Today Is Not Over Yet

After I graduated from high school I had a burning desire to be out on my own. In fact I wanted to be out of my home city and even my home state. It wasn’t that I didn’t like my hometown, which is Atlanta, Georgia, it’s just that I had a stubborn streak of independence that kept pushing me to investigate the rest of the country and live on my own. I wanted to experience my self and life in a city that I wasn’t familiar with and one in which I didn’t know anyone else. And I mean anyone, no friends, no family including extended family, no one. My parents were pressuring me to go to college but to be honest I never did send out my applications. I wanted to take a year off of school and travel the country. I was so restless I really didn’t know what I wanted, I just wanted to move on, that much I knew.

So I packed up my little dog Paint and a few of my clothes and books, oh and of course my guitar, and I drove off. My parents were slightly horrified but they knew this was coming and they also knew there was no changing my mind once I decided something. It turns out I didn’t get far. I was just going to drive until I found a place that I felt like living in for a while. This happened a lot sooner than I expected. I passed through Savannah, yes I was till in Georgia, and was absolutely enchanted by the town. And it fit all of my qualifications for living in, except that it was so close to home. So, I moved in to a small studio and worked in a café for six months. I did enjoy my time there but soon I felt the need to be moving on. When my lease was up Paint and I packed up and headed out.

This time we got all the way to Chicago, Illinois. And for various reasons I ended up staying in Chicago for five years. I had a brief relationship, which held me here at first, but I loved the blues clubs and the theatre and I even got a few gigs playing my guitar. I was happy here for the most part until I suddenly an inexplicably began to yearn for Atlanta. Even Paint seemed to be missing home. I thought about Rosa’s Pizza, which had been my regular stop all through high school. There wasn’t a Chicago pie that could tame my cravings for Rosa’s. There was also the Carroll Street Café that I missed. I would love to be sitting at their outdoor patio as I passed the numerous patio cafes in Chicago. That’s it, I knew Atlanta was where I wanted to be and was anxious to move back. I reserved a room in one of the local Atlanta hotels and bought a plane ticket. Atlanta loved me, it set me free and now I’m returning and am hers to keep.

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2010 is going to be a great year for music.  Los Van Van, the Cuban empresarios of Timba, are touring again.  Although it will be spectacular to hear them play in Vienna and Berlin, cities which are known for a population with excellent taste in music (if we leave out Falco), it’s something else entirely to hear them play in Miami.  Luxury hotels will likely be hosting lots of their fans, and if you’re in Miami and don’t know the group, you will soon enough.

The last time they toured here was 10 years ago, and it was a bit of a rough reception.  There were protestors from the so-called Miami Mafia who obviously had not heard about how to properly treat guests, especially of musical stature as elegant as Los Van Van.  This time around, there is a younger generation that will be part of the mix of fans, and it will be exciting to see the torch of inspiration passed on in a live concert.  These guys are really good, and the comparison with Puerto Rico’s El Gran Combo is entirely justified.

They play a salsa that has become known as Timba.  The group has been together, under the guidance of Juan Formell, for over four decades now, and they keep evolving in new directions under the vision of the leader of the band.  The innovations in the musical style incorporate the spirit of improvisation from jazz, and the syncopated drum rhythms that come from African influences on the island.  It’s a very local kind of music that has an absolutely resonant global appeal, and when they play, it’s sometimes difficult to remember exactly where you are.  In Miami, this will be especially interesting, where their popularity has been very high but without the chance to watch diaspora work in the moment, something that only happens in the live event.

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Often when you have an established business you try to stay in the spot so that your customers know where to find you. But as time and business changes, sometimes that move is necessary. If the area becomes less than ideal or if the clientele no longer uses your services, it is a good sign that it is time to move on. There are several things to consider once you have decided to make the big move and a lot of that depends on the type of business.
Retail shops and other open to the public type businesses typically do not own the property; although there are exceptions. Before you terminate your lease or sell your property, it is usually a good idea to have a new place in mind. Transglobe property management can help you find a new location to move to. With the help of Transglobe property management you will be all set with your new property in no time.
With a new location in sight it is time to start packing up. If you have an office, the transition should be relatively easy with the help of a Uhaul and some movers. For shop owners, it is necessary to decide what you are going to do with all your product. If you have the ability to take it all with you, by all means go for it. Just make sure you get a really big moving truck. If you want to start fresh in your new location, this is the perfect time to have a sale and advertise for your new location. That is key if you want clients to follow you and not just assume you went out of business. You could also have a big grand opening sale with special deals once your new shop is up and running.
Moving your business is a long process but a well worth one when if it puts you in a better place to succeed.

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Any trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, would undoubtedly include the Sunsphere, the 26 story tall structure built for the 1982 World’s Fair.  You might also visit the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, taking a look at the history of the sport, as well as the world’s largest basketball that adorns the building, weighing in at ten tons.  But the city of Knoxville, which originated in 1786, two hundred and twenty-four years ago, is rich in history, especially about the 19th Century and the Civil War.  Once you’ve checked into one of the hotels Knoxville offers its travellers, you can start taking a look across the landscape to find a number of sites that have their roots in deep in the 1860s, or even earlier.
 
Perhaps James White’s Fort is the most visited historic site.  It’s a wooden log home that lets you look at the life of early settlers in this region, owned originally by the founder of Knoxville, who was paid for his services in the Revolutionary War with a land grant of a thousand acres.  Other homes in the area also serve as museums, such as the Mabry-Hazen House Museum (including the Civil War Bethel Cemetery), and the Marble Springs Historic Homestead.  The latter belonged to Governor John Sevier, and was variously a loom house, a tavern, a half-cantilever barn, and a smokehouse.  Today’s it’s used to educate visitors about this governor’s life and the times in which he lived.  In the former, you’ll find a home that displays not only the period of the Civil War, but also the Victorian age.  You’ll discover china and crystal and silver, in a building that once acted as headquarters for troops from both sides of the Civil War.
 
