got done. The Mailboat cruise to 5 of the closest islands, a boat journey through Casco Bay with my host to see his new boat in dry dock up on Long Island, a cruise and hike around Peak’s Island with a lovely dinner by the water, the amazing food available in Portland, and the exciting and vibrant history of the town and its port right in front of your eyes. So instead of fitting in scenery around the plays, we were now fitting shows in around our journeys through Portland.

We got some very nice reviews and a standing ovation at one show, plus a  Critics Choice Award. Yet, we mostly got a truly wonderful feeling of Portland and the surrounding area. The people, the places, the bay and the history all made for a wonderful experience. Plus we did see some really good theatre from our fellow artists.

Most memorable for me were three shows: First, Breakneck Julius Caesar was fun. Filled with humor, background, effects and history, Tim Mooney runs through Shakespeare’s political tragedy playing all the parts and uses the audience to help him along. His acting is spot on especially his juxtaposition of Brutus’ speech to the Roman citizens at Caesar’s funeral against Marc Antony’s speech to the same group. You truly see the contrast between the two characters – an arrogant flawed nobility of Brutus against the cunning and ambition of an intelligent Marc Antony. Very good! Tim does 200 shows a year around the country so look out for him. Whether you understand Shakespeare or not – he will make it worth the ride.

Second, was the sci-fi story, The Sibyl of Mars by my friend, L. Nicole Cabe. I have seen 3 of Nicole’s shows and what always impresses me is the depth that her scripts go to create the world that she is trying to bring us into. They are always about the end of civilization as we know it. Some dystopian  future where everything is breaking down and she leads us into these dark, multi-layered worlds using words, symbols, and images to create this fantastic fantasy. The Sibyl is a seer from Mars,  who has come to Earth to find ancient records of Mar’s original mission. Using tarot cards that the audience pulls for her, she pieces together scattered records, learning why her home world’s ecosystem is collapsing. Interesting, interactive and thought-provoking.

Third, I saw a piece by a local artist, Chris DeFilipp. Using the device of a Dungeon and Dragons game, he examines his disturbing childhood filled with abuse and emotional upheaval and survival. Dark, very personal but touching.

I saw some other shows and heard about others that we missed, but these three stood out to me plus Walking While Black Through Moscow which I reviewed in my last column.

Thank you PortFringe for a wonderful festival that I did not support as much as I should have because our city is so damn nice. I feel guilty, but not much. Thank you for the wonderful hosts – Laurie and Ross – and their generous hospitality. And thank you for some great parties at Local 188, Matthews, and Fringe Central.

Next Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park!

 

Images of Maine 2

Images of Maine

 

 

On The Road Again – PortFringe – Portland, Maine

It has been a long time that I have written my column consistently. In January, I took over the artistic direction of a small theatre in Los Angeles and getting them on the right path plus directing 5 plays in 6 months has pretty much taken all my creative time. Not all my personal time, because one cannot live by theatre alone, but all my creative time has pretty much been taken up with running this theatre.

But I also do Fringe festivals around the world presenting my one man shows that I write and produce. And for summer 2018, I am doing PortFringe in Portland, Maine. Literally in the opposite corner of the country. I thought since my duties at the small theatre in LA (the SkyPilot Theatre) were winding down for the summer, this would be a good chance to return to my writing by documenting my Fringe experience at PortFringe, and then take a week-long tour around Maine, a place I have not been since my early acting years when I was based in New York City.

This will take the form of stories, photos and possibly daily diary entries.

Friday, June 15 – Los Angeles

It is 11:59 PM and I am sitting waiting for a United flight to Chicago that is now running thirty minutes hour late. Everyone by now has noticed that the airline business just seems to get worse and worse, and they seem to care less and less about customer service. I will eventually take off one hour late putting me in Chicago about 20 minutes after my connecting flight to Portland has left. Free water and pretzels for a 4-hour redeye to Chicago. No movies to even rent, but I did get free wifi!!

I walked off the plane in Chicago having no idea where I was supposed to go to find out about a new connecting flight and I was greeted by a United rep who handed me a ticket for the next flight to Portland at 8 AM. Cool and my luggage would be transferred as well. She promised!

I hate to fly and the only way that I can do it is to take Xannax with a vodka tonic. That chills me out enough that I can usually stand anything, but I can never sleep on the plane, so I always arrive in a zombie state. Got a lame airport breakfast and Bloody Mary and boarded the next flight. Arrived in Portland on a warm bright summer morning and took a taxi into town to the waterfront, where PortFringe had arranged for a couple (Laurie and Ross) to put me up in their condo next to the marina. The view from their deck is truly beautiful.

