Sure Horizon

Archive for September, 2010

It’s impossible to predict when an artist’s life will reveal a legacy in process, where the work makes room for itself in the many canons of the world. But it is exciting when a voice starts to take roots of its own, and there is evidence of something in the process of becoming. The work of Travis Jeppesen has made traces of itself etched into something entirely new, and at the same time entirely traveled. He is often compared to Gertrude Stein, simply because of the parallels in life lived elsewhere, but also for the close attention to language.

Now based in Berlin, he moved to Europe in 2001, and found a place where the inner landscapes of language find a more significant resonance. Where the dominant language is no longer English, he finds, like she did, that there is suddenly new spaces that open. Without the ability to hear it reflected in the streets, it becomes something much more personal, and takes on another kind of weight. Having grown up in Florida, where the appeal of a five star Fort Lauderdale hotel brings guests from all over, he has become a guest in another place, and the permanence of residency is always in question.

Sydney has long been a gracious host for the arts. From opera to symphony to theater and visual arts, Sydney offers hundreds of performances, exhibitions, and festivals throughout the year, many of them at discounted cost or free to the public. Organizers of Sculpture by the Sea seek to provide an accessible visual arts event in Sydney that takes advantage of the city’s beautiful ocean views. The resulting festival lasts from October 28th to November 14th and features over 100 sculptures by local and international artists.

This 14th Annual exhibition at Bondi creates a giant sculpture park along the coastal walk from Bondi to Tamarama. In addition to the world class outdoor sculpture, visitors can attend Sculpture Inside, an indoor exhibition held simultaneously and offering collectors staying in luxury Sydney hotel s and the general public to view and purchase art from established, mid-career, and emerging artists. Throughout the event there will be multiple opportunities each weekend for attendees to attend Audience with the Artist events. All events are free.

Sculpture by the Sea, which began in 1997 in Sydney, now includes annual exhibitions in Cottesloe in Perth and in Aarhus, Denmark.

Vancouver is one of the most popular cities in Canada for tourists from foreign countries to visit. And one of the reasons for this, one among many, is that it is full of amazing cultural attractions and great entertainment options. In addition, it is surrounded by incredibly beautiful geographic elements and the views in and around the city are amazing. It is a great place for couples to plan a romantic weekend and is also popular with families who choose to spend their vacation in one of the top Vancouver hotels . And if you’re planning to visit this great city there here are a few of the top attractions you will not want to miss.

The Capilano Suspension Bridge is an amazing spectacle of engineering, and also offers some of the most incredible views of the city and surrounding area. Meanwhile, it does take a bit of courage get up there walk across it as it sways in the wind, but that is part of the thrill. It is open all year, but the best time to go is between May and September. Grouse Mountain is another great way to enjoy the beautiful outdoors. This popular destination for tourists has great skiing , hiking and bird watching opportunities and is only 15 minutes from downtown Vancouver. And if you’re going to stay right in the middle of the city you will want to visit the Historic Gastown area. This area is full of great nightclubs, restaurants and shopping opportunities.

This year has been a noisy one for those following the field of college internships, especially those that are unpaid educational programs. Various exposes were published in major newspapers and student advocates and even some political think tanks have called for more stringent evaluation and policing of employers who offer unpaid internships. In April the Department of Labor issued a new fact sheet regarding internship programs, attempting to clarify the requirements for unpaid programs. For every Southwestern Company that pays students for internship work, there are others who don’t.

Fact Sheet #71 addresses internships at for-profit companies as they relate to the Fair Labor Standards Act . The key points are that the internship must benefit the intern and not provide immediate advantage to the employer. Interns must not displace paid employees and the training provided in the workplace should be similar to what the student would receive in an educational environment. Both parties must be aware that this in an unpaid position and that there is no guarantee of employment once the program is complete.

There are obviously many ways in which employers can subvert these standards. There are certainly plenty of stories out there of students replacing paid employees as the economy continues to struggle. In addition, there are concerns about the fairness of such training when only the wealthiest students can afford to work for free summer after summer. Most college students turn to places like the southwestern company where they can earn money towards the next year’s tuition while gaining skills and actual work experience.

It began in July of 2010; every New York City restaurant is now required to post a letter grade that corresponds to its health-inspection score. Los Angeles has been using this letter-coding system for years and it has become very successful for the city as well as the patrons.

Based on the new health-inspection letter system, a restaurant, even the ones located inside the New York City hotels , are awarded a ‘A’ for scores between 1-13; a ‘B’ for scores between 14 – 27; and a ‘C’ for 28 and higher. Each health-code violation earns a certain number of points, so lower scores equal fewer violations. Though all signs must be posted in a conspicuous place that’s visable to people walking by, restaurant patrons can also go to the Department of Health website and allows anyone to look up a restaurant by name at instantly get their score.

Many New Yorkers have taken advantage of this website and have reported that when they saw the history of violations such as ‘evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and in non-food areas’, they couldn’t believe their eyes. Surprisingly, some of the affordable restaurants fared better than the finer dining establishments. Many of the restaurants ‘Letter’ grade have not been posted yet, due to the implementation of the new health-system coding was only completed in May of this year.

Most restaurant patrons prefer not to know the dirty little details of how well the restaurant is within the health-codes, but evidentially, that letter posted in either the door of the restaurant or easily visible with just a glance will work on their subconscious mind and one day, if the grading at their favorite eatery keeps reading a ‘C’, may begin to shed light that this establishment really does have poor health practices and will end up eating at an ‘A’ graded restaurant instead.