My favorite Family Tent Camping in Texas, is the Big Thicket National Preserve. This, would not be recommended for the light-hearted, as this would be considered a primitive camping experience. The Park is broken down into different units and certain units in the Preserve Do Not Allow camping. A list of the available camping units can be obtained from the Big Thicket National Preserve Visitor Center, which is open daily except for national holidays.

Prior to camping, a Backcountry Camping Permit, is required and can be acquired from the same center, which is located eight miles north of Kountze, Texas on FM 420. There are regulations for camping in this preserve, that must be adhered to completely. They may be acquired, when applying for the Backcountry Permit.

As I said before, this is considered Primitive Camping and you can expect none of the usual amenities found at other campgrounds. A camp shovel is one of the necessities required for this family expedition. Open fires are allowed in areas that are open to camping, but the rules for open fire, that were submitted in an earlier article, must be stringently followed.

It should also be remembered that no trash or litter, can be left in the camp and must be packed out.

Next, let’s go to one of my other favorite campgrounds. As you may know being from Louisiana, I love my seafood. So we’ll check out the Gulf Coast at the Galveston Island State Park. I love the sea, sun, seafood and the sand, so this is one of my favorites.

Love this park as it has 36 sites that face the Gulf beach that are suitable for tents and or RV’s. Each site has amenities such as water, electricity, ground fire rings and a table. There are even restrooms and showers available in allocating areas. This is an ideal Family Camping Expedition for beginners or families that just want to get a weekend away from the hustle and bustle of the family home. There are also 10 sites only for tent camping on the Bay Side. They have water, table and ground rings, but no electricity.

Fishing is ideal in the area and can be enjoyed by the entire family (Temporary Fishing Licenses can be bought locally or online). I love this campground because I can go out and catch a mess of fish and bring them to the campsite,cook and feed the family.

There are two ways for me to get to the Galveston State Park. My favorite is to travel on Hwy 82 after leaving home and follow the Louisiana Coast. I like this route, even with the ferry crossings, because you get to see the fauna and wildlife in southwest Louisiana.I can stay on the same highway all the way to Winnie, TX. From there I head south to Galveston. After you pass Winnie, TX and travel approximately 25 miles, you get to follow the Texas Gulf Coast Line all the way to the Galveston Island Ferry.

The other way is to drive west on Interstate 10 to Interstate 45 and head to Galveston. Needless to say I prefer seeing nature than fighting with automobiles on a congested Highway.

That’s all I can cover in this article. I will write the next one on camping in West Texas, South Texas and North Central Texas.

If you wish to go on a foreign holiday but do want the high cost of staying in a hotel or resort then camping abroad or camping in Europe especially could be for you. You can enjoy many different experiences that you would not normally be able to take part in if you had your camping trip in the UK.

In France there are hundreds of rural campsites where you can stay at, anywhere from a vineyard to a cheese makers. Some European campsites are huge in size, some sites in Italy literally have several thousand pitches available. This form of camping has really taken off in Europe and is now popular in countries such as Croatia.

The larger campsites found in France are often based in large coastal towns and can offer the camper exotic swimming pools, fine dining and supermarket shopping. Alas there are drawbacks. The downside is that on the plus side you will get a lovely sunny holiday but on the downside due to this climate many sites are totally devoid of any grass in the high season. Shade is hard to come by, and European campsites do pack the people in very tightly. There is often no more than a metre separating you from the next family in their tent. In the UK it is governed by law that you have to allow at least six metres between each tent.

Try not to let these pints put you off; a foreign camping experience will be a memorable experience. If you are a member of the Camping and Caravanning Club then they have a foreign travel service which you can utilise to book it all for you, as the prospect of finding one of the many thousands of campsites in Europe can seem a bit daunting. They provide you with a European camping package including ferry crossings, travel insurance, roadside recovery, pitches and a wealth of other useful information. You often find as well that they can do it cheaper this way for you than if you tried to arrange it yourself.

Many keen campers never leave Britain’s shores, I can indeed understand this as the British experience of camping is like no other, however if you don’t experience foreign camping then you are certainly missing out on what camping has to offer. Europe attracts thousands of British campers each and every year, so you owe to yourself to give it a try sometime.

Back to back, Three-peat, eleven titles in thirteen season … the tag lines of dynasties past. Now days the power structure in the NBA shifts almost every year. The Larry O'Brien trophy has been raised by five different teams in six years and none of them consecutive. The Spurs are undetected the team of the decade but they're best days are definitely behind them and despite the Lakers and Celtics possess many of the pieces necessary to build a dynasty they're both working against the clock among other factors. The Let us look ahead to the future of the NBA and to what must come to pass for a dynasty to reign supreme. We will examine the new face of the league and his team, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers

1. No ifs ands or buts, we want to win NOW and we want to win for a LONG TIME!

This seems like a given but believe it or not there are some individuals and organizations in the NBA (we will not use any names) who have higher priorities than winning championships. There can not be a doubt in the mind of any individual working at almost any level of what the true goal here is, and that is to win multiple championships. This goal must be commonly known and pursued by one and all because it simply is not going to happen any other way, especially not in basketball.

The extremely successful Southwest Airlines has a common goal, to be the lowest cost airline out there (while not putting anyone in danger of course), and because it is widely known and understood all the way through the organization employees on every level can make the right decision because they know exactly what the CFO would do if asked the same question; the lowest cost safest choice. This is imperative to the success of a large organization with many moving parts, a unified cause and a common goal and through this everyone prospers. The Cavaliers have a win now mentality, partly because of the pressure Lebron applies with his ambiguous responses about his impending free agency, but they also have a long time strategy (four of their starting five are 26 or younger). Most important of all is that everyone in the organization is of high character, commitment, and keep their eyes on the prizes!

