Doing it The Czech Way--The Cesky Krumlov Hotels

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Parent Category: Travel Info

Category: Places To Stay

Published on Saturday, 22 August 2009 22:02

Written by Laura Blum

Český Krumlov, the Czech Republic's answer to Camelot, is so fairy-tale perfect you half expect mini-chiclets to rain down on its cobbled streets. Marionettes deck the panes of its gingerbread shops. Bears roam a castle moat. And the town's very name describes the bend in the Vltava River that rings this UNESCO World Heritage Site dating back to the 13th century.

It's no wonder Hollywood came here to shoot The Adventures of Pinocchio and opening frames of The Illusionist. All that's missing in the medieval fantasy set is a green ogre. Český Krumlov's mediating role between filmed artifice and real world makes it an ideal junction after summer's cinema rites in another corner of Bohemia, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
 
Yet unlike the spa town of Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad), this South Bohemia destination lacks thermal waters to drink in or splash about. The closest thing is the indoor pool, sauna and solarium of its five-star Hotel Růže, housed in a 16th-century Jesuit monastery and university.

Read more: Doing it The Czech Way--The...

The Great New York State Fair Will Again Feature The Steve Miller Band in August

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Parent Category: Travel Info

Category: Travel Feature

Published on Tuesday, 27 May 2025 14:05

Written by Brad Balfour

The Great New York State Fair is happening again this coming summer. So be ready as there will be great talent with music for everybody’s taste. The Fair starts Wednesday, August 20, 2025, and runs through Labor Day, Monday, September 1.

All concerts are included in the price of admission, which will go on sale later this summer. The Great New York State Fair is the most affordable state fair in the country.

Founded in 1841, The Fair showcases the best of New York agriculture, provides top-quality entertainment, and is a key piece of the state’s CNY Rising, a strategy of growing the Central New York economy through tourism. It is the oldest fair in the United States and is consistently recognized as being among the top five state fairs in the nation.

This year, the Great NYS Fair promises the best in entertainment so bring all the family as there will be something for everyone I promise you that. Said Fair Director Julie LaFave. “Circle your calendars – this is one you won’t want to miss. Coming to the fair is The Steve Miller Band, one of the most iconic bands in music history with too many megahits to count. Every year, we survey fairgoers to help inform our entertainment decisions and results always point to the popularity of our rock shows.

“Fairgoers asked and we listened! Miller drew one of the largest crowds in the Fair’s history and I can’t wait to see how many people pack into Suburban Park on August 21 at 8 pm for what I’m sure will be a show for the ages.”

After packing in nearly 37,000 screaming fans in 2015, The Fair announces the return of music icons Steve Miller Band. Miller has been a monumental presence on the American music scene for more than half a century. His releases have sold tens of millions of records and have been streamed billions of times.

Miller’s Greatest Hits 1974-78 received the RIAA Diamond Award with sales of more than fifteen million copies, making it among the 25 best-selling albums of all time. Beginning in the 1970s, Miller crafted a brand of pure pop that was smart, polished, exciting and irresistible – and that dominated radio in a way that few artists have ever managed. Hit followed hit in what seemed like an endless flow: “The Joker,” “Take the Money and Run,” “Rock’n Me,” “Fly Like an Eagle,” “Jet Airliner,” “Jungle Love,” “Swingtown,” and “Abracadabra,” among them.

To this day, those songs are instantly recognizable the moment you hear them – and impossible not to sing along with. Their hooks are the very definition of indelible. As an influential presence in music, Steve Miller was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 and was later enshrined in the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2022.

Today, the Steve Miller Band continues to entertain fans across the world. In 2024, the group played to nearly one million fans and toured alongside Def Leppard and Journey. Their platinum-selling single “Abracadabra” returned to the top of the charts thanks to its prominent feature in Eminem’s smash single “Houdini.

The Fair will also host two special shows at 9 p.m. on Friday, August 22 and 29 at Chevy Court. 

All concerts announced thus far are provided in the charts below. Fair staff will continue to update schedules on The Fair’s website at pages dedicated to Chevy Court and Suburban Park.

The Great New York State Fair is going to have the best of the best of talent coming your way.

Here are some that are already booked so here goes with the Chevy Court:
 
Thursday, August 21
6:00 p.m.
Cheap Trick
 
Saturday, August 23
1:00 p.m.
KIDZ BOP
 
Saturday, August 23
6:00 p.m.
Kameron Marlowe
 
Tuesday, August 26
1:00 p.m.
Herman’s Hermits Starring Peter Noone
 
Tuesday, August 26
6:00 p.m.
Sister Hazel
 
Thursday, August 28
6:00 p.m.
Maddie & Tae
 
Friday, August 29
6:00 p.m.
Yacht Rock Revue

Sunday, August 31
1:00 p.m.
Blippi: Join the Band Tour

Suburban Park:
Thursday, August 21
8:00 p.m
Steve Miller Band

Saturday, August 23
8:00 p.m.
O.A.R.

Sunday, August 24
8:00 p.m.
Busta Rhymes

Sunday, August 31
8:00 p.m.
Shaggy

Tickets are $8 for adults while admission is free for children under 12 and senior citizens aged 65 and older.

In total, The Fair’s 2025 Chevrolet Music Series will feature 41 national recording acts. There will be a daily 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. concert at Chevy Court (located near Gate 1), and an 8 p.m. concert each evening at Suburban Park (located on the western end of the Fairgrounds, beyond the Midway).

For more info: https://nysfair.ny.gov/

TRANSlations: Trans Cinema in Seattle

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Parent Category: Travel Info

Category: Travel Feature

Published on Wednesday, 05 June 2024 15:57

Written by Brad Balfour

TRANSlations: Seattle Trans Film Festival showcases films by, for and about our Trans+ community (Trans, Non-Binary, Gender Non-Conforming, Intersex and Two-Spirit). Running June 7 - 8 in Seattle, Washington, TRANSlations was launched in 2006 and is one of only nine Trans+ focused film festivals in the world. The festival features virtual and in-person screenings, parties, panels, workshops, and community meet-ups.

TRANSlations has over 70 films and opens with the WE ARE HER program of shorts highlighting notable trans women from the past and present who have acted in the struggle for liberation and cut paths for us to follow today. The closing night special feature is the West Coast Premieres of Sam's World and Vapor Trails. Sam (Lily Lady) is a nonbinary twentysomething sex worker trying to navigate their life over the course of one weekend in New York City. Directed by Willow Skye-Biggs, Vapor Trails is a beautifully shot short film focusing on two displaced women seeking transcendence through connection.

For people who can’t get to Seattle the festival will also be streamed and have on demand features from June 6th to the 9th.

To learn more, go to: https://threedollarbillcinema.org/translations

TRANSlations: Seattle Trans Film Festival
June 6 - 9, 2024 Online
June 7 - 8, 2024 In Person

The Beacon Cinema
4405 Rainier Ave S
Seattle, WA 98118

Ark Lodge Cinemas
4816 Rainier Ave S
Seattle, WA 98118