Saturday Humor - Improv

If you love lunch and improv comedy, then by all means, watch this video.

The Thompson-Muller House

During my stay in Charleston this week, I discovered a bit of history of the place I was staying. It was interesting to learn a little about the space and some of the original artifacts still in place. Below is the history (emphasis mine):

The Thompson-Muller House
20 Glebe Street
Circa 1846

When St. Philip’s Church divided some of the glebe lands into lots in 1770, the planwas to lease these lots for a specific term to the successful buyers. This was necessary because the term of the Afra Coming’s will, the property was required to held as glebe lands “forever.” For over 100 years this provision was honored and all of the glebe lots were leaseholds rather than fee conveyances.

The Thompson-Muller House was built at 20 Glebe in 1846 on property which was still held as part of the glebe lands. The property was not sold until 1879, making 20 Glebe Street the first lot to “break the Glebe.” The lot and the house were conveyed to Mrs. Christina Durkopp Kruse in fee. Mrs. Kruise and here descendants, the Muller family, remained ownership of the property until 1971 when it was purchased by the College of Charleston Foundation.

The builder of this house is uncertain. It was possible that the house was erected by Albert Elfe, who leased the lot from the vestry of the Church in 1834. Elfe was an important builder in Charleston at the time and the son of one of the City’s most famous cabinetmakers. It is more probable, however, that George Thompson who assumed Elfe’s lease in 846 actually contracted the early Victorian structure. The house prominently features earthquake bolts or rods which were widely used to repair damages and provide extra building support following the Great Earthquake of 1886.

A door on the third floor bears a lock made by James Carpenter, one of Charleston’s famous craftsmen. The lock features a brass patent seal with a lion and unicorn, similar to the British Royal Coat of Arms. The lock is said to have been made in Charleston, although Carpenter patented his locks in 1830 at the English Patent office in London.

The building has been used as a location for several movies made in Charleston in the 1980’s, including one of Alex Haley’s series.

Wish I took a better camera than the one on my phone.

Silver's 5-10 cent and $1.00 Stores

Walking the streets of Charleston, I encountered one of the many markers footnoting an old retailer from the past. The retailer was Silver's 5-10 cent and $1.00 Stores and I could not find any record or history of this Charleston establishment on King Street (Value of $1.00 in 1925 is the equivalent of $12.61 in 2009).

What I did encounter was this photo Silver’s store in Tampa from the 1920’s. I suspect this retailer was one of the many 5-10 cent stores that were common during this period. If I recall correctly, Woolworth’s was the first to start this retail establishment and many competitors followed suit.

Theft was a common problem with these five & dime stores, particularly due to the ease of customers shoplifting. Initially some managers thought it had to be the store's staff and not the "honest" customers. The logic: the staff could easily steal from the inventory and take money from the register in this cash-only business. Customers were always under the watchful eye of the store's employees.

In a State Department of Labor report, one store manager who wanted to test the honesty of the public, wrapped empty boxes and left one on a front counter. It disappeared immediately and he replaced it with another wrapped box. Within 30 minutes, 22 wrapped, empty packages had been taken and convinced the theft was not just a dishonest sales force.

Many would not be shocked at this revelation today.

Holy City of South Carolina

Currently I'm on the road working in Charleston for the remainder of the week. With enjoyable temperatures, I'm finding walking the city's streets and watching the tourist with their guide books amusing.

Earlier this evening one tourist exclaimed to their husband, "That's the place where Rachel Ray ate and recommended."

It kills me seeing one of may favorite local places overrun by tourists due to a celebrity's recommendation. May need to find a new hidden spot on the peninsula.

The photo to the left is were I'll be staying for a couple of days. It's not a high-end hotel but the college's accommodations do have some character and southern charm. The best part to me is that it's free.

Trick-or-Treat Index

How does one rate the child friendliness of a neighborhood? Well, there is an interesting measure worth considering for those staying home tonight.

Richard Florida, author of Who’s Your City? and The Rise of the Creative Class, has coined an intriguing concept: the “Trick-or-Treater Index.”

The idea is simple: one just counts the number of trick-or-treaters at your door on Halloween night and you’ll get a measure of how child friendly your neighborhood is the whole year. Certainly, it’s quite simplistic, but I would agree that neighborhoods with lots of trick-or-treaters tend to have lots of children who are comfortable being outside in their neighborhood.

