Queensland – The Blessed Sunshine State
When a state is blessed with a warm, sunny climate, an abundance of beautiful scenery, and a coastline that is the envy of the world, it is hardly surprising that thousands come each year to visit. Indeed, many locals will tell you that Queensland, with its relaxed lifestyle and friendly atmosphere, is the best place in which to live, work, and retire.
This is a State full of extremes. In the far west the Simpson Desert, with its dunes and inhospitable gibber plains gives way to the Channel Country, an area laced with an intricate web of often dry streams that after heavy rain may spill to cover the land like a vast brown sea.
Eastern Queensland’s spine is the Great Dividing Range, a mighty barrier that separates the fertile coastal plain from the vast outback tracts extending to the State’s western border. Stretching from Cape York to the southern border and beyond, the Great Divide comprises a series of high mountains, tablelands, and low rolling hills. Here, rainforest gives way to eucalypt woodland, waterfalls fed by tropical rains tumble over rock faces and escarpments, and boulder-studded streams flow through deep gorges.
The coastline is another world. Washed by the brilliant blue waters of the Coral Sea, long sandy beaches fringed with tropical vegetation edge the shores, broken only by rocky headlands and mangrove forests. Lying off-shore is a multitude of islands and one of the world’s great natural wonders: the Great Barrier Reef.
The second largest State in Australia, Queensland covers an area of more than 1.7 million square kilometres in the north-east corner of the continent. The northern marine boundary, passing within a few kilometres of Papua New Guinea’s coastline, includes the 200-odd islands lying off Cape York Peninsula in the Torres Strait; to the east, it includes all the islands within the Great Barrier Reef.
Until 1859, Queensland was part of New South Wales. The first European settlement, a penal colony, was established at Moreton Bay in 1824 and soon afterwards was moved to the present site of Brisbane — the State’s capital city. By 1839 nearly all the convicts had been returned to Sydney and the district was opened to free settlers.
The Brisbane settlement grew slowly at first; when the area was proclaimed the Colony of Queensland in 1859 the population was 23,520. Today, the State has a population exceeding 4 million — of which nearly half live in the Brisbane-Ipswich urban area.
For the Aborigines — the original inhabitants of the land — many parts of Queensland are ritual grounds of sacred Dreamtime legends, and there are important traditional rock-art sites, particularly on Cape York Peninsula in the north. It was in this area that a race of hunters and gatherers came to the Australian continent some 40,000 years ago, coming in across the Torres Strait when it was dry land during the last ice age.
Just over half of the State lies between the Tropic of Capricorn and 10 degrees south of the Equator. Inland, the summers are hot, but on the coastal plain the temperatures are milder — with far higher humidity. Winters are much drier and delightfully warm, though in the far south, nights can be quite cold with frost appearing on higher ground. Snow falls occasionally in the highlands near the border around Stanthorpe and Wallangarra.
The rainy season falls between December and March-April, and it is during this time that the coast may be lashed by tropical cyclones. Rainfall varies enormously throughout the State, with the heaviest falls on the north-eastern slopes and coast-lands – Tully averages 4550 mm annually and has the reputation of being the wettest town in Australia. Whereas Birdsville in the far west only averages an annual 150 mm – and in drought it might not rain for years.
Agriculture is a major industry. Cattle and sheep graze on the grassy western plains, their drinking water supplied by a myriad bores that tap the vast store of underground water in the Great Artesian Basin. On the fertile tablelands of the Great Divide and the lush coastal plains farms grow a wide variety of produce from cotton to sugar cane, to peanuts, pineapples
and a host of other tropical fruit and vegetables. The State is also rich in mineral deposits including bauxite, coal, oil, copper, silver, and gold. Indeed, the discovery of gold in the last century and the subsequent mining in the 1870s-80s did much to establish many of the coastal and inland centres throughout Queensland.
One of Queensland’s most important growth industries is tourism. Not only have overseas visitors discovered this favourable holiday destination, but Australians from other States now come in huge numbers. In winter, thousands flock to coastal caravan parks and holiday flats to exchange chilly southern days for delectably warm, sunny weather.
Apart from the lure of a warm climate, people return many times over to Queensland because there is just so much to do and see. Self-drive holidays are probably the most popular, but for those who do not wish to drive, there is a vast number of conducted tours to choose from. Accommodation ranges from remote bush camps to five-star luxury hotels with every type imaginable in between.