I dropped off my luggage and walked up to Fringe Central to check in and drop off some promotional material. As I wandered through Portland’s down town, I realized how little I knew of Maine and its history except for Steven King books. Portland was having Gay Pride that day and the town was live with people and colors of the rainbow. Beautiful buildings and a vibrant downtown. I had the feeling this was going to be an extremely fun festival.

Fringe Festivals are all alike and all different. What they have in common is the passion that one or more people have in presenting theatre pieces from all over the country and sometimes the world to their home audience. The difference is how they operate, and most are operated by well meaning and dedicated but underpaid staff plus passionate volunteers. The all have different rules and operating procedures that you as the artist just have to deal with because they are not going to change for you. The fact that you are getting to present your work in another city on the other side of country is an amazing thing in the first place.

You are self-produced and self-funded and if you make any money it is because people at the festival come out for your show, but there is no guarantee that will happen. Some festivals you can play for large houses and some you will play for crowds of 3 or 4. I have had both experiences. Sold out shows in Harare, Zimbabwe and played for 2 people at Hollywood Fringe one night. You just never know.

I went why do it? Because you have too. You have a need, a desire, and passion to tell a story and connect with an audience of perfect strangers.

After lunch, I went back to the luxurious condo – believe me the living conditions are never this nice – and took a nap. As I write this little report, I am sitting on my hosts’ deck watching the sun set over the river and marina. Lovely and relaxing and very nice after the hectic past months.

Meanwhile, my writing partner who is coming to join me has been sitting in the LA airport for 7 hours because of a delayed flight by United. They offered to pay for a hotel room and gave her (2) 10 dollar food voucher. In LAX you cannot buy anything for 10 dollars. Ouch!

Tonight I caught the new show by my road warrior friend Les Kurkendaal called While Walking Black in Moscow with fellow road dogs Nicole Cabe and Chris DeFilipp. Very funny show and descriptive about what it is like to be gay in Russia.

Home to bed about 1:30 AM – theatre life on the road again.

 

Temptation Resort Cancun – Review – Cancun, Mexico

PLAYGROUND FOR ADULTS!

It was a coldish December (for Los Angeles) and I had just received news that my teaching contract was not going to be renewed for the next semester. I had also just been hired to be the Artistic Director of a theatre company in Los Angeles. Changes were in the air and I needed to get away some place where I did not have to think about anything except where the next meal or drink was coming from.

I made a list of what I wanted from this get-away. Hot (or warmish), chance at a tan, inclusive of all meals and drinks, chance to meet people, and adults only (meaning no kids in the pool). I started looking at any place that kind of met that list, but it had to be inclusive – I did not want to leave the property once I got there UNLESS I wanted too.

Hawaii does not do inclusive. They have deals that look like that – but they are really different merchants that have been packaged by travel agents to look like that they are all together. Asia too far to fly. I had just completed an around the world trip 3 months before and I did not want to sit on another plane for 12 hours to get anywhere. Central America seemed pretty cool, but Costa Rica deals for that time of year were pretty high and Belize while interesting, I had to travel for a couple of hours outside the capitol to get to anywhere nice. I just wanted to get in a taxi and be there.

I know I sound like the whinny type of tourist – but sometimes you do not want an adventure, you want to rest and relax and not worry about catching that bus or climbing 1000 stairs to see an awesome landmark or view. I want to hang by a pool and watch the world walk by.

So, I turned to the Caribbean, and began to look at lists of best inclusive spots in the islands. Many came up – some really nice and expensive, some allowed the whole family, some for couples only, some like Hedonism II for adults only for adult activities (you understand that right?). I was flying solo and did not want to end up the third wheel to an entire hotel, or deal with sullen teenagers who could not get a strong wifi single in Haiti or Cuba. I was on a budget and could not afford places that were 700 per night or even 300 per night. Cheap, nice, inclusive and easy to get too.

An odd thing caught my eye while I was researching places, and I admit I was a little shocked at first. I am a single adult male who has a strong appreciation for the other gender of our species, yet I was really surprised to see the ads for inclusive resorts in the Dominican Republic where hookers were part of the price. Prostitution is legal in the DR, and there are resorts there (not all) that cater to men of all ages who are looking to spend their time having as much sex as their wallet could afford – the sex is included with the meals and drinks. Very convenient. And the resorts have reviews that talk about the food, drinks, girls, and the premises of the resort. Upscale, low scale. I am not a prude by any stretch – topless or nude beaches or resorts for swinger couples – all fine. Yet, a vacation based on the idea of paid impersonal sex just seemed very slimy and rather pathetic to me.

After a lot of comparing of prices, flights, travel time to the actual resort while on the ground, what the term inclusive meant for that resort, reviews about food, entertainment, cleanliness and staff response, I had it down to three places. The final challenge was made by whether if you were a solo at an adult only resort was the resort solo friendly. And the resort I choose passed all those tests with great reviews and an awesome price.

