Hi,

Tomorrow is the Feat of the Redeemer in Venice, Italy where they have a procession of gondolas and other craft commemorating the end of the epidemic of 1575, the anniversary of the premier of One Life to Live (1968) and Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini’s birth anniversary 1850-the first American saint).

Some exciting news on my web site, I now have a mobile version for hand helds.  I’ve been wanting to do this since I was at that Innkeepers Conference in the spring.  Loading a full web site on an hand held takes extra time and is cumbersome.  The new version gives you a couple of quickie options, there’s an Icon that you click on that starts an e-mail to me, there’s an Icon that when you click on it, it automatically dials my phone and there’s an Icon that gives you the option to view my full site.  The site is designed from my original site, but with a lot less content, making it easier for a mobile user to get to the info they need.  Did you know that a traditional surfer on a PC type devise makes a decision in about a week where a hand held makes a decision in about an hour.  Pretty huge market that has very specific traits.

While working on my site, Kirk from Vollkommen Total Media created a links page for me.  One that I can populate.  A huge thing with your rankings on the Internet is links.  The spiders are always evaluating the relevance of the links, the strength of the site you are  linking to and from and the volume of links.  I didn’t want to clutter my Partners Page with a bunch of non partners, but relevant links, so Kirk put a small Icon on the bottom of my page so you can view them if you want and it doesn’t look like I’m hiding something, which would really put me in hot water with the spiders ( and I live in mortal terror of upsetting the spiders).  So now when I get one of those inquiry e-mails requesting reciprocal links, I can just deal with it myself.

Construction on my newest gust room is going gang busters.  The demolition is completed, we’ve passed the rough plumbing and electrical inspections today.  They pretty much finished hanging the drywall today.  They will start mudding it tomorrow and finish on Monday.  The tile guys is scheduled for Tuesday.  I have some pics from when I emptied my stuff out, when the demo was done and I’ll take some after they’re finished tomorrow and post them over the weekend.

I do have a busy weekend.  I’m sold out from tonight through Sunday.  And my brother Tom, his wife Sofie and there daughters Cloe a toddler and the infant twins Audrey and Isabelle will be visit Friday through Tuesday from Colorado.  I’m pretty excited.

Photo Antiquities over on West Ohio Street is doing a major expansion.  Bruce Klein that owns that and the iconic Bernie’s Photos over there recently announced the expansion.  They acquired the old Allegheny Social Hall on Madison Street right over there.  They will be going from about 1,800 square feet to around 16,500 square feet.  Huge growth.  Bruce has frequently complained that he doesn’t have enough wall space at his current location to show but a fraction of his collection (which includes the original camera that captured the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima an photos dating back to 1827.  The new location will have classrooms, a dark room, research library in addition to the museum.  Bruce is kicking this off Tuesday at a news conference at the Yale Club Downtown at noon where he will announce the founding of his new non profit.  Then Thursday around 6:30 he will be hosting an opening kick off and fund raiser at the new location.  If you get a chance, stop by either or both.

First of all, I want to congratulate Eric Shriener.  He was the #2 at the Warhol and had just been promoted to the curator.  I’m sure with Eric’s leadership, the Warhol will continue to be cutting edge.    Speaking of which, one of the current exhibits at the Warhol (though August 15) is “Mixed Signals: Artist Consider Masculinity in Sports”.  The work featured in this exhibit offers alternative views of masculinity and sport by exploring the stereotypes, rituals and specialized gear of this male dominated world.  Each of the 15 artists included examines the way masculinity is performed and presented in a sporting context.

There’s an art show at the American Jewish Museum at 5738 Forbes Ave, Squirrel Hill (412.521.8011) through July 28.  Hours are 7:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 7:30 to 6 p.m. Fridays, 1 to 7 p.m. Saturdays and 7:45 to 6 p.m. Sundays, admission is free.  Are you aware that over a billion people do not have access to clean drinking water?  That’s one out of every six people on the planet.  This exhibit addresses this and many other water related crises.  The show, called “Too Shallow for Diving: the 21st Century is Treading Water” was put together by Carolyn Speranza.  She got fifteen of her fellow artists to create works on this theme.

Well, that’s if for now, have a great weekend,

ed