Before you finish your trip to Knoxville, you’ll definitely want to take a look at Blount Mansion.  This 1792 home belonged to Governor William Blount, one of the signers of the Constitution of the United States.  You’ll be able to take a guided tour of this home, which is now a National historic Landmark, enabling you and your family to learn about how frontier government worked and to see antiques from the 18th Century.

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We’re meeting after midnight.  It’s always after midnight.  I don’t know why it has to be like that, but it is that way.  We don’t know why.  No one really knows why.  It doesn’t matter.  It really doesn’t matter that we don’t know why.  We’re meeting after midnight.  That’s just how it is.  And even if that’s not how it is, it’ll still have to do.  Because then the way that it’s not will become that’s how it is, and how it is is always how it has to be.  We’ll be meeting, and we’ll be talking about the things we need to talk about and that will be that.  

We might be meeting somewhere elegant.  Somewhere where the people are elegant and the things are elegant.  Maybe it will be Manhattan, in a business hotel.  Those are the kinds of places where we can do the kind of talking we want to talk about.  There, people can talk about Ernest Hemingway like they want to talk about him.  No one will have to talk in a quiet voice.  The voices people use when they are embarrassed, we won’t have to talk like that.  Because there’s nothing embarrassing about this. Not this, not at all.

Then again, if we are embarrassed, we can move.  We can move from the inside of the hotel to the outside.  We could go from the room to the places outside the room.  The hallway, or the terrace.  It would be nice if our room had a terrace, because then we would have options.  Some of the best times happen on the terrace.  You can look it up.  I wouldn’t make that up.  That’s the kind of thing Hemingway used to get angry about, when people made things up.  But we won’t make them up.  What we say will be real, and it will be true, and even if it’s not true, it will have to do.  Because that’s exactly how it will be.

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All the old theaters in the world have ghosts, or so they say, and some of the newer theaters also have their share.  Along with the ghosts, there are also a vast number of ancestors who haunt the stage, not necessarily in a spectral form, but in terms of their legacy, and our memories.  They become inspirations for us, and influences, and for many of the most inspired and committed theatre practitioners, their effects live on much longer than their lives on the boards.  This is certainly the case with Vinette Carroll.  She died in 2002, so the extent of her legacy can’t be measured, but for the few years that have passed, it would seem as though this will be a very important one.

She was born in New York City in 1922, and did a lot of her early work there, including an education that included doctoral work in psychology.  She also began to study acting, and became one of the most prominent actors of her time.  In her middle years, she spent her time working in New York and the West Indies.  She was the first African American to direct a Broadway production.  In later years, she would spend most of her time in Fort Lauderdale.  Her influence on the local scene here is tremendous, and visitors coming to look at her legacy will find themselves in a pretty lively city. There are plenty of accommodation possibilities, and some of the best can be found right here.

In the middle of one of the world’s great tourist centers, where thousands come out every year for spring break vacations, there is also a thriving theatre scene.  This is, in large part, due to her efforts.  When she bought a house here in the 80s, she also helped to found a new theatre, which also took her name, the Vinette Carroll Repertory Theatre.  Today, this building is the home to Fort Lauderdale’s independent films, Cinema Paradiso, and is a major focal point for the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.  Even here, her name has a resonance.

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If you’re going to be anywhere near Florida early next month and staying overnight in the luxurious hotels in Tampa, you may have the chance to see the public grand opening of the new Tampa Museum of Art, which will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebration on February 6th, 2010.  Part of the celebration will include activities such as creating jewelry, making your own collage and designing your own museum.  In this new building, the Tampa Museum will have a variety of exhibits and galleries, including Greek and Roman antiquities, paintings, photography, and recent acquisitions.

Among the recent acquisitions, patrons of the museum may find six works of interest: Leslie Lerner’s My Life in France: The Oceanside: The Green Day, from 2002.  Lerner was an American artist who lived from 1949 to 2005.  The work is acrylic on ragboard.  There’s Bruce Marsh’s Escalante Study, Road to Boulder #2, an oil on panel.  He’s an American artist, born in 1937.  Also in the acquisitions is Alamar, 2007, a color lithograph, a representation of a sandal.  There’s a mixed media assemblage known by Rocky Bridges, titled Transitional Desire, also from 2007.  Then Horst & Daniel Zielske provides a photograph known as Nanjing Donglu III, Shanghai, from the series Megalopolis Shanghai, 2006.   Finally, and perhaps most intriguingly, there is Burk Uzzle’s Kitchen with Wedding Cake and Alligator, from the John Herrmann Series, 2006.

In the permanent collection, you’ll find a number of interesting works, including such paintings as Sylvia Plimack Mangold’s Trees at the Pond from 1985, William Pachner’s Landscape from 1976, Willie Cole’s Sunflower from 1994, Jon Corbino’s Preliminary Study for the Centurion, from 1950, and Neil Welliver’s Cedar Pole from 1979.

Whether you arrive in February or March, there’s something to do at the Tampa Art Museum.  In upcoming events, on March 6th and 7th, the museum will host the Raymond James Gasparilla Arts Festival.  Included in the 40th year of the festival will be the annual Children’s Activity Tent with activities which are eco-friendly.

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On my first trip to New York, I spent ten days in the city, but did not really have the opportunity to see much.  We were rehearsing all day, and performing all night, and the only time off I spent going to the other shows on 42nd Street.  I did go to Central Park, and the top of the Empire State Building, and spent a couple afternoons walking around the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but always had to head back to our beautiful hotel in the East Village of New York. No one I was with on that trip had spent much time in the city so we were all just kind of wandering around a bit lost.

