Today Is Not Over Yet

Ruth is an Aquarius. She read recently in her horoscope that she should travel and it also gave her a list of locations that were perfectly suited for her astrological sign. When she told her friend Donna this information, Donna could barely cover her smirk as she did not believe in generalized dime store astrology, though she did think that the cosmos had an affect on the earth and its inhabitants. She based this belief in part on the fact that the moon is largely responsible for the ocean’s tides. And since water is the main ingredient in the ocean as well as humans, Donna concluded that it was extremely egotistical to believe that the moon could control the ocean’s tides but had no effect on humans. She even argued this point with many people though she did not think that we knew all the answers about how the rest of the solar system and galaxy, or maybe even beyond may affect us. However, the main thing she was concerned with now was that Ruth seemed to be interested in traveling, which Donna loved for any reason.

Ruth told her that South Africa was an ideal place for Aquarians to travel, while she should stay away from Orlando, Florida. For a moment Donna felt bad for all of the Aquarians living in Orlando, but let it pass. This was actually the perfect opportunity for Donna to get to visit Cape Town and Johannesburg, which she has always wanted to do, so she eagerly supported her Aquarian friend’s need to travel. Donnie encouraged the two to decide on accommodations and make their reservations in one of the Cape Town South Africa hotels before Ruth reconsidered her decision. And so the plans were made and before they knew the Aquarian and the Pisces were happily enjoying a light snack in a Cape Town café. Their first night in town they enjoyed a great performance at the Opera House at the Artscape Theatre Centre. The next morning they headed to the beach and spent most of the day there. On their third day they went to Table Mountain because they heard it had excellent views of the city. They were right.

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Vienna Austria is an ancient city and is full of incredible architecture that represents many eras of design perspectives, theories and orientation. It is also known for its many opera houses, which are usually located in some of these incredible buildings. Two of the composers that are most associated with Vienna opera houses are Mozart and Strauss, who have had many works produced there. The guests staying in one of the hotels Vienna Austria are likely to find themselves in a beautiful historic building and are likely going to visit one or more of the opera houses during their stay.

While Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart worked in and was famously produced in Vienna, he was born in and spent much of his life in Salzburg. He demonstrated his prodigal potential early in life and was well skilled on the violin at the age of four. He also demonstrated competency on the keyboards at a very young age and began his career as a composer at the tender age five.

Mozart had a prolific career and composed over 600 works. He was probably the most influential composer of the classical era and wrote pieces for the symphony, concertos, operas, chamber music, choral pieces and more. He was employed as a court musician in Salzburg though he was dismissed after visiting Vienna in 1781. He spent the final years of his short life working in Vienna and this is also where he produced some of his most famous works, including the opera titled The Magic Flute. It is also where he wrote the first part of the Requiem to which many legends have been attached. It was also one of his last works and the circumstances of his early death have also created much mythology and legends. Mozart met Joseph Haydn in Vienna and Haydn would later become Beethoven’s teacher.

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My guests were just about to arrive for lunch and then we were going to spend the whole day at this small island off the southeast coast of Ibiza called Formentera. These guest were part of the crowd I met during the Ibiza opening parties and I was excited to have them aboard. One was a sister of an acquaintance of mine and a group of her friends. When I was around 16 years of age, she lived with us for almost a whole year. It was amazing to meet up with her and her friends last night. I suddenly have developed a crush on her and all her friends. It’s been 3 years since I’ve seen her and boy has she ever grown up and I get to be with her and her entourage aboard my yacht for an entire week!

When they all arrived, my crew gave them their security cards and showed them to their rooms all the while my chef set-up tapas out on the upper deck alfresco style dinning. Out of the group of seven (I hadn’t met the other four before), there were six girls. One of the girls brought her boyfriend. None of them have ever been on a large yacht before and all of the girls were exactly like what you would imagine when you think of girls on yachts.

