When I moved to San Diego, I was happy to see an old friend at the Maritime Museum. The “Berkeley” is an 1898 steam ferry that operated for 60 years on San Francisco Bay, and I vividly remember riding on this ferry boat when I was a little kid growing up in the San Francisco area, so it was great to learn that the Berkeley still survives this half century later, and can now live out her life being visited by people who never got to experience a journey on such boats :) (For that matter, it’s great to learn that I’M still around this half century later! LOL) The funny thing is that, as a little kid, the seating benches looked HUGE, so when walking around the boat now as a 6’-1” tall baby boomer, the benches NOW look really SMALL! The San Diego Maritime Museum has an interesting historical tidbit about the Berkeley. Since the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges didn’t yet exist across San Francisco Bay in 1906, during the massive earthquake and subsequent fire of that year, the Berkeley carried thousands of survivors to safety. Her captain and crew, not even knowing the fate of their OWN families, worked night and day to help victims escape the burning shores of San Francisco. The song for the video is “(You Want To) Make A Memory” by Bon Jovi.

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy San Diego Maritime Museum Berkeley Ferry Boat Travel and Places
Added: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:16:39 GMT

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Here’s a video of one of the REALLY enjoyable “cannon battle sail” ocean battle reenactments that are being put on during the wonderful tall sailing ships “Festival of Sail” in San Diego, California this weekend. Over twenty ships are available for viewing during this event, and spectators are allowed to wander around on most of them. The tall ships won’t be back in San Diego until 2011. The song for the video is “Crash! Boom! Bang!” by Roxette.

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Cannon Battle Sails Tall Ships Sailing Ship Festival of Sail San Diego Maritime Museum 2008 Roxette Crash Boom Bang Travel and Places
Added: Sat, 23 Aug 2008 04:53:35 GMT

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While I was taking video clips for a video of the Tall Sailing Ships (http://www.livevideo.com/video/D0817155221647F3995EEF31E33EBF61/-tall-sailing-ships-festiva.aspx), a couple of the large San Diego amphibious "Hydra Terra” vehicles drove up to the boat ramp next to me . . . . and continued right on INTO the water. I love watching the expressions on the faces of bystanders who have never seen these vehicles before! LOL These vehicles are a REALLY fun way to tour San Diego! The song for the video is “Changes” by David Bowie.

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy San Diego Seal Tours Amphibious Boat Tour Travel and Places
Added: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:18:57 GMT

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The “Festival of Sail” started today, August 20th, here in San Diego and the event runs through Sunday, August 24th. It’s great watching these tall masted ships sail into the harbor! The song is the great Crosby, Stills & Nash 1960s classic “Wooden Ships”. For Baby Boomers like me, it’s hard to believe that David Crosby is now 67!, Stephen Stills 63, and Graham Nash is now 66! I had the opportunity to see a reunion concert of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young around 9 years ago and it was a FANTASTIC evening!

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Tall Ships Sailing Ship Festival of Sail San Diego Boats Wooden Ships Travel and Places
Added: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:58:43 GMT

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Here are some more scenes from various motorcycle trips around the Southwest. The song for the video is “Baggage” by Eva Cassidy, from the movie “Anywhere But Here”. The lyrics go really well with a road trip type video :) “Sitting by the side of the road Doing nothing but keeping time Moving forward toward the setting sun Leaving my worries behind I sit upon a precipice Throwing wishes to an old tin can Got the world at my nicotine fingertips And a ball of clay rolling in my hand The past is a dream that haunts me each day So many memories so far away The baggage I carry weighs a ten ton or more No one said it’s a picnic but why such a chore Leave it all behind my friend release it to the wind There’s other roads to walk along and places you’ve never been The days of cotton candy have long since disappeared And the counter where I licked my ice cream cone Is now a bar where I sip my beer The Ferris wheel still turns around but I’m too old to ride I watch the bright lights glimmer And I feel the pull of the child inside When your dreams have turned to nightmares And the sky is a cold black sun When trees bow down to chainsaws And you read obituaries for fun Leave it all behind my friend release it to the wind There’s other roads to walk along and places you’ve never been Leave it all behind my friend release it to the wind There’s other roads to walk along and places you’ve never been.”

