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Hotel Max ~The Most Artistic Of All The Downtown Seattle Hotels
Whether offering a continental breakfast, swimming pool, 24 hour room service, or free Wi-Fi, hotels are always competing for visitors. But, hotels are notorious for displaying bland artwork. Last weekend, my husband and I stayed at Hotel Max to celebrate Hubby’s birthday. We picked this hotel because of the rave reviews and we were not disappointed
Beautiful Pebble/Stone Art at Winslow Wharf Marina
Visitors to the Winslow Wharf Marina may have seen a stone grouping of river rock flowers and figures in yoga poses, positioned in the small patch of garden across from the Chandlery. These sculptures, rocks brought to life by way of rods and fixative, represent the mid-point in terms of scale. Ethan Currier is the man behind this creation.His range of work also includes at one end a 6,000-pound granite stegosaurus that presently resides on a Connecticut road, and at the other a series of granite puzzles and candle holders in river rock. More Photos below Continue reading
Have A Labor Day Long Weekend of Fun!
Labor Day is a time when families and friends get together to celebrate a well-earned day off and the unofficial end of summer.The Labor Day holiday celebration began in the 1880s as a way to honor workers and day laborers for all of their working efforts. Therefore, as you celebrate this year, plan a labor day party that facilitates relaxation and recreation, that being said, myself,my husband and our friends are heading down to the Oregon Coast to celebrate the end of summer.I love Oregon coast beaches and cant wait to try new fun things while we are there. Hoping to explore the towns,walk by the beach,beach bonfires, making S’mores, maybe a helicopter ride and many many more fun activities.Happy Labor Day everyone! Have a long weekend of fun!!
“Cowzy For Pawz Resort”
@Peoplepets .. Our Fantasy Pet Hotel resort name would be “Cowzy for Pawz Resort” .The resort would include
- Top room service menu
- Cutest Door Tag
- Most Comfortable Pets/Human Beds
- Best drink for your pet
- Pet’s Play/Socialization Area
- Rest Stops with Poop Bag Dispenser
- Best toys for your pet
- Best Treats
- Free Wireless Internet(LOLZ)…of course..for Us and Humans..
and Lastly .. a place for our Caretakers(Humans) to sleep,eat,socialize and enjoy while vacationing with us.
New Year Celebration Around The World In Photos
People all around the world gathered in groups large and small seven days ago(Wow, I cant believe it has been a week since we welcomed the new year) to usher out the previous year, and welcome the arrival of 2010. Under a rare New Year’s Eve Blue Moon, crowds watched fireworks, cheered, made resolutions, and counted down to midnight. 2010 is the year of the Tiger in the Chinese zodiac, signifying a year of bravery and courage. Collected here are some photographs of people across the earth as they welcomed the new year in many different ways.
Fireworks from the Space Needle light up downtown Seattle, Washington to bring in the new year, as seen from Kerry Park, Friday, Jan. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/The Seattle Times, Cliff DesPeaux)
Fireworks explode near Malaysia’s landmark Patronas Twin Towers during the New Year 2010 celebrations in Kuala Lumpur on January 1, 2010. (SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Fireworks light up the skies of downtown Beirut to make New Year’s Day on January 1, 2010. (ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images
People with their faces painted “2010″ pose during the New Year celebrations in the central Indian city of Bhopal January 1, 2010. (REUTERS/Raj Patidar)
Pakistani youth celebrate New Year’s Eve in Lahore, spraying artificial snow in the air on December 31, 2009. (Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images)
Youths celebrate New Year’s Day with fire crackers in Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya January 1, 2010. (REUTERS/Noor Khamis)
A couple kisses on New Year’s eve in the center of Brussels, Belgium on December 31, 2009. This year, the theme of the celebration was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. (KURT DESPLENTER/AFP/Getty Images)
New Year’s Eve crowds line Westminster Bridge before a firework display on December 31, 2009 in England. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
Two women toast as fireworks explode during an outside party in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district to celebrate the New Year on January 1, 2010. (TIMUR EMEK/AFP/Getty Images)
People watch New Year’s Eve fireworks over Venice’s St. Mark square flooded by high water, early Friday, Jan. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Luigi Costantini)
Fireworks explode over the Quadriga sculpture on the Brandenburg Gate in celebration of the new year on January 1, 2010 in Berlin, Germany. Thousands of revelers descended on the area in front of the Brandenburg Gate to celebrate. (Miguel Villagran/Getty Images)
