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Many Occasions for Costumes

Everyone’s mind is turning towards Halloween at this time of year (except for those strange people who are already starting their Christmas shopping). Decorations, candy-buying, and costume rental are many to do lists in October. However, there are plenty of occasions throughout the year when costumes are called for, not just October 31st.

Many business and charities throw costume parties and balls throughout the year. It’s a way to encourage partygoers truly relax and enjoy themselves. Mardi Gras is a popular season for costumes as parades and balls happen in New Orleans and other cities. Another popular excuse for putting on a costume is historical reenactments such as Renaissance Fairs, Pioneer Days, or Founders Day festivities. Donning the garb of historical eras can be an enlightening, and entertaining, experience.

There’s always the other holidays as a dress up excuse. Santa may need a Mrs. Claus and as many elves and reindeer as he can find, but there’s really only need for one Easter Bunny, one Uncle Sam, one Honest Abe and one Cupid at a time. Still, each holiday can be turned into a excuse for a costume party simply by turning the holiday itself into a theme and seeing what guests choose to wear.

Tags: cupid

Afterhours in Boston

Visitors to Boston complain about the club and bar scene closing at 2am. This is due to an ancient, out dated Puritan law that states all Bostonian’s need to behave like prudes. It will be a very long time for this creed to change in Boston, but there are other interesting, safe and fun things to do after 2am.

Rise Afterhours located at 306 Stuart Street, between Berkeley and Arlington Street, is a steadfast afterhour’s club where you can immerse yourself, even if for a few hours, in a different and almost magical realm. It’s open on Friday and Saturday night at 1am to 6am. Most late night Bostonians go to Rise after a hard night of drinking to sober up as they dance, till the sun rises, to some of the hottest, latest club tunes.

Apollo Grill restaurant, located at 84 Harrison Avenue in Chinatown is a hidden treasure. It’s perfect for grabbing some food after spending all night at a bar. Apollo’s is open till 4am. It has consistently good Korean food.

New York Pizza, located on the corner of Tremont Street and Stuart Street, stays open till 3am on Friday and Saturday nights. The pizza is amazing and really helps to sober you up if you’ve had one-too-many drinks. During the summer, the joint is jammed-packed with the afterhour’s crowd ordering pizza by the box or by the slice. There’s a Boston hotel within walking distance and you’ll see many hotel guests ordering the pizza to take back to their rooms. Across the street is a 7/11 convenience store where you can get a cup of coffee or hot chocolate while you’re waiting for your pizza.

Tags: boston hotel

Aspen Music Festival, Filmfest in Colorado

Have you ever wondered what went on in skiing towns when there was no skiing? If you’re looking for a place to stay among the luxury hotels Colorado provides, you might consider the St. Regis Aspen Resort in order to find out. In Aspen, when the snow is not piling up, you may turn to music, film, and even opera. Aspen is the home of the Aspen Music Festival as well as the Aspen Filmfest, and you don’t have to like opera to go to the Wheeler Opera House, because the house also provides rock singers, such as Sheryl Crow, to stand-up comedians, such as Jerry Seinfeld.

The Aspen Music Festival is thought of as a top level training and performing arena for the planet’s new and rising professional musicians. The festival presents to the public over 350 musical events in eight weeks and also operates as a summer retreat for some of the greatest musicians in the world. Focused on classical music, you’ll hear recitals featuring symphonic and chamber music.

The Aspen Filmfest arrives in the last part of September since 1979, receiving over 30,000 guests each year. But the Filmfest operates in other parts of the year, as well. Currently, the organization is about to hold the 19th edition of Aspen Shortfest, an event honoring short films, from April 6 to April 11. You may also arrange for tickets at their website for their 32nd festival later this year.

The Wheeler Opera House operates the full year, so even after skiing, you might come here to see a movie or a live show. Recent shows include Barrage, a kind of high-energy fiddle festival, with an international cast that performs with music, song and dance; the Crystal Palace Revue, which is an Aspen tradition of satiric cabaret-style performances and songs; the Asylum Street Spankers, one of the most distinctive groups in America, which features banjo picking and singing and gospel music in the first half of the show, and a wilder side in the second half of the show. This latter group formed after a party in Llano, Texas, and its founders come out of a country-blues revival act that used to play happy hours in bars in Austin. The band is comprised of about forty musicians.

