NH Forge

NH Forge

Travel

Ron Ozer Reviews The Walt Disney Concert Hall

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When we think of Disney, we often think of the children’s stories and animations. But Disney is also about musicals, and this is something that Ron Ozer is particularly interested in. He is from New York himself, where there are many concert halls and other such venues. However, he regularly travels to Los Angeles to view the Walt Disney Concert Hall as well. Interestingly, the rest of the world is not much aware of this particular concert hall. While everybody has heard of the amazing Disney resorts and of Eurodisney, the concert hall is a hidden gem.

Ron Ozer on the Walt Disney Concert Hall

The Walt Disney Concert Hall is a marvel of acoustic architecture. In fact, it is the world’s most sophisticated of its kind! Frank Gehry designed the hall and Yasuhisa Toyota worked on the acoustics. It was all made possible thanks to corporate and individual donors, including Lillian Disney, who all have a passion for art and music.

The hall is found in Los Angeles at 111 S. Grand Avenue. It opened in 2003 and immediately became the home of the prestigious Los Angeles Philharmonic, who Ron Ozer always makes a point of seeing. Uniquely, the hall has a sophisticated yet intimate experience. Additionally, it has already started to become one of California’s greatest structural landmarks. In essence, it has become what the West End is to London and Broadway is to New York.

The exterior of the building is absolutely fascinating as well. Its curves are stainless steel, but they have a matte finish. This makes it look very modern and state of the art. Inside, the Children’s Amphitheater and the Founder’s Room have panels that are like mirrors, and they have concave sections to further amplify them. This architectural drama is like a musical composition in its own right. The individual panels, meanwhile, have been sanded down so that it would not cause glare or heat problems for those around the building.

One year after the concert hall opened, in 2004, more work on the building was completed. Specifically, the large concert organ finished and this is a true masterpiece. The final decisions were made by Manuel Rosales who look at the designs that Gehry had made, and he consulted with Caspar Glatter-Gotz on these matters. The organ is one of the largest of its kind, with 109 ranks, 72 stops, and no less than 6,125 varieties of pipe ranges. Since completion, musicians the world over have put in requests for the chance to play this magnificent instrument. The organ was expensive, of course, but as a gift to Los Angeles County, Toyota Moto Sales, USA, Inc. decided to sponsor it. This made construction possible.

Since construction was completed, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, which for some reason still hasn’t managed to grab the international attention it deserves, has featured in a range of television shows and movies. In fact, it was in Everyday Italian, Iron Man 2, The Soloist, Brothers and Sisters, and also in the Matrix Revolution. And if you play the game Midnight Club: Los Angeles, you may be able to spot it in there as well.

8 Tips To Get The Best Deals On Airfare

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Just imagine this. You are in mid-air and you look around the aircraft. You wonder what is the fare each of the other passengers may have paid. Well it is no secret that with current market dynamics and competition in the airline industry, the pricing varies depending on various factors. So when you did your Mumbai Delhi Flights booking you may have coughed up much more money than some of your co-passengers or vice-versa. Now this is true of any flight on any airline in the world. Free market pricing rides on demand and hence if you want to save big on airfare you need to be smart and also think smartly. Here are five tips that are sure to help you get better deals on airfare whenever you plan your next travel.

Tip One-Focus on Research 

If you are looking to save substantially on airfare then one has to do research of all available options. There are a plethora of sites and apps that offer comparison of prices once you input your requirements. Once you have your schedule ready look up these sites and zero in on the cheapest fares that fulfil your requirements.

Tip Two-Look Out For Deals 

With more and more competition the Airline companies need obviously to up their ante in terms of marketing and sales promotion. This results in frequent periodical sales and other deals. Keep an eye open for these kind of deals and grab them as feasible. One can also use the service of certain apps which works as a watchdog ands sends out notifications when prices are below a certain level.