Temptation Resort Cancun was the place that I choose for my Christmas, solo, inclusive resort getaway. And here is my honest review.

I flew into Cancun on a warm, clear day of about 84 F. I cleared customs and was meet at the entrance by my shuttle company – USA Transfers – which I found online when looking for shuttles to the hotel. Great reviews and a very good price. I paid 50 US up front to be taken there and a promise of being picked up to go home at a pre-arranged time. You book with them online giving them your arrival and departure times. After you are picked up at the airport, you pay the first driver in cash when you arrive at the hotel on the first ride and that pays for both rides. You have already exchanged emails when you made the reservation and that is how they will confirm with you the pickup time. Everything with them was smooth as glass. Both to the hotel and during the pickup time back to the airport, things were on time, no extra charges, the vehicle was new and clean, driver spoke excellent English and tolerated my very bad Spanish, beer-soda-water was available complementary, and the driving was very safe. I cannot recommend USA Transfers highly enough. And as they stated, they confirmed everything by email a couple of days in advance. There can be extra charges for changing times or adding destinations.

I arrived at Temptation and from the outside, while it is a big hotel featuring 7 floors and 428 rooms and suites – there is nothing to prepare you for what is inside.  You walk up the wide front stairs and pass thru large glass doors into a huge reception/lobby area. A huge marble hall with floor to ceiling windows at one end that look out on Cancun Harbor with reception is on your right, the concierge on your left and in front of you on a raised dais is a huge bar placed in front of the windows. Through the windows you can see that you entered the second floor of the hotel, because beyond the indoor bar and glass windows is the main party area of the hotel. At night this area becomes “Bash” the hotel’s nonstop party with a bar stretching at least 300 feet in length on one side and on the other is a long buffet with chefs who will also cook you specialty items. Featuring a raised dance/presentation area where the nightly entertainment performs, the patio looks out on the resort’s “Sexy Pool” area with a swim up bar, DJ, and optional topless swimming that goes until the sun goes down.

Temptation advertises itself as “the Playground for Adults”, and it is that with the 21 and above age limit. The hotel features 7 restaurants, 5 bars, 2 pool areas and beach access (also topless). For the high rollers, who are members of the resort (you can buy a membership to the resort which opens certain special areas and services) there is a private roof top pool and bar area on the seventh floor of the hotel.

I was first booked into a room that faced onto the “Bash” area that was very modern and clean. The bed was very comfortable, and each room as a private balcony. The night-time party started about 8 PM and went until 1:45 AM in the morning. With the loud boom music and lights and DJ and dancers, this basically becomes a huge outdoor dance club. The noise level was a little too much for me, so I asked to move; and they gave me an equally nice room on the other side of the hotel that was very private and quiet.

The decor of the hotel is bright colors and smooth textures with a lot of erotic abstract art pieces around. Having a cocktail on your own private balcony with a warm Caribbean breeze blowing is not a bad way to watch a breathtaking sunset.

The food at some inclusive resorts borders on uneatable, but at Temptation the food for the most part was excellent. There is one huge buffet area that faces onto the pool where breakfast and lunch are served. Take as much as you want and bring a drink from one of the bars, or the waiter staff will get whatever you want. The other restaurants that open only at night offer about 15 different cuisines. I ate in all the featured restaurants and the food was very good. And all the bars serve top of the line brands.

There also all kinds of beach activities which are free, like small catamarans, paddle boards, and kayaks. The hotel also tries to create all kinds of ways for guests to interact with each other. Poolside contests, volleyball, and yoga classes are just a few. The staff is very friendly and tries very hard to please. I had some trouble with hot water in my second room, but they jumped on it right away. It took a day to fix, but I felt the effort was real so I dealt with the cold water for a day. Besides it was 85 outside, so not that cold.

Ultimately, the resort met all my needs and was above par. I wanted a quiet (relatively) vacation with sun, fun, drink, food and an adult only atmosphere and I got it. And for a very fair price. The topless optional and adult outlook on clothing and behavior were nice but not the reason that I was there. As solo, I was concerned that it would be all couples, but there were plenty of solos there as well. If you want to find someone to talk to or meet there are plenty of opportunities. I recommend the resort if you are open-minded and willing to try something a little different. But this is not for family, this is a resort that focuses on couples and the sensual.

Christmas Day on Isla Mujeres – Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Staying in Cancun over the Christmas holidays, I decided to leave my all-inclusive escape bubble and journey out to see some of the amazing Yucatan beauty. I have been to Cancun before and seen the Mayan ruins, visited Tulum and Playa del Carmen, but had never ventured to Isla Mujeres, a beautiful little island about 30 minutes ferry ride from Cancun.

