Kiss Java

Coming to New York is always a life-changing experience.  Especially when it’s with the intention of trying to stay for any period of time, and to make a mark on the walls of history.  Some people are simply not cut out for the city, and sometime styles come before the city is ready to accept them.  It’s a difficult path, for sure, but fortunately, for outsiders coming to visit, it’s simply exciting to be here.  An ideal weekend is to check into a luxury hotel in New York City, and enjoy all that there is to enjoy.  If your tastes run toward an Eastern European blend of punk, then there’s a lot to listen to while you’re in town.

It’s not an easy city for anyone, and for bands trying to do something different, it can be incredibly rough.  This is a testament, then, to the fortitude of the groups that have been making inroads in developing a public taste for these new kinds of music.  Gogol Bordello would, of course, be on the top of most people’s lists.  The Balkan-influenced music is as infectious as the live shows, which are part old-school punk revivals, and part shamanistic investigations into the audience’s capacity for joy.  There are other bands working in a similar vein, but the music is still very different.  Just as there are many roots for the Romany people, there are many varieties of their musical offspring.

Golem calls themselves folk-punk, and the music is raging and wild.  It is a sound that always borders somewhere between ecstasy and madness, and they play that uncomfortable space in between to make sonic bursts of manic joy.  Outernational on the other hand, is much more focused on incorporating everything in the world, and their rhythms work from some Gypsy sounds, but tend more toward a very politicized global rock with ska inflections.  These New York bands are survivors from other places, and their durability here only increases their already magnificent street cred.

In Arizona, in Phoenix’s Papago Park, there is an odd object on a hillside, visible from the city’s zoo — a white pyramid, surrounded by a black fence.  When I first saw it, somewhere around the enclosure for an Arabian Oryx (an animal that was once mistaken for unicorns, because when its seen in profile the double horns appears to be one), I was unsure what to make of the pyramid, even more unsure when I learned it was the final resting place of the first governor of Arizona, George H.P. Hunt.  I can’t imagine what travelers and visitors might make of it, glimpsing it from Arizona’s luxury hotels a few miles away, yet it remains an icon on the Phoenix landscape, a monument to one of the more interesting people in Arizona’s political scene in the first third of the 20th Century.
 
Not only was Hunt the first governor of Arizona, but he remained the first governor for seven terms, and he co-wrote the constitution of Arizona.  Born in 1859, Hunt grew up in the Old West of movie lore, that iconic period of history that lasted for about twenty years from the 1880s to 1900.  During those years hunt would have been in his twenties and thirties.  He served in both houses of the Arizona Territorial Legislature and was even the U.S. Minister to Siam.  As time went on, Hunt weighed nearly three hundred pounds even though he was only five feet nine inches tall, and had one of those handlebar moustaches that drooped.  He was a populist of the progressive era, and in his time he supported such things as a woman’s right to vote, income tax, secret ballots and compulsory education.  He tended to be an enemy, on occasion, to mining and railroad concerns, to whom he referred to as skunks and coyotes.
 
The white pyramid was meant as a final resting place for his wife, who died three years before he did, and then himself.  If you hike up to the pyramid, you’ll find a plaque that tells you he descended from a Revolutionary War patriot, although the war patriot goes unnamed, that he let women vote in Arizona eight years before the rest of the nation, and that his election to the governor’s office seven times was a national record.  Closer, you’ll see that the pyramid gets its gleaming white color from white bathroom tiles.  Not only are he and his wife buried here, so are his in-laws, his daughter and his wife’s sister.  If you’ve been to Phoenix and haven’t seen Governor Hunt’s Pyramid,  if only from the zoo, then it’s time to go back.

When I was in New Orleans last, staying nearly a week, I rarely ventured out of the French Quarter, attracted by the restaurants and bars and jazz, by Jackson Square, and the Cafe DuMonde Coffee Stand.  For some reason, I didn’t consider heading over to the City Park New Orleans, and it’s one of the regrets I have about the visit.  The City Park was once the site of the Allard Plantation, which faced the Bayou St. John, and is comprised of 1,300 acres.  The place contains New Orleans Museum of Art as well as one of the world’s biggest collections of oak trees; the most ancient grove contains trees over six hundred years old.  It’s here, too, that jass, a musical form that was gave rise to jazz, was performed.  For that history, you’ll want to investigate Buddy Bolden.