2. The right men for the jobs, top to bottom …

It starts at the top, no question. The Cavaliers are now owned by Dan Gilbert a forty-seven year old mortgage maverick with seemingly endless resources (Cleveland had the 2nd highest salary going into last season) who is like a less harmful version of Mark Cuban. Gilbert used to intern in the Cavaliers telecaster program while in school and is highly committed to the success of this team. They're general manager and trade wizard the longtime Cavalier Danny Ferry has developed a knack for digging out diamonds in the rough for virtually nothing in return, trading for all-star guard Mo Williams for Damon Jones a "shooter" who averaged 19.9 min and 6.5 points in 07-08.

The head coach Mike Brown has more to prove than the general public really understands having never played in the NBA and starting out as a video coordinator turned NBA coach of the year and he would be the first African American coach to lead a dynasty. He began his assistant coaching career under Greg Poppovich and helped the Spurs win the 03 'title, and since has amassed a head coach record of 211-117 (.643) regular season record. Whether or not Brown will be the man to lead the Cavaliers to the promised land or whether he is player Doug Collins has yet to be seen but simply put he's under as much or more pressure than anyone in this organization to win it all, either way he'll do for now … for long term …. depends on the alternative.

The role of leader and centerpiece is probably the soundest position in the organization, LeBron James is probably the second best leader in the NBA and I say second only because Tim Duncan has the rings and LeBron has none however that'll ever change. In 2008 when LeBron led the "Redeem Team" to the Gold medal in Beijing with other superegos like Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony in line it took his leadership abilities to a new level. His unpractedented praise and acclaim along with the overall success of the team (# 1 overall in 2008-2009) mixed with his refreshing way of remaining mostly humble is just what the doctor (Stern) ordered. The basketball public were swept away by the spectacle that is Michael Jordan, but eventually developed a bitter taste for show boaters like Shaquille and Kobe so having a guy who possess the same or more appeal as those megastars but with the general humility of Tim Duncan is a godsend to the league and to his potential dynasty in the making. Another must is a top 5 all-time * blank * (if Shaq were 10 years younger this would not be a conversation), the Spurs have a 10 all-time sixth man in Manu Gnobli, the Lakers had a top 5 all-time shooting guard in Kobe Bryant, and Michael obviously had a top 5 all-time small forward in Scottie Pippen. This player must be complementary to the center piece (Duncan, Shaq, and Jordan) and must be able to overwhelm the defense in the absence of the centerpiece for a stretch or particular play.

Many speculate that Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire would be there perfect fit and would probably provide Batman with his Robin however I speculate that even with the addition of such a player more changes may be necessary. For instance, sometimes moving Mo Williams to the bench to scorch the opponents second unit would give the Cavs their top 5 all-time sixth man or maybe it would take a Dwyane Wade, a top 5 LeBron? Either way way big piece is missing from this dynasty blueprint. The Cavs are in no shortage of role players which are vitally necessary to dynasties (Derek Fisher, Robert Horry, Horace Grant, etc) however like these big names they need a bench captain or primary role player to emerge to provide the second unit with a visual / vocal leader when their two stars are on the bench. All dynasties have a bench captain and star role player and it has yet to be established on this Cavalier team.

3. I'd rather be lucky than good, the 2003 NBA draft lottery …

I'd say luck started to smile the Cavaliers way that warm May night in Secaucus, NJ when the Cleveland won the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft. In doing so they won the rights to draft the high school phenom deemed "The Chosen One" who was already a national celebrity from a city only 30 miles out of Cleveland. You can also go as far to speculate that given the up coming "Summer of LeBron" in 2010 and given James' close friendship with a few of the stars who will be free to roam wherever they so choose luck may be warming up to the Cavaliers yet again. It does not hurt that Cleveland is in the eastern conference, it's not as easy to win 66 games in an uber competetive western conference. The world follows cycles, what goes up must come down, the sun soon follows the rain, and Cleveland's professional sports title Drought is likely to end sometime and the Cavaliers might be on the verge of opening a floodgate but to do so luck is a must !

Cleveland has 2 of the three boxes checked in this scenario and they're really only a player or two from sheer league dominance, but they like everyone else are working against the clock. Not because their pillows are aging, like the Spurs, Celtics, and even the Lakers, but because their dreams and doom rest with the guy (LBJ) who can walk away if he so chooses. It is highly unlikely since the Cavs are a top 5 team and are defense first which wins championship (s), and it does not hurt that it's basically his home town. But These Cavs are starting to warm up and it would not surprise me to see some very interesting things happened to their roster over the next two seasons … with the right moves and a little luck this team could live forever in basketball folklore with the dynasties that came before them.

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories was hailed as the “killer PSP game”. The popular GTA series had to make its way onto the PSP sooner or later, and it’s PSP debut is great.

The game takes place, as the title suggests, in Liberty City, which is the city that Grand Theft Auto III (the series’ first 3D game) is also situated in. Rockstar Leeds simply converted the city onto the UMD, and changed a few things to make it look more modern, as LCS is set after III. Having said that, the only real changes are shops, which have different names and styles, which is quite disappointing. A new city to explore would have been much better.

You play as Toni Cipriani, a no nonsense guy who’s willing to do anything and remove anybody in his way. Unlike GTA III, he can talk, which makes the cutscenes better. The basic story mode consists of missions that do tend to get repetitive. You’ll go to a guy on your map, he’ll give you a mission that usually involves killing someone, and you get paid once you’re done. Once you’ve completed enough missions, you’ll move on to the second island of Liberty City. There are three islands in total, and you unlock them over time. It’s a good incentive to complete the missions, but for people who have played GTA III, there’s nothing really new.

Though the game focuses on missions, the free roam ability is truly magnificent. You may find yourself playing it over and over again, and rarely getting tired of it. There is no free roam mode, in fact there are no modes, the game simply loads when you turn it on. Whether or not you choose to engage in a mission is up to you. If you choose not to, you can roam freely around the city, causing havoc, or just exploring. You can also collect a number of weapons, ranging from pistols and UZI’s to rocket launchers, flamethrowers and sniper rifles. You’ll also have melee weapons such as knives and baseball bats. Or, if you want to do some damage from a distance, use a grenade or Molotov cocktail.The amount of weapons in the game is similar to the PS2 versions, which means there’s loads.

