Saturday, November 29, 2014

Funky Reindeers and Where You Can Find Them

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Years ago I took a photo of these funky Reindeers / Caribous
at a Christmas Party, but never found out who sells them
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Rudolph the Reindeer
Chuck Barney wrote about the most famous Reindeer in the Hamilton Spectator:

“Laugh and call him names all you want, but there's no denying that the furry misfit at the heart of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" has outshone his naysayers to become the most famous holiday TV star of all.
The seasonal perennial was the brainchild of producers Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass, who in 1964 took Johnny Marks' novelty song and turned it into an instant television classic. When "Rudolph" first aired during a Sunday afternoon on NBC, it drew a 50 share of the audience, which was sensational even in a three-channel universe. Five decades later, fans are still shouting out with glee."

"This year on CBS, "Rudolph" celebrates its 50th anniversary, extending its reign as television's longest-running special.  Like "A Charlie Brown Christmas," which turns 50 next year, Rudolph is a beloved heirloom handed down from parents to their children.”

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Animated Lighted Reindeer Family Set 3 Christmas Yard Decoration Outdoor





More About Reindeers / Caribou

  • Lego Santa and reindeer land in Covent Garden, London, UK.  700,000 tiny Lego bricks make up the sleigh, reindeer, presents and Father Christmas designed by Lego builder Duncan Titmarsh.
  • Two life Reindeers are outside the Hotel: Reindeer are a quintessential symbol of Christmas, and on December 13, the St. Regis Hotel in New York City will celebrate the holiday by having two of them outside its doors in Midtown Manhattan from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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Scandinavia's Sami Reindeer Herders

Two hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle, near the jagged tips of Norway's crown, the sun does not set for weeks on end during the summer months, and the midnight sun bounces off fields of midsummer snow. The solstice comes and goes, but the Sami reindeer herders are too busy to pay much attention. "We're always in the middle of calf marking at this time," Ingrid Gaup says, referring to the yearly ritual in which the herding families carve their ancient marks into the ears of the new calves. In the Sami's homeland, spread across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, the notion of time is untethered from the cycles of the sun and is yoked instead to something far more important: the movement of the reindeer.
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Where You Can find Reindeer / Caribou in North America
The Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), also known as Caribou in North America, is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, Subarctic, tundra, boreal and mountainous regions of northern Europe, Siberia, and North America, writes Wiki. I recently saw a couple in a mountainous region of British Columbia, Canada.
National Geographic shows their habitat here at this map:
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The Joy of Decorating for Christmas / Winter

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Get the Most Beautiful Decorations from Nature - for Free

Why buy when you can get the best Christmas Decorations out in the forests - or maybe even in your own garden?  And it's so much more fun than to go to the mall and buy some over-priced bland decorations.

Winter Berries, Pine and Fir twigs, Mountain Ash Berries, Rose Hips, Mistletoe or Christmas Holly are making for lovely decorations from Mother Nature.  Mix them with Pine cones and have a lovely nice smelling attraction to deck your halls.

Check out Martha Stewart's video how to arrange your twigs.



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Best Day of the Year to Buy a Kindle eReader

Wish you would have an eReader with you when waiting for the bus, train, plane or at a doctor's office? Would you like to read while while your partner wants to sleep?  There are many reasons to have always a reading device with you.  The latest generations have tremendously improved screens, can be read at all lighting conditions, can hold more than a thousand books and have a pretty long battery life.  eReaders are lighter than books and easier to hold - and they are great gifts for the upcoming holidays.
End Date for these offers:  Saturday, Nov 29, 2014, midnight.
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Get Your Christmas Gifts Early and Avoid Hassle
Ordering online with the click of a mouse - and having it delivered for free - saves you hours of time, gas, stress of driving to the mall with thousands of other customers, don't finding any customer service, waiting in line to pay, and then maybe finding your car in the parking lot, burried in snow...  You get the idea?













