ASHLAND — David Gabriel plays his role to the hilt, whether he's impersonating Tony Bennett at Camelot Theatre or power-washing home gutters. A performer by night and window and gutter cleaner by day, Gabriel is among the army of artists who live dual lives in pursuing their true desires. Great Day Jobs Whether it's odd jobs, filling in at the office or scrubbing floors, actors and other artists often find themselves playing relatively mundane roles before the sun goes down. "Unless it's the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, most theater organizations here cannot afford to pay performers," said Larry Marshall, who has created a new connection between the arts community and employers. "They're not necessarily starving, but they are pursuing their artistic life passion, maybe writing a book or acting and performing."
Pictured - Actor David Gabriel power-washes a roof on Leonard Street in Ashland on Tuesday as part of the day job he performs to pay the bills between acting gigs. "Being creative is a 24-hour-a-day job," she said. "It's very important to have control over your time. When you are an artist, the No. 1 thing is to have your creative time happen when it's good for you. It's hard creating on demand, in the daytime for instance, especially musicians and actors who are working at night." Gabriel works his day job 30 to 35 hours a week, with the pace slowing predictably from January through March. "I tend to do it fairly full time," he said. "I know a couple of actors who work as little as they can and others who take on roles, or play in bands." He said he once worked on stage for three months at Oregon Cabaret Theatre. "That was cool," Gabriel said. "But each show has its requirements for casting. I may fit the bill one time and then there may be five to 10 shows in between where you are not what they are looking for. If you have a clearinghouse like what Larry's doing, then it's a little easier on you."
A smoky, intense apartment fire early Monday sent residents scurrying for safety, including two men who rappelled from a third-floor balcony. The fire broke out just before 6:30 a.m. at 10700 E. Dartmouth Ave., said Lt. Phil Champagne, Denver Fire Department spokesman. One resident, a woman, was taken to a local hospital for smoke inhalation, and another resident, also a woman, was treated at the scene and released, Champagne said. The fire, which raced up the side of the three-story building at Kennedy Ridge Apartments, displaced more than a dozen residents. Chris Lucero, 23, a commercial window washer who also mountain climbs, tied rope from his third-floor balcony so he could escape. Lucero called 911 and then double-looped climbing rope around a "beam" supporting the balcony. The neighbor went first. About 40 Denver firefighters put out the blaze in about 40 minutes. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Champagne said.
Authorities on the Bund said yesterday that they have no plans to install benches on pavements outside the luxury stores, even though these retailers have complained about weary tourists using their steps and window ledges as seats. Some stores are said to have taken to cleaning their window ledges more frequently, in bid to deter visitors from taking a rest there. One cleaner told Shanghai Daily the windowsills are not seats, while cleaning some at a luxury store, yesterday afternoon. However, most store window ledges, steps and the edges of flower beds were still populated by tired visitors, whose numbers have increased by 40 percent during the World Expo. Officials from the Shanghai Bund Management Office said they have received complaints from some high-end stores objecting to travelers sitting on their windowsills and using their toilets. The stores claim this has a negative impact on their image. "We have discussed the issue with some luxury stores and seek their understanding. We also want travelers to behave themselves." The office hasn't received any complaints from travelers saying stores drove them away from their window ledge seats, said Zhou.
Keep It Clean: A clean house is a happy house, so lose all accumulated newspapers and magazines (get recycling), file bills away neatly and give your home a once over it’ll never forget. Having your sofa, chairs and rugs professionally cleaned could bring them back from the dead, while cleaning your windows, inside and out (especially now light levels are dipping) will let much needed illumination flood in.
UK company Blade Access has been sold for an undisclosed sum and will now be renamed Blade Access Specialists Ltd. The company will focus on the access rental market and, in particular, the truck mounted platform sector. Mark Bell will be a director of the new Specialists company. Blade Access was originally formed as a window cleaning company. This element of the business has now been separated from the platform hire and sold as part of the same deal but to a different company. Mr Bell said, "We are very positive about the future of Blade Access Specialists in particular and the separation of our window cleaning business will now allow us to directly focus on what we do best in the platform rental market.
Kirk Stensrud first started to become politically aware just after he formed his own business in 2002. Stensrud, owns a window-cleaning business, has raised a family in Eden Prairie, and over the years has become more politically active as he’s connected the impact legislators can have on businesses and individuals. This year, he’s taking his political awareness a step further. Stensrud, a Republican, is running to be representative for District 42A in Eden Prairie and Minnetonka. His main concern is what he describes as a “spending crisis” at the state.