The City Park was established in 1854, so at 156 years, it’s one of the oldest parks in the nation.  Over time, it’s expanded to its present acreage, making it one of America’s largest city parks as well.    The buildings and bridges and sculpture in the park range from Neo-Classical revival and Art Deco styles, and is a gathering spot for sports and recreation; there’s kid’s attractions, too, as well as a Botanical Garden.  There’s boat rides as well.  Almost something for anyone to do, the park entertains about an eleven million visits each year.

Once you’ve situated yourself in one of New Orlean’s hotels, then take a walk through the French Quarter and find the entrance to City Park.  You’ll discover the Botanical Garden, the Carousel Gardens Amusement Park, and the Storyland fairyland playground.   In Storyland, children can play aboard Captain Hook’s pirate ship, take a trip into a whale’s mouth with Pinocchio, and climb up Jack & Jill’s Hill (with any luck, without similar results).

My second trip to New Orleans, I’ll make the park a priority.  If it’s your first trip to New Orleans, I’d go ahead and see it now.

Please, oh please let the Broncos beat the Cowboys and remain undefeated so far in this season. Charlie almost said the words allowed, and would have if he didn’t think his thoughts were too girly sounding. He had been a huge Broncos fan since he was child and his brother was a Dallas Cowboys fan and the two of them enjoyed a healthy rivalry their entire lives. It was only fitting that Charlie would end up going to the University of Colorado Denver and his brother Matt went to the University of Texas in Dallas. Their choice of schools actually had more to do with the specific programs, and for Charlie the scholarship offer, than it did with their favorite football teams, though it certainly worked out in their favor. In addition, the boys grew up in rural Nebraska, which made their choice of football teams and colleges all the more interesting. And while their schools weren’t direct rivals, the two brothers certainly kept up their sense of competition throughout their academic careers.

They even went so far as to compete for the most girlfriends, which their youngest brother Jerry ended up demonstrating was a ridiculous endeavor when he married his high school sweetheart, and the only girl he dated from his sophomore year on. Jerry and Denise seemed to be absolutely meant for each other, which helped to ridicule the competitive older brothers. And appropriately, Charlie and Matt had money waged on this game. Well, it wasn’t exactly money so much as the looser had to pay for a weekend hotel stay in the winner’s city so that their parents could come for a visit. This was typical of the competitive, yet good nature of the brothers and their bets. And of course it turned out that Matt had to pay for his parents’ stay in one of the hotels Colorado when the Broncos were able to hold onto their lead and win the game. Of course afterward he joked to Charlie that he was the won who lost as he would have to spend a weekend with their parents.

We were going to meet for a quick drink, because we hit it off in an elevator, of all places. I think it was something about socks, where she liked my socks, and I asked about hers. I’m not creative, I just repeat stuff. I like repetition, so much that I repeat things that have already been repeated just for the sake of repetition. I like it. There’s something about a date that never ends, though, that teaches you some essential things about repetition when other people are involved. You can’t stay in one place forever, for example, and you can’t drink the same drink too often, at least not forever.

She likes repetition, too, apparently, because she said she always stays in Manhattan business hotels whenever she’s in town. I imagine they’re lovely, but right now I’m enjoying a lovely memory about Chumley’s. This bar in the Village has seen a number of famous writers, and they’ve left some of their book jackets here for the patrons to look at. It’s also been falling apart for a number of years, and I hear that it’s closed right now, but on the verge of a re-opening.

That’s good news for a lot of people in the city, because it’s a favorite watering hole for the living as well as some ghosts who’ve taken to pursuing their absolutely last drink here. Chumley’s has memories for everyone, and now it holds one of mine. Our conversation picked up with socks, and soon moved to hats. No one wears hats anymore, she said, and this lead to a long conversation about fedora’s. All the while, she kept staring into the whites of my eyes, and said she liked it that I looked haunted. I was actually becoming haunted by her, and for once, this was a singular incident that felt better than any repetition. And I like repetition.

