Life In Car » Arts & Culture

Downtown Phoenix Cultural Scene

bill — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:37:47 +0000

Phoenix is thriving and diverse city with a great cultural atmosphere and numerous attractions and entertainment options. The downtown area has seen a lot of growth and revitalization in recent decades and has become one of the main sports, arts and science centers of the state. There are also plenty of great restaurants and shopping opportunities in this area. Some of the major downtown establishments include the Arizona Science Center, which is full of great exhibits and is popular for its planetarium shows. Numerous theatres, galleries and performances arts companies are located here and the Phoenix Art Museum and the Herberger Theatre Center are the basic icons.

Chase Ballpark, which is the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and US Airways Arena, home of the Phoenix Suns are also located in the downtown area. The Phoenix Symphony is one of the main cultural attractions and so are the Arizona Opera Company and Ballet Arizona, though the ballet company is lightly northeast of downtown. There are also some significant landmarks and iconic buildings in the downtown area that are popular with the guests in the luxury hotels Phoenix . The San Carlos hotel has been in continual operation since it opened in 1928 and is the only one of its kind in the state. And there are even rumors that it is haunted, which is an exciting idea for many guests. The Orpheum Theatre is another one of the city’s historic buildings and it has been renovated from the original vaudeville stage it was established as.

Downtown Phoenix Cultural Scene is a post from: Life In Car

Akron’s Outstanding Art Museum

bill — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 08:15:22 +0000

The Akron Art Museum is considered one of the best art museums in all of Ohio, and with the new expansion and superb architecture , the museum has been placed on the list of nationally favored places to visit through out the year. There mission to bring the best in installations and exhibit by world class artist to enhance the life of all who attend the museum has been obtained and surpassed, so much so, many New Yorkers are coming down, making weekend bookings at great hotels Akron provides, just to check-out the Museum’s latest installments.

Detroit Disassembled: Photographs by Andrew Moore is absolutely refreshing, thought provoking, impacting, jaw-dropping wonderful. Moore’s photography of Motor City is the subject of this exhibition, making it’s debut, before touring nationally. He manages to capture the atmosphere, tragedy, and hope of what was once America’s industrial glory and promises. Detroit is a fallen city, slowly dying from lack of innovation and creativity. Abandoned property, literally fills every street and 1/3 of the city is mostly empty land. Moore, with his photograph, seems to be the only one who cares about the fate of Detroit, and hopefully with his work, so will the rest of America.

Isaac Julien’s ‘True North’, is a sound and video installation, which take us on a journey into the Arctic. Isaac is an internationally acclaimed and award winning British artist and filmmaker, who immerses one in the frigid, barren landscape of the North Pole. This installations is also a debut of the 3-screen multi-media presentation, which is a ‘re-memorization’ of the story of Matthew Henson, an engineer who accompanied Robert Peary’s polar exploration in 1909.

The Akron Art Museum is note for the first museum to present a major museum exhibition: The Story of Rock n’ Roll – ‘Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present. The story is being told from the perspective of the men and women who chronicled the genre and defined it comprehensively – the photographers. This stunning exhibition features 175 photographs by 105 photographers like Annie Leibovitz, Anton Corbijn, Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus and many, many more. The exhibit is broken into sections from rare and revealing to tender snapshots of young musicians at their beginning days; from live performance displaying the passion, energy, sex appeal and style to powerful images of the crowds and fans; portraits revealing the soul and creativity of the musicians and their conceptual images and album covers.

This is only a few of the exhibit currently on display at the Akron Art Museum, there’s so much more; enough to fill a lifetime of excellence in art, and it’s all in Akron, Ohio; what a genuine treat for all.

Akron’s Outstanding Art Museum is a post from: Life In Car

You’ll Receive a Warm Welcome at the Frost Art Museum

Mama Mia Comes to Miami

bill — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:10:00 +0000

The hit Broadway musical Mama Mia is about to take the stage in Miami. It will be in town on March 30th and will be performed at the Ziff Opera House at the Adrienne Arscht Center . Following in the newly developed tradition of making hit musicals out of the canon of works by famous bands and musicians, Mama Mia is making its way through the acclaimed theatrical system.

Tourists who visit Miami have the opportunity to catch many of the Broadway shows as they come through and most recently had the chance to see the popular hit Wicked. Hotel miami fl guests can get information on the latest productions in town at the front desk or from the concierge. And in addition to the great Broadway shows that come through there is also a diverse selection of quality local based productions, both at the professional and community level.

Mama Mia is based on the songs of the Swedish sensation group ABBA and was composed by former band members Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. It is recognized as one of the jukebox musicals that while it follows its own story line, it is guided by the songs from this great band.

It opened in the West End in London in April of 1999 and before coming to Broadway it had its US premiere in San Francisco. It opened at the bay city’s Orpheum Theatre in November of 2000 and then moved to Los Angeles and on to Chicago before making its way to New York. It finally arrived on the Broadway stage of the Winter Garden Theatre in October of 2001, where it is currently running. Tickets for the Miami production are still available.

