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paramountlauderdale · 2 years

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Downtown Miami Condominiums: primary data For property consumers concerning The Paramount Residence

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#paramount fort lauderdale for sale #paramount fort lauderdale #paramountresidences

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ursine-sister · 4 years

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The weirdest hotel experiences I’ve had while traveling

- booked a 1 bed room, that had a random door that opened into a different room that had two more beds

- a room that didn’t have curtains (on the first floor)

- found a used condom in a bed

- met the band “the xx” in an elevator

- showed up at Niagara Falls (Canada side) 2am on a Monday with $40 in cash. Lady at the desk took pity and put me in a suite over looking the falls. Most beautiful view I’ve ever had.

- showed up a the Omni William Penn hotel in Pittsburgh with only a backpack and a bag of beef jerky. This was the most up scale hotel I’ve ever been in. The staff asked coldly if I needed directions. It was worth the money to tell them I’m checking in.

- checked into a motel that served “breakfast”, a punch bowl of assorted little Debbie snacks.

- didn’t understand what valet parking was. Pulled up to a ritzy place, some young kid in a jacket opened my car door. I assumed I was getting robbed and grabbed his wrist and yelled “You fucker!”. Once I realized what was happening I apologized and tried to make a joke of it (I was embarrassed). I gave him a $10 bill for the trouble and parked my own fucking car.

#me #travel #hotel

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frangipanidownunder · 5 years

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Alright, Archaeologist AU, for the X-Files, of course.

He wasn’t going to go, but Phoebe insisted on putting his name down as a volunteer over the summer. Besides, it was preferable to going home.

“Imagine holding the femur of a 1500-year-old man in your hand,” she’d said as she stroked his cock and he felt himself harden despite himself.

Perhaps he should be going home.

And, then, she’d taken off at midnight, leaving him a scrawled note about ‘having to do some research’ she’d meet at the dig. She signed it with a love heart stabbed with an arrow

He drove to the site where some renowned archaeologist whose name escaped him was conducting works to excavate an Iron Age hill fort.

There were a dozen mud-splashed cars parked in the small clearing at the side of the narrow road. His stomach roiled at the thought of having to spend time with so many new people but it was probably better than having to wait for Phoebe to return from her ‘cat-feeding’.

A Land Rover pulled in and parked wonkily next to his car. A pair of women got out, one wearing baggy tie-dyed pants, a woollen midriff sweater revealing a belly-ring and a knitted scarf keeping her red dreadlocks off her face. Her DMs were purple and instantly sunk into the soft earth. The other wore a chambray shirt loose over darker denim jeans, neatly braided hair and work boots.

“I told you we’d be late,” the hippy girl snapped and marched off.

“Your crystals are no match for an up-to-date AA atlas, Missy.” Braids swung a backpack over her shoulder and huffed. She grabbed another bag from the back.

“Can I help?” he offered.

But Braids shook her head and shucked the bag to the crook of her elbow. “I’m fine.” He fell in beside her and she side-eyed him, taking a few more steps before she asked, “Do you know this Professor?”

Phoebe had mentioned the name in passing. Ray something. He wasn’t listening because she was distracting him while he was trying to study. The usual thing. He turned up at hers with all good intentions but she connived some way of getting him to drop everything and go on an errand, or help her with some assignment that was already overdue, or challenged him with some ridiculous dare after one too many Snakebites. He hadn’t worked out how to say no and half of him was more than willing to jump in or experience the thrill of a brush with danger or the law.

“According to my sister, Professor Monica Reyes is the pre-eminent voice in her field. A world expert on burial mounds and tumulus. And a fellow American.” She smiled then and he felt a bloom of camaraderie in his chest. “Missy is treating this dig like she’s going backstage at a Duran Duran concert.”

He chuckled, relaxed. “An archaeological groupie, now that’s a credential.”

Missy was chatting with a tall, dark-haired woman, at the entrance to a khaki canvas tent. They blew smoke rings away from each other’s faces and laughed. Beyond, there were pits and ditches, mounds of rubble, wheelbarrows, a couple of small tents, flapping in the breeze. The volunteers were grouped along the edges of the pits, digging or making notes on clipboards. Mulder was impressed by the view. Especially when Braids walked in front of him and he watched her confident strides as she approached her sister. He was also relieved that there was no sign of Phoebe.

“Are you coming?” she called back to him. “I’m not breaking up the love match of the century by myself.”

As he approached, he heard a familiar voice coming from the tent.

“Mon, I think that’s my jacket you’re wearing.” Phoebe emerged from the darkness, holding a similar black leather biker jacket in her arms.

Missy coughed into her hands and stubbed out her cigarette. “Let’s find our team, Danes.”

“Fox, you made it.” Phoebe grinned at him. “Mon, this is my friend, Fox Mulder. He’s being a good egg and helping today. Fox is the smartest person I know.” She held his gaze but linked her arm through Professor Reyes’ elbow. “Aside from you, of course.”

“Clearly, you haven’t met my sister,” Missy said.

Braids blushed. And Mulder felt in good company.

His knees creaked, his back ached, his temples throbbed. He hadn’t got used to the humidity in late summer in England. The effects of last night’s alcohol and lack of sleep had caught up with him and he sunk down into the shade of one of the marquees and closed his eyes.

“Water?” Braids handed him a plastic cup and he skulled it. “I’m Dana Scully, by the way,

“I’m Fox ‘World’s Dumbest Smart Person’ Mulder.” He tried to laugh but everything hurt.

Dana sat next to him. “If it’s any consolation, I think Missy is just as humiliated as you. She’s been writing the Professor for months. This dig was going to be the beginning of an enduring romance that would see her travel the world excavating fossils and reconstructing the events of the past.”

“Sorry,” he said. “Phoebe is…” He couldn’t even think of an appropriate descriptor.

“Her chi has taken a hiding.” They both looked at Missy, slumped under a tree, fanning herself with a wad of papers. “And she’ll probably throw out her Tarot deck when we get back. The Queen of Hearts was wrong.”

He dug out a smile. “Isn’t it the High Priestess in Tarot?”

“Whatever it is, I told her not to get her hopes up but she’s always so positive.”

“The Yin to your Yang? The Teller to your Penn?”

That earned him a toothy grin and a giggle. “I’m more logician than magician.”

“So you’re studying mathematics?”

“Physics, actually. And you? History? Archaeology?”

He shook his head. “Psychology.”

