Friends is an American syndicated television comedy that was enormously successful and popular throughout its ten year run. The production team that developed and produced the series, Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions began creating the program in 1993 under the working title of Insomnia Café. While they were skilled and professional television producers, they could only have dreamed that the show that after numerous rewrites and revisions would become a national sensation and people across the country would organize viewing parties for the final episode of Friends’ last season. This is just one of the numerous television series that is set in New York and part of the cultural orientation that many visitors expect. Tourists staying in one of New Yorks top five star hotels and resorts are extremely familiar with the New York that is represented in this television series.

As is what happens with most or all popular public and cable television series, the stars of them become major celebrities. This was certainly true for the cast of friends. The six main characters in friends were working actors and somewhat familiar to television audiences, though they rose to extreme heights of fame and popularity while working on the series. Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox Arquette, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, and Matthew Perry compose the six friends that make up the standard cast of the series.

One of the standout features of this series was the equal status and importance of all six of the main characters. None of them stood out as the star of the show and it was frequently considered to be one of television’s first true ensemble programs. This was also one of its most popular features and while none of the characters stood out as the show’s star, in hearts and minds across the nation, there were certainly favorites and stars. Various other actors were featured in recurring and guest star roles. There were also numerous major celebrities that made special guest star appearances, such as Brad Pitt and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Last week was Edgar Allen Poe’s birthday, January 19th, and for the last sixty years the Poe Toaster has made an appearance at the graveside of the famed author.  This has become a tradition for many people not only living in the city of Baltimore, but fans of Poe world wide.  Many people plan their vacation around this time and travel to the city, book a room in one of the fine hotels, and head to Westminster Grave Yard around midnight on the 19th to catch a glimpse of the unknown Toaster. 

The Poe Toaster is a cloaked person, who leaves roses and a bottle of Cognac on Poe’s grave, first taking one shot of the Cognac him, or her, self.  However many waiting this year were left disappointed, as it seems that this traditional tribute may have come to an abrupt end.  The curator of the Edgar Allen Poe House was more than disappointed, as he stated that he was down right annoyed.  Jeff Jerome said that he had been witnessing the tribute since 1977, and that there was no indication that the Toaster was not going to show up this year.  He said that the Toaster sometimes left notes, and sometimes knelt at the graveside, but that it was always a brief and touching ceremony. 

This year about fifty people were waiting, and they continued to wait until just about six o’clock the next morning.  Jerome went out to tell them all at that time, that there was no Toaster this year.  One woman had flown in from Chicago just to witness the event, and stated that while she did get a story, it was a sad story for it appears that the tradition may have come to an end.  Other people expressed their thoughts, saying that perhaps the Toaster was just sick, or had trouble starting their car.  However Jerome does believe that this may in fact be the end.  Last year was the bicentennial celebration of the author’s birthday, so this could be the perfect timing for the end of an era.  Jerome stated that he will however stand watch for the next two years to see if the Toaster returns.

It might surprise you to know that the first and oldest planetarium constructed in the Western Hemisphere may be found in Chicago.  In 1930, eighty years ago, the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum was founded and built by Max Adler, a philanthropist and American businessman (Vice President of Sears Roebuck & Co.), along with Philip Fox, the planetarium director.  Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987, the Adler Planetarium stands alongside the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum of Natural History on Northerly Island.

Living in Los Angeles, I’ve always appreciated the Griffith Observatory on Mount Hollywood, as well as the Mount Wilson Observatory, which Albert Einstein used.  My few experiences with those astronomical structures have left me with an interest in planetariums in general, and when I have the chance, I’d love to find my way to Chicago, find a hotel, and spend a few days taking in the sites available on Northerly Island.  Like most planetariums and observatories, the skies and the wonders of the solar system will open up to you: At the Adler Planetarium, for instance, you’ll be able to see Saturn’s Rings or Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.  You’ll be able to take in shows that help us take in the infinite nature of the Universe.  They’re now playing a number of shows, including 3-D Vision: Imaging the Universe, which takes a look at how science visualizes the universe, allowing us to look at the surface of Mars, all the way back to the Big Bang (the beginnings of the Universe), to galaxy formation with the stars numbering in the hundreds of billions.

