Best Crab is in Seattle

I had a few false starts, but I’m finally in Seattle. Tonight was some what on the sedate side. I wandered down to the neighborhood bar not far from my local hotel to grab a few beers. Not much was going on, but it was nice to thaw out and knock back a few brewski’s.

I came to Seattle via a bus from McChord AFB, which is about an hour south. I could’ve taken the shuttle or a taxi, but the bus only cost me $2.50, which for me was a great deal. I arrived in Seattle around 2pm and time for lunch. I headed to the USO in the SEATAC airport (Seattle-Tacoma airport). The USO was supposed to be the best in the military. I found it to be big and nice, but not the ‘best’. I would’ve considered it the ‘best’ if it wasn’t so overrun with travelers.

When I checked into my hotel, I dropped off my bags and took off towards downtown. I really liked Seattle’s public transportation, it really very good. The bus fares are cheap and the buses were clean. I got off at Pikes Place Market. The market is famous for fishmongers tossing fish over customers heads. I found it to be similar to the Eastern Market in D.C., or like the Pier in San Francisco. Pike consisted of this really long building with lots of little stalls and shops that carried everything from fish, fruit, coffee, donuts, tea, out-of-print-magazines, magic, even a scattering of Tibetan shops. The market stretched on forever and has at what seems to be 3 levels! I gave up on trying to see all Pike’s has to offer.

I had a list of things I wanted to do and see, and the major part of my list was to eat. I especially wanted the famed dungeoness crabs. There was one stall offering samples of crab meat, but not for free, the sample cost $7.50. But, I have to admit, that crab was incredibly tasty and only whetted my appetite. I found a restaurant across the street and ordered the biggest serving of crab they had on the menu. Not that satisfied me all the way back to my hotel. It was time to head out to Luke AFB in Arizona. I doubt they have anything like Pike’s in Glendale.

Tags: local hotel, Luke AFB in Arizona, McChord AFB

Backwards in Wichita, Kansas

What can I say about Wichita, Kansas? It feels like I’ve stepped back in High School, even the radio station that plays classic rock for the 50′s and 60′s have local commercials selling used cars and carpet. Wichita, kind of struck me as somewhat charming, but at the same time made me realize just how far I’ve come in the past 15 years.

I’m here on business, so I don’t have much time to really scope out the city like I want to, but at least Kansas hotels have at least come into the 21st century. The one I’m staying at has all the modern conveniences, which I thought it just might not have, been that Wichita is stuck in the mid 90′s. I’m meeting with a very good client of ours at supposedly a great restaurant for dinner and to seal a deal. I found the restaurant online at a site that listed the top 10 restaurants. Number one is Chelsea’s Bar and Grill, it’s a steakhouse offering premier cuts of beef, fresh seafood, wood-roasted chicken and there will be live jazz music. Now, that seems so much better than listening to country music, which seems to be prevalent here.

But, I did have a little time before I met my client tonight, so I checked out the Wichita Art Museum. The first thing I saw when I drove there was this large sculpture of a person with one arm holding a sickle. Later, I found out that the sculpture was a large female and that there’s a dismembered male figure on the ground next to her clutching a hammer. Apparently, one figure is a bank robber and the other a banker. The piece was done in the 50′s by a member of a group of artists interested in raising social awareness and social justice. As I entered, I looked up a saw this enormous arch over the entry that was filled with hundreds of pieces of blown glass art. If I wanted to, I could walk out on that arch, shoeless, and take a closer look at the blown glass pieces.

I only spent about an hour at the museum before heading back to my hotel to get ready for tonight’s dinner, but, I must admit, the Wichita Museum was quite impressive for a backwards city.

Tags: Chelsea's Bar and Grill, Kansas hotels, Wichita Art Museum

Dog Company in Dallas

The golden age of punk rock was never so golden anyway, and whatever people might be complaining about today, history is already revealing that we don’t know much.  Even when it comes to our own tastes.  It seems like the groups that are remembered with the most enthusiasm now weren’t all that well-liked when they were around.  It might be one of the big occupational hazards of that particular school of music, where there is always a bit of a threat of violence even when the fans really love you.  It’s also true that they won’t realize they love you until after it’s all over.  But while the going is still good, it wouldn’t hurt to head out to Dallas and stay here, and have a listen.

Try to not hate Dog Company, because this is one of the groups that the fans will likely remember loving.  We won’t notice that it’s been love, however, until we’re in our thirties, talking about the scene here with old friends after our 12-step meetings, but perhaps that’s the way it’s supposed to go.  If it was good enough for the last generation, then it can happen to us, too, and maybe there’s a little more sense each time the wheel spins.  We also have a chance to help our idols not take their roles seriously enough to let it destroy them, and maybe having idols is not going to help us anyway.