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Your Business Attitude Determines Your Business Future
You have found a business for sale, you have bought it, so what now? With all the pieces of your new business just about in place, there is a crucial Issue to discuss, You. The most important ingredient in small business is the owner, and the most important ingredient in the owner is their attitude to both the business, and their customers.
Your attitude will to a great degree govern your success in business. Some people when they leave their jobs to start up their own business, unravel and get lazy. This is probably due to the fact they are no longer intimidated by the boss into doing the right thing. Self discipline can be a real problem with some people, they just can’t motivate themselves without some degree of external pressure. This, I believe is the biggest problem you will face.
You should watch for the warning signs, opening late, closing early, having long lunches, never getting jobs finished on time or at all, not returning calls, letting accounting paperwork lag behind, taking days off because you couldn’t be bothered working and so on. It is so easy to slip into bad habits, so be aware.
Try and remain accustomed to at least working the same hours as you were in your employed job and set yourself targets. Targets and goals will impose pressure on you to perform.
The next attitude problem comes from lack of determination.
Some small business owners fall to pieces every time there is problem or a crisis. This style of attitude will also assist you to go out of business very quickly.
You must never give up, for your own sake you must push on because you will strike plenty of problems and go through several serious crisis’s before things settle down, this is common to all new businesses.
The best thing to do is work through the problem in a calm and systematic way. Whilst you may feel at the time “this is the end” and “I’ve had enough”, this is a normal reaction that will pass. It often helps to join business groups and talk to other business owners about common problems. Even a meeting with two or three friends every other week may be enough to get you through the crisis.
You then must solve the problem and keep going. I’m sure attitude and determination has a lot to do with the 90% of businesses that fail. It’s ridiculous to think that a business goes down the drain because the owner had a poor attitude or “had a wobbly”, but it does happen. Make sure you’re not one of them.
The last issue to discuss is your attitude to customers. Keep this in mind, regardless of whether you like the particular person, all customers contribute to your profitability and success so treat them with respect and courtesy. It’s amazing how quickly customers will desert you if they feel you are rude to them. No customers – no money — no business! Always remain courteous, helpful and above all friendly, never allow personal or business problems to raise their heads in front of customers.The future of your business is in your hands.
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The City of Seoul – South Korean Capital
Over 20 million Koreans live in and around Seoul, yet it is one of few a cities that has successfully preserved its buildings from the past and integrated them into the skyline of a growing global city.
Seoul is loud and bustling, as befits one of the most densely populated metropolises on Earth. Lines of cars and throngs of people press their way through the cavernous streets. Oversized illuminated advertising marks the way, selling products in a foreign script. The subway system is Seoul’s new and perfectly organized underworld. In the midst of all this chaos, visitors may suddenly come upon an oasis of stillness in one of the country’s numerous temples, parks and pavilions.
City on the river
Seoul was founded in 1394, following the demise of the Koryo Kingdom (1392). Its progress was long associated with the rise and success of the Choson dynasty (1392-1910). After searching for a suitable location for his city, King Taejo, better known as Yi Seonggye, decided on the north bank of the Han River. A small village named Hanyang was the only settlement in the area at that time. The name of the renowned Hanyang University, one of over 300 institutions of higher learning in Seoul, recalls that small village.
A modern sports city.
Contemporary Seoul came into existence during the first half of the twentieth century, and largely through the influence of the Japanese. The old city wall gave way to modern buildings, with only the ancient city gates preserved. After the catastrophic Korean War (1950-1953), nearly all of Seoul had to be rebuilt.
From that point onward, Seoul grew at a very rapid pace. The city underwent massive changes, at times with little planning and consideration of their long-term impact. Trams ran until 1968, only to disappear almost overnight. They were quickly replaced by an underground subway system. The economic upswing of 1988 that followed in the wake of the Seoul Summer Olympic Games was a boon to the cultural, financial and sporting life of the city, and the sports world again turned its eyes to Seoul in 2002, when the FIFA World Cup football championship was held here.
Kings’ palaces with curious names.
But Seoul is much more than a showcase for sporting events. it is the cultural heart of South Korea, where universities, theatres, museums and more abound.
When Seoul was founded in 1394, the Gyeongbokgung (Palace of Shining Happiness) was the first royal residence built. Happiness did not, unfortunately, shine on the palace and its inhabitants forever.
