Day 2- Georgia on my mind
In her book Margaret Mitchell wrote about the devastation of Atlanta, the
capital of Georgia. She herself was not from the city but she lived there. Once
founded at the crossroads of two major railways, the city was completely burnt
down during the Civil War. The Atlanta of today is therefore a fairly new,
modern city. Some large companies hold their headquarters here today. The
largest employer is Delta Airlines. Their hub in Atlanta airport makes this the
busiest airport in the world.
Before we are received in the control room we also get the chance to stand in front of the camera. Not a TV camera but a photo camera for a small photo shoot. A must do if you want to be immortalized with a CNN microphone or if you want to present the breaking news or the weather forecast for once.
We are led into the so-called control room. Not the real one, but an exact copy of it. We see the anchors sitting before the camera, ready to go live. In the meantime the raw images are coming in from various reporters across the country. There are only two important topics today: first of all the California wildfire with the various bush fires - California Burning. We hear the director giving directions to the reporter who will be first to tell his story. Meanwhile, the director also selects the images that are coming in from California. The job of director is perhaps the most wanted of them all. But my god, to direct all that crazyness into the air, you need nerves of steel.
We get to see the text that the anchor reads aloud from the autocue. Each line contains only four words, so that the presenter can read the text at a glance without going from left to right with his or her eyes. We are taken to a room where we are told a few tricks, such as the green background with which the weather presenters work. But not everything we see is 'made for the tourists'. We are taken to Studio 7, yes the real studio, and also the most advanced studio of all with HD video walls and high-tech cameras. From behind a window we look inside on how the program 'On the Story', presented by Mike Galanos, is being recorded. How he stays professional while 40 people peek from behind the window, as if they are looking at a fish in a jar, is a mystery to me. He clearly feels great in front of the camera.
A bit further we look down in the 'Newsroom', the place where the journalists gather the news from their sources from all over the world. There is another main topic today: the death of Stan Lee, the spiritual father of among others, Spiderman, the Hulk, Iron Man and so many other Marvel legends. The journalists continue to work on this breaking story with an update every few minutes. These 'news collectors' gather extra information and reactions to keep up the story. They are busy on the phone, search the web and type their text. The editor has the final word. After a guided tour of one hour, we step outside satisfied, with the result of the foto shoot under the arm. CNN has no more secrets for us.
Pharmacist John Pemberton could never have imagined in the late 19th century that his medicinal drink would become the most popular soft drink in the world. The secret recipe is still only known by a limited group of intimates. And with limited, I mean only one or two people. The written original recipe is believed to be kept in a well-secure safe in the World of Coca-Cola. And via the Vault, we can get very close. Not too close, of course, because if you take a step too close to the safe or a hand that is too far out, you initiate a high pitch alarm.
A gimmick or is the recipe really here? Who will tell? Thanks to the name, we can identify with certainty two ingredients: coca leaves and cola nuts. The rest is a mistery. But there is also room for experiments in the World of Coca-Cola. You can try to put together the drink or invent your own soft drink.
Maybe you are more fortunate than I. But I did not get any furter than comments like 'Are you serious ???' and 'Try again'. Not even close I suspect. In other words : my concoctions were undrinkable. They pad themselves on the back with what they say are their best commercial films. But the ultimate cola experience is located just in front of the gift shop with the Taste Room where you can taste about 100 soda drinks from the Coca-Cola Company. The brand comprises more than cola, cola-light, cola-zero.
There is also Fanta, Sprite, and a whole range of other soft drinks. The basis of each drink is a syrup that is diluted in a different way in each country, making it taste differently. Curious how Coca-Cola tastes in Mexico? Or Fanta in Sweden? Take a cup and try it. Tried everything? Then you are undoubtedly stiff of caffeine and sugars and you are going to have a restless night. Or perhaps the memory of a hug with the Coca-Cola polar bear, because even that is possible in that fantastic world of Coca-Cola, will send you off to dreamland.
