You are currently browsing the archives for January, 2010.
There’s never been a better time to visit Singapore. This amazing city state has always been a big attraction for travelers, as attested to by its long history as a major world port. Other nations and cultures have been visiting here and trading for centuries, and there is an enormously vital multi-cultural feel here that is constantly developing and changing. Its urban heart has a tremendous cosmopolitan feel to it, and it’s easy to see why so much of world culture finds a home here in Singapore. It also gets a lot of influence from here, because Singapore is a very lively place where creative ideas are always in development, and trends begin in this cultural hub.
There’s something exciting going on pretty much any time of the year, and its tropical weather can certainly be an invitation enough. There is always something new in the city, and every night brings new offerings for culture, in dance, theatre, and music. This site can lead you to some of the coolest hotels, and your own intuition can help you with the rest. Restaurants are plenty, and there is every type of food you can imagine here, although the local Chinese, Indian, and Malaysian restaurants always come highly recommended in these parts.
You can see a lot of fantastic local music, but there’s plenty of interest in the global music scene as well. This year will be a cool season of music, with groups like Paramore coming to perform here in the Spring. Their show has already caused a big buzz in the local community, proving that indie rock is alive and well in this part of the world. I personally would jump at the chance to see Paramore play Singapore, because I love to hear my favorite bands in new contexts, and I also love warm receptions across borders. From Tennessee to here, it’s a big jump, and a small world.
Philadelphia is one of those cities made up of a variety of cultures, and at times it seems like there’s a unified voice, and sometimes it’s like a symphony with many different kinds of music playing all at the same time. It’s always interesting, and there’s always something new happening, in every neighborhood. In Philadelphia, a cheap hotel is easy enough to find, and there’s plenty of splendid choices. Coming into the city to explore and enjoy, and maybe even disappear from your previous life for a couple days, is a true pleasure, and there are always plenty of options for engaging entertainments.
For those whose tastes run toward the Irish varieties, there is also plenty to see and do here. The Irish Center is always sponsoring interesting and engaging events, and sometimes they’re just having evenings where friends can get together to while away the time in Irish fashion. There are also music events and dance classes, but if you’re here in late January, make it a point to have a look at their Rambling House. This is a folk tradition that’s hard to find anywhere else in the world, except for the homeland. Singing and dancing and story-telling are all on the menu.
You’ll get a chance to meet the bartender of the hour, Paul Gallagher. He might want to share his stories with you, and might even have a nice spooky story in the mix. It wasn’t too long ago that he had himself a very good scare here. He was closing up by himself when he felt and heard a ghost in the building. Not far enough away to be comfortably chatting, however, and he left in a big hurry. No one’s sure exactly who the spirit might be, but in a city as old as this, there are lots of possibilities.
The Folger Shakespeare Library is one of the respected institutions that is located on Capital Hill in Washington, DC. This renowned establishment houses the world’s largest and most impressive collection of Shakespeare materials. It also has a major collection of various Renaissance materials in the form of books, manuscripts and pieces of art. The library is oriented to serve academic institutions, researchers, families and theatergoers. This amazing leader in rare material conservation and great works preservation believes in more than storing away great materials. Much of the collection at Folger is available for guests to read and access. This is frequently an important stop for guests staying in one of DCs luxury accommodations.
In addition to their collection of great works and lab that is focused on progressive conservation efforts, the Folger Library also features a lecture series, theatre and exhibit space. This season’s theatre production includes Much Ado About Nothing, which was performed in October and November of last year and Hamlet, which will be performed from late April through early June of this year. Currently the library’s theatre is about to open a production of Orestes, A Tragic Romp. This show will run from January 27 through March 7th.
Each season the theatre performs three plays, which generally run in a schedule similar to that of this season. The intention of the theatre is to present great works, and many of them are Shakespeare’s plays, in a way that will create a strong connection to a contemporary audience. This is a strong aspect of the field of dramaturgy, which is essential to quality contemporary productions of great works from the theatrical cannon. In addition to great classic works, the theatre also produces world premier productions. One of these original productions included the first performances of Lynn Redgrave’s one woman show that would move on to become the Tony Award nominated Shakespeare for My Father. Many of the world’s great actors have performed at the Folger Theatre and it also hosts productions from other companies.
I worked in an old ice cream parlour as a teen looking to make extra cash for a car to drive out of my small town existence to the Big Apple where I wanted to be one of the many green worms that ate it. It was strange that the boss named Lewis because that was the name of the street that I lived on when I was a child. Lewis Avenue. It was supposed to be named after an old mechanic in our town who collected things to do with the automotive: engines, small engine repair manual , engine gears.
He especially enjoyed engine gears, but the repair manuals were what he did the most with. He used them to wallpaper the office where he took clients. It was really nifty actually. It took him awhile to do it too because he started with only a small collection of manuals from the early days when Ford started with his industry. Slowly he added more and more pages about what made up engines throughout the years. I grew up with the walls in a way. The taller I got, the taller the wallpaper project got until it reached the ceiling.