Serfs burned the palace to the ground in 1592, and the death of Queen Min in 1895 led to the relocation of the royal family to Deoksugung (Palace of Virtuous Longevity). In 1997, the Changdeokgung (Palace of Prospering Virtue) was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
It was built as an addition to Gyeongbokgung, and was the only structure destroyed in the 1592 uprising that was immediately rebuilt. Until 1872 and again from 1907 to 1910, it served as the seat of government of the Korean kings. The Secret Garden of Biwon is also especially worth seeing. The impressive burial cairns of King Sejo and his wife Yun Chon-hi are located there, just 30 km north of the city.
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Tax Haven Strategies
The use of tax havens in day to day corporate life has grown to be almost mainstream these days. To the small businessman and the private investor, the use of tax havens still probably seems a little shady.
This shouldn’t be the case any more as the use of tax havens to reduce tax or just defer it for a while is now accepted practice all over the world with many of the largest Australian accounting and audit firms having departments advising major corporations how to structure their operations offshore.
Tax havens have a strong appeal for many multi-national companies established in foreign countries because of the advantages they offer for the legitimate reduction or deferment of taxation on certain profits earned offshore. Profits harboured in a tax haven enable working capital to be used in the cheapest way possible.
Traditionally, the tax haven has been used as a central point for handling paperwork and preparing and processing international trade documents. Many companies utilise tax havens for the passage of title of goods, so these transfers can proceed without the need for mountains of regulations and fees.
Tax havens are also popular as places to administer patent, trademark and royalty agreements. Because of the intangible nature of patents, trademarks and royalty agreements, they are easily moved from one jurisdiction to the other and the cost of doing this is very low in tax haven jurisdictions.
For instance, if a company with branches and subsidiaries overseas is a resident of a country with strict foreign exchange regulations, it may not want to repatriate the profits simply because if it did, it may have problems being able to transfer the funds back out if it wanted to reinvest them offshore. To solve this problem, it establishes a foreign intermediate holding company in a tax haven, not for tax reasons, but to avoid the foreign exchange control problems that its own country has imposed.
By simply interposing a tax haven company in a corporate structure does not result in the reduction of onshore taxes in most cases, but it may allow tax deferral. Eventually, the parent company will receive the income and when it does it will be taxable and possibly without the benefit of foreign tax credits that may have been available had the profits been repatriated from a tax treaty country. Most tax havens don’t have tax treaties with major countries such as Australia, which prevents the favourable use of lower withholding taxes that would have been available had the country been a signatory to a tax treaty.
Offshore Licencing and Patent Holding Companies
Royalties or licence fees can be, in certain circumstances, can be feed of tax obligations by using an offshore licensing company. For instance, the owner of a patent can incorporate an offshore licensing company and assign the rights to that offshore company. In turn the offshore company then has the right to licence the patent to a foreign subsidiary. By having the royalties paid to the licensing company in a tax haven, profits are effectively shifted from the foreign subsidiary to the offshore patent owning company, which pays little or no tax on the royalties that it receives.
Income from other intangible rights, such as trade marks, copyrights, know how and franchising rights, can be earned without incurring withholding or income tax if a tax haven company is established to sublicence other companies in various countries. Tax savings can be made also on patent royalties by combining tax havens.
Australia only deducts 10% withholding tax on Dutch companies. Therefore, if a tax haven company was established in the Netherlands Antilles with a Dutch subsidiary, and licences its Dutch patents to the Dutch company, the Dutch company, in turn, can licence to the Australian manufacturer.
The Australian company can then pay the Dutch subsidiary patent royalties incurring only 10% tax. The Dutch company can then pay the royalty to the tax haven company (which is the patent owner), thereby avoiding Dutch withholding taxes on dividends. The Dutch company is not taxed in the Netherlands, and the tax haven company avoids any further taxation. Total tax is 10%.
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Install Linux on Windows to Run Linux in Windows!
![pocket protector[1]](http://brisbaneford.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/pocket-protector1.jpg)
If you already have a computer system with Windows installed, you can easily get a free Linux distribution and install Linux on Windows. This allows you to run Linux in Windows and get Linux training so you can learn how to use Linux!
To run Linux in Windows, you run the free virtual machine “player” (program) and then open a free Linux virtual machine.
A Linux virtual machine is a complete new Linux distribution, including the Linux OS (operating system) and Linux software programs, that has been compressed into a single Linux download file.
