Spain: The Beautiful Tiles of Spain

This post is about the beautiful tiles that I saw while in Spain. The History of Spanish Tiles website shows the influence of Spain in the birth and evolution of ceramic tiles and I found it interesting.

During the 11th Century, the technology of making tiles arrived with the invasion of Spain by the Arabs, introducing "the glassy" layer that included the light green lead-glazing which was already done in Mesopotamia, Persia and Egypt.

The 12th century Moors were the first in Spain to decorate the walls, floors, ceilings, and facades of their religious and secular buildings with colorful tiles laid in geometric patterns as seen in the great Alhambra in Granada.

In the 16th Century, Spaniards introduced Renaissance-inspired figurative motifs that were painted on flat square tiles with tin and lead glazes. Examples can be seen on the walls, floors and garden benches of the Alcázar of Seville.

This is a photo that I took in the Plaza de España in Seville and it is a great example of the beautiful tiles that I had the pleasure of looking at while in Spain:

And you know me . . . . what would a post on Spain be without another video slide show! :)

PhotoHunt: Memorial

While visiting the Edinburgh Castle in Scotland last November I discovered this Soldiers' Dog Cemetery. I thought it was so touching that they would honor their Soldier's dogs in the same manner they would honor their Soldiers.

To all the military men and women and their families around the world . . . thank you so much for your sacrifice and for your service.


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Hope everyone has a wonderful and peaceful Memorial Day Weekend.

Travel Thoughts: Memories of My Beautiful Italian Sunsets . . .

A cool thread on Slow Talk made me reminisce about my favorite Italian experiences ...

First, here's a gorgeous sunset in Vernazza in the Cinque Terre...



And here's my first fabulous sunset in beautiful Venice . . .

And I have to give a big Congratulations to Lee DeWyze for winning Season 9 American Idol last night! Kudos to Crystal Bowersox as well for making it to the finals. I loved seeing all the past Idols and it was really cool seeing Paula again and performers like Chicago, Brett Michaels, the Bee Gees and Janet. And it was kind of touching seeing Simon make his farewell speech ...loved all the clips.:)

American Idol Season 9: Cyrstal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze compete for the title of "American Idol" . . .

Tonight, the hopes and dreams of an Idol will come true as Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze compete in the Finale show for Season 9.

I've made it no secrete that I have been a big fan of Crystal throughout at least the top 12 and I want her to win. But Lee and Crystal are very talented and they both deserved to be in tonight's finale. So who will be this Season’s American Idol?

They both sang three songs each and here's how I thought tonight's fabulous finale showdown went:

Lee starts off with Simon & Garfunkel The Boxer , which he sang during Inspirational week. I thought he did great, but I kind of understand Randy’s and Simon’s comments. It was a very good performance, but not a really exciting experience.

Crystal opens up with Me and Bobbie McGee from Billboard # 1 Week. I loved her performance then and I loved her performance tonight.

Round One – I’d give Crystal a slight edge, but Lee was good too.

Lee starts round two with R.E.M.'S Everybody Hurts. I love the song choice and I thought Lee did good, but was it good enough? I’d have to agree with the judges. I think he needs to open it up more and leave everything on the stage.

Crystal tackles round two with Alannah Myles' Black Velvet and all I can say is wow! I think people are going to totally start comparing great singers of the future to Crystal Bowersox. She has such a powerful voice.

Round Two: I’d give Crystal a bigger edge . . .

And finally, for his final song in the competition, Lee sings U2's Beautiful Day, a song not particularly suited for his style. I thought it was a very good performance, but I can't help but feel that he could've done something really special with a better song choice for him.

For her final song, Crystal sings Patty Griffin's Up To The Mountain. "Peaceful Valley just over the mountain . . . It’s been a long time coming . . .it’s there I will go." It was a beautiful, soulful, bluesy, gospel and emotional performance. And to borrow Simon's last critique of the season, "Outstanding".

Round Three: Definitely Crystal . . .

And so the season which started with a whimper ends in a bang and exclamation mark. Good luck to both Crystal and Lee! I won't make any predictions, but I'm sure you can guess who I'm pulling for to win and who I voted for over and over tonight! :) And a big thank you to Simon Cowell for nine years on American Idol. I would say among all the judges Simon's critiques have been I think the most honest and spot on over the years and he will be very missed.

