Everything (Potpourri) – Page 17

Photo Locale of the Month – November 2015

It is mid-November as I write this, and though technically still autumn, it feels like winter. One of my Facebook friends posted pics yesterday of holiday lights in Lucerne, Switzerland, while another friend posted a single image of snowy Moscow, taken from the roof of his apartment building. Here in Tennessee, a local music station is already broadcasting Christmas music. Temperatures last night dropped to 30 degrees, and I’ve even had to start wearing underwear again!

As such, for this month’s photo feature I thought I would share pictures from a warmer place and time. It was in September of 2009 when I visited Croatia, and was fortunate enough to be able to bask in late season Mediterranean sun. Croatia is famous for its beaches, of course, but the country as a whole also has much to offer to history buffs. In particular, the dazzling Old Town of Split.

Continue reading “Photo Locale of the Month – November 2015”

Top Ten Bond Theme Songs

As a movie buff, travel-holic, and music lover, the James Bond films hold a special place in my heart. They feature scenery-chewing villains, exotic locales, and memorable opening credit sequences (not to mention cool cars, hair-raising action scenes, and gorgeous female co-stars).

“Spectre,” the 24^th Bond film not counting the one-hour TV movie “Casino Royale” from 1954 nor the 1983 “Sean Connery returns” vehicle “Never Say Never Again,” opened last week. I was fortunate to catch it during its Thursday, 11/5 sneak preview. While not the best in the franchise, it is a solid follow-up to 2012’s “Skyfall” and, if the rumors are true, a nice swan song for Daniel Craig’s James Bond. The song that plays over the opening credits, “The Writing’s on the Wall” by Britain’s Sam Smith, is worthy of inclusion among the pantheon of great Bond songs. I don’t know if Smith’s falsetto was the right touch for what is supposed to be a somber tune, but you can decide for yourself here.

Smith’s song, like so many others, opens with a full orchestra. Oscar-winning film composer John Barry scored most 1960’s – 80’s Bond films and wrote many of the title tracks as well. The strings and horns are commonplace in many (though not all) 007 songs, and Smith pays heed to the tradition. But there are better Bond songs out there. Below, with YouTube links to the opening title sequences from each film, are my picks for the Top Ten Bond Theme Songs:

Continue reading “Top Ten Bond Theme Songs”

The Mountain Culture of Tennessee

Tennessee is gorgeous in the fall. The eastern third of the state, which sees the Smoky Mountains rise to heights of almost 7,000 feet, is stunning. The fall colors peaked just last week, and as you remark about the crisp weather and the fallen leaves, don’t be surprised when you discover that fall’s harvest season carries with it a sense of community and, in rural parts of the state, a throw-back to simpler times.

I have spent the last two weekends taking in a sampling of this culture firsthand, albeit in somewhat of a staged environment. Mountain Makins’ is an annual fall festival of music, arts and crafts, and food. The Museum of Appalachia, meanwhile, is an open-air museum of highland culture that ranks as one of the best folk museums in the world.

Continue reading “The Mountain Culture of Tennessee”

Top Ten Spooky Places around the World

Do you like haunted houses? Graveyards? Abandoned buildings? Have you ever hiked through a desolate canyon, the only sound being your boots crunching fallen leaves? Would you spend the night on the 13^th floor of a hotel? If so, this post is for you.

Think of this top ten list as a work in progress. I hope to have ten more spooky places to write about by next Halloween. Until then, here are my Top Ten Spooky Places:

Continue reading “Top Ten Spooky Places around the World”

Photo Locale of the Month – October 2015

Washington DC is one of the most vibrant cities in the U.S. Forget politics; DC is jam-packed with museums, historic sites, Parisian-style buildings, parks, street food, and youthful energy.

I have had the opportunity to visit Washington three times. The first time was as an infant, and I allegedly cried so much that I ruined the trip for my parents. The second time was in August of 2001, for a national fraternity conference, during which I skipped out on most sessions in favor of sightseeing. The third time was one year ago, when my friend Jenny invited me to explore the city with her and hopefully land a job interview or two. The job interview portion was an epic fail, but I did get to revisit some favorite places and further explore the city’s superlative National Mall.

