You are currently browsing the archives for February, 2010.
Carlsbad, California is a secret that the locals in San Diego and the nearby towns know a lot about. It isn’t a hidden secret, by any means, but it’s not widely discussed, which is a very good thing, because it means it’s still interesting and safe from too much sudden influx of tourists. It’s a fascinating place with a very complicated history. It’s a beach town, with plenty of opportunities to lie in the sun and enjoy the feeling of doing nothing, and having no responsibilities at all. Beach towns are wonderful ways to wash away the business of the rest of the year.
There are also great places to stay and plenty of opportunity to see the local sights. Legoland is very popular, among children and adults, and seeing the colors awakens lots of memories for people, returning them to a time when everything fit together eventually. Trying to make things fit can be one of the most difficult tasks for an artist, and for James Luna, who reigns from the nearby reservation in La Jolla, making things fit is a central concern in his work.
It could be said, also, that investigating reasons why things don’t fit is very high on his artistic agenda. Luna, a Luiseño performance artist who has won multiple awards in his lifetime, and is on most lists of the influential artists in this century, has been working in this region all his life. He has a constant stream of new projects coming, including an ongoing collaboration with Guillermo Gomez-Peña. He has performed all over the world, and has a very busy schedule, but if he’s in town while you’re here, it’s well worth it to pull yourself away from the waves for a bit and check out the local culture.
What happens when you get a toothache, and you have no dental insurance? Well, you make an appointment and head out to the dentist anyway, in order to take care of the tooth before it gets any worse. And then you take out your wallet, and pay out of pocket medical costs . Then you come home, happy that the tooth is fixed, but wondering the state of your finances as you consider the rest of the days until your next payday . Now, in past years, you may have had a savings account, or a safety net. But now, the safety net is gone and it’s a cash-based, paycheck to paycheck kind of world. Usually, that’s just fine. But when the tooth must get fixed, that cash-based world can leave you wondering about the phone bill, the car insurance, the groceries and…wondering if anything else unexpected may occur between now and payday. It’s a sign of the times. The recession and the global economic crisis has left many people living in a state of fear. Unexpected emergencies may weigh heavy on people’s time from time to time. However for the last couple of years, this has weighed heavy on the minds of most people. %0A%0AFinancial analysts are intelligent and experienced and state that people must have 3 to 6 months of living expenses tucked away in case of these kinds of emergencies. They may be intelligent, but in this world today, they are a bit naive. Real people, working overtime can not afford it when circumstances arise that cut into their already tight monthly budgets. Payday, or short term loans , are the answer when situations arise and you just need the cash to make through the week. You will be approved, there is no credit check. The money will be in your account within one business day in most cases, and you can take care of your needs until that next check comes through.
On one of our annual trips to Seattle, it was lunch time and we became very hungry, so we headed to Serious Pie to get a cherry bomb pizza and a salad. We managed to get a ride to the restaurant by this guy who was checking out of the hotel where we were staying. He saw we were waiting for a taxi and asked us where we were going, we told him and he told us to hop in, that it was on his way out. Great! We hopped in and the ride only lasted 15 minutes, so we really didn’t get a chance to know how this great guy was, but we thanked him all the same.
Now, some people say pizza is pizza, but those people have never eaten a pizza at Serious Pie run by Tom Douglas. For anyone coming to Seattle, you must stop by Serious Pie. Tom owns other restaurants in the Seattle area, he runs Etta’s a seafood place, Dahlia Bakery, Dahlia Lounge, Lola a Greek place and the Palace Kitchen, which is a Northwest grill. Pizza at Serious Pie, from the time it’s doors opened, there as always been a crowd waiting to get inside. The Serious Pie was this storage area behind his Dahlia Lounge, it has exposed beams, these great old windows and is only about 1000 square feet.
Most of the tables are communal and there’s only 5 pizzas to chose from. You can also get a salad, and order from a very limited menu of beer and wine. For dessert, there’s only canolis. We always order the cherry bomb pizza when we are here in Seattle, and we also get the Yukon potato pizza. The pizza arrives after you eat your salad and they are served on a rectangular wooden platter. The pizza is cut into 8 slices and the crust is crispy.
It never fails, after we check into our luxury Seattle hotel, our next stop is straight to Serious Pie. Literally, our mouths water when we land in Seattle, there’s nothing else on our minds except getting to Serious Pie as soon as we can. The cherry bomb pizza has cherry bomb peppers and homemade sausage with this amazing substantial, but subtle sauce. The Yukon potato is not as good as the cherry bomb, but it’s very, very tasty.
Rockville, Maryland is a lot of fun, despite the song from REM. There is a very lively social scene here, with lots of arts and leisure attractions for visitors and for locals alike. For lovely hotels, Rockville certainly has plenty to keep every discerning taste satisfied and rather pleased. It’s a place where the sweet life is possible, and vacations here help you to remember all of the important things that the world has to offer. For fans of the group from Athens, Georgia, however, it’s an interesting way to find out more about the song.
