Playmates

These girls provide good distractions for me. Basically, what I'm doing here in the empty town is job search and application, sitting in front of the computer, browsing websites, filling application forms, writing cover letters and stuff, which tires my brain and eyes. So, once I get fed up with doing those, I go outside and play with these girls. But today, it is really hot outside, and they don't bother to come out of the shade :P

Nothing But ...

Since I came to visit DM and CM on August 18, it has been almost ten days. But in the last ten days, nothing special has happened. This is a very rural, empty town in the South. What do you expect?


But today, we went to take some photos of a run-down tobacco shed and horses. Well, nothing but a shed and horses. What else can I expect?


Well, there's one positive aspect of this kind of empty town. You can concentrate on what you have to do, in my case job applications. Yes, I'm working on applications almost everyday!

CNN

Yay, CNN! The first thing that I wanted to do in Atlanta is to visit CNN! Atlanta is the birthplace of CNN!


Though I had heard that the Inside CNN tour is not worth taking, I did anyway because I was a fan of CNN (I still am of Anderson Cooper, not Anderson Cooper 360, mind you). Yes, when I was a college kid, watching CNN International, I longed for being a part of CNN International (not CNN). I was naive :)

OK, so, the tour ... is not worth paying $15 or something (I paid $12, exploiting my student status). You may see some anchors actually on air and the newsroom, but so what?

During the tour, I thought I could not work in this environment. I can't stand being surrounded by flickering monitors. I would go crazy, ahhhhhh! Also, I can't stand huge wage gaps between superstar journalists (if you call them journalists) and newsroom workers. News organizations are totally hypocritical.

Coca-Cola Propaganda

Atlanta is also the birthplace of Coca-Cola. Ha, globalization started from Atlanta! Coca-Cola, CNN ...


Inside the World of Coca-Cola is totally about Coca-Cola propaganda! I had a bottle of water, and at the security check, a staffer peeled off the lebel of the bottle. I asked why, and she said, "It's Pepsi. Nothing but Coca-Cola is allowed." Wow!


And, they call the World of Coca-Cola the happiness factory or something like that. Wow again! They never refer to negative aspects of the Coca-Cola production such as environmenttal issues, cultural imperialism, and health issues (of course not!). Everything inside is propaganda. It was really interesting. I almost felt like I was in Disneyland, which is another total propaganda place of Corporate America and globalization.

MLK

Atlanta is the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr., which I didn't know until today (I thought he was from Alabama). So, I visited the area where he was born and grew up. It is a little away from downtown, but you can walk down there from downtown. It is kind of a worn-out (black) area so that you may feel uncomfortable walking down the street. You don't see anyone other than African-Americans on the way, but you see lots of tourists in various colors including white (if you say white is a color) around the MLK historic site, which is interesting to me. I assume those tourists drove there and would drive back to their comfortable area as soon as they finish taking photos of the historic stuff there. Interesting, and sadly, very much American.


Americans love eternal flame stuff? This eternal flame is for MLK. And, I remember I saw the eternal flame for JFK in the Arlington National Cemetery long time ago :P


Again, I was wrong. I thought MLK was from a poor family, but he was actually from a middle class family. This is the house where he was born.

Conference is Secondary?!

Well, I presented my papers before I visited the MLK historic site. I should have mentioned earlier because it should be the primary reason of my visit in Atlanta. But obviously it was not :P

Dali

Yay, I'm lucky! The special exhibit of Dali is now on at High Museum of Art. I happened to know about the exhibit yesterday at the information desk of the Atlanta airport, but I believe I am destined to be in Atlanta this period of time because of Dali!

The exhibit was good with a bunch of pieces from his museums in St. Petersburg and Figueres. Actually, there are many pieces that are familiar to me because I have been to both museums. Appreciating Dali masterpieces is really something. His vision, imagination, technique, and everything are astonishing unique, and therefore, it never gets worn out. He is a genius.


There is a weird house-shaped piece of art outside the museum. It looks like this (above) from an anterior view. A flat house. But it is actually bent inward from the side (below). Interesting ...