World Venture Travel

I do not like fishing so much.  This began when I was just four years old, on the side of a lake, somewhere outside of Helena, Montana.  It was my first time fishing, and I did not have to deal with the hook or the worm.  My father got me set up and I just sat there holding on to the pole like the grown-ups did.  I felt a tug on my line, yelled for my father and he helped me to reel in my catch, a little 5 inch trout, a catch that any of the grown-ups would have thrown back, but for a 4 year old girl, a 5 inch fish was quite something.  I realized this until I was told that I would clean my own fish.  I wasn’t sure about that, I wasn’t sure any longer of this whole fishing thing. 

Years later, same story fishing of the boat in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. But for some reason, my father got it into his head that I enjoyed fishing and I found myself headed out to sea from our fine hotel in Tampa Bay, Florida.  My father had found a great deal online at http://www.besttampahotels.com and while I was looking forward to the beach, not so much the deep sea fishing excursion he had also planned.  We were assured by our captain, that we would find fish! as he had years of experience and a lineage to back it up.  He told me that his name was Captain Ahab, but the glimmer in his led me to believe he was pulling my leg, telling me a whale of a tale. 

Now, I do love eating seafood, I just do not particularly like catching it, but for my father and for our experience I put on my cap and my sunblock and we headed out to sea.  Ours was an all day cruise, set to go just about thirty miles out, although shorter trips are available.  In all, we came home with some sea bass, and 2 red snappers.  As we left the boat my father was getting set up to have me clean the fish, but I noticed a stand where it was offered, for a minimal fee, convenient and quick cleaning.  This is where I drew the line, for there was no way I was going back to the memory of my first experience with cleaning my 5 inch trout.  That night we grilled out on the beach in front of our hotel.  I was happy to be there, even thought the road had been a bit of a long one.

When I was a teenager living in Phoenix, Arizona, there was an amusement park known as Legend City; it wasn’t Disneyland, but it was a large park, with carnival-style rides and even dark rides, such as the Lost Dutchman Mine, where you’d climb into a mining car and roll on the tracks through a spooky Old West ghost town.  Eventually, Legend City shut down and became part of local history, but other cities managed to hold onto their older amusement parks, bringing them all the way from the 1940s and into the 2010s.  Joyland in Lubbock, Texas, is one such place. 
 
Originally, in the late 1940s, Joyland was known as the Mackenzie Park Playground, entertaining thousands.  By the 1960s, the park was on the decline, until Jimmy and Kate Dean purchased the park in 1973.  The Dean family owned a number of rides at amusement parks around the area, in such places Funland Park (Wichita Falls, TX), Cliffs Amusement Park (Albuquerque, NM), and Wonderland Park (Amarillo, TX).  They refurbished the park and changed its name to Joyland Amusement Park, establishing that this wasn’t the same old place with which people were familiar.  They began with thirteen rides; today, Joyland features over thirty rides and attractions.
 
The park is now operated by the second generation of the Dean family, and has become something of a west Texas tradition for the families of Lubbock.  Thirty-seven years ago, Joyland began with thirteen rides; today the park features over thirty rides and attractions, from a water coaster to roller coasters.  They have as well junior rides and carousels.
 
For whatever reason you’ve come to Lubbock — to view the Buddy Holly Center (Lubbock is, after all, the birthplace of Buddy Holly), to take a look at the Silent Wings Museum (a place designed to honor glider pilots of World War II) — stay the night in one of the many great hotels Lubbock has available for its visitors, and treat your family to a great little amusement park.