There are programs, too, aimed for kids, such as One World, One Sky: Big Bird’s Adventure, which is a planetarium show based on Sesame Street.  Or IBEX: Search for the Edge of the Solar System, which follows scientists as they investigate precisely where our solar system ends and the rest of the galaxy begins.  If you’d like to know more about the solar system, the galaxy, or the universe in general, I recommend taking a look at Space.com; and, once you do, find your way to the nearest planetarium, whether that’s the Adler or not!

We arrived in San Francisco airport and with heavy bags draped over our shoulders and smaller bags in hands, we managed to take the Metro into the city and find our very inexpensive accommodations that we booked for three nights; here the link: http://www.sanfranciscocheaphotel.com. Our hotel turned out to be just what we were expecting, full of young travellers like ourselves.

Our first order of business was to find a true American burger, and with a little search on-line, we headed to a place called Pearls. It is the current winner of the San Francisco’s best burger award and when we took our first bite, we totally agreed. The burger was big, tasty and had tons of toppings, plus it was cheap! After being totally satisfied, we headed back to our hotel in need of much sleep, Jet-lag hit us hard. My travelling companion, didn’t quite make it back to our room for almost an hour after I did. She was waylaid by a German boy wearing a pair of tight pants in the lobby of our hotel. The next thing I know, there a Dutch guy in our room! Did I mention my travelling companion is quite the flirt?

In the morning, I did notice there were no men in our room and only a sleeping companion. Whew! We got ready and went out to find some cheap pancakes. We didn’t have to go far, right next to our hotel was a great breakfast cafe’. My pancakes were especially good. After breakfast and tons of coffee, we went on a ‘free’ walking tour into Chinatown. The tour was giving by a guy my travel companion met at a hostel right next to the breakfast cafe’. I knew she’d come in handy. He took us to sample dim sum and fortune cookies. Then we went over one of the mammoth hills were we good get a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge and of Alcatraz.

As my travelling companion bid farewell to our free tour guide, we headed towards Fisherman’s Wharf. It was here where we would purchase tickets to Alcatraz, unfortunately, Alcatraz was sold out for the next week! Even my travelling companion couldn’t muster up some tickets from people lining up to board the ferry that would take them over the the Island. This really stunned her and put her in a daze. I ended up dragging her to Pier 39 to see and smell the sea lions soaking up the sun. This put a smile on her face, she was back and ready for our next adventure!

There are some really nice hotels throughout Gettysburg that act as a nice resting space for those who have come to this city for a connection with America’s history. This is the city of the battle that gave a victory to the Union Army as they ended the invasion of General Robert E Lee. It was the bloodiest battle of the whole conflict which made it the best place for President Lincoln to make is famous Gettysburg Address speech. The place were so many had fallen from both sides all for the freedoms of all people no matter the color of there skin.

The National Military Park in Gettysburg Pennsylvania is the place to start your journey into the past. There is a new Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center which was funded by many donations give to the Gettysburg Foundation. They opened the doors to the museum in September 2008. There is a gallery on the war as a whole as well as Gettysburg role. It is has some restored relics such as a Cyclorama as well as one of the largest collections of Civil War artifacts in the world. Visitors can enjoy some great multimedia exhibits of what happened during the battle.

Then there is the David Wills House which is were President Lincoln stayed the night before his big address. It is now a museum that tells the story of Lincoln as well as the planning of the soldiers cemetery and its dedication. Then there is the Camp Life: Civil War Collections which is dedicated to the soldiers life. It is filled with the photos and old possessions that many soldiers had in their camps. What a soldier carried and had in his tent was determined by the roll they played.

Well this is a little hard to believe in such a small town in Texas. If you find yourself in one of the hotels Grand Prairie (http://www.hotelsgrandprairie.com)has and you are not sure what to do, don’t worry. There are a few things to do while you are in the area. One of which is the unbelievable Louis Tussaud’s Place of Wax and Ripleys Believe It or Not. It is actually quite a fun place to visit. It is filled with many galleries, 10,000 feet of exhibits, any interactive displays and some crazy illusions. The fun is endless and you could be there a while.