All you need to do is download and install the free Linux virtual machine player and a free Linux virtual machine, so you can run Linux in Windows, as described in the steps below.
7 Steps to Install Linux on Windows So You Can Run Linux in Windows!
1. Download the free Linux virtual machine player to your Windows desktop and a player installation icon appears on the desktop so you can install the player.
2. Double-click on the player installation icon and follow the prompts to install the Linux virtual machine player. The player program easily installs like any other Windows program and this takes just a few minutes. After the installation, a virtual machine player icon appears on the desktop. This second icon is used to run the player, as opposed to the icon that was used to install the player.
3. Download a free Linux virtual machine. This is a single large compressed (zipped) file. And this file contains several Linux virtual machine files, all of which make up the virtual machine. These files provide a “pre-installed” version of a new Linux OS, including Linux software programs. Lots of free Linux virtual machines are available for many popular Linux distributions.
Linux Tips: When you download Linux as a virtual machine, be sure to get one that includes a Linux desktop. Some virtual machines are created without Linux desktops and are used as Linux servers. As a new Linux user, you will want a Linux desktop so you can easily use the menus to run Linux software programs. The desktop also allows you to open one or more terminal emulation windows so you can go to the Linux command line and run Linux commands.
Linux Tips: Also be sure to get the password of the root user, which will be posted at the site where you download Linux. When you go to the Linux command line to run Linux commands, you need the root user password to run the Linux administration commands.
4. Create a folder on your Windows hard disk for the Linux virtual machine files. You need to create this folder before uncompressing (unzipping) the single file that contains the compressed Linux virtual machine files.
5. Uncompress (unzip) the Linux virtual machine files, from the single Linux download file, into the folder you created on your Windows hard disk.
6. Run the Linux virtual machine player. Just double-click on the virtual machine player icon that was created on the desktop. At this point, you will be prompted for the name of a virtual machine to “open”.
7. Browse to the folder you created and “open” the Linux virtual machine. This quickly and easily runs Linux in Windows!
Linux Tips: A compressed Linux virtual machine file is quite large. High-speed Internet accesses is highly recommended. If you don’t have high-speed access, look into getting a Linux live CD version. These are inexpensive to buy and have delivered to you by mail.
By installing Linux on Windows to run Linux in Windows you get practical Linux training and valuable experience at how to use Linux!
Copyright © 2007 Clyde Boom. All rights reserved. — Clyde Boom, Author and Expert Trainer with 20+ Years of Training Successes.
Watch Free Sample I Learn Linux Video Tutorials now at http://www.iLearnLinux.com/ and get over the steep Linux learning curve (tra).
If you need a Linux Pocket protector, or a pocket protector, visit The One Page Linux Manual web site..
Havana – Cuba’s World Heritage Capital
Sadly, Havana’s Diva-like splendour is being chipped away by the ravages of time. UNESCO has declared old Havana a world heritage site and funds begin to flow into projects all over the city, but work has only just started.
Havana is a grid-plan city, making it easy to navigate its broad avenues and side streets, originally lined with splendid churches and mansions of the city’s former aristocracy. They have suffered greatly from neglect, and many are now crumbling and decrepit.
For three hundred years, urban life in the Cuban capital took place intramuros, or “within the city walls”. Then, in the early nineteenth century, a building boom began. Havana’s city walls were pulled down to facilitate city planning and road building between the old Intramuros Plaza and the newer Extramuros Plaza.
Gateway to the New World.
The city of Havana was founded in 1515 where the Cuban capital stands today. Its naturally protected harbour began operation slightly later, in 1519. Havana’s central Caribbean location was a boon to the city’s development.
All the important trade routes to and from Mexico and Peru passed through here. Havana was named the capital of the Cuban colony in 1607 and unofficially proclaimed the gateway to the New World. Although its population would remain in check for a century or more, its progress as a commercial and political centre was continuous and uninterrupted.
Hemingway’s Cuba.
In the early twentieth century, American Prohibition brought tourism of a sort to Havana for the first time.
The Caribbean metropolis, especially the Vedado district, where the 142-metre tall memorial to national hero Jose Marti stands, became a jet set stomping ground where everyone could enjoy a bottle of rum, an aromatic cigar and a little salsa dancing.
Ernest Hemingway was drawn to Havana, and many of his novels were written here. He was locally famous for downing a glass or two and smoking a thick Havana cigar. The long Cuban party ended on New Year’s Eve in 1959, when rebels under the command of Fidel Castro marched into the city.