I’ve been awake for almost 24 hours, I arrived in the Big Apple very late in the evening. This was the last leg of my journey and I’ll be joined by my friend Kathy, a reporter for a TV station in Australia. Kathy managed to get to NY in advance of me and she was waiting for me in the lobby of one of the better NY hotels. The hotel was close to Times Square, so we took a walk over there on our way for a very late dinner. While walking, I found myself in awe of this great city.

The next morning, we hit the sidewalk running. Kathy had been here before, so she became my tour guide. There was so much to see in a small amount of time, I only have two days here, that Kathy first took me to Ground Zero; this was Kathy’s first time seeing Ground Zero herself, she was here before 9/11. I was hoping for a few platforms to look out and then below where the construction was taking place, but it was all fenced up, which made it hard to see anything of interest. I did like the area where there were photographs and small tributes to all the people who died. I was haunting in a way, I got goose bumps and was very moved.

We then went to Wall Street and to the Stock Exchange. I couldn’t believe all the security, we couldn’t even walk up to the building, it’s all fenced off and there were even sniffer dogs on patrols. So much for the Stock Exchange. So, it was off to Grand Central Station and to Central Park. We ended up walking through the park for hours, much longer than anticipated, because I really came here to shop! But, that didn’t happen because we had tickets to see ‘The Producers’ on Broadway. The play was good, but I really would have preferred to see the original cast: Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. We had a full day and a full night.

The next and my final day, we headed to check out the ‘Today Show’ at Rockefeller Plaza. We didn’t get a chance to see inside the studio, so we were alongside all the other people crowded around trying to get on TV. We did get to be up close and almost personal with Meredith Vieira when she was making her way back to the studio. She was so nice! She let people take pictures with her. That’s all I had time for in New York, but it was all good, every single New York minute!

Miami is kid friendly. There are so many different experiences to be had for families traveling with children, and the year round great weather makes for some great winter get-aways for those living in the colder states of the country.  This is such a great place for family fun, that Miami was recently in the list Child Magazine published, of the top ten places to visit when traveling with children.  The beaches are great for one thing.  And what more can a kid ask for than days spent building sand castles and boogie boarding, playing Frisbee or searching for sea shells?  There are many tide pools perfect for exploring and scientific discovery as well as camp sites and cool historical places.  These beaches are so clean, so fun, that they are often in the top picks for the Surfrider Foundation, the Travel Channel and USA Today!  For walking, biking, a vast collection of lighthouses to explore, Key Biscayne has become a favorite spot over the years.  There are food stalls and picnic tables, a great way to spend a family afternoon in the sun.

As for dining, many of the restaurants along the beaches are kid and family friendly.  Whether you are in the mood for fine dining, exotic Caribbean cuisine, or simple seafood, you will find it all, and they all have items on their menus that will suit even the pickiest of children.  Many of the Miami luxury hotels are just as kid friendly and often times have package deals specifically designed with fun and excitement for the whole family in mind.  Lists of fun things to do will be provided by the hotels, including where to find the coolest IMAX shows and high-tech game rooms to a racetrack built especially for kids, the Richard Petty Driving Experience. So whether the beach scene is on your family’s agenda, or fun and excitement at one of the theme parks, Miami will offer up the opportunities for a fun filled family vacation, one that will provide lasting memories for the years to come.

The truth is that I’ve been to Lubbock, Texas, only once –  flying into its airport, having coffee in a small cafe with a friend, and then driving two hours to the West and into New Mexico, where I visited that friend at Eastern New Mexico University in Portalis.  Ever since, I’ve wondered what I missed in the birthplace of legendary rock and roller, Buddy Holly.  One day, I’m sure, I’ll return, settle into one of the hotels Lubbock has available for its tourists, and take a better look at this city and the Buddy Holly Center.

The Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock has a mission to provide programs and exhibits on Texas Music and contemporary visual arts.  One of its goals is to help encourage public interest where art and music come together, helping to build the creative community.   The center preserves and collects artifacts that relate to Buddy Holly as well as other performing artists in West Texas.  Currently, the center is presenting Buddy’s Bedroom, an exhibit that opened just a few weeks ago in the Texas Musicians Hall of Fame.  If you go, you’ll be able to see Holly’s bedroom suite as it was in 1955, complete with bed, bookcase headboard, a dresser and a mirror.  The furniture was purchased by Buddy Holly’s parents and remained at their home in Lubbock until the 1990s; for last ten years, the furniture was in the hands of private collectors.  Recently, in September 2009, Civic Lubbock, Incorporated, bought the furniture from a Wisconsin collector and gave it to the Center, putting it on permanent loan.

Considered a pioneer of rock, Buddy Holly was born as Charles Hardin Holley in 1936 and died in an airplane crash in 1959 at the age of 23, after a year and a half as a successful musician.  Some critics have called him one of the most influential forces of creativity in rock and roll and his influence spread among a great variety of groups, including The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and many others.  As recently as 2004, Holly was ranked number thirteen by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the fifty greatest artists of all time.  If you’re traveling to or through Lubbock, you may well choose to stay a few days and explore these early days of rock and roll history.

It’s easy to imagine someone having a great time in Singapore.  It really doesn’t matter who, because this place has something fascinating, exciting, or simply splendid, for anyone, of all ages, from all backgrounds.  It is an enormously interesting city state with a plethora of activities and attractions, and it never seems to run out of new things to see and do.  It’s probably because the diversity of the population adds extra creative sparks and energy to everything that happens here, and the openness to other nations and cultures is reflected in the art, science, and commerce.  It’s long history as a major world port certainly helps to contribute to its global sensibility.  After splendid just a bit of time here, however, might make you start to wonder if Singapore is the place that gave the definition to global sensibility.

There’s certainly a lot to find here, and a lot of things are possible here that simply aren’t possible anywhere else.  Outside of India, this may be the best place in the world for Indian cuisine, and sometimes it even rivals its place of origin.  It’s very easy to find an excellent Indian restaurant, there’s no question about it, and there’s a very large population here that’s descended from India.  This is a fantastic place to get to know Singapore, but also a great place to get to know about India’s contributions to world culture.  Many people might know about European influences on astronomy, but in the so-called western world it may be less understood how much Indian astronomers have influenced the  way we all look at the starts today.

The Astronomical Society of Singapore is a wonderful place to learn about astronomy in general, but it’s also a great way to learn about the history of this fascinating science.  They are dedicated to promoting interest in astronomy, particularly observational astronomy, for all levels of scholarship.  They are a very lively and active group, and their work helps to bridge the gaps between culture and science, and introduce ways of learning about the skies that we all share.

The Balearic Islands are located off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. There are four main islands and these include the largest of them Majorca, which is also the most heavily populated and receives the greatest number of tourists every year. The second largest island is its near by neighbor, which is appropriately called Minorca. Ibiza is the third largest of these main Balearic Islands and is also popular with tourists. Formentera is the smallest of the islands and used to only be accessed by ferry. It is easily reached from Ibiza and it is extremely common for the guests staying in one of the hotels Ibiza to take a day’s visit to Formentera as part of their stay.

Each of the islands is unique in its atmosphere and specific social and cultural offerings. The islands enjoy a particular and distinct orientation to tourist exploration and while Majorca receives the greatest number of tourists, its population of visitors is also the most diverse. The reasons people visit this island and its capital city of Palma vary greatly and some of the guests are interested in beach activities while others are more interested in the cultural aspects of the island.

Ibiza is the third largest of the islands though it is second in tourist visitation popularity. It is known throughout the world for its tremendous club scene and the two main towns on the island, Ibiza Town and San Antonio have some of the greatest dance and party clubs in the international scene. It is not uncommon for celebrities to be seen in some of these clubs and on the beautiful beaches and some famous personalities even own houses and villas on Ibiza. The cultural atmosphere of the island is laid back and inviting and while the clubs and night life are definite tourist attractions, the geographic wonders and historic landmarks and relics are also attractive and to a larger population of visitors.