World Venture Travel

The trip was planned to take place somewhere out of time, someplace where there was no address, and there was a promise that there would be no memories to take along, when things were over.  This was a promise because of the things that I once saw, and the things that I can’t forget over there.  In these times, we sometimes forget even how we woke up that morning before it’s even time for lunch.  Other times, it’s impossible to forget the way some things feel on the tongue.  I could have been just as easily entertained with a side order, but this was turning into the whole meal, and the main course was still so very far away.

His reputation was still rather impeccable, even after all this time, where there were surely some truths about him that made their way around the literary circles.  I would try to do my part to keep it as spotless as possible, if for no other reason than we did not want to remember it any other way.  It would be simple.  Meet in a Chinese Restaurant first, then discover the news in our particular disciplines, and then perhaps, see something of Singapore, but only if there was time.  Secretly, I sensed that there would of course be time, but that was only because it was an obvious side effect of our meetings.

When he was talking about his work, that is when things would start to open up for me.  There were worlds that were bright green and red coming from his tongue, and I could never see his eyes, so could not describe the excitement, although the manner was certainly of someone who was excited beyond measure.  The biggest impression still was and is one of mystery.  I don’t know how he managed that for so long, and never gave a clue that would ever reveal himself.  Perhaps he had nothing to reveal.

Here it is, the moment we have all been waiting for.  I have come to liberate the world of art from its deepest constraints, its inability to live in the present moment.  Because it is always running behind, it does not have a hope of grabbing the train that will propel it into the future, and this makes me hopeless and feeling very strange.  However, I will set foot in modern Singapore, the perfect place to begin a new artistic movement, and here, the restaurants have Italian that reminds me of my mother.  It reminds me of how she made food, not exactly of her herself.

This is an auspicious beginning, and it reminds me that here, in Singapore, the food is fresh, and it is honest, and it tells the truth, because it is fresh.  They have fresh food here unlike the preservatives that make one stale and tired, and this has always been this way.  They understand that it is not absolutely necessary to have all the latest technologies to make our new futurism.  This will be based on the extreme passions of the people in the past, and the magnifying lens is turned the other way toward the future, and suddenly this is us.

The future is us in Singapore, and Italy, and Columbia and even in Madagascar.  We are a global community, and we need to remember this so we don’t start speaking in one language and assume we are understood.  We are not understood, but we are genius.  Although I do not understand the local futurism, or perhaps simply fail to grasp its applications toward  an art based on our own energies and rhythms so that we can begin to take in life, and try to sell it somewhere for a better price than we paid for it.

In most instances, emergencies can not be predicted . I had a dog when I lived in Los Angeles that could predict earthquakes and I have a dog now who can predict monsoon thunderstorms, but for the most part, that is what makes it an emergency. It is something huge that someone was not ready or prepared to handle. In many cases today, for many people, emergency situations are not only devastating in and of themselves, but they can put a family or an individual into a horrible financial situation as well.  Financial advisers recommend that people keep three to six months of their living expenses in the bank at all times. But in this current financial situation of the United States, and of the world, this is just not possible. People have cleaned out their safety nets a long time ago. When disaster or emergency strikes, one financial option that people are turning to is the cash advance, or the payday loan. This is a great option for those who currently hold a steady job and who know that they will be able to pay the loan back in a timely manner. Payday loans are incredibly easy to qualify for. All you need is proof of steady employment. There is no credit check and the loans are approved in as little as twenty minutes, either online or over the phone. Deposits are made directly into your checking account, and that too is a fast transaction, taking in most cases just twenty four hours.  These are short term loans that are there when you need them. And they are there quickly so you can take care of the emergency and get back to living and breathing a bit easier. No one knows, as stated before, when a disaster may strike. Not only the life disasters such as cars breaking down at inopportune moments but tornadoes or earthquakes or any kind of natural disaster. It is just comforting to know that in a time of need, the payday loan option will always be there.

Po’ Boys and crawfish, seafood jambalaya and red beans and rice, zydeco music and dancing.  It is the time for the Fat Tuesday celebrations, and while Huntsville, Alabama is not in New Orleans, it is in the south.  And there is no better region to be in right now than in the Southern region of the United States.  There are many different traditions throughout the world that revolve around this holiday.  One thing that they have in common is that it is a day in which to indulge a bit, before the upcoming fasts of Lent.