While there are several ferry companies to choose from, the easiest by far is Ultramar Passenger Ferry which has 4 different launch sites just in the Cancun area. One of them was literally next door to my hotel. The cost was $19 US round trip and they took US dollars, Pesos, and credit cards. From my location trips left almost every hour and half with the last trip going to the island at 8:45 PM. Final return trip from the island was at 9:15 PM.

 

You land at the Passenger terminal docks right in the middle of downtown Isla Mujeres. A magical little town full of tourist shops, all types of hotels and hostels, bars and restaurants, transportation businesses that rent bikes, mopeds, and golf carts. The downtown is also right next to Playa Norte, considered one to the best beaches in the Caribbean (locals say the world). It is a 5 mile stretch of beautiful white sand located on the northern part of the island. It is full year-round with tourists from all over the world mixing with the locals making for a very bohemian feel. It is also an amazing place to watch a Caribbean sunset while drinking a cool brew!

Preferred transportation is by moped or golf cart that are very easy to find all over the downtown area of Isla Mujeres. Golf carts rent for 200 pesos for an hour to 700 pesos for all day. Current exchange rate is about 17 pesos to 1 US dollar. I rented a golf cart for three hours and it was a perfect way to travel around the island even if it was not very fast. As you travel south out of downtown you pass through the residential areas of Isla Mujeres. Like all parts of Mexico you will find nice and poor areas, but overall the standard of living on the island is rather high. The Cancun area has an unemployment rate of under 2 percent.

After about 20 minutes you will come to a fork in the road. To the left will lead you to Punta Sur with the old lighthouse, an Mayan fort with a sculpture garden on the cliffs above the end of island, and to the east coast road back to downtown. To the right will take you up a thin peninsula that leads back toward the north. Here you will find several private luxury hotels and the famous Tortugranja (Turtle Farm) and the Dolphin Discovery park. Breathtaking views are in all directions as you travel around the island. To completely cover the island without many stops would take about an hour but each few feet there is another view, another place to relax with a cold beer or another taqueria serving delicious fresh seafood.

As you drive up the eastern coast road you continue to pass amazing views of the Atlantic although the coast here is much rockier. Also, this part of the island has some amazing private homes that reflect the great wealth that this part of Mexico has, and the very interesting mix of architecture brought by the different cultures that have passed through this area in the last 500 years.

Returned to the town of Isla Mujeres around sunset, turned in the golf cart, and had a very lovely dinner on the beach watching a sunset while eating fresh fish tacos. Caught the 6:45 ferry back to Cancun and was in my hotel room by 7:30 PM. A perfect Christmas day!

Other things to do on Isla Mujeres are to take advantage of the world-class snorkeling and scuba diving. Dive shops exist all over the island. Another huge attraction for diving and snorkeling fans is the famous MUSA Underwater Museum of Art which is an underwater museum located in the National Marine Park surrounding the Cancun, Isla Mujeres, and Punta Nizuc area. MUSA contains over 500 sculptures of more than six different artists. The sculptures provide areas for coral growth and contribute to give shelter for fish. The Museum highlights the relationship between art and environmental science, and all of the sculptures are made from materials that promote coral life. The museum can be enjoyed by both divers and snorkelers.

Berlin’s Holocaust Memorials – Berlin, Germany

In the last 80 years, the city of Berlin may have gone through more changes than anywhere else in Europe. First, the capital of a struggling and failing democracy, then the capital of a monstrous totalitarian regime, then an invaded city, then a divided city, then the epicenter of a political battle of the two most powerful entities in the world, then a united city, and now like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the capital of the most powerful democracy in Europe. That is a lot of history both good and bad, and Berlin faces that history in both celebration and somber recollection.

Two of the most somber places to face some of that dark history are the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, also known as the Jewish Holocaust Memorial, and the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism. The first is a memorial to the murdered Jewish people throughout Europe during the Nazis’ reign of terror, and the second is a memorial to that minority that Hitler almost eliminated in his racial purges, the Sinti and Roma peoples. The Sinti and Roma are nomadic people found throughout Europe and the United States. Often both groups are referred to as Roma, collectively, they are popularly referred to as Gypsies.

Before the Second World War, Berlin had one of the largest Jewish populations in Europe, and the Murdered Jews memorial seems to speak to that history. With its location in the city centre directly across from Tiergarten, Berlin’s large main park, and near to both the Reichstag building and the Brandenburg Gate, the monument provides a central reference point for visitors.

The monument is composed of 2711 rectangular concrete blocks, laid out in a grid formation, the monument is organized into a rectangle-like array covering about 5 acres. The design allows for long, straight, and narrow alleys between them while the ground below them undulates in dips and rises. Designed by American architect Peter Eisenman, the number of slabs (or stelaes) is not symbolic, but rather fit the dimensions designed by Eisenman. The slabs are made of gray concrete treated with a protective chemical coating that allows for the easy removal of graffiti and other forms of defacement.