“Oh,” she said, looking over at Phoebe who was draped over Professor Reyes. “And yet you haven’t worked that out?”

Missy insisted they go for a drink. The thatched pub had a shady garden and served a good Ploughman’s. He ordered a pint of Old Peculiar and savoured the bitter sweetness as it coated his throat. Gnats buzzed in the steamy final hour of daylight.

“She’s not what I expected,” Missy sighed, then sat upright, twirling the thin leather bracelet around her wrist. “But that just means I need to spend more time understanding my own path.”

“Missy,” Dana said. “Your own path is as complicated or as easy as you make it. Destiny just makes people less accountable. Isn’t that right, Fox?”

“Mulder, please.” Her cheeks were flushed and he wondered if they should call it quits at this round. “You don’t believe in fate, Dana?”

“Scully, please,” she said, shaking her head. “Life isn’t written in the stars.”

“And it’s not written in science journals either. That’s just the mechanics. Life, real life, happens between the equations, sister of mine. I’m going back to the motel. Don’t leave on my behalf. You two should fuck.”

“Missy!” The blush burned deeper. Mulder let out a surprised laugh but there was a tingle in his groin. “Sorry,” Scully said, sipping her cider. “She can be very…”

“Honest?”

“I was going to say crude, but okay.”

He swatted a gnat away. Its whine fading into the distance. “I should probably go too.”

Her hand covered his. “Why?”

Yeah, why?

“Maybe Missy is right? Instead of digging up the past, we should do some living between the equations?”

The future was looking bright.

#txf fanfic #my fanfiction #msr au #archaeology au

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abbyindenhaag · 3 years

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Exploration of Kauai, Part One

Because of my past success with following the recommendations of the NYT’s “36 Hours In” series, my goal for this portion of our trip was to squeeze in as many highlighted destinations from the 2017 article on Kauai as possible. (Did this conflict with Bart’s goal of spending as much time lounging by the hotel pool as possible? Perhaps a little. Is he a good sport about it? Very much so.)

Based on the NYT agenda, therefore, on Wednesday morning we drove north to Hanalei Bay and read on the beach, occasionally sneaking peeks at the astonishingly spiky mountains framing the inlet. I tried to follow it up with a visit to the Kilauea Lighthouse but after rushing us through lunch to make it there in time for our entry slot, it turned out I had gotten tickets for *Thursday*. Oops. More on that later. The upshot was that we spent the rest of the afternoon reading in the sun, as Bart desired.

We started Thursday morning with a trip to the Tip Top Cafe, an out-of-the-way motel whose clientele at 7:30am contained about 10 vinyl booths of locals and 2 of apparent Times readers. I was intrigued by the “famous Oxtail soup” on the menu, which seemed to be served in a large pho bowl, but since my stomach wasn’t ready for beef soup that early in the morning I went with the (Times-recommended) macadamia nut pancakes, which were totally satisfactory.

The next Times agenda item was a Hindu temple and monastery, but we veered slightly off-course (not literally) with a stop at a scenic view over the Wailua River. Although not being highlighted by the NYT, it was quite a majestic view. This may sound silly, but part of me is surprised by how much the mountains look like the animated mountains in “Moana” (the Disney movie set in Hawaii). I think it’s something about the texture of the foliage and the way it slightly softens the edges of the mountains, making them seem a bit less bulky and more accessible. But still majestic.

Despite our unauthorized detour, we quickly got back on track, and made it to the Hindu temple well before it officially opened. Although we didn’t get a full tour, they had posted a lot of educational material about Hinduism, which Bart supplemented with what he remembered from his Indian history class at Penn. The temple was very clear that Hindus do not *worship* the cow but simply revere it as a symbol of generosity and selflessness. Bart clarified that this interpretation is recent (only about a century old) and potentially part of an effort to distinguish Hindus from Muslims post-Partition. (Note: any errors in this retelling are my own, please do not blame Bart for my misinterpretations.) I also learned that, while all/most Hindus recognize one overarching God, with lower-level gods serving a position akin to archangels in the Christian tradition, the name/identity of the main God varies by branch/tradition of Hinduism (e.g. Saivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism). I am a bit unclear how prevalent this view is, though, because Wikipedia describes other movements of Hinduism that explicitly reject monotheism. Well, it’s probably too much to expect to get a clear view of one extremely multifaceted religion from a 30 minute visit, particularly on an island with no other Hindu influences. In any case, apart from reading the educational materials, we enjoyed poking around the gardens, seeing another view over the Wailua River, and getting a glimpse of the new temple they are constructing.

See next post for further NYT-authorized adventures!

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shirlleycoyle · 4 years

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Fuck the Police: Why Does Cop Porn Still Exist?

Professional dom King Noire has experienced violence at the hands of police throughout his life. When he was 10 years old, cops shot and killed his friend's cousin, 16 year old Phillip Pannell. Later, when Noire was an older teen, they killed another friend, 24-year-old Jelani Manigault. Noire told me he's been beaten by the police himself on numerous occasions.

So when he first started his career in the adult world, he was adamant that there was one type of role he'd never take: a cop. "It's a complete fetishization of our pain and torment," he said.

At the peak of global protests against police brutality this summer after the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd—as images of protesters being teargassed and beaten by cops in riot gear flooded the news—something odd was happening on porn sites.

On xHamster, one of the biggest tube sites along with Pornhub and Xvideos, searches for terms like "cop," "police," and "jail" rose 39 percent in the U.S. and 25 percent worldwide between the first week of May and the first week of June. According to xHamster vice president Alex Hawkins, that surge has since died down, and interest in cop porn in general has been on the decline for the past five years.

What does it say about us, as porn-viewers and as a society, when eroticizing Black oppression is suddenly in demand at the height of awareness of systemic injustices Black people face? How did police-themed scenes become a common trope, and do they have a place in the future of porn?

A BRIEF DEFINITION OF COP PORN

First, let's establish what "cop porn" is. The most mainstream example might be the party stripper cop scenario, when a cop shows up at the door and, in porn scenes at least, it immediately leads to sex with that cop. In some ways, it's not that different from the old pizza delivery guy trope or horny plumber: Someone is there to do a job (in this case, strip for a bachelor party) and gets otherwise occupied.

Then there's your classic blue-uniform roleplay, where someone's getting arrested and the culprit has to do something — anything — to get out of the ticket. Border Patrol scenarios, which are more about race and often feature Latinx actors caught in the act of crossing the border, are in the cop porn category.