Continue reading “Photo Locale of the Month – October 2015”

Barrios Bravos: Santa María la Ribera

The barrio bravo, or “tough neighborhood,” of Santa María la Ribera is a place in transition. It is located far enough west of Greater Tepito, and close enough to prosperous Reforma, to be in the “safety zone,” but it also abuts Buenavista Train Station, which connects Mexico City’s Distrito Federal with a dozen cities and towns in adjacent, sprawling Estado de México.

Santa María la Ribera is most famous as being the new, permanent home of the Kiosco Morisco, or Moorish Kiosk. The reddish kiosk/pavilion was originally built by Mexican engineer José Ramón Ibarrola for the 1884 World’s Fair in New Orleans. Post-exposition, it was moved to the Alameda Central (Central Park of Poplars) on the western fringe of the Centro Histórico. The kiosk was eventually relocated to Santa María’s own Alameda de Santa María during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz, who ordered the building of a monument to Benito Juárez in its place at the Alameda Central. Residents of Santa María beamed with civic pride, and volunteered to look after the kiosk. At that time, their neighborhood was one of Mexico City’s wealthiest.

Continue reading “Barrios Bravos: Santa María la Ribera”

Ten More Horror Movies (11-20)

Another spring and summer have come and gone and autumn is already upon us. My second-favorite holiday, Halloween, is just three weeks away. Although AMC Network isn’t repeating last October’s 31 days of horror movies, other cable networks are doing their part – SyFy, TBS, even ABC Family! This, of course, pleases me (as it does for many other night owls too, I suspect). Over the last several days I’ve watched “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” “John Carpenter’s The Thing,” and “April Fool’s Day,” to name just a few.

Last fall I published the ranking of my top ten horror movies. That list ran the gamut from vampire art house flick to slasher movie to black-and-white Alfred Hitchcock thriller. I had fun compiling said list, however I know that it barely scratched the genre’s surface. As such, I thought I’d pad it by writing about ten more genre films that I like or at least respect.

Without any further ado, here are another ten horror movies that I love:

Continue reading “Ten More Horror Movies (11-20)”

Photo Locale of the Month – September 2015

This month’s entry takes us to a new continent and hemisphere. Roughly one dozen nations across South and East Africa are home to lions, elephants, and gorillas (oh my!), and despite still-dwindling wildlife numbers, there are innumerable game parks to choose from for seeing these beasts, and others, in their natural environment.

I recently published a three-part entry about my 2010 encounter with mountain gorillas in Uganda. You can access Part One of that series here; it is a personal favorite among my 150+ blog entries so far. One of my companions from that trip, my friend Mark, requested that I write about another safari from that same trip. Mark – and others – here are a few pictures and anecdotes about Maasai Mara National Park, Kenya.

Continue reading “Photo Locale of the Month – September 2015”

Southern Food

These are fried green tomatoes. Intrigued? They are exactly what their name implies, and are a perfectly healthy-yet-not-healthy appetizer. The dip you see in the picture above is a tangy mayonnaise that isn’t spicy persay, but has just that right amount of zip to really make the meal.

Continue reading “Southern Food”

Top Ten Songs about America

After a year of Tennessee living, I continue to have mixed feelings about America as it is today. That statement isn’t directed at The Volunteer State in particular; it’s just that with defense spending out of control and with an ever-widening partisan divide, I cannot help but feel as if this nation of mine is falling woefully short of its potential for greatness.

Although I wasn’t alive at that time, it seems to me that America’s general fall from grace occurred during the late 1960’s, when we fought in the streets over the color of our skin while politicians escalated an overseas war that didn’t really concern them in the first place. And all of this not long after we lost a president, his brother, and a civil rights leader to assassins’ bullets.

In compiling a list of the ten best songs about “America,” I kept coming across songs that were unflinching in their portraits of America coming apart at the seams. Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” comes to mind, as does “Let’s Get Together,” by the Youngbloods. Other, later songs echo the sentiment but update the anger to reflect the Iraq War and the big bank-orchestrated financial crash of 2008. I am thinking of “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” by Bruce Springsteen, or of Neil Young’s damning “Let’s Impeach the President.” Even more songs pay tribute to our hardworking rail splitters and truck drivers. “Driving the Last Spike,” by Genesis, strikes a chord, as does “Cold Shoulder,” by Garth Brooks. Fortunately, there are fun songs about the American experience as well. These tunes, Johnny Cash’s “I’ve Been Everywhere” and Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.,” to name just two, are not to be discounted.

Continue reading “Top Ten Songs about America”