Tales from the Corners

What does this entry have to do with travel? Plenty! As 12 and 13-year-olds, my then-filmmaking buddy Danny and I made this movie about traveling in space. December 2009 marks the 30th anniversary of our short film, "Star Lords." This was our first attempt at sci-fi filmed a few months before I purchased a Bell and Howell Soundstar camera -- which would have made a lot more sense with this film since we had an actual script. Using Danny's silent Bell and Howell camera, we were forced to make our own subtitles by actually holding them. "Star Lords" was shot in Danny's basement mainly on a ping-pong table. Sheet metal was used for some of the props. As with some of my videos, the files uploaded seemed to be a bit strange. I have a clearer version of this on my Vimeo channel: http://www.vimeo.com/3356225 Look for more 30th anniversary commentaries on this blog --just to break things up.

The 30th anniversary of my family's Virginia trip is mentioned in my latest feature on Men's Traveler Also, more material is available on my Tales from the Corners blog. Don't worry big brother, local issues are discussed :-)

As part of my staycation this past week, I spent some time in Lawrenceville, GA. Lawrenceville, the county seat of Georgia's Gwinnett County held its annual Gwinnett Glows on its historic town square. It's been years since we attended this function which was held at the modern county courthouse at that time. With temperatures soaring, we found relief in nearby shops on the town square as well as a magic show inside the historic courthouse. Carey Huddlestun of Really Good Magic put on such a great show, one dad in the audience was more than amazed as he blurted out how much he loved Huddlestun with laughter and gusto every five minutes. Many of the food stands were busy as well as nearby eateries. We opted to hit Cosmo's Original Little Italy. The food was great and the service was even better. This once-sleepy town has come alive on its historic square. Lawrenceville's fireworks display was first-rate this year. The biggest bummer was trying to get out of there afte...

This week I'm all about "staycations." I'll post some information about destinations in the Atlanta area including beautiful downtown Norcross and Lawrenceville. Also, new restaurants in the Good Eating section on Men's Traveler

I have a new AJC op-ed out today. Check Here's hoping the stadium is green out. My recent observations on Little Rock are mentioned in the article.

I wrote an op-ed on the transportation situation in the Atlanta metropolitan area: AJC Gwinnett News Indeed this is a local piece, but it reiterates the point that the metro area can become a tourist destination if it would get its act together on transportation.