There are many interpretations to the memorial design. Eisenman’s own description states, “the stelae are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason.” The most common is that of a graveyard. And another is that the size, scale and straight lines of the design evoke the discipline and unquestioning bureaucratic order that kept the killing machine grinding along. There are parts of the memorial where you entered a dip and you are surrounded by massive blocks that cut you off from the sights and sounds of the city around you.

Beneath the slabs, is the real center of the memorial. The information center, which is located underground at the site’s eastern edge, begins with a timeline that lays out the history of the Final Solution, from when the National Socialists (Nazis) took power in 1933 through the murder of 500,000 Soviet Jews in 1941. The rest of the exhibition is divided into four rooms dedicated to personal aspects of the tragedy, like reading of the letters thrown from the trains that transported the Jews to the death camps, or The Room of Families which focuses on the fates of 15 specific Jewish families from different parts of Europe, or the Room of Names, where names of all known Jewish Holocaust victims obtained from the Yad Vashem memorial in Israel are read out loud.

To walk through these rooms is both humbling and horrifying. Humbling in the realization of the millions of people who suffered just because of their race, religion or sexual orientation. And horrifying when you realize the sheer scale of the Final Solution, and its amazing ability and efficiency to care out that goal.  You have to look for the information center, and many critics have questioned the placement of the center. It is underground and not well-marked, but while the above slabs of concrete evoke a graveyard, the personal stories you hear of ruined lives and families and survival in the information center will break your heart.

The complete opposite of the Jewish Holocaust Memorial is the small, quiet, almost hidden Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism. The memorial is located inside Tiergarten just north of the Brandenburg Gate. This monument is dedicated to the memory of the 220,000 – 500,000 people murdered in the Porajmos – the Nazi genocide of the European Sinti and Roma peoples.

The memorial was designed by Israeli artist Dani Karavan and consists of a dark, circular pool of water at the centre of which there is a triangular stone. The triangular shape of the stone is in reference to the badges that had to be worn by concentration camp prisoners. The stone is retractable, and a fresh flower is placed upon it daily. In bronze letters around the edge of the pool is the poem ‘Auschwitz’ by Roma poet Santino Spinelli.

While thousands stream through the other memorial because of its location and unique design, this quiet pool attracts far fewer people, but the message is no less powerful. The pool, the poem written along the pool, and the quiet respect people show give this small memorial a power that truly moves you.

There are certainly more fun thinks to do in Berlin, but importance that the city itself places on these memorials in the heart of Berlin make them essential places to visit. Not only to reflect on those who have gone, but to make sure horrors like this near occur again.

(Many of the facts about the Memorials were supplied by Wikipedia and other sources.)

Visit to Cannery Row – Monterey, California

On a recent business trip to the Bay Area, I had the chance to spend part of the day in Monterey, California. I had not been to Monterey in about 18 years, and I was both astonished but not surprised by the changes along the world-famous street “Cannery Row.”

Cannery Row is most famous for the John Steinbeck book written about it in  1945, Cannery Row. The book is set during the Great Depression and tells the tale of the down and out fishermen and cannery workers on a street lined with sardine canneries. The actual row was known as Ocean View Avenue until it was named Cannery Row in 1946 in honor of Steinbeck’s book.

Yet, the story of Cannery Row started long before that with the arrival in the early 1850’s of Chinese sailing families into the area, and they began fishing in the rich waters of Monterey Bay. During the 1880’s, the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived in the area opening the rugged Monterey Peninsula to the world. By around 1902, the beginnings of what would be a massive fishing industry along the Monterey coast began with the first small canneries opening. In 1906, a huge fire destroyed much of the “Chinatown” area of Monterey ending their dominance among the local fishing workers, and they were soon replaced by Japanese and Filipino workers and other fishermen who also began to live around Ocean View Avenue.

From around 1916 to 1945, the Row became the “Sardine Capital of the World” as is supplied tons and tons of sardines for canning and for fertilizer. It only ended when they had totally over fished the Monterey Bay and surrounding areas of sardines. Then a slow sad decline began as the canneries closed leaving their huge metal skeletons empty along the coast. The buildings and small wood frame houses built among the canneries began to fill with painters and writers, bars and whore houses and bums.

During the 1950’s and 60’s, small family restaurants and eateries began to open along the Row making it more of a family atmosphere as tourism began to drift in due to Steinbeck’s book and the artist colony that now was established there. In 1984, the biggest change to the row since the end of the canneries came in the form of the world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium with its aggressive educational outreach programs to the local school children in the area.