"Cop porn started off as a way to enjoy fetish without acknowledging fetish," Hawkins said. "Before 50 Shades of Grey made power-exchange dinner party conversation, cop porn was an easy way for viewers to enjoy that type of fantasy without having to cross the threshold into BDSM. Power exchange has entered more mainstream productions, so cop porn just doesn't have the cache it used to."

Even if it's in decline, however, police-themed porn is still popular. There are multiple highly popular police-themed channels on Pornhub, for example: the "Fake Cop" channel has more than 82 million video views. The "Screw the Cops" channel only has two videos, but more than 330,000 views. "Border Patrol Sex" has eight videos and nearly seven million views. On XVideos, the most-viewed cop porn video has more than 41 million views.

"In reality, life doesn't separate itself out like that. Fantasies and projections are how people navigate everything."

A lot of cop porn is lighthearted and downright goofy. The sort of "ma'am I'm here to arrest you… for being too sexy" sort of jokes that are present in much of porn. But finding these scenes as an easy avenue for goofiness and fun is a luxury that not every viewer can enjoy. If you've never been on the receiving end of police brutality, or raped by a cop while in custody, it would be a lot easier to get into scenes depicting those things.

Most entertainment—and porn especially, being so overtly fantasy and frequently campy—requires some suspension of disbelief. But suspending that disbelief is becoming harder in a world where it's becoming increasingly impossible to remain ignorant of the reality of rampant police brutality.

"Ignorance truly is bliss, but to continue consuming such porn after gaining knowledge makes you part of the problem," kink educator and professional dom Blaksyn told me.

HOW POPULAR IS COP PORN

Police roleplay in porn goes back as early as the mainstream commercial porn industry itself. The 1986 film Miami Spice starring Amber Lynn as an undercover cop is just one example. 1986's Flasher is about, well, a rogue flasher in Central Park, but the police role in this one only comes in the end, when actress Victoria Stanton, playing a cop, decides she's more open minded than her prudish detective partner.

Porn usually follows and reflects what's happening in culture, and while it's hard to say whether police porn in the 80s was motivated by events of the time, that does seem to be the case today—and data from porn viewership shows it.

"With so much news about police and policing these days, it's not surprising to see a sudden uptick in searches," Hawkins said. "In my experience viewers fantasize about what is already on their minds. They fantasize about the figures they fear or loathe and the figures they love in equal parts."

There are a few studios that have dedicated series and sites to the genre. Adult Time's "Girls Under Arrest" plainly lays out the core conceit of most cop porn in its description of the series:

"…rebellious teens getting caught and fucked to avoid charges or jail time…Be a part of the action as a dirty cop catches a teen girl with illegal drugs and fucks her for her release as her boyfriend waits in the car; or watch as a cop catches an escort in the act in a seedy motel and gets a freebie in exchange for her release."

Police taking sexual advantage, and raping, people in custody isn't just a porn fantasy. It's a legal loophole that exists, and keeps cops from being convicted of rape. Recently, with increased and vocal criticism of police violence around the world, more people are talking about the legal loophole that allows police in 35 states to have sex with their detainees. In 2018, two NYPD cops arrested and raped an 18 year old while she was handcuffed in their unmarked vehicle. The Brooklyn district attorney dropped those charges.

Voyeurism is repeated across many types of porn that would be considered societally taboo: everything from "caught masturbating" and "caught cheating" plots (like the one Ted Cruz famously tweeted) to "casting couch" scenes rely on a trope where the viewer is surreptitiously seeing something not meant for public consumption.

Some sites lean much farther into tropes of brutality and race than others, depicting plausible situations of police misconduct as fetish. FetishNetwork's "Operation Escort" series is about undercover cops doing stings by hiring sex workers, having sex with them, and then arresting them—something that actually happens in real life. "Latina Patrol," also by FetishNetwork, features a detainment, sex, and deportation theme.

Not all cop porn involves race. But based on the production effort these studios have gone to, and the extremes they've taken the trope—and considering that so many people were searching for it during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests— the racial aspect of a lot of cop porn appears to draw viewers. That spike in popularity is saying something about how we perceive the genre, eroticism of state violence—and how the industry typecasts BIPOC performers.

"It’s dangerous, naïve and wildly privileged to choose to divorce the reality of police brutality from detention porn as entertainment”

Managers and agents told King Noire he'd never succeed in the industry if he kept turning down roles that stereotyped him being Black. So he focused on becoming independent, starting his own studio and creating content on his terms.

In our phone conversation, Noire specifically brought up Black Patrol as an example of racist stereotyping in the industry—something the BIPOC Collective, of which he's a member, is working to change.

"Over the span of our entire existence as Black folks in this country, America has found different ways to justify how they treat us," he said. "It also plays on the other stereotype of Black and brown people being hyper-sexualized, as if we always want to fuck."

WHAT ATTRACTS PEOPLE TO COP PORN?

Like Noire, Blaksyn also said they never have and never will take a role playing a police officer or other figure of state authority. But the appeal of cop porn or other arrest and detention-themed porn, as they see it, is multifaceted.

"First, there is the attractiveness of power itself. Individuals are drawn to power as a result of their personal narrative. Power and privilege intersect, but understanding how they relate is subject to one's position in society," Blaksyn said. "In this case however, I think this allows people to confront the atrocities of the world in a digestible way. Those who have power enjoy these depictions vicariously. Those without power enjoy these scenarios as a result of the controlled and predictable environment, offering a chance to change one's narrative around power and consent."

In a 2016 Q&A published in the journal The Black Scholar, Ariane Cruz, assistant professor in the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Penn State, addressed race play in a BDSM context. We don't need to separate race play into a "fringe" category within BDSM, she wrote, which sets it up to be seen as radical or extreme.

Cruz wrote that race play is a kind of performance that reveals the "mundane and everyday erotic currency" of race in contemporary American culture.

"I suggest that we extend the theoretic aperture of race play beyond its BDSM and pornography framework to illuminate the ways in which the violent pleasure of play of race is enacted in the larger venue of popular culture," she wrote.

A Black man in a confrontation with the cops could definitely be considered mundane in American culture. Violence, too, is often mundane. But eroticizing that encounter in porn invites the viewer to take pleasure in violence, specifically violence enacted by the state.

