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Creating a Good Case, A Great One…Rather

Any successful Las Vegas law firm will understand through intuition, business savvy, and an incredible program, the importance of surrounding themselves with not only a staff of skilled and talented employees, but surrounding themselves with a diversity of operating mechanisms, meaning people who go about attending to challenges and problems in a variety of manners.  What is necessary for the success of any court case, any business, any company, or any aspect of life really, is the ability to adapt to an ever changing environment. 

When a lawyer begins to put together their team, they must become aware to the fact, that while like attracts like, different is necessary.  In order to successfully solve any problem, linear thinking must converge with creative ideas.  Machiavelli made observations in the 1400′s about human behavior, noticing that while a problem may be easy to cure, it may be difficult to diagnose.  Much like taking an aspirin for a headache…sure the headache may disappear, but what caused it may remain, under the surface and ready to emerge again at any given moment.  

One way we all go about become diverse, is to learn a new skill.  There are workshops in drawing for writers, and writing for draftsman.  This brings one in touch with different coping mechanisms and ways in which one will find options and solutions when confronted with the ups and downs, not only of the world of litigation, but of life in general.  Logical skills include effective time management and the assessment of short versus long term goals. 

Also included is in one’s ability to learn new skills in areas in which they may not be familiar.  One perfect combination is intuition and data.  Gut feelings are accurate, as long as emotions are not involved.  Intuition is best backed up with data, and vice-versa.  It is a delicate balance, but one that is easy to attain.

Tags: Creating a Good Case A Great One Rather, Logical skills, Machiavelli, savvy, Vegas law firm

Culture in Jakarta

We thought a nice place to start our tour of Jakarta would be the National Museum a wonderful cultural outpost featuring of carved objects, instruments, and statues made of bronze. There are over 100,000 objects in the museum, so we were told, and one can visit an exhaustive collection of historical relics. Many Jakarta hotels advise starting here. I really enjoyed the Prehistory room which explores ancient fossils of man, dating back almost one million years. Many of the artifacts in this part of the museum were found in human burial sites, which adds to their significance. Some are ceramic, others carved from wood and from bronze. Large numbers of people emigrated from the Asian mainland around two thousand BC, were they were able to build structures and raise cattle and rice and settled into villages where they were able to develop their culture.

The museum also has an incredible Treasure Room where they keep gold artifacts along with precious stones and other metals. A recent discovery is on display here, one in which farmers discovered valuables in a field. These are on display along with 2000 other objects. There are also many stone sculptures, many discovered in Sumatra. Many of the carvings are of religious significance, and carved of sandstone and limestone.

Many rare and valuable coins and and foreign currencies are on display in the Numismatic section. the coins eventually were replace by paper currency, and currency from former kingdoms like Jambi and Banten had their own money and that can be seen here too. During the colonial period, the colonizers including the Dutch and the British and the Portuguese and the Japanese all had their own currency. This was during the sixteenth to twentieth centuries. It;s hard to think that coins were once actually made of gold!

Tags: Jakarta hotels, National Museum, Sumatra

Ibiza Serenity

We found an Internet cafe and we were able to send some photos back to friends of our day at the beaches of Ibiza. Then we gathered up and had a light lunch and a lot of water and returned to our room for a quick nap, getting ready, we giggled, for a night of Ibiza opening parties. We rousted up and had a shower and went to Cafe del Mar to watch the incredible sunset. We had paella with lots of prawns and sausage and red wine and a small dish of house made ice cream for dessert then went for a walk down the beach, then to the harbor. We then went to the old historic part of the city. We had clubbed it for a few days now and looked forward to a quiet and serene evening, just missing one of the Espuma parties at a club called Amnesia where the club becomes  filled with foam and people get soaked. We thought though tonight we’d investigate a few of the fifty beaches on the island and we watched the moon come up in the Mediterranean Sea, just out of earshot of the throbbing nightlife of Ibiza.

The next day Sally had hurt her foot so we grabbed a couple Segways and made our way up the cobbled street. We were both familiar with their operation so we didn’t need lessons on how to operate them. Lean a bit forward and there you go forward, lean back and you go back. Handlebars right you go right and left to correct back again to the left. It’s easy. It was easy on our feet too as the machine smoothed out the bumpy scenic street and took them all the way to the top of Dalt Vila, the old town of Ibiza.

Tags: Amnesia, Cafe del Mar, Ibiza opening parties, Ibiza Serenity

Gem and Mineral Show, Tucson, AZ

Tucson, Arizona is host to two gem shows a year. The main one that has been going on for more than 60 year is held in February annually. More recently there has been a smaller second show that i now taking place in mid-September. The winter show is much larger and goes on for a longer period of time then the fall show. The winter how begin the lat weekend in January with the opening of some ‘early’ shows. The subsequent weeks more shows open as other shows close with the majority of the shows being open the beginning to the middle of Feb. The show fall off in number and size however do continue until the end of the month. The convention center show in downtown Tucson is the ‘event that started it all’ so to speak. Over 60 year ago the city hosted an international gem and mineral show. Only natural considering all the mining in Arizona. The event was small and modest by today’s standard. Over the years other shows developed in conjunction with the convention center show in hotels and conference centers around town. Today nearly every hotel, convention center and vacant lot becomes a market for gem, minerals, fossil specimens, imported art and craft and almost anything else you can think of in the line of import good. Hotels rent out rooms to vendor who use them to sell their wears. Lawns around pools, court yards, parking lot all go to the use of marketing good. The vendors come from all over the world representing mining concerns from every continent. Specimen and people come in from everywhere to by as well. I have met folk from all around, people buying for Australia spa resorts looking for message stones to collector filling out their collections to buyer for retail location stocking up on inventory. There are rock crystal specimen taller than a 6 foot man to fine faceted sparkling gem stones. The quality range is just a vast from the finest to industrial grade.