A few years later I went back just for three days, and stayed with my friend who was born and raised in the city.  That is when I got the full tour, of the small hidden treasures, as well as the history, and a bit of the touristy things too.  We walked all around the city one night, and ended up at Five Points, the legendary stomping grounds of the terrible gangs from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  But then we made our way just a bit more South, and ended up walking through the South Street Seaport.

This is a great place for finding restaurants, and very good spot for shopping, but we were there manly for the view.  The Brooklyn Bridge and the borough can be seen standing at the edge of the dock, and at that time of night the bridge was lit up and incredible breathtaking.  When the bridge was first opened, activity at the port sharply declined, as before there was a ferry service, and now people could get there themselves.

However, after years of falling into decay, the Seaport was renovated in 1983, and is now not only great place to find some peace, but during the operating hours of the stores, the restaurants and the nightclubs, this has become once again the hopping place it was in the 1920’s.  Walking through a city such as New York is a great way to learn about it all, without the hustle and bustle of the daytime activity, but just be sure you have a guide as knowledgeable as the one I found in my friend.

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All the interesting cities have them.  They can get into everything, and they don’t always have a lot of manners.  In Atlanta, however, you’re more likely to find the ghosts who do observe some of the cultural niceties, because some of these inborn things last past a lifetime.  Atlanta is, by any measure, one of the most well-mannered big cities in the country.  There is a true sense of hospitality and old-fashioned charm here, and it’s something that’s not just on the surface to make the tourists happy.  Southern hospitality is deep, and it’s something that gets ingrained over many generations.

Atlanta is also one of the most interesting urban spaces in the country, and has been experiencing a boom in popularity that’s very well-deserved.  For visitors looking for a sense of old-world charm with all the luxuries, Atlanta’s hotels have plenty to offer, and there’s so much more to see in the city.  More than one visit can offer, surely, helping to demonstrate that this is more than a stopping place for a layover, or to change planes.  The local culture is likewise as charming, and also as deep as the rest of Atlanta.  The artists working here are serious, and very talented.

Apparently, so are the ghosts.  There is enough paranormal activity that it has its own ghost hunters.  Considering the amount of time that human beings have inhabited the area, and also considering its complex and sometimes tumultuous history, it would certainly make sense that if there is such a thing as ghosts, you’d find some here.  Many Atlanta ghost stories are fairly typical.  Tales of furniture moving in old houses with a lot of mysterious history, with the usual kinds of annoying, and sometimes even charming, poltergeist behavior, are relatively common.  If you like to be scared and haunted, this is a perfect way to tour the city.  If you like to hear stories, then this is also a good way to get some good tales.  People from Georgia are famous for being marvelous story-tellers, and everyone knows a good ghost story, just like everyone can tell at least one good joke.

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There are no better places for a perfect romantic moment than a cafe in a big city.  Cafes and restaurants are built for enchantment, and if there’s nothing charming going on, then at least you know that there will be food coming.  It’s the perfect place for a first date, or even a seventh date, as well as a wonderful place to take yourself after a bad date to get some honest consolation from your friends.  Any big city will work, because they all have their own peculiar charms, but New York is the king of the big cities, and has its own history and revolving cultures that make it particularly hospitable to hosting beautiful romantic moments.

Thinking about New York restaurants and cafes, I usually start running through a visual history of my New York memories.  They are iconic places to meet and talk about love, and I have a half dozen memories of my own, but I always find it hard to get the famous scene in When Harry Met Sally out of my head.  That never happened to me, but I always hoped it would.  Instead of Meg Ryan, I usually end up meeting Rob Reiner’s mom, but we still have a lot to talk about.

Despite the present moments, which continue to slip away much more quickly than I can savor them, the past speaks volumes about what NYC means to me.  In the evolution of my own romantic life, I remember two first dates there, and one very intense conversation.  The other moments were where my friends and I were sitting around and making fun of our own bad luck.  So although my partner now didn’t meet me in a New York cafe, we still know we have the chance to have a life-changing conversation in a restaurant some time, so we go as often as we can, wondering when the other one will begin to flirt with abandon.

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At one time, the few weeks following the end of the holiday season, were a slow time for the world of the performing arts, and their audiences, as the citizens of the city of New York recuperated from the long haul that had begun in November.  However, over the last few years, many theatre and music festivals have been popping up during those first few weeks of January, surrounding the schedule of the Association of Performing Arts annual conference.

What was once a dead time for not only the world of the arts, but for businesses such as the restaurants, the retail shops and most of New York City’s best hotels, has now become an incredibly busy and prosperous time.  Now, if you throw a dart on a map of Manhattan, chances are there will be a show playing where your dart lands, and if not right there, then very close by.  This is a great time for the public to see some of the more famous productions and performers, and a great time for those who are up and coming in the business to get seen, in front of the worldwide audience provided by the more than two thousand members of the Association of Performing Arts.  These performances are well written about through reviews, and the life of those shows going up at this time becomes much longer and more visible.

Of the many festivals around town, one of the most attended is the “Under the Radar” Theatre festival. The shows in this festival are innovative and cutting edge, and many of them end up with solid runs on Broadway following these first few weeks of January.  Anytime you visit this city, you will find a great show, however this is one time for true theatre lovers to find their way to the smaller stages, and find their way to some of the most brilliant and talented new playwrights, companies, and players in the world of theatre and the performing arts.

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There are a wide variety of cultural offerings in Singapore every day of the year.  This speaks to Singapore’s spectacular mix of cultures that make up this unusual island city state, defining it as a truly cosmopolitan place.  Visitors here will be surprised and delighted by all the attractions and events that happen here, and will find many places to get distracted from the business of touring, and get caught up in the beauty of the moment here.  It’s a wonderful place for a vacation, because it offers a sense of difference from the usual day-to-day grind, in true tropical splendor.  There is also a very lively urban scene, with many different kinds of art being practiced in all corners of the city.  There are fantastic sections that appeal to a broad section of travelers, as well as a magnificent share of side streets offering interesting diversions of their own.