So why are people turned on by displays of state authority? Amber Jamilla Musser, professor of American Studies at the George Washington University and the author of Sensual Excess: Queer Femininity and Brown Jouissance, told me that some people have a psychological desire to connect with power as a way of expressing belonging to a larger structure—in this case, the state.

"What gets complicated in race play always is the fear that these fantasies and desires will not just stay in the porn studio (or bedroom), but that they actually articulate someone's subconscious desires for society," she said. But people still express a desire "to engage in fantasies that render them subservient," she said.

"What is happening in those cases can also be described as a desire to repeat reality with a difference," Musser said. "Instead of being pulled over resulting in pain, here it results in orgasms. What is pleasurable is the ability to repeat these scenarios with a difference that one controls. If reality is difficult because one doesn't have the option of control, these porn spaces allow viewers and performers alike to potentially explore these situations with a more favorable outcome."

At the same time, model and adult performer Jessa Jordan told me it's not possible to separate cop porn as entertainment from the realities of police brutality as it exists.

"It’s dangerous, naïve and wildly privileged to choose to divorce the reality of police brutality from detention porn as entertainment," Jordan said. "People will continue to be sexually attracted to and desire the fantasy of sex with cops because it’s more about the concept of an authority figure enacting control over them, being forced to the whims of someone else perceived as a superior or just succumbing to someone who has more physical force or strength. If the focus was more on those aspects instead of an inherent emphasis on racist, and often times classist, social norms, then maybe police porn could exist in a less problematic format, but it will continue to be problematic as we continue to live in a society that is terrorized by police and their various extended forms."

Blaksyn said that to ask if it's possible to separate cop porn that features police brutality from real-life state violence is to challenge the narratives of Black performers and consumers. "Being able to separate the two screams privilege and ultimately makes one complicit," they said. "I personally cannot separate the two.”

THE FUTURE OF POLICE IN PORN

The performers I spoke to expressed a hope that with the recent pushes to change the unfair treatment of models of color in the adult industry, genres that exploit their trauma will die off as well.

If there's one thing the porn world does best, it's responding with speed and precision to the desires of consumers. The reason this genre is in decline is likely because people got bored with it and stopped seeking it out as much, so studios stopped spending the time and money to make it.

Hawkins noted that the decline in interest in police-themed porn scenarios could be a matter of investment: Filming a scene with convincing uniforms, scripts, police cruisers, and dedicated sets for jails require a budget. At a time when viewers are just as eager to watch candid, unscripted experiential porn or connect with a cam model, it's likely just not worth it.

It's also possible that over the years, as more stories of violence at the hands of the police are uncovered as commonplace, the fantasies of "good cops" and "bad apples" have been exposed as just that: unrealistic fantasies that mask the reality oppressed communities face. Unless performers and directors are willing to push the trope to the absolute extreme, as Black Patrol does, consumers get bored and the content gets pushed down by tube site algorithms.

Noire believes that the way forward is for BIPOC performers to take control of their own content as he did early in his career, and choose to work with—and watch—content made by studios that don't put people into racist categories or scenarios.

"We're in an age right now where a lot of these studios, the reason that they're trying to be as extreme as possible is because they feel their grip [on the market] loosening," he said.

"There isn’t a place for scenes with racist themes in modern or future pornography—companies that make it just need to catch up with the rest of us and start getting more creative and inclusive with their screenwriting," Jordan said. "That includes employing more Black and non-white passing POC as screenwriters, producers and directors because these scenes often reduce non-white characters to stereotypes and caricatures. Give us the ability to tell our own stories and show our sexuality authentically."

The answer might not be to ban all porn eroticizing state violence or shun it as irredeemable. But viewers need more literacy about BIPOC sex workers' experiences with police, and a willingness to interrogate why they're turned on by eroticized, glamorized scenes of real-life violence.

"I think there is a cultural desire for pure objects, that we can say that something is ONLY entertainment or that something is completely unproblematic," Musser said. "In reality, life doesn't separate itself out like that. Fantasies and projections are how people navigate everything."

Framing the existence of cop porn as whether or not it should exist raises all of these questions about how porn and fantasy carry into our lives, Musser said. "This is a broader question about where pornography resides culturally—can it ever just be entertainment? But then is anything?"

Fuck the Police: Why Does Cop Porn Still Exist? syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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godlessgeekblog · 5 years

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Stunning hotels to stop at on one of the world’s finest road trips along the Pacific Coast Highway

Driving down the Californian coast is one of the world’s greatest road trips and features high on the must-do lists of thousands of Britons.

But don’t wreck your dream drive along the Pacific Coast Highway by staying in dreary motels.

Instead, take a look at our essential guide to the hidden-away accommodation gems that will make your trip memorable for all the right reasons.

1. Pearl Hotel, Point Loma

At The Pearl in Point Loma the 1960s pool is still there and rooms have a cool, retro vibe

Tell me more: In 2007, this classic 23-room motel behind Point Loma’s sleepy marina received a snazzy but sympathetic makeover. The 1960s pool is still here, as are the cool Cadillac-style wings either side of the main entrance. Rooms have a 1960s vibe, with G-plan furniture and colourful wallpaper. The bridal room has its own balcony overlooking the pool and a resident goldfish named Bruce Lee. Expect to run into a hip San Diego crowd on Wednesday nights when guests can lounge by the pool with a cocktail and enjoy classic movies played on the outdoor projector.

Cost: Doubles from £92 a night.

thepearlsd.com

2. Lodge at Torrey Pines, La Jolla

Tell me more: This California craftsman-style marvel is just off the San Diego freeway near surfing hub La Jolla. The bellhops in Scottish-style kilts direct you to the two restaurants with balconies overlooking the pool, ocean and golf course. Rooms and suites are huge, with dark wooden furniture and ocean views. It’s just a 20-minute walk to the 2,000-acre Torrey Pines State Park and its dramatic clifftop trails.

Cost: Doubles from £273 a night.

lodgetorreypines.com

3. The Inn, Rancho Santa Fe

Tell me more: Established in 1923, this 80-room ranch feels like a local hangout. Each airy cottage has firm, queen and king-size beds. Head to the cosy Huntsman Bar and have Dutch, the resident mixologist, rustle you up one of his smoked cocktails, then head to the Gatsby-esque dining room, with its stately leather booths and tasting menu. There’s a spa with an alfresco copper bathtub, and the beauty of Solana beach is only a ten-minute drive away.