That’s one of the basic tenets of punk rock in all the waves, and it’s something that Dog Company has down solid.  They started in 2004, so they are definitely riding the recent wave of this art form.  The rhetoric is solid, with a political idealism that has no room for negotiation, and is almost utterly realist in its core.  The first wave happened too fast for us to realize what we were doing, and the second one brought along some sudden philosophers that had to make it up as they went, trying to narrate what the first wave was doing.  By this, the third or possibly fifth, the philosophy has died down or at least been overwatered, until now, and suddenly there is a great hope in the midst of the despair.

Tags: Dog Company, stay here

Columbus Has a Fantastic Farmers Market

It was a Saturday morning, and it’s our last day in Columbus, so we decided to do a picnic. We walked to the Clintonville Farmers’ Market. It was about west of our hotel. We took the COTA bus instead of taking a taxi. We always try to take buses were ever we go or ride a bike. We arrived at the Farmers’ Market and it was so cute, there were all these local vendors selling there produce. We bought Gouda cheese, artisan bread (apricot and walnut), a couple of scones, there was even a local winery, so we bought a bottle of white wine, which we got to sample first. A couple of tomatoes and a cantaloupe that we asked the vendor to slice in half for us. We really had a great time visiting with all the vendors, we’d ask them questions about their product and they’d tell us all about how they grew it or what weather conditions they had to endure and some humorous stories about getting their produce here in time for the market. When we get back home, were going to see if our community has a local farmers market.

There was a park close to Clintonville Farmers’ Market, but we found a place to rent us bikes because we wanted to have our picnic along the Olentangy River Trail that runs north and south through Columbus and to the Ohio State’s Wetland Research Center. The Olentangy River Trail was beautiful, we pulled our bikes over just before the trail goes through the Wetlands Research Center and proceeded to eat and drink all the wonderful things we bought at the market. The wine was smooth and went well with our Gouda cheese. The artisan bread and the tomatoes was very fresh and delightful. Our cantaloupe was hard to eat since we didn’t have any utensils with us, we laughed every time we tried to fit our mouth inside the cantaloupe, we really didn’t think that one through. We wrapped the half’s back up and will bring them back to our hotel.

Back at our hotel, which, by-the-way, is one of the best luxury hotels in Columbus, we packed our bags, but not before we acquired some utensils and finally got to eat our cantaloupe, which was extremely juicy and sweet.  We wished we had time to stay and watch Columbus’s new WaterFire tradition, but that happens in the evening, and we’ll be in New York City by then celebrating my grandma’s 100th birthday.

Tags: Clintonville Farmers' Market, luxury hotels in Columbus, Ohio State's Wetland Research Center

Vegetarian Styles

Vegetarians are people who don’t eat meat or meat products in there meals. They only eat vegetable or vegetable based foods. There are many reason for people not to eat meat like financial, health or religious reasons. There is sometimes a debate on what it really means to be a true vegetarian. Some people think that it is alright to eat some fish or poultry and there bi-products and still be called a vegetarian. There is now the Vegetarian Society who has been able to clarify the matter. They say that one is a vegetarian if they do not eat any sort of meat from beef, poultry or fish of any kind. Vegetable and grains only to be a true vegetarian.

It used to be that vegetarians could really only eat what they make at home. Especially in the United States. The U.S. is such a meat based country and it used to be hard to find anything other than a salad for dinner if one was a vegetarian. Even side dishes have some sort of meat or poultry bi-product. Recipes’s for creamed spinach often calls for chicken or beef broth and use cream as a base. A good vegetarian recipe would be a sauteed spinach with out the use of butter.

Now more people can go out to their favorite restaurant and have a vegetarian meal but the best place to go would be to a vegetarian restaurant like this. Here you would find the Asian and Indian influences in the foods that come from the countries that perfected the vegetarian meal. There are many spices used in the dishes that add a lot of flavor to the vegetable dishes with out using butter or other meat bi-products. Some of the spices found in Egyptian food are cumin, garlic, onion and allspice. With religious fasting periods like Lent that happen each year, knowing how to make or where to go for a vegetarian meal is of good use.

Tags: Egyptian food, Lent

Mary Poppins on Broadway

One of the more recent Broadway trends has been to base musicals on individual performers or bands, such as the Billy Joel revue Movin’ Out or ABBA’s Momma Mia, as well as adapting hit movies to the stage or basing a musical on an already existing film, such as Billy Elliot. Meanwhile one of the latest and greatest film turned musical offerings opened in October of 2006 and continues its popular run at the New Amsterdam Theatre. This of course is the family oriented Marry Poppins and features all of the favorite songs from the movie. Some of these include Spoon Full of Sugar, Chim Chim Cher-ee and many others. This is a great offering for families who are looking for a fabulous stay and great theatre while they’re visiting New York.

This is the fourth year of straight running for the popular musical, which has also been successful in its national touring agenda. To this date nearly two million people have attended this uplifting and entertaining production. Mary Poppins is definitely a show that lets both the imagination and your own personal dreams run free while you’re able to forget your problems and just enjoy the songs and spectacle for a couple of hours.