You’ll no doubt notice that there are a gorgeous array of restaurants, with food from all over the world.  They reflect the island’s cultures, and there are plenty of Malay, Indian, and Chinese restaurants, and for those who love Italy, restaurants also offer up sumptuous Italian food.  The availability of fresh seafood, as well as a host of other ingredients which are difficult to find anywhere else, make Singapore an eater’s paradise. It also offers a fantastic place for culinary artists to do their work, specializing in innovations on old familiars, as well as the necessary ingredients to perfect traditional recipes from all over the planet.  Interest in Italy here does not end with the food, and there are some fascinating ways to get to know about Italian culture here as well.  The Italian Cultural Institute in Singapore offers some excellent events, such as evenings of classical Italian music.

At a recent event, one of the local heroines, Katryna Tan, played Italian music and showcased her expertise on the classical harp.  She studied interior architecture in Sydney before moving to the US to get her master’s in harp music from the University of Michigan.  She decided to return to Singapore and set up her home and artistic base here, to bring her talents to the region.  It will be exciting to see what she does in the years to come.

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Well the forces have dwindled in German over the past few years but there are still many military bases in the country. The barracks were taken over after the win in WWII and American forces have been there every since. The economies in many of these base towns actually really rely on the soldiers being there. The United States has kept these bases active for a couple of reasons. There is a security commitment to Europe and NATO and these bases a key area to house the different branches of the U.S. military. The Middle East has always posed a threat to the western world and so they have the military placed around the world in anticipation of some trouble happening with countries like Iran, Afghanistan and their surrounding neighbors.

If you find yourself at one of the many hotels Mannheim has to offer it may interest you to know what the city is all about. This city has been a heavy military force for years. The official name of the collection of bases is the Mannheim US Military Community Activity or USMCA and it also merged with th USMCA-Worms in 1990. There are six major barracks included in this 293rd Base Support Battalion. They are named Funari Barracks, Coleman Barracks, Turley Barracks, Spinnelli Barracks and Sullivan Barracks. The Friedrichfeld depot is also near and it lies outside Schwetzingen towards Heidelberg. The main branches of military located at these bases are mainly Army and Air force. As an American visiting the area, it is a real treat to see our fighter planes patrolling the area. Now a days it is hard to get onto the bases with out knowing someone.

There are other things to see near Mannheim if you find yourself with a day to explore. Euro Disney is not far as well as some of the great beauty of the Black Forest. I found the Neuschwanstein Castle to be the grandest of castles in the area.

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Whether you want a modern Singapore wedding or you are a traditionalist, a wedding planner will take the hard work out of planning a wedding.

Keeping up with the times for a modern marriage a wedding planner in Singapore understands that most couples have known each other for several years and not for the traditional view of marriage where, in some cultures, the couple has only known each other for a few days. The modern trends reveal just how marriage, in the past few decades, have not been traditional. For instance, the Prenuptial agreements are a new development introduced in the 70’s. The Prenuptials serve to protect both parties properties and finances and are becoming more popular. There is the controversial ’same-sex’ marriage, which isn’t recognized as legal in Singapore, but it is being discussed. Another modern phenomena is how couples getting married are older compared to 40 years ago and as far as religious ceremonies go, most wedding events celebrate not through religious traditions, but through exchanging vows, simple pledges, or commitment ceremonies in front of friends and family. In today’s world, marriage is now a question of love instead of arrangements by families. Today there is more freedom for couples to make their own choice.

For a more traditional Singapore wedding ceremonies, well, most marriages are no longer being arranged between two families. In the past, arranged marriages were for financial gain and not for love. If one happened to fall in love with the arranged spouse, then this was considered a miracle, but in most arranged marriages, the couple lived in a symbolic relationship and love was not an aspect.

So when considering hiring a wedding planner Singapore can offer you a wide range of experts, but it is wise to pick a wedding planner that either will understands the art of a traditional wedding, or a planner that knows how to bring the modern into a traditional style, or a wedding planner that will expertly blow out the cobwebs of the traditional wedding so that both sides of the wedding couples families will appreciate the beauty and necessity of a modern wedding ceremony in today’s world.

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Singapore enjoys a thriving culture and also a continually increasing population of tourists that visit it every year. The many high quality hotels that are available to guests guarantee that their trip will be enjoyable and many tourists are becoming repeat guests. This is also due to the great cultural attractions and the diverse performance and entertainment offerings of Singapore. In fact, some of the hotels are located near the most famous and highly sought after attractions, which makes accessing them extremely easy and comfortable. Transportation and direction information is available through the concierge or at the front desk of the hotels and resorts.

Swiftrank ratings for hotels and other accommodating services demonstrate an overall customer satisfaction and approval for Singapore’s hospitality industry, which is exactly what it is hoping to achieve. It is also great to know that there are hotels that can accommodate various needs, interests and budget concerns. Some travelers enjoy spending large amounts of money on the best of luxury accommodations, while other take a more economic approach to their hotel stay and prefer to spend most of their vacation budget on entertainment and activities. Whatever your personal needs are, the hotels in Singapore are interested in making your stay enjoyable and complete.

Some common features of the luxury or five star resorts include fine dining options that generally include meals planned and prepared by famous and well-respected chiefs. Sometimes these restaurants are so popular that local citizens who are not staying at the resort will go there simply for the food and ambiance. A lounge is also an essential element of these resorts and frequently they include music or other entertainment. Wellness and or fitness centers are common and often elaborate in the services they offer. A pool and spa are essential elements to these resorts and enjoying your morning with a nice massage can be an excellent start to a vacation day in Singapore.