Don’t Go Back to Rockville is an REM song by Michael Mills, who was one of the four founding members of the band. He grew up in Macon, and met the rest of them in Athen’s Georgia, the place where it all came together. They were each attending the University there, and before they could graduate, they had formed one of the most influential bands in recent history. The rest of that story is a fairly sweet one. The song, however, is based on Mills’ relationship with a girl, and her parents lived in Rockville. All of the references, then, are ostensibly about the song.
It needs to be remembered, however, that this is REM, after all, and this was the only group at the time that could absorb and reflect the same hipness it was giving out. Irony and exaggeration, not to mention simple abstract babble, is a part of their songwriting aesthetic, and it’s not just Michael Stipe who can write a confusing lyric that has multiple meanings. Mills proves himself just as adept here, and even though the overall arc of the song is a plain story of love gone wrong, there are lots of side twists and turns that move it from sweet to deliciously bitter.
I can’t wait for this summer to arrive. What’s making me laugh about that statement right now is that very likely for the person reading this it is a perfectly sensible sentiment and one that is felt by most people. However, I live in Tucson, Arizona, which for anyone who doesn’t know is in the Sonora Desert. This means that the summer is sometimes unbearably hot and many people feel that it lasts at least half of the year. For someone who lives here to say they are looking forward to the summer generally means they have lost their mind. And I don’t mean to deny the fact that there are those few human lizard hybrids that actually enjoy and thrive in the Arizona summer. I however am not one of them.
What I am though is someone who greatly enjoys getting out of the desert for a period of time in the summer. In fact even a weekend away gives me the feeling of a slight reprieve and makes the rest of the summer a bit more bearable. However, this year I’m going to be gone for an entire month and guess where I’m going to be while I’m gone? Well, in another sunny state, oddly enough though one that doesn’t get nearly as hot as this one. I’m going to West Palm Beach, Florida and couldn’t be happier about it. And did you hear me, I’ll be gone for a month and I’m not spending a single night in one of the West Palm Beach hotels I’m spending the entire time with my cousin who moved there last year.
My cousin’s name is Mike and he has a private construction business. He actually asked if I wanted to come and work with him doing some painting this summer. I couldn’t believe my luck. I’m a substitute teacher and spots are extremely rare in the summer so I generally need some kind of temporary income. Living and working in West Palm Beach couldn’t have come at a better time. Unfortunately I’ll be arriving after SunFest is over and that’s something I would really like to be in town for sometime. It’s actually the largest waterfront festival in the state of Florida and has some incredible musical acts play there. Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, John Mayer, No Doubt are just a few of the major bands and musicians to have been on the festival’s stages. Too, bad but maybe next year I can plan things differently.
The capital city of Pennsylvania is Harrisburg. Not only is this the governmental seat of the state of Pennsylvania, but the financial, recreational, entertainment and historical capital as well. When looking for a great place to stay during your visit, check here. There are many hotels located throughout the city that are historical in nature and design, but come equipped with all of today’s modern amenities.
There are many things, many activities to take part in, be it a simply night out in an elegant restaurant or and in country “safari” down the Susquehanna River. For the restaurants, head to the 2nd Street Restaurant Row, for the safari…head to the banks of the river and look for a captain with a boat. It it is a relaxing afternoon you desire, there are many parks and gardens through which to walk, or sit, or play chess with the old timers, such as the Riverfront Park, the Lake Nature Center of Wildwood, and Italian Lake…which is my favorite. Music, from classical to hip hop is found at many wonderful venues throughout the city, all architecturally artistic I might add. History buffs?…look no further than the Pennsylvania National Fire Museum, the National Civil War Museum, or the State Museum.
All of these museums offer a look into the life and the history of the men and women who not only founded the state of Pennsylvania, but also played a very large role in the founding of the entire country of the United States. Finding your way around the city is easy, and the best way to do so is on foot, or on bicycle. There are paths that wind from the mountains directly into the downtown district, on which you will get a true feel for the spirit and the nature of the people of Harrisburg.
While doing some research into hotels for a possible trip to Singapore, I came across some interesting information about the city-state’s founder, a British statesman with the unlikely name of Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles. On his trips to the city, the longest he ever stayed there was eight months, yet this is the man who is known as the Father of Singapore.
Raffles was actually born off the coast of Jamaica to the ship’s Captain, Benjamin Raffles and his wife, Anne Raffles. His father had worked in the trade of the West Indies at the time of the American Revolution, but that didn’t work out. His family in debt, Raffles went to work for the British East India Company when he was fourteen years old. Later, in 1805, then in his mid-twenties, he was sent to Malaysia, serving the Governor of Penang. He married a widow of a surgeon in Madras, who had died five years earlier. His wife would die less than ten years later, after he was involved in the conquest over the Dutch and French of Java, an Indonesian island. When he was accused of poor financial practices at the colony, he went to England to clear himself. On the way he stopped by St. Helena and visited the exiled Napoleon. He wrote a book about Java and his experiences while in England. It turns out he didn’t like Napoleon. Later, he would return to Malaysia and establish a settlement known as the Lion City. This was doing during a turbulent political time, with many maneuvers between the British and the Dutch and the local people. At the end of it all, Raffles declared on February 6, 1819, the establishment of what would one day be modern Singapore, transferring the control of the entire island to the East India Company. He left the next day, on February 7th.
