Tahiti
Ms. Roskamp explores the relationships between the Mexican people and the great plazas, cathedrals, architecture and sculptures of Guadalajara.

Dying in Virginian Skies
When you live on the West Coast, flying all the way out to Virginia to skydive may seem like a ridiculous idea. Why not though? If you're going to die, it may as well be while you're on vacation, while you're feeling happy and content.

Oxford Town Revisited
The McCain Obama Debate

There was substance, there was attitude, there were stark differences of opinion, but both candidates emerged unscathed.

A Tale of Two Cities:
St. Louis & Kansas City

The Gateway Arch towers over the mighty Mississippi. Built in 1963, it is today the symbol of St. Louis. Blues music fills the night, and St. Louisans sit at sidewalk cafes in the historic Soulard neighborhood in front of tables of toasted ravioli, paper-thin square-cut pizza and frosted mugs of Bud, the beer here that is still king

Technological Disconnect
Leads to a Holistic Connection at Warner Springs Ranch

So many of us don't know what we're looking for in life and are wandering around aimlessly in a world where survival is the only agenda. Yet, our hearts are crying out for so much more. The bombardment with all this technology and automation hasn't helped out one bit.

Is a Trip in the Famous German Airship the Hindenburg in YOUR Future?
When I boarded the German airship the Hindenburg, I was riveted by its enormous size, and I felt like an ant looking up at an elephant. I was in open mouthed wonder and amazement at how huge this miracle of the air was, and it epitomized what the word gigantic really means.

Russia:
Moscow, St. Petersburg
A Tale of Two Cities

Russia is not the easiest country to explore, even today. A tourist infrastructure doesn't exist, signs are written in Russia's impossible Cyrillic alphabet, and it's hard to find any street Russian who speaks English.

Honeyboy Edwards: A Witness to the Blues

David 'Honeyboy' Edwards has been in fast company for most of his life. His running buddies have included the seminal roots of Delta Blues. Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, Son House, Willie Brown, Tommy McClennan, Tommy Johnson and Robert Petway were just a few of the musicians that Edwards called friends.

Search of the Ghost
at the Del Coronado

The Hotel Del was once owned by San Diego billionaire, John Dietrich Spreckels, the oldest son of sugar magnet Claus Spreckels. The Spreckels once owned the Del Coronado and at one time controlled all but five parcels of Coronado Island.

A Bavarian Odyssey

It wasn't my German heritage that stimulated my desire to travel to Munich, nor my Alpine expertise to see Innsbruck or love of everything Mozart to see Salzburg. My admiration of the art produced in those regions and the renowned art museums were the initial inspiration for our journey. . Along the way we would be sure to experience delicious food, beer and wine and learn something of the culture, history and scenery of some of the most beautiful regions in Europe.

A McDreamy McMeel

Celebrity Irish chef Noel McMeel is a charmer --- self assured, boyishly good-looking, and positively exuberant about food. It's no wonder he's caught the fancy of television audiences throughout the UK, cooking at the forefront of an edible revolution blazing across Ireland. I had the great pleasure to sit and chat with him recently during his lightning quick promotional tour of the U.S. at the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel.

A Trek to La Quinta -
Gem of the Desert

With over 129 18-hole golf course, 600 tennis courts and more than 40,000 swimming pools, the Palm Springs Desert Resorts has long marketed itself as a recreational oasis in the middle of the Coachella Valley desert.

Marital Negotiations

Negotiations are especially difficult when two people are losing their sense of hearing.

Impressions of Seattle 2
Allan Troy Smith continues with his photographic theme of life in Seattle. The photos are from the 20th annual Fremont District Fair Solstice Parade.

Conquering Nebraska's
Panorama Point

Self Care on the Journey
Traveling locally or globally, many of us need reminders of how to care for ourselves. I have observed in my work that many people do not take the time to nurture themselves, that is to care for themselves in a meaningful way.

Eating off the Beaten Track in Los Angeles
Los Angeles is not a city short on great food; reputation and internet research can surely lead you the way. But if you want to experience something different...

THE MAGNIFICENT CITIES OF CHAMPAGNE AND LORRAINE
There's nothing like Paris in the springtime. And from Paris, roads lead to France's well known provinces and cities. Normandy, Brittany, Provence, the Loire valley and the Cote d'Azur are well known to American visitors. But there is an area of France less traveled, less crowded and well worth a visit.