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The next time you’re relaxing in Miami at one of the resort hotels Florida offers its travelers, business and vacationers alike, and you’re watching one of the several dozen police procedures on television, and you may think about stopping into the Miami Science Museum Running through January, 2010, they have an exhibit about the life of bugs who solve crimes!  The exhibit is titled CSI: Crime Scene Insects, and is a look into the world of forensic entomology.  The exhibit was, in fact, inspired the show CSI: Miami and examines via an interactive exhibit the way crime investigations use the science of forensic entomology to determine when a crime occurred.

Museum patrons will see actual crime scene insects, such as blowflies and maggots, demisted beetles (which eat flesh), and carrion beetles.  Crime scenes will be recreated to show how police collect the evidence and solve crimes.  Because of the interest in crime scene investigations, as well as the public’s ability to go into court rooms via cable news channels, and so on, the Miami Science Museum decided to offer the guests an opportunity to learn firsthand about how the insects used in investigations actually behave.

The history of forensic entomology may be dated to China in the 13th Century.  The various insects — beetles, wasps, flies, and others — provide the clues an investigator needs to tie the victims and suspects together at a crime scene, helping to fix the time of a crime or how toxins and drugs may have been used at the scene.

As a visitor to the museum, you’ll be able to examine recreated scenes for yourself, collecting evidence, analyzing  and drawing conclusions about the crimes.  You’ll be able to see the stages of decomposition and what role insects may play in it, demonstrating why if you want to be an expert in forensics you also need to be an expert in bugs.

Certainly, this exhibit may not be to everyone’s taste, but for those curious about crime scenes, and there must be a ton of us, considering the number of shows on air, the Miami Science Museum is the place to check out through the end of January!

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There’s a spectacular scene in Singapore, for world travelers of all interests and walks of life.  It’s a very active city, with an enormous variety of attractions, and chances are very high that you’ll always find whatever you’re looking for.  There is a broad spectrum of cultures that make up the fabric of the place, and its history as a major port means that influences are always passing through here from other parts of the world.  It’s a great place to come to get away from it all, but it’s also a great place to get one step ahead of the rest of the world.  Trends and fashions seem to happen here first, perhaps due to the visionary nature of the artists that live here, or maybe it’s just got a unique style that the rest of the world is finally waking up to.

Whatever the reason, you’re sure to find lovely days and nights ahead of you.  Singapore is many different things at once, and is made up of three main cultural influences, Indian, Malay, and Chinese, plus a number of others that are all significant to its history and its present.  It might be difficult to find food that is perfectly characteristic of the place, and its more likely you’ll find a hybrid of different influences in the cuisine.  However, it has been said that Indian restaurants here are some of the finest in the world, and may be better than in India.  It’s a fascinating thing, and there are many young and very promising scholars looking at hybridity in Singapore as part of a larger project.

It will be interesting to see what the next few years bring for Puvaneswari Arumugam, or Puva, as she is known.  She has been writing about cultural hybridity for a few years now, and has some impressive publications under her belt.  She is also an accomplished artist, having written a dozen plays, as well as directing and acting as well.  She has spent part of her academic life at Deakin University in Melbourne, and the scholarly and creative work has already been very strong and fascinating, so it will be exciting to watch the next steps in a life unfolding.

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There are many accessories that you can buy once you have your own fireplace installed, tools that will help you to get the most out of your experience, and tools that will help you keep your fireplace in tip top shape.  I did not grow up surrounded by fireplaces.  Accessories to take care of them, were something I really knew nothing about.  Then I moved into a house with a fireplace, and realized just how important the accessories are, not only to the upkeep of the fireplace, but they can in fact, add great design elements to whichever room you decide to build your hearth that will warm your home.  One of the accessories which will turn your fireplace into an efficient mode for heating your house is the gas insert.

This will allow you the freedom to fully heat your home, without raising your electric bill.  The outside air is used as a conduit for combustion, without losing any heat that is generated on the inside.  Cozy fires will still be experienced.  This is a very efficient way to heat your home.  Creating not only toasty rooms, but ambient feelings as well.  The insert will also get rid of the need for chopping, or buying or stacking wood.  You flip a switch and within minutes the room and your home becomes filled with warmth and cozy heat.  This creates a flexible option, and most of the factory options will fit in perfectly to any standard model.  You need not have a new chimney built, and if you choose to add a blower, you will again–increase the efficiency of your fireplace.  Many of the designs are able to be modified to fit the design of your fireplace, so if you do not want to alter the design, you will find one that will blend into the masonry of your original fireplace.

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While in the process of planning your Singapore wedding, you may decide to have some entertainment during the reception that will go beyond the traditional band or DJ. You might consider, if you have reserved a banquet room at one of the luxury Singapore hotels, to take full advantage of the concierge staff. They will have great ideas that will keep your guest thoroughly entertain and not only will the newlyweds have great memories, but so will all the wedding guests as they leave the reception party wishing all wedding receptions could be like yours.

The concierge can, of course, provide you with the best live bands that Singapore can offer to the best DJ’s in the industry, which will keep your wedding guests up on the dance floor instead of sitting at the banquet tables. But, for those of you needing something non-traditional, the concierge will give you plenty to choose from. For instance, they might suggest a photo-booth where you guests can have some excitement as they get in the booth to give you some fun pictures. The concierge might suggest the use of a Polaroid camera, provide some props and have your wedding guests take pictures and then have them paste their photos in your guestbook where they will be able to write comments right next to their photos. They might suggest a cigar bar and provide your guests with a variety of cigars, plus, the hotel can provide a room off-set of the banquet room where your non-smoking guest can still have an enjoyable time.