Russians celebrate the New Year on Red Square in Moscow, with the Kremlin in the background, right, and St. Basil’s cathedral in background, left, Friday, Jan. 1, 2010. Tens of thousands of people gathered on the Square to celebrate the new year, and view the fireworks as the clock on the Kremlin’s Spassky Tower, right, struck midnight. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)
Revellers dressed up as San Fermin Festival bull runners celebrate the New Year in Coin, near the southern Spanish town of Malaga, early January 1, 2010. (REUTERS/Jon Nazca)
400 spotlights illuminate the Eiffel Tower during the New Year’s Eve in Paris, France on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009. (AP Photo/ Michel Euler)
Fireworks explode above downtown Jakarta’s Welcome Monument, in Indonesia, early on Friday, January 1, 2010.(AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
About two millions people observe fireworks from Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to celebrate the beginning of New Year’s Day early in January 1, 2010. (GABRIEL LOPES/AFP/Getty Images)
Fireworks explode over the statue of President George Washington in the Boston Public Gardens in Massachusetts on Thursday December 31, 2009. (Matthew J. Lee/Boston Globe staff)
A couple kiss during New Year celebrations in New York’s Times Square January 1, 2010. (REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi)
“Sushi,” portrayed by female impersonator Gary Marion, dangles high above New Year’s Eve revelers in a giant reproduction of a woman’s high heel at the Bourbon Street Pub late Thursday, December 31, 2009 in Key West, Florida. The Red Shoe Drop has become a Key West tradition to herald the arrival of the new year, answering New York’s Times Square ball drop. (ANDY NEWMAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Fireworks explode in the sky over the ocean as seen from Waikiki beach in Honolulu, Hawaii, on January 1, 2010 soon after the clock ticked mid-night announcing the first day of New Year. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)
Fireworks light the sky in front of Mayon Volcano during New Year’s celebrations in Legazpi city, Albay province, south of Manila January 1, 2010. Mayon Volcano, known for its near-perfect cone shape in the coconut-growing central Bicol region, has been spewing ash and burning mud and rocks for more than two weeks. (REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco)
A monk stands in front of a fire, burning old items which have been used in temples and shrines, during a New Year’s Eve ceremony at the Zojo-ji Buddhist temple in Tokyo December 31, 2009. (REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon)
A long-exposure photo created using sparklers shows children writing out “2010″, celebrating on New Year’s eve in Manila on December 31, 2009. (ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images)
A sanitation worker cleans up garbage from the New Year’s Eve celebration in New York Times Square in the early hours of New Year’s Day Jan. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)
People admire the moment the sun rises above Mount Fuji, which is known locally as the “Diamond Fuji”, from atop Ryugatake mountain in Fujikawaguchiko town, southwest of Tokyo on New Year’s Day January 1, 2010. Mount Fuji, at 3,776 metres (12,388 ft), is believed to be sacred and is seen as a symbol of good luck, more so during the New Year period. (REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao)
A New Year’s reveller runs in for a dip in the icy sea during the Saundersfoot annual charity swim on January 1, 2010 in Saundersfoot near Tenby, Wales. Hundreds of brave swimmers ran in to to the sea to welcome in 2010 and raise cash for charity. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
A rescue diver watches as a man leaps from a bridge into the River Dove during a traditional New Year’s Day annual charity event in Mappleton, central England, January 1, 2010. Teams paddle down a half-mile stretch of the river and then jump off a bridge into the River Dove, one of the coldest rivers in the United Kingdom. Contestants then have to run 500 yards to a pub. (REUTERS/Darren Staples)
Fireworks explode beside the London Eye and The Houses of Parliament on the River Thames during New Year celebrations in London January 1, 2010. (REUTERS/Toby Melville)
Workers throw water on people to celebrate the end of the year in Montevideo, Uruguay on December 31, 2009. During the last working day of the year, workers traditionally throw water on people and discard old calendars. (REUTERS/Andres Stapff)
St. Sylvester mummers (Silvesterklausen) perform in the village of Urnaesch in the region of Appenzell, December 31 2009. Three very different groups of mummers distinguished as the beautiful (Schoene), the ugly (Wueschte) and the less ugly (Schoe-Wueschte) dressed up in costumes made of twigs, cones, mosses and dried leaves proceed from house to house in small groups singing and ringing their bells wishing families a prosperous year. (REUTERS/Miro Kuzmanovic)
