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Fun

Home of the buzzard

You might have heard of Cleveland, Ohio USA, a scrappy city that never gives up. It was formed in the late 1800's and was a manufacturing and financial powerhouse until things dried up in the 1970's. But, the die-hard residents there still plug away at reinventing the city, over and over.  Having major league basketball…

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Aretha sang

Magic can happen anywhere, at any time, to almost anybody. Take Aretha Franklin, for example. In an innocuous two-story building with a barn-like roof on a side of a nondescript street in Muscle Shoals, Alabama is the home of FAME Recording Studios (short for Florence Alabama Music Enterprises.)  Music lovers will know it well.  They were small, but…

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Give me MOA

Those of us who live up here in the Pacific Northwest of North America are very lucky, in many ways.  The weather, the diversity (especially of our residents) and the history that is constantly being discovered and enjoyed. As with many other countries, Canada has a population that can be considered as First Nation.  In…

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Capetown races sing their songs

Cape Town is South Africa's crown jewel and the most European city you'll find on the continent. Founded by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, it was South Africa's first attempt at a modern metropolis, earning it the nickname "The Mother City." Cape Town is worth visiting year-round. That said, it looks different each…

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High in the Spanish desert

This is for all 24x7 party people.  2022 is the year to look forward to, and Spain is the place - the Monegros Desert, Aragon, Spain, to be specific. Starting 30 July, 2022, the Monegros Desert Festival commences.  Of course there will be drinks, and music and dancing and, perhaps, nudity.  But the star of the…

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Ground control to ground control

Airbus jet has landed in Welsh field.  There were no problems.  You can sleep in it, as visions of heroics dance in your head. Situated in picturesque Tenby in Wales, UK, the Apple Camping grounds are the perfect place for those who can't keep their feet on the ground. Not only is there an Airbus…

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Malaysia fantasia

What do you know about Malaysia?  Probably not as much as you should. Malaysia is a mix of the modern world and a developing nation. With its investment in the high technology industries and moderate oil wealth, it has become one of the richest nations in Southeast Asia. Malaysia, for most visitors, presents a happy…

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The Princess and the Pea

Almost everyone has heard of Hans Christian Andersen.  His most famous works include The Snow Queen, The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Princess and the Pea, The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina and so many more. Even Disney has created movies from his work: The Little Mermaid, The Emperor’s New Groove as well as Frozen 1 and…

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In my day, things weren’t like this

You think your job is tough?  Think the boss asks too much?   Well, suffer this poor guy, who works for Japanese Rail.  This almost looks like a joke at first.  But it's not.  They are deadly serious and that is something to reckon with. No wonder Japan is admired in so many ways.  But, don't mess up! See…

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NO PRESSURE: the coolest streets in the world

Havana, and all of Cuba (in our opinion) are at the wrong end of the stick when it comes to US sanctions.  The people have suffered enough under decades of embargos and bans.  Cuba is a jewel to behold. Deep in the lanes of southern Old Havana, where trailing plants and drying clothes drape from…

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Which way to the Shire?

If you're lucky, you live near trees.  And if you're even more lucky, those trees will be plentiful. But, if you're really lucky, you might be able to find a rare habitat, one that would make Frodo feel at home - a tree tunnel:  high or low canopies of the trees that create a nature-made…

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Controversy

With the benefit of hindsight, we can look back at things that raised the blood pressure of "the people," but can now look back and wonder what all of the fuss was about. An example is Eileen Gray’s modernist villa E-1027, built  in 1929.  It resides on the Cap Moderne site.  (The Cap Moderne Association is…

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