Chocolate Rave

Are you a bird person? Do you like to find areas of the world that have large bird species and the people who know were they are? Hong Kong has lots of birds and the hotel room is not were you will find them. Your going to have to leave that cozy bed and warm bath to venture out into the forests and waters to see an array of beautiful birds. You may want to check with the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society to see what is going on with the birds in the area. Currently, they are trying to stop a railway from being built through Long Valley in the New Territories of Hong Kong. There are more than 200 species of birds in that area because of the wet flood plains that are there. It is the last wet agriculture area so it holds a special kind of bird heritage. It would be a great loss to the Hong Kong birds if they destroy it.

This society keeps an eye on birds located all over the near by area. The offer tours from one day to week long. There are about 450 bird species in the Hong Kong area so that should keep you busy all you need is a good guide, binoculars and telescope, notebook and pen. A camera if you can catch them fast enough would be great too. There is a great guide book by Clive Viney and Karen Phillips called Birds of Hong Kong and South China. It can direct you into some of the areas as what to look for. Bird watchers can start looking right in Hong Kong Park and branch out to Kowloon Park, many areas in the New Territories and other islands. So don’t forget your mosquito repellent, snacks and water for the longer outings and enjoy.

A lot of people associate the main social and cultural scene of Tempe, Arizona with the old town area. This is basically the Mill Avenue region that leads from University Drive north to Tempe Town Lake. This is an incredibly popular tourist area and many locals and ASU students also enjoy spending weekend afternoons down in this heavily trafficked shopping, dinging, club and entertainment area. However, this is not the only part of Tempe that offers great opportunities for fun, cultural entertainment options such as festivals and music concerts and great dining venues. Tourists who visit this beautiful and geographical land locked town in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area can find plenty of activities and events through out the city. Information on this events is generally available at the lobby of one any of the Tempe hotels.

Meanwhile, Old Town Tempe does offer plenty of fun and adventure. The old Valley Art Theater complex has now become the home of MADCAP Theatre, which expands to represent the Mill Avenue District Community Arts Project. This organization has revitalized the Centerpoint district and now provides venues for live performances and lectures as well as other events. Film screenings and small independent festivals as well as meeting spaces and seminar halls are just a few of the numerous uses the new MADCAP organization will make of the space.

Another interesting feature of the Mill Ave, or Old Town, district is one of its historic landmarks that sits proudly at the northern border of Old Town. This is the large and easily recognizable Hayden Flour Mill. Plans for the buildings original purpose and construction were recently discovered and these date from 1917. An interesting revelation that came from this was that the mill was originally intended to be an elevator. Currently, people are only allowed to view the old building from a distance as there is no admission to it for touring or other purposes. The plans were found will be used to help with the renovation and rehabilitation of this Tempe landmark and its adaptation for new use.

The Acadia National Park is located in Bar Harbor, just fifty mile from Bangor, Maine.  Many people plan a three to four day stay, however once once in the park, the surrounding villages and towns just beckon to be explored and experienced.  So it is best to plan for a bit of a change of plans, plan to have flexible plans when visiting this coastal town of Maine.  Beautiful hotel accommodations are located here, as well as a variety of campgrounds for those nature lovers who really love to get the most from their outdoor adventures.  Located within the park, is a vast coastline, with more than one hundred trails for hiking and just about fifty miles of horse and carriage trails.

Many people enjoy a bit of canoeing or kayaking off shore, and two of the beaches of Bar Harbor offer not only salt water swims, but freshwater as well.  It is possible to just simply explore on one’s own, however there are excursions led by the camp rangers, which offer educational information, as well as fun.  They outline the history of the culture of the region and the natural history.  During the summer months there are many talks and lectures scheduled, boat rides, programs for the children to enjoy, and evening programs in the amphitheatre onsite.   Children can also participate in the park’s Junior Ranger Program, either with groups of other children or with the entire family.

And as many people do love to travel with their beloved four legged creatures, pets are allowed in the campgrounds and the park, they just simply be on a leash at all time.  They are not however, permitted to accompany any of the ranger led excursions.  The road to the park opens on April 15th, and closes on December 1st.  This is of course, dependent on the weather and the road may close due to large amounts of snowfall.  This is one of the most scenic routes in the region and takes about three to fours to traverse the entire thing.  The beauty of this area of the United States is extraordinary and the perfect area to just simple get away from it all.

The Seattle Repertory Theatre in Seattle Washington was the first theatre company to stage a production of Wendy Wasserstein’s Pulitzer Prize winning play The Heidi Chronicles. This 1988 production was produced in a new play workshop format and was directed by Daniel J. Sullivan. The Seattle Rep is one of the quality theatre companies in Seattle and many of the city’s visitors who are staying in one of the Washington luxury hotels request information on the latest production as part of their overall city experience.