People prepare for carbide-shooting, a tradition on the last day of the year to scare off evil spirits, in Zevenhuizen in the Netherlands on December 31, 2009. (VINCENT JANNINK/AFP/Getty Images)
In this photo taken Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009, residents prepare to release a wishing lantern to usher in the new year in Chengdu in southwestern China’s Sichuan province. (AP Photo)
New Year’s Eve fireworks based on the theme “Awaken the Spirit” explode over the Sydney Harbour from six barges three hours before midnight on December 31, 2009. Over 1.5 million Sydneysiders and tourists were expected to line the harbour foreshores to watch 120,000 pyrotechnics usher in New Year’s Day. (KRYSTLE WRIGHT/AFP/Getty Images)
Malabon Zoo owner Manny Tangco blows a horn with children outside a Bengal tiger glass enclosure as they celebrate the coming Year of the Tiger in Manila December 31, 2009. (REUTERS/Cheryl Ravelo)
People sprint into the water as they participate in the traditional New Years Dive in The North Sea, in the Hague, on January 1, 2010. This year saw some 8000 participants in the dive, one of 63 dives across the Netherlands. (ROBIN UTRECHT/AFP/Getty Images)
Winter swimmers of the “Berlin Seals” association (“Berliner Seehunde”) take the traditional new year swim in water at a temperature of at one degree celcius in the Orankesee Lake on January 1, 2010 in Berlin. (MICHAEL KAPPELER/AFP/Getty Images)
Japanese young girls pray at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, Japan, on New Year’s Day Friday, Jan. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
Ally Rehmtulla’s 2025 Collection -An East African Designer On The Rise
I just wanted to share these photos with you. I love his style. What do you think.Visit his website if interested on viewing his other collections.
http://www.allyzdesigns.com/collections_1.html
Photos Credit to U-MODO
Ally Rehmtulla Himself!!
Be Culturally Informed;KANGA -A Beautiful African Garment
Today I wanted to talk about this beautiful African garment called KANGA. Kanga means “guinea hen” in Swahili for its brilliant colors. Kanga is a colourful garment worn by women and occasionally by men throughout Eastern Africa. It is a piece of printed cotton fabric, about 1.5m by 1m, (as long as the span of your outstreched arms and wide enough to cover you from neck to knee,or from breast to toe)often with a border along all four sides (called pindo in Swahili), and a central part (mji) which differs in design from the borders. Khangas are usually very colorful ,printed in bold designs and bright colours and most of them do have Swahili sayings printed on them .Kangas are usually bought and worn as a pair – called a “doti”.
Apart from its protective and decorative role, kanga is all about sending the message. It is the equivalent of the get well, greetings, or congratulations cards in the western culture but in this case the message goes a little bit beyond the normal meaning. For example, a fruit, a flower, a boat, or a bird could mean good upbringing or just the appreciation of beauty. On the other hand, a lion, a shark, or any such kind of dangerous animals could signal the sense of danger or a clear warning.
Kangas are the perfect gift. Husbands give kangas to wives. children to their mothers, a woman may split a pair to give half to her best friend. Men can sleep in kangas, and often wear them around the house; women wear them everywhere; babies are virtually born into them, and are usually carried in a soft sling of kanga cloth. Kangas are extremely popular throughout East Africa not only for clothing but for their multiple uses; no-one can ever have too many!
Says Welcome Pres. Bush To Tanzania
It says Congratulation Barack Obama
Kanga has also been used to mobilize people in political rallies,public health campaigns as well as creating awareness to particular development projects. When words are difficult to articulate with a mouth, inscribe them on kanga and wait for the results. Although cheap in price, the power of kanga in the Swahili culture is unimaginable.
These are some of the Swahili sayings found in Kanga
- Wema hauozi — Kindness is never wasted
- Kawia ufike — Better late than never
- Riziki Ya Mtu Hupangwa Na Mungu — One’s fortunes are planned by God
- Mimi Na Wangu Wewe Na Wako Chuki Ya Nini — I have mine and you have yours — why the fuss?
- Sisi Sote Abiria Dereva Ni Mungu — In this world we are all passengers, God is the driver.
- Fimbo La Mnyonge Halina Nguvu — Might is right.
- Liya Na Tabia Yako Usilaumu Wenzako — Do not blame others for problems you have created yourself.
- Naogopa Simba Na Meno Yake, Siogopi Mtu Kwa Maneno Yake — I fear the lion for its jaws, I do not fear man for his word….
Tanzanite- Tanzania’s Rarest Gem.The Germstone Of The 20th Century!!
Tanzanite is an exceptionally rare gem stone- estimated at a thousand times rarer than diamond.This extraordinary gemstone occurs in only one place worldwide. Its blue, surrounded by a fine hint of purple, is a wonderful colour.It is named after the East African state of Tanzania, the only place in the world where it has been found.
