Bob Travel

When I had the idea, I couldn’t understand why no one had ever thought of it before, and didn’t take the time to look it up before I acted on it.  I just started to get ready to go.  I’ve been preparing to live in Manhattan ever since I realized that I could move out of my home town.  I nurtured it, then, from a very young age, but hadn’t had the perfect idea until now.  My playing was very good, and I do live, breathe, and sleep the electric guitar.  I know I’m not alone, because anyone who’s ever been a teenager, or considered it, has something of this in their past.  I was also very fast and very loud and I still knew that this wasn’t enough.

In New York, they say, you gotta have a gimmick.  And I finally had one.  I booked a room in a New York cheap hotel, had my guitar and a good-sized extension chord that I’d dug out of my dad’s garage, an old pair of ice skates, and the main thing, which was a block of ice.  My plan was to play on the corner near the hotel, wearing the ice skates and standing on the ice, and when the ice melted, the performance would be over.  It was a cool idea, I had thought.

Only there were a few problems.  First, I had not booked far enough into the spring, and it was near 34 degrees most of the day, and for ice to melt, it needs sun, and it was dark and windy.  It didn’t melt for a very long time, even though I was grinding it and sometimes kicking the ice with my skates.  The other big problem, of course, was, as one passer-by noted, “Laurie Anderson has already done that.”  I did not realize, until I read about her Duets on Ice, and then realized that I probably read about it somewhere, and stolen the idea.  There was one other little issue, and that was the fraying in the extension chord.  Ice will melt, and when it does, it might not respond to electricity the way you’d like it to, and small electric shocks were running through my idea-stealing hands.

Skipper had just found out he did get the job he had auditioned for in Charlotte, North Carolina. At first he almost couldn’t believe his luck, but his mother was quick to remind him that it was his skill and professionalism that won him the position, and that luck had nothing to do it with it. Of course this was hard for Skip to believe, well at least in entirely because there were so few professional symphony positions available and so many, so very many musicians trying to fill them that he knew many of them possessed equal or greater talent to his and had at least a competitive experience level. He had no idea what caused the music directors and conductors to award positions to whomever they eventually chose but it certainly never seemed like having a bit of luck wouldn’t help.

He remembered well the day last month he was in Charlotte for the audition. Click here to see some Charlotte hotels similar to that he stayed in. It was a beautiful morning and he felt like he was in a solid place to perform. The concerto he had worked on, and played with his local symphony last year, was feeling like it was at a great place. He sipped his morning coffee in the resort café and though he was careful not to drink too much, he didn’t want to become nervous or worse create shaking hands, he thoroughly enjoyed his morning caffeine.

After the audition he went straight to the North Carolina Zoo, which he had preplanned to do. He enjoyed the short drive and was happy to get out of town and be in the open air. He always had a relaxing yet interesting and attention-diverting place to go after auditions, which helped him to not be too critical. He liked to observe and judge his performances, but he tried not to analyze auditions immediately after them because his well being always received a severe blow. So, he remarked at the beauty of the zebras and thought how fortunate they were to have such fabulous and distinctive stripes.

Curtis needed to make a change. And by that I mean a major change. I have known him for over four years and for most of that time I have heard him state a variation of the phrase, “man, I really need a change.” The interesting part of this is that he has lived in the same studio apartment and worked at the same job the entire time I have known him. In fact, it’s when I began working for the company that we first met. In Curtis’ defense, I will say that he has dated three different women in the time that I have known him, so that has changed some, although they all had blonde hair, so there wasn’t that much of a change.

With all of the above information in mind, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise when I add to it that he recently quit his job and moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration, he didn’t actually quit his job but requested a relocation transfer and moved as soon as it was granted. What is really strange is that Curtis has only been in Atlanta once before and that was six months ago when he stayed in one of the hotels Atlanta while looking for a house to rent. It turns out that Curtis had finally decided he was going to move to another city and actually had it narrowed down to a choice between Chicago, Illinois and Denver, Colorado. So, how did he end up in Atlanta? It’s a good question, but not as good as the answer.