The Heidi Chronicles cover the life experiences of the main character Heidi Holland from the point of her high school years and follow her through her career as an art historian. Along the way Heidi makes interesting life transitions that are also representative of the social climate and feminine role changes. It should be noted that the play begins in the 1960s and continues through to the 1980s when Holland begins to feel betrayed by the current attitudes and lack of appreciation for her efforts as well as the numerous other feminists who fought for equal rights, bodily rights and career potential. This reflects the standard forgotten revolutionary efforts of feminist movement and the general apathy of women toward the rights after they were attained.

The Seattle Repertory was established in 1963 and is one of the major regional theatre companies in the city. It is part of the Seattle Center and is a member of Theatre Puget Sound and Theatre Communications Group. It has received the honored Regional Theatre Tony Award. In addition, numerous famous actors, directors and playwrights have worked with the company. It is a cultural point of pride for Seattle residents as well as a major point of attraction for tourists.

It’s our 4th night in Albany, we were going to stay only 3 nights, but when we booked our rooms online, we got this great deal, that if we book one more night, it will be free! We took the offer, I mean after all, it was a free night!

Our first couple of days in Albany were pretty wet and cold; there was even hail and wind! We figured it was Albany’s usual winter fare. Our first day, we went to 1st Friday. 1st Fridays feature numerous galleries, local shops, one-night shows, eateries and live entertainment that takes place every 1st Friday of every month. One aspect we really appreciated was that 1st Fridays is free! We checked out exhibitions in Downtown Albany and some of the venues had some of the most interesting art we’ve ever seen. There were even a few gallery openings, which had live entertainment. We rode the trolley to all the participating venues, which was great since it was so cold out; the trolley had heaters.

We saw all kinds of people from every age walking around the main area, which is where most of the galleries are. We saw a lot of street vendors, mostly young adults selling their art and there were performers on every corner, either playing music or dancing. It was all so much fun. The atmosphere was one of comradery and of total abandon. When we get back home, we’re going to see if our city has a 1st Friday. We were told at one gallery, that most states have a 1st Friday.

We couldn’t help think that 1st Friday was a wonderful concept. It’s were all kinds of art forms can get together an celebrate the beauty of differences and tastes. Where the old can enjoy the new and the silly bangs into pretentiousness. We were so happy to have stumbled upon something so magical.

Here you come to me, and come to me singing.  This noise, this brush, this extract, named for the three things that we could never forget in a half of a lifetime, falls from my fingers like concrete and porcelain, I love to hold it, but can never understand it.  These strange textures come melting me, come singing to melt me.
This New York memory, this hotel, this place, this center, falls apart.  No one could have doubted it, and no one would have understood it before us.  I didn’t try to hide these things, everything was in plain sight, except the only thing I had to keep to myself was a sound.  This is the sound of me falling in love with you.
This is a secret that you already know, and this is the way I come singing into another city.  Forget me, erase me, or trace me, but let me offer you a hint of the things that you tell me, and how they turn me backwards on myself.  This moment, the one that passes, is fire in my eyes, and tomorrow I might wish it had never happened.  This is where I live now, in this moment.
I am not decided on so many things, where to go from here, what to do with my hands when the cameras start, but I know this one thing.  If I could do it well, it would be the only thing I would want to remember me in this life, and if I do it poorly and fail, then it must be something we had already planned.  This moment will move me from the street to a café, this moment will mark my head as your humble servant, and this moment will take my clumsy hands and whisper your smell into the center of my palms, so that when your heart is beating next to my hand, I will start to dream of your city.

I was born in 1967, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  Just a bit away from Harrisburg in the Western half of the state.  All I knew of this city was learned through stories I was told, as just after I was born I moved first to Hollywood, California, then to Seattle, Washington…then to Helena, Montana before finally landing in Phoenix, Arizona.  In the 1970’s, the desert capital of Arizona was a big stretch of wide open heat.  Filled with cactus, strange trees with very small leaves, dust and scorpions.

Phoenix did not have much of a modern history…even thought the human history is quite extensive.  One of the aspects I find fascinating about the cities and the towns on the East coast, is that everything has a history.  From the Harrisburg hotels to the corner pubs to the market places.  The history is there without asking for it, nothing like the history in Arizona, which at the time needed to be dug from the ground through the archaeological digs of anthropologists, or the history that I knew was there, that I could see was written on the faces the Native American’s, who rightly so, did not really want to give their history to a small, white girl of five years old.

Later when I went back to Harrisburg when I was about 12 years old.  My grandmother took me to the Midtown Market District.  This is a place that illustrates the history of Pennsylvania, the people of Pennsylvania, my people.  As the longest running market place in the U.S. there were many stories to be told and many stories to be heard.  Wildwood Lake surrounds the community, and the bits and pieces of what is left of the Pennsylvania Canal gave me a bit of insight as to where I had come from.  We from the region of Harrisburg, are a working class society.  Post Civil War humans, making their way through the steel industry.

