Readuponit: Travel and voracious reading

Listening to the Jazz, I Could Feel Gfld Eclipsing Noho

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:49:00 +0000

Everyone showed up; the whole gang of Friday regulars were on the scene in 'Hamp last night, gathered at the very hip Mama Iguana's to share end of the workday tales and catch up on news. But Joe told us he had to leave at 6:20. Why? Because he was heading north to the Next Cooler Place and had a dinner date.

Northampton for years has been the defacto meeting ground for those of us who live up north in Franklin county. We don't have the cool bars and trendy eateries up here, so we have to head 20 miles down 91 to catch up with that kind of action. But tonight I sensed a shift, a seismic shift, from the south to the north. Greenfield has become cooler than 'Hamp.

To bring the point home, you must join the throng at Hope and Olive, set on a sidestreet in this town. We entered and grabbed a corner table, and drank throwback beers...'Gansett anyone?
I had only savored one beer down south and rallied to drive these twenty miles north, to join these friends at this crowded, sprawling restaurant, with tables tucked in sides and nooks and lots of room. Dinner came later, a plate of striped bass, and for others, tiny plump quail with delicious tiny drumsticks.

Half way through this sumptous spread, the music began. A man played a compact silver flugel horn, another played keyboards, a familiar face from the cafe manned a stand-up bass, and a fourth player swished brushes on drums. Good old fashioned jazz, as Bill described it, 'cool California,' like Chet Baker. The tunes were smooth, the players were talented, and I took out my phone to Twitter kudos to the web. No doubt about it, with a big cool place like this, with its unique menu, saavy servers and genuine easy parking, Greenfield has slipped ahead of 'Hamp.

I just wish there was a bistro like this in Deerfield, the world needs and wants more places that take these kinds of risks, offer this creative a menu, and find jazz players as good as this to liven it all up. Come up here on a Tuesday night and it will still feel packed and popular...despite Greenfield's reputation as a backwater, it's surely on the map these days.

Everyone on the Subway Stared in Shock at the Sneeze

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:05:00 +0000

When I was traveling down to New York on Sunday, a man on the subway suddenly sneezed--he yelled in a high-pitched wail as he did so--so loud that the entire car looked over at him with shock. It was funny, such a loud noise popping out of someone all of a sudden, and at the next stop he left with a red face. Most of the people on the No. 1 train downtown had just run the New York City marathon, one guy had a medal around his neck, and others wore sponsor-issued ponchos and held bags of runner's swag.

Sneezing has become the new faux pas, as we enter an early flu season with lurid tales of Swine flu deaths and schools closed due to so many cases. I was chastised by a fellow travel webmaster when I coughed uncovered in a meeting; now I am careful to use my elbow and worry about leaking out germs even with this precaution.

I've spent the past few weeks in a house with tiny sick kids, and I'm sure I've shared way too many germs traveling in airplanes, buses and subways. Last night I bundled up with a thick sweatshirt and sweatpants to ward off chills; I feared for the worst today but so far...not that bad. I hope to avoid the worst of it all and am on the hunt for a flu shot to keep the really bad stuff at bay.

Southwest's Green Plane Saves Fuel and More

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:35:00 +0000

The Green Plane is Southwest's newest initiative in a company-wide effort to save money and fuel.

OUr friend Johnny Jet flies about 150,000 miles a year and takes fastidious notes of every mile in the air. He recently wrote about Southwest Airlines media day where they unveiled a new plane that will clean up the way airlines do business.

From the nose to the tail, this 737, the airlines only model, will be much greener.It starts with the little things: they've replaced those awful styrofoam cups with eco-friendly paper ones with built-in sleeves to keep the cup from burning passenger's hands..

The plane is equipped with NextGen satellite-based navigation, which means flying more direct routes and emitting less CO2.

The plane's carpet is made of recycled materials, they have lighter fake-leather seats which save 2 pounds per seat.They even use smaller lifejackets to save weight.