Mama Mia Comes to Miami is a post from: Life In Car

Richardville in Fort Wayne

bill — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:35:40 +0000

Indiana has a certain place in the hearts of most people in the U.S., and it always seems to conjure up an image of a past that people love to visit. The idea of nostalgia is a fascinating one, and one of the most fun ways to see places is to investigate how this nostalgia works exactly. When looking for the ideal midwestern city that has a perfect hotel fort wayne is way up there on the list of most desirable places to visit. There are plenty of attractions and sights to make one feel as though they are getting the total experience, and there are plenty of unexpected things, too, that make it more fascinating.

Most people don’t think of alternative culture in Indiana, but it’s there, and rather strong, too. There are many cultures in Fort Wayne, and there is a lot of live art and local scene to take in. There is also a very rich history here, with a lot of industry that characterizes some of the notions of the old-fashioned U.S., as well as some cutting edge industries that point the way toward the future. There are also plenty of heroes from here, and visitors can visit the house of one particular hero by the name of Richardville .

Jean Bapstise de Richardville is one of the great figures in Fort Wayne history, and his house is open for tourists and locals. He was half-native, Miami on his mother’s side, and French on the father side, and he’s remembered as being one of the great negotiators. He and his mother controlled much of the waterways, and he was also able to negotiate for land, maintaining a Miami presence in Indiana at a particularly dark time in the history of race relations in the U.S. His story is inspiring, and evokes a nostalgia of a very different kind than is usually depicted in literature and films about the Midwest, drawing on complex history and coming through the generations as a force to be reckoned with, even today.

Richardville in Fort Wayne is a post from: Life In Car

NY Christophers

bill — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:31:31 +0000

One of the worst auditions I ever had is one of those humiliating moments that makes a good story later on. Maybe this isn’t later yet, but it’s got to be close. Stories like these are always better when you get defeated and get the part anyway. I had been living in New York for 8 months, and already my money was gone. My savings had long ago dried up, and I had borrowed about a month’s salary from every family member, and was working through my friends, and decided I needed to do some simple math. It took 60 more days to come to the conclusion that my expenses were close to three times my income, which is something I had suspected, but seeing it in writing was a little more than disquieting.

There is a secret to being able to survive in Manhattan, and it’s called moving to Philadelphia. I liked it there, and still called myself a Manhattanite when I was in the city. It was like having two not so secret identities, but it did make me interesting, at least to me. When I started to get more auditions, it took some juggling, because I didn’t want my agent to know. Some days I had family emergencies, and other days were great, but it always meant a train ride and a trip to Manhattan. They have the best hotels, but the apartments are just too small. This was how I justified everything, because spite has always worked for me.

This was a strange part, it was a comedy skit, and I was supposed to be doing an impression of Christopher Lloyd. The scene was something about him doing a song and dance number, and then pretending to fall into a trance and screaming about the apocalypse or something. I researched, and did all my actors work, and had a very impressive Reverend Jim version worked up. When I showed up, I was very much ready to go. However, in my life change, I had not gotten out of the habit of rushing through things, and discovered that, if I had taken the time to read more carefully, I would have noticed that it was not Christopher Lloyd, but Christopher Walken. I didn’t get the part.

NY Christophers is a post from: Life In Car

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Slackers in Austin

bill — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:19:53 +0000

This was the film that sort of put Austin into everyone’s mind. I say sort of because it was already weird, and obviously already on all of some people’s minds, but also because there are many of those who saw the film but don’t remember it as being in Austin. That’s an occupational hazard to being a slacker, and one that comes to filmmakers who make films for us. We might be in a delirium, fog, or just need to sleep a little bit more before we can start to care.

It’s very interesting to go back, check into the local cool hotel, and check out the town. There’s a lot that’s changed since 1991. It’s hard to say whether it’s for the better or for the worse, because it sort of still feels the same, sort of. A lot of the places are gone, and the people have certainly changed. Mostly, they seem to have been replaced by other people who look very similar to them, except that they are exactly the same age as I remember. Perhaps I am older. But it’s pretty interesting to take the notion of string theory the way Linklater sort of told it. Here there are various lives that are terribly connected, and connected to mine, but I don’t see the apparent links, not right away.

I know that if I stop with anyone for awhile, we’ll be able to work out how we do or don’t know each other, and then from there, I am sure there will be things we discover that we need to talk about. In the way that the film has some connections to a bug-eyed dog that falls over when medicated, there are connections right before us that somehow mean something, and we may never know what it is. That’s one of the things that the film caught so brilliantly, that this all means something, our generation’s sense of being on the verge, of cosmic conspiracies and coincidences crashing to the ground in our lifetimes. This is coupled with the uneasy feeling that the big moments came, but we were too far away to have noticed it happening. Still, there’s a sense growing that something interesting is just about to happen, and it’s likely that the street prophets already know what that is.

Slackers in Austin is a post from: Life In Car

Great Barbeque in Austin

The Washington Square Arch in New York City

bill — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:27:30 +0000

The arch of Washington Square Park has been the opening scene for many movies. It is after all, where Harry and Sally say good-bye, for the first of many good-byes and hellos in the move “When Harry Met Sally”. The first incarnation of the arch was a wooden memorial, commemorated the Centennial celebration of George Washington’s inauguration as President of the United States. This first arch was so admired that the sculptor Standford White was commissioned to create an arch in marble. During the summer of 1895 the work was unveiled.