There are still night clubs in, modern-day Havana, once again attracting thousands of visitors. La Habana Vieja (Old Havana) was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. Some of its loveliest buildings were converted into museums. Visitors looking for culture will find that the city has churches, palaces, castles, monuments and markets.
Cathedral Plaza is a popular attraction and one of the most beautiful squares in the city. The steeples of the Cathedral of San Cristobal de La Habana dominate the look of the square. Not far from the square is the 1588 Real Fuerza Castle, the oldest surviving colonial fortress in the New World. The Plaza de las Armas, its streets lined with swaying royal palms, has been the Cuban centre of power and government for four hundred years. The majestic Capitanes Generales Palace, home of the National Museum, is on the west side of this plaza. It is one of the grandest buildings in Cuba.
Hand-Rolled Cigars.
Central Havana functioned as the red light district of the city prior to the Revolution; currently one might rather say it glows in pale pastels. Visitors tend to avoid this area as a rule, most preferring to stick to the comforts of the Vedado district and the famous attractions of Old Havana. There is nevertheless a great deal to see in central Havana. The district is dominated by the monumental El Capitolio Nacional, built as a more ornate twin of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. as if to mock capitalism.
Havana’s oldest cigar factory is located on the west side of the Capitolia. The approximately 400 people employed here continue to roll cigars the old-fashioned way, by hand.
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May Favourite Social Bookmarking Sites
Social bookmarking is all the range in 2009. It’s a proven method of drawing traffic to your web site and for gaining those valuable links that we all covet. Basically all you do is share your favourite web site links with others then other people vote your links up or down depending on how interesting or useful they are.
Most of the sites below use the very popular Scuttle or Scuttle Plus software. If you have any to add, please leave a comment.
http://blogmemes.com/user/blogshot
http://bookmarkingservice.com/bookmarks.php/blogshot
http://bookmarkpages.net/bookmarks.php/blogshot
http://bookmarktracker.com/bt/14030246.68774469/mybookmarks
http://communitybookmarkingsite.com/bookmarks.php/blogshot
http://delicious.com/blogshot
http://digitalsoul.com/bookmarks.php/blogshot
http://faves.com/users/blogshot
http://getboo.com/userb.php?uname=blogshot
http://get-noticed.org/bookmarks.php/blogshot
http://gig.lubin.pl/bookmarks.php/blogshot
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http://spotback.com/users/blogshot
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http://www.a1-webmarks.com/links-blogshot.html
http://www.ebookmark.co.za/bookmarks/blogshot
http://www.furl.net/member/blogshot
http://www.highvibeit.com/user/view/history/login/blogshot
http://www.indianpad.com/user/blogshot/bookmarks
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http://www.topstorybox.com/user/view/history/login/blogshot
There is Only One London
There is the United Kingdom, there is England, and then there is London. . Three are related, but strictly speaking, London seems to be a world apart from the rest of Britain, marching to its own, unique rhythm.
Everything in London comes across as new and different. Throughout history, its people, fashions, trends and street life have always expressed the very essence of city life. Like New York, London is a city that never sleeps. Millions of tourists arrive in London every year, many of them already half in love with the city. You see them in the London Underground (the tube), on red double-decker buses and stepping into taxis. The new central London traffic zone, where private transport is essentially banned, makes the sights of London more navigable than ever before. It is
also possible, and very pleasant, to walk through the city on foot, or to rent a bicycle along the Victorian Embankment on the Thames.
The first City of London
What is today London was once a small, rather insignificant settlement called Plowida, a name that means “settlement on the wide river”. The Romans conquered the region in the first century and founded the fortified city of Londinium around 47 CE. The Roman city of London covered an area of approximately 1 km2. The Romans built a bridge over the Thames, and used its banks as a shipping port for minerals and agricultural products. Londinium grew very quickly in the second century, when it became the commercial centre of the Roman province of Britannia Superior.
The Anglo-Saxon city
In 314, London became a bishop’s see by order of Emperor Constantine. By that time, the Roman Empire was growing weak. Without imperial patronage, London settled into a long period of decline. By the time the Romans had officially departed from their colony of Britannia in 410, the city was essentially depopulated. After 150 years of near abandonment, the Anglo-Saxons arrived to take advantage of London’s strategically advantageous position on the Thames. They did not settle there permanently, however, until 604, and even they chose not to rebuild within the ruins of the ancient fortified city, but somewhat further west. The new city, named Lundenvic (”London Harbour”), was declared the capital of the Kingdom of Essex. Its centre lay to the east of Trafalgar Square’s present location.