This destination of fun is an extension of what Robert Ripley created. We was an odd man who liked the odd. We was many things from explorer, adventurer, collector to reporter, cartoonist and illustrator. He brought the odd things he had seen and created to life for all the world to see. We was an incredibly famous person in the early 20th century. Santa Rosa California 1890 is where his life began. He went on to become a semi-pro baseball player in his early teens and also found time to illustrate and create. He was a pro and getting paid for his cartoons by the age of 14. He ended up working at major papers in San Fransisco and New York.

As he continued he got more into exploring which took him to countries all over the world. Picking up strange souvenirs became his forte and turned into quite the attraction. Between the odd things he collected and the odd stories that he told his interests made for great entertainment. He was of course extremely eccentric and most people thought he himself was the biggest believe it or not. You can see some of his crazy collection along with a wax museum in the little town of Grand Prairie Texas.

This is the weekend that jazz lovers around the country wait for each year, and that is the weekend of the New York Winter Jazzfest. This is the sixth year for the festival, so it is a brand new kid on the block, but make no mistake, this two day festival is filled with some of the biggest names in the world of jazz music today. Not only is this a fun-filled and incredible weekend of performances for the general public, but it is a great time for the musicians themselves, for it is widely known that some of the largest jazz clubs in the city send out scouts, who look for bands and musicians to book in their establishments for the rest of the year, or longer as the case may be.

Excitement fills the streets, from the lounges of New York City’s finest hotels, to the corner pubs and taverns, jazz in the air. Tickets for the public are relatively inexpensive, coming in at twenty-five dollars for one night of shows, or a cool thirty bucks for the entire weekend. At the moment, Winter Jazzfest is the only totally mainstream festival for jazz in the city, and the lineup is out of this world. While it has been called mainstream, there is no shortage of variety, giving way for many different forms of harmony, texture and rhythm.

Lonny Smith, a master of the keys, will be playing his soulful music on his organ at Sullivan Hall. The more hoppin’ sounds of Jaleel Shaw‘s saxophone will have the audience at the Zinc Bar on their feet and dancing. The uber-modern big band of the Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society and the chamber music of the Claudia Quintet, are just a few of the names and the sounds that stand testament to the eclectic mix that is the jazz music of today. This is a fine time to be in the city of Manhattan, in fact it’s a swingin’ time in the city if the truth be told.

Many people associate great theater with three cities: London, New York, and Chicago.  But Miami, Florida is also a good place to see a show, and has been ever since the city was founded in 1870, a hundred and forty years ago.  One of the more famous was the coconut Grove Playhouse, which was the first in the United States to premiere Waiting for Godot, and which served as a staging ground for a few others plays which transferred to Broadway, such as The Big Love and Sunshine Boys.

While the Grove Playhouse is currently closed, if you were to book yourself into one of the fine hotels Miami has downtown, you’ll still find a vibrant theater scene, including the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts on Biscayne Boulevard.  This venue is one of the pinnacles of performance in Miami and includes the Ziff Ballet Opera House (where the Florida Grand Opera and the Miami City Ballet perform), as well as the Knight Concert Hall, which is home to the Concert Association of Florida and the New World Symphony.

In addition, you’ll find the Actor’s Playhouse in Coral Gables, less than ten miles away.  This company performs at the Miracle Theatre and is a non-profit, critically acclaimed theater, winning awards for Best Musical Theater in South Florida for four years in a row.  The GableStage, also in Coral Cables, was once known as the Florida Shakespeare Theater and is now located at the Biltmore, presenting original and Shakespearean productions.

For history’s sake, you might want to check out the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, over at 174 East Flagler Street, where the theater opened originally as a silent movie house in 1926.  Today, it’s the site of The Florida Philharmonic, as well as the Miami International Film Festival, among others.

Finally, at the University of Miami, you’ll find the Jerry Herman Ring Theater, a venue for shows produced by UM, but also a venue for traveling companies, such as City Theater.  Nearby, The New Theatre is a husband-and-wife run company that’s been operating since 1986, and has a mission of bringing the theatrical experience to young people.

Clearly, no matter what your taste in theater, if you’re in Miami, that taste will be satisfied!