The cops are still present, so if you blow off too many heads, you’ll get some heat on you. The cops are divided into levels with the usual system. You have 1 star at the beginning, and if you keep blowing things up, eventually it will increase to 6 stars, and you’ll have the army after you.

The vehicles in the game are again similar to previous versions. Veterans will remember the Patriot, Cheetah, Infernus, Banshee and so on, although some have redesigns which look more modern. You can also have motorbikes, which have never been seen around Liberty City before Motorbikes are generally faster and have better handling than the cars, and make it easier to perform unique jumps, and such. There are no bicycles in the game, which was a nice addition to San Andreas. As you progress through the game you will also have the chance to ride boats. It’s not as fun as it sounds, and it never really has been in any of the GTA games. Boat handling is sluggish and it’s not fun to drive them. You can no longer fly. Anything. Not a thing. The Dodo was a plane on GTA III that was located in the airport, which you could fly, or at least try to. This time there is no Dodo, no helicopters, no planes whatsoever. It really feels like a missing factor, although in one of the missions it is possible to steal a helicopter, so the physics and controls are still technically in the game. Why there are no planes to fly is confusing. The police still have choppers following you, so watch out.

A new mode of transportation is the ferry. It’s basically a slow boat ride and you don’t get to drive the boat. You even have to pay for the service. It is a quick way of getting from island to island though, and you do get to keep your car.

The general controls of vehicles is good. Sports cars have great speeds and handling, and slow cars have reduced turning capacity. The controls on foot have been changed dramatically. You use the small analog style stick to control Toni, and vehicles. The directional buttons are used for changing weapons and starting various side missions. Of course the PSP has less buttons than the PS2 controller, so condensing everything was not an easy task. Sometimes the controls do feel very fiddly and it can be frustrating when you need to target things quickly.

Adding on to the “Toni Can’t” list, is the ability to swim. Implemented in San Andreas, this feature is absent. It’s only really missed when you fall off a cliff into the water, as you could swim to the side and get out. Instead, Toni simply drowns. All of the abilities to increase stats are no longer present, but it’s not particularly missed.

Toni can change clothes, and there are some nice options. He is unable to change specific body parts, instead you choose from full suits. Though changing clothes is a small part of the game, you probably would never notice this option if it wasn’t required for some missions.

If you don’t want to do any main missions, you can engage in some of the side missions. Famous in all PS2 GTA games, these usually involve Taxi missions, in which you act as a taxi driver and deliver passengers before time elapses. Ambulance missions, where you take sick people to hospital. Firetruck missions, which involves putting out fires like burning cars. A new side mission is the dump truck mission. You simply need to collect all the green trash cans within the time limit. All these missions are basically the same repetitive actions. The rewards are worth the effort though.

There are also hidden packages throughout the game in various locations. Nothing new to the series, but collecting all 100 adds weapons to your hide out. Unique jumps are large jumps where the camera changes and it goes in slow motion. When you successfully complete a unique jump, you’ll get money for your effort. While these things are by no means new additions, they are nice to have, and it expands the game.

We all know that the PSP has wireless capabilities, and Liberty City Stories takes advantage of that. The wireless multiplayer action is staggeringly good. You must have friends with PSP’s and copies of the game, but if you do, you’re in luck. The game allows for total free play with your friends. There are many different game modes which adhere to the capture the flag premise. Most of the games work in this way. Liberty City Survivor allows players to play against each other. This is the mode you’ll be playing none stop. Even after you have finished the game, it is unlikely that you will get bored of the multiplayer action.

Liberty City Stories has the same radio themed soundtrack. When you enter a vehicle you can choose from a number of radio stations, all of which have different styles of music. The soundtrack has some known tracks from the era, but nothing too impressive. In comparison with the Vice City and San Andreas soundtracks, this is sub-standard.

The graphics throughout the game are fairly cartoony. The series was never meant to be a simulator, but some smoother graphics would have been nice. Sometimes it can seem that Toni has several legs when you are running. Also, at times the frame rate has trouble keeping up, but only when there is lots on the screen at once. For the most part, the frame rate holds up well. The loading times are acceptable. There is a loading period at the start and then as you cross between islands, a loading screen will appear, but only for a few seconds.

Overall, it’s a great addition to the Grand Theft Auto series, and the PSP line up. You can’t help but feel it’s just a watered down version of a PS2 GTA, or simply an expansion pack, that doesn’t expand on much. Nevertheless, the action in single player, and in particular, multiplayer, is well worth the purchase.

Whitman and Mysticism

What is mysticism: Mysticism is not a coherent philosophy of life, but more a temper of mind. A mystical experience, according to BERTRAND RUSSEL, involves insight, a sense of unity and the unreality of time and space, and a belief that evil is mere appearance. A mystic’s vision is intuitive; he feels the presence of a divine reality behind and within the ordinary world of sense perception. He feels that God and the Supreme Soul animating all things are identical. He sees an essential identity of being between Man, Nature and God. He believes that “all things in the visible world are but forms and manifestations of the one Divine Life, and that these phenomena are changing and temporary, while the soul that informs them is eternal”. The human soul, too, is eternal. Transcendentalism is closely connected to mysticism, for it emphasizes the unintuitive and spiritual above the empirical.

Whitman’s poetry is full of mystic and transcendental strains: He was deeply influenced by Emerson, the American transcendentalist. His thought was intuitive and not systematic like a logician’s. He wrote like a mystic:

Wisdom is of the soul, is not susceptible to proof, is its own proof.

Applies to all stages and objects and qualities, and is content,

Is the certainty of the reality and immorality of things and the excellence of things.

Something there is in the float of the sight of things that provokes it out of the Soul.

Whitman believed the soul to be immortal. He felt identification with all animate and inanimate things around him. What is interesting about Whitman’s mysticism is that, as Schyberg observes, “in his book we can find the typical characteristics of absolutely all the various mystic doctrines”.