The Norman invasion
The Normans defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. After entering London, William the Conqueror had himself crowned king of Britain in Westminster Abbey, which had just been completed the year before. All British monarchs ever since that time have been crowned there. In order to discourage any remaining Anglo-Saxon warriors from revolting, William had three fortresses built. Of the three – Baynard’s Castle, Monfichet’s Castle and the Tower of London — only the last survives today. In the interest of gaining popularity and ensuring domestic peace, William openly adopted the same rights, privileges and laws that had governed London during the Anglo-Saxon period.
A city in its prime
The sixteenth century was probably London’s golden age. After the city of London annexed Westminster around 1600, it quickly became the centre of the British Empire. London was one of the most important European commercial cities on the North Sea, despite the fact that the city was located some 30 km away from the sea on the banks of the Thames estuary. During the late sixteenth century, London’s cultural renaissance was in full swing. A great many theatres were built along the south bank of the Thames, the most famous of which was the Globe, where many of William Shakespeare’s plays were first performed. The New London.
The Great Plague and Fire of 1665 and 1666 left London shaken to its very foundations. Over 70,000 people died of plague and nearly two-thirds of the city was consumed by flames. Architect Sir Christopher Wren was responsible for rebuilding London’s many destroyed churches, including St. Paul’s Cathedral. The destruction of residential buildings in the city led many residents to settle outside the city walls in new districts that became London’s first suburbs.
Most aristocrats never returned to their city mansions, preferring to build townhouses in the now prestigious West End. Dickens’ London. The nineteenth century saw the construction of many important buildings and squares, including Trafalgar Square, Westminster Palace and Big Ben, the Royal Albert Hall, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Tower Bridge and the University of London. Prosperous times, however, are often accompanied by a dark shadow. Millions of the less fortunate were forced to live in overpopulated, filthy slums and suburbs. This was the London immortalized by Charles Dickens in novels like Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. By the turn of the twentieth century, London was far and away the biggest city on Earth: a whopping 6.6 million people lived there in 1901. At the time, London was undoubtedly the most powerful city in the world.
The ravages of war
London was badly damaged during World War II. The German Luftwaffe thoroughly destroyed its once uniform cityscape of Georgian and Victorian buildings, leaving large parts of the city centre and most of the East End completely levelled. After the war, housing complexes were built cheaply and rapidly. London’s docklands never recovered economically from the effects of World War II. Ship traffic was rerouted and the old piers and warehouses fell further into ruin, until city planners rediscovered the district in the 1980s.
Redevelopment has made Docklands one of London’s hottest commercial and residential locations. A wonderland of things to see. There is a greater concentration of important sights and tourist attractions in London than anywhere else in Britain. Greenwich Park, Westminster Palace and Abbey, the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Tower of London are all on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Many of London’s most popular museums offer free admission. Recent additions include British Airway’s gigantic big wheel. Known as the London Eye, it is actually a slowly rotating observation platform from which most of the city can be seen. Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, the changing of the guard at Buckinham Palace, a tour of the Tower of London, the Flower Market on Sundays, the bustle of Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square … the list is endless.
The finest entertainment
Those eager for culture will find that the British capital is full of variety. While the mostly modern cultural facilities may look like nondescript concrete blocks from the outside, world-class performances are underway within. The Barbican Arts Centre is a case in point. Opinions about the exterior are divided; although it has its fans, it has also been described as an architect’s nightmare. Still, there is no disagreement on the excellence of its presentations, which include performances by the Royal Shakespeare Company, the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Classical Orchestra. Visitors should not miss an opportunity to attend a performance here. Breath of fresh air in the city. London does have a number of tranquil oases amidst the hectic activity of the city. London’s numerous parks are popular destinations for those who like to stroll out in the open air. Hyde Park is located in west-central London. This spacious park was once a royal hunting ground, the scene of bloody duels and executions, as well as a venue for exciting horse races. During World War II, it was transformed into a gigantic potato field. Today it is a fresh-air getaway for sun worshippers, or for those who want to take a boat ride on the Serpentine, its sinuous lake.