If you go to Singapore now, though, you’ll still see streets named after him and numerous statues and buildings. Today, it’s a busy, cosmopolitan city with numerous attractions, such as the Singapore Botanic Gardens, the Jurong Bird Park, and Sentosa Island. And, every now and then, you’ll find a tribute or statue that lets you know that Stamford Raffles was there.
It’s kind of impossible to talk about night life in Fort Wayne without mentioning Piere’s. Some of the most quintessential moments in concert-going history happen here, at least that’s what it’s like growing up near here. REO Speedwagon came here for their reunion tour, so that there’s time to visit teenage angst while looking at the crow’s feet on the faces of the singers who looked so innocent way back when. The midwest is a great place for undiscovered bands to linger for awhile, building a very dedicated local following so that when they do make it big it’s like a tribute to all of us for recognizing their talent. There are other moments of great music nostalgia that have a special feeling in this part of the country, and it’s enough to warrant booking a Fort Wayne hotel room and making a weekend of it.
One of my favorite things that’s happened in the past few years is the rising popularity of the tribute band. I love knowing that there are people out there who spend all of their time learning how to act like the Ink Spots. It does my heart even more good when they find some strange combination that hits gold. This is what’s happening with Frontiers, the Journey tribute band. They don’t speak much about where they’re from, although the original group is from San Francisco, the city by the bay, and I want to be there in your city.
Frontiers at Piere’s is going to be a great night all around. It’s very interesting that the band they’re imitating is also touring this year, with their new lead singer, the second replacement for Steve Perry. We would all love to see Perry go back with open arms, so we could all know he understands what our love means to him, but it’s gotten so complicated, and we all wonder who’s crying now. The new singer is good, but this band has pop quotation appeal, and that’s the way I want it, that’s the way I need it.
When you find yourself waking up in a gorgeous room at one of the finest New York City hotels you get a sort of flutter in your heart to think of all the things you have to get out to see and do. The possibilities are endless with the shopping, dining, walking and all around entertainment. This is the place to be for the hottest things and people in the world. This is were many of the great ideas and designs come from. This is were money flows along with the champagne. One of the most amazing places to be entertained is Carnegie Hall.
Andrew Carnegie built this most remarkable theatre in 1890 and it is considered one of the most important theatre stages in the world. The fame of this hall came only twenty five years after it opened and is still the most elite in the world. It is an important piece of American history being one of the most famous venues in the country. It is known for its exquisite beauty, rich history and sound acoustics. There are a few halls within the building which are the Main Hall, Zankel Hall and the Weill Recital Hall. It also includes a museum giving light to those who performed there in the past.
It was meant to be the home of the New York Symphony and the Oratorio Society of New York. The first night of opening was on may 5 1891 with a grand performance by the maestro Walter Damrosch giving out works from the composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The New York Philharmonic called this its home for many years as well as the NBC Symphony Orchestra. There have been many memorable performances from artists like Benny Goodman and Judy Garland. Count Basie and the Duke Ellington orchestra put on a great show. Shirley Bassey and Harry Belafonte gave it their best. Even blues artist Stevie Ray Vaughan had a chance to entertain on the greatest stage in the world.
What does it take to create a mystery? A mystery of such proportion that it weighs on the minds of people not only in the region, but in an entire country, a mystery that travels the world? In the small Florida town of Homestead, a Latvian immigrant created a world of sculpture that not only amazes visitors in the immediate sense, but had created wonderment as to how the sculptures were created in the first place. I had heard of this man, Edward Leedskalnin years before my first visit to the state of Florida.
And when I arrived that first time, and checked into one of the best Tampa hotels, I asked the front desk attendant for directions to the town of Homestead, and to the Coral Castle. People had been saying that not only did this one tiny man create giant works, but that he had discovered the truth and the means by which the ancient Egyptian Pyramids were created. The Coral Castle sculptures were created using heavy bits of coral reef, too heavy many claim to have been lifted and worked by one single man. Some of the bits of coral weigh in at thirty tons and more.
He did this in the middle of the Twentieth Century, without the help of machinery, without the help of anyone else at all. For the years between 1920 and 1940, Leedskalnin worked alone in a shroud of secrecy. This secrecy had served to only further the myths and the legends behind his projects. It is amazing, to wonder just how he managed to move the pieces of coral, many of them weighing more, than the lightest of block in the Giza Pyramids.
Legend states that he began the project after being rejected by his true love. She told him that he was too poor and too old. Perhaps there is no mystery here, as the fire of a broken heart has often times been known to move mountains. The only witnesses to this great feat, are those that visit today, many decades after the fact, and whether it was a labor of love or not, one thing is for certain, the works of this solitary man are some of the most astonishing works in history of the world.