It turns out that Curtis had narrowed down his choice of cities two years ago and was just never able make a final decision. One day he decided he had had enough of this and was simply going to flip a coin. Just as he dug out a quarter an old friend from high school called him. He told his friend his dilemma and how he had decided to leave it to chance when his friend jokingly told him he should just move to Atlanta, where he lived. And that was all it took. A didn’t believe he would actually go through with all of this until the day he cleaned out his desk and the next day I saw him drive off with his U-haul. And now I’m left here missing him and am toying with the idea of submitting my own change of location request.

There is breakfast in bed waiting for you at one of the beautiful hotels around Hartford Connecticut. After you have woken up from a good nights sleep and had your breakfast its time to get out and city the sites. This is the city were Katharine Hepburn was born. It was a very different city when she was born and it is certainly a different city of one of her famous films, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Yes this small town girl ended up being considered the greatest female star of the American film industry. She ended up with the record of four Oscar Awards out of twelve nominations for Best Actress.

Hepburn was so well known for being such a headstrong independent woman. Maybe her father had something to do with that. Her father insisted that his daughters be athletic which drove Hepburn to be the best at it all. During the filming of her movies, she often did her own stunts, most noted in the film Bringing Up Baby. She developed her skills as an actress during her college studies at Bryn Mawr. Her clumsy start in early shows and her non-conformist attitude off the set, a few in the industry didn’t think she would ever become a big star. Until the Oscar Awards came rolling in. The first was for Morning Glory, then Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, then The Lion in Winter and the On Golden Pond. Of course there were plenty of flops in between but there were also many nominations and a couple wins for the Golden Globe Award, Emmy Awards, Tony Award and BAFTA Award.

In her life, Katharine Hepburn became quite the humanitarian. She was always encouraging others to take care of each other. In her later years she traveled to many foreign countries to help others who were sick and had nothing. In Hartford area you can visit the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center as well as take tours of the homes and places that her and her family spent time in. Her modest grave is also here and can be visited.

Step inside a room at one of the nice hotels Irvine has in store for you and then step out into the fresh air and have some fun. There are some nice parks in the area that will guarantee a fine day spent outside. Currently there is the Preview Park that is featuring The Great Park Balloon. This is a helium balloon that takes on passengers to soar hundreds of feet of the ground giving breathtaking views of the park and its surrounding area. They have recently updated the balloon and it should be ready to serve for a few years now. There have been over 100,000 people who have been lifted up in the previous balloon.

There are some other great experiences to see and do. Kooza by Cirque du Soleil will be in hosted at the park through February 14 2010. The story KOOZA is about an innocent loner who is trying to find his place in the world. As in outstanding Cirque du Soleil fashion the story is told with acrobatics, clowning costumes and brilliant lights and music. It is a special feature not to be missed. Other shows that come to the park are summer concerts featuring all styles of music from all over the world. There is also a Comedy Corner that has been a real hit with the locals.

There is a new section of the Great Park that is still under construction and you can see the plans at the Preview Park. They are converting the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into and extension of the park. There will be a man-made lake and agricultural farming areas, plenty of gardens and wildlife areas and also a sports park to enjoy. They have done a special homecoming for the marines and their families who were here when it was a functioning base. They had the opportunity to give oral histories as well as public histories. They will continue to honor the site in the future building of the park.

While luxury may be one of the last things you might think about regarding a trip to Alaska, it’s what you’ll find if you stay in one of the luxury hotels Alaska can offer travelers bound for colder climates.  Whether you’re headed to Juneau or Anchorage, Fairbanks, Sitka, or even Wasilla, you’ll find the right place to meet your needs and enable you to explore the wilderness and cities of America’s largest, most northern state.

In my youth, I spent a lot of time in the Northwest, and my brother once traveled to Alaska with a high school group, touring the glaciers and bays.  His description of that trip was one of my first introductions to the state.  Years later, one of my friends moved to Fairbanks, working for one of the universities.  He talked about the difference there is in living at the top of a planet — how in summer there’s little night, how in winter there’s little daylight.  I’ve always wanted to travel to the state in order to properly see the Aurora Borealis, that amazing light show of energetic particles that come from the Earth’s magnetosphere.   I’m betting most people might not know about the magnetosphere, but nearly everyone has seen pictures of these fantastic colors shifting in the night sky.  The colors are created by collisions with atoms or molecules taking the energy of energetic particles from the magnetosphere above the Earth.  All of these things, the extreme natural wilderness of the place, the prolonged days and nights, and the Aurora pull me toward the North and make me want to spend some time in one of the state’s seventeen National Parks, which all have places to stay, from three to four star hotels to inns and self-catering chalets.

