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| The New York Optimist December 2008 |
Ellie Robyn’s Top Tens of 2008
Top 10 places to ring in the new year! (2008-2009)
When people say they are feeling “hot and cold” about something or too often the
statement is geared toward women. Many men say “women go from hot to cold” or
visa versa, in no time.
Well, when it comes to where to travel for new years eve..it is actually a good thing
to run “hot and cold.”
New York City and Miami are the two top destinations for New years eve! You can’t
get more polar opposites than 20 degrees and white snow or 80 degrees and white
sand!
In New York of course is the world famous ball dropping, now in its 107th
anniversary. Dick Clark will still be there and joining him will be a host of recording
artists, revelers and tourists from around the world. Most have no problem standing
in frigid temperatures for hours, to witness a 10 second countdown!
If your preference is heat and hialeh, then head to Miami! South Florida plays host to
the largest free New years eve concert along side Biscayne Bay which also displays
some beautiful florida fireworks. You can also try to rub elbows with movie stars
and models who may be ‘hangin out” in South Beach.
House parties are always a great, safe alternative. A place to ring in the new year with
good friends, a new flame, an old flame or with the Yule log movie.
Speaking of movies and television…
Don’t forget the annual New years eve/New year’s day Honeymooners and Twilight
Zone marathons! Bang Zoom!
www.shermanstravel.com/top_tens/Places_To_Ring_In_The_New_Year
Top ten Ski resorts for NON-Skiers!
This one is perfect for me and I am sure many of our readers can relate. You have
friends or a partner who is a big skier, but you are not? If you are like me, you like
to try on the outfits, indulge in the hot chocolate, and hang out in the lodge. Ok
perhaps you will take a few lessons, appease your partner and play sick so you can
get out of the 5 hour trip to Killington, Vermont every other weekend during ski
season?
You love the scene and the towns but not the skiing so much. You can still enjoy
beautiful air and alternative outdoor activities around some very popular ski
resorts/locations.
Stowe, Vermont-
Filled with quaint shops, the Vermont Teddy Bear Company and the Ben and Jerry’s
Ice Cream Factory there is so much to do in Stowe as well as in many other parts of
this pristine state. There are numerous health and wellness spas to cater to all of your
mind/body needs.
International non ski lover?
Try St. Moritz.. This Swedish hot spot is not for the faint of pocketbook or for the
thrifty traveler. Shopping along the famous Via Serles strip will bring with it very
expensive shops and restaurants. Everything from Dolce Gabana to Patek Phillipe
and from local high end restaurants to the Four Seasons.
After hearing this, it may actually sound like a better idea to go down hill skiing, vs
sending your wallet downhill!
Whatever your choice, you can find it at:
www.shermanstravel.com/top_tens/Ski_Vacations_For_Non-Skiers
This one is perfect for me and I am sure many of our readers can relate. You have
friends or a partner who is a big skier, but you are not? If you are like me, you like
to try on the outfits, indulge in the hot chocolate, and hang out in the lodge. Ok
perhaps you will take a few lessons, appease your partner and play sick so you can
get out of the 5 hour trip to Killington, Vermont every other weekend during ski
season?
You love the scene and the towns but not the skiing so much. You can still enjoy
beautiful air and alternative outdoor activities around some very popular ski
resorts/locations.
Stowe, Vermont-
Filled with quaint shops, the Vermont Teddy Bear Company and the Ben and Jerry’s
Ice Cream Factory there is so much to do in Stowe as well as in many other parts of
this pristine state. There are numerous health and wellness spas to cater to all of your
mind/body needs.
International non ski lover?
Try St. Moritz.. This Swedish hot spot is not for the faint of pocketbook or for the
thrifty traveler. Shopping along the famous Via Serles strip will bring with it very
expensive shops and restaurants. Everything from Dolce Gabana to Patek Phillipe
and from local high end restaurants to the Four Seasons.
After hearing this, it may actually sound like a better idea to go down hill skiing, vs
sending your wallet downhill!