The Mardi Gras celebrations precede Ash Wednesday, and the celebrations include not only dancing and having fun, but getting the last little bit of rich and indulgent food in, before the following forty days of restrictions.  In some countries this is also known as Pancake Tuesday.  Donuts and pancakes are rich and sweet, and when one is looking at giving up the foods of pleasure for a while, of course they want to have a bit to carry them through.

In the Southern States of America, the food is rich, but it is spicy too.  Crawfish festivals abound, and the old timers instruct the newbies on just how to squeeze the tail and suck the head.  The celebrations in the smaller town of Huntsville, Alabama will be incredible, but much lower of a key than those that will be taking place in New Orleans, so many opt for this calmer way to celebrate.  Many of the hotels will be offering travel and accommodation discounts, for a list of those check here. There will be feasts of Cajun food and local favorites, Dynamic Duo and Mambo Gris Gris will be playing Zydeco Music all night, and the dancing will carry on until far into the evening, the same Southern celebration of Fat Tuesday, without the crowds of people.

History begins with the word.  The crossroads between writing and speaking are where a curious magic starts to happen, and at this point civilizations have an opportunity to share their resources and their wisdom, or to take another path.  It’s a remarkable gesture to the compassion of time when there can be something like wisdom and talent in the same body, like a bottle that hold precious liquids that can offer the secrets to eternity.  The bottle does not know what it carries.  It’s one of the great things in New York where you can enter the city, check into a business hotel, and let New York unfold before your eyes.

You have the chance to witness scenes or to make them up on your own, and there’s never a wrong choice.  People from here understand the temptation to participate in everything, and know firsthand what it’s like to burn out in a hundred directions at once.  There are histories worth knowing here, however, and one of the most essential in these times would be the history of rap music.  This is a serious point of contention in some neighborhoods, and in others it’s a conversation, but it’s a good idea to know something about it.  It’s part of the history of the human being, after all, and it will be around for many years to come.  Many people put the original rapper somewhere in the 70s, and others would say it comes from much older sources.

These are all true enough, and accurate enough, but it’s also more precise to say that rap music began on June 14, 1968.  This is the day that the Last Poets gave a recital on a rooftop in the South Bronx, mixing spoken word with music in a way that was revolutionary.  David Nelson, Gylan Kain, and Abiodun Oyewole began this project in part as a response to the death of MLK.  It was also a response to 400 years of history.  It was also a response to living in human skin with African ancestors.   These things all have something to do with it.

Virginia Tech is one of the quality research institutions in the nation. It was originally known as the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College when it was established in 1872. That also makes it one of the nation’s oldest institutions for higher education. Throughout the years it has expanded its academic offerings and today it is the most populated with full time student enrollment status of all of Virginia’s universities. The university maintains its three fold perspective approach to education, which is a trio of missions for learning, discovery and engagement. This is definitely a progressive school that continues to expand its horizons as it continues to enter into new ages of society and educational orientations.

The school is located in Blacksburg, Virginia and offers 65 different bachelor degree programs in its nine colleges and graduate school. There is a student body of over 30,000 full time attendees and this number continually grows. The university maintains a standard student ratio of sixteen students to one instructor. The main campus exists on an area of 2,600 acres. It has been ranked at number 46 of the nation’s research universities.

Virginia Tech continues to attract a diverse population of students from both instate and around the country. It is a common sight for parents and potential students to visit one of the area hotels and tour the campus before enrolling. Some general enrollment and information related to the applicant acceptance status includes the statistic that over 21,000 applications for freshmen enrollment were received for the fall semester of 2009. Of those, the majority of students who were invited to attend class at the college held a frequent high school gpa of 3.94. These are important pieces of information to gather when considering any college and it testifies to the competitive nature of higher education.

This is going to be a big year for music fans, and like usual, the center of attention will be in New York City.  It’s difficult to argue for the city as the center of rock and roll, the way it once was, once upon a time.  There are lots of cities that can now claim to have spectacular histories of music, and a fair share of musical geniuses.  Cities like Seattle, Minneapolis, and Athens all have major legacies, and there are perhaps hundreds more all over the world right now with the same claim.  It’s a good time to be alive, generally, and this year will be a good time for New York’s luxury hotels, hosting some of the fans and the bands.