Whitman is a mystic with a difference: One cannot call him a pure mystic in the sense of oriental mysticism. He is not a praying man. Like all mystics he believed in the existence of the soul, and in the existence of the Divine Spirit, in the immortality of the human soul, and in the capacity of a human being to establish communication between his spirit and the Divine Spirit. But he differs from the oriental or traditional mystics in that he does not subscribe to their belief that communication with the Divine Spirit is possible only through denial of the senses and mortification of the flesh. Whitman declares that he sings of the body as much as of the soul. He feels that spiritual communication is possible, indeed desirable, without sacrificing the flesh. Thus there is a great deal of the sexual element in Whitman’ s poetry, especially in the early poetry-Section 5 of Song of Myself is a case in point where the sexual connotations are inseparable from the mystical experience.

The Material World is not denigrated: Whitman does not reject the material world. He seeks the spiritual through the material. He does not subscribe to the belief that objects are illusive. There is no tendency on the part of the soul to leave this world for good. In Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, we see the soul trying to play a significant role in the administration of this world of scenes, sights, sounds, etc. Whitman does not belittle the achievements of science and materialism. In Section 23 of Song of Myself, he accepts the reality of materialism and says:

Human for positive science!

Long live exact demonstration!

Nature and man shall be disjoined and diffused no more.

Seeking the divine reality: Whitman accepted the Theory of Evolution but could not believe evolution to be a mechanical process. In the slow process of growth, development and change that science was revealing, Whitman saw God making Himself evident and unmistakable to man. The soul of man finds full dissatisfaction only in seeking out the reality behind the manifestations. As he says in Passage to India:

Bathe me O God in thee, mounting thee,

I and my soul to range in range of thee.

At the end of the journey the soul meets with God-or the “Great Camerado” as he says in Song of Myself.

Whitman’s sense of unity of the whole: His cosmic consciousness.: Whitman has throughout his poetry shown his faith in the unity of the whole, or “oneness” of all. This sense of the essential divinity of all created things is an important aspect of mysticism and is also closely related to Whitman’s faith in democracy calling for equality and fraternity. Song of Myself is replete with lines proclaiming this “oneness”. He knows

… that all men ever born are also my brothers… and all the women my sisters and lovers,

And that a keelson of the creation is love.

He praises, not merely life, but the absolute wroth of every particular and individual person, every real existing being. Whitman equates all opposites, and accepts evil as much as part of Reality.

In Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, the poet has achieved the unity of all mankind: “The simple, compact, well-joined scheme myself disinterested yet part of the scheme”. Time becomes one in Whitman’s poetry. Past, present and future are merged into a spiritual continuum. Thus in Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, he says:

It avails not, time nor place-distance avails not,

I am with you, you men and women of a generation,

Or ever so many generations hence.

Mysticism governing the images and symbolism of Whitman’s poetry: The mystic quest for Reality and communion with the Divine easily lends itself to be represented in terms of the voyage image. The Song of the open Road is a poem whose theme is a journey symbolic of an exploration of the spiritual as well as the physical universe. Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking symbolizes the mystic quest for reality and the ultimate discovery of the meaning of life. When Lilacs last in the dooryard Bloom’d use symbols and images designed to affirm the importance of Death. Death is seen as a deliveress because it leads to new life, and the poet having had the mystical experience of this truth, seeks to be a “uniter of here and hereafter”

As G. W. Allen points out, the “attempt to indicate the path between reality and the soul very nearly sums up Whitman’s whole intention in Leaves of Grass”. The mysticism here is obvious. The cosmic “I” of Whitman’s poems is on a perpetual journey. His soul is but a fragment of the world soul. The mass of images which race through his poems symbolize the unity and harmony in himself and all creation. The spear of grass assumes mystical significance through its symbolic value-celebration of individuality and the enmasse, exclusion of none, exception of all. In Song of Myself, Whitman speaks of God as his beloved and his “bed-fellow” sleeping at his side all night. The mystical experience is conveyed in terms of highly charged sexual imagery.

Whitman seldom lost touch with the physical reality even in the midst of mystical experience. Physical phenomena for him were symbols of spiritual reality. He believed that “the unseen is proved by seen”; thus he makes use of highly sensuous and concrete imagery to convey his perception of divine reality. He finds a purpose behind natural objects-grass, sea bird, flowers, animals-for,

The smallest sprout shows there is really no death…

and

… al leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars…

Indeed, one might say that mysticism constitutes the very poetic form of Whitman’s poems, he looked upon the universe as constituting a unity of disparate objects, unified the Divine Spirit; thus his poems are “Leaves of Grass” signifying at once separateness and unity. Whitman’s dominant metaphor of grass presents a case for unity and harmony, a basic component of structure.

Mystical structure of Song of Myself: Song of Myself is perhaps the best illustration of Whitman’s mysticism influencing meaning, form and symbolism. Says James E. Miller: “When viewed in terms of the phases of the traditional mystical experience, Song of Myself takes on a comprehensive structural shape”.

The reader can rediscover what the poet by observing his own spear of summer grass and by launching his own mystical journey. Song of Myself is an “inverted mystical experience”¬- While the traditional mystic attempted to annihilate himself and mortify his senses in preparation for his union with the divine, Whitman magnifies the self and glorifies the senses in his progress towards union with the Absolute.

Conclusion: Whitman is a mystic as much as he is a poet of democracy and science, but a “mystic without a creed”. He sees the body as the manifestation of the spirit which is “delivered” by death into a higher life. A spear of grass is not an inert substance for him but God’s handkerchief, “the flag of disposition”. Often in his sensibility, matter is dissolved, trees become “liquid” and contours “fluid”. The real is transmuted and he has cosmic visions. He becomes a comet travelling round the universe with the speed of light.

I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runway sun,

I effuse my flesh in eddies,

And drift in lacy jags.