Tip Three-Travel Off Season 

Do you want to pay through your nose by booking flights around major festivals or long weekends? Obviously when the whole world seems to be flying, the prices are going to soar. So it is always prudent and economical to fly as far as possible during the off season. This ensures cheaper fares due to less occupancy of flights. Another added bonus is that when you travel during the off season, accommodation is also going to be cheaper and the crowds too would be lesser.

Tip Four-Time Your Flights Right

Your flights could work out cheaper if you were flexible and could travel during weekdays, avoiding weekends. Another trick is to look for flights that departs or lands in odd hours. This may be a bit inconvenient but could result in considerable savings on the airfare.

Tip Five-Plan and Book in Advance

It is now a known fact that the earlier you book your air tickets the better deals you will be able to get. So if you know that you are going to take your annual holiday in a certain month, it is advantageous to plan your itinerary well in advance and take advantage of the best prices. The closer you get to the date of the flight, the air fares are going to become more and more expensive. After all as they say, the early bird catches the worm, in this case cheaper tickets.

Tip Six-Beware of the Pricing Engines and Cookies

As suggested earlier it is important to do price comparisons and look up different sites for getting the best price when you are booking your air tickets. But have you noticed that the more you search for a specific route or flight, the prices seem to increase after a few sessions. This is owing to the fact that most sites have cookies which observe and recognize your behaviour, if you are repeatedly using that site and searching for the same flight, then the intelligent system either senses more demand for the tickets and hence as per demand and supply principle the price will get jacked up or it may recognize the fact that you are likely to buy which results in the same thing. Intelligent airline pricing engines combined with cookies can become a damper in your search for cheap air tickets. One way to overcome this issue is to keep deleting cookies, but this can work out to be a cumbersome task and not everyone maybe up to it. The better and easier option is to search for the pricing information that you are looking for through an incognito window.

Tip Seven- Be Flexible and Keep Your Choices Open

The more flexible and open you are in your travel plans and itineraries the better prices you are going to get. Consider this scenario, you want to take a vacation of about a week and are open to where you want to go as well as when you want to go. In that case there are many apps that offer the option of searching for the cheapest month in a year. Also one can search for flight prices leaving the destination open and just inputting the details of the place that you would be flying out. This is a good option to tailor and customize your vacation based on the best available prices. So it definitely pays to have an open mind and be flexible!

Tip Eight-Make The Most of Error Pricing

To err is human. This is a very famous and familiar saying. So in spite of technological advances where intelligent systems can recognize more activity in your browser and trigger price increases, errors do happen. This is what is known as error pricing which may occur due to system glitches or human error. The consequence could be dirt cheap tickets available online. But of course the errors get corrected fast and so the duration of the availability of such cheap tickets would be fleeting. So how do you know when there is an error pricing happening. As with most things there is a simple solution to this complex issue. There are apps and sites which specialize in tracking error fare and one has to register on them to get notifications of error pricing.

So the next time you fly, there is no need to look around and feel that probably the other passengers in the aircraft have paid less than you. Implement these tips and you could be flying away with your pocket brimming with the accrued savings of flight tickets.

Choosing Where You Live, And Making It Yours

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Diverse Living Options

California has a lot to offer in terms of residences, and that at practically every necessary level of residency. It all depends on your proclivities and level of cleverness. For example, you could live in a residential property like a house, or a non-stationary motor vehicle; even a mobile home, or an apartment.

Many seek stability in California, though, and if you’re planning to be rooted in a place, you might look at apartment solutions which give you a little bit more elbow room. A great example in terms of luxury might be Arbors.

For luxury, Arbors at Antelope provides living solutions that are: “Far from typical apartment living…newly-renovated homes…a luxurious experience for you and your family. You can select…fully detached homes and say goodbye to sharing walls with neighbors. Enjoy the substantial perks that come with the carefree lifestyle here…”

If you’ve got a separated apartment home, you might give it some class from LanternandScroll.com; according to the site, their: “…core collection of lanterns feature period reproductions of lighting manufactured in the Carolina and Charleston lantern style, available in gas or electric.”

Living Solutions For Multiple Home Seekers

But not everyone is at such a level of income, or a station in life, to go the luxury apartment route. For example, many come to learn California’s ways as college students. For those, at UC Davis, there actually happen to be a wide number of options.