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Baggage Eva Cassidy Motorcycling Road Trip Southwest Travel and Places
Added: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:13:03 GMT

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I always enjoy knowing what goes on “behind the scenes”, so here is a video of the crew who do all the daily maintenance of the fountain jets and lighting for the “Fountains of Bellagio” shows, to assure that everything is in perfect order for the wonderful water fountain shows, which please visitors from around the world. The song is “Shiftwork” by Kenny Chesney and George Strait.

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Water Fountains of Bellagio Hotel Shiftwork Las Vegas Travel and Places
Added: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:10:38 GMT

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I’m SO thankful that the Bellagio owners decided to include the artificial lake and wonderful water fountain shows in their design for the Bellagio Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Here’s a water fountain show highlighting a Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman duet. To see Sarah and Andrea singing this beautiful song, check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLHq7rgHOLk

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Water Fountains of Bellagio Time to Say Goodbye Con te partirò Andrea Bocelli Sarah Brightman Las Vegas Travel and Places
Added: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:03:27 GMT

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Here’s another video in my “Fountains of Bellagio” series, highlighting the fountain shows put on by The Bellagio Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” is another of my favorite romantic songs, although, because the song has been heard around the world about a few trillion times by now, and has been used in numerous “Titanic” movie comedy parodies, the song no longer has the emotional impact it initially did for most people. I also find it fascinating to read the background as to how the decisions are made by movie makers when it comes to whether or not this or that song will or won’t be used in a movie, so in this particular situation, Celine’s version almost DIDN’T make it into the movie, and Celine almost never even RECORDED it! As events turned out, this song went on to become Celine’s all-time biggest hit. It’s always fascinated me how seemingly fickle and random “Life” turns out to be, and how often gut instincts play such a huge role in achieving great success and/or fame in life. Here’s the background on this song from Wikipedia: “James Horner had originally composed this song as an instrumental motif that is used in several scenes during Titanic. He then wanted to make a full vocal song out of it, for use in the end credits of the film. Director James Cameron did not want such a song, but Horner went ahead anyway and got Will Jennings to write the lyrics. Celine Dion was Horner's first choice to sing it, but when she heard the song, she did not want to record it. It was her manager and husband, René Angélil, who convinced her to record a demo version, which was something she hadn't done for many years. Horner waited until Cameron was in an appropriate mood before presenting him with the song. After playing it several times, Cameron declared his approval, although worried that he might be criticized for "going commercial at the end of the movie”.” {{As “They” say. . . the rest is history.}}

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Water Fountains of Bellagio Hotel My Heart Will Go On Celine Dion Romantic Songs Love Song Las Vegas Nevada Travel and Places
Added: Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:37:27 GMT

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Here’s another video is my “Fountains of Bellagio” series. This water fountain show highlights the great Broadway classic “Overture / And All That Jazz”, sung by Catherine Zeta-Jones. The Bellagio’s “extreme shooter” water cannons blast water columns 460 feet into the air!

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Water Fountains of Bellagio Hotel And All That Jazz Las Vegas Nevada Travel and Places
Added: Sat, 16 Aug 2008 15:18:17 GMT

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One of the many things I love about visiting Europe over the years, is that many cities and towns have inviting, comfortable, open plaza areas where people hang around, or people watch, or play board games like chess, or visit with friends, or eat in outdoor cafes, or, or, or. As an architect, I was very happy when I first learned in 1997 that the owners of the $1.5 billion Venetian Hotel/Casino had made the wise decision to allow the project architects to incorporate a mini-version of such a user friendly environment inside the Venetian, with the construction of a piazza and gondola canal area. It’s easy to see that visitors to the Venetian really enjoy the ambiance of these areas, and tend to linger here to enjoy watching the performers and living statues, or to enjoy a meal there, so here is a short video showing some of these inviting communal areas of the Venetian, along with an opening video clip of some of the exterior of the Venetian property. The song for the video is “Say” by John Mayer.