If Leaves of Grass has been called a “Bible” of America, it has a great deal to do with its mystical strain. True, Whitman’s brand of mysticism is not identifiable with the selflessness of the Christian variety or the passivity of the Oriental. What we may call Whitman’s mysticism is “democratic” mysticism-available to every man on equal terms and embracing contradictory elements. But it is undeniable that mysticism is central to the meaning of Leaves of Grass.

If you are planning a trip to Taiwan for the first time, there are several areas worth visiting to make the most of your trip. While there are multiple beautiful, historic areas, the following are my personal favorites for Taipei travel. Please feel free to use this as a sort of personal Taipei travel guide when planning your Taipei vacation.

• Taipei 101

We start our Taipei tour at Taipei 101. This is a skyscraper located in the Xinyi District. In 2004, it was listed as the world’s tallest building at 1,671 feet. It held that title for 6 years until the Burj Khalifa in Dubai eclipsed Taipei 101 in 2010. The tower boasts 101 stories and features an outdoor observation deck on the 91st floor like the Empire State Building in New York City where you can see beautiful views of the surrounding areas.

The bottom five floors of Taipei 101 feature a luxury shopping mall with upscale shops such as Burberry and Louis Vuitton. On the 88th floor indoor observatory, you can see the 730-ton mass damper, basically a giant ball that acts like a pendulum to counteract the buildings sway during high winds. Without this damper, people on high floors can actually suffer from motion sickness from the constant swaying of the building! Taipei 101 is a city icon that is visible for miles across the city. Every New Year’s, Taipei 101 attracts tens of thousands of visitors to see its spectacular fireworks display.

• Ximending Shopping

If you are into shopping, you can’t go wrong with Ximending. This is the shopping area in the Wanhua district of Taipei and is considered to be the fashion capital of Taiwan. On weekends, Ximending streets are closed to traffic and becomes a pedestrian shopping mall. The area is popular with street performers of all types and, because it is a hotspot, you can catch celebrities hosting small outdoor concerts, album launches, and other events.

Ximending is also famous for its “Theater Street” where there is a concentration of several movie along Wuchang Street. For history buffs, though, the most famous theater in the district is the Red House Theater which was built in 1908 during Japanese occupation and is still an operational theater with regular performances.

• Yangmingshan National Park

If beautiful sights are what you look forward to when travelling, then I can’t recommend Yangmingshan enough. It is the largest natural park in Taipei. Yangmingshan is great for hiking and has numerous trails that can last an entire day or just a couple of hours. Popular trails include Seven Stars Peak which will take you to the highest peak in Taipei at 1120 meters (3600 feet) or see the stunning waterfall of the Juansi Waterfall Trail.

Each February through March, Yangmingshan is the site of the Yangmingshan Flower Festival when several varieties of flowers such as azaleas, camellias, and especially cherry blossoms reach their peak bloom. Every evening of the festival, cherry blossom trees are illuminated for a particularly romantic sight. Visitors can also have lunch and dinner at one of many restaurants such as The Top or Grass Mountain Chateau for spectacular vistas of Taipei below.

Between the beauty of the cherry blossoms and the views of the city, Yangmingshan is a well-known romantic spot for lovers all over Taipei. From April to May, when calla lilies reach full bloom, you can pick your own lily flowers for only a few dollars at one of several flower farms.

Lastly, don’t miss out on Yangming Shuwu, also known as Yangming Villa, the beautiful summer retreat of the late president Chiang Kai-shek. Yangming Villa house and gardens are maintained as they were when occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Chiang. The house is a two-story traditional Chinese home, with reception rooms and offices on the first floor and the Chiang’s personal residence on the second floor where their paintings and personal photographs are still displayed. The gardens are especially beautiful in the Spring when the flowers are in bloom. As a bit of trivia, it’s been noted that several bushes are planted in bunches of five – to symbolize the “5-star” rank of General Chiang.

• National Palace Museum

Next, we find ourselves at the National Palace Museum which opened in 1965. If you love history, this is the place to be! National Palace Museum has a humongous collection of 700,000 permanent exhibits of Chinese Imperial history and artwork that spans over 2000 years plus prehistoric Chinese artifacts and artwork that dates to the Neolithic era, or better known as the “Stone Age”.

The most popular item in its collection is the Jadeite Cabbage. Carved during the 19th century, it is a piece of jadeite that has been shaped to resemble a head of Chinese cabbage and has a locust and a grasshopper camouflaged in its leaves. Legend says the sculpture is a metaphor for female fertility, with the white cabbage stalk representing purity, the green leaves of the cabbage representing fertility, and the insects representing children.

• Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Another historically significant landmark on our trek to learn about the history of Taiwan is the Chiang Kia-shek Memorial Hall. This is a national monument that was built in honor of former Republic of China President Chiang Kia-shek. The memorial marks the geographic and cultural center of Taipei. It is the most visited attraction by foreign tourists. The pagoda style memorial hall has a presidential library and museum on the ground level.

The main hall features a large, seated statue of Chiang Kai-shek, much like the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The memorial hall and its surrounding Liberty Square plaza encompasses 60 acres and includes many ponds and garden spaces. The plaza also houses two of Taipei’s performance art buildings, the National Theater and the National Concert Hall.

• Beitou Hot Springs and Public Library

My favorite place to visit while in Taiwan is an area called Beitou. Beitou is a mountainous district north of Taipei City and is most known for its hot springs and its magnificent public library. The mineral waters from the many natural geothermal vents in Beitou are famous for their healing and therapeutic properties. An entire industry of hot springs bathhouses and hotels have sprung up in Beitou offering aroma therapy, massages, and hydrotherapy. There are a lot of places where tourists can soak their feet in the hot springs stream. Be sure to visit the Hot Springs Museum. When it was built in 1913, it was the largest public bathhouse in Asia at that time. Today, the museum offers a glimpse at its bathhouse facilities and Beitou’s history.

Next, visit the Beitou public library. Its wooden structure that fits seamlessly into its Beitou Park setting. Through use of eco-friendly features and design, the library is Taiwan’s first “green” building. The library opened in 2006 and was built to reduce the usage of water and electricity. To do this, architects used large windows to allowing in natural light and a solar panel roof to provide the electricity needed for operation. Also, the library collects rain water to be stored and used to flush its toilets.