He stopped there because he had a bad back. He injured it when a child on a homemade pair of roller skates rode out into the middle of the street in front of a truck. He only had the time to push the child out of the way and not grab her. He took the hit for her instead. That was the reason why the street was named Lewis. He saved that little girl, the same little girl who grew up with his repair manual wallpaper.
He started to sell repair manuals after the accident. I remember Chilton books . He sold Chilton books. I had come by with an ice cream sundae for him and a goodbye because I was leaving for New York the subsequent day in the old truck he sold me from automobile he maintained throughout the years for sentimental reasons he never explained to anyone. I almost tripped about a stack of them that had just come in when he caught me from hurting myself. The sundae splattered on some old tires and painted it in a Neapolitan constellation of colors. He just laughed about the sundae but not when he said goodbye to me.
If you find yourself waking in one of the luxurious hotels of quaint Grand Rapids Michigan and wondering what to do for the day. How about a visit to the Judy Garland Museum. Located in the birth home if the beautiful and talented Judy Garland you will find some stories and treasures. It is a sweet old white two story house surrounded with brilliant poppies blooming in the summer. She is an American Treasure and the legacy she left behind will never be forgotten.
She came from parents who did vaudeville and passed the performance gene onto the then Frances Ethel Gumm and her sisters. She was born in Grand Rapids because this is were her parents settled to run a movie theatre that featured mainly vaudeville acts. At the age of two her father cast her in a Christmas show with her sisters, the Gumm Sisters, and that was the start of more performances in the family theatre for the next few years. To get away of some unfortunate rumors, the family moved to Lancaster California in 1926 where they bought and ran another theatre. Ethel, mother, acted as the manager for the girls and pushed for them to be in motion pictures.
The sisters kept plenty busy performing together on many stages and along the way the name changed from the Gumm Sisters to the Garland Sisters. They broke up in the summer of 1935 and that is when Judy was pushed along farther. She ended up going to school with the likes of Ava Gardner, Lana Turner and Elizabeth Taylor which amplified her self-consciousness because she never felt pretty because the world of movie makers made so much out of her looks. But she pressed on and ended up becoming a huge movie star with around 40 movies and many music projects under her belt in the 47 years she was alive.
One of the most romantic as well as special Thanksgivings I’ve ever had occurred in San Francisco, California. It’s not difficult to imagine as the city itself lends to romance and special encounters, but the Thanksgiving events that unfolded two years ago were as unexpected as they were unplanned. I was staying across the Bay in Albany where my mother and father lived. They had purchased a condo there years ago and moved upstate when they retired. I had the full week off and was able to fly up and visit them. On Tuesday night I happened to be on the computer when and old friend instant messaged me. He was raised in Kansas City and I had just assumed he would be visiting his relatives there. However, he was in town and we made plans to see each other.
The following evening I met Paul at a small café in the city and we talked about old times. He casually brought up my ex husband, who had been a mutual friend of ours, and said he thought it was ironic all three of us were in San Francisco and hadn’t realized it. My ex husband, Mike, was born and raised in Berkeley, which is just east of Albany. I couldn’t believe what Paul was implying. Was Mike here too? Sure enough, he was visiting his family and had invited Paul over for Thanksgiving dinner. Paul assumed I knew this as he thought Mike and I kept in contact. In actuality we hadn’t talked to each other in over a year.
Paul said he would be going over Mike’s family’s house around three in the afternoon. I said that I would be eating with my own family around twelve and asked him to come over to my parents’ before he headed over to Mike’s. Of course this inspired Paul to say he would but only if I joined him at Mike’s. And while this might sound like it was going to become awkward, I had always been close to Mike’s family and Paul assured me he hadn’t brought a date with him. Dinner was beautiful that year and as it turned out my parents went with us. Later Paul, Mike and I caught part of the sunset on a very foggy beach. Mike was staying at one of the hotels San Francisco because there were quite a few people staying at his parents’. We went there and listened to the lounge pianist and singer and enjoyed a glass of wine. The three of us hadn’t spent time together in over six years and there we were. As I write this Mike and I will be celebrating our second anniversary of our second marriage. And we’ll be visiting Paul in San Francisco to celebrate.
Our first sighting of New York City from our Greyhound bus, was of the
Manhattan skyline; it was breath-taking. The sheer beauty and density of all the skyscrapers is overwhelming and unsurpassed anywhere in the world. Our bus then disappeared into a tunnel on one side of the river, and when we emerged, we were right in the middle of it all; hordes of pedestrians, yellow cabs, policemen on horses and bicycles, and all the smells and noise.
Our Greyhound bus trips ends at the Port Authority Building, where we took our very first subway ride in the sweltering tunnels of New York. We couldn’t help but stare at all the subway riders, all of them were just like what we see on TV and in the movies: a balding Puerto Rican who was yelling at his wife, some home boyz and their girlz acting all cool and tough, backpackers and business people wearing sharp suits. We expected to get mugged because we were at the upper west side, but no one seemed even interested in us touristy types.