My first airplane ride taken alone was that ride back home.  And as I looked out the window of the plane, I had a sense that the world was a very big place.  I truly dug the fact that I knew now where I came from, but it made me ever so much more curious as to where my life was now.  “Westward Ho” I thought, I’d heard that in an old movie with Clint Eastwood I think.  And the plane landed in the dry desert heat, and my Pennsylvania spirit found a way to exist, with my Southwestern desert heart.

The fluidity of culture, and cultural expression, is a clue to its appeal at the very outset.  It is particularly attractive to be able to maintain an identity that is constantly shifting, where there are always possibilities of negotiations for new forms of self, and all of their individual components.  It would seem as though this is even more valuable in extreme circumstances, where the limits of identity are severe, and heavily policed by the culture police.  That is to say, it seems more apparent in oppressive situations, where the available roles are limited and limiting.

Students of culture can find subjects in all parts of the world, but some places are more deeply layered than others.  Florida, with its luxury hotels on the one hand, and pockets of far more difficult living conditions, on the other, is a place that seems enormously ripe for study.  To be sure, there are many prominent scholars working in the field here, and doing very interesting research in the area.  Jillian Hernandez is doing some highly evocative work in the formation of young Latina identity here.

She is among the first to seriously consider the image of the “Chonga girl“  as a subject worthy of examination.  Before now, it was only seen as a subject of ridicule in popular culture.  Although, to be fair, the drama students who made the youtube video that went viral opened the way toward a more serious look at this icon of Latina identity.  The image is simple at a first glance, but it immediately moves into complexity when branding, quotation, and iteration start to come into play, and suddenly there is a very sophisticated use of symbols at play.  The objects are simultaneously subjects, signaling through the flames that there is a search for self somewhere beneath all the weight of history.

Home to Lee Trevino, Dallas has always been an important part of my imagination, and sometimes when there are events happening, I will make the necessary arrangements to get to town.  If this gives me a chance to get closer to the truth of Lee and his life and legacy, then there is no reason to fight the need.  It’s a fascinating place, one of the largest cities in the country, and there are so many spectacular things to do.  This city is also the birthplace of Buddy Holly, and Nora Jones, so it’s not just about golf, but also lots of music.  There are golf courses, of course, and plenty of opportunities to enjoy that kind of sunshine, and when the day turns into night, I like to go see shows.

This link will show you some great hotels, so you can find a place that’s exactly where you want, and with great amenities.  If you happen to get to town in February, my money is on the show in Grand Prairie, where Davy Jones and David Cassidy are going to be joining forces for a rare night of musical fun, along with a lot of musical history.  At least for this rock and roller, because I saw some of my most favorite life events when I was listening to their music.  I have to admit, I have a very strong pull toward Davy Jones, and I’m not sure exactly what it is.  It could be the English accent.

When I was growing up here, any accent that wasn’t local just made me feel better, and his was interesting, because he also sang with the accent on when he was singing with the Monkees.  I do like David Cassidy, too, and I used to wonder why his accent wasn’t like Davy Jones, because when I was a kid I just assumed all singers had accents.  Then I found out that Cassidy is from Hollywood, so that made perfect sense.  However, for this daydream believer, all my pleasant valley Sundays come with memories of the Monkees, and a Monkee in Dallas sounds like a barrel of fun.

I just saw the most amazing show and I happened to be there by accident. I love when life works out like that and equally by accident I’m going to share the experience. Wait, that doesn’t make sense. What I meant to say is that my friend Carl is also going to see this show by accident, meaning that he has no idea that his friend stumbled into it and will drag him to it next week. Okay that probably doesn’t seem like an accident either so I’ll let go of that. The point I was making is that I love these unexpected life encounters. I just love the idea of not knowing, no matter how hard we try to know, something unexpected can always come along and change the course of our lives.

Oedipus el Rey is the production I’m talking about and I happened to bump into a co-worker outside of the theatre before it began. It turns out she had just received a phone call from her sister, who was supposed to meet her there, and she was stuck in Sacramento, I have no idea what she was doing there. Anyway, my co-worker grabbed me and asked if I wanted to see a free show. I had nothing else to do so accepted the invitation. I really had no expectations, to be honest I’d heard of Oedipus, but never read it.

Of course this production had little to do, other than thematically, and it was in modern California. The story takes place along the coast from the Golden Gate Bridge to the edge of Los Angeles. It really was an incredible production. After the show we were both so fascinated and still involved that we decided to stop somewhere and talk about it. We walked into the lounge of one of the old San Francisco hotels and had a glass of wine and a great conversation.