Kindle Paperwhite  Only $99  Save $20

Wi-Fi, Paperwhite Display, High Resolution, High Contrast, Built-in Light
Nov 27, 2014
End Date: Nov 29, 2014 



  • Patented built-in light evenly illuminates the screen to provide the perfect reading experience in all lighting conditions
  • Paperwhite has 62% more pixels and 25% increased contrast compared to the previous generation Kindle
  • Even in bright sunlight, Paperwhite delivers clear, crisp text and images with no glare
  • New hand-tuned fonts - 6 font styles, 8 adjustable sizes
  • 8-week battery life, even with the light on
  • Holds up to 1,100 books - take your library wherever you go
  • Built-in Wi-Fi lets you download books in under 60 seconds


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Friday, November 28, 2014

GREAT DEAL: Nikon D7000 digital SLR - 25% Off

Nikon D7000 16.2 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm Lens (Black) - FILMING and Taking Pictures - all in One!


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Gold Box Deal of the Day - ONLY $699.95 instead of $949.95
$250 OFF = 25% Off the Nikon D7000 digital SLR with 18-55mm VR lens 



Suggested for:

Demanding enthusiast photographers who need a camera for all occasions

  • Breathtaking Full 1080p HD Movies with Full Time Autofocus
  • High Resolution 16.2 MP DX-format CMOS sensor
  • High Speed 6 frames per second continuous shooting up to 100 shots
  • Dynamic ISO range from 100 to 6400
  • Ground-breaking 2,016-pixel RGB (3D Color Matrix) exposure sensor
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Author Fiza Pathan and Her Latest Books



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I was wondering how Fiza Pathan, a very well educated, and well-off writer, could tell the story of Nirmala the Mud Blossom.  After all I knew her for her great non-fiction work CLASSICS: Why We Should Encourage Children To Read Them.  And now a novel that takes place in the slums of Mumbai?
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Powerful, Passionate Fiction – and Why Fiza Pathan Wrote it…
Nirmala: The Mud Blossom graphically depicts the travails, discrimination, and abuse faced by female children in India from the cradle to the grave. Not an easy read I thought before starting the book. Despite it is a fictional story, it is a clear indictment of India and the inhuman way women and girls are still being treated today. However the story immediately drew my attention and I finished this gripping, fascinating novel in one reading session over the weekend.

About the Book:
Rejected and thrown into the dustbin when she was just two days old, the child was rescued and returned to her family by the NGOs. All because this little girl had the misfortune to be born as a female in Mumbai, India …
Nirmala is ill-treated by her mother, always subject to violence at her hands. She is allowed to continue her studies only because she can then coach her younger brothers, as the parents are illiterate. Each beating is accepted with forbearance, as she loves to go to school to get books to read from her library.

Nirmala is forced to stop her studies after the twelfth grade so her parents can save enough money to send the boys to college. She is then married off, but while her married life begins smoothly, it is only the beginning of her next phase of hell. After giving birth to her first child, Nirmala is subjected to harassment, beatings, and forced into doing things contrary to her beliefs and dreams. Her life is shattered.
What will happen to this little mud blossom? Will she fight back or succumb?  How can she rid herself of harassment and rise above the stigma she endures?”
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Fiza Pathan Explains in Her Own Words Why She Had to Write 
Nirmala: The Mud Blossom:

My latest novel which has just been released titled ‘Nirmala: The Mud Blossom’ was an accident.
I had no intention of writing this story, let alone framing and formatting it into a novella.  Yet when I pass the many filthy slums of Mumbai surrounding sky rise buildings and towers… I think to myself that maybe my character Nirmala and I both were accidents.  Nirmala, was tossed into a dustbin because she was a girl…I was sent home to my mother’s family because I was a girl.  Nirmala and I are two really different people and I can’t understand how I managed to write about her in the first place.

Do I empathize with Nirmala? Maybe…Do I sympathize with Nirmala? Maybe…but one thing is for sure: Nirmala got me thinking about reality, the reality that girls in India are not wanted…Nirmala and I both were not wanted.  Many people… read the rest in her blog InsaneOwl.com.


