Ben, our lovely friend who lives in Manhattan, cooked us a wonderful dinner over at his flat, which is on Park Avenue, not too far from Grand Central Station. He offered to put us up, but we’ve seen how small his flat is, and we thanked him for his very generous offers, and told him we had already made reservations at one of the top hotels in New York City. After dinner, we all planned to go to a movie, but we were treated to watching a movie being made as we were walking to the movie theater.
 
We’ve noticed that for the last two days, many of the streets had those orange cones out, which blocked many good parking spots. Ben, told us they were put there because a film was being shot in and around his area. Then that night, when we were having dinner at Ben’s place, we could see lights coming up to the night sky. We decided to take a look to see if that’s where the filming was taking place, and it was! There was a crowd of people standing and waiting to see the filming take place. It only took a few minutes for them to film the shot, but it took them a long time to set up. One of the preparations was to use a water truck to water down the streets, we heard one of the workers explain that many film directors prefer the streets to be wet, because that makes the place look fresh and clean.
 
There were many police and security around to make sure we all stayed back, we were even yelled at by one of them telling us to stay back because it’s dangerous, he was right, one of the crew trucks came barrelling down the wet road and slid into a sidewalk.
 
Later, we found out the movie being filmed was ‘A Couple of Cops’ with Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, it’s a comedy apparently. We really enjoyed watching the entire aspect of filming, from the setting up all the way to the action. We even forgot that we were supposed to go see a movie!  We all laughed saying that watching a movie being made was so much better than actually seeing a movie in the theaters.

Kevin was just leaving work one day and as he got into his car his cell phone rang. It was his best friend from high school Travis who he hadn’t seen in almost three years. And it just so happened that he was calling from a Los Angeles cheap hotel. “What on earth are you doing here?” Kevin asked his friend. It turned out that Travis’ wife Peggy, who Kevin had only met twice before, was attended a work related convention and Travis just happened to be have tagged along. “I’m on my own all afternoon tomorrow and would love it if you could show me around town a bit.” Kevin was completely taken by surprise and drove right over to the hotel where Peggy and Travis were staying.

They had dinner in the hotel lounge where they had started talking and just never stopped to make alternative decisions. So, there meal consisted of the happy hour offerings of the resort, which none of them even noticed until Peggy claimed exhaustion and mentioned that she needed to get some sleep. Kevin promised he would call in sick the next morning and be there around ten o’clock to show his old friend the sights of Los Angeles.

When Kevin arrived the next morning, Travis was ready to go and Kevin had to admit, he looked a bit like a tourist with his Disney Land cap and camera around his neck. “Are you really going out like that?” he asked, knowing full well that Travis didn’t care what Kevin or anyone else thought. In fact, the first place he wanted to go was to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather go when Peggy can come along?” asked Kevin. Travis said that Peggy wouldn’t be interested so Kevin didn’t hesitate and the two of them spent most of the morning looking at signatures and handprints up and down Hollywood Boulevard. Of course it was no surprise when Travis wanted to grab a star map and look for the celebrities homes immediately after.

When we think of smart cities from around the world we would probably say Hong Kong, Tokyo, New York, London or other big cities of the world. Huntsville Alabama may not be in your top ten at first but Forbes Magazine has people giving it another look. In a way it makes sense when you spend a little bit of time looking a the city. It is after all the center of the NASA ballistic Missile Program. Yes this is were even today visitors can come and see NASA’s missile legacy at the US Space and Rocket Center. It is also smart today because of its growing biotechnology business. This has helped the area not be hit so hard by recession. This are some of the reasons that many thing Huntsville is a smart city.

Visitors who stay in the hotels Huntsville has throughout the city will find all sorts of interesting things. The history of the city goes back a long way so there are many things that were featured here such as its roll in the American Civil War. It is the place of the Battle of Manassas/Bull Run which was the first major conflict of the war. Then it has a history of textile mills and cotton fields. Then came the Great Depression in the 1930s which it found a smart way of living through. Huntsville always has its eye on the best way to make it through the hardest times. World War II was the next phase of military influence and when the countries arsenal found a home. This naturally turned into space flight. Now the city is also a nice place to visit with its parks and recreation in the area. So if you find yourself visiting this city make sure you get a full experience by visiting some museums, shops, restaurants and Parks.

