Cleveland: Breaking it Down

Last week I upped and left on for a couple of fun-filled days of travel. I provided the interwebs with a few clues but the teaser I left posed a few problems and no one got the answer from that post so let's break it down. First the visuals the montage of images consisted of landmarks cultural and iconic, musical and artistic, kitchsy and culinary:


The Free Stamp, outdoor sculpture by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.


The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame


The Mall, a great public space with outdoor art.


The newly opened East Wing of the Museum of Art


The iconic lampshade light from A Christmas Story, which was shot in this city.


Iron Chef Michael Symon whose restaurant Lola served up the best oysters and yellowtail (above) I've eaten in the US and a smoky, chile-flavored Berkshire pork chop that made me wish we'd had time to visit his other restaurant, Lolita, for the Tuesday Night Pig Roast.



Then there was that verbal clue about "using your ingenuity". That refers to the Ingenuity festival of art and technology, held in July.
In retrospect it was easy, wasn't it? More to follow soon from my trip to the positively fabulous city of Cleveland.

Tomorrow's Travels

Tomorrow I'm traveling out of town. I'll be visiting somewhere on a lake, known for its theatres, music venues, modern art and, of course, for its foodie scene. Where in the world am I going?

A few visual clues:


And one verbal one: You'll need to use your ingenuity to find the answer.

Warhols!

Jenni over at ThirteenEleven commented recently that I get to go to wonderful exhibitions, and she's right I do. Wherever I'm traveling I try to build in time to see something special and, hopefully, spectacular. Sometimes, though, it just doesn't work out. For example I flew out of Montreal one day before the Warhol Live: Music and dance in Andy Warhol’s work exhibition opened at the Musee des Beaux Arts.
I would have loved to see the portraits of Aretha Franklin, Liza Minelli and Debbie Harry and all the pop art but even more, something that hasn't been shown before, a private collection of album covers Warhol designed, including the iconic Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers.



Other rarities on show will be this video for The Cars as well as films and art installations. It runs through January 18 2009, and during that time, over at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal there will be another music inspired exhibition, Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967.
Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be finding myself back in Montreal that soon. Dommage!

The only way to travel...

Graceland
Originally uploaded by modernemama

I'm never ever getting on another airplane again, even if it's my own personal plane. Memphis to La Guardia took 20 hours, including two terminal changes at Atlanta, two sessions of more than an hour waiting for clearance to leave the gate, after having waited three hours to board the plane and no food or water, I had seriously had enough. All this because of thunderstorms and the fact that they cram too many flights together, so when things get delayed there's a chain reaction.
Yep, and the music and bbq vacation in Tennessee? I think we had fun in Nashville and Memphis, but I need to get some distance from the journey home to be sure.

Here's The Catch

I got a notice from NY State Department of Motor Vehicles the other day reminding me that my driver's license expires on my birthday and I need to renew it. As I don't have a social security number I have to go down to the DMV and wait in line, have my photo taken and pay $50 for a five year renewal. (I know, to Europeans this is a bizarre idea. There you take a test and if you pass you are pronounced competent to drive- unless you have an accident or injury you are set until your crusty old age, and they don't fleece you $50 bucks every few years either).
But, whatever, you do what you have to do. I gather my 6 points of ID necessary to get my new license, plan a trip to the Dept of Social Security to get a letter that states I am a legal alien and an appointment at the hairdresser so I don't look like an alien when they take my photo for the license and then I read the fine print.
As part of the Patriot Act and to ensure the security of the USA I have to have a passport valid for a year; check, and a visa valid for six months. No. No. No. My visa extension was granted for nine months in July. It expires in March 2007. Our immigration lawyer assures us we will have our I 140 approved by February and that will give me my own SS number (which by the way is the same as the Taxpayer Identification Number I was given when I arrived, so the authorities know who I am and where I live and they collect taxes from me every year).
What am I supposed to do between November 25 and sometime in February? Drive on my international license? Stay at home?
If anyone in Congress really thinks that this will prevent illegal aliens from getting to work then they are delusional. It will only encourage people not to get driving licenses or insurance. It won't prevent terrorism it will simply drive people underground and piss off people like me who do everything by the book and still end up being punished.

You don't exist

Is the worst thing about voter rights in this country not that you can't get a voter registration card in Missouri without a birth certificate but that you can be denied a copy of your birth certificate because you were abandoned as a child? Or that you can be refused voter registration even though you have a social security number?
You can't vote but you can pay taxes. Oh yes, I'm sure that's fair.

Real capuccino, Caffe Artigiano

Real capuccino, Caffe Artigiano
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

This is another reason for never leaving Vancouver. There are four branches of Caffe Artigiano serving excellent coffee in downtown Vancouver. A different design every time. And it tastes like coffee, and they serve it in cups, and their scones aren't sweet.
I miss Canada.