Tags: aspen filmfest

Manhattan Story with Sea Themes

This is the part of the story where there is nowhere left to swim, and there is only a sea of buildings as far as the eye can see. Sometimes the view of the perfect skyscraper is interrupted with people, and once in awhile a friendly face. Most of the time, it’s a sort of shadow theatre, where there are memories of her everywhere among the manhattan hotels new york is a living memory of the things that happen on skin, on palms, and stories written with fingernails in the middle of the dawn when no words are left to fall.

She would be a swimming metaphor, if she hadn’t been everything but a metaphor. On some nights here, I wish she were a metaphor, and on others it makes sense that this city is a place where people go to fall in love, where they return for a honeymoon, or where they go to find some solitude, and time away from the noise of the sea. Sometimes there are Scottish roots that come through the city streets, and carried along by the pieces of hearts that have been lost in the harbor. Despite the city that takes over everything here, it is still a place on the water.

Despite myself, I still can’t shake the idea that when we swim far enough so that the land disappears then we’ll have a better idea of who we’re supposed to be. For now, I’m in a city, reinventing myself, looking for clues about my own identity. On 14th street and looking at all the shops selling hair ties and wind-up toys, I’m always running past mirrors. At one time I would have kept walking, because there are moments when reflections should be hidden from the reflector, but these days I suspect I will see clues, but only see her face, and that might be the most important clue I ever had.

Tags: we swim

Song and Family Go Together in Lowell

Tags: hotel in Lowell, Merrimack Repertory Theatre

Seattle Loves Hendrix

After my visit to Snoqualmie Falls, which is located about 40 minutes away from Seattle by bus, I wanted to go see the Jimi Hendrix memorial. Getting there took a lot longer than expected, I had to change buses 3 times, but it was well worth the trouble. (Thank goodness for the travel directory!) The memorial, which is located in Renton, is very impressive. I could see lip marks on Jimi Hendrix’s image of his face. There were a lot of messages written around the monument commending Jimi for his work to promote peace, love and freedom; it seems that a lot of people not only loved him for his music, but for his beliefs.

I returned back to downtown Seattle and headed to some bars. I really like how many Microbreweries are here, their pub like qualities made me feel at home. I stopped off at the Pike Brewhouse, which is located underneath the Pike Fish Market, it was just like being in an English pub and the beer was really good. I walked back to my hotel, which I booked online just before I arrived here, I found my Seattle hotel, at this site and I got a great deal on my room because I booked it online. I took a quick shower and grabbed a short nap, then headed back out to Seattle Central.

There are a few museums there, the Space Needle and the Experience Music Project. I bought tickets for the EMP and that place is wicked cool, I loved it. Especially the Jimi Hendrix exhibit, which was very extensive and informative. Plus, they had a great collection of Hendrix memorabilia, like the costumes he actually wore on stage, his smashed guitars and many other items. I also liked the exhibit that showed the evolution of the guitar, there were hundreds of models showing the changes since its inception.

My ticket to the EMP also got me into the Science Fiction museum, which is right next door, but I’m not much for science fiction, so I wasn’t to interested in the exhibits. Needless to say, I didn’t stay long. The Space Needle was next to that, so I thought I’d check it out and maybe get some lunch. The revolving restaurant is at the top of the Space Needle and since I purchased a ticket for the observation deck, I also got to have lunch. The view would have been amazing, I’m sure, but it was a pretty cloudy and foggy day, so I really couldn’t see much. My lunch was good though.

It was time to go back to my hotel and pack, I’ll be catching a flight to San Diego at 7pm.

Tags: Jimi Hendrix memorial, Seattle hotel, Snoqualmie Falls

Gone with the Wind in Marietta

Fifteen miles to the Northwest of Atlanta and South of the North Georgia mountains, you’ll find the town of Marietta.  Founded in 1834, one hundred and seventy-six years ago, the town enables travelers to take a look at the Civil War and the Confederacy through a number of sites, such as the Marietta Confederate Cemetery, the Marietta Museum of History, and the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.  However, a quick check of the area will show any prospective visitor that Marietta is also the home of a number of amusement theme parks, such as Six Flags White Water and American Adventures Park and Mountasia Family Funcenter.  For classic movie lovers, though, one of the most interesting places to see in Marietta must be the Gone with the Wind Museum.