We got to our wonderful hotel: click here for details, and without even unpacking we headed to Times Square and marveled at the mass of people on the streets, at the giant advertising signs! Fortunately, we were too tired to be over-stimulated. Later, we hung out at Washington Square Park. We grabbed some felafel’s being sold by a street vendor and watch these 3 men entertaining the people with humorous banter all the while doing acrobatics. Then we took the advice of our guidebook and watched basketball at the ‘Cage’ and then took the Staten Island Ferry, which took us right past the Statue of Liberty, plus we got a great view of lower Manhattan.
We drooled over visions of glamorous dinners in our designer dresses that were in the windows on 5th and Madison Avenue; mind you, we were just imagining. Later, we went for backpacker chic and checked out the skaters at Central Park. That was enough for one day, with little sleep from a nights ride on the Greyhound, it was time to crash in our wonderful hotel room. We were so glad we saved money by taking the bus and using our savings for this exquisite room.
There is always something interesting going on at the Whitney Museum of American Art. This month at this museum in Chelsea, an installation will be presented by video archivist and artist Omer Fast. While Fast was born in 1972 in Jerusalem and now lives permanently in Berlin, he studied at Hunter College in New York and presented a memorable piece for his M.F.A final project. While many state that this solo show of his is quite discomforting, none can say that it is not extremely emotional and powerful. This video installation is titled “Nostalgia” and will be presented in three parts.
Some of the most charming hotels in Manhattan are located in the Chelsea neighborhood, and should you be wondering through the streets, make sure to wonder to the Whitney and catch this wonderful work being presented, you will be moved and forever changed. Fast’s work “Take a Deep Breath” consisted of two video monitors, one showing scenes from the Danny Glover-Mel Gibson collaboration, “Lethal Weapon”. On the other screen was Fast, repeating the dialogue between Glover and Gibson’s characters, with perfect tone, pitch and accent. Not only does fast mimic the dialogue, but the sound effects as well, from gunfire to sirens, all the while Fast is pounding his fists in a ranting manner.
What is so, ironic?–perhaps the right word, is that Fast himself, is a small built man, some may describe as a bit of an art geek…all the while he is performing this example of American movie machismo. It is at the same time, concentrated and dense, while being just a bit funny. He blurs the edges of reality and absurdity in a way that has people thinking long after they leave one of his installations. So take a look at the Whitney this week, that is if you’re up for it, if you’re up for having your brain exercised and spirit expanded.
The hotels Jackson Wyoming has available for you are your personal central station for great fun and activities. This well renovated old western town is in the Jackson Hole Valley of Wyoming. You won’t be able to catch a stage coach directly at the airport but you can find a ride in the Jackson town square. The town square is a small park that has the famous elk antler archways as entrances to each of the four sides of the park. You can take a ride around the town and see some of the old buildings that are now filled with wonderful galleries, clothing stores, restaurants and souvenir shops.
The night life is really fun in this town. You can start your night at the Jackson Hole Playhouse for a great dinner while you laugh along with the featured show of the evening. Many of the restaurants in town offer some dishes that are unique to the atmosphere and area. If you have never had buffalo or elk meat you will find it in town along with some fresh fish and other game. If you are in town for a while you will find that most cultural styles of cuisine are present. We like to take walks around the park and then head into the Silver Dollar Bar. This is were you can literally saddle up to the bar and get your favorite cocktail or beer. There is often live music playing and you can do some country dancing. It is a great place to end your party, careful not to fall out of the saddle.
Of course the town is just the base for some breath taking adventures. If you are there in the summer you can take a trip to Yellowstone Park and see old Faithful. Do some hiking in the near by mountains such as in the Grand Teton National Park. There is also the National Elk Refuge that you can visit, they even have sleigh rides in the winter time. No matter what time of year you go you will have to be a mountain lover to truly enjoy what this area has to offer.
I’m on my own once again in New York City after my travel mate headed home. It was almost Christmas, so I made my way to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller. I decided to take the scenic route and walked through Grand Central Station, then through Time Square and past Radio City Music Hall. When I was a young girl, I used to live in the suburbs of New York City and we’d go to Radio City during Christmas to see the Rockettes perform. The place where I grew up is now an area built up with a few New York casino hotels in place of the empty fields I used to play in, a vast improvement in my opinion.
I reached the famous Rockefeller Building, also called 30 Rock. My first view of the tree next to the ice skating rink, where I once got to skate on as a little girl, seemed smalled to me as an adult. I guess that’s to be expected. Everything seems bigger when ones is a small child. The tree was exquisite, but the crowd waiting to go skating was a bit too long. So I opted to get tickets to the top of Rockefeller. It’s aptly named ‘Top of the Rock.’ As a young girl, I got to visit the top of the Empire State Building and the Word Trade Center, but 30 Rock will be a new adventure.
It cost me $22 to take a fast elevator up, I felt like I was in some futuristic setting and my ears popped as I ascended. At the top, there was an escalator to take and the wind was blowing all my clothes around. After I passed the glass barriers, I reach an unobstructed view of the city. The sun was setting, and my cell phone battery just died, so I didn’t get a chance for a spectacular sunset photo. On my way back down, ears popping again, I couldn’t help think how I wish my parents were with me. At least I still have fond memories.