All the the girls met through their interest in music and their interest in the Rockabilly scene. All of them dressed like pinup models of the 50’s and none of them ever just wear clothes. They always wear outfits or costumes based on the 50’s and they even fix there hair to match that era’s style. They even formed a group, which does shows in clubs and bars to raise funds for different charities. Naturally, they brought tons of luggage with them onto the yacht and believe it or not, most of them mailed there things here in advance to make sure they had everything they needed.

So, yes indeed, owning a yacht does have its advantages.

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Phuket is like the best sunshine coast of Thailand!  I’ve found that my stay in Thailand has something to offer everywhere I went. Like, Bangkok, has cheap shopping and transfers. Chiang Mai has the jungle and the friendliest people ever. Now, Phuket, has the beaches and crystal clear water.

I’ve been staying at a five star hotel Phuket is known for by most European travellers and it’s amazing in of itself. English is spoken very well by most of the staff, which is very comforting. I spent my first day shopping, naturally, and I bought a bunch of cheap trinkets for all my friends and family back home. I also couldn’t resist these fisherman pants, they were only $7! Next, I took a tour, which I really didn’t enjoy. The beginning part of the tour was good, it took us 3 hours via car and boat to get to Phi Phi island, which is where they filmed the movie that starred Leonardo DiCaprio. The water was so crystal clear and the sand was very white. On our way back, there were a couple of moments where I didn’t like the boat, but despite that, the day was lovely.

I was tired after the tour that I headed back to my hotel and crashed. I woke up to a phone call, one of the tourist that I met on the tour wanted to know if I would like a home cooked meal. I couldn’t resist. They came by and picked me up and took me to a villa that they had rented for a whole month. They cooked me a traditional Thai meal and made me cup of coffee. After we ate, we sat out on there balcony and watched the waves coming in on their private beach. All of this home cooking made me homesick. I can’t believe I miss England, I mean, I’m here in Phuket! What could be better?

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In today’s fast paced society, we are all about the newest electronic device.  From cell phones to laptops, we need everything small, convenient, and fast.  In the past GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) devices were for the real adventures, or the really lost. Now, though, most people have GPS in their phones, making road maps nearly obsolete.  No more trying to get a glimpse at the map while driving or figuring out which highway your on, simply type in your beginning and ending destinations and the GPS will tell you exactly where to go.

We are quite fortunate to have such accurate navigational tools.  Early discoverers such as Christopher Columbus did not even have an accurate world globe or map.  To navigate, they used the stars as well as a navigational system called Dead Reckoning.  Dead Reckoning involved throwing a rope that was knotted every few feet into the water and measuring the time passed with an hour glass.  This helped them calculate how fast and how far they had traveled. They would also use a compass to determine the direction they were heading and make sure they were on the right course.  Perhaps with a GPS, Columbus would have made it to India after all.

There was a time, before satellites and space ships, that scientists had to study space and the plants from the surface of earth.  They would use telescopes and complex mathematic equations to calculate the distance of each of the plants from earth and the speed at which the earth is rotating.

So the next time your GPS acts up and you wind up in the middle of nowhere or you scoff at a well meaning map gift, remember the great lengths others before us had to go to discover new places and things and be grateful for our sometimes pain-in-the-neck technology.

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Paul’s father was an engineer and he had just been transferred to work in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Paul had no idea what to think of this. He had lived his entire life in the small town in Minnesota in which he was born. He loved that little town and he loved Minnesota, though he knew that someday he would have to move away, he really didn’t plan on making that move until he went to college. Paul was only sixteen. He played the trumpet in the school band and loves the instrument. He wants to go to school as a music performance major and then pursue a career as a jazz trumpeter. When his father announced that the family would be moving to Kuala Lumpur, Paul had no idea what to expect from the transition.
His older sister Sara was seventeen and she was utterly against the idea of the move. She had her friends and favorite hang out places and the thought of loosing all of that was really just too much for her. After long discussions, and sometimes crying and arguing, Paul’s parents finally decided that Sara could remain in Minnesota and finish high school there. She would live with her grandparents after the rest of the family moved.