Five years later, on April 5, 1968, he was shot dead while standing on the balcony of the Motel Lorraine in Memphis, where we will make a stop later on this trip. He was buried in Atlanta on April 9 amid the community where he grew up, not far from his parental home, which is still open to the public. Over the years, the MLK Center was set up which gives an interesting overview of his life, including excerpts from all those inspiring speeches he gave. A timeline shows the most important dates in his life. A large part of the museum is built around the events of that dramatic April 5 : his last speech, the images of the hotel, the hearse on which his coffin was transported and the emotional funeral.
On his grave stands: Free at last. Unimaginable that in a Western country in the sixties only death could bring liberation for the black people. Martin Luther King, a name never to be forgotten. And certainly not to forget, his catchy last words:
I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And so I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
But even more than Delta Airlines, Atlanta is known to us for two other
companies. In 1980, media mogul Ted Turner founded CNN: Cable New Network. It
was held above the font on June 1 and became the first channel to broadcast the
news 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The company expanded over the years with CNN
International (initially intended for hotels and airports), CNN en Espanol, CNN
Headline News, ... The news channel has now reaches billions of viewers
worldwide in more than 200 countries. Headquartered since the beginning in Atlanta, it has several offices
worldwide from which it also broadcasts. Do you want to take a look behind the
scenes? That is possible. CNN organizes so-called Studio Tours, which give you
a glimpse into daily operations.
Before we are received in the control room we also get the chance to stand in front of the camera. Not a TV camera but a photo camera for a small photo shoot. A must do if you want to be immortalized with a CNN microphone or if you want to present the breaking news or the weather forecast for once.
We are led into the so-called control room. Not the real one, but an exact copy of it. We see the anchors sitting before the camera, ready to go live. In the meantime the raw images are coming in from various reporters across the country. There are only two important topics today: first of all the California wildfire with the various bush fires - California Burning. We hear the director giving directions to the reporter who will be first to tell his story. Meanwhile, the director also selects the images that are coming in from California. The job of director is perhaps the most wanted of them all. But my god, to direct all that crazyness into the air, you need nerves of steel.
We get to see the text that the anchor reads aloud from the autocue. Each line contains only four words, so that the presenter can read the text at a glance without going from left to right with his or her eyes. We are taken to a room where we are told a few tricks, such as the green background with which the weather presenters work. But not everything we see is 'made for the tourists'. We are taken to Studio 7, yes the real studio, and also the most advanced studio of all with HD video walls and high-tech cameras. From behind a window we look inside on how the program 'On the Story', presented by Mike Galanos, is being recorded. How he stays professional while 40 people peek from behind the window, as if they are looking at a fish in a jar, is a mystery to me. He clearly feels great in front of the camera.
A bit further we look down in the 'Newsroom', the place where the journalists gather the news from their sources from all over the world. There is another main topic today: the death of Stan Lee, the spiritual father of among others, Spiderman, the Hulk, Iron Man and so many other Marvel legends. The journalists continue to work on this breaking story with an update every few minutes. These 'news collectors' gather extra information and reactions to keep up the story. They are busy on the phone, search the web and type their text. The editor has the final word. After a guided tour of one hour, we step outside satisfied, with the result of the foto shoot under the arm. CNN has no more secrets for us.
But Atlanta has an even bigger secret, perhaps one of the biggest
secrets in the world: the ultra-secret recipe for the most popular soft drink
in the world: Coca-Cola.
Apart from the headquarters located in Atlanta and with which Coca-Cola Company is also one of the largest employers in the city, there is also The World of Coca-Cola. And that world of Coca-Cola is anything but dull. No big dusty museum, but a fun trip along the iconic past and bubly present of Coca-Cola. They master marketing like no other. Just think of all those beautiful photos with which they used to advertise, vintage goodies from the fifties and sixties that proudly carry the logo, a collection of perfectly designed and now already iconic bottles, and with the Christmas days coming, the Coca-Cola Santa Claus. Christmas is never the same again (or they let us believe that anyway).