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Water Venetian Hotel Casino Piazza Las Vegas Gondola Travel and Places
Added: Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:53:37 GMT

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In Greek mythology, the “Sirens” were three dangerous bird-women, portrayed as seductresses, who lived on an island. Seamen who sailed near the island were decoyed by the Sirens’ enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast. I tend to think, however, that the REAL causes of the shipwrecks were things like coral reefs and fog and rocks and uncharted shallows and prevalent use of alcohol, but that’s just MY opinion LOL In researching for these vid notes I came across a really entertaining article ( http://www.gone-ta-pott.com/Pirate_Drinks.html ), about the use of alcohol aboard old sailing ships, and how “Rum would often be the downfall of many pirate crews. Unlike military and merchant ships where some kind of authority measured out the rum being consumed, a democratically run pirate ship, with its weakened code of discipline, sometimes led to a complete disregard for sobriety. There are several accounts of pirate ships easily being boarded because the pirates were too drunk to fight.” LOLOL Anyway, back to THIS video! The video opens with video clips of the Sirens’ ship and Sirens’ cove, taken from my 35th floor room at the Treasure Island Hotel, now known simply as “T I”. The remainder of the video consists of video clips taken from the cordoned off V.I.P./hotel guests’ viewing area during the several times nightly “Sirens” show. The minimalist plot of the show is for the empowered Sirens to lure the Pirates’ “Bull Ship” (and no, I don’t make this stuff up! LOL) to a watery grave, whereupon the waterlogged, humiliated, defeated, ignoble pirates swim to the Sirens’ ship to apparently CELEBRATE the sinking of their precious pirate ship by dancing with the victorious Sirens LOL. The fireworks shot off at the end of the show would go WAYYYY above my room, which was fun to watch from the room, and I always cracked up laughing because it appeared as though my room was under ATTACK! LOL The song I used for the opening video segments is “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper.

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Water The Sirens of TI Treasure Island Hotel Casino Pirates Las Vegas Nevada Travel and Places
Added: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:21:10 GMT

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The music for this Bellagio, Las Vegas water fountain show is “This Kiss” by Faith Hill.

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Water Fountains of Bellagio Hotel and Casino Las Vegas Nevada Travel and Places
Added: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 02:04:23 GMT

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The music for this Bellagio, Las Vegas water fountain show is “Winter Games” by David Foster; the music was composed for the 1987 Winter Olympics.

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Water Fountains of Bellagio Hotel and Casino Las Vegas Winter Games David Foster Travel and Places
Added: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:54:19 GMT

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Here’s another video of one of the water fountain shows at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada. This one is “Fly Me To The Moon” by Frank Sinatra with Count Basie.

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Water Fountains of Bellagio Las Vegas Fly Me To The Moon Frank Sinatra Travel and Places
Added: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:52:31 GMT

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For me, there’s nothing more emotionally evocative in music than the soaring vocals of one of the great opera tenors such as Luciano Pavarotti, singing “Rondine Al Nido”, which provides the musical accompaniment for this “Fountains of Bellagio” night presentation in Las Vegas. The vocal presentation is all the more powerful when you understand what the words are saying about the overpowering emptiness and sadness of lost love. Sotto la gronda della torre antica Under the eaves of the ancient tower Una rondine amica, A swallow friend Allo sbocciar del mandorlo é tornata. Has returned at almond blossom time Ritorna tutti gli anni, It comes back every year Sempre alla stessa data; Always on the same date; Monti e mare essa varca per tornar. It crosses mountains and sea to return. Solo amore Only love Quando fugge e va lontano When it flees and goes far away Speri in vano e non torna piú. Hopes in vain and returns no more. Speri in vano e non torna piú. Hopes in vain and returns no more. Nella penombra dolce della sera In the sweet shadow of the evening passa la primavera. it passes the spring. Cinguettano le rondini nel volo, The swallows in flight chirrup Ebbre di luce e d'aria. Drunk on light and air. Ed io son triste e solo; And I am sad and alone; Monti e mare tu non varchi per tornar. You do not cross mountains and sea to return Mia piccina, fosti tutta la mia vita; My little one, you were all my life Sei fuggita e non torni piú. You have fled and return no more. Sei fuggita e non torni piú. You have fled and return no more.

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Fountains of Bellagio Las Vegas Rondine Al Nido Luciano Pavarotti Travel and Places
Added: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 03:07:36 GMT