I hope that all the top Idols go on to have very successful careers. I think Simon and Randy said it well, the beauty of this show and why I love it so much is that it gives these talented young artists a great opportunity to break into the music industry. A shot to make their dreams come true ... and I hope that they do for all of them.

I want to thank everyone so much for reading and also commenting with your wonderful insights. It's been a lot of fun!

And that's my Final Recap! Keep on Rocking AI.

PhotoHunt: Monthly

"It is just as important as paying your monthly bills. . . "

About six years ago, a good friend gave me one of the best advice I have ever received. She said that I should always pay my Vacation Savings account like I pay all my other monthly bills. And so for the past five years I have followed her wise advice and as a result I have enjoyed some wonderful trips to some very cool places.


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Decided to post my PH early this week since I'm taking my computer in for service this weekend. Luckily I still have my i-Phone to stay connected. :) Have a great weekend everyone.

Travel Thoughts: The possibilities are endless . . .

As usual, this year my friends and I visited the Annual Travel Show here where I live. Being there always makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. I have this intense desire to "want" everything! The possibilities of places to see and things to do were just endless.

They had so much information . . .

Thought of Anne (Let Us Go, Then You and I) when I came across this booth . . .

They had demonstration activites to entice you . . .

But what really caught my eye was the huge interactive trailer from the Italy Tourism Office . . .

Thought of all my blogging buddies who love Italy. Thought especially of Sandra (A Journey of A Thousand Miles Begins With Too Much Luggage) when I came across this interactive screen . . .

TGFI! "Thank God For Italy" :)

American Idol Season 9: The top three Idols compete for a spot in the finale . . .

Tonight the top three sang two songs. One of the songs was selected for them by one of the judges and the other was a song of their choice. This is it! Who will move on to the final showdown?

Well, here's how I felt the performances went tonight:

Casey James sings Eric Hutchinson's It's Alright With Me. I thought he sang it well but I'd have to agree with the judges. I'm not sure it was a great song choice or the home run type performance that he needed to get him to the finale. For his second song, Randy & Kara picked Daughters by John Mayer. It was an excellent song choice and I thought Casey performed it really well.

Crystal Bowersox selects Melissa Etheridge's Come to My Window. I love this song and although I thought Crystal sang it really well, I'm not sure I really loved her arrangement. But as Simon correctly pointed out, Crystal has always stayed true to herself as an artist with each performance throughout the competition and this performance was no different. Kudos to her. For her second choice, Ellen selected Maybe I'm Amazed by Paul McCartney. To me, this isn't the easiest song to sing and I thought she nailed it. Brilliant performance.

Lee DeWyze picks Lynyrd Skynyrd's Simple Man and it was a great choice for him. I have to agree with the judges, Lee performed this song really well and I'd have to give him the edge over Crystal for round one. For his next song, Simon selects Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. This is a great song and although I thought he was really good, I thought there were some pitchy moments and it got a little busy towards the end. For this song, I prefer the simple stripped down acoustic version. IMHO, I think Crystal took round two! :)

Congrats to all three Idols and good luck to them tomorrow night. I can't wait for next week's finale show.

And that's my Recap. Keep on Rocking AI . . .

PhotoHunt: Half

What is the difference between a Half and a Full . . .

The answer, 13.1 really long miles. You know . . . some decisions in life can come quite easily for me. :)


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American Idol Season 9: Final Four goes to the Movies . . . .

Tonight we're down to the final four and with the help of mentor Jamie Foxx the Idols will perform songs from the movies.

Both myself and Menehune in her blog, Synchronicity, made a song wish list that we had hoped the Idols would perform in tonight's show. And Annie (Churches in Venice) who is also an AI fan thought that both our lists were great choices. For M, two of her songs were performed which is really cool. Kiss from a Rose which she picked for Big Mike was performed by Lee and I'm Alright which she picked for Lee was performed by Crystal. And as for me, none of my songs were picked. He, he! I thought it was fun making our song wish lists and then seeing what the Idols ended up choosing.

And so how did the Idols do with their all important song choices. Well, here's how I felt the night went:

Lee DeWyze sings Kiss From a Rose (from Batman Forever). M chose this song for Michael and after hearing Lee's performance, M was totally right. Lee has been one of my favorites, but tonight wasn't one of his best performances. And it was definitely based more on his song choice than his talent. In fact, I thought he performed better during the duet where he was luckily paired with Crystal. They sang Falling Slowly from the movie Once and they were hot! For Lee, this song suited his style much better than his solo song choice and it showed in his performance. And btw, Crystal was great in the duet too.