You might consider West Village, a community that provides: “…more than a place to live… West village focuses on the needs of a UC Davis student. Events are catered to the UC Davis schedule and requests of residents. West Village offers students amenities that help support their need to learn and live a healthy lifestyle.”

Many colleges exercise such residential living arrangements for students in California, and there are truly exceptional options. And that across the state.

Across California

One of the most exciting aspects of living residentially in California is the variety of activities available to you. From the towering redwoods of the north to the ancient sequoias of the east, there is intrigue and beauty across the state. You can ski, you can hike, you can surf, you can sail, you can beachcomb and tan—all in the same day, if you had the resources.

There is rural living and metropolitan living, cold living, hot living, and continuously temperate climates like San Diego’s. Additionally there is a vast bevy of cultural stanchions famous throughout the country and often the world. In terms of entertainment, shopping, intrigue, and amenities, it’s hard to beat California.

Thinking Ahead For Greatest Residential Comfort

You will need to have a forward strategy pertaining to solid living arrangements, though, because there are expenses. That said, you may just be surprised what you can get, and for what you can get it. Provided you’re willing to do the footwork, and are well aware of what your needs are beforehand, you can find something that works well for you.

When you finally do get a residence, keep it up well. Some of them can be purchased outright, and there are a variety of arrangements throughout the city. Take care of whatever you decide to finally make your California home.

If you’re local to California, you can branch out with a close knowledge of the housing situation. If you’ve never lived in California, you may want to look into these kinds of places or find a cheap flight to visit. There are a lot of different opportunities, and you can definitely secure a place that will meet your needs and one that you will love!

Robert Mims Memphis Helps People Choose the Right Golf Club for Their Needs

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There are so many different golf clubs available, it can be difficult to choose the one that is right for you. You may have got the foundation of the sport right and read just about every guideline and report there is on golf clubs, it still feels like you need a university degree just to make sense of all of it. This is why you will be happy to know that Robert Mims Memphis, a CFO from Louisville, has put together a number of hints and tips that have been accepted and even cited by the entire golf community as being right.

Robert Mims Memphis on Determining Stages of Play

There is a big difference between a professional golfer and a casual one, of course. Hence, you need to determine where in between those two you fit. If you only want to play every once in a while, then you shouldn’t invest in high-end clubs, as you may as well steal your own money. However, if you’re serious about the game, then spending a bit more on higher quality is a good idea.

Working out Your Budget

You also need to determine what your budget is. Do not base this on how much money you have, but on what you actually need. And if what you want costs more than what you have, don’t be tempted to shoplift them! The only reason you will ever make the news then is because of your arrest and you may even find yourself fired. Instead, it may simply mean that you will have to save up for a few months, perhaps until August, until you can afford them.

Picking Your Golf Clubs

Now that you know what you want and how much that will cost, you need to get to know what the clubs actually are. As a rule of thumb:

  1. You will need at least a 1-wood, or driver. Furthermore, you should invest in a -3 and -5 wood, which are the fairway woods. The driver is the longest of all clubs at 45” and therefore also the hardest to control.
  2. You may want to invest in a blade-style iron, which is what a professional golfer will use. Here, the head is attached to a solid back. You can also opt for a hollow clubhead, which means you have a cavity back. This is better for beginners. There are short irons (8 and 9), medium irons (5, 6, and 7), and long irons (1, 2, 3, and 4). With shorter irons, you get a lot more loft and gameplay is therefore easier.
  3. Putters are the most used of clubs, and they come as mallet, heel-toe, and blade types. In terms of lengths, there are standard putters, broomstick putters, and belly putters. You need to find the one you are most comfortable with.
  4. You can also choose some hybrids, which are in between words and irons and perfect for beginner golfers. It also means that you don’t need to buy as many or spend as much.

Last but not least, if you are taller than 5’10” as a man or 5’5” as a woman, you will need to have a club with a non-standard length.