Most people have seen the film, Gone with the Wind, and some have even read the Margaret Mitchell novel.  James Cameron’s Avatar may now be the record holder for the most money ever made by a film (somewhere in the range of two billion and climbing, at the time of this writing); however, Gone with the Wind still holds the record for the most tickets sold; in a time of inflation and recession, isn’t that a more reliable method of determining the success or popularity of any given film?  In 2003, the Gone with the Wind Museum was established to give people a place to celebrate this beloved work of fiction.  It features primarily the collection of one man, Dr. Chris Sullivan.

Sullivan saw the film when he was in sixth grade and from that moment on he began collecting artifacts, such as a 1936 printing of the book signed by the author.  He’s collection hundreds of items related to the film and book, including the bengaline gown that Vivien Leigh wore as Scarlett O’Hara.  Sullivan decided to display his collection in order to share the items with the rest of the world.  The museum draws in international patronage, with visitors from all fifty states and forty-one countries finding their way to the museum.  In the last seven years, the passion of this endocrinologist from Akron, Ohio, has given the fans of one of the great movies of the twentieth century a place to call home.  To experience it yourself, come to Marietta, stay a few days and see all that the town offers.  For the best places to stay, click here.

Tags: Gone with the Wind Museum, http://www.mariettahotel.net, Marietta Museum of History

Gavin Russom: Ibiza Listening

There’s really nothing in the world like clubbing in Ibiza.  It’s the hot spot on the planet for parties that last all night, with pounding rhythms that keep the crowds dancing  until the sun comes up.  The beaches are fantastic, too, of course, set in a Mediterranean paradise that has attracted visitors for centuries.  The Castilian and Catalan languages are heard all over the island, reminding the party-goers that this has been home to a rich blend of cultures for centuries.  The old fishing villages that are now the party capital of the world add to the weight of history of the place, and the contemporary scene is evidence that this island is constantly evolving.

One of the main attractions here is the music, and some of the world’s hottest djs find their homes in our fantastic selection of clubs.  There are special events that go on all year, and the summer is when they really reach their peak, attracting rave fans and celebrities from all over the globe.  In the midst of the blur of the excitement, there is a keen sense of sound, and the crowds know when something is working.  This is why the work of the electronic music wizard Gavin Russom is a talent that even the most jaded Ibiza locals can appreciate.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island in the U.S. and currently based in Berlin, Gavin Russom has had a rather remarkable career, considering his young age.  He honed his musical and performance art chops performing for all the right crowds at all the right haunts in New York City, when he worked with one of his long-time collaborators, Delia Gonzalez.  His early love for machine music, fueled with a remarkable musical sensibility (and sometimes working as a dj, bringing his particular wizardry to spinning), makes him a talent to watch.  His current release, Black Meteoric Star, gives a sense of the depth of his mastery of matching electronic beats to the rhythms of the body in shamanic trance, suggesting a direction for his own future as his audiences dance to their own shifting consciousnesses.

Tags: Delia Gonzalez, Gavin Russom, Ibiza, Listening

The Natural History Museum of Mauritius Island

The history of the settlement and the population of the island of Mauritius is expansive, covering many years and many different occupations by many different countries and cultures.  This is one of the aspects that has contributed to the cultural diversity of the island today.  The modern times always reflect the past, and the evidence of this is seen in everything from the art and architecture, to the species of both plant and animal that now inhabit the island, to the people themselves.

And as such is the fact with cities or countries so steeped in culture, such is true on the island, and that is that there are a number of museums that are dedicated to exhibited the artifacts and relics of the historical times, as well as concerned with expanding the knowledge of the visitors that come to tour.  The National History Museum is one such place.  The art, the history and the culture is displayed at the museum through the fast collection of these artifacts.

The museum is located conveniently close to the Jardin de la Compagnie,  on the first level of the Mauritius Institute Building close to many luxury hotels.  Mauritius museums are maintained by Museums Council in the middle of the Port Louis city center.  The council is the corporate body of the Ministry of Arts and Culture.  The museums roots began in 1942, with the establishment of the Desjardins Museum, of which the History Museum has become the oldest museum on the island of Mauritius, as well as being one of the oldest in the entire region of South Africa.

The Institute Building was built between the years of 1880 and 1884 and is now on the list of the National Heritage Sites.  The design is taken directly from the Sri Lankan Colombo Museum.   The collection includes incredible examples of the artwork that has had so varied a cultural influence, and is one of the most popular sites for tourists with a penchant for history.

Tags: Animals, Jardin de la Compagnie, luxury hotels, Mauritius Island, Sri Lankan Colombo Museum, The Natural History Museum

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