Cost: Doubles from £295 a night.

theinnatrsf.com

A map showing where the hotels listed are located along the Pacific Coast Highway

4. Venice Beach House, Venice Beach

Tell me more: Venice Beach has lost some of its hippy charm recently, but Big Lebowski fans will find plenty of that original free-wheeling spirit at this historic ivy-clad B&B. Known locally as the Oasis of Venice Beach, the nine- bedroom residence was a private beach house, built by millionaire tycoon Abbot Kinney in 1911. Laidback staff and lush gardens help retain that private-house feel.

Charlie Chaplin set up home here while filming The Tramp in 1914 (ask for the Tramp’s Quarters room). Grab a smoothie at the nearby Cow’s End cafe on Washington Boulevard and head to the Venice Beach canals, or zoom along the boardwalk on an electric scooter.

Cost: Doubles from £195 a night.

venicebeachhouse.com

5. Hotel Shangri-La, Santa Monica

Tell me more: Escape the crowds at this elegant Art Deco gem. The cruise-liner-shaped structure has had a major revamp in recent years, but the original 1930s lifts and Bakelite phones still exist and rooms have a self-contained apartment vibe, with balconies overlooking the beach.

Shop at the nearby farmers’ market on Arizona Avenue and ask the resident hotel chef to cook you something in your private kitchen. Order cocktails at the only rooftop bar in Santa Monica, or ask for the romantic suite where Madonna and Sean Penn once stayed.

Cost: Doubles from £300 a night.

shangrila-hotel.com

6. Nobu Ryokan, Malibu

The minimalist interiors of Nobu Kyokan. The 16-room retreat is located on the beach with dreamy views of Malibu pier

Tell me more: It’s easy to miss this exclusive 16-room beachside retreat, but behind the nondescript frontage you’ll find a Japanese- inspired minimalist masterpiece. The best cabin-style rooms sit directly on the beach with views of Malibu pier. All feature luxuries such as iPads, remote-controlled fireplaces and heated loo seats. Nearby Nobu restaurant delivers fresh sushi to your door. Robert DeNiro is a co-founder, so expect a starry clientele.

Cost: Doubles from £1,567 a night.

noburyokanmalibu.com

7. Belmond El Encanto, Santa Barbara

An exterior shot of the former hippy commune of El Encanto, which is now a retreat spread across seven acres

Tell me more: Once a rundown hippy commune, El Encanto is now a retreat spread across seven acres of secluded gardens, with views over the American Riviera. There are 92 cottages, rooms and suites to choose from, all with elegant interiors and balconies. Take one of the hotel’s electric bikes and head down the hill to the 1786 Spanish Mission with gardens and period artefacts.

Cost: Doubles from £360 a night.

belmond.com/usa

8. Eagle Inn, Santa Barbara

Tell me more: This has a charmingly retro English seaside vibe, thanks to its swirly carpets and cheesy, 1970s-style sunken Jacuzzis. Stroll two blocks to Santa Barbara’s palm-fringed beach, however, and thoughts of a drizzly UK evaporate. Wine-lovers should head to the city’s ‘funk zone’, where nightly tastings include locally grown pinot noirs and chardonnays.

Cost: Doubles from £108 a night.

theeagleinn.com

9. El Capitan Canyon, Central Coast

If you venture to El Capitan Canyon, located 20 miles north of Santa Barbara, you will find 162 log cabins and yurts scattered across a wooded creek

Tell me more: Keen to get back to nature but without the discomforts of traditional camping? El Capitan Canyon, 20 miles north of Santa Barbara, provides 162 log cabins and yurts set within a wooded creek rich in wildlife.

Most cabins have en suite kitchens and showers. It’s quite remote but the lodge can provide ready-to-cook barbecue packages and bags of logs for the firepits. There is also a well-stocked shop for essentials. This is bear, raccoon and mountain lion country, so hide any food leftovers to avoid unwanted visitors. Grab one of the lodge’s beach cruisers and head down to windswept El Capitan beach just the other side of the Pacific Coast Highway.

Cost: Doubles from £152 a night.

elcapitancanyon.com

10. For Friends Inn, Santa Ynez

Tell me more: It’s a short detour off the PCH north of Santa Barbara to this family-run inn, on the edge of Santa Ynez, a small frontier town straight out of a classic western. Guests are treated like old friends, with informal wine tastings around the fire-pit, and home-cooked breakfasts.

Choose from eight chintzy rooms and suites, some with balconies, then line-dance the night away at Santa Ynez bar Maverick, where cowboys come to strut their stuff. Look out for locals Jeff Bridges and David Crosby jamming along with the resident band.

Cost: Doubles from £215 a night.

forfriendsinn.com

11. Alisal Ranch, Solvang

Cowboy country: Get ready to saddle up for a spot of horse-riding if you decide to stay at the Alisal Ranch

Tell me more: Alisal is the local Chumash tribe word for ‘grove of sycamores’, and there are spectacular specimens at this 10,000-acre working ranch set in a valley near Solvang, a town founded by Danes in 1911. Airy rooms and suites are kitted out in rustic wood furniture and colourful Chumash fabrics. Ask for one of the original cowboy cabins by the pool, then saddle up with one of the ranch’s wranglers and enjoy a hack through the glades. Keep an eye out for eagles, cormorants and hawks as you picnic by the lake. This place is perfect for nature-loving families.

Cost: Doubles from £485 a night.

alisal.com

12. Lucia Lodge, Central Coast

Tell me more: Perched on a narrow ledge high above the pounding Pacific, 30 minutes south of Big Sur, these precariously positioned cabins retain their pioneering spirit. They come with outdoor seating areas – perfect for whale-watching. Cabins 7, 8, 9 and 10 have 180-degree views of the coast. Grab a bottle of wine and follow the winding path behind Cabin 10 to an oasis of wildflowers on the edge of the cliff. Magical.

Cost: Cabins from £155.

lucialodge.com

13. Ventana Big Sur, An Alila Resort, Big Sur

Tell me more: Hidden within a glade just south of Big Sur, Ventana’s architecture blends perfectly into the landscape. Choose from 60 wood-panelled rooms, all of them with open fireplaces, outdoor showers and hammocks. The Vista Hot Tub suite has its own indoor and outdoor Jacuzzi. Swimming costumes are optional at the infinity pool overlooking the forest.