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Thursday, November 27, 2014

The Best Resource for Writers in 2016


2016 Writer's Market Book

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I just ordered the latest edition of the 2016 Writer's Market Deluxe Edition, a comprehensive guide to find publishers, agents, magazine and newspaper editors and an abundance of addresses to online writing markets - including the online version. 

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"The Most Trusted Guide to Getting Published" Their title seems to imply these "yellow pages" for writers are just to find book publishers.  No, it's only a part of it!  Since 1921, Writer's Market has been the "freelance writer's bible", providing contact information for thousands of editors and agents, tips on manuscripts formatting, query letter clinics and more. 




Deluxe Version Continually Updated!
Now it's all available online, in a searchable database of information that can be personalized to meet your specific market needs.  You can search through the thousands of markets in seconds, easily eliminating those that don't fit your criteria.  You will also get daily market spotlights, and a guide to Web resources for writers, tips on getting published, news from the publishing world, great online submission-tracking tools, and more. WritersMarket.com is continually updated, so you can be sure you are getting always the latest information available. 
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NaNoWriMo - and What Then? 

In many blog articles I showed writers how they can use their writing skills and even details from their research or their manuscript and start to make way more money with magazines articles or online content - and at the same time promote their books in the byline.  A great help how to start, where to find the latest contacts and how to pitch your writing to editors, can be found in this Yearbook for authors - including constant updates. 
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Whether your goal is to publish a book, write a magazine article, or freelance for local businesses, this Yearbook, together with the latest data helps you to achieve your dreams.


Currently, the market listings are largely from the U.S. and Canada, with a few from the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries.  If you're looking for market listings in the United Kingdom be sure to check out Writer's Market UK. Writer's Market is an invaluable tool that authors are recommending again and again.
How to Make Money as a Writer:  Order it right away - or put it on your Christmas-Wish List!

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eReader Bargain "PaperWhite" Thanksgiving Special TODAY






Kindle Paperwhite  Only $99  Save $20

Wi-Fi, Paperwhite Display, High Resolution, High Contrast, Built-in Light
Nov 27, 2014
End Date: Nov 29, 2014 



  • Patented built-in light evenly illuminates the screen to provide the perfect reading experience in all lighting conditions
  • Paperwhite has 62% more pixels and 25% increased contrast compared to the previous generation Kindle
  • Even in bright sunlight, Paperwhite delivers clear, crisp text and images with no glare
  • New hand-tuned fonts - 6 font styles, 8 adjustable sizes
  • 8-week battery life, even with the light on
  • Holds up to 1,100 books - take your library wherever you go
  • Built-in Wi-Fi lets you download books in under 60 seconds

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Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Travel Photographers: Today is Your Day!

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Good News for Avid Photographers:
Canon EOS Rebel SL1 Digital SLR with 18-55mm STM Lens is reduced TODAY from $749 down to $549.  Savings: $200.00 (27%) and: FREE Shipping.  A steal ...

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  • Small and light with good grip for small to medium-size hands
  • High ISO shots are quite usable, even above ISO 6400
  • Excellent LCD and responsive touchscreen
  • Full HD video recording and stereo mic jack
  • Useful night modes
  • 206 photographers gave 5-Star Reviews
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"I am impressed with my new Canon SL1 with the 18-55 kit lens. As a long time dedicated amateur photographer with a shelf full of other equipment, including fancier and much more expensive equipment, this will now be the one I take with me and use most of the time."  Read more reviews on Amazon's website.
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Thanksgiving Special: Kingston 16 GB Class 10 MicroSD Flash Card


Kingston 16 GB Class 10 MicroSD Flash Card with SD Adapter SDC10/16GB



Save 94% TODAY

List Price: CDN$ 192.54
Price: CDN$ 11.15 & FREE Shipping on orders over CDN$ 25. 
You Save: CDN$ 181.39 (94%)