The non-traditional ideas for wedding entertainment Singapore can provide is only limited by yours and the concierge imagination. Regardless of the type of entertainment, make sure you are at a hotel that has a reputation for providing only the best services when it comes to weddings and wedding receptions.

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Many of the neighborhoods in Baltimore are filled with eclectic and historical charm.  Many are a combination of old world architecture and newer modern buildings, and while this may seem a bit mis-matched, in the Baltimore neighborhoods it fits just right.  Fell’s Point is one such neighborhood.  The streets are made of cobblestone, and the city sits on the waterfront.  Many of the youth in the city find this a great and trendy location to hang out, and many of the older generations find the nuances of the past, with the vibrancy of the current times.

There are many stores offering wares from home furnishings, garden equipment, flowers, jewelry, antiques, toys and clothing.  Mixed in with the boutiques there are many choices for food and for entertainment.  From the nightclub to the pub, from jazz to classic rock and roll, and the casual to the fine dining Baltimore restaurant, Fell’s Point has it all.  The neighborhood is constantly under new construction and development, but even though this renovation is occurring, the neighborhood still has the feel of a small town.  There are not many large corporate restaurants or stores on the streets in Fell’s Point, almost all of the businesses are locally operated and owned and this is just one more element that makes this a special section of Baltimore.

This is an area  that was a busy water port just on the city’s border.  At the time when the United States was struggling for their Independence, so to was Fell’s Point.  That feeling of independence is still alive in the neighborhood, and the spirit and the personality is evident in the resistance to to change their plans or bow to the demands of the entire city.  This is a stubborn area, and it so much the better for it.  There are stories on these streets and when you spend time here, you will be exposed to the rich history of Fell’ Point, of the people who live here and of the entire city of Baltimore.

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I’ve left India behind and I’m on my way to Hong Kong, my last stop on my world tour. I’ve been to Hong Kong once before, but I was only about 4 years old, my parents studied abroad there for a semester. I managed to save up for three months by eating only ramen noodles just so I could afford the 900 dollar ticket. I had just started full time at my job and I didn’t have any vacation time, so I could only afford a 6 day trip, 2 of those days were used in flight, leaving me only 4 days to spend in Hong Kong.

I had a friend pick me up at the airport and take me to a Hong Kong Hotel and then on to shopping and sight seeing. In someway, this place seemed familiar, I know I was only 4, but I can tell I’ve been here before. I’m glad my friend knows her way around, I know I’d be all stressed out with trying to figure our where to go and how to find a place or getting lost or ripped off. So, having a friend in Hong Kong is a very good thing.

The first day, she took me to Ocean Park, it’s Hong Kong’s theme park and a cross between six flags and a zoo, but it has some spectacular views of the mountains and the ocean. The park has Pandas and I remember when my parents took me here to see the pandas. It was starting to rain, but it wanted to see the Pandas, so my friend went to find shelter while I stood, getting soaking wet to just watch the Pandas, their so cute. The rain stopped and my friend came back and laughed at me. This made me homesick, remembering how my parents took me here.

Hong Kong is so fascinating. It’s a juxtaposition of western and eastern cultures. Hong Kong’s also a shopping mecca, stores, markets, and malls are everywhere. It’s really amazing how the population can support just how many shops that are here, there are tons. The food is fantastic, which is good because I have a weakness for Japanese and Chinese food. Today, after the theme park, my friend took me to a Japanese restaurant that served Takoyaki, octopus balls, they are so delicious.

The best part about Hong Kong, after coming from India, is there are no cows in the road!

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Traveling with the entire family can be interesting, take the Singapore Zoo for instance.  While Singapore hotels have fine restaurants in which to taste some of the delicious food of the country, have you ever considered eating your breakfast with a family of orangutans?  Your family, their family.  Well this is an option as each and every morning.  A morning tour leaves each day, and takes the family on a guided exhibit of the most successful breeding program for orangutans in the world.  And as such, this is also the largest group of these animals kept in captivity…in the world as well.

You will have ample opportunity to catch some really great photos, and have face to face contact with these highly intelligent creatures.  Orangutans are quite goofy once you get to know them, and the entire family will get a kick out of watching them as they climb and swing from branch to branch in their natural habitat.  Once the breakfast is finished, you will take a bit more the tram tour, looking over some of the most incredible exhibits that are relatively cage free, and set in the beautiful gardens of the zoo.

Should you decide to take a nighttime dinner cruise instead, your family will be equally as pleased.  The tram will take you through the sections of the zoo which contain the nocturnal species, and you will get the rare opportunity to see these creatures that rarely come out during the day, if at all.  Be assured that the tram is enclosed, as some of these creatures are the fiercest of predators.  Once through the exhibits, you will be led on a walking trail through the jungle to your final destination of the evening, the Ulu Ulu Safari Restaurant.  You will dine on some very fine Malaysian cuisine, while sitting under the warm glow of the jungle moon.  Be it breakfast or be it dinner, the Singapore Zoo will feed your family’s bellies, while it also feeds their minds and their imaginations.

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As some time or another in your life, well, life may just become too much.  Overwhelmed with work or other obligations can cause an entire range of health problems, and that life seems to rapidly pile upon your shoulders.  Muscles become tense, you have a hard time finding a great night’s sleep, your appetite is affected, and many more consequences may occur, when you do not take the conscious effort to just relax and restore your own inner balance, the balance of your mind and the balance of your own body’s rhythm.

People’s bodies respond to high levels of stress in different ways, and to varying degrees, and one of the best ways to help alleviate not only the stress, but the imbalance as well, is by investing in a hot tub, and relaxing in the comfort of your own home.  Each year, the technology becomes more advanced and what was once just a luxury of the very wealthy, is now available in a variety of prices, and styles…one’s own back yard spa that is.