Cost: Doubles from £529 a night.

ventanabigsur.com

14. Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur

Golden glow: The sun sets over Post Ranch Inn at Big Sur

Tell me more: This ultra-chilled hideaway has 39 guest rooms perched 1,200ft along a dramatic promontory above the ocean, two infinity pools and five on-site sports cars for guests to use. The on-site Sierra Mar is one of the most beautifully positioned restaurants in California – the glass walls allow stunning uninterrupted views.

Cost: Doubles from £779 a night.

postranchinn.com

15. Glen Oaks Motor Lodge, Big Sur

Tell me more: Californians love the great outdoors but they also enjoy creature comforts. Built in the 1950s, Glen Oaks has well-equipped cabins to suit every budget. Perfectly positioned to explore the drama of Big Sur, guests can marvel at the arboreal wonders from the luxury of their own bathtubs. Choose one of the more remote cabins along the Big Sur River where the redwoods are awesome. Cabins to the east have a more rocking-chair, folksy vibe.

Cost: Doubles from £317 a night.

glenoaksbigsur.com

16. Carmel Valley Ranch, Carm from trackrgadget https://bestessayseller.co.uk/stunning-hotels-to-stop-at-on-one-of-the-worlds-finest-road-trips-along-the-pacific-coast-highway/ https://bestessayseller.co.uk/stunning-hotels-to-stop-at-on-one-of-the-worlds-finest-road-trips-along-the-pacific-coast-highway/

#IFTTT #trackrgadget

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songedunenuitdete · 5 years

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You de Greg Berlanti et Sera Gamble

Pour ma première chronique de l’année je suis renouveau avec ma binôme Mady !

J’ai mis du temps avant de voir cette série, je voulais finir Bates Motel avant de de commencer You. Et je suis passé d’un psychopathe à un autre.

TOU DOUM !

Joseph Goldberg, le nouveau personnage qu’interprète Penn Badglay est loin de Dan Humphrey, ce rôle qui l’a rendu célèbre dans Gossip Girl. Sous traie de gentil…

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erickmalpicaflores · 6 years

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Erik Malpica Flores Erik Malpica Flores recommends: ABC Halloween Teasers: MODERN FAMILY, FRESH OFF THE BOAT, SPEECHLESS and More |

With Halloween quickly approaching, ABC is airing Halloween-themed episodes of its primetime shows throughout the month of October. Fans can also watch the classic IT’S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN, as well as a Halloween version of the film TOY STORY.

Thursday, October 18

IT’S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN – In Charles M. Schulz’s classic animated Halloween-themed PEANUTS special, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” the PEANUTS gang celebrates Halloween with Linus hoping that, finally, he will be visited by The Great Pumpkin, while Charlie Brown is invited to a Halloween party. Cast members include Peter Robbins as Charlie Brown, Christopher Shea as Linus, Sally Dryer as Lucy, Chris Doran as Schroeder, Bill Melendez as Snoopy, Kathy Steinberg as Sally, Tracy Stratford as Violet and Ann Altieri as Frieda. (8:00–8:30 p.m.)

“TOY STORY OF TERROR!” – Tom Hanks and Tim Allen reprise their roles as Woody and Buzz, respectively, in Disney•Pixar’s first special for television, “Toy Story OF TERROR!” – a spooky tale featuring all of your favorite characters from the “Toy Story” films. What starts out as a fun road trip for the “Toy Story” gang takes an unexpected turn for the worse when the trip detours to a roadside motel. After one of the toys goes missing, the others find themselves caught up in a mysterious sequence of events that must be solved before they all suffer the same fate in this “Toy Story OF TERROR!” The cast of “Toy Story OF TERROR!” includes Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz, Joan Cusack as Jessie, Carl Weathers as Combat Carl/Combat Carl Jr., Timothy Dalton as Mr. Pricklepants, Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head, Wallace Shawn as Rex and Kristen Schaal as Trixie. (8:30-9:00 p.m.)

Friday, October 19

FRESH OFF THE BOAT – “Workin’ the ‘Ween” – Honey and Marvin ask Jessica and Louis to be baby Maria’s godparents, and Jessica offers to babysit her on Halloween night. But the Huangs are in for a spooky evening when they agree to help wean the baby off of her pacifier. Meanwhile, Eddie is hired by mattress store owner Harv (George Wendt, “Cheers”) for a job to make some extra money so that he can buy himself a car and ends up having to work in the creepy store all by himself on Halloween. (8:00–8:30 p.m.)

SPEECHLESS – “I-N– INTO THE W-O– WOODS” – Maya’s Halloween becomes truly terrifying when JJ attends a rave in the woods. Ray joins Dylan’s Halloween heist determined to prove he’s more than a do-gooder. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Kenneth turn the DiMeo home into the neighborhood’s haunted house. (8:30–9:00 p.m.)

Wednesday, October 24

THE GOLDBERGS – “Mister Knifey-Hands” – Despite Beverly’s wishes, Jackie’s parents allow Adam to watch “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and a disagreement between the families ensues. But Beverly dreams of facing off with horror icon Freddy Krueger (guest star Robert Englund), which teaches her an important lesson about her son’s relationship with Jackie. Meanwhile, Erica realizes she’s not as popular as she once was as she starts hanging out at William Penn Academy despite the fact she’s no longer a student there. (8:00–8:30 p.m.)

AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE – “Trust Me” – When Taylor decides she wants to go to a Halloween party, Greg and Katie disagree on whether or not Taylor can be trusted. Oliver and Cooper anxiously try to prepare for playing a game of “seven minutes in heaven” with their dates at a separate Halloween event. A pregnant Viv (Leslie Bibb) follows Katie around trying to get help preparing for her baby’s arrival. (8:30-9:00 p.m.)

MODERN FAMILY – “Good Grief” – It’s another epic Halloween full of costumes, tricks and treats for the Dunphy-Pritchett-Tucker clan as they deal with huge, unexpected news. (9:00-9:31 p.m.)

SINGLE PARENTS – “Politician, Freemason, Scientist, Humorist and Diplomat, Ben Franklin” – Will is crushed when Sophie wants to tone down Halloween and invites a boy over. Poppy and the twins attempt to convince a reluctant Douglas to wear a silly costume; after he finally puts it on, he meets the woman of his dreams, who he now is sure will not take him seriously. Meanwhile, Angie struggles to tell her boss that she needs to leave work to be with her son on Halloween, leaving Graham’s costume in limbo. (9:31-10:00 p.m.)