• Tamsui Fisherman’s Wharf

Our final stopping point is Tamsui. Tamsui is located on the western tip of Taipei and our favorite place was the Fisherman’s Wharf. We learned that not only do the restaurants that dot the Fisherman’s Wharf boardwalk provide the freshest seafood available, it also provides breathtaking sunset views. Fisherman’s Wharf still functions as a harbor for local fishermen and they proudly provide harbor for 150 vessels! Our favorite walk is across the “Lover’s Bridge” pedestrian bridge, named as such because it opened on Valentine’s Day 2003.

Its architecture resembles a sailing ship’s masts. It was about a 3-minute walk across the bridge, which at sunset is magnificent. Lover’s Bridge is also a great place to catch the yearly fireworks show and concert that the city hosts each year to celebrate Chinese Valentine’s Day (which occurs in August and not February 14th). Another way to experience Tamsui is to take a ferry from the Tamsui Ferry Pier and disembark at the Fisherman’s Wharf. The ferry is a cheap way to see terrific views of the Tamsui waterfront. A one-way fare costs only $2 USD and takes only about 15 minutes.

Though our Taiwan vacation seems to have been over in the blink of an eye, it was amazing! While there is so much more to see, we feel we made the most of our travels in Taipei. I hope that your trip proves to be just as educational and encompassing as ours.

Happy Halloween! If your franchise makes this list then you know all about having rampant, mutant fear. You’ve seen the scariest franchise’s in professional football, baseball, or basketball. Long seasons watching gruesome performances by players so bad they make your skin crawl. Front Office decisions so bloodcurdling that Hollywood is actually scared to make a film about it.

Our poll is based on a what have you done for us lately formula. Super Bowls or great players on a team 40 years ago don’t carry much weight. We prefer things like recent success. Infamous players and owners. Fan Support. And, the city the team is in. There might be some other chilling things we just make up as we go along.

We present, in all it’s brutality, the Scariest Franchises in sports.

8)The Pittsburgh Pirates

Why are they so terrifying? Since losing a heartbreaker to the Braves in the bottom of the ninth in Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS, the Pirates have yet to have even a winning season.They had a diabolical plan this season making it look like they would make a run at.500 but apparently it was all designed to further torture the fan base. The owners of the team have turned losing into a profitable enterprise, making almost $30 million a year while getting rid of All-Stars in an effort not to pay them. How spine-chilling.

7) The Detroit Lions

The mere fact they play in Detroit is creepy enough isn’t? I’ve never been there but I’ve talked to a few people who have (those that made out alive) and they were not too kind to the Motor City. This franchise was so bad it scared the greatest runner of all time, Barry Sanders, into early retirement. They also have the meanest current player in the NFL, Ndamukong Suh, who has been fined for illegal hits on various occasions and for the most part he has refused to apologize, instead receiving fines from the National Football League.

Finally, the Lions are scary because they’ve won just one playoff game since 1957.

6) The Oakland Raiders

Even the Pirate on the helmet strikes fear in very few these days. This once proud franchise was mis-manged by the very man who made them great, the late Al Davis. Coming into this season the Raiders were in a 37-91 stretch and have been known for grim draft busts (JaMarcus Russell). Raider Nation, those guys who dress like everyday is Halloween, has given up on this franchise. The Raiders finished dead last in NFL attendance in 2010. The Raiders also get poor marks for the city of Oakland. It’s not a good sign when the fan base is more ghoulish than the team.

5) The Los Angeles Clippers

It’s distressing when the other team in your home town, that plays the same sport, is soooo much better than you. The Lakers outclass the Clippers in pretty much every facet. You don’t have to go far to see why the Clippers are so dreadful. Look at the draft. They used a No. 1 overall pick on Michael Olowakandi, a No. 2 pick on Danny Ferry, a No. 3 pick on Darius Miles and a No. 4 pick on Shaun Livingston. It’s impossible to miss on that many #1 overall picks! It leads to missing the playoffs in 13 of 35 years.

4) The St. Louis Rams

There are weeks that I simply forget they are still in the NFL. The Rams have slowly degraded step-by-step since those glory days of the “Greatest Show On Turf” to the point where they really have nothing to hang their hats on anymore. They are just boring to watch and what makes it worst is that they have one the most hideous stadiums in the NFL. The fans look asleep most of the time because the Rams only have one player with any star power and that’s Sam Bradford, and he still has a lot to prove.

3)The Kansas City Royals

They have a very nice stadium but it only masks the underlying horror. The Royals have been flying under the radar as the epitome of the small market team. Why else have they be able to get away with not making the playoffs since 1985!! It’s because nobody cares. But it gets more freakish for this franchise. Kansas City has finished as high as second in the division standings only twice since 1985. Despite having a number of perennial All-Stars begin their careers in Kansas City-David Cone, Kevin Appier, Johnny Damon, Carlos Beltran and Jermaine Dye to name a few-the Royals consistently traded their best players to avoid paying them during their prime years.

2) The Toronto Raptors

The team nickname is one for the coolest, and scariest, in all of sports. That’s just about where it ends for this franchise. Just about every good player they’ve had wants out (Vince Carter, Chris Bosh). How about some Raptor jokes?

Q: What do the Toronto Raptors and possums have in common? A: Both play dead at home and get killed on the road!

Q: What do you call 12 millionaires around a TV watching the NBA Finals? A: The Toronto Raptors.

1) The Charlotte Bobcats

The Bobcats have been bad every year of their brief, but unpleasant existence, but they outdid themselves in 2011-12. The Bobcats weren’t just bad, they were historically awful. With 23 straight losses to end the lockout-shortened season, the Bobcats finished with a record of 7-59, the worst winning percentage (.106) ever by an NBA team. Hard to believe Michael Jordan, the teams owner, is in any way associated with this foolishness. Last year’s Bobcats were everything Jordan wasn’t as a player – unproductive, uncompetitive and unwatchable.