This month's Beatle Beat Contest: In the Beatle song "The End," John, Paul and George each take turns on a lead guitar solo, rotating one bar at a time. Name the order in which they play. Guitar Solo One: Guitar Solo Two: Guitar Solo Three: Tie-Breaker: The only Beatle song in which Ringo plays a drum solo: (Clue: it's also on Abbey Road) Your Name: Your email: The winner will receive a newly-pressed copy Abbey Road. You can also send your answers to Editor@TravelingBoy.com

Beatle Trivia Winner

And the winners of last month's "Name the Beatle song (after Revolution Number 9) which has the longest running time" is Lars of Copenhagen.

Lars will receive a newly-pressed copy of 'THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY 3."

And the answer:

I Want You (She's So Heavy) with a running time of 7:49.

THIS MONTH IN HISTORY

1492 - After a 33 day voyage, Christopher Columbus made his first landfall in the New World in the Bahamas. He named the first land sighted as El Salvador, claiming it in the name of the Spanish Crown. Columbus was seeking a western sea route from Europe to Asia and believed he had found an island of the Indies. He thus called the first island natives he met, 'Indians.'

1517 - Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of Wittenberg's Palace church, denouncing the selling of papal indulgences and questioning various ecclesiastical practices. This marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

1813 - Shawnee Indian Chief Tecumseh was defeated and killed during the War of 1812. Regarded as one of the greatest American Indians, he was a powerful orator who defended his people against white settlement. When the War of 1812 broke out, he joined the British as a brigadier general and was killed at the Battle of the Thames in Ontario.

1859 - Fanatical abolitionist John Brown seized the Federal Arsenal at Harpers Ferry with about 20 followers. Three days later, Brown was captured and the insurrection was put down by U.S. Marines under the command of Col. Robert E. Lee. Brown was convicted by the Commonwealth of Virginia of treason, murder, and inciting slaves to rebellion, and was hanged on December 2, 1859.

1863 - President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation designating the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day

1871 - The Great Fire of Chicago broke out. According to legend, it started when Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern in her barn on DeKoven Street. Over 300 persons were killed and 90,000 were left homeless as the fire leveled 3.5 square miles, destroying 17,450 buildings. Financial losses totaled over $200 million.

1904 - The New York City subway began operating, running from City Hall to West 145th Street, the first underground and underwater rail system in the world.

1908 - Henry Ford's Model T, a "universal car" designed for the masses, went on sale for the first time.

1919 - Prohibition began in the U.S. with the passage of the National Prohibition (Volstead) Act by Congress. Sales of drinks containing more than one half of one percent of alcohol became illegal. Called a "noble experiment" by Herbert Hoover, prohibition last nearly 14 years and became highly profitable for organized crime which manufactured and sold liquor in saloons called speakeasies.

1927 - The first "talkie" opened in New York. The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson was the first full-length feature film using spoken dialogue.

1931 - Chicago gangster "Scarface" Al Capone was sentenced to 11 years in jail for federal income tax evasion. In 1934, he was transferred to Alcatraz prison near San Francisco. He was paroled in 1939, suffering from syphilis. He retired to his mansion in Miami Beach where he died in 1947.

1945 - The United Nations was founded.

1970 - Rock singer Janis Joplin was found dead in Hollywood hotel from a drug overdose.

THIS MONTH'S BIRTHDAYS
St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) was born in Assisi, Umbria, Italy (as Giovanni Francesco Bernardone). He renounced his family's wealth and founded the Friars Minor (Franciscan Order).

Giuseppi Verdi (1813-1901) was born in Le Roncole, Italy. The Italian opera composer's 26 operas include; Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata and Aida, and are among the most popular of all classical music performed today.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was born in the Province of Saxony. The German philosopher Best known for stating, "God is dead," and for his prediction in the late 1800s, "There will be wars such as there have never been on Earth before." He eventually succumbed to mental illness.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was born in Dublin, Ireland. The Irish poet and playwright is best known for his comedies including; The Importance of Being Earnest. And his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray in which he wrote, "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about and that is not being talked about."

Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi (1869-1948) was born in Porbandar, India. The Indian political and spiritual leader achieved worldwide fame for his devout lifestyle and nonviolent resistance which ended British rule over India. He was assassinated by a religious fanatic in the garden of his home in New Delhi, January 30, 1948.

Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953) was born in New York City. He wrote more than 35 plays and was the first American dramatist awarded a Nobel Prize for literature. He also received four Pulitzers. His dramas dealt realistically with psychological and social problems, including; Beyond the Horizon, The Iceman Cometh, The Emperor Jones and Long Day's Journey into Night.

Vladimir Horowitz (1904-1989) was born in Berdichev, Russia. The virtuoso pianist made his American debut in 1928 with the New York Philharmonic and became a U.S. citizen in 1944. In 1986, after a self-imposed absence of 60 years, he performed a concert in his native Russia.

Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) was born in Swansea, Wales. Welsh poet and playwright's work included; The World I Breathe, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog, The Doctor and the Devil and the drama Under Milk Wood.

Thor Heyerdahl was born October 6, 1914 in Larvik, Norway. The Norwegian explorer used Kon-Tiki and other primitive ocean-going vessels to prove the possibility of transoceanic contact between ancient, widely separated civilizations.

Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993) was born in Cheraw, South Carolina (as John Birks Gillespie). He was a trumpet player, composer, band leader and one of the founding fathers of modern jazz, known for his trademark puffed cheeks and bent trumpet.

John Lennon (1940-1980) was born in Liverpool, England. He was a member of The Beatles, an influential rock group which captivated audiences first in England and Germany, and later in America and throughout the world. He was murdered in New York City on December 8, 1980.

Bill Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, October 28, 1955. In 1975, he co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen, designing software for IBM computers. By 1980, Microsoft became the leading software company for IBM compatible computers. Gates became a billionaire by age 31 and is currently considered the world's wealthiest individual.

Library of Congress

TRAVEL QUOTE

"A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain."

--- Mark Twain

Excerpt from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage by Lord Byron There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society where none intrudes, By the deep Sea, and music in its roar: I love not Man the less, but Nature more, From these our interviews, in which I steal From all I may be, or have been before, To mingle with the Universe, and feel What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal. Send Deb your favorite travel poems.

Le Boucher
(1970) 93 Minutes; Aspect ratio: 1:85:1

Directed by Claude Chabrol
Cast: Stephane Audran, Jean Yanne, Roger Rudel, Mario Beccaria

French director Claude Chabrol is considered by many to be the most Hitchcockian of all directors. A former film critic for Cahiers du Cinéma, he wrote (along with Eric Rohmer) the first book-length study of Alfred Hitchcock. Chabrol is also a disciple of the cinema of fatalism and paranoia of director Fritz Lang. This is never more evident than in this 1970 murder mystery about a repressed urban school teacher, Helene (played by Chabrol's then wife Stéphane Audran) who has relocated to a small French village to be its headmistress. A gentle relationship begins between Helene and the village's working-class butcher, Popaul (played by Jean Yanne), who may or may not be the brutal murderer of several local women. As the police dragnet tightens, we see the events --- almost as voyeurs --- from Helene's perspective, as she is torn between her feelings for Popaul and her suspicions that he might be the serial killer. Chabrol's approach to the narrative is profound ---- dealing more with emotions of the heart, loneliness and compassion.

The film features Chabrol's regular collaborators from the great period in his oeuvre, 1968-75 --- dubbed by some as Film Noirs in Color or the Gentile Bourgeois Murder Cycle --- with cinematography by Jean Rabier, film editing by Jacques Gaillard and original music by Pierre Jansen.

Wendy Koro shares her recipe for Cornish Pasty Cornish Pasties When I was little, Cornish pasties were a much-loved staple in my Brititsh mum's meal repertoire. While other kids ate Hamburger Helper or Sloppy Joes frequently, we dined on yummy "meat pies" with vitamin rich homemade gravy. We used to squabble over who got the "best face" on top, but not about eating our vegetables, because in this dish they tasted oh so good.

Care to Share? Do you have any favorite recipes that you picked up in one of your travels? Can you share them with us? Click here and send them to Wendy.