Tags: AZ, Gem and Mineral Show, spa resort, Tucson

Creating My Own Reality

Can we actually create our own reality? Some say that our thinking is what shapes the reality we live in. It effects our jobs, relationships, our wealth or lack of. It is all based on our thinking? For me I have been focused on simplifying my life for a long time. I have downsized the places I live in lessened my mortgage all of this while in a society going crazy on upgrading, getting bigger houses, cars and more and more of everything tangible. I am not sure what the goals of these folks are. Perhaps they are mistaken in the belief that happiness and contentedness are come from being in control of a lot of possession? The Buddhist philosophy of more you possess the more you are possessed it so real. Your possessions possess you! Your possessions must be maintained, protected, perhaps stored, insured, cleaned, moved around and on and on. For me possessions are a weight simply weighing me down. Now don;t get me wrong I have things and as far as I am concerned too many things. However I posses far less then the average American and am constantly thinking about what I can do with out. I also give thought to new purchases. Will I really use the item, is it necessary or not? If it isn’t necessary why do I want it? After all these questions it doesn’t mean I never acquire, but when I do acquire something new I have a better perspective on why I want it. Also a deeper appreciation for having it as the thinking that went into acquiring it. While having dinner with a friend at a 5 star Mallorca hotel I was asked why I choose this way of living. I answered simply – I am happiest when things are kept simple and clear.

Tags: Buddhist, Creating My Own Reality, hotel

Valentin Torrens, Performance Artist in Barcelona

Savvy world travelers know that five star Barcelona hotels mean a heavenly trip in a fantastic city.  Our hotels are distinctive in their attention to detail, detail in our decor, and detail in your comfort and satisfaction.  The sumptuous accommodations will help to rejuvenate the body and mind, so that the city can be truly enjoyed with all the senses sharpened.  We have all the usual excellent amenities that meet or exceed the highest standards in the industry, and one can certainly expect amazing food served by our top chefs, splendid exercise facilities to keep the body in tune with the spirit, and a warmth and hospitality that is peculiar to Spain.

Barcelona is one of the largest cities in the country, and all of Europe, and has a reputation for being one of the main centers for art and commerce in the world.  It has attracted great minds for centuries, and this is no different today.  Interesting new movements in performance and visual arts speak to a local and global audience here.  Valentin Torrens brings visual art and performance together in his eclectic and fascinating body of work.  He is not only an artist, but Torrens is also working as an educator, compiling materials to teach performance to the next generations.

Born in 1951, he has been an active participant in the performance art world since the 1980s.  Based in Barcelona, he performs all over the planet, provoking and engaging audiences with his complex and intriguing vision.  He also works as an installation artist, and as an organizer, bringing together performance artists from all over to participate in group works and festivals. In one particular performance in Spain, Valentin Torrens used card tricks to lure audiences into his work, which challenges perception and the notion of realness.  This combined with other radical actions, and was then layered with projection work which all worked to give a complexly-layered evening, where multiple versions of reality conflicted with each other.  It is highly evocative work, and anyone spending time in Barcelona should seek out work by this artist.

Tags: Barcelona, five star hotels, Performance Artist, Valentin Torrens

Enjoyable Perth

Wow, Perth is a long way from anywhere, located, as they say, on the other side of Australia, and it took a couple flights to get here. Once there, however, and stay at any of the hotels Perth offers, it will feel like a wonderful, comfortable city. We immediately went to the beach that morning and swam for the first time in the Indian Ocean! We got cleaned up and went to Fremantle taking the train and hung out on the pier for coffee and fish and chips. We went down to the ferry terminal and watched the boats and fed the birds.

At King’s Park there’s essentially a botanical garden and park for the public with nice city views and and you can see the Swan River. We saw many beautiful plants including the Kangaroo Paw. Apparently they are very popular with home gardeners. We spent the rest of the day catching up on museums in Freemantle, and we really liked the shipwreck museum, also known as the Western Australia Museum-Maritime a collection of shipwrecks from that part of Australia. Looks there’s some treacherous water around here given all the exhibits along with a submarine called the HMAS Ovens. When I saw ovens and submarine, I immediately thought of the sandwich and got hungry. There seemed to be a lot of Dutch ships here (some timbers from Dutch ship from 1629! Man, that’s old) and a restored steam engine that sat underwater for over a hundred years and has been restored.