Paul was conflicted about this, though ultimately he decided that as long as he could play his trumpet he would be okay. And part of him was looking forward to the big change, which he figured would help to make him more worldly and sophisticated. This was something he decided every musician should be. Paul began to do some research on what would be his new home and the family took a short trip to visit the city two months later. They stayed in a Kuala Lumpur Malaysia hotel and Paul was absolutely amazed by the cityscape view he had from the room’s balcony. It was absolutely beautiful and he fell in love with the city right then. They visited the National Museum, which was rich in Malaysian history and the National Art Gallery of Malaysia while they were there. And they also attended a performance by the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra at Petronas Philharmonic Hall. Paul knew he was going to be happy living there.

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Whether we are looking at a road map, a world map, or a world globe, it is hard to imagine the earth as anything but round. Before modern science, airplanes, and space shuttles, the most popular belief was that the earth is flat or disk-like. However, despite the popularity of this theory, there were some that were ahead of their time in believing the earth is round.

One such believer was the Greek scholar Crates of Mallus. He created the first globe in 150 BC, much like the one that sits on the back of the popular sculpture Famese Atlas that is on display at the Naples Museum in Naples, Italy. Celestial globes of the Old World detailing the positions of stars and comets began appearing during the Middle Ages. It was not until 1507 that the first globe with the Americas on it was made by German cartographer Martin Waldseemueller.

The theory that the earth is round was not the only battle to be fought. There were many, especially high ranking political and religious figures, that believed the earth was the center of the universe and that the sun and planets revolved around earth. Great scholars such as Galileo, Kepler, and Copernicus were persecuted for suggesting that perhaps the sun was the center of the universe. It was not until Sir Isaac Newton began to develop theories about gravity nearly 200 years later that people began to accept heliocentric theory.

Despite their ancient origins, globes offer a far more accurate view of the earth. Each of the countries is more accurately sized and shaped in relation to other countries. It also gives us a more realistic view of what our earth looks like without distortion. So the next time you look at a globe, remember the battles that were fought to make it.

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Cape Town has an amazing history, and is an extremely fascinating place to visit.  There are many cultural monuments and tours to mark the events that happened here, and it’s a wonderful way to introduce young people to these moments in world history.  It also has a spectacular night life, with some of the best musicians in the world playing in local clubs, and there are also splendid places of great natural beauty.  It also has its fair share of gorgeous beaches and challenging golf courses.  This makes it a spectacular draw for luxury hotels.  Cape Town is a magnificent place to take a vacation, and if your reasons for visiting are business-oriented, there are also many splendid things in store for you here.

Our hotels are selected to represent the best of the best here, so that you will enjoy the heights of comfort and style.  Hospitality is absolutely fine here, and you’ll love the sense of rejuvenation our accommodations can offer.  After a bit of sleep and a fine meal, why not enjoy the city, and see what Cape Town has in store for you today?  There is a really spectacular night life here, and you can see excellent live performances by theatre companies who have been working here for decades, contributing to its rich history in world theatre.  You can also see some stunning local music.  If you’ve ever been a fan of electronic and experimental sounds, and wondered what a South African version of Portishead might sound like, look for Pravda23.

The lead artist here is John Bartmann, who has a really savvy sense for how to make music, record it, program it, and also to distribute it, all according to some of the basic tenets of digital warriors all over the globe.  Growing up with a musical education in piano, violin, and African drums, the music of Pravda23 is a mix of cultural forms in an electronic package that is truly dazzling.  It’s wonderful to listen to, but even more spectacular to see, when live performance is mixed in with the live mixing, and it almost seems as if another musical form is brewing underneath all this.