Everybody takes pictures in Los Angeles. Tourists take pictures of each other. Movie cameramen take pictures of actors. Tourists take pictures of cameramen taking pictures of actors. It's hard to walk far without encountering a movie crew on location. The other day in downtown L.A., there were no fewer than three of them. At Second and Los Angeles streets, a film crew had taken over a parking lot and filled it with cameras, cranes, lights, wires and trailers. A small crowd, held at bay by a security guard, was watching. It looked like the real thing. "Don't get too excited," said the guard, a fellow named Phil Hernandez. "It's a commercial for cough drops."
In the commercial, a window washer was unable to wash windows because his throat hurt. An old guy with a towel around his neck was supposed to be the window washer's coach. This makes sense in the world of commercials. The coach gives the window washer a cough drop and the window washer finds his troubles are over and he can go back to washing the windows. That 30-second opus was keeping no fewer than 100 people employed for an entire week. Hernandez said he earns double if the shoot goes overtime and it always goes overtime because even cough drop directors are perfectionists. Watching a cough drop commercial being made is a lot better than watching a cough drop commercial but, even so, a few minutes suffice.
Linda Robson (pictured), 52, shot to fame in the early 1990s starring opposite her friend Pauline Quirke in the BBC sitcom Birds of a Feather. Luckily Mark worries about money more than I do and so he is more sensible than me. He was a window cleaner when I met him, but he bought a house to let at a relatively young age and now he has a few other properties he manages – he has two shops and two flats in Islington. We have separate bank accounts and that works fine for us.
But purging street signs of the word "mosque" will not solve anything, as far as Ms Romero is concerned. "To try to erase history is a great error," she said. She believes the bishop's concern for the name is motivated by Islamophobia, on the rise in Spain since the 11 September attacks in New York and the March 2004 rail bombing in Madrid by Moroccan extremists. Fear of Islam is a familiar theme here. Converted Catholics of Muslim origin, known as Moriscos, were expelled from Spain 400 years ago, and following that fateful decree, many converts took great pains to prove they were pure-blooded Christians, flagrantly thwarting Muslim taboos, according to Antonio Manuel Rodriguez, author of the book Footprints of the Moriscos and a professor of Islamic Civilisation at the Spanish University of Distance Learning. "They were sending out the message, 'See, look, I'm not a Muslim'," he said. Jewish converts used similar tactics that persist as popular customs,such as staging an energetic, open-window cleaning session on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, he said.
A worker looks out at the view of St Paul's Cathedral from the under-construction 'One New Change' shopping mall on October 5, 2010 in London, England. One New Change was designed by architect Jean Nouvel and is covered in 6,500 different sized glass panes, the majority of which have been hand-crafted. The mall will open to the public on October 28, 2010 and contain around 60 shops, numerous cafs and restaurants as well as several floors of office space for 3,000 workers.
ATLANTA - More than two and half years after a rare tornado touched down in downtown Atlanta, the Westin Peachtree Plaza has finally replaced all its windows. "We're thrilled that this process has been seamless," the hotel's general manager Ed Walls said in a statement. "We've worked diligently to provide our guests with the best experience possible with no interruptions." Skanska USA completed the project 13 months ahead of schedule, at the pace of about a floor per week. All 6,350 windows of the decades old hotel had to be replaced for insurance purposes, even though only a third of the hotel's rooms were damaged by the 130 mile-per-hour tornado in March 2008. "The windows are now up to current building code standards and are also more energy efficient," Walls said. The Westin was able to recycle more than 600 tons of glass in the process. There is still more work ahead - cleaning the new windows and taking down scaffolding surrounding the hotel. All 1,068 of the Westin's rooms should be open again next month.
Williams deserves capital punishment: Residents - Col. Russell Williams, 47, top officer at nearby CFB Trenton, will go to court Monday, down the highway in Belleville, Ont., to plead guilty to the murders, the sexual assaults, the home invasions, the thefts, and he will likely spend the rest of his life in prison, segregated for his safety, not eligible for parole until he's 72, little chance he'll ever be freed. Brian Tye, 33, part-time window washer, is standing with his dog Junior in front of the Belleville courthouse, just looking at it. "I have a sister in the Army. It really pissed me off what he did to that girl in the military. I'm trying to decide whether to come here Monday, but it'll probably be a zoo. I'd punch his f---in' lights out if I could. He should fry."