When I first visited the area in 1998, the Row had a strong tourist vibe going but the shops housed antiques stores, thrift shops, second hand stores, and vintage clothing stores. A couple of chain restaurants had opened along the Row, but it still seemed to be dominated by local family places. My then wife and I bought a beautiful 3-piece vase and bowl set made of cut blue glass that I still use today. The Row still maintained a semi-hippy vibe and charm that went well with the Monterey coast and weather.

Today the Row is a tourist haven filled with upscale eateries and bars, Starbucks, and t-shirt shops. Anchored by the Aquarium, the cannery buildings that are still there have been turned into small indoor malls featuring all types of shops selling tourist junk made somewhere else. All the vacant lots are being filled with condos and upscale hotels. It was a November weekday morning and the street was crowded, during the summer it must be a parking nightmare with bumper to bumper traffic. There are also several B&B’s in the area that are worth checking out for a nice stay along the Row.

The City has done a nice job of trying to keep some the history of the Row with a recreation trail right in the middle of the area featuring markers along the way describing the history of the area and some of the older buildings that are now historically preserved. The area is a little hilly but totally walk-able and is contained in a 7 by 3 block area along the coastline. There is a wonderful open-air plaza with good eateries and ocean views called Steinbeck Plaza featuring a huge statue with several of the significant people who helped turn the Row into a vibrant destination including John Steinbeck and the famous marine biologist, Ed Ricketts.

The Bay is also on the comeback. It was turned into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and the protected area extends for 35 miles offshore. It is a perfect place to go on a kayak or stand up paddle board ride, or just to take a walk along McAbee or San Carlos beaches to experience the beautiful Monterey coast.

Cannery Row is certainly worth your time to see and visit. Along with Fisherman’s Wharf and the Monterey Marina and the Aquarium, there are tons of things to do and experience. It is certainly has the potential for a great romantic weekend getaway.

My only personal drawback is the memory of a great day in the 90’s wandering through antique and second-hand stores discovering treasures of the early 20th century. All of that is gone now. Sometimes I wish progress was not so destructive in turning quaint, off the beaten track, tourist friendly environments into themed mega-shopping malls filled with chain restaurants and t-shirt shops. There is a sense that part of California’s amazing history is slipping away, and no one seems to be noticing.

But do not pay attention to me, go experience beautiful Monterey and Cannery Row for a magical day filled with history and shopping fun for yourself.

Love Letter to Zim (Zimbabwe)

 

Zimbabwe beautiful landscape

Definition of Terms:
Zim – Nickname for the country of Zimbabwe.

Zimbo (s) – people born and raised in Zimbabwe. Currently living there or abroad are always Zimbos in their heart.

Eish – an all-purpose expression by Zimbos to signify amazement, frustration, excitement, or acceptance of something they cannot change.

Capital City, Harare

Last night in the capital city of Harare, Zimbabwe around 4 AM in the morning, the military forces of the country removed the 93-year-old dictator who had ruled for over 41 years and showed him the door. Bloodlessly, I might add so far. Presently, he is under house arrest in his 26-bedroom mansion awaiting his fate.

Zimababwe’s President Robert Mugabe in 2000 (AP Photo/Christine Nesbitt)

The dictator is Robert Mugabe, also known to his fellow Zimbos as “Uncle Bob”. For most Zimbos, that is not a term of endearment, but a name that symbolized that unwanted family member who is always there, stealing your food or DVD’s or extra cash from your wallet, never returning anything he borrowed, and constantly threatening your kids to behavior and respect him. In other words, the uncle who is a total jackass! Only difference with “Uncle Bob” is that he did all these things at gunpoint. Robert Mugabe was a ruthless, brutal man who was highly educated and very intelligent that managed through intimidation and murder to hang on to power for four decades.

CIty Centre, Harare

This morning Zimbos around the world woke up with a collective “Eish”, as people did not know what to think or whether to believe the news that they were hearing. Even at this moment on the ground in Zim, the news about what is going on is guarded and sketchy.

For those of you who do not know, Zimbabwe is located in the south-eastern part of Africa just above the country of South Africa. At one time it was one of the richest of all African countries, but after 40 years of “Uncle Bob” it is now one of the poorest with a broken economy, almost worthless money, and raging unemployment.

Driving into Mutare

It is also one of the most beautiful, friendly, and hopeful places on the planet Earth. That is why I am writing this love letter to Zim and my fellow Zimbos. No, I was not raised there, but I have come to think of Zim as my second home. During 2012 to 2015, I lived and worked in Harare and all around Zim for a total of about 6 months. I traveled to all corners of the country and came to love its beautiful rivers, warm climate, lush forests, open savannahs with endless skies that make Montana’s Big Sky Country look small in comparison, dark evening skies filled with stars and its friendly, welcoming people.