Apart from the headquarters located in Atlanta and with which Coca-Cola Company is also one of the largest employers in the city, there is also The World of Coca-Cola. And that world of Coca-Cola is anything but dull. No big dusty museum, but a fun trip along the iconic past and bubly present of Coca-Cola. They master marketing like no other. Just think of all those beautiful photos with which they used to advertise, vintage goodies from the fifties and sixties that proudly carry the logo, a collection of perfectly designed and now already iconic bottles, and with the Christmas days coming, the Coca-Cola Santa Claus. Christmas is never the same again (or they let us believe that anyway).
Pharmacist John Pemberton could never have imagined in the late 19th century that his medicinal drink would become the most popular soft drink in the world. The secret recipe is still only known by a limited group of intimates. And with limited, I mean only one or two people. The written original recipe is believed to be kept in a well-secure safe in the World of Coca-Cola. And via the Vault, we can get very close. Not too close, of course, because if you take a step too close to the safe or a hand that is too far out, you initiate a high pitch alarm.
A gimmick or is the recipe really here? Who will tell? Thanks to the name, we can identify with certainty two ingredients: coca leaves and cola nuts. The rest is a mistery. But there is also room for experiments in the World of Coca-Cola. You can try to put together the drink or invent your own soft drink.
Maybe you are more fortunate than I. But I did not get any furter than comments like 'Are you serious ???' and 'Try again'. Not even close I suspect. In other words : my concoctions were undrinkable. They pad themselves on the back with what they say are their best commercial films. But the ultimate cola experience is located just in front of the gift shop with the Taste Room where you can taste about 100 soda drinks from the Coca-Cola Company. The brand comprises more than cola, cola-light, cola-zero.
There is also Fanta, Sprite, and a whole range of other soft drinks. The basis of each drink is a syrup that is diluted in a different way in each country, making it taste differently. Curious how Coca-Cola tastes in Mexico? Or Fanta in Sweden? Take a cup and try it. Tried everything? Then you are undoubtedly stiff of caffeine and sugars and you are going to have a restless night. Or perhaps the memory of a hug with the Coca-Cola polar bear, because even that is possible in that fantastic world of Coca-Cola, will send you off to dreamland.
He was one of the most charismatic speakers who ever walked this
earth, champion of civil rights and racial equality in particular and killed in
Memphis before he reached his life goal. He never realized his dream, but the
name Dr. Martin Luther King will never be forgotten. Certainly not in his
birthplace Atlanta. His nonviolent resistance to inequality on the basis of
skin color inspired him in 1963 to a march on Washington DC, where he held his
legendary 'I have a dream' speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. A year
later he received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Five years later, on April 5, 1968, he was shot dead while standing on the balcony of the Motel Lorraine in Memphis, where we will make a stop later on this trip. He was buried in Atlanta on April 9 amid the community where he grew up, not far from his parental home, which is still open to the public. Over the years, the MLK Center was set up which gives an interesting overview of his life, including excerpts from all those inspiring speeches he gave. A timeline shows the most important dates in his life. A large part of the museum is built around the events of that dramatic April 5 : his last speech, the images of the hotel, the hearse on which his coffin was transported and the emotional funeral.
On his grave stands: Free at last. Unimaginable that in a Western country in the sixties only death could bring liberation for the black people. Martin Luther King, a name never to be forgotten. And certainly not to forget, his catchy last words:
I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And so I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
But Atlanta is probably best known to the general public as the
host of the Summer Olympics in 1996, also called the Centennial Games, because
they took place exactly a century after the first modern Summer Olympics in
Greece. It also became one of the most controversial games in which the
commercial interest clearly surfaced. Just think of the 'McDonald fries bag' in
which the Olympic flame was lit by Mohammed Ali. Admittedly, McDonalds has been
the main sponsor of the Olympic Games for years, but the Olympic flame, a
symbol of the Games, could have been just that little bit more discreet. On top
of that, Coca-Cola was also the main sponsor. They were given the exclusive
right to sell soft drinks in and around the venue, which was not accepted by
everyone.