Dis-honorable mentions. The Milwaukee Bucks. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Houston Astros, Buffalo Bills, Sacramento Kings, Cleveland Browns and New York Mets.

Winter is time of going inward for healing, rejuvenation and rebirth as the Celtic Wheel of the Year turns to its northern-most point. Even so, the Solstice itself celebrates the return of the light. Arianrhod, as a Goddess of the moon, sea and stars, rebirths the sun each year and carries us back to the womb, and our seasonal resting place in her Northern Castle of Initiation.

Like the eight limbs of yoga growing out of the rooted tree’s trunk, the Celtic Wheel of the Year, also known as the wheel of life, has eight seasonal spokes originating from a central hub or well of sovereignty. Often represented by triple goddess iconography, each turn of the wheel guides us through the seasons, their energies and symbolism.

Whether that movement is gauged in the cycles of annual or daily time; by the inner rhythms of our relationship to known and unknown forces; or with the four winds of the galactic overlay; each cycle builds on the first, encouraging us to grow into our sense of spirit embodied. We are holograms for the divine and its elemental origins are imprinted in our cells; with intention and practice, we come to the spiritual threshold, a place of integrity with a view to autonomy and oneness with the divine inside. This what the yogis called samadhi and what the Celts embraced as the descending energy of the divine.

“Look into the wintry northeastern sky to the Corona Borealis;

There you will see the Crown of the Goddess.

Beyond this jeweled archway into the underworld is

The Northern Castle of Initiation, Caer Sidi.

Deep in a sea of brilliant lights lies the Aurora Borealis;

There you will find Arianrhod,

Queen of the moon, the sea and the stars.

As her Silver Wheel turns the middle world past the Solstice point,

Arianrhod guides our souls into the upper world.”

In times of ascension information overload and outer world chaos, go within, into your sovereign center, invoking the energies of the Goddess through the eight spokes on the Celtic Wheel of Life.

Winter Solstice: Myths and Stories

During the season of Samhain, we began the long journey back to our origins, returning to a time before birth where we curl up in the Mother’s womb. We celebrate this return to the Mother at midwinter, the time of longest dark and shortest light. Winter is a time for inner world magic, dreaming, healing, visioning, birth, death and rebirth. It is a time when the light is born again.

On this Solstice point, or Yule, we stop for a moment, basking in the last of the Sun’s waning light and the first of the expanding light. From here we move even further inward, gathering patience and courage to go deep into stillness for a timely respite.

Inside the great womb of all earthly life, we experience sensations of safety, the murmurings of those who lie sleeping, and scents of the dank and musty soil, our earthen bones. In this container we are enveloped by darkness, accompanied only by our inner vision and our desire to grow. This is the place and the time when we rest, restoring and healing for a while, before making our way back into the light, bit by bit, as inspiration beckons, awakening us again at Imbolc on Brighid’s Day.

Si an Bhru: Newgrange, County Meath, Ireland

Along the River Boyne (Brugh na Boinne) in Ireland, Newgrange was built by the ancients long before the Celts arrived in Ireland. On the shortest day of the year, the tribes of the time celebrated as the light was reborn each Winter Solstice, shining into the cairn where they hibernated and dreamed, awaiting illumination and the return of Spring.

Arianrhod: Goddess of Winter Solstice and Queen of the Castle of Initiation

Like Sophia, Arianrhod is a mother of god. A Welsh Celtic Goddess of the moon, stars and the sky, her name means “Silver Wheel,” or “Silver Circle.” Arianrhod is the goddess of the wheel of the year, the full moon, destiny, fertility, feminine power, birth, death and reincarnation. She is the daughter of Don, whose Irish counterpart is Danu of the Tuatha De Danann. Known as a triple goddess, she has triune relationships with Blodeuwedd & Morrigu; Blodeuwedd & Cerridwen.

Some of her other identities are “virgin white goddess of birth, initiation, death & rebirth,” and the “silver wheel that descends into the sea.” Her’s is the “Castle of the Silver Wheel,” a northern revolving castle, which is sometimes referred to as the great turning island surrounded by the sea in the sky.

Astronomically speaking, Caer Arianrhod is sometimes known as the Pole Star, seen only and always in the northern skies of the Milky Way. It can be found off the tip of Ursa Major, the Big Dipper. Some say her castle is the Aurora Borealis or Milky Way and therefore, the heavens swirl around her castle. Others say that Caer Arianrhod is the constellation, Corona Borealis, or her Greek counterpart Ariadne’s Crown.

She is also the mother of the Sun and Moon, the mother aspect of a goddess triad with maiden Blodeuwedd and crone Cerridwen, and is said to be one of the five goddesses originating from the Isle of Avalon. The other four are Blodeuwedd, Cerridwen, Branwen and Rhiannon. Arianrhod is one of the many goddesses whose stories, symbology and related invocational rituals have been lost through time. Much of what we know about her now originates from the Medieval Welsh myths of “The Mabinogion.”

As the Celtic goddess of time, her Silver Wheel represents life and karma as she embodies the turning of the year on the Celtic Wheel of Life. Some of her other symbols are the cauldron-a symbol of feminine power; the white sow-signifying connection to the underworld; the northern Pole Star and the upper world where she reigns at Caer Arianrhod which is also known as Caer Sidi. She is specifically associated with the winter season because she rebirths the Sun every year at the Solstice.

Caer Sidi is known as the otherworldly tower of initiation, a place between time, where souls reside after death before their next incarnation. In some myths, Arianrhod is said to ferry a boat known as the Oar Wheel, carrying the souls of dead warriors to Emania, or Moon-land, where they would then reside until they reincarnated.

Invocation to Arianrhod

“Hail Arianrhod, we call on you now!

Your silver wheel of light is our pole star in the night. We know you are there, as we can see your crown of stars, even from our place in Earthly life.

Guide us to your castle of initiation, into the heavens to float like the moon and the stars of the upper world.