By searching online, one of the best sites has been continually that of choosehottubsdirect.com.  There are many ways to relieve stress, and what better way than to relax for a bit each night in your own well designed spa environment, and then finding your way very conveniently, close to your own comfortable be and enjoy a great night’s sleep.  Placing your hot tub or spa in the middle of a garden or a gazebo, will not only ensure privacy, but will give you the perfect, quiet space to find that balance again.  Some people choose to use the meditation techniques of deep breathing, or perhaps a bit of relaxing music piped in to make certain that your time will be uninterrupted and calm.  It is in this way, of constantly finding that balance again, that people can then find the energy to handle the future tasks at hand.

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Our last day in Kuta. Morley will be picking us up around 2pm so we can make our way back to Ubud. Before we left we booked a tour to see the Dolphins. We had to be in the lobby of our beach hotel Bali by 5:30am to catch a small traditional boat. There was another couple waiting with us. The traditional boat is this long narrow boat that have long bamboo poles on both sides for stability. The water was like glass and has we travelled to our destination, we watched one of the most beautiful sunrises, it was totally awesome.

The boat ride was only 30 minutes before we ran into dolphins everywhere. We weren’t the only tour boat there, about a dozen other bamboo boats filled with people were already there. The tour lasted about 45 minutes, which was perfect for us. These boats weren’t built for comfort, no padding and our butts were hurting, plus 45 minutes was plenty of time to just dolphin watch.

When we got back to shore, we grabbed breakfast and headed for the hammocks by the beach. We were determined to stay horizontal up until the last minute. We have another long day of driving and we wanted to soak up as much pleasure that Bali can offer.

The staff at the front desk have been very helpful. We had no idea where we would be staying for the next three nights and they gave us great suggestions. One front desk staff member even made the phone calls and helped us arrange the accommodations. Morley, as usual, was very punctual, early even. We left Kuta and headed to Udud. The area is just beautiful and our drive was nice. We literally fell in love with Bali. Island life is so different than the rest of the world. So, laid-back and un-stressful. We were seriously considering retiring here and maybe starting our own beachfront business. We have a few more years before we retire, but that will give us enough time to plan and save.

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Lake Michigan is only about thirty miles outside of Grand Rapids. This is one of the favorite recreational areas for both the residents of the city and many of the guests who are staying in one of the Grand Rapids hotels. This was certainly true for Carl, who was born and raised in Grand Rapids. And though he went to school in Texas, he returned to his hometown after graduation. Fortunately for Carl, his original high school girlfriend Marla, who also happened to be the love of his life, also returned to Grand Rapids after she finished school in Colorado.

Carl and Marla had no idea that each had returned to Grand Rapids and it was quite by accident, or possibly fate as they later declared, that they ran into each other at the Fleetwood Diner. Carl was just taking his first bite of his bacon burger when he noticed the red haired beauty walking toward him on her way to the bathroom. He put down the burger and almost in shock said her name. She was instantly frozen by the sound of his voice and without turning her had said, “it can’t be.” Well, it could and it was. Unfortunately Marla was there on a date, which made the reunion slightly awkward thought they did exchange numbers and agreed to meet later in the week.

Carl called Marla the next day and the two spend three hours on the phone catching up. They made plans for the following Saturday to drive out to Lake Michigan, which is one of both of their favorite places. They had an amazing time that afternoon. They had a picnic in a rented canoe and remembered the days they used to talk about running off to Chicago, which was on the other side. Carl kidded that they should take their honeymoon in Chicago and Marla took him up on it. Without further discussion the two of them knew that they would get married and spend the rest of their lives together. And they did end up taking a trip to Chicago, though they didn’t spend their honeymoon there.

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A hot tub is a great addition for any home, and it offers something wonderful to every member of the family.  They also tend to attract a lot of friends and neighbors, and people you may have not heard from for a long time may start to come calling.  Of course, having a spa in your very own yard is having your own vehicle to a perfect, splendid solitude, any time of day or night, but there is something very social about these as well.  In fact, the social appeal of getting into hot water with people you like is something that goes back a long way.  For many centuries, even millennia, people have been tuned into the social idea of bathing, and there are many cultures that have strong and developed traditions for ritual bathing.

Some places are more formal than others, and the Japanese and Finnish traditions for public spas are still very formalized to this day.  You may want to enter into these traditions, or you may want to keep it casual, but there are many spectacular reasons use choosehottubsdirect.com as your source for your own personal spa.  They have a wonderful reputation for being attentive to every customer’s personal needs, and offer fast and effective service that comes from their years of doing business with people just like you.   There are many decisions to make when selecting your own personal hot tub, but these selections are a pleasure when you’re working with friendly and seasoned professionals.  And while you’re deciding on the size of your tub, and the style to match your own sensibility, you can start to daydream.

The daydreams are every bit as good as the reality, and when you start hosting your own hot tub parties, you’ll see that it’s perhaps even much better than you’d imagined.  It seems as though nearly every enjoyable social activity becomes even better when water is involved.  Whether it’s an outdoor barbecue, or even a movie night, where you and your friends get together to watch your favorite films, the hot tub can become a wonderful centerpiece.  They offer a magnificent sense of relaxation, and make it particularly easy to enjoy each other’s company, and to also take in the enormous benefits of relaxing in the water.

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The natural beauty of Yangshou only means that not only the locals flock here to relax, but so do all the tourists. Including us, the newlyweds who were in search of the ultimate photo. After an afternoon wondering down the river on this bamboo raft and a half a day of cycling about the country, we understood why so many flock here. Stunning mountains, cormorant fishing, and the most friendliest locals. Yangshuo became our favorite places in China. During our half day cycle ride, we were almost forced to abandon it due to Becky’s bike breaking down. Fortunately, a replacement was delivered within a half-an-hour.