Located in the heart of Greenwich Village, this arch has seen the times of not only a neighborhood of New York, but the artistic revolution that has been taking place for the last hundred years. At the entrance to Washington Square Park stand the Washington Arch, and in the middle is the Washington Square Fountain. Upon my first visit to the city, I made it a point to walk through the arch, which at the time was surrounded by wire fencing and scaffolding as it was being renovated…and headed straight for the fountain. I wanted to confirm for myself, that “yes”, I was a bohemian artist taking part in a scene and a tradition that is the definition of the bohemian artist.

I was there in the middle of the 1990′s and while the drug scene was still evident, I never felt unsafe, never felt as though this was a place where I did not belong. From the young drummers providing the beat on their overturned plastic gallon containers, to the mimes, to the street vendors to the people walking their dogs, the park is alive with all those living there today, and infused with all those whom have lived there before.

There is an artistic rebellion in the air, the people in Washington Square Park embrace artists such as Banksy, who while technically breaking the law, give their art to the people. My hotel room in which I stayed in the Village I found here, a website that offers information about the locations and the accommodations available, and every night I returned “home” to my room, I thought of the sidewalks I had walked, the Arch that I passed under and wished that I could have conversations late into the night with those who had walked there before.

The Washington Square Arch in New York City is a post from: Life In Car

Monkey Trees in Singapore

bill — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:46:34 +0000

One of the most exciting and baffling things about traveling is that you get to see how people in other parts of the world live. If you get past the usual attractions that make a city a desirable tourist destination, you can start to learn about the cultures that live there, and there are always exciting or amusing discoveries. Singapore is an amazing place, not only because its unusual status as an island city state makes it a unique entity unto itself, but because of the rich cultures that make up the local population. There have been people here for a long time, and even some of the more recent cultures have had a presence here long enough that their beliefs and traditions have worked their way into the fabric of the place.

One of the easiest ways to know the manifestations of these traditions is through the food of Singapore. Food guides culture as well as follows it, and it’s fascinating to learn about the way the recipes evolved over time. It’s also a very tasty way to have a rich cultural experience, and it’s one that is never-ending, because food is constantly evolving, and revealing new histories of cultural mixing and blending. When you are tasting the food of a place, you are also entering into its history, sometimes in a subtle way, and sometimes more directly. Even first time visitors will have a spectacular series of memories about Singapore’s food, but it might take repeated and extended visits to get to know some of the other local traditions, such as worship of monkey trees.

Perhaps worship is a strong word, but it certainly fits, according to the local definitions. Recently, there was an old African Mahogany that was struck by a car. The impact opened up part of the bark to reveal two monkey figures, that very strikingly resemble a mother and a baby. Spirits in trees is not only a phenomenon found in Buddhist culture, but exists in nearly every culture if you go back far enough. So it shouldn’t be surprising that throngs of people began to gather, to pray to the spirits of the tree, and some even asked for favors, like winning the lottery. There are many skeptics who discount the story entirely, because it was later found that the figures were the result of a series of accidents to the tree, and this was the shape of its healing. However, in an all-inclusive cosmology where there are no such thing as accidents, the validity of the figure is secondary to the elusive and mysterious nature of belief.

Monkey Trees in Singapore is a post from: Life In Car

The Artists of New Delhi

bill — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:17:20 +0000

Traveling through New Delhi will open up a world of color, of texture and of excitement. This is illustrated in the museums and the art galleries, and on the streets of the city as well. One place to find such pieces of art and work to be treasured is the Himachal Emporium of New Delhi. In this one location, atBaba Kharak Sing Marg, a tourist or a visitor will gather a bit of the whole of the culture of India, the history and the heritage.

The market place is to be found in the district of Baba Kharak Sing Marg, an area that stands alone as far as depicting the culture of the country. Of the five star hotels in New Dehli, most are found in this neighborhood. So close to one’s accommodations, there is a wold of shawls, woolen blankets and silk clothing and the ever popularpashmina . In the market one will find diversity as well as uniformity, all artists following the traditional techniques, but adding a bit of their own unique styles. The design and the color of the woven pieces of art are common place in India, but not so common for the tourists of other countries.

This is not limited to the clothing, but to the carpets and the window treatments and wall hangings as well. Mind blowing, these are the only two words that describe sufficiently the craftsmanship of the artists working in textiles in the city of New Delhi. Dragons, floral prints and mythical stories and figures are the subject matter, set against a background of geometric shapes. The Himachal Emporium is popular not only with tourists, but with the locals as well. Any time one travels, and are in search of the real and honest parts of the the city, be it a restaurant or a tailor, it is best to go where the locals go. In this case, the locals shop at Emporium, so case in point, when traveling through New Delhi make a stop or two at this market. You will not be disappointed.

The Artists of New Delhi is a post from: Life In Car