One corner of the park, near Marble Arch, is known as Speaker’s Corner, where anyone can stand up and express his or her opinion before a more-or-less interested audience. In Regents Park, near London Zoo, the lovely Queen Mary Rose Gardens are a wonderful place to pause and reflect after a busy day of seeing the very many wonderful sights of London. Finally, the ambitious tourist may want to take a double-decker bus or taxi north to Hampstead Heath, another vantage point that offers a magnificent view of the entire city.
For great deals on flights to London, visit http://www.studentflights.com.au/london . Student Flights have a range of cheap holidays in London and Europe. STSF260209-3
New York City – Visitors agree it has it all
The fascination generated by New York city is hard to put into words. The sheer number of attractions within the largest city in the USA is simply overwhelming. As millions of visitors agree, New York city has it all.
New York, the city of superlatives, is much more than the island of Manhattan. For over a century New York was the gateway to the “Promised Land”, to an America of unlimited opportunity. Many people coming to New York today do so for different reasons than immigrants of yore.
Tourists come to experience the fast pace of this vast metropolis. Who doesn’t want to be part of the crowd in Times Square on New Years Eve, if only once? Artists and intellectuals flock to New York to partake of the creative energy of city life, stimulated by first-class cultural institutions and events.
Manhattan
When explorer Henry Hudson, for whom the Hudson River is named, sailed into New York Bay in 1609, his enthusiastic description of New York’s natural harbour sparked the interest of his Dutch sponsors. In 1624, they founded their first settlement on the island the Algonquin Indians called “Manahatta” (”hilly countryside”).
The city of Nieuw Amsterdam was born in 1626 when the Dutch bought the island from the Algonquins for 60 Dutch gulden, or roughly $24. New Amsterdam became a British colony on 24 September 1664 as part of a treaty ending a war between Holland and England. The British victors changed the city’s name to honour the Duke of York.
The young republic
During the American Revolution (1776-1783), the British occupied New York City for nearly the entire war, and the city burned to the ground twice. Undeterred, New York City grew steadily following American independence. In 1788, New York was named the capital of the United States, a role taken over by Philadelphia two years later.
New York developed into the economic centre of the USA instead. The establishment of the stock exchange on Wall Street in 1792 secured the city’s reputation as the financial capital of the New World. Its harbours and shipyards took in goods, and hardworking immigrants, from all over the world. War in the streets. Throughout the nineteenth century, New York was a great construction zone, with new homes and parks erected almost daily.
Central Park, laid out in 1858-1866, was one of many public works projects of the time. Beloved by New Yorkers as well as tourists, Central Park is still a popular place to stroll, have a picnic and especially to people-watch. In the nineteenth century, the newer parts of New York were laid out in its characteristic grid system; only Broadway and the older part of the city south of Washington Square lie outside the checkerboard pattern of streets. As the century proceeded, more and more emigrants from Europe arrived in the fast-growing city. Violence and unrest came with them.
Most newcomers had to settle, at least initially, in slums like the infamous Five Points and Bowery. In July 1863, at the height of the American Civil War, the so-called Draft Riots broke out, violent confrontation between long-time New Yorkers and recent immigrants. The bloody street fights led to at least 120 deaths over four days of chaos. Over 100 buildings were destroyed, most of them burned to the ground. The Martin Scorsese movie Gangs of New York is a memorable recreation of this unsettled time.
If you are planning a holiday and you are looking for cheap international flights or cheap domestic flights, make sure that you check out the hottest fares from Student Flights. STSF240209-2 http://www.studentflights.com.au/flights/
Helping Aussie businesses with online advertising during hard times
While times are tough, online advertising spend has increased “Online advertising is surpassing $1.7 billion for the 2008 calendar year, representing an increase of $364.25 million or 27% year-on-year growth according to figures released today by IAB”. Clickfind is the first Australian business directory to help fellow Australians out in a time of need by offering free online advertising accounts to promote their business online for a limited time.
Clickfind is helping out by completely removing its already low monthly fee and allowing any Australian business who is experiencing hardship to advertise online for 3 months at no cost at all. Contrary to other business directories, a clickfind listing also allows advertising of products and services online.
To sign up just email free-2009@clickfind.com.au and we’ll send you further instructions via email, if you make a donation to the Victoria Bush Fire appeal http://www.redcross.org.au/default.asp let us know and we’ll provide a 12 months listing. This promotion is valid for 2 months.