It appears that Zillow also tracks this in the major meto areas. Guess I’ll be counting the number of costumed trick-or-treaters tonight! If you're expecting a lot of kids, I encourage you to have a monster amount of candy.

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Update: The Dells were hit hard with the young trick-or-treaters this evening until the rain started to fall. At that point we watched the kids run around in the downpour. I believe the kids had fun playing in the rain instead of going door-to-door requesting treats.

Average count was over 1/minute from 6:15-8:30 pm window.

Clemson Football = Rain

Currently it’s raining in Upstate South Carolina and I’m not surprised. Why?

Clemson is playing a home game today.

For the past 4 home games, Clemson has played in the rain with the weather soaking the fans. Per the records:

Clemson v. Boston College
Clemson v. TCU
Clemson v. Wake Forest
Clemson v. Costal Carolina - Currently raining now!

Fans that I know personally have complained about tailgating in the rain and left each game all wet. I hope that sitting in the rain today is well worth their time.

Boeing Locating 787 Plant in North Charleston

Ok..Knowing that this will be the headline story for the next several days, I thought I post one of these articles. This one is from SC Biz. It has yet been posted online and only sent via email.

Boeing locating 787 plant in North Charleston

By Molly Parker and Mike Fitts (SC BIZ)

COLUMBIA - With much fanfare, lawmakers just announced that the Boeing Co. is building its second Dreamliner assembly line in North Charleston.

With this announcement, South Carolina has landed one of the biggest economic development deals in recent history. Several thousand new jobs are on the horizon. The marquee company's decision to put an assembly plant here also bodes well for local attempts to launch a major aerospace manufacturing base.

"What it means to our state we can't even calculate today," said Hugh Leatherman, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

Today, the House and Senate gave final approval to an incentive package that requires for qualification that a company invest at least $750 million and create 3,800 full-time positions over seven years.

The final vote came on the heels of reports out of Seattle that talks had broken down between Boeing and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Boeing wanted a no-strike agreement. The union walked off the job for two months last year, costing the company millions and delaying production.

In July, a day after Boeing purchased the local aft fuselage facility, an employee here filed for a decertification election that eventually booted the Machinists union out of Charleston.

Washington officials bemoaned the news.

"What's important moving forward is that we all understand why these two parties could not reach an agreement so that we may play a role in rebuilding this relationship," Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon said in an announcement.

Approximately 55 airlines have ordered about 840 of the 787 airplanes since the program was launched in 2003.

"Establishing a second 787 assembly line in Charleston will expand our production capability to meet the market demand for the airplane," said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "This decision allows us to continue building on the synergies we have established in South Carolina with Boeing Charleston and Global Aeronautica," he said.

Boeing Charleston performs fabrication, assembly and systems installation for the 787 aft fuselage sections. Across the street, Global Aeronautica, which is 50% owned by Boeing, is responsible for the joining and integration of 787 fuselage sections from other structural partners.

Look Boss! De Plane, De Plane!

Ok.... So we don't have Tattoo from "Fantasy Island" here in South Carolina, but this news release is not fictional in the least. From The State Newspaper:

Boeing will start a second production line for the 787 Dreamliner in North Charleston, adjacent to the company's existing facilities, Gov. Mark Sanford and legislative leaders announced this afternoon.

Within five years that investment could total 3,800 jobs and $750 million in investment, according to incentives approved this week by the Legislature.

Glad to see a really big announcement in South Carolina. Congrats!

Now that this is old news...What's next?

It's a Plane Company....

When former “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson performed his phony fortune teller "Carnac the Magnificent" routine, it was amusing to see the results that developed. Fortunately we do not need Carnac to help us predict the current recruitment efforts in Charleston.

With all the talk developing in the press and the type of legislation being developed, I’m willing to wager it’s a big-time company that rhymes with the word “rowing.” Below is the latest developments from The State on this topic:

While not mentioning Boeing by name, the Senate voted unanimously Tuesday for a massive incentives package that appeared geared toward winning a new assembly line for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.

The exact amount of the incentives was not made public, though one of the measures allowed the state to spend up to $170 million on economic-development bonds for a single project.