They use Pratt and Whitney's eco wash system which removes grime from the engines in an environmentally safe way that saves fuel and makes the engines last longer.

In other news, the conpany's CEO told him flat-out that Southwest won't be charging for bags this year, or even for a second bag. Let's keep our fingers crossed on that.

We're Not Worthy....Ok, I Guess We Are

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:20:00 +0000

When I stepped into our two-connected-rooms-with-a-living-room-in-between here at the Kimberly Hotel, I thought, why, we're mere travel editors...are we worthy of these luxe New York City digs? Of course we are, I said again, quickly coming to my senses.

It's tough being a travel writer, especially having to spend the night at such sumptous hotels as this, but hey, we're here to share cool lodgings with our readers and so, I point to exhibit A as the first piece of evidence. That would be this beautiful terrace that has a bird's eye view of the iconic pointed windows atop the Chrysler Building. Boy that's beautiful.

I discovered another pretty cool little part of this suite...a tiny kitchenette tucked away in the side of our living room. In the bedroom there is a Sony Dream Machine where I popped down my iPhone and began playing my tunes right away. We're off tonight to a penthouse apartment where our dear pals from a tourism board have invited us to come and have Chinese.

We met with a bunch of old friends at today's Visit Europe media exchange, and firmed up connections and plans for many travels throughout 2010.

As usual, the city has quickened my pulse and made me feel as alive as I can be...glad to be here at the Kimberly and glad to be in the most exciting city in the world, the Big Apple.

Random Thoughts on a Soggy Saturday

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:42:00 +0000

A soggy day; a day that I wished I didn't have to deal with all of my wet leaves. Then I go out and put together my cleverly designed, yet maddeningly frail outdoor tent. It had flown over in a fierce September gust of wind, now the thing is broken and the gay 10 x 10 tent's legs bow like an old cowboy's. Going to have to replace it for the New York Times and Boston Globe Travel shows where we are exhibiting in February. Drat!

Kate has invited 24, yes 24 tiny tots over to have a Halloween Party. Is it only me that feels very, very already sick of this holiday and wants no part in wearing a costume or greeting kids at the door? Go away!

The cafe always provides a refuge...and isn't it too cool to be able to order a tuna bacon lettuce and tomato and sit in my favorite window and try out another cup of Dave's Blend, the coffee we've just added to the menu. It's from our friend who owns Positronic Design, and holds the best parties Holyoke has ever been treated to. Thanks Dave!

Mama Cat Appreciation Day

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:20:00 +0000

I read a book about hobos that said they liked to keep puppies because they warm up their sleeping bags so well. Though my cat doesn't warm up the bottom of my bed, she does provide a valuable snuggle. Having her soft fur at hand level is a treat.

Having a cat in your bed is a luxury, it's better than a pillow or even a down comforter. This faithful pal stays the whole night too.

Strange Maps: A Free-form Cartographic Journey

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:40:00 +0000

I love maps. I spend a lot of time looking at them, and always enjoy taking a spin around the globe we keep at the cafe, seeing where places are and checking out their relative size.

I was sent a book the other day that is a map-lover's fantasy. Frank Jacobs has compiled a huge collection of what he calls Strange Maps: An Atlas of Cartographic curiosities.

Among the maps I've enjoyed poring over is a map that goes way back to my childhood: L. Frank Baum's map of the Marvelous Land of Oz. I used to work out on Martha's Vineyard and I often thought of that place as much like Oz...there is the land of the Winkies, to the west, and Quadling Country to the South. In the very center is the Emerald City, and all around the square shaped mythical land are the great sands, impassable and deadly deserts.

This is a fun book to flip through, Jacobs has found so many old maps from so many points of view. Another page shows how Antarctica is divided up into 47 different slices, even little Togo gets a tiny slice and the USA gets the biggest (why is that?)

