Above: Bridge players check in to the Marriott, one of the host hotels for the Spring NABC. More than 4000 are expected from more than 30 different countries.
Above: Out of my window, I can see the Pyramid Arena and (behind it) the Mississippi River.
Above: The Vito Acconci sculpture is part of The Cannon Center (which is part of the Memphis Cook Convention Center).
I wasn't aware of the pyramid. Looked it up on Wikipedia. Classic government boondoggle. Called "Tomb of Doom" by detractors.
ReplyDeleteIt has been rented and will be a Bass Pro Shop. The Pharaoh statue was sold to the university for a buck. Retrofitting for BPS will be expensive and paid for with sales tax. Right, same sales tax, just paying off more things -- standard pols solution.
Remember the 90's where politicians had more money that brains. Now its more debt than brains.
Sorry to clutter your blog about a nice event with that. Quit taking pictures that make me curious or lock me out of comments for the duration.
Oh, I do like the shiny other pic -- the stripper/hooker's shoe with plane crash one.
ReplyDelete@KenP: The Pyramid was nice, but obsolete before it was paid for! When the Vancouver Grizzlies (NBA basketball) moved to Memphis, they wanted a better place to play. The FedEx Forum was probably the nicest in the NBA when it was finished. People said Oh we'll still have events at the Pyramid, but, of course, that never happened. Where would you rather hold a Rolling Stones concert -- at the Pyramid or the nice, shiny new FedEx Forum? Well, you know the answer to that.
ReplyDeleteWhen looking to sell it, the thing that made the most sense was to turn it into a casino, but the bible-thumpers weren't having any of that, and so it sat there for many years. Sad, really.
Awesome views!
ReplyDeleteThe Pyramid looks great!
I'd say you're enjoying the venue and the view...hopefully, you'll enjoy the tournament just as much! :-)
ReplyDeleteDid the same guy design the Pyramid and the Luxor? I thought you lived there in Memphis, are you so famous (or is it infamous) that you have to stay in hotel rooms under assumed names now? Good luck in the tourney btw, I have got to start playing bridge again.
ReplyDelete@Grouchie: Thanks for the comment.
ReplyDelete@Lowell: Enjoying it a lot, thanks.
@Neophyte: Yes, I live near here, but instead of driving back and forth each day, I'm stayng at the Marriott.