Richard Franklin's (the window cleaners) fund raising page: Through Virgin Money Giving, you can sponsor me and donations will be quickly processed and passed to charities.Virgin Money Giving is a not for profit organisation and will claim gift aid on a charity's behalf where the donor is eligible for this. I really appreciate all your support and thank you for any donations. After taking up running when I hit my head, LOL joking. When I was over weight and people knew me as fat Frank, I decided that I really enjoyed it, and the running. Well after completing a few half marathon for a few charitys, I thought to hell with it, lets do the big one. I sat there every year watching people of all ages enjoying it, and thought that's one of them things I want to cross off the list of things to do in life. But the biggest thing for me in wanting to do this, is when I became re-married to Julie, I became a step dad to her disabled son Ryan. Who has brought so many smiles, tears & laughter to me. When I see what Ryan has been though - pain, enjoyment, fun, crying, happiness, in such a short time in life, he's only 12 years old .Doing the marathon is nothing, compared to what he been though in such a short life.
We'll take the elevator, thank you: A window washer climbs a rope ladder hanging from a hotel along the Tigris River in Baghdad.
Window cleaning company looking for non-profits who need their windows cleaned for free. Jim Ordway is the owner of Beckon Call, a window company located in Corvallis area. As a newer company, Jim has realized the support of the community that has helped his business grow and would like to donate some of his services to help some of the areas non-profits. Window cleaning slows down a little during the winter, so there is a little more time to give back to the community. I think it is a win-win for me and the non-profits I provide service for. I learn more about the community and they get clean windows! I would like to receive ideas from community on who are good candidates to receive window cleaning.
Driver escapes fiery protest in Cape Town: Several vehicles were stoned and burnt during an apparent service delivery protest. Police said an angry mob threw stones at passing motorists and set at least 10 vehicles alight, including a police van. It is unclear what sparked the protests but a local shack dwellers group Abahlali baseMjondolo, which has staged recent demonstrations, said it was not responsible. Mark Archibald from Waterfront Window Cleaning said a company vehicle was one of the ones set alight, but the driver managed to escape. “He was attacked with rocks and stones. He jumped out the vehicle and they proceeded to set the vehicle alight. It basically burnt completely down to the frame,” he added.
Save Energy without Replacement Windows: Are replacement windows worth the cost? Surprisingly, if the sole reason is to reduce your energy bill, then the answer is usually no. Replacing old windows with new energy-efficient units is a big investment. It can easily cost you $500 per window, or up to $10,000 for a typical home. But will energy-efficient windows save you money? Not right away. New windows will not save you money beyond their cost for many years. That's because even a dramatic upgrade, such as from single-pane glass to a double-pane gas-filled window, will only reduce your energy costs by $126 to $465 dollars per year according to the Department of Energy's ENERGY STAR. The actual reduction and payback period will depend upon your climate, the window selected, your fuel cost or electricity rate, how much of your home is covered by windows or glass doors, and other variables. There are, however, several ways to improve the efficiency of your existing windows for less; Exterior Storm Windows + Interior Storm Windows + Weatherstripping + Caulking + Plastic Film + Insulating Window Treatments.
When Should You Replace Your Windows? If you need replacement windows for reasons other than energy saving -- for example, wood windows that have deteriorated due to water infiltration and rot, or windows that no longer operate properly and would be too costly to repair -- it pays to go with energy-efficient windows. You may also want to upgrade your windows to make maintenance easier; it's no fun to climb on ladders to wash window exteriors. Today's new window designs eliminate all of that because you can access exterior glazing by tilting them inward. Some windows can even be ordered with a self-cleaning coating on the glazing that helps prevent dirt build up.
Trophy for pair bringing hope to gang-plagued estate: Two men who have set up football sessions on a gang-plagued Derby estate have been praised by police for helping to cut crime. Trevor Victor and Daniel Cullen were winners at last night's Derbyshire Police Community Achievement Awards after an X Factor- style vote. The pair were among 21 groups or individuals nominated by police in Derby city, South Derbyshire and Erewash for making a difference to their community. They started off with six youngsters and now have more than 50 playing in four teams, including under 12s, under 14s, under 16s and an adult team called Sunny Hill Panthers. With cash from the city council, the pair managed to buy football posts, nets and kits and now 20 of the youngsters are on accredited sports leadership courses. It is hoped that next year, Mr Victor and Mr Cullen can help some of the youngsters set up their own businesses, including window cleaning, car valeting and printing. Since the football sessions had started, complaints to the police about crime in the area had dropped.
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