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Choosing an outdoor kitchen is a fantastic way to begin something new, and it starts to make sense almost immediately.  With any kind of cooking, the rewards are pretty immediate, and with an outdoor grill, you soon discover which things work, and which don’t, and there are infinite variations from there.  You’ll find new tastes that will excite you and amaze your friends and family.  The setup for your outdoor kitchen is important then, so you have everything you need right at your disposal.  It becomes a new kind of castle for you, in a way, and it’s something you can appreciate during all the seasons.  That’s why it’s a wonderful idea to add an outdoor sink to your outdoor kitchen.

There are multiple benefits to having an outdoor sink, of course, and one of the best of these is the ease you have of washing your fruits and vegetables before you work with them.  Some people don’t even realize how fantastic fruit can be on the grill, but when you’re experimenting with tastes and start to add fresh orange to a couple of recipes, you’ll see what open flame can do with fruit.  You’ll see that the heat from a grill responds particularly well to moisture in the food, and this is what makes that dramatic sizzle that everyone loves.  You might imagine that the juiciest of fruits make the best sounds, and that’s very correct.  Imagine what grilled watermelon can do for a holiday picnic!

There are all sorts of fantastic recipes available for grilling watermelon, believe it or not.  The beautiful red and juicy insides have an immensely wonderful appeal when they’ve got the grill marks on them, like summer putting its signature right on your plate.  Grilled watermelon is amazing when it’s coated with a sugar or honey marinade, to add to the natural flavors and add another touch of zest.  Grilling is life lived with a little more panache, and a lot more pleasure.

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Amy finally did it. She moved out of her family home last year, started college and actually took a trip to Singapore all by herself. It’s not that she’s unpopular, or couldn’t get anyone to go with her. She just decided that as part of her transition into an independent adult she needed to take a long journey by herself and experience people that she had never known before. Not only did this initiate some personal growth and independent progress, but she actually ended up having a great time and even met some people that she has kept in contact with. Since her return home, Amy has decided that she is going to transfer to a university that is out of state and one that is in a city that she has never been to and one in which she knows no one.

She was only 19 when she took her independent trip to Singapore, and while that means she was an adult, it was still a young age to experience a new city and country with a differing dominant language. And it is not surprising that Amy was a little bit nervous. However, she did have the luxury of knowing that her parents would absolutely deposit any additional money she needed into one of the private banks Singapore, which elevated any financial stress. Some of her friends argued that this meant she wasn’t really being independent, but they were not able to deter Amy’s sense of pride regarding this significant trip.

Some of her favorite moments occurred when she was walking along the Esplanade. The beautiful promenade overlooking the bay offered great views and plenty of shopping opportunities. One of the things Amy liked most about it was the serene spots she would find and she enjoyed sitting quietly reflecting on life and enjoying the view. She also loved Fort Canning Green park and walked through it on more than one occasion. One night she even enjoyed a film at its outdoor cinema. Amy enjoyed the trip so much that she decided that taking an occasional vacation by herself would become a part of her lifestyle, and her future husband will just have to accept that.

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Today, wanting to fix it up a bit, I took a look at my light truck.  Tires and the windshield need to be replaced.  My Chevy has over 200,000 miles and she is starting to show it.  While the engine is rebuilt and still functioning, due to my diligent up-keep (fear of breaking down on the freeway at Midnight) and regular oil changes.  However, I noticed that these two aspects, the tires and the windshield, have been safety aspects on my truck that I have been overlooking.

The windshield was cracked when I bought the truck, and the crack is slowly getting bigger.  This was something I had considered all summer, as the heat of Phoenix has been known to shatter perfectly fine windows.  I, like some people, tend to let these things go on their cars, I think that a problem with a car or and engine is just too big to understand.  But a windshield?  Really, I just simply need to have it replaced.

And, the heat is a detriment to tires in the desert as well.  As I drive on the hot city streets in my truck, wheels turning cause friction between the road the tire, which will in and of itself, heat up tires, regardless of the outside temperature or environment.  I need to invest in new tires that will be able to sustain the weather conditions, and ensure that safety isn’t at risk.  In college I had a VW Bus.  I sold it to take a trip to the UK, and I hadn’t noticed until the day the man came to buy it, that the tires were so worn.  Not only was there no tread left at all, I could see the fibrous threads, it was as though my tires were fuzzy.  This is not good.