March will see the next round of inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and the list of nominees is very impressive this year.  Lots of bands that have deserved the award for a long time are here: The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, and Donna Summer all stand alongside the more novelty groups like KISS and ABBA.  Some people like KISS, but there are those who saw through their attempt to cash in on glam when they first started, and are still waiting for talent to make itself known.

So far, nothing.  However, this should be a banner year for the RHCP.  This extreme energy band that’s played a combination of punk, hiphop, and funk, has had a stellar run of it, with enormous downs along with many ups.  And lately, their work is marked by an unusually steady and welcome sense of balance.  Their new album is also due out this year, and it’s time that one of the more interesting bands from the other side of the country gets their contribution acknowledged.  They’ve often spoken our language and our rhythms, so their entry into the hall of fame would be a win for all of us.

Washington is an incredibly interesting state. That statement applies to its culture as well as its geography. The Cascade Mountains divide much of the state and the climate and geography is completely different depending on which side you’re on. The western portion of the state is more coastal oriented and cities like Seattle receive some of the highest percentages of rainfall in the country. Meanwhile, areas on the eastern edge of the state can be extremely dry throughout many seasons and a large number of people would be surprised to learn that some of the state’s eastern climate statistics are actually represented of Washington.

In addition, Washington has two major active volcanic mountains Mt. Saint Helens and Mt. Rainier. Mt. Saint Helens is located approximately ninety six miles south of Seattle. This volcano is one of the most famous in the nation due largely to the catastrophic eruption that occurred in 1980. The Mount Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument was established as both a preservational aspect and to allow for follow up scientific study. Mt. Rainier is part of a national park of the same name. It is the most heavily glaciated mountain peak in the country’s lower forty eight states, with twenty six major glaciers. It also has thirty five square miles of permanent glaciers and snowfall.

Puget Sound is one of the most popular geographic features of the state of Washington and it is located just off the coast of its most popular city, Seattle, although the name itself refers to the general region surrounding the actual sound and this includes the land area surrounding Seattle. The sound is dynamic and complex estuarine system that connects major and minor waterways and basins. The Washington State Ferries system is the major transportation service for the surrounding islands and the Washington mainland. There are also sight seeing and tourist oriented ferry services. Wherever you are in Washington there is plenty of geographic wonders and beauty to keep you captivated. And the Washington hotels and luxury resorts are there to provide you with fabulous accommodations.

There are some who might believe that Austin has gotten less weird over the past few years, but they are in a minority for certain.  The wheel has already been set in motion, long before we ever got here, and some wheels start to spin spontaneously, and some are guided by ancestors that speak inspirations from a land far beyond.  It’s not the perfect time in history, nor is it the place, any place, to determine the weird no place and every place that Austin can be.  It’s one of those unspeakable energies that cannot be evaluated while it is performing is natural mystic magic but only is open for assessment later, much later.  All we can know for now is that Austin has hotels and they are lovely, and you will have a lovely time here.

It’s not the time to decide, or even guess, at the long-term effects of Greg Romero because it’s simply much too soon.  We can know for certain, however, that he was part of a series of coincidences here that caused the wheels that were already set in motion to spin just a bit faster, and a bit stranger, which means that Austin will remember him because he understood where he was when he was here.  This experimental playwright (among many other hats) has left footprints, and coming to Austin and looking at living memories reveals some of his day-glo traces over all the important sacred cows.

Not that Romero doesn’t like cows.  The deeply compassionate vision is elaborated in plays like The Most Beautiful Lullaby Ever Heard, and can also be found in public acts that move art backwards into dada while it moves into the great ceiling fan of the future, the one that will chop us all up unless we learn how to burp.  These acts include taking extremely small donations from large groups of people, and shaving his beard in public.  This is an electric word machine, with one conduit to pop culture, and one to the angel of history, and simultaneously stalked by Cajun pookas who know your mother.  His influences come from everywhere, and he brought them here with him, for a time, and now has gone to the four winds and scattered, or is perhaps in Philly, where it will be nice to meet him for a beer or a coffee sometime.