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Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts

LINK OF THE DAY: Super Trooper!

1.26.2010 1 comments

The NYTimes ArtsBeat blog reported that wait for it...a ABBA MUSEUM IS OPENING! While my personal memories of Abba are more of the A*Teens variety. Yes I will admit that I am one of "those" people who spent some teenage years actually watching their TV show- and on that front let me just reiterate just how ridiculous that time-traveling trip to Arizona in that TV movie was; yet, I digress. According the Times, London's Abbaworld will include up to 30,000 square feet of memorabilia. Think of it as a Swedish wonderland.

The official website is, and this is coming from me, a little distasteful. A little too much moving parts/glitter in my opinion but it is Abba.
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A New "Please Touch" Museum

1.23.2010 0 comments



For once an art museum is actually giving patrons the opportunity to reach out and touch priceless artwork, well almost priceless artwork. The Queens Museum of Art in New York City, which is subsequently undergoing a massive expansion into its next-door neighbor the World's Fair Ice Rink, unveiled a piece by Daniel Bozhkov that was recently featured in the NYTimes. The work includes a plaster cast of Michelangelo's "Pieta" house behind walls of glass cubes but with a distinct opening through which anyone can reach out and touch what ends up being Jesus's torso.
The cast, on loan from the Met, was made from the original, now housed behind protective glass at the Vatican. After being attacked with a hammer the real Pieta is now housed behind protective glass.
According to the Times:
Mr. Bozhkov, a Bulgarian-born conceptualist, likes to facilitate this kind of interaction with art. Much of his work has to do with the idea of the artist as a tradesman. In past projects he has apprenticed himself to bakers, airplane pilots and other kinds of workers, learning their skills and sharing some of his own.
hile I would never dream of corroding a true masterpiece with oil from my hands, the idea of connecting with such a famous piece through a proxy is incredibly appealing. Maybe, just maybe, the artistic brilliance of Michelangelo as transferred through this mold could inspire the next great master.





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Subterranean Berlin

1.10.2010 0 comments

image from the NYTimes
Always fascinated by interesting excursions abroad (regardless of whether or not I will actually get to participate in them), I ran across the Berlin Underworld's tours of subterranean bunkers and tunnels, remnants of Nazi Germany. Featured in the NYTimes's "Globespotter's Blog," the organization that runs the tours, Underworlds, uses the funds to preserve the sites.
According to the article:
The association does... offer tours through Cold War-era bomb shelters, abandoned U-Bahn lines and subterranean escape routes from East to West Berlin.
At present, the most popular tour offers visitors an idea of what German life would have been like while living under the perpetual threat of Allied air strikes. Personally, having never really imagined what life for an average German during WWII would have been like, the objective of this organization seems truly interesting.
The tours are offered in multiple languages by a group of volunteers and meet at the U8 subway station. Check it out!
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It's Mozart, duh!

11.23.2009 0 comments


image from the NYTimes


In a stark departure from the stereotypical German approach to Mozart, Director Christoph Hagel has adapted "Così fan Tutte" for a modern audience. Now labeled "Sex, Lies, and TV," this play (as shown above) may be seen as too radical a take on Mozart's classics. I, for one, would absolutely see it, if I were in Berlin of course. Featured in the NYTimes' "Globespotters" Blog, this play is attracting attention for its focus on our "media-and-youth-obsessed age."

A Brief Synopsis from the Times:



The two couples at the center of the opera are now contestants on a love-themed game show. Don Alfonso, the old philosopher who instigates the wager, is a shrewd TV executive who offers the two male leads suitcases full of money to test their fiancées’ loyalty. True to the original libretto, the two men pretend to be called off to war (here represented by news footage of German troops in Afghanistan), only to return in disguise and proceed to seduce each other’s sweethearts.
So, if you're heading to Berlin anytime soon be sure to check out Hagel's website for tickets. (Beware, it's actually in German.)


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A Metamorphasis of Sorts in Sin City

5.09.2009 0 comments

merci NY times For years now the crowds which descend on Las Vegas have demanded something more than just a sleezy show to entertain them. As more and more families become attracted to the activities and spectacle that is Las Vegas, demands for more wholesome productions has risen. In response to this growing sentiment many Broadway shows have come to Sin City in recent years (ranging from "the Lion King" to "Mamma Mia!"). As Las Vegas flagship hotels make desperate pleas for increased tourism spending in order to weather this recession, the advent of Broadway caliber theatrical productions gracing the famous "strip" may not be far off at all. For instance, the reliable "Lion King" will be opening this month soon to be followed by Cirque de Soleil.
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Take a Risk! Travel to Mexico!

4.30.2009 0 comments

If you haven't heard about the new flu epidemic, then obviously something is wrong with you. Because it is everywhere. The media is hyping up this 'new' virus with the strength of a million men, mostly to the effect of paranoia and fear. After all, the symptoms of the new H1N1 virus are strikingly similar to those of the regular flu. Don't be alarmed! Saying that, this issue is a bit close to heart for the author: I'm due to travel to Mexico in a few weeks for a vacation. Unless they close the borders, I'm going, and this viewpoint helps to put a clear, don't-worry-be-happy viewpoint on this whole issue. However, it still stands that there are 2, 400 suspected infections and 150 deaths from the new flu virus; only 26 of the infections and seven deaths have been laboratory-confirmed, though. That fact hasn't stopped countries like Argentina and Cuba from banning flights to Mexico. Japan refuses to give visas to visiting Mexicans, and France is trying to get a suspension of fights between Mexico and the European Union. America has not yet taken the extreme position of blocking the borders, although it was discussed with Congress on Wednesday. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said that the U.S. has no plans to close the borders, with the agreement of both WHO and the CDC in Atlanta. Scientists say that closing the border would have little effect: Ira Longini, a biostatistician at the University of Washington, says that "once the virus has spread beyond its initial focus, travel restrictions just aren't effective." On top of that, you must consider the economic results if airfare is canceled to and from Mexico; there is about 4,000 flights between the U.S. and Mexico occur daily. "It's not worth the social disruption it would cause," Longini continues. Based on how 'international' our world truly is, there is not practicality in shutting off a country completely. And, according to Orbitz, people are still booking their trips to Mexico, creating a new type of risk-taker. Links About This Flu (and Mexico): How to Deal with Swine Flu: Heeding the Mistakes of 1976 Live From Mexico: Avoiding Swine Flu While Working on That Tan Google Maps- Tracking H1N1 Cases Read the full story