Friday, October 26

IT’S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN and YOU’RE NOT ELECTED, CHARLIE BROWN – This full-length version of the classic animated PEANUTS special “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” includes the bonus cartoon, “You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown,” in which Linus runs for class president. The PEANUTS gang celebrates Halloween, with Linus hoping that, finally, he will be visited by The Great Pumpkin, while Charlie Brown is invited to a Halloween party. Cast members include Peter Robbins as Charlie Brown, Christopher Shea as Linus, Sally Dryer as Lucy, Chris Doran as Schroeder, Bill Melendez as Snoopy, Kathy Steinberg as Sally, Tracy Stratford as Violet and Ann Altieri as Frieda. “You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown” – in which Linus runs for class president with Lucy and Charlie Brown managing his campaign – features Chad Webber as Charlie Brown, Robin Kohn as Lucy, Stephen Shea as Linus, Hilary Momberger as Sally and Todd Barbee as Russell. (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Sunday, October 28

AMERICA’S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS – “2905” – AFV celebrates Halloween with people being scared by Halloween costumes, costume malfunctions and a music montage featuring pumpkin mishaps on an all-new episode. (7:00-8:00 p.m.)

DANCING WITH THE STARS: JUNIORS – “Halloween Night” – The remaining celebrity kids are donning their scariest costumes as they prepare to treat the viewers to some spooky dances, as Halloween night comes to “Dancing with the Stars: Juniors.” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Week of October 29

GENERAL HOSPITAL – Halloween haunts Port Charles when the Fall Festival becomes the scene of a startling murder. (weekdays, 2:00-3:00 p.m. EDT; check local listings)

Monday, October 29

DANCING WITH THE STARS – “Halloween Night” – The remaining couples will treat viewers to some terrifying thrills as Halloween Night comes to “Dancing with the Stars.” (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

Tuesday, October 30

THE CONNORS – “There Won’t Be Blood” – It’s Halloween, the favorite time of year for the Conners, but an email from the school banning certain costumes, including Mark’s, sets off an argument between Dan and Darlene. Jackie introduces someone new (guest star Steve Zahn) to the family at the Halloween party and insists that Dan vet him, only to immediately wish that she hadn’t. (8:00-8:31 p.m.)

BLACK-ISH – “Scarred for Life” – The twins opt out of the family Halloween costume for fear it will hurt their social status in middle school. Dre and Bow take it upon themselves to protect them from bullies by putting together the best haunted house and invite the whole seventh grade. Meanwhile, Junior starts spending time with a girl from Ruby’s choir and Ruby doesn’t know how to feel about it. (9:00–9:30 p.m.

SPLITTING UP TOGETHER – “Freaks & Creaks” – Lena decides to call Martin’s bluff on selling the house but is surprised when he actually begins making necessary repairs to get the house ready to be sold. The realtor, Jeannie (guest star Angela Kinsey) sends over Vlad (guest star Costa Ronin), a contractor, to deal with the structural issues she discovered in the house. Meanwhile, upset that Mae is not enjoying her sophomore year of high school, Lena invites Emma-Rebecca (guest star Milly Shapiro, “Hereditary”), Mae’s friend from camp, to visit; yet she seemingly brings a trail of bizarre and supernatural events along with her. Elsewhere, Maya finally tells Frank she is pregnant and is surprised by his reaction. (9:30-10:00 p.m.)

Wednesday, October 31

JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! – Jimmy, Guillermo, Dicky, Cleto and the Cletones, and all of the show’s guest will be dressed for the occasion on an all-new episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The 13th Annual Half & Half Halloween Costume Pageant will be part of the evening’s festivities, where the show takes half of one costume and half of another, weaving them together to form one amazing hybrid costume. Past creations include Trumpty Dumpty, EmoJesus, and The Walking Bed, to name a few. Kimmel will also ask parents to join in on the YouTube Challenge”‘I Told My Kids I Ate All Their Halloween Candy,” one of the show’s signature holiday traditions with over 329 million combined views on YouTube. (11:35 p.m.)

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therealbutlernews-blog · 7 years

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Penn Live has a fantastic story about drugs in Butler Pa

‘There are more drug dealers than cops’: Addicted Towns of Pa.

By John Luciew

BUTLER, Pa. — The horror happened inside a Super 8 motel room on the edge of this once-proud manufacturing town that supplied Jeeps in World War II.

A young mother and her 4-year-old son were living there with her boyfriend, paying by the day.

It’s not unusual, according to the hotel’s long-time day manager, Anna LePore…

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rickhorrow · 7 years

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Stadiums Are Big Business: new Book Looks At How And Why…And Then Some…

by Tanner SImkins @TannerSimkins

The stadium business has never been bigger, and the debate over who should pay for such things has never been hotter. With the NGL now in Las Vegas, the Chargers moving to L.A., the Raiders in flux, the Falcons getting a new home, new York trying to figure out what to do with NYCFC and the Islanders the debate has raged on from sea to sea. This week author Rafi Kohan has a new book out which talks about all these issues as well as the quirks and fin of fandom and so much more. The book is called “The Arena, Inside the Tailgating, Ticket-Scalping, Mascot-Racing, Dubiously Funded, and Possibly Haunted Monuments of American Sport ” and we caught up with Rafi to talk the stadium game, and some of the other many lessons learned along his journey. https://www.amazon.com/Arena-tailgating-ticket-scalping-mascot-racing-dubiously-ebook/dp/B01M6XDXK7

With all the stadia you visited, what was the biggest surprise?

One thing I found fascinating was the way in which ticket scalpers in Cleveland were able to create one-time marketplaces surrounding Cavaliers playoff games, seemingly independent of any other factors. I’ll explain what I mean: For game one of the 2015 playoffs—the first postseason game since LeBron James returned to the city, with the promise of a championship—there was decent activity on the online secondary market and a ton of people milling around the arena. The team was even throwing an official pregame party. And yet, the scalpers couldn’t move very many tickets at all. It was brutal. Some started lowering their demands, while others decided to price enforce. Eventually, they were able to move a few tickets, but nothing close to what they had been anticipating.

Game two was a couple days later. There was no pregame party and secondary market activity was shaky, at best. Naturally, the scalpers feared the action would be even worse. But they were wrong. Game two proved to be a bonanza for the sellers on the street, as they unloaded tickets well above what they were moving for online. There are some guys who like to monitor the online market and try to swoop in and vulture cheap tickets from scalpers, and these guys watched in disbelief as upper-level seats sold for hundreds of dollars. Some scalpers ran out of inventory well before tip-off. Why was one game better than the other? These are the mysteries of the street. As one scalper who works around Fenway Park in Boston put it to me, as to why a ticket is worth one thing and not another: “Ice cream has no bones. So what?”