Jacobs has found other wonderful maps in this volume, like the 'island of California,' which goes back to a romantic novel written in 1510 that showed the Baja Peninsula attached to an island of California. Another page has an illustration of fifty different shapes drawn from memory by teenagers, who tried to replicate that unique shape of the United States. They somehow remind me of cows.

The Waitress Stiffened When the Tourist Spat Out the Meat

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:01:00 +0000

Sarah Wang recently spent four days in North Korea. Her account, published on Slate, is depressing, thinking that people have to live with little food, no internet, no cellphones, and a government that spends millions on propaganda and enforcing the cult of personality.

"While the guards ate their meals or watched the children's shows that were staged for us foreigners, I twice managed to wander into the streets and was able to explore for about 10 minutes each time. Once I walked into a grocery store on the ground floor of a residential building. The store was empty except for three 10-foot-tall heaps on the ground—one of cabbage, one of tomatoes, and one of turnips.

There were no price tags and no customers. A middle-aged woman in a black uniform stood behind the counter, which held small piles of peanuts and pine seeds that looked as though they had been there for a long time.

Our guides repeatedly reassured us that the people had enough food and that each Pyongyang resident receives a ration of vegetables and rice every day. They didn't mention meat or fruit. When a member of the tour group spat out the tasteless meat that was a rare treat at one of our meals, the waitress standing behind him visibly stiffened.

On one occasion, I drew a banana on a piece of paper and showed it to a waitress; she had never seen one. She knew about apples, but she had never eaten one. I brought 150 Kit-Kat bars into the country, and I always took several out of my bag when I was alone with a North Korean. They would hesitate for a few seconds, look around to make sure that no one else was watching, and then stuff the Kit-Kats into their pockets.

Yahoo to GeoCities: Drop Dead!

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:41:00 +0000

The web continues to mystify and amaze me. Just today I read that Yahoo is shutting down Geocities, even though the network of websites attracts more than ten million visitors a month. And the company paid billions in stock to buy the site in early 1999. On today's WebProNews, the story was told with incredulity.

Chris Crum speculated as to what the reaction would be if, say Facebook or Twitter were acquired and then suddenly shut down. "Sure these things seem unlikely now because these services are still fresh. Well GeoCities was once the "it" thing too."

If you were still a loyal GeoCities user, how would you feel to know that you've got to move, or you'll disappear from the web? Yahoo pitched them on their own cheap web-hosting, but there are other mysteries here. For example, about a third of the referrals that bring people to GeoCities comes from Yahoo's arch rival, Google.

"Yahoo seems to be turning its back on a large amount of traffic. Moreover, it's turning down free traffic from its biggest competitor." I've never thought the people at Yahoo were very smart. Especially when they couldn't agree to take $33 a share from Microsoft and then sank down to about $12, and now are barely breaking $17.

"It was perhaps the first mainstream example of an open, participatory and personal Internet," writes Mark Milian with the LA Times. In early 1999, Yahoo purchased Geocities for about $3.57 billion in stock. Now a decade later, Geocities is no more.

Venice Adventures Are Fine Without Me

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:56:00 +0000

As I often do, last night in the dark I reached for my iPhone and flicked the screen to bring up my Facebook newsfeed. With friends in all time zones, I always find some news popping up and as I lay in bed I read Richard Frisbie's reports from Venice. I was scheduled to be on that trip but I found a friend to fill in, and I couldn't be happier.

That's a funny sort of quandry that frequent travelers go through. Getting out of a free trip to Venice? Hell yeah, I needed to get off the traveling roller coaster. Travel is all about the adventure, and the feeling that it's time to fly. Sometimes, after you've just returned from a big trip, or feel the need to be close to home, it's just not that time. I will never forget that feeling while I was trying to get to sleep in that tent in the desert of Chile....I had to get off the coaster.

So now I'll read Cathie Arquilla's blog about the trip to Venice, and read Frisbie's FB updates and there won't be a bone in my body that would make me wish I was there. But in the middle of November Cindy and I will take off on our own adventure to New Zealand's South Island. By that time I'll be ready to fly, with relish.