Justine Hennin was done with tennis. She had quit the game to start a more normal life, to be with her husband, to find new passions. The game for her had been lost. She no longer felt the same rush of nervousness and power when she volleyed, when dove across the court, when she was a star of the court. She quit when she was ahead to, being seeded number 1 in the world at the time of her retirement. Though she knows she has a lot of work to do to get back to former glory, she is showing that she can do it at the Australian Open tennis scores she has so far played in.
There is no sign of her coming back from a long retirement. In fact, she plays as if she played in her prime, which was not too long ago. Obviously, her passion has come back to her in a big way as she has success after success on the courts. She a favorite at the games going on currently in Melbourne. She killed her number 3 opponent in a recent tournament. That means she beat a person seeded number 3 in the whole world of tennis. For those fans who like doing a little sidelining betting for fun are spotting her as a definite player to watch, despite her retirement and what retirement often means for players.
She still has a mean serve. That she earned through her seven grand slam championships that she earned throughout her years as professional tennis player. The two years she took off from the sport, threatening never to come back, has not dented her talent in manner whatsoever. She is still the talented player she was in those days.
Still she acknowledges that things have been tough for her during the matches, but it certainly does not look that way when she is on the court, making her opponents chase their tales around the court after the balls and the seedings they are about to lose to her talented plays. The Australian Open games are the place for her to make such a comeback.
It turns out that the life off the court for the major tennis players of the world is just as difficult for those players on the court. Fashion has started to become a large part of the tennis courts, especially since Serena Williams took such an interest in designing clothes that were more fashionable than the old boring white skirts and shirts of the days Billie Jean King and other before her played in. Perhaps her most memorable fashion moment was when she was warming up in a white trench coat before a match that was being played in rather warm weather. But with tennis becoming more of a popular sport with people, it is more important to look your best, no matter what, especially at the current Australian Open Tennis matches.

There are some things that are worth the risk, and sometimes the risking is even more important than any of the outcomes.  One of my favorite people in the world, a crazy Polish director who had a habit of wearing extremely long scarves, always talked about risk.  She said that it’s sometimes necessary to simply take enormous leaps, and then build wings while you’re falling.  She inspired me to keep pushing during times when I was convinced that the only thing left to do was give up.  She lives her life like she’s at a New York casino hotel, with access to the best of everything.

And every moment poses another series of possibilities for taking enormous chances, and for enormous successes as well.  Her definition of success was very different than most definitions, however, and depended on the level of experiment in any undertaking.  If something large was gambled, then it was a success.  We would often find ourselves in dark pubs after rehearsals, long after the other actors had left, talking about the theories of Witkacy, and wondering what might be possible right here, and right now.  The sense of hope and possibility was always extremely large and heavy on those evenings, and the next day was always followed by an equal share of despair.

We kept working though.  She had her projects, and I had mine, and every once in awhile our paths would cross and we would meet to confer.  I would run through the list of my daily confusions, which are always very large, and never hold up under any considered examination, and I would ask her if my version of reality made any sense, and if I could modify it somehow. She always had ideas, because she was a visionary through all those years.  She could offer a simple way of rephrasing something that could change the way it looked.  It was the power of invocation, because she had an alchemical way with words.  I learned how to risk from her, and everything that I’ve discovered since then is covered with a golden sheen that belongs to her alone.

My first impression of New York seemed quiet! The style of clothes the people were wearing seemed relaxed in comparison to London or for that matter all of the European major cities. Now, crossing the road in New York reminded me of Hong Kong where you have to wait or you’ll get honked at from every car. The taxi drivers are cool. I like seeing hot dog stands, pretzel stands and Halal stands at almost every corner. I saw tons of police either walking, on bicycles or on horseback, which actually made me feel very safe.
I did manage to cross Broadway to head up to Times Square with only one car honking at me. Then I went to Radio City Music Hall, where I just missed, from what I’ve heard, an amazing Christmas Extravaganza with special effects. I didn’t bother with Rockefeller Plaza, just wasn’t interested.

I really liked the fact that it’s virtually impossible to get lost in New York City, there are grid maps everywhere and they’re easy to understand. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to all the different New York accents. Can’t miss it really, most New Yorkers are a loud bunch. The ethnic mix here is worldly. There’s not a single country not represented here, and they all have their little areas of the city. I really appreciated just how diversified New York really is. I think all Americans need to come here and get a little taste of the world, that way they won’t be so paranoid about foreigners.