Our final destination was Hong Kong. It took us 19 trying hours. Unfortunately, our last four trains suffered with ‘congestion’ on the tracks! This added to the length of our journey. So, we packed every second of our 1 and a-half days here with everything we could think of. We were lucky that one of the five star Hong Kong hotels were we were staying was centrally located. We managed to squeeze in a steep cable car ride to the peaks; an amazing view was had. We took a quick boat ride around Victoria Harbor. We finally had a proper white wine, it’s been weeks since we even poured ourselves a drink. We were to busy catching our own ‘happy’ buzz off a finally being married.

We managed to eat at most of the suggested restaurants our hotel concierge gave us. So, in 1 1/2 days we barely had time to breathe. Oh, and one of the hotel staff serenaded us our first night there. That was so totally unexpected and so totally romantic. We didn’t understand a word he sang, but we could tell he was very earnest and we felt he blessed our union with love and longevity.

Now, it’s off to Borneo. One week in the jungle, hanging out with the orangutans and who knows what else.

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In the past decade, Singapore has been rising steadily as a major force in world culture.  It’s one of the most cosmopolitan places in the world, and the island city state has a sense for what’s hot, and what’s interesting, in arts and pop culture.   It seems to have its fingers on the pulse of the world, providing a steady stream of new creative and practical works, feeding the world’s desire for technology as well as entertainment and fine art.  There’s always something going on in Singapore.  Car rentals are a great idea for anyone who has a complicated itinerary, where there’s too many places to be at once, or with a few too many things scheduled in one day.

Even without an itinerary, if you’re here and you have a natural capacity for being out on a town, jumping into the thick of it, or just have a natural curiosity about what’s happening in the world, having your own transportation can allow you to see some of the more out of the way events.  It also allows you a flexibility for your days and nights, making it possible to see and do more than you originally imagined.  There’s always more to see and do in Singapore, as it’s constantly revealing itself.  Looking into the music scene, or any scene, will take you down many different roads.  You can begin with the latest pop singer on your favorite tv show, and find your way back to classical music here with roots in different histories and cultures.

And along the way, you may come across some fun bands like The Vampires.  This was an all-girl band in the 1960s, and it’s hard to find traces of them beyond one EP.  But their Hun Yu Qu (Chilling Rain Song) is extremely infectious, and it leaves you wanting to hear it again.  It’s repetitive and easy music, but like a lot of the music of this era, it’s also extremely haunting.  It can remind you of a time that never was, or an almost time, as if it were referencing something important that was about to happen to you, documenting the moment right before your life changed completely.

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Lanzarote, but it’s better known by the locals as the Conejera, land of 100 volcanoes. But, when a sailor, Lancelotto Malocello, from Genovese landed on the island, he was considered one of the first explores, so hence the name Lanzarote. The very original name given by the original inhabitants was Titeroygatra, ‘The Colored Hills’.

We managed to get much sightseeing done in a week. On one tour we learned that the volcanic origin created an amazing landscape with over 300 volcanoes. Lanzarote is the most eastern island of the Canary’s archipelago and it’s not too far from the African coast. The island is warm all year around, which make it a most ideal place to visit and to explore, because the sun shines almost everyday here, this island gets little rain. Another tour took us to the south side of the island. We got to see a huge volcanic landscape, which included lagoons and craters. Then we went to Timanfaya National Park to see the Montanas del Fuego and the El Diablo restaurants where they cook using the heat from the volcano! We when on a camel ride, Lanzarote has a dry climate, so camels come in handy for the locals.

Pedro Almodovar was shooting his latest film here. We heard it’s starring Penelope Cruz, so while we were at our airport hotel or wine tasting, we kept a sharp eye out in hopes of sighting her hanging around. No such luck. Every night we went to a different bar, mostly the one’s offering Karaoke. We got to practice windsurfing and kitesurfing, I kept worrying about running into all the palm trees while kitesurfing, but fortunately, all the palm trees are accommodating and got out of my way. We fit all this into one jam packed week. We feel we thoroughly experienced this lesser known island of the Canary’s and we’re glad we did. It’s peaceful, beautiful and fun

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For pure Spanish sensibility and style, mixed with the traditions and influences of the Islamic empire, Granada is a fantastic place to get to know the rhythms of the human heart.  There is a splendid sense of the past here, with a history that has seen Visigoths and Byzantines, and a present of unspeakable beauty.  It’s very difficult to say anything bad about southern Spain, and there is such a sumptuous vision of life here that is answerable only by the splendid surroundings.  With rich architecture and art all around you, it doesn’t take long to adjust to the lifestyles here.  In the true Mediterranean style, the pace is a bit more leisurely, but everything is done with style, and precision.  There are long and languid days, and the evenings often don’t get started until very late.  But the evenings here are famously exciting, and it’s one of the best places to find a fantastic party.

Most visitors don’t come specifically for the parties, but many do for the luxury hotels Granada offers.  The sense of hospitality here is particularly felt in the accommodations, welcoming visitors from all over the world and offering some of the finest gifts of the country.  Seafood and culture are in great varieties and quantities, and you can’t sample them all, but you’ll want to try.  You’ll also want to be engulfed in the visual splendor around you as much as possible, because the city seems to demand it, and one way to get immersed is to get into the local art scenes.

Sound art and video installation art are two forms that activate more of the senses than usual, and are fantastic ways to move to another world, or the multiple worlds that exist in this one.  There is a great culture for this work in Granada, and one of the organizations to check out is Miga.  Cultura Miga is devoted to the promotion and production of audiovisual artists here and in the world at large, and is a great place to begin looking when you want to see what’s on in town.  In the fall, their project on Emerging Museum Art is one of the most interesting and provocative, asking questions about what the galleries are showing these days, and looking into a future we all have in common.

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