The basic story of the musical deals with the Banks family who lives on Cherry Lane in London, England. The slightly comical chaos that the family experiences early in the play leads to the search for a new nanny. Of course there is also some disagreement about what type of person would make a suitable nanny for the family when the somewhat mysterious Mary Poppins suddenly appears at their door. Through some unexpected magical encounters the new nanny soon begins to teach the household some important life lessons and as unexpectedly as she arrived she proves to exactly what the troubled family needs. All of this unfolds in great style and fabulous effects that delight and entertain audience members of all ages along the way. Marry Poppins is definitely a show for the entire family and is exceptionally appropriate and a good choice for the kids.

Tags: Billy Elliot, fabulous stay, Mary Poppins

NY for Kids

Now that you have found that kid friendly room at one of the best NY hotels from this site it won’t be long before they are going to get restless. You are going to want to get them out and keep them entertained. New York has many things to offer kids. There are the Broadway shows that will always get your kids excited. Most of the museums will have something interesting for them. There is the Brooklyn Children’s Museum that has something for kids of all ages. It was created for kids back in 1899 and is still entertaining them today. It is has many great exhibits that are interactive so they can touch, feel and create things. It is the oldest children’s museum in the world and set the bar for many children’s museums around the world today.

Another get thing to do while in New York with your kids is spend time in the FAO Schwarz toys store. Visitors can fine it on 5Th Avenue and it is the oldest toy store in the the United States. The store was originally called the Toy Bazaar when it was created in 1962 by Frederick August Otto Schwarz. The start of Mr. Schwarz started in Baltimore originally. It wasn’t until 1870 that he opened the Schwarz Toy Bazaar in New york on 14Th Street in Union Square. In 1889 the store was finally named after his initials F.A.O. Schwarz. In 1896 the store started having Santa Clause visit during the Christmas season. In 1931 the store was move to where it stands today and has been entertaining kids and adults alike through today. Inside the store people and kids are going to find a grand display of all the latest toys as well as some of the classics. There will be toys made specifically for F.A.O. Schwarz. There have been some other stores built across the country but the flagship store in New York is truly one of a kind.

Tags: Brooklyn Children's Museum, FAO Schwarz

New York Set

When you check into the best New York Hotel click here long one of the biggest city parks in the country your going to take a step back into motion picture history. Stand in the middle of central park were you can see the tops of tall buildings. What pops into your mind? Take one of the most unique buildings in the skyline The Eldorado apartment building. When I look at that building I think of the Giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man that comes sloshing into the scene over these huge buildings.

Yup! The Ghostbusters movie is what came to my mind first. It is such a classic with stars like Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis who also wrote the movie together, and Bill Murray, Sigourney Weaver, Rich Moranis and Annie Potts.The apartment of the demonic spirit was actually the Shandor Building, 55 Central Park West. And the firehouse that was the lab for the ghostbusters business is a the home of the Hook and Ladder Company #8. If you stop by you can see some movie artifacts that were left behind.

The building that was in the movies Arthur and Working Girl is actually the National Design Museum on 91st Street. You can see the Playground on Madison Avenue building that was a set drop for the Fisher King with Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams. Actually, that movie has its memories left all over the lawn of Central Park. The hit movies When Harry Met Sally and Hitch use the Metropolitan Museum of Art. How about some of the hotels that have been in movies like The Plaza with Crocodile Dundee, Barefoot in the Park with Jane Fonda and Robert Redford and Arthur.

Tags: Robin Williams, Sigourney Weaver

NY’s Saya Woolfalk

Tracking current trends in visual art is a pleasure, and it’s a treasure hunt that always leads in multiple directions.  It’s simply impossible to follow your nose, because every doorway leads to a hundred more, and there aren’t enough noses in the world for this kind of investigation.  It is impossible to avoid New York, though, at least to avoid any reference altogether.  Any one artist will eventually lead back to this city, and usually the link is made pretty quickly.  There are some critics who will avoid the city at all costs, and then there are those who decide to save some frustration and just go ahead and dive into the belly of the beast.

Fortunately, it’s a very nice beast to visit.  Some of the top hotels in the world are in New York, and they make any stay here worth remembering.  Hospitality seems to have been invented in this city, or at least perfected.  From here, it’s not difficult to get lost following your own instincts into the art world, and every step can lead into diverse and unpredictable new realms.  One of the most exciting artists today, then, is Saya Woolfalk who’s been working in multiple directions herself.

Multimedia seems to be a wise path to take for artists today, because it allows for multiple methods of communication.  Being able to make work in other forms is every bit as useful as knowing another language, and it serves the same purpose ultimately.  Her work has been visual, with examples in painting and in sculpture, and it’s also branched into performance.  These paths may not be lucrative, but they will certainly allow for opportunities to make work, and that’s what really counts when an artist like this starts to breathe in the world.  Her particular play of symbols is fascinating, and helps to create uncanny and autonomous worlds.  It will be interesting to see how it plays with the other works in the Bunny Redux exhibition at the Warhol in Pittsburgh next month.

Tags: Bunny Redux, Saya Woolfalk, top hotels in the world are in New York