Without the adapter:  only $7.49
32 GigaByte: $12.99
64 GigaByte: $35.76
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What is a Secure Digital Card?
PC Magazine explains: "With most people carrying around smartphones, MP3 players, digital cameras, pocket camcorders, or all of them, flash memory cards have become a requirement for keeping your digital life running smoothly. If you got a shiny new device that can snap photos or play music, odds are (unless, of course, it's an Apple product) it's going to use a flash memory card to offer additional storage capacity. To get more granular, it's most likely going to use some variety of Secure Digital (SD) card. SD has emerged as the dominant flash memory format, but it's not that simple. There are scores of SD cards of all shapes, sizes, and speeds available, so picking the right one for each device can be slightly confusing."
Read more: 
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388408,00.asp




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Tuesday, November 25, 2014

TODAY at Amazon: Kindle Touch + 6 Months FREE Books

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Fantastic Offer: 

Kindle + Kindle Unlimited
An all-new Kindle with unlimited reading from over 700,000 titles

6-inch Glare-Free Touchscreen Display, Wi-Fi, Includes Special Offers, 6 months of Kindle Unlimited
$99.00 FREE Shipping Details
List Price: $138.94
You save: $39.94


  • All-new Kindle with touchscreen—Holds thousands of books, battery lasts weeks, not hours
  • 6 months of Unlimited reading—Enjoy over 700,000 titles on any device
  • Discount will be applied at checkout

  • Looking for a different device?
  • Fire HD 7 + 6 months of Kindle Unlimited for $169
  • Kindle Paperwhite + 6 months of Kindle Unlimited for $149
  • Fire HD 6 + 6 months of Kindle Unlimited for $129



  • Monday, November 24, 2014

    Today - Save $200: Canon EOS Rebel T5i

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    24% Less for this High-end Camera:

    Canon EOS Rebel T5i Digital SLR with 18-55mm STM Lens

    To order with FREE shipping, just click here:
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    Sunday, November 23, 2014

    Author Michael John Sullivan and His Books






    Michael-John-Sullivan 


    Michael John Sullivan, the author of several books and a novelette, was homeless at the age of 23 after watching his mother - his protector in a dysfunctional family - die from cancer.  A year later his father asked him to leave.  Riding a New York City subway train at night, his only companion was a green plastic bag of belongings.  During these bleak days he began writing his most reflective and emotional childhood and adult memories now featured in two of his novels. 
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    Necessary-Heartbreak 


    Michael Stewart has lost his faith and is overwhelmed by the demands of raising his precocious fourteen-year-old daughter Elizabeth.  When he and Elizabeth find a cellar door in the floor of a church basement, they discover a tunnel that transports them back in time to Jerusalem during the tumultuous last week of Christ’s life. There they encounter numerous characters including Leah, a grieving widow; a menacing soldier who is determined to take Elizabeth as his own; Judas on the last night of his life; and a close-up of the man, Jesus. 

    Trapped in the past, Michael comes face to face with some of his most limiting beliefs and realizes he must open himself up to the possibility of a deeper faith in people, himself, and love if he is to ever find his way home. A captivating and spiritual tale, Necessary Heartbreak will leave readers moved and transported. 256 pages

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    Everybodys-Daughter 

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    Everybody's Daughter 
    What if you had a chance to ask a loved one for forgiveness – after they died? What would you say? Would you give up your own lifetime of happiness for someone else? Michael Stewart confronts these questions as he travels back in time through a mysterious tunnel in an old church when the Romans ruled with brutal violence and Jesus preached his peaceful message.  His Teenage daughter Elizabeth soon follows Michael, but is surprised to discover that her father is nowhere to be found.  Little does she know that Michael has returned safely to the present, leaving her to battle a vicious Roman soldier.  Separated 
    by centuries, Michael is trapped to fight his own battles in the present day.  Elizabeth’s disappearance, and the discovery of her blood in his car ignites a rush of judgment as the FBI focuses on him as a person of interest.
    Michael’s only hope for saving his daughter rests in the hands of his best friend – a local pastor with secrets of his own – and a mysterious old journal containing tales of miracles within the walls of the old church itself.
    Thrilling and suspenseful, Everybody's Daughter takes readers on a miraculous journey of their own, where salvation can be found in acts of sacrifice and hope remains forever eternal through the passage of a tunnel. 330 pages 