Whatever your choice, you can find it at:
www.shermanstravel.com/top_tens/Ski_Vacations_For_Non-Skiers
| Top Emerging Technologies of 2008 Although I am not known as a “techie” to my friends, I am most certainly very alternative energy friendly. I have seen the trend toward solar energy for a long time now and was a believer in solar reality for along time prior to the “trend.” Whether it means turning off lights when not in use, drying your clothes on an outdoor clothesline which I did as a child upstate NY, there are many natural ways to conserve energy and derive new and sustainable energy through natural and solar means. According to the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center , A liquid metal cooling system developed by IBM itself, could help allow concentrated photovoltaic cells to have more solar energy focused on them. As a result, more electricity could be produced without vaporizing the cells. Modu Mobile, the Israeli startup that launched the solar phone, is hoping to change the way that consumers think about their handhelds, explains Itay Sherman, the company's chief technology officer. Today, people generally have one phone that they use all the time, and they use it for a year or two because it's too expensive to buy a new model more frequently. But Sherman says that the idea of one phone for all occasions doesn't mesh with people's lifestyle. Sometimes you want to walk around with the smallest possible phone, he says; other times you want a good messaging device with a large keyboard, or a media player with a large screen. "Instead of buying a completely new phone, the jacket enables you to switch." In making the Modu, Sherman says, there were a number of technical considerations. While semiconductor technology is at the point where chips are small enough to easily fit into the mini mobile, his team also had to shrink the phone's other features, such as the screen, keypad, and battery. The display, for instance, needed to be specially designed: it uses organic light-emitting diodes and is a mere one millimeter thick. The lithium-ion polymer battery, which uses the same basic technology as traditional phone batteries, was customized to be thin and long, while still providing about 3 hours of talk time and 100 hours of standby. Once a user plugs the Modu into a jacket, however, the features improve. "The jacket may also have a battery," says Sherman, and the combined device shares the load between the two batteries. "It extends the talk time and standby time." For these and more technology trends of 2008 and beyond visit: [1] 2 www.technologyreview.com/specialreports |
Best movies of 2008
Its too bad the price of movies is $10 a ticket..Many would surely go to see more
films if this were not the fact. You can go upstate, ny along route 9 near
Poughkeepsie, NY- in Dutchess county, and see first run movies for only $2 all the
time! Shh its our secret…well not any more..
Some of MY favorite movies of 2008 were:
BOLT- A fun, family friendly animated movie starring John Travolta as the dog
BOLT. His journeys take him to some familiar and not so familiar places where his
fellow animated characters join in.
** Listen for my voice for the upcoming animated characters Casey and Camry- in
Traveling “tails.”
Ok enough of my self plugging…
The Dark Knight- which drew so much attention because of the late great actor
Heath Ledger, was a epitome of the Batman movies. A total spin on the original tv
series..As bizarre as you thought the famous Joker was on the Batman tv series back
in the day, it is incomparable to the role Ledger played in this early 2008 release. May
he rest in peace, what a talent with a life cut too short.
Doubt- brings us the amazing character actor Philip Seymour Hoffman in a tale of
catholic school detention facilities. Doubt brings to light the personal issues faced by
the religious school personnel who often knew of torrid tales occurring on their
grounds. They felt at times helpless in making changes but compelled to help to the
risk of their own confused beliefs
MILK, starring Sean Penn, who gives his usual controversial and stirring
performance, this time as California’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk.
Based on a true story about Harvey Milk, a former New Yorker who moved to San
Francisco to advocate for gay rights amongst other issues. He won a official seat
there, and was tragically killed by a former city supervisor and colleague back in 1978.
This movie was filmed in California and joined by many of the late Milk’s friends and
colleagues.
Rachel’s Getting Married-
Underrated, independent film style which should not slip under the radar! This movie
of a woman getting married in Indian tradition but was more about her sister Rachel,
still struggling with her own addiction and rebellion, displays Anne Hathaway in a
whole new range and light.
Revolutionary Road-
Starring two big actors, Dicaprio and Winslet is similar to The Hours, which focuses
on the depression faced by a couple in the 1950’s whose dream life was not to be had.