Atlanta is now about to get a new football stadium, how has that changed the public vs private money situation for these new urban centers?

I don’t think it has changed the situation at all, as far as public vs. private funding goes for football stadiums. The Falcons are receiving hundreds of millions of dollars of public money, thanks to a hotel-motel tax, and that’s pretty par for the course (with rare exception in the largest media markets). Some cities and teams are trying to get more creative in terms of how they funnel that money to team owners—in this case, because the money is coming from a hotel-motel tax, the argument can be made that it is tourists who are helping to pay for the stadium (but that of course neglects any sort of counterfactual situation, in which the city uses those tax dollars for other purposes). At the end of the day, a subsidy is a subsidy.

What’s interesting about the new Atlanta football stadium, in my opinion, is the extent to which the Falcons team owner Arthur Blank will make genuine investments in the surrounding community. More so than perhaps any other owner, Blank has been making noise about true community development—job training, lowering crime, youth leadership programs, and so on—and has reportedly provided dollars to back it up. We’ll see what happens, but one of my takeaways from spending so much time in and around stadiums in general is that sports teams ought to be better citizens and better neighbors, instead of cynical stadium tenants—especially given how much public money sports owners accept (which is to say nothing of the benefits of tax-free borrowing)—and this is a good place to start.

You talk about everything from urinals to scalping in the book, who are two of your favorite stories?

Since you brought up urinals, one of my favorite stories has to do with the urinal troughs at Wrigley Field. Apparently, male fans view peeing in the troughs as one of the rituals of Wrigley Field, and a kind of rite of passage. My dad took me to pee in a trough, and by God, I’m going to take my son to pee in a trough! And so when Wrigley began its recent renovations, this was one of the areas on which fans were not willing to compromise. They wanted to keep the troughs. In fact, at one game, my seatmate discovered that I had never peed in a trough and he demanded that I accompany him to the restroom immediately. It was a one-of-a-kind bonding experience.

Another favorite story, which is really more of an interaction, came at Fenway Park. I was sitting in the field-side box of former Red Sox president Larry Lucchino the day after a female fan was badly injured when a shattered bat helicoptered into the stands. I believe she was still in the hospital. Before the game, I started chatting with one of the security guards standing on the field. Because fan injuries were a growing concern in baseball, I asked him if he had ever seen anything like that injury before. He responded, “Yeah, in my other job.” And what was his other job, I wondered? “I work in the ER,” he said.

Los Angeles just got the Olympics, and with it come new stadia already in the mix. Any thoughts on how LA has re-invented itself as a hub of big sports events?

L.A. is one of the few cities that has ever done the Olympics right, at least in terms of not allowing the games to financially ruin the city. (Which is why so many other cities are hesitant to even bid on the games now.) And with L.A.’s existing sports infrastructure and the new venues coming online, it is possible that the city will not have to build any new permanent facilities, which is great in terms of avoiding white elephants. I spent a good amount of time in Salt Lake City, which has probably done the best job, as far as post-Olympics legacy goes. And the lesson there is that legacy planning can’t begin after the games leave, but has to start well before they ever arrive. Beyond initial and even long-term subsidization costs, when necessary, you need to have a plan for every facility. For example, will a venue revert back to what it was before, as was the case in Salt Lake with Rice-Eccles Stadium, home of the University of Utah football program and host of the opening and closing ceremonies? Will it transform into something new, like Maverik Center, which hosted hockey events and is now a multipurpose sports and entertainment venue? Will the public be able to use it and benefit from it, as they are Utah Olympic Park? I hope L.A. is taking all these things into consideration. They certainly have enough time to plan for it.

One potential downside to L.A. as a sports hub, however, is this question: At what point do we reach oversaturation for stadiums? After all, touring bands and other road shows can only play so many venues in the same city. And if the venues start underbidding one another because they become desperate to fill dates—not saying that’s the case; this is a hypothetical—then we’ve reached a lose-lose situation for all the stadium operators.

You also look at lots of colleges. From a business and event perspective, what are some towns that have done it right with regard to college facilities?

You know, college football stadiums were actually some of the first permanent steel-and-concrete stadiums in the U.S., with Harvard Stadium being the first in 1903. (The stadium was a gift from alumni.) From the beginning, they held a unique place in the American stadiumscape, almost serving as marketing billboards to the country at large for those individual institutions. They represented something. They were stakes in the ground, and they said: this is a place worth attending.

I spent most of my time at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Beaver Stadium, in State College, Pennsylvania. Both are interesting for many different reasons, and one common reason: identity. To this day, these venues stand as metaphors for those universities and their wider communities. They say: this is who we are, and this is what we stand for. (For obvious reasons, some folks in Penn State have been suffering a bit of a crisis of identity in recent years.)

Anyway, that’s a long way of saying that I think the question we should be asking about college towns is this: Which of these places are able to respect that initial purpose of standing for something, without trampling academic ideals or compromising core values? It’s increasingly difficult to argue anyone is really getting this exactly right, especially with big money running rampant through college football.

If there was a city looking for a boom in development and innovation with regard to fans and the places their teams play, who should we be looking to?

First off, cities should understand that stadiums are not good economic drivers, for a region as a whole. There is broad economic consensus on this point. So any fantasies of building a stadium and having development naturally bloom around it—forget that. Stadiums are not good financial investments. That being said, this question reminds me of something Roger Noll, who is a preeminent stadium economist, said to me, and that is: stadiums can be useful political instruments when included in larger development plans, especially in cities that could use a boost. As he put it, “Having the government commit successfully to a 20-year redevelopment project is a considerable political accomplishment, and including sports will get you 20 to 25 percent of the electorate. It adds to the coalition.”

In other words, stadiums can help a city with targeted redevelopment, if there is a specific area of the city that they are trying to revitalize, for example. This ended up being what Cleveland did with the Gateway District, when they built new homes for both the Cavs and the Indians in the mid-1990s, and part of what made that successful was that the facilities were imagined as participating in a 365-day-a-year district, with interaction with the wider district—the bars and restaurants and what have you. The stadiums were not walled off or encircled by parking lots but corkscrewed into the district. Of course there is more to Cleveland’s downtown revitalization than just sports facilities, but they played a part.

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