How to Find The Cheapest Flights

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I am fortunate enough in my profession to be able to do a great deal of traveling, both domestic and international. In fact, since my business launched, I have clocked up more miles in the last two years than I think I did in all of my years beforehand. The challenge however, for my associate Steve Buzzi and myself, was how to keep costs down when traveling. Travel is essential to my business, but so is trying not to spend much money, which meant that we had to be very smart about getting cheap flights. This is of course something that everyone tries to keep an eye on, and so here is how we go about getting our flights at the cheapest price.

Credit Cards

One of the best ways in which you can save money on flights, is by getting yourself a credit card which can help you out. Many credit cards offer rewards on your spending, by way of air miles which you can collect, and then use on your flights. Personally speaking I never liked the idea of using a credit card but since I learned about this reward, I use it for just about everything. Think about it like this, if you spend $1,000 per month, and used the credit card insist of cash, and then cleared the credit card at the end of the month, the only thing that will have changed for you is the fact that you’ve put air miles in the bank, win-win.

Online

The 2 main sites which i use to find cheap flights is Skyscanner and Momondo, these are what’s called flight aggregators and they search the internet to get you the best deals. What I like about these sites is that they don’t just search the airline, but also the third party sites who offer cheap airline tickets too. There is a huge range of filters on both sites which you can use to get yourself the very best deal, and the earlier in advance that you can look, the better the price will be that you find.

Connecting

My number one tip on how to get to your destination for the cheapest price possible, is to open your mind to the idea of connecting. For example, I recently flew from Mexico City to Edinburgh in Scotland, the original price for a direct flight was $900 return. Instead of taking the direct flight however, I decided that I would rack up a couple of connections, to bring the flight cost down. I flew from Mexico City to Houston where I waited for 5 hours in the airport, and then flew from Houston to Vancouver and waited another 3 hours before taking the flight to Edinburgh. This new journey took me 13 hours longer than if I had flown direct, but cost me just $397 return! More than half price, for the sake of a few hours, a great way to reduce your costs.

Top Apps Which You Need When You Go Traveling

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If you are preparing to hit the road and do some traveling this year, it is important that you make sure that you are well prepared ahead of you trip. The planning which goes into a trip is the difference between an epic trip, and one which cold have been amazing and you must ensure that you pack right, save up enough money, and that you have planned what kind of thing you will see and do whilst you are on the road.

Each year my buddy Gordon Tang and I will hit the road for around a month or two, exploring this amazing planet of ours. The most important items when I am traveling, is not so much my clothes or my plans, but rather my phone applications, applications which are absolute lifesavers, and here are the ones which I cannot live without.

WhatsApp

It is important for me that I can stay in touch with my family and friends when I am away, as well as being able to chat with my staff whilst I am on the road. For me the best messenger service to there is WhatsApp and everyone that I know will use it. What I like about the service is that even if signal is poor, you can still use it, I like that you can share just about any kind of message from voice, photo and video, and I particularly like the tool where you can share your location with people. If you want to stay in touch, this is the way to do it.

Google Maps

Of all the map applications that there are on the market, there are none better than Google’s offering in my view. Not only do I like the fact that you can use the Google maps application even when you don’t have phone signal, using the GPS on your phone, I also love the full interaction which you get with this app. For example you can use the map to search for places, then you can drill into the places to say locations interest. I also like the fact that you can put several pins in the map to chart your course and the synchronization with your Google account makes this the perfect package.

TripIT

When you travel, you are likely to have a great many busses, trains and planes booked up, which you need to keep information for. Equally, staying on top of days and dates when you rarely know what day of the week it is, can cause some logistical issues in terms of your travel plans. This is exactly why I love the TripIT application, which is an app that keeps all of you travel plans in one place. As soon as you receive a confirmation email from an airline or travel company, you can forward the email to TripIT, where it will be automatically uploaded to you application. Within the app you can keep boarding passes, confirmation numbers and more, and you will also get reminders on your phone in the days running up to your travels. Don’t miss another journey again, this is the app to keep your travel plans on point.