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    An-Angel-Comes-Home 



    Novelette An Angel Comes Home

    Michael John Sullivan: "Over the past decade I have been working on a time-travel trilogy, occasionally reflecting back to my childhood and young adult experiences and incorporating it into the plot. While the hardships of spending nights riding a subway train were an emotional and sometimes physical burden for me, there’s been a wonderful conclusion to this period of time." "I have been able to heal while writing Necessary Heartbreak and Everybody's Daughter It’s also given me a chance to reflect upon the story and the characters and what they truly mean to me. I decided to write a prequel to Everybody's Daughter, a novelette. I felt it important that the reader should know who George Farmer was in more detail and to bridge the gap between the two books." "There’s a twist, too, in showing the relationship between Pastor Dennis, Michael Stewart, and George Farmer. George was a man of strength, love, faith and hope. Perhaps someday you will run into someone like him. Or better yet, you already have." 

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    The Greatest Gift

    Michael John Sullivan's Latest Book

    Teenager Elizabeth Stewart has been given the gift of life once more and uses it to risk everything for a close friend – even though it means leaving behind her father, Michael who poses as a Roman soldier, takes a sea journey with an Apostle, and is asked to help write part of the Gospel in his quest to safely bring his daughter home to the twenty-first century.


    Thrilling, illuminating, and ultimately resounding, The Greatest Gift concludes the trilogy begun in Necessary Heartbreak and Everybody's Daughter  in awe-inspiring fashion.  All of Sullivan's books are available in print and digital.


    Enjoy Sullivan's books as much as his many readers do:  “I've been truly blessed with the opportunity to review all these wonderful novels and if you haven't read any of them, you are truly in for a treasure.” and “Eagerly awaiting Sullivan's next book.” 


    Michael J. Sullivan can be reached on https://twitter.com/AuthorMSullivan or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-J-Sullivan/237943096234593   


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    Wednesday, November 19, 2014

    Looking for a Worldwide Distributor for Your Books?

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    Your e-book(s) might be on Amazon.com for quite a while now, and it is convenient for you to have them on the worlds' largest e-book retailer.  But why would you miss out on sales from Apple's iBooks, on Barnes & Noble, Kobo, any UK bookshops, such as Gardners, Waterstones, the large Australian e-bookstore Angus & Robertson and maybe even sales to subscription services, such as Scribd and BookMate or to thousands of libraries through LibraryThing? 

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    Living Outside of the USA? If you are you living outside the USA, as an independent author and you don’t want to go through all the hassle with opening a US branch for your publishing business - and if you don’t want that aggregators (who call themselves often publishers) receive a fat commission every time your book is sold – for years - consider this option: eBookpartnership, a British company with an office in New York, and representation at the BEA in NYC.

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    Want to Keep 100% Revenue?
    This British book aggregator, eBookpartnership, will upload your e-book to on- and off-line retailers, libraries and distributors and most important: does all the time-consuming “accounting" and "book-keeping” for you.

    Authors describe this global ebook distribution network as a “fast, efficient and friendly service”.  Their website is very detailed and informative.  Authors are charged a standard low annual fee per title no matter of how may retailers you choose to distribute your books to. Per title and per year it will only cost you a flat fee between: £20 and £50, depending on how many titles you give them to distribute.
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    Not everyone has a Kindle, many folks are die-hard Apple iBook fans or using a Nook, or order from Kobo.  Why forego these sales?  Good to know:  there are alternatives to aggregators who don’t reduce your revenues - no matter how many books you sell.

