The first five in the PAW gallery area new - more shots from the casino
club, a stitched pano of our casino at dusk, and a shot from my day at
the Robie House today.
My first two tours today were normal ones, albeit with guests from
China, France, Italy and Germany. However, we also offer special
"Private Spaces" tours where we can take limited groups into parts of
the house that are off-limits to the general public. Today was my first
one of these tours. I'd been through the training, but the tours are
usually at a time when I'm not there, so I haven't been able to practice
much (the other tours, I've been doing them for seven years and they're
second nature to me now).
We had a tour bus of 34 folks from Australia and New Zealand (the
organizer, and Aussie, explained that we'd be able to tell the New
Zealanders easily enough since they'd be the loudest... we all chuckled
at that).
Anyhow, I did my thing, took them all through the house, told stories,
history, let them take their photos and ask questions... for roughly 90
minutes. At the end of a day, it's kind of exhausting. However, they
were very engaged and asked intelligent questions and were really into
what I was telling them, so it went pretty fast. At then end, as I was
wrapping up, the one gentleman told me that he'd been back here three
times previous over the years to see the house, and of all of the
docents (we're actually referred to as "interpreters") he'd had, I was
the most informative and entertaining. And because of that, they wanted
to present me with a gift. The little gold-plated Koala pin was that
gift. A small token, but heartfelt. I was touched. We interpreters
are volunteers, and it costs me roughly $9 in tolls plus gas every time
I go into Chicago to give tours. But when I get to share my passion for
that house with people who have flown in from all over the globe, and
then they tell me they enjoyed my presenatation and occasionally
applaud, it makes it all worthwhile.
http://zone-10.com/tope2/main.php?g2_itemId=1965
Also a few new ones in the cars gallery - from a little used-car lot on
the way to the casino.
http://zone-10.com/tope2/main.php?g2_itemId=2907
And speaking of Australians, here's one more from the Music gallery with
the artist I mixed on Saturday. Richie is Australian, but lives in
Nashville now. I'm always happy to see him on the schedule - I really
like him and his band, and love his music. Even bought his most recent
CD a couple of gigs ago. I don't often do that for the bands coming
through the club.
http://zone-10.com/tope2/main.php?g2_itemId=8999
Enjoy. As always, C&C encouraged.
--
Paul Braun
Certified Music Junkie
Valparaiso, IN
"It's such a fine line between stupid, and clever." - David St. Hubbins
"Music washes from the soul the dust of everyday life" - Harlan Howard
--
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