Africa? Does anyone think of gemstones when they hear that name? Well they should, because Africa is a continent which provides the world with a multitude of truly magnificent gemstones, like tanzanite for example. On its discovery in 1967, it was enthusiastically celebrated by the specialists as the ‘gemstone of the 20th century’. They held their breath in excitement as they caught sight of the first deep-blue crystals which had been found in the Merelani Hills near Arusha in the north of Tanzania.
Millions of years ago, metamorphic schists, gneisses and quartzites formed impressive, flat-topped inselbergs on a vast plain in the shadow of Kilimanjaro. The precious crystals grew in deposits on the inside of these unusual elevations. For a long, long time they were hidden from the eye of Man, until one day some passing Masai shepherds noticed some sparkling crystals lying in the sun and took them along with them.
In Merelani today, the search is carried on for the coveted crystals in several, smallish mines, in some cases using modern methods. As a rule, only small grains are found, but now and again the mineworkers succeed in fetching out a larger crystal – to the joy of the mine owners and that of the large number of tanzanite fans.
The tanzanite trade is in the hands of many licensed merchants, mostly on a small scale, who have, over the decades, built up stable, trusting business relationships with gemstone companies in India, Germany, Israel and the USA. An estimated 90 per cent of all tanzanite merchants are official members of the International Colored Gemstone Association ICA, and are thus bound by the high ethical standards of that organisation. In this way, this exclusive gemstone is not subject to trade via dubious channels, but instead, in spite of its rarity, passed on along reputable trade routes to established cutting-centres and subsequently to major jewellers all round the world.
TANZANIA" The Cradle Of Mankind"–Celebrated Its 48th Independence!!
9 December 1961 – Tanzania Achieves Independence.The mainland of Tanzania became a German colony called Tanganyika in 1884 whilst the Sultanate of Zanzibar became a British Protectorate in 1890. Tanganyika became a British mandated territory in 1918 and achieved independence in 1961. In 1963 Zanzibar achieved independence, and a year later formed a union with Tanganyika under the new name of Tanzania.
Tanzania is home to some of the oldest human settlements unearthed by archaelogists , including fossils of early humans found in and around Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania, an area often referred to as “The Cradle of Mankind”. These fossils include Paranthropus bones thought to be over 2 million years old, and the oldest known footprints of the immediate ancestors of humans, the Laetoli footprints, estimated to be about 3.6 million years old.
Beautiful Mount Kilimanjaro
Ngorongoro Crater
Facts About Tanzania
Late Julius K. Nyerere- The Founding President
Kilimanjaro-The highest mountain in Africa is in Tanzania.
Lake Tanganyika-African Great Lake is located in Tanzania.
Tanzanite-a rare and only precious germ is found only in Tanzania.
Tanzania in history is The birth of humakind. It has the best Safari in Africa and is the only country in the world which has allocated at least 25 per cent of its total area to wildlife national parks and protected areas.( Tanzania safaris including Serengeti, Lake Manyara,Ngorongoro Crater,Tarangire National Park,Selous Ruaha,Mount Kilimanjaro Climb,Zanzibar,Amboni Caves and many more.
Go Visit Tanzania,the land of contrasts and majesty………..
Windows 7 to be translated into 10 African languages
The Windows 7 operating system, released by Microsoft, will be translated into 10 African languages. Translation teams from South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Ethiopia have already started translating Windows 7 and the upcoming Office 2010 productivity suite into languages like Sesotho sa Leboa, Setswana, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Afrikaans, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, kiSwahili and Amharic.
Read More >>>.
Planning Your Holiday Getaway?
As the holidays approach, travelers begin strategizing how they will survive the crowds, delays, high prices and other frustrations that can occur when traveling during the busiest time of the year.
Both Thanksgiving and Christmas are showing with the darker colors depicting the most expensive days to board a flight for you departure and/or return. It’s also important to note that the airlines have added a “Peak Travel Surcharge” of $10 each-way to flights on select travel dates.
The dates that will be affected by the surcharge this holiday season are November 29 – November 30, December 19, December 26 – December 27, and January 2 – January 3, 2010.In the end, it depends on how flexible you can be with your schedule. So plan your travel wisely. Here are my favorite travel sites that offers travel deals for the holidays.Happy Holidays Everyone.
http://www.bing.com
http://www.expedia.com
http://www.sidestep.com/
Bizarre and unusual destinations around the world – latimes.com
