Built in 1926 by the Spillman Engineering Company and brought to Griffith Park in 1937, the merry-go-round boasts 68 horses. Each horse is finely carved with jewel-encrusted bridles, detailed draped blankets and decorated with sunflowers and lion heads.

I made my first trip to Quebec City (population, just under 3.5 million) in 2019, and despite having been to many other destinations in Canada several times apiece, Quebec City had eluded me.  And I can honestly say, shame on me. The city and its environs offer the sensation of a more "exotic" trip abroad, and yet, it is in our backyard—and everyone (and I mean everyone, including the bus boy clearing your restaurant table) is bi-lingual. There is much to see and do in this appealing town, not merely in the Old City (Vieux-Québec), which is a UNESCO World Heritage site (and the only walled city north of Mexico).

Although the Sea Turtle Art Trail is what first captures the imagination, a visit to the Sea Turtle Rescue Center is a good place to start the journey. Injured turtles from the Laguna Madre Bay often discovered by tourists and fisherman are brought to the hospital for rehabilitation and usually recover enough to be released back into the wild. The Center offers tours of its many residents in various stages of recovery, an extensive education program involving lectures and field trips and overseas the conservation program which patrols the beaches during nesting season from March to August to help the moms lay the eggs and the babes to find their way to safety once hatched. 

When I’m not in my wellies tending to our two-acre plot of olive trees, tucked inside the Valle d’Itria of the Alto Salento sub-region of Puglia in the southeastern reaches of Italy, I like to lace up my hiking boots, grab my camera and walking stick and head out on long, photo-shoot treks around my ‘hood.

From the vantage point of the open-air terrace, I could just make out Maui's iconic Pu'u Keka'a. Illuminated by the Hawaiian moon, it is the spot where Kahekili II would demonstrate his bravery by jumping 400 feet into the sea. He called it lele kawa, which means leaping off high cliffs and entering the water feet first without a splash. Said to be seven foot tall and 300 pounds, his massive physicality made his splash-less dive even more remarkable. In the 1700s, as the king of Maui, Kahekili II selected Kāʻanapali’s pristine stretch of sands and lush gardens as a retreat for Hawaiian royalty and training ground for his warriors.

The great ship designed for transatlantic crossings is negotiating a heavy Atlantic sea with white caps appearing like melting snow flickering atop curling 20-foot waves. There is muscle in the wind as an enormous stream of strength converges on the ship twisting the light in tight Picasso-like curls.

Albert Cummings is full of surprises. He’s been playing now for about a quarter of a century and his brand new album is scheduled for release in April. His credentials as a journeyman are legitimate and his followers will tell you, he’s known for his ‘live’ shows. Cummings has been described by journalists and fans alike, as a guitarist of ‘unbridled ferocity’ who also possesses ‘deep soulfulness.’ Albert just grins. “Mood Swings!” (laughing) “Ask my wife!” (laughing)

See T-Boy’s selections of 2021's most memorable movie moments: The Power of the Dog’s Benedict Cumberbatch setting a flame of unbridled tension; Jessica Chastain becoming Tammy Faye Bakker; Nicholas Cage listening to Bruce Springsteen in Pig; exchanged gunshots in Plaza Catedral; Penelope Cruz’s realizing her baby is not her child in Parallel Mothers; an invasion of Olivia Colman’s piece of beach in The Lost Daughter; Bradley Cooper’s carny conman, conned by Cate Blanchett in Nightmare Alley; and more…

Beneath the City Chambers on Edinburgh's famous Royal Mile, lies Mary King's Close, a series of narrow, winding side streets with multi-level apartment houses looming on either side, which has been hidden for many years. In 1753, the houses at the top of the buildings were knocked down to make way for the then-new building. Parts of the lower sections were used as the foundation, leaving below a number of dark and mysterious underground alleyways steeped in mystery -- and misery.

I was welcomed like a long-lost friend. Several members of the Seminole Tribe shared their thoughts on pride, identity, and the preservation of their culture… and also their tradition of eating alligator. The tradition also included seemingly eating anything else that moved in the Everglades, plus a variety of carefully cultivated grains, vegetables, roots and fruits. Their diet was also endowed by recipes from runaway African-American slaves who found refuge among the Seminoles. And how did the floured and fried alligator taste? Well, dare I say a bit like chicken, though I tried to ignore the repugnant pieces of alligator fat. Sorry, Mr. Boitano; everyone has their limit.