When Yóu're a Web Publisher, You've Gotta Bonk

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:37:00 +0000

In our business, we call it bonking. We repetitively copy and paste pieces of text, photos and links from one page to template pages to fix our code and update the GoNOMAD website. Cultivating this vast field of travel articles takes a lot of work, a lot of bonking, over and over again. You've got to go back, then go back, and do it and redo it, and the work is endless...there are so many pages to fix.

It is this spade work, this time-consuming movement of text and the rest to create new pages, is our lifeblood. The unglamorous work that if you gave it to someone else to do, it would cost too much and you wouldn't be able to finish it. But that's why we teach people to do this and do so much of it ourselves.

So today, we both hit the keys and bonked our hearts out.

In Sad Atlantic City, Hope Is a Losing Bet

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:36:00 +0000

I remember when my parents took my little sister and me to Atlantic City in 1970. That was eight years before the city's first casino, Resorts, opened and singer Steve Lawrence lost the first $10 to the house. Back then the hotel of choice was the oceanfront Chalfont-Hadden Hall, and we stayed in and ordered room service. The waiter complained to my dad that his tip wasn't big enough, and outside a cold February rain made the next day a drizzly bummer.

I read in today's NY Times about the 'death spiral' that one casino executive calls the city in 2009. The only tiny bright spot is that the Borgata, which opened in 2003 was only 5% down this year. The other casinos saw declines in revenue of between 13 and 24%. In Vegas, it's bad too, but Atlantic City presents an even more depressing picture of empty weekday hotel rooms and endless rows of empty slot machines.

The state relies heavily on the gambling tax, but another sad fact is that this money, while dwindling, goes to fund many other projects in wealthier parts of the state. The city itself is a dangerous place, once when I was there I was advised, strongly, not to ever leave the boardwalk. A community theater in Morristown got gambling tax funds that many in AC believe should have been spent to tear down empty tenements.

Everyone in the story is hoping for a happy ending, but with the expansion of gambling now to metro New York, and even possibly to Palmer Massachusetts, it seems to me that this pie is getting sliced too thin. The Revel Casino, the one project still under construction in AC is short a mere billion dollars....if they can get this, they might be able to actually open it up.

If Your Kid Needs Medicine, You Find the Dough

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:14:00 +0000

I just finished a movie that makes me scratch my head and say...what the heck? I do love digging into the deep, deep long tail that Netflix has to offer, but sometimes I pull up a dud..as Cindy often loves to remind me.

This film is called "Explicit Ills," and was written and directed by Mark Webber. It follows five separate stories all in the South Philadelphia ghetto. We have a young guy on a bike who sells weed; we have a health nut black guy who wants to convince a rich white woman to get his colonics and lend him money to open a store; we've got the sad little 9-year old who is beaten up by a bad older boy at school and charms him by handing him a new pair of Nikes in his size.

But then we have the wife of the health nut, who rolls up a giant spliff into a cigar wrapper and tokes deeply before teaching a yoga class. She explains to her youngster that to her, the weed is like a religion, and it helps her to get into the mood to deeply enjoy yoga. But he shouldn't smoke it, no way. He said he doesn't want to anyway.

Another scene involving weed has a dainty white girl slamming down a bong hit and then realizing she has to go to work at a law firm, and 'is really stoned.' She stumbles out of the ghetto and into the financial district buzz in tow.

But at the end, I found the film's message frustrating. A woman whose son has an asthma attack is hospitalized (for free) and then she is told at the pharmacy that the drugs cost $52, unless she has insurance. She curses the CVS clerk, and leaves the store empty handed. The poor kid dies the next morning...but Jesus, I mean who wouldn't go out and get that $52 to just pay for the medicine? Instead she blames 'the system' and we're all supposed to cheer on the marchers who later declare they all want health care. Now.

Hey I want health care too, but I pay for it and the least she could have done was to fork over the dough and save her beloved son's life.

