Category: Travel

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a “GATOR” at TENNESSEE??

Karen becomes a 'Volunteer'!My daughter competed for the University of Florida earning a Bachelors in Public relations, before (happily for me) she finished her last year of eligibility as a graduate student at the University of Southern California as a Trojan… however, it seems very interesting to me that she is now going to one of Florida’s arch rivals as a doctoral student in Communications. Karen has good memories of Tennessee as this was the place where she won her first SEC Championship.

In business, we used to call this varied experience ‘cross polination’… learning skills from different businesses and industries and applying them to your world. A friend once told Karen in Tennessee Spiritme… ‘what might seem trite and cliché’ in one industry when applied to another may be considered innovative!’ He was right. So, I can really see the beauty in attending a variety of universities and communities, learning from each and building a wealth of positive experience.

Karen has a little more time at ‘SC before she finally completes her two year degree and receives her masters later this summer… that is, after her Public Relations internship in South Africa for a couple of months.

What do I personally remember about Tennessee? Well, they beat us in 1974 for the NCAA Championship… I was captain of the other guys. My experience with their athletes was a good one and we traded school t-shirts… I think you’ll be alright. 

Although I know that Karen will love Tennessee, and she has said nothing but great things about them… please forgive me, Karen… but you will always be a Trojan to me! 

Fight on!

Roger Freberg

 

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“Available” in China

which is it? Banned or not banned?
Laura was first made aware of this site when she was mentioned as NOT being added to the list of folks excluded from URL’s available in China. I am not surprised: 1) Laura’s site is largely academic, 2) Laura is a nice person and 3) well…. I am sure there is a list ahead of her.

I was a little surprised that Karen was allegedly ‘banned’… so I ran Karen’s site through twice. First, it showed ‘her blocked’, then it showed her ‘available.’ I screen captured the page… this leads me to believe that it is the testing site that is in error… but I have another reason.

For those of you who know, every site comes with ( if you set it up) with what is called a ‘hits log’ whereby you can track visitors to your site. Karen’s site has been described as an on-line scrapbook for fans of track and field and has had a lot of hits over the years around the world… also in the Pacific rim and in China. Karen’s site is it’s own good will ambassador.

Interestingly enough… my site and my opinionated blog is also ‘available.’

Roger Freberg

The family member’s site who gets the most visits along the Pacific rim is Karla… her anime drawings have generated a lot of interest. You can read more on Laura’s Blog.

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Terrorist ‘Chic’ walks the London Runway?

Photo on YahooOkay, boys and girls, I know this isn’t going to sound too Politically Correct… but outside of folks named Osama, who’s gonna buy this stuff?

Believe it or not this is what is ‘haute coulture’ on the London Fashion scene. Want more pics? Now, I know a few women who might actually look good in this sort of thing… names starting with Hillary or Dixie Chics… but this is the sort of thing that sets the old time machine back to the times when three women sold for one cow.

Well, I guess we all get to thank this month’s Weenie Award winner as described by Yahoo: “A model wears an outfit by Fashion East designer Louise Golden during her catwalk show at London Fashion Week in London, Monday Feb. 12, 2007.”

You can read more about Fashion East and their ‘young designers’ here. However, real Islamic fashions can be found elsewhere.

I just might go for this sort of thing if it was marketed better… maybe, if we were told that this is cold weather gear… but then, the bare legs say another thing.

Roger Freberg

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Pearl Harbor Attack in Pictures!

Attack on Pearl Harbor

 

Sometime back, I really don’t know when, a footlocker was opened and some film was found from an old Browning Camera… remember those?

When the film was finally developed — after a very long time — some quite remarkable pictures popped up.

I like to think I am a student of history … but these pictures were rather remarkable. The devastation was far greater than I could have imagined.

In any event, I put together a group of these pictures that are merely thumbnails of larger version that you can further explore if your desires take you in that direction.

The vastly reduced pictures I have placed on this page… a Japanese Zero, and explosion and sinking American ships are just some of the photos recaptured from that old Browning camera. 

There are lessons still to be learned here… be prepared, take the battle to the enemy and never feel that you are truely safe… because as Thomas Jefferson said … the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.

Roger Freberg

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Travel & Tourism a Key to Economic Development

For many people, it may come as a surprise that tourism is one of the foundations for economic developement — not only in America — but throughout the world. And as they say, tourism has been booming!

My daughters are becoming far better traveled than I could ever hope to be… and it is fun to listen to their stories. Kristin documented her experiences in Iraq for which I am grateful. Karen passed along some data from the ‘World Tourism Organization’ that is amazing! International tourism has increased 166% since 1990 with over 806 million folks visiting somewhere in 2005. The world is indeed becoming a smaller place. Here’s how the world tourism market share divides up:
world Tourism by Geographical Region in 2005

Although African Tourism has doubled since 1990 it has only slightly exceeded the world growth trend. Most of the Tourism to Africa lands in Egypt and South Africa. Hard-to-get-to-regions like Australia are still growing in tourism… but still occupy a very small share of the market.

Top 12 Countries attracting International Tourism

It is not surprising that the top spot in international tourism is France with Paris easily the top city. After all, Paris has often been referred to as a living museum. What is interesting has been the growth in tourism to China and Hong Kong. Although the top 12 countries represent nearly 400 million visitors, this only represents roughly half of all international tourism.

The world is getting to be a smaller place… so, where would you like to go?

Travel to Australia?
Travel To South Africa?
Travel to Japan?

Roger Freberg