I first went to Zim to work with a local arts NGO known as NIAA as a judge for their national drama festival. The next two years, I worked with them to develop an education program for rural teachers. The final year that I was there, I directed and co-produced a play for the country’s leading theatre organization, Reps Theatre in Harare. I also debuted a one-man show there and toured it around Zim and South Africa. My local Zim friends began to call me “an honorary Zimbo” for my obvious affection for their country and culture. Whether that was a joke or not, I took it as a serious compliment. So much so that I almost sold my home in Los Angeles and moved there full time to work as a theatre artist and teacher.

Workshop with Rural Drama Teachers

Why didn’t I move there if I love it so much? Well, I have to admit I am a product of my country, the USA. I like to be able to turn on a light and have it work every time. I like being able to drink the water from my tap. I like to be able to know that my money is worth something and it will always be that way. I like being able to openly complain about the idiot who is currently running my country without getting locked up. Zimbos could not do that. You always had to watch what you said in public and to whom. Eish!

Yet, every morning people all over Zim woke up not knowing if anything worked or what the government would take from them that day. Bob beat them down for 40 years, but what I remember was a people who were endlessly cheerful and hopeful. That is all they had to hang onto. Hope that one day it would get better. One day Uncle Bob would finally leave. And there would the opportunity to have things be better again. HOPE.

Zim’s iconic airport

But now after 40 years of turmoil and oppression and diminishing returns, he may be gone. Cannot say so yet, because Uncle Bob is a tricky guy with a lot of resources. Yet, there may be some hope for Zim yet. A chance to start over and realize the potential that these amazing people have and return their country to at least part of its former glory.

Zimbabwe is home of one of the oldest civilizations in sub-Saharan Africa. When the Portuguese found the Zimbos’ (known as the Shona) capital city (Great Zimbabwe) during the 1500’s, that city was already over 800 years old. There is a lot of history, a lot of pride and a lot of determination in Zim. Hopefully, they will get a government that they truly deserve, and it will allow them to flourish.

Kwe-Kwe main drag

As they say in Zim when things need to get done, “Let’s make a plan.” Hopefully, there are a lot of Zimbos making plans right now for a brighter future.

Fabulous Berlin – Germany

Which Berlin do you want to visit? Because there are so many Berlins all rolled into one. There is the modern capital Berlin building itself into the 21st Century with construction going on everywhere. There is the nightlife and decadent Berlin with endless clubs, fetish bars and late-night raves where 100’s of people line up to get into private places thumping to the endless electronic beat that Germany seems to love so much. There is the cultured Berlin filled with museums and historic buildings plus the exciting avant-garde music, theatre, art and film scenes exploring everything at the same time. Or the quiet, circumspect Berlin paying homage to the victims of its turbulent past with memorials and exhibits to the past and hoping for the future.

Berlin Wall Walking Museum

Which one do you want? But why choose, because you can have them all at the same time. You can experience many, many things in the wonderful and exciting city that is grounded in the past but reaching for the future with both hands.

Over the last couple of decades, Berlin has become a construction zone with ripped up streets and giant cranes overhead in every part of the city. It is the rebirth of a great European capital right in front of your eyes. City planners seized on the opportunity of the city’s reunification and the return of the central government to completely rebuild Berlin. What used to be rundown, Soviet East Berlin is now the new, modern, vibrant heart of the city filled with shops, hotels, clubs, and soaring modern buildings and plazas. While what used to be West Berlin feels more residential like a very chic suburb. And this is all linked by one of the best metro systems in Europe. You can get anywhere in Berlin in a matter of minutes by train, metro, tram, bus and using your feet.

Remains of the Anhalter Branhof

I stayed in Central Berlin for a week in an AirBnb apartment located across the street from the S. Anhalter Bahnhof (an old pre-WW II train station), now a subway station. The amount of nightlife, clubs and bars that I could walk to in a few blocks was pretty amazing. While I was technically in West Berlin, I was only a few blocks from Checkpoint Charlie (where East Berlin used to begin) and Friedrichstrasse. Along Friedrichstrasse, there are literally hundreds of clubs, cafes, hotel bars, restaurants and other night spots that stretch for blocks from the Checkpoint north up to the Spree River. Yet, all over Berlin there are neighbor restaurants, cafes and bars. Right in the same building complex that I was staying in was the well-known Solar Sky Bar, very upscale bar visited by tourists and locals alike.