Back downtown, the city is laid out in grid fashion and the Wellington Rail Station and nearby is the entrance to London Court that’s made to look like England from the Tudor period, with jousting knights and bonging clock chimes. There’s beautiful theaters here too, and churches in this beautiful city.

Tags: Enjoyable Perth, hotels Perth, King's Park, Western Australia Museum-Maritime

Ibiza Film Festival

When considering the perfect vacation spot in a boutique hotel, Ibiza certainly comes to mind.  This lovely Balearic island has a long reputation for its incredible beaches and lively surf life.  Although there are a stunning array of dance clubs, with some of the most vibrant night life in all of Europe, there is much more to Ibiza than the parties.  There is a fascinating history to the place, and an emerging arts culture that embraces the best of the new and celebrates the achievements of the past.  Our boutique hotels are a wonderful place to begin this adventure, and jump into the cultural scene in style and comfort.

One sign of life in any place is a solid film community, who actively watch, make, and discuss new works of cinematic art.  Ibiza is entering this field with its own Ibiza Film Festival.  Its now in its third year, and has had a very impressive beginning, with some of the industry’s most interesting names connected to the festival.  This is part of an initiative to begin showing Ibiza’s other sides to the world at large, and as far as film culture goes, this is a rather auspicious start.  With an impressive list of events, guests, and of course, film viewings, the festival follows the usual format of other festivals.  However, it is Ibiza, and the pace is different here, so the events can often go into the wee hours of the morning.

The film selection is excellent, showing works from all around the globe, with emphasis on local work, film in Spanish from the Americas and Spain, and classic films.  The list of patrons is exceptionally well-chosen, with names like Bigas Luna, Antonio Isasi, John Hurt, Nacho Cano, and Angela Molina.  This past year saw the likes of Cuba Gooding presiding over the jury selection.  In an interesting twist of cinematic double-take, the Ibiza Film Festival created the Vicente Ribas Prize, an award that goes to another film festival for its work in promoting world cinema.  This last year’s award went to the Berlinale Festival, and Berlin’s Dieter Kosslick was on hand to collect the award.  This is a remarkable show of solidarity with the film community, in recognizing excellence in global cinema while also creating another space for it.

Tags: Film Festival, hotels, Ibiza

International Volunteerism

Opportunity to help abound at home and abroad abound. What could be more rewarding than volunteer service in another country. The opportunity to experience another culture, language and customs while helping out our fellow man. Not simply the obvious and well known organizations like the Red Cross or the Peace Corps offer international service, but there are lesser know yet powerful organizations like Heiffer International which has progrms and training to prepare someone for an over seas volunteer service experience. In Kerala, India you can help care for a mentally challenged child while getting in some relaxation in at Kerala resorts. If traveling isn’t for you there is always Kiva where no interest loans can be extended to entrepreneurs in third world countries thus aiding in their ability to grow their business. With Kiva you can select the entrepreneur to loan to by geographic locals, by gender or by the type of business the loan is to be used for. The gratification of this type of giving specifically when done selflessly goes beyond any amount of money. This type of giving is the First Paramita, paramita is Sanskrit for perfect or perfection. The paramita refers to the perfection or culmination of certain virtues. The First Paramita refers to the perfection of giving or generosity. This perfection is characterized by unattachment and unconditional generosity. Dana can be a religious act focusing the giving on to the monastic community or a spiritually developed person. In Buddhist thinking it has the effect of purifying past karma. Perfecting dana brings auspicious rebirth into happy states and material wealth. The reverse leads to unhappy states and poverty. The idea being the more we give, without any expectation for return, the more will be available to the giver. Thus creating a life free from the worry of need

Tags: First Paramita, Heiffer International, International Volunteerism, Kerala resorts, kiva

A day in Mumbai

We booked our first few nights, as we were unfamiliar with hotels in Mumbai and we felt great having it all set up for us. We had taken a crazy ride from the airport by taxicab and opted for a fast nap to power us up. We went out to check out the markets. Tiny wanted to feed the cows, so we bought some grass and meal balls to feed them. One very dark cow caught our eye (I’m sure it knew) and Tiny fed the cow with its long eye lashes. We got hungry now as since no cows were going to feed us we settled in to a little place that was nothing more than a shack really and had a plate of lentils, naan bread and some chutney and some rice. Yum.

We met a couple from Australia and they told us to be very careful what we ate and to drink bottled water. Bottled mineral water is inexpensive. They were careful andcautious, reminding us to take the Larium we had for Malaria prevention. We popped into an Internet cafe and then walked a bit more, taking in the heat and the honking horns. We all agreed to have dinner at Leopolds and had large pitchers of beers. Our Australian friends from Brisbane were going to show us how to drink! Place was nice with a unique ambiance on the heart of the tourist district of Coloba. It feels like being back in colonial days as it opens onto the street. And our friends got fish and chips! Lots of backpackers here, it must be in many guide books. Great gin and tonics too! My chicken korma was good, the chapati hot and we all had a rocking good time! I hope if we go to Australia we don’t have hamburgers, I kidded our new friends!

Tags: hotels, Leopolds, Mumbai, naan bread