If you can see that the tires are bald and that the metal threads are poking through, replace them.  This sounds expensive but many cheap tires are available, and they are of good and safe quality.  If there is still tread, a great way to check it is the simple “penny test” my dad showed me years ago.  Turn a penny upside down, so that Lincolns profile such that when you insert the penny into the tread, if the tread does not reach the top of his head, then there is not enough tread, and it’s time buy new tires.  My truck is there.

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The first time I went to Austin, Texas was last summer.  The city has the reputation being the Live Music Capital of the World.  The first thing one does see upon exiting the plane, is a live band.  Music is all around in this city in Central Texas.  I was visiting a friend of mine, a musician.  It seems that just as almost everyone you meet in Los Angeles is an actor, almost everyone in Austin either is in a band playing music, or has been involved with music at some time in their lives.  Purpose of my visit was to spend time with my friend, but it was also a painting vacation.  I was to stay at one of the best Austin hotels, and just paint non stop for five days, without my phone, without needing to go work.

When my friend found out that I had booked a hotel room he refused and said that I would be staying with him.  So, with that said, he took me on a mini-tour of Downtown Austin.  We drove down the famous 6th Street.  Here there are venues lining both sides, bars and restaurants with live music every night of the week.  Many of the patrons of these bars are from the nearby University, and the nights surrounding the weekends are usually packed with rowdy college students.  When my friend was younger he played in those bars quite a bit, and had a very big following.  Now though, he plays in the cities surrounding Austin, in bars that are a little calmer.

We hadn’t really planned out the trip, and I thought that we may take in a live show, however the night he had planned was very different.  We dropped off my bags at the house, and went to buy some food, for a picnic he said.  We took our groceries and a blanket to a grassy area beside the Congress Avenue Bridge.  Nice, I thought, the weather was perfect.  And as the sun went down, something happened that I was not expecting at all.  It seems that the construction of the underneath part of the bridge is perfect for a species of bats, the Mexican free-tailed species.  When they come out at night, clouds of them can be seen miles away, and when you are sitting right under the bridge, it is a bit terrifying and also strangely beautiful.  The bats provide the city of Austin with the service of eating more than four million pounds of insects throughout the summer.  If you are not afraid of bats, and find them fascinating, you must head to Congress Avenue Bridge and witness this amazing natural event.

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I love to drive into the rural regions of New York state this time of year. Driving north from New York City is a beautiful dive anytime of the year, spring, summer, winter and of course fall! We always book a room at a boutique hotels New York in the mid to late October range, depending on the year and when our time off falls.

Some years we have taken the commuter trains out of Grand Central Terminal north ward along the Hudson River through all the little hamlets, towns, villages and cities along the river. We were able to get off the train and shop in the pre colonial village of Cold Spring walking every where. In Poughkeepsie we had dinner river side before heading back into New York City. Another year we did virtually the same thing taking the train on the CT line along the north shoe of Long Island Sound. Although beautiful, I recommend the Hudson River line for its spectacular beauty.

Other years we have rented a car and driven through the rolling hill sides along the Hudson Rivers east and west banks. We  particularly love the views from Storm King Highway as it hugs the shear rock cliff face over the Hudson just north of West Point. At the base of the mountain is a beautiful sleepy little hamlet of Croton on Hudson. We always enjoy shopping for antiques there and the pre colonial houses and buildings.

One year we decided to take an over night trip from New York City and headed to the legendary town of Woodstock, NY. We stayed over night enjoying the shopping and dining and took a drive into the Catskill Mts. before returning to New York City. That was a particularly memorable trip. The Catskill mountains looked like they were lying down. These ancient mountains so worn by the glaciers and time are an amazing site to see. That year the fall color was particularly nice and the Catskills were on fire with yellows, oranges, reds and all shades in between.

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