Michael Lynche sings Will You Be There (Free Willy)and I thought he did pretty good, but I'd have to agree with the judges and with M's song choice for Michael. I think he would've done much better with a romantic R&B classic like A Kiss from a Rose.

Casey James sings Mrs. Robinson from The Graduate. Well, the good news is he did make it an acoustic performance. But the bad news . . . it wasn't the right song choice for him. Now, in the duet with Michael, Casey sang the one song that I did pick :), Every Man Loves a Woman, and was so much better than his solo performance. In fact, they both were better. I think he would've been really good singing M's Eye of the Tiger too.

And saving the best for last. Crystal Bowersox sings I'm Alright from the movie Caddyshack and she totally nailed this song. M's choice of this upbeat song was spot on right and it's so cool that Crystal recognized the merits of this song. I think she would've nailed Let the River Run and Time of My Life too. Tonight Crystal brought back that powerful, bluesy Janis Joplin like voice of hers that we have all been missing. I loved the song choice and I loved her performance!

So now, I'm off to vote for my favorite.

And that's my Recap. Keep on Rocking AI . . .

American Idol Season 9: My Song Wish List for Movie Week . . .

I've been pretty critical of some of the song choices that the Idols have been making so I thought I would do something a little different and make a wish list of songs that I think the Idols could do really well on for Movie week. You can see the entire list of songs they have to choose from HERE.

Lee DeWyze - Iris from the movie City of Angels. This song fits Lee perfectly and I think he could really bring it on stage if he selects this song and performs it well. Check out Boyce Avenue's video HERE.

Michael Lynche - Somewhere Over the Rainbow or Summertime in a more current Michael Lynche type of arrangement would be cool. Check out these videos by the very talented Leona Lewis (winner of the X-Factor) Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Summertime.

Casey James - Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman in a rock ballad/country/blues style of his own. And since you're most comfortable with your guitar, make it acoustic and go for it. If Casey connects with the lyrics and creates an honest and vulnerable performance he could really launch himself into the top three! Check this video by Chris Daughtry's acoustic version HERE.

Crystal Bowersox - The Time of My Life. I think if Crystal could take this song and blues it up in her own Mama Sox style, she could really kick some serious AI booty and catapult herself into the top three! Check out David Cook's winning version: HERE

Best of luck to the top 4 Idols tomorrow night!

PhotoHunt: Mom

The greatest gift of all is the gift of life and love . . .

Every now and then . . . even when it is a really cold evening, your mom will bundle you up and take you for a ride on the very cool Merry-Go-Round to make you happy. I took this photo in the small town of Ravenna in Italy. And I love this image with all the moms and their kids, because it is an example of one of the many, many things that make our moms the very special people that they are!

Much love to my own mom who I have to thank for all of the things that she did to make me feel loved and happy.

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Mother's Day!


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American Idol Season 9: Idols take on Frank Sinatra songs. . .

Last night, the top five Idols took on the songs of Frank Sinatra. And appropriately, Harry Connick, Jr. was the mentor and I thought he was great. I loved how he actually became a part of their performances by writing the arrangements and playing the piano during their performances. That was very different and cool.

And here's how it went:

Aaron Kelly sings one of my favorite Sinatra songs, Fly Me to the Moon. Although I liked Harry's arrangement, I wasn't a fan of Aaron's performance. It wasn't horribly bad, but it wasn't overly great either.

Casey James sings Blue Skies and I actually liked it. It wasn't his best performance but I didn't think it was his worst. I felt so bad for him during the judges comments.

Crystal Bowersox sings Summer Wind and although its sort of not the type of genre that I like to see her perform in, I still really liked it. Like Ellen said, the great thing about Crystal is that she can sing just about anything and be really good. I think that it's cool that she chose a song which has meaning in her life, but I also have to agree with Simon a little in that the contestants have to perform songs that will play out well on stage and to the audience too.

Michael Lynche sings The Way You Look Tonight and I really loved his performance. Love the song choice for him and loved Harry's arrangement.

Lee DeWyze performs That's Life and I thought he did a great job. And I agree with Simon that we saw a little more of his personality and it was cool.

Final five and we're getting down to the wire for the next new American Idol. Whoo Hoo! It's hard for me to make my usual top and bottom predictions at this stage of the competition, so I'll just wish them all the best for tonight's results show.

And that's my Recap. Keep on Rocking AI . . . .