The state takes its name from one a word from one of its native tribes, the Aleut.  Alaska means “the mainland,” and remains one of the most beautiful places on the planet — from mountaintops, such as the country’s highest peak, Mt. Mckinley, to imposing glaciers to volcanoes and tidal shorelines, the state remains a place for the adventurous and for those looking for something truly different.  When the United States bought Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867 for 7.2 million dollars (at roughly two cents an acre), they clearly made a fantastic deal.

There is a kind of luscious pleasure about the South that only those who come from there can speak to with any degree of authority.  There are plenty of people who can attest to it, and there are fantastic stories that come out of the memories of those who’ve lived there.  It’s also very rare to hear anyone who’s spent part of their life in Georgia, speak of it without getting a kind of rare glint in the eye, that speaks to a magnificent array of beautiful and strange experiences, all contributing to a great love of the place.  There are many different sides to Georgia, of course, and many different layers.  From pockets of extreme poverty to luxury hotels. Georgia is a kind of microcosm for the country.

There are multiple histories here for all of the levels, and the further one looks into it, the more complex things get.  It’s always fascinating, however, and it’s always interesting to spend time considering how things came to be.  Today we can look at contemporary phenomena, like hip-hop music, and see, with groups like Outkast, connections to some very old roots here, as well as connections to multiple points of culture all over the planet.

It’s like that with everything here, because the Georgia that we know is formed by memories and experiences of complex and difficult lives.  It is also vastly more in touch with the world at large than is usually imagined, and has contributed to modern culture for a long time.  With the case of Outkast, formed by Dre and Big Boi, who were students in the same high school in East Point in Atlanta, there are several influences going on simultaneously.  It’s easy to see their own contribution to global hip-hop culture, as well as to trace how it has worked in creating their own musical vocabularies.  What makes their music so distinctive is its uncompromising ability to drive through the whirlpools of negativity and create new harmonies that can’t help but leave the listeners feeling more right with the world than before.  Their complexity and layering speaks to a sensibility that is very much part of the local scene, historically and right now.

The sculptures in New York City’s Central Park, offer not only a visual delight, but a bit of the history and the lure of the ages as well.  One of the most famous sculptures throughout the city, of the people sitting in the cafes in any boutique hotel in New York, to those standing on the street corners, is that of Alice and Wonderland, the “unbirthday” party.  All of the favorites from the Lewis Carroll story are brought to life through bronze, seated atop and surrounding an incredibly large mushroom.  The character of the Mad Hatter is said to have been modeled after the man who commissioned the project, George Delacorte, a well known benefactor to the art world of New York City during the 1950’s. And the likeness represented in Alice is said to be that of the sculptor’s daughter, Donna.

The sculpture is the work of José de Creeft, commissioned by Delacorte as a gift to his wife in 1959.  Around the base of the piece, de Creeft carved out lines from one of Mrs. Delacorte’s favorite passages in the book which is the poem of “The Jabberwocky”.  The sculpture is very tall, and the feeling you get from taking it in is one of not only whimsy, but of warmth and love as well.  See, over the years, many people, young and old alike, have passed their hands over these beloved characters, which has created a patina on the piece which glows.

There are more than one hundred and thirty sculptures in the gardens of Central Park, from Hans Christian Anderson and his Ugly Duckling, to characters from Shakespeare’s play, “The Tempest.  Representations and portraits of such artists and characters as Beethoven, Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Mother Goose.  The first time I walked through the park I was overwhelmed, not only by the artistic nature of the sculptures, but of the feelings of nostalgia that many of them provoked.  It was a bit like walking through my childhood, and my adulthood, all at the same time.  Incredible really, in the way that can only be the New York way, the magical way.