Guy had just broken up with the folk rock band that he had formed and found himself gigless, bandless and friendless walking along fisherman’s wharf in San Francisco. He had just returned from Sacramento where he told the other three that he could not longer work with them. He wanted to give the reason that it was due to the long commute he always had to make for practice and most performances but the truth had to come out. He felt it was a point of artistic integrity to tell his bandmates that he was tired of their lack of professionalism and he disagreed with their desire to take the band in a pop rock cover group direction.

He walked past one of the hotels San Francisco and remembered the time four years ago he had played in its lounge. That was a solo show and occurred about three weeks before he formed Hawkings YofT with the other three. The name of the band was his idea and was taken from Stephen Hawking’s book A Brief History of Time. It was Guy’s favorite book and he was a huge fan of Hawking. He had always wanted to name a band after him and the other three were originally against the idea but gave in because Guy was so insistent of it. As he walked past the hotel he thought to himself that his life had come full circle and he almost stopped in to have a drink in that same lounge, but realized he didn’t have any money.

After returning to his apartment Guy’s friend Corey called and said his company was looking for entertainment for a convention they were sponsoring. Corey asked if Guy still performed solo gigs as they only wanted a guitar player who could sing. Corey felt Guy’s solo songs were perfect for corporate shows and always tried to encourage Guy in that direction, if for no other reason than it was good money. Guy had always turned him down and preferred playing in clubs and festivals. However, on that day, the phone call and offer couldn’t have come at a better time and somehow indicated to Guy that he had done the right thing and was better off on his own. He accepted the gig and sat down to right some new songs. It was a great day in San Francisco.

You don’t have to know a lot of technical details to be successful in the world of high finance, but you do need connections.  In fact, I’ve learned that connections are even more important than knowing basic math to calculate percentages.  Maybe it’s a little more than some basic street sense, because I’ve discovered that the ones who really spend time getting to know the city have the most advantages in any kind of business situation.  Knowing when to be friendly, and when to play hard are instinctual, and the college that figures out how to teach that will have something special to offer.

In all my years, though, it’s not the best deals or the biggest killings that stand out in my mind.  I don’t consider myself to be particularly romantic, and definitely not sentimental, but there are some memories that play out in my head like the sweet scene in a Scorcese film.  My favorite of all of these took place in one of the Manhattan business hotels, where I was only there for a few days to have a meeting.  It was one meeting, and the whole trip revolved around this ten minute conversation, and then I was supposed to be out of there.

This was at the end of a particularly bad winter, where the streets are covered in snow that’s been turned black and gray, all the white melted into the sidewalks that looked like they’d never be clean again.  I didn’t have much time to prepare for the meeting, and I was tired enough to sleep for the extra hour, but against my better judgement, I decided to go out for a stroll in the city before turning in for the night.  Mid-town is large enough to get lost in for years, and many people do, but I was lost in thought so it wasn’t until I got to the upper west side that I even looked at anything.  At the entrance to a subway station, I heard her voice, and before I caught my breath we were playing pool and talking about our favorite films.  She said she liked Raging Bull, and she said a million other things.  I didn’t get the deal.

When visiting the state of Virginia, one must make their way down to Virginia Beach Park.  There are many activities to take part in in the spring and summer months, perfect for those interested in a bit of outdoor adventures and the world of the sea.  There are many whale and dolphin watching excursions, and most of the best Virginia hotels offer packages for families and groups, which include not only the stay in the hotel, but a cruise out on the waters.

There are many tours that are guided by the experts and the marine biologists of the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center.  These tours offer not only rare glimpses of some of the most powerful and beautiful creatures on earth, but the knowledge of their lives provided and narrated by the scientists.  The fin whales and the humpback whales are the most common to be spotted just off the shores of Virginia Beach, and while these creatures can be seen in the aquarium, there is nothing like having a chance to witness their activity while they are in their natural habitat.  The whales quite often will swim right up next to the boat.  These tours are just about two and half hours in length, and offer the most of photographic opportunities.  Various water birds are also often spotted such as the northern gannets, cormorants and brown pelicans.

When you return, should you still have the energy for discovery, the newly renovated Virginia Aquarium offers a look at four very different natural habitats that were once found throughout the state and the country as well.  More than three hundred and fifty different species are housed at the Aquarium including the newly acquired and ever mysterious Komodo Dragons. To top off the wonderful day, you can find a delicious meal at one of the local seafood restaurants near by.  In all, it is a day of adventure, of beautiful sights, many things to learn, and a fine meal to rest up and rejuvenate in the end.