If you followed Friedrichstrasse up to the Spree River as you cross the bridge there, you come to Murphey’s Irish Bar, a true Irish bar (full of real Irishmen) right in the heart of Berlin. Turn right as you walk out the front door of Murphey’s and walk one block to come to a whole string of bistros with outdoor eating areas set up along the river serving all kinds of food from German, French, Italian and Turkish. And nothing in Berlin tastes better after some late-night drinking than stopping at a Turkish food stand and getting a hot, fresh kebap which is a large mix of chicken, lamb or beef with herbs and tomatoes, onions and peppers wrapped in a large pita bread. And yes, you have probably had something similar, but somehow it tastes better made by a real Turk cook in Berlin. My personal favorite was Prime Kebap, Friedrichstrasse 100, 10117 Berlin.

 

Modern Berlin

On the weekends, if you stay up long enough you will find one the late-night raves that open all over Berlin in the early morning hours. The one that I ran into on Friedrichstasse on my second night in Berlin had about 500 young people all dressed in various forms of black trying to get into store front while thundering electronic music boomed out of the outdoor speakers. Or if your personal taste run to the more exotic, you could try one of Berlin’s fetish clubs like the world-famous Kitt-Katt Klub located in central Berlin. Berlin has long been known since the 1920’s as one of Europe’s most decadent cities, and it is all on display in Berlin if you just try to look for it.

A couple of websites that offer a non-stop list of events happening every day in Berlin would be;

  1. Berlin Programm – berlinprogramm.de
  2. Exberliner Magazine – exberliner.com

Also, a place to buy same day half-priced tickets to any event in the city would be as Hekticket, located at Alexnderplatz at Karl-Libknecht-Strasse.

Museum Island

If museums and art galleries are your thing – then Berlin has entire island in the middle of the Spree River dedicated to that. Literally called Museum Island, the island houses 5 world class museums and art galleries, the ornate Protestant Berlin Cathedral, and one of Berlin’s best open space parks, Lustgarten. Plus now where the old palace of the Hohenzollern dynasty stood, that the Communists tore down to be the East German Parliament building, that the city of Berlin tore down – there a huge public venue known as the Humboldt-Forum Berliner Schloss being built that will house more museums, shops, galleries, and concert halls costing the citizens of Berlin 600 million euros. So hopefully for politicians, it will be worth the expense.

It is worth noting that the museums are the Bode, Pergamon, the Neues, and Altes Museums plus the Old National Gallery of Art. Each museum specializes in a different historical era like Roman, Hellenistic, Babylonian and Islamic art and treasures. Of special interest is the 3000-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti located in the Neues Museum. The bust has been called “Berlin’s most beautiful woman”. It is amazing that after 3000 years, this statue makes such an impression not only because of its age, but her sheer beauty that still astonishes after 30 centuries. Right across the bridge toward the Brandenburg gate, is the German History Museum and the German State Opera house both worth consideration. Plus there are museums and art galleries in every part of the city exploring Berlin’s history and artistic contributions.

Victory Column, Tiergarten

Since my background is in live theatre, I took some time to explore Berlin’s avant garde theatre scene.  Berlin possesses more than 50 or so working theaters and produces more than 1,000 new live shows a year. Deutsche Welle’s Ben Knight describes the Berlin theatre scene as “Berlin theater is a hard thing to love – it’s pretentious, abstruse, cerebral and elitist. But on a good night, it’s also unique, iconoclastic, bizarre, and compelling.”

While I understand that Berlin’s theatre scene was one of the richest in Europe, it is really elitist and hard to understand sometimes. Even if you just take in the four international known theatres in Berlin, the Berliner Ensemble (formed by Bertol Becht’s wife), the Deutsches Theatre, the Schaubuhne, and the Volksbuhne, you are going to get four completely different experiences based on the artistic direction of each theatre, and they play to completely different audiences. Yet, I found some of the work I saw to be compelling and inventive, but emotionally distant as if I was watching an exercise in a theatre class. I am told the Berlin music and film scenes are just as inventive and wild.

Small Lake, Tiergarten

If you are looking for something a little more quiet and not quite so cerebral, then check out Tiergarten Park in the middle of Berlin, right across from the Brandenburg Gate. Huge, green, quiet and filled with bike paths and walking paths, where you are always finding a rose garden or a fountain or a memorial hidden among the lush green trees. To US citizens, it will remind you of New York City’s Central Park because of its large size, placement in the city, and how several streets run right through the middle of it.

Along its eastern edge you will find several important sites and memorials including the Brandenburg Gate, the Terror Museum, the Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe, the German Resistance Memorial, and the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims (the official names of the Gypsy race).

Holocaust Memorial

History, shopping, music, art, culture, food, cafes and clubs, Berlin has everything that you could want in a capital city. When I visit Europe, I often trying to envision myself living there and where would feel like home if at all. Rome is the first place that I think about, but Berlin while it can give you a cold distant feeling has an energy that I have not found in many European cities. It does not feel old and tired, it feels alive, new and  vibrant, and that is why I came to like the city so much.

Author with a new friend in Tiergarten
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