A Rainy Saturday: A Perfect Day for the Dump

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:38:00 +0000

Don't rainy Saturdays make you feel productive? That's what they do to me. I'm up and full of ideas on what good things I can accomplish that I've been meaning to get done for months. For the first time in recent memory, both my daughter and my son-in-law are home on this good Saturday, and the house is undergoing various stages of long-overdue cleaning.

Later today I'll drive down to the bachelor farmer at the end of our street and pick up a few cords of wood to stash in our woodshed for the cold that's coming.

Last night we watched a movie that was about a woman who gets sent away to prison for stealing and doing drugs, called "Sherry Baby." The child she left as an infant has grown up and her good hearted brother and his wife have taken her in. A sad scene was when they tell the little one to call her Sherry, not mom, since it's all so confusing. It was another rare experience, watching one of dad's weird Netflix choices, on a rare weekend night in Deerfield.

Hidden Tech Party Brings the Geeks to the Cafe

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:11:00 +0000

It's not a major birthday year but hey, it does only come around once. Today I'm fifty-one. Wow, it was just last year that we had the major party that every red-blooded American man deserves....but this year no big plans, just a bunch of computer geeks who are coming to the cafe tonight for the Hidden Tech Sip and Schmooze.

This group is comprised of people who make their livings at home. They don't have an office to go to, they're known as our 'hidden tech' community. I began having these parties to bring these folks out of their home offices and into the social limelight a few years ago. Since most of the meetings of the group involve aspects of work, I've emphasized that this is just for fun. The turnout is usually decent.

The cafe looks great with candles lit, dimmed lights, white tablecloths, and the gentle clink of wine glasses mixed with the tingle of jazz on the hifi. I just got the call that I get every year from the parents, wondering about what my plans are for the special day. It's always nice to be connected.

South Deerfield Village Center

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Writing's Done, for Today Anyway

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:27:00 +0000

Random notes on the life of an editor, blogger and cafe owner.

Phew! I got my homework assignment done. That's a little what it felt like as I finished off my report from the National Parking Association meeting I attended in Washington last week. I provide lots of quotes, lots of details, and still, I always think it's not good enough, or that I should rewrite it. But a lot of writing, I find, is better than you think it will be... and sometimes it just comes out perfectly the first run through.

I had to reel in one of our most prolific writers, bring him back to home turf for a moment to catch his breath. And write a bunch of stories! I think he'll be glad when he's caught up.

Today in the office we have Esha, who is monetizing our entire books section and pushing us further along into other affiliate programs to make additional revenues from our pages.

In Nigeria, Companies Are Thinking Before they Flare

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:12:00 +0000

You might know the term to flare off from when you drove the New Jersey Turnpike as a kid and asked a grown-up what those fires on top of the tall smokestacks were. You were told it was natural gas burning off from an oil well.

In Nigeria, flares have much more than a scientific interest...and stopping oil companies from doing it is becoming an increasingly loud call. A story by Benoit Faucon in today's WSJ surmised that besides the environmental benefits, there are more tangible domestic benefits. For instance, in some communities oil companies have piped the excess natural gas to other plants to generate electricity for the towns surrounding the oil fields. By proving electricity in a power-starved nation, one that's prone to violence against oil companies, this is just a good business move.

Again and again, pipelines, oil wells and other infrastructure is vandalized and workers are hassled by rebels who protest against the companies. Helping local towns to benefit from being near the oil fields has made Bonny Island a model, unlike in most parts of the country they provide power for 95% of the day or night. Other projects aim to do the same as in Bonny, to pipe off that natural gas that would normally be burned for nothing, into running turbines that would help power Nigerian households.

Stopping flaring and using the gas is a topic that's come up before in Nigeria. But the violence of more recent years is pushing hard and the solution appears to be stop wasting gas and build plants to burn it to electify the angry neighbors.