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For me, there’s nothing more emotionally evocative in music than the soaring vocals of one of the great opera tenors such as Luciano Pavarotti, singing “Rondine Al Nido”, which provides the musical accompaniment for this “Fountains of Bellagio” presentation in Las Vegas. The vocal presentation is all the more powerful when you understand what the words are saying about the overpowering emptiness and sadness of lost love. Sotto la gronda della torre antica Under the eaves of the ancient tower Una rondine amica, A swallow friend Allo sbocciar del mandorlo é tornata. Has returned at almond blossom time Ritorna tutti gli anni, It comes back every year Sempre alla stessa data; Always on the same date; Monti e mare essa varca per tornar. It crosses mountains and sea to return. Solo amore Only love Quando fugge e va lontano When it flees and goes far away Speri in vano e non torna piú. Hopes in vain and returns no more. Speri in vano e non torna piú. Hopes in vain and returns no more. Nella penombra dolce della sera In the sweet shadow of the evening passa la primavera. it passes the spring. Cinguettano le rondini nel volo, The swallows in flight chirrup Ebbre di luce e d'aria. Drunk on light and air. Ed io son triste e solo; And I am sad and alone; Monti e mare tu non varchi per tornar. You do not cross mountains and sea to return Mia piccina, fosti tutta la mia vita; My little one, you were all my life Sei fuggita e non torni piú. You have fled and return no more. Sei fuggita e non torni piú. You have fled and return no more.

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Fountains of Bellagio Las Vegas Rondine Al Nido Luciano Pavarotti Travel and Places
Added: Sat, 09 Aug 2008 19:46:55 GMT

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Here is a lighthearted video highlighting the two ends of the spectrum when it comes to overnight lodging accommodations . . . well, at least in terms of those lodging facilities that provide running water and electricity! LOL (In my life I’ve stayed at places WITHOUT running water and electricity as well, but those places AREN’T in this video :) ) The song used for the video is “Hotel California” by the Eagles.

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Bellagio Las Vegas Nevada Five Star Diamond Hotels Motels Travel and Places
Added: Sat, 09 Aug 2008 01:39:14 GMT

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Here are more video clips taken during one of my motorcycle trips through Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. The Giant Sequoias, located in both of these national parks, are the world's largest trees, the world’s fastest growing trees, and the oldest known Giant Sequoia is approximately 3,500 years old. Sequoia bark can sometimes reach 4 feet in thickness. Even standing right next to these magnificent trees, it’s still difficult to fully grasp the sheer ENORMITY of these trees. The video includes scenes of the two largest Giant Sequoias. General Sherman, the world’s largest tree, is 276 feet tall, 32 feet in diameter, has a circumference of 103 feet, with an estimated wood volume of over 52,500 cubic feet, and finally, the tree weighs approximately 1,385 tons. General Grant is the world’s second largest tree, at 270 feet tall, 34 feet in diameter, and an estimated volume of almost 47,000 cubic feet. The tallest redwood tree is around 367 feet tall, which is higher than the Giant Sequoias, but the wood volume within the tall redwood trees is dwarfed by that within the Giant Sequoias. In the video sequence showing the vehicles going through a fallen tree trunk, you’ll probably notice a pronounced jiggle of the camcorder in the middle of that video segment . . . . that’s because I was swatting away a very large, VERY annoying bumblebee at that exact moment! LOL, but I managed to keep filming anyway (and who says “guys can’t multitask”!?? LOL) The song for the video is “Colors of the Wind”, sung by Vanessa Williams.

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Kings Canyon National Park Giant Sequoia Sierra Nevada California Travel and Places
Added: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:08:57 GMT

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Here are some more of the video clips of the majestic Kings Canyon National Park, located south of Yosemite National Park and east of Fresno, California. While I was motorcycling through the park, there were several hundred forest fires burning around California, so you’ll see how much smoky haze there was around the park. The song for the video is “Believe In You” by Canadian singer Amanda Marshall.

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Kings Canyon National Park Sierra Nevada California Travel and Places
Added: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:47:50 GMT

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Here are some of the many video clips I took of the park on a recent motorcycle trip. Kings Canyon is located south of Yosemite, and east of Fresno, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I’ll also be doing a YouTube video of the Giant Sequoia trees at some point, with video footage I took of the MASSIVE old trees inside Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. The song for this video is “Ballad of Easy Rider” performed by The Byrds, from the counterculture 1969 biker movie “Easy Rider” starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, with a 32 year old Jack Nicholson in a highly entertaining role as an alcoholic lawyer, for which Jack got nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. It was arguably this movie role that got Jack his “big break” in Hollywood, and spring boarded him to later fame and fortune . . . but, I’m obviously now digressing from the topic of this video! LOL

Author: LifeJourneyGuy
Keywords: LifeJourneyGuy Kings Canyon National Park Sierra Nevada California Travel and Places
Added: Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:41:44 GMT

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