Read the full article to understand what the legislators are not talking about. Apparently everyone in SC knows but is not publicly saying.

Itzhak Perlman in Greenville

Last night the Dells enjoyed last night's performance by Itzhak Perlman. Below is an overview from the Greenville News

Itzhak Perlman razzle-dazzles at the Peace Concert Hall
By Ann Hicks

Violinist Itzhak Perlman and his accompanist, pianist Rohan De Silva, led the Peace Concert Hall audience on a razzle-dazzle musical journey on Monday night driving the program with unbridled virtuosity from start to the finish.

The recital’s first three works made it onto a printed program while the rest, the superstar violinist seemed to be picking at random, flavoring each with humorous asides.

First up came the three planned program pieces.

They opened with J. M. Leclair’s D major Sonata, a sweet four movement Baroque piece that Perlman bowed with whimsical playfulness, smiling along the way from Adagio to Allegro.

The superb partners dug deepest into the next piece, Beethoven’s C minor Sonata No. 7, a somewhat grim work that showcased De Silva’s superb keyboard style. Perlman’s attack was swift and biting while De Silva seized the piano parts with passion building toward a furious climax. Listening to the forceful dialogue between the violin and the piano throughout the sonata’s four parts, one was reminded that the composer, who was the hottest pianist of his time, gave the piano the upper hand in this work.

The third planned selection was Stravinsky’s vibrant six-part Suite Italienne, which Perlman dedicated to slain journalist Daniel Pearl’s memory, honored since 2002 with the Annual World Music Days from Oct. 1-31.

Next came Perlman’s favorite grab-bag selections – consisting of one dazzling, virtuosic piece after another. His picks included legendary Austrian violinist Fritz Kreisler’s Sicilienne and Rigaudon in the style of Francoeur, and two other Kreisler’s, one, a transcription of Gluck’s haunting Lento from the opera “Orfeo,” and the violinist’s famed “Liebesleid.” Not to leave that other legendary bow-master out, Perlman threw caution to the wind with Jascha Heifetz’s transcription of Hummel’s furious “Rondo.”

In short, this one-night only performance proved to be one to knock your socks off.

Sanford Funny Moment

Little bird just shared this bit of funny news with me.

This morning the governor was at a business event where a company’s CEO commented that his company underwent a number of finical struggles this past year. The CEO stated that he learned more in the past months than any other time in his life.

Following Governor Sanford quipped (more or less), “I just heard you say that you learned a lot over the past few months. I had to pause a moment when I heard that and wondered if we should compare notes.”

Laughs from the audience followed.

Sanford’s Poor Work Ethic?

For many U.S. governors, maintain a busy schedule is a challenge due to the public's demand for their attention. Long days starting at dawn through the evening hours are common. Some days may begin with a breakfast meeting and conclude with hosting a dinner for visiting business leaders or VIPs. Overall, maintaining the calendar is one of the most challenging aspects for a governor's office.

That is why The State Newspaper ran an article this morning highlighting the change in Sanford’s work ethic during his second term. It appears that the governor is only working four days a week and having a lot of free time. Below the article addressed the following figures based upon documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act:

Fewer staff, Cabinet meetings: Sanford's meetings with key aides dropped to 4.1 a week this year from 8.7 a week in 2004.

Fewer meetings with business or economic-development leaders: In the first half of this year, Sanford had 15 such meetings, down from 101 in 2003.

More interviews: In the first half of this year, Sanford gave 7.9 interviews a week, up from 3.3 a week in 2003.

More politics: In his first term, Sanford attended seven Republican Governors meetings or other association events. In 2008 and the first half of this year, he attended 118 such events.

More time away from the office: Sanford's days away increased to 68 days in 2008 from 27 days in 2003.

With the state’s high unemployment rate and slow economy, does the Governor believe he does not need to work as hard? I’m personally concerned about the limited number of meetings with business and economic-development leaders.

To read more, one can read the following articles in The State Newspaper:

EXCLUSIVE: How Sanford unplugged Second-term focus was not on SC, records show
Until this summer, Sanford rarely dodged security
Security 'the way he wanted' The taxpayer expense
Two weeks on the job with Gov. Sanford Compare 2003 to 2009