Organisationally, not everything went smoothly. The transport between the different locations regularly turned into a mess. The traffic came to a standstill.
But Atlanta has another questionable honor. On day two of the Games, despite the severe safety regulations, a bomb attack took place during a concert at the Centennial Olympic Park, specially constructed in the vicinity of the stadiums to give the spectators a place to get together. Two people died and more than a hundred were injured, but the Games continued.
It was the first time that IOC chairman Samaranch did not call the Games ‘the best ever’ .
But there is also the other side of the medal, literally in this case. Because in spite of all these problems, the Games were a success. There were amazing champions. The American dream team steamed like a rolling stone to the gold in basketball. Our northern neighbors won gold in hockey and volleyball. But above all the performances in athletics are etched in our memories. There was the legendary Michael Johnson who won gold in the 200 and 400 m. On the 200 m he pulverized the opposition and his own world record. Carl Lewis managed to become Olympic champion in the long jump for the fourth time. Then he quit athletics. But for us the Games of 1996 will forever be associated with Fredje 'Raketje' Deburghgraeve who speared through the Olympic pool like an arrow and won the gold medal. He even broke the world record as well. Of course we can not forget Ulla Werbrouck who fought in judo to an Olympic title.
22 years later, only the memories of those great performances are left. The olympic swimming pool and the judo hall were already completely dismantled. Last year the Olympic stadium, the last one standing, was demolished. Americans do not like 'old' things. A sad example of disposable culture. But in place of those old stadiums, brand new sports temples were errected. They are now occupied by the Atlanta Falcons (the NFL team) and the Braves (the MLB team).
The only remnant of this grand sporting event is the Centennial Olympic Park. Concerts still take place and every evening the fountains, in the form of Olympic rings, dance to the music. There are no more national anthems, but it is still a place where people come together. And perhaps that is even more important than the Olympic idea.
Organisationally, not everything went smoothly. The transport between the different locations regularly turned into a mess. The traffic came to a standstill.
But Atlanta has another questionable honor. On day two of the Games, despite the severe safety regulations, a bomb attack took place during a concert at the Centennial Olympic Park, specially constructed in the vicinity of the stadiums to give the spectators a place to get together. Two people died and more than a hundred were injured, but the Games continued.
It was the first time that IOC chairman Samaranch did not call the Games ‘the best ever’ .
But there is also the other side of the medal, literally in this case. Because in spite of all these problems, the Games were a success. There were amazing champions. The American dream team steamed like a rolling stone to the gold in basketball. Our northern neighbors won gold in hockey and volleyball. But above all the performances in athletics are etched in our memories. There was the legendary Michael Johnson who won gold in the 200 and 400 m. On the 200 m he pulverized the opposition and his own world record. Carl Lewis managed to become Olympic champion in the long jump for the fourth time. Then he quit athletics. But for us the Games of 1996 will forever be associated with Fredje 'Raketje' Deburghgraeve who speared through the Olympic pool like an arrow and won the gold medal. He even broke the world record as well. Of course we can not forget Ulla Werbrouck who fought in judo to an Olympic title.
22 years later, only the memories of those great performances are left. The olympic swimming pool and the judo hall were already completely dismantled. Last year the Olympic stadium, the last one standing, was demolished. Americans do not like 'old' things. A sad example of disposable culture. But in place of those old stadiums, brand new sports temples were errected. They are now occupied by the Atlanta Falcons (the NFL team) and the Braves (the MLB team).
The only remnant of this grand sporting event is the Centennial Olympic Park. Concerts still take place and every evening the fountains, in the form of Olympic rings, dance to the music. There are no more national anthems, but it is still a place where people come together. And perhaps that is even more important than the Olympic idea.
Comments
Post a Comment