Be Very Glad Your House Isn't Built with Chinese Drywall

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:39:00 +0000

How would you like to be Alfonso Sanchez? He's the unlucky owner of a $1.7 million home in Davie Florida that he can neither rent nor sell. And the last thing he wants to do is live there. Why? Chinese drywall. Sanchez is just one of the more than 1500 American homeowners who are unfortunate enough to live in houses where the builders saved money by using cheaper drywall imported from China...that turns out to emit sulfide fumes suspected of making people sick.

How does this happen? The story in yesterday's WSJ didn't make this clear. What they do know is that in 2006-2007, after the hurricanes in the US, there wasn't enough domestically produced drywall to go around. So companies in China filled in the gap.

Consumer safety officials are trying to get the Chinese to help pay for the damage, which is estimated to be between $15 and 25 billion. Good luck with that. You may remember how much luck we had getting Chinese repayment for people injured by toxic toys. The best they can hope for is that they can stop the imports at the border.

A Towncar Whisked Me Back Home

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 12:11:00 +0000

Last night a towncar whisked me away from the Ritz Carlton at Battery Park, one of New York's finest hotels, right on the tip of Manhattan. Before the car came I went out on the terrace and drank in the million dollar view, a sweep that including a dark Statue of Liberty and the buildings of Hoboken, with speedy ferries zipping between the New Jersey coast and the port at the end of the city.

I was there at the top floor of the hotel to join Travel Ad Network's staff after finishing a day-long publisher's conference with the agency. Over the years I've spent as a web publisher, one thing has become the clearest: face time means a lot and relationships are still the glue that holds things all together.

Many websites only offer a sterile comment box if you want to reach them. They hide behind their html and act like they're not run by people but by robots who can only answer you if you dutifully type messages into a box. Not us. We feature phones, photos of our building and answer you like real people. The Travel Ad people too, are humans who I can call up and speak to, they're not like Google ad sense where the only way to reach them is by email.

As the towncar took us up to Westchester and we sank into the soft leather seats, closing our eyes after a night of schmoozing, I felt content, and happy that I made this trip down to New York, and happy too, to be returning to my New England village.

Manhattan in the Rain Yields a Story About Google

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:40:00 +0000

I went down to lower Manhattan in the rain. I joined fellow members of the internet travel advertising world at a meeting....one of the speakers was a shy Indian named Gokul Rajaram, the CEO of Chai Labs. They are developing a new platform from which readers can shop for hotels in thousands of places around the world.

He said that when he worked at Google helping them develop their ad sense program, in the companies younger days, an offer was made to the two founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

Someone offered them $15 million if they'd put their logo beside the Google logo on their home page for one day. That was a sizeable sum back in those days, but it wasn't even considered. His message from this was to remember your users. Their satisfaction is what really matters.

He also pointed to how Googlers are encouraged to set their own goals each week, rather than having the boss set it. If you predict the score, you're much more likely to carry it through to the goal.

It's Family TV Time, Watching All Together

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:35:00 +0000

When I was a young lad, one of my fondest memories was watching television with my whole family on Sunday nights. We had an old family friend, a bachelor named Fairfield Day, who used to visit us sometimes and join us on those cozy Sundays when we watched "Gentle Ben" and other shows while gathered together by the fire.

Today everybody has their own TVs in their rooms, and rare is the night when a family gathers together in this sort of communal way. Well, there is the Superbowl, but that central hearth, that communal viewing, is rare and that's a shame. Being together like this makes TV more fun.

I drove down to our friends Cathy and Tom's house in Westchester and tonight I joined their family to watch a TV show called "Modern Family." It's a clever and sarcastic send up of a truly modern family --with a gay son, a dad with a bodacious young wife, a crazy jealous former wife, and a younger generation brimming with hormones. We watched the show and laughed together, and it reminded me of those times as a youngster when I did the same. Except this time, I was Fairfield Day, the visiting bachelor joining the family around the tube.

The King of Parking in China Offers Us Cake

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:52:00 +0000

Lui Ju is a parking magnate from Beijing. He is known to his American friends as 'Tom," and speaks through an interpreter. He addressed the lunchtime audience at the National Parking Association yesterday in Mandarin with an invitation: 'reap the bounty of China's 'money machine.'

