The hip, urban heart of Florida’s Gulf Coast beats in Tampa, our destination for a long weekend…not so much to see Tampa, but to bask in the extraordinary voice of Andrea Bocelli!! Just recovering from a week’s bout with laryngitis (for the first time in his career,) we were fortunate that he didn’t postpone our …
Author Archives: videochick1
WINTER WONDERLAND
There are strange and mysterious sounds when the winds of winter blow, the long nights are crystal clear and cold and my world is covered with snow. The stars are frosty against the sky and the wind’s whistle is shrill as the snow blows against the house and drifts against the hill. Yet, in winter …
FIRST VISIT to USA
Their parents are longtime friends. Andrew was my first charter pilot on the earliest trips to Africa. He and his wife, Ingrid, have become dear friends… special people in my life. Naturally, I’ve known their daughters, Emma and Holly, since they were born…I visit with them in their South African town, East London, every couple …
UNTAMED MONGOLIA
September-October, 2019 WHY MONGOLIA? Think about Mongolia for just a moment. What visions come to mind? (It’s the land that gave us Genghis Khan…remember him from our history classes? He was Mongolia’s founding father…their George Washington.) Yes, he was a brutal warrior, amassing the largest contiguous empire in history… but he also established Mongolia’s first …
TRADITION LIVES
A southern neighbor of the Kara tribe…(the tribe of my two Ethiopian families)…the MOST southerly tribe living in the country’s Omo Valley are the DASSANECH people. Despite their close proximity to Lake Turkana, they live in an incredibly dry region with desert to their west and southwest. Part of our visit to Ethiopia this time …
CHIMPS ARE FROM MARS…BONOBOS ARE FROM VENUS!
BONOBOS are the “hippy chimps,” found only in the Democratic Republic of the Congo…in the second largest solid stretch of rainforest in the world. You may not have heard of them before as these GREAT APES (there are only 4 GREAT APES in our world, as seen below…) live in an extremely remote, sparsely populated, …
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FLOWER-KISSERS
Hummingbirds have a long history of folklore and symbolism in native cultures. The Aztecs saw them as messengers between them and their ancestors…or even, the gods. In Native American culture, the hummingbirds are seen as healers and carriers of love, good luck and joy. I’ve been watching for these tiny birds each of the two …
SKYSCRAPER ISLAND
An island, once far… Now a powerhouse, worldwide- NEW YORK CITY! Timeless but never the same… a jungle teeming with excitement, surprises… NOT chaos, RHYTHM… assaulting the senses of sight, sound, smell… a density of visual information. I look out the window as our LYFT hired car enters Manhattan. City lights excite… fire escapes ignite …
JOSH GROBAN “Bridges” the generation gap…
Lights dim! Musicians onstage…at the ready! The screams and applause of welcome begin as Josh Groban takes the stage… From his latest album, “BRIDGES,” he opens with a song of fear, frustration…and hope…”Bigger Than Us!” The crowd goes wild!!! This gracious operatic pop singer, (songwriter and actor) appealed to all ages making up his audience. …
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ORVIETO, UMBRIA (ITALY)…and Beyond May 2019
What’s amazing about Umbria is that it doesn’t have big cities to contend with. Situated between raging metropolises like Rome and Florence, it’s the green heart of Italy…peaceful and beautiful with its rolling topography. Boasting postage stamp towns and villages…some on hilltops, some not…with lots of ancient history, picture-worthy scenery and people simply living their …
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