I booked my hotel on-line at this site: http://www.topnewyorkhotels.com, which, by-the-way is a top notch place, but I hardly ever used it, except to sleep; there’s just to much to do and see here in New York, and as you probably well know, the city doesn’t go to sleep, so it was especially hard to take any kind of respite in my hotel room.

I went to see ‘West Side Story’ on Broadway, and I thought the production was fantastic! It was a Spanish version, so it was a dream come true for me! After the show, I just had to walk around all night. New York is so totally different at night, the vibes different and people dress-up to the nines! Now, this is what I was waiting for! Let the party begin!

The city of Fort Collins Colorado has been voted one of the best places to live over the past few years. So come check into one of the nice hotels Fort Collins has waiting for you and see for yourself. The first incarnation of the military presence in this area was Camp Collins built along the Cache La Poudre River. It was built to help the Overland mail route during the Indian Wars in the 1960s. The river flooded the camp so they rebuilt in a better location long the river a few miles down at the direction of Colonel O. Collins who was in command of Fort Laramie in Wyoming.

With a well patrolled town on the road to the west, the settlers came right away. It soon turned from military fort to city as the settlers began to build schools, churches and agricultural farms. The original fort area can be found in the Old Town part of the city. The new town was incorporated in 1873. Agriculture was the main industry to the point that they built an agricultural college with the first classes held in 1870. Lamb was also a large industry in the early years of this city. It was once called the lamb feeding capital of the world. The next thing to come along in the early 1900s was the Great Western sugar plant built in near by Loveland.

Many businesses came and went as the demand of current times changed. The college built in 1870 is still a thriving college called Colorado State University.The city is centered and geared towards the students who attend this great university. This brings some great places to eat, good music to hear and great micro-brew beers to drink. Some of the brewing companies that have product shipped all over the US are the New Belgium Brewing Company, The Pateros Creek Brewing Company, Odell Brewing Company, one named after the city the Fort Collins Brewery. This is also a city of outdoor sports and festivals. So get out and enjoy nature while your here.

Just last year, after twelve years of delay and consultations, the government of the United Kingdom passed what it known as the Bribery Bill.  This is part of a global attack on not only bribery, but terrorism and corruption as well.  The Justice Secretary for the UK is Jack Straw, and it was he who presented the bill to the British Parliament last March, in 2009.  This bill makes it a criminal offense for officials and government employees, to either make or take a bribe.  The penalties include up to ten years in prison, and the bill extends beyond the shores of the United Kingdom.

The plan is to extend this bill to businesses, corporations, or politicians who although may not be involved in the bribe per se, allow it to happen, deeming them negligent and therefore, willing accomplices.  As the bill was being approved, more than twenty cases of bribery were under investigation.  And according to Straw, only one company in the UK has been brought to trial and found guilty.  Corruption is a form of internal, and external, terrorism.

Corruptive acts not only hurt those who are being directly taken advantage of, but it affects everyone living in the country.  This bribery bill is in response to years and years of laws and regulations that have not been reviewed nor updated since 1906.  The bill will ensure that there is a framework in place, in order to detect and to prosecute those in violation, in both the public and the private sectors.  As to date, the procedures have been a bit fragmented and complex, leaving those doing investigations without much to stand upon.

The crimes will be simplified in designation, as those referring to bribes taken to gain an advantage, or those given to promise an advantage.  All corporations will need to have in place, a system of checks and balances, a way to know just who it is they are conducting business with, as they will be held responsible for any acts of corruption, whether they participated in them or not.  The March draft of the bill went through much scrutiny and revision before November 19, 2009, the day it was introduced into the House of Lords. This is one of the many ways the countries of world are coming together to make it a safer world for everyone, in every country.