"Someone who had been to America told me that a parking lot is like a money machine. China has experienced economic growth averaging 9.8 percent every year since 1978, and today is the world's third largest market. We have two trillion in foreign currency reserves. So far 300 of the world's top 500 companies have invested in China."

But their parking industry is like a child wearing an infant's clothes, Ju told us. There is obsolete parking management, insufficient parking spaces, and only about 60% of the parking that is needed for the growing number of cars, which reached 9.4 million this year.

"It's a very big cake," he told the parking executives, a huge opportunity. His company, Kingdy Parking, owns 150 lots, including handling parking for Beijing Airport. They're even expanding into Southern California starting next year. He said that by 2012 there will be 110 million cars looking for parking all over China, at $1.50 a day each, which adds up to a $60 billion windfall.

There's a new machine of money in China--and it's Kingdy Parking.

Pickens Talks About Converting Trucks to Natural Gas

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:54:00 +0000

"The best time to plant a tree is 2o years ago," said T. Boone Pickens today, as he sat on stage and talked about his ambitious plans to radically change the energy policy of the US as soon as he can. "You've gotta have a plan...and so far we don't have one."

His plan starts in a logical place, and it's incorporated into House Bill No. 1622. "This would require all 18-wheeler trucks to run on natural gas. This would cut out 2.5 million barrels of oil a day, and we get about 5 million from Saudi Arabia. So it's a pretty good start." Not to mention the effect on emissions, if nearly all of the country's 6 million big trucks ran on clean natural gas, it could clear the air in many cities. "In Los Angeles, they did it with their garbage trucks," Pickens told me. "They switched the trucks one by one, as they needed to be replaced, to run on natural gas, and it's done a lot to improve LA's air quality."

I asked Pickens what he thought the trucking lobby would say about his idea for them to spend all of this money on replacing existing technology. "I sat with JB Hunt, Swift and the Wal-Mart people," he answered. "The president of JB Hunt said he hated our foreign oil habit as much as I do. They don't want to support our dependence on it either."

Pickens is also the developer of the world's largest wind energy facility, although it's been pushed back til 2011. His order for more than 650 GE wind turbines is the biggest in the company's history, but he can't locate them where he originally wanted to, in the Texas panhandle, because the transmission lines are not yet in place. "What will you do with them when you get them?" I asked, remembering his famous quote in the Wall St. Journal that he'd 'put them in the garage.'

"We'll put them up somewhere, in the mid-west or another area," he said. And I fully believe that both his natural gas and his wind program are going to change the energy landscape. You don't become a billionaire without a lot of smarts...Pickens is the real deal.

A Classic Fall Day...And a Busy Travel Week Ahead

nharts2@aol.com (Max Hartshorne) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:11:00 +0000

What a lovely Fall day in New England. Outside, the air is crisp, about 59 degrees, and leaves are blowing around the yard, beautiful patches of orange, red and yellow. I'm cozy wearing a new 'shirt jacket' that my parents gave me for my birthday, and Cindy is by my side happily playing Scrabble on her iphone with her California sister.

Last night we broke out the firepit....that roaring fire again brought out conversation and intimacy. But this time since it was a month later into Fall, our backs were a bit colder and we didn't stay out there as long, despite the towering flames I coaxed out of that metal box.

On Monday I'll fly down to Washington DC, actually to a conference center in Maryland just across the Potomac called Gaylord Center. There I will spend two days schmoozing with members of the National Parking Association. Hey it's my consulting gig and they want me to be there. Then I'll return and go down to New York on Weds night to meet with Travel Ad Network honchos who are having their annual publisher's conference.

Last year I didn't attend and felt a bit of their wrath. I think it's good to get as much face time as we can with people who make money for us...and I'm sure I'll meet some interesting travel publishers with their own clever stories to tell.