Make room for us, Mother, in the blessed warmth of your cauldron, as we stop for a season to restore and heal, to learn and resurrect ourselves alongside you, as you rebirth the Sun each year.

Hail Ariarhod, we call on you now!

We wade through the fiery winds and the rains of time to find the portal for your castle in the sky.

Carry us in your boat, singing us home as we listen to the sounds of your oars skimming across the top of the waves.

You gracefully move the boat through the gentle seas that hover in the sky, back to the Moon Land where you reign strong.

Hail Ariarhod we call on you now!

Your gifts are wings to fly, and silently we make our way through the darkness of the season, grateful as we welcome the expanding light once more.

We honor your knowing of the upper world, the underworld, and all other worlds.

Your purpose is clear and we follow you homeward, into the realms of Caer Sidi, Caer Arianrhod, the castle of initiation and rebirth.

Hail Arianrhod we call on your now!

Hail Arianrhod! We have found our way home!

Hail Arianrhod! We can rest now!

Hail Arianrhod! We lie in stillness until time comes to part the veils of winter!

Hail Arianrhod! We are restored!

Hail Arianrhod! We have remembered the magic of the Goddess inside ourselves!”

The noun that comes up most frequently in popular songs is love. Often the word is used in comparison with a different concept in either a simile or metaphor.

Some tunes compare love to something beautiful or desirable, while others describe it with an unfavorable concept. Bob Dylan probably best stated it when he wrote "Love is a Four-Letter Word," a song that was made a hit by Joan Baez.

Here are fifteen song titles that all compare love to another object or concept.

"Love is a Rose" by Neil Young

The folk-rock legend penned this one for his homegrown album, and later it became a hit for Linda Rondstadt.

"Love is the Drug" by Roxy Music

Bryan Ferry's alternative band first hit the charts with this classic, which spawned from the Siren album.

"Love Is Like Oxygen" by the Sweet

Although not as well-known as "Ballroom Blitz" or "Fox on the Run," this hit was one of the last the pop-rock quartet ever measured.

"Love Is a Battlefield" by Pat Benetar

Soon after the rock princess dared listeners to "Hit Me with Your Best Shot," she then augmented the emotion from a simple fist fight into a war.

"Is not Love a Bitch?" by Rod Stewart

This is one of the overlooked gems from Blondes Have More Fun , an album that reached number one mainly on the strength of "Do You Think I'm Sexy?"

"Love Is a Country" by the Wallflowers

Jakob Dylan and his 90s band reunited to record Glad All Over , the album from which this metaphoric title emerged.

"Love Is an Open Door" by Kristen Bell and Santino Fontana

This tune was a highlight from the Frozen soundtrack from 2010.

"Love Is (Thicker Than Water)" by Andy Gibb

The youngest Gibb watched his brothers top the charts with the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, only to follow them himself with this number one single.

"Love Is Your Color" by Jennifer Hudson

The one-time American Idol finalist recorded a number of hits, including this one comparing love to a color.

"Love Is a Cat from Hell" by the Chiodos

Of the many things to which love has been compared, this one by the hard-core band might be the strangest and least appealing.

"My Love Is like a Star" by Demi Lovato

The one-time teen diva left her TV sitcom to record hits like this one.

"Love Is a Gamble" by Randy Travis

The country legend nailed the perfect metaphor for the emotion when he characterized it as a risky adventure.

"Love Is a Laserquest" by Arctic Monkeys

The Brit alternative band created this unusual comparison for the Suck It and See album.

"Love Is Pain" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Most people, at some point in their lives, could agree with the rock queen's equating of love with something that hurts.

"Love Is a Stranger" by Eurhythmics

Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, the duo who rose to fame after "Sweet Dreams," also scored with this single.

One of the great myths about Panama City Beach, Florida, is that as a party town it's just too pricey to take a normal vacation in – but the right Panama City Beach coupons and a few easy tricks will easily shatter that misconception.

Before we talk about the specifics, let's take a look at what PCB has to offer:

Spring Break: If you're the kind of person who wants to see Girls Gone Wild live and in person, plan a vacation to the beach in the month of March. It's Spring Break that cave PCB it's rep as a party town, and for 1 / 12th of the year, it's absolutely true!

Summer: With 27 miles of beaches to its name, PCB is easy to find whatever beach scene you're after: densely packed sunbathing beauties, or an isolated stretch of sand where you can relax in near solitude. But that's just the beginning. PCB brings the game with golfing, finishing, bungee jumping, parasailing, water parks, go-carts, and devastating shopping, eating, and lodging options.

Year-Round: Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. Frank Brown Park. Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Museum. Club La Vela. Spinnaker. The shopping, eating, culture, and nightlife of Panama City Beach are worth the trip even in the middle of "winter".

So, how about these tricks and coupons for Panama City Beach?

Well, first let's look at a couple of the best FREE things to do in PCB:

Frank Brown Park: This massive two hundred acre park features baseball, soccer, basketball, football, tennis, a playground, picnicking space, a fishing pond, a pool, and miles of walking trails. There are many different games and tournaments going on to be watched, and of course it's almost always possible to find an open field to play in.

Dan Russel Pier: A huge concrete edifice jutting out into the sea, the pier is worth walking along just for the view, but the fishing is really the great attraction here.

Now, on to the star attractions:

Adventures At Sea: Pontoon boats. Parasailing. Jet skis. Banana boating. Sail boats. Chartered fishing. The options and fun at Adventures at Sea are amazing, and the available Panama City Beach coupons to make it all that much more valuable.

Shell Island Shuttle: Shell Island, home to the largest concentration of bottle-nosed dolphins in the world, is accessible from Panama City Beach's St. Louis. Andrew's State Park via the Shell Island Shuttle. But this boat does more than just ferry passengers back and forth – the adventurous can also rent a kayak or a snorkeling package from the shuttle to dramatically enhance their island experience – and the coupons make it easy on the wallet.

There are many more Panama City Beach coupons and suggestions for free things to do in Panama Beach City, so if you're planning a vacation – or already there and wondering what to do today – check us out!