They lived in a time when most were hoola hooping and singing accapela. No one
really knew what this couple was going through because the events of the day
overshadowed their reality. They often suffered in silence but paved the “road” for
revolutionary changes in those who viewed this movie.
For more of the best movies of 2008 view:
www.moviefone.com/insidemovies/2008/12/19/best-movies-of-2008/
Its too bad the price of movies is $10 a ticket..Many would surely go to see more
films if this were not the fact. You can go upstate, ny along route 9 near
Poughkeepsie, NY- in Dutchess county, and see first run movies for only $2 all the
time! Shh its our secret…well not any more..
Some of MY favorite movies of 2008 were:
BOLT- A fun, family friendly animated movie starring John Travolta as the dog
BOLT. His journeys take him to some familiar and not so familiar places where his
fellow animated characters join in.
** Listen for my voice for the upcoming animated characters Casey and Camry- in
Traveling “tails.”
Ok enough of my self plugging…
The Dark Knight- which drew so much attention because of the late great actor
Heath Ledger, was a epitome of the Batman movies. A total spin on the original tv
series..As bizarre as you thought the famous Joker was on the Batman tv series back
in the day, it is incomparable to the role Ledger played in this early 2008 release. May
he rest in peace, what a talent with a life cut too short.
Doubt- brings us the amazing character actor Philip Seymour Hoffman in a tale of
catholic school detention facilities. Doubt brings to light the personal issues faced by
the religious school personnel who often knew of torrid tales occurring on their
grounds. They felt at times helpless in making changes but compelled to help to the
risk of their own confused beliefs
MILK, starring Sean Penn, who gives his usual controversial and stirring
performance, this time as California’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk.
Based on a true story about Harvey Milk, a former New Yorker who moved to San
Francisco to advocate for gay rights amongst other issues. He won a official seat
there, and was tragically killed by a former city supervisor and colleague back in 1978.
This movie was filmed in California and joined by many of the late Milk’s friends and
colleagues.
Rachel’s Getting Married-
Underrated, independent film style which should not slip under the radar! This movie
of a woman getting married in Indian tradition but was more about her sister Rachel,
still struggling with her own addiction and rebellion, displays Anne Hathaway in a
whole new range and light.
Revolutionary Road-
Starring two big actors, Dicaprio and Winslet is similar to The Hours, which focuses
on the depression faced by a couple in the 1950’s whose dream life was not to be had.
They lived in a time when most were hoola hooping and singing accapela. No one
really knew what this couple was going through because the events of the day
overshadowed their reality. They often suffered in silence but paved the “road” for
revolutionary changes in those who viewed this movie.
For more of the best movies of 2008 view:
www.moviefone.com/insidemovies/2008/12/19/best-movies-of-2008/
| **Now for my summary of thoughts about life in 2008….hmmmmm. Even with the great movies, technology, and travel spots of 2008, come the stark reality of a very changed world.. We can no longer deny that we are living in a time of upheaval, broken promises and foreclosures. Of global warming, wall street cooling and unforeseen chaos. The “snowball effect” was never a truer expression than in 2008. When after the first financial meltdown, so many companies, banks and bullies came crashing down? Is this Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, come to life or John Steinbeck’s, The Pearl..where he clearly stated in a foreshadowing fashion…that “Money IS the Root of All Evil?” I have to say yes. It is a touch of both but also of hope. I may be an idealist at heart, but even with al the pain of 9/11, we survived. From then till now and going forward..we must choose as a society to create positive change while not denying the reality of our recent past. There are coincidences and there are clear connections between the people and characters of this last year. The theme which must run through us is a theme of a good life. Of living a good life by helping someone else, which ultimately helps yourself. Of living your dreams without creating nightmares for others. Of living within your means and putting meaning to what you say and do. Pray for peace and imagine all the people..living for today…. Live, love laugh but don’t forget that money doesn’t grow on trees but planting more trees will help save money AND the environment. Don’t live in a bubble, unless are prepared for a burst and most of all Be happy.. When we celebrate OUR birthdays we don’t say “miserable birthday!” We say…HAPPY Birthday.. So HAPPY Birthday America and the world.. lets celebrate our new year and make a new world, a better world.. |
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