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    Monday, November 17, 2014

    The Most Beautiful Christkindl Markets in Europe

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    Travelling to Europe in late November or December?  Where it might be cold, dark and no beaches close by?  A good idea? Yes, and yes!  If you like everything Christmas, traditions, medieval cities, Mulled Wine and classic music.  At these Christkindl Markets you will meet folks from all over the world: Japanese, Americans and Canadians, Australians, Chinese, Italians or British tours are heading to the popular markets in Nuremberg, Rothenburg, Munich or Brussels. 
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    Culinary Delights 
    Christmas in Europe is a time for romantic holidays, delicious pastries and Christmas cookies straight out of a medieval cookbook, and for lyrical midnight masses in Gothic churches. Not to forget the delightful "Gluehwein"or "Glow-Wine", a mulled wine - red wine, best is Merlot, mixed with Orange Juice and warmed up with lots of spices - great to warm your hands in the cold December air. Another delight to warm you up are the roasted "Maroni" - sweet Chestnuts, that are offered straight out from the open fire pits at the market places.
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    Handcrafted by Local Artisans
    Candles made from Beeswax, wooden toys, traditional Christmas ornaments, and other treasures can be found in wooden stalls.  You won't find "Made in China", but rather real artists and their crafts. Many local visitors come straight from the office over to the market, have a glass of mulled wine - or several, maybe a grilled sausage or traditional Christmas cookies, and mingle with friends and colleagues or neighbors, transitioning into the evening, often till eight or nine o'clock until the market closes.
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    TravelandLeisure Writes: 
    "For a few precious frost-nipped weeks, these museum-piece cities of "Olde World Europe" flicker back to the Middle Ages"and show the largest Christkindl Markets in Europe.  Did I mention that in many cities are several Christkindl Markets, not only one, especially in Munich, Germany, almost in every part of the city.  The smaller ones are often the better ones and are without the tourists.  Enjoy these traditional, enchanting Christmas Markets that are originated in the 16th century.

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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApBmeC_X_cY

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striezelmarkt  

    http://www.germany.travel/en/specials/christmas/christmas.html

    http://www.christkindlesmarkt.de/en/

    http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/planatrip/inspire-me/lists/top-8-german-christmas-markets



    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXKaODGdlYQ

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnvDCVNtDY4



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    How to Solve Your Christmas Gift Problems


    Does the thought of mingling with thousands of shoppers in the mall diminish your fun of

    getting Christmas gifts?  Or do you have someone picky on your Christmas list that you

    never seem to be able to please? Want to get them something they can’t complain about –

    or return?   



    The solution can be so easy:

    I nice gift card that enables the recipient to pick their own present, and you can

    receive it in 
    seconds from Amazon, just print them out and voila! you have your last-

    minute gift.  These gift cards never expire and have no fees.






    Thursday, November 13, 2014

    My Kind of Town: Charleston, SC

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    I love this mixture of Southern France, Italy and Deep South that is Charleston, SC:
    Cobblestones, Palmtrees and lush flowers, a fantastic Market and a wonderful restaurant and excellent coffee shop scene.  No skyscrapers, the churches are the highest buildings...

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    Charleston is the oldest and second-largest city in the State of South Carolina, once named 
    the nation’s friendliest city, not only due to its historic charm, and centuries old architecture. 
    To add even more to the mix, it is surrounded by gorgeous beaches, and offers world-class golf, something few destinations its size can rival.  The Kiawah Island Golf Resort, just outside Charleston, is home to the world famous Ocean Course, as well as four other top courses and the Forbes 5-star Sanctuary hotel and its 5-Star spa.
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    Charleston's waterfront is lined with charming and well-preserved historic homes and beautiful Azaleas. Hard to imagine that not far from here the Civil War began: on an island in the harbor, reached by regularly scheduled ferries, combining the best of a scenic cruise with the exploration of Fort Sumter, easily accessed from the heart of downtown. 

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    Many Plantations around Charleston are attractive destinations for visitors, especially the famous Magnolia Plantation and their lovely gardens, or the enchanting Middletonplace Plantation, not to forget the famous Tea Plantation.




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    No wonder that fresh seafood and Catfish are staples among other delicious choices in fine dining places around town, when you watch the many fishing boats in all sizes bustling in the harbors of South Carolina. More hot coastal Low-Country cuisine with flair can be explored at Zagat.com.

    It’s about time for me to visit Charleston again. Cannot even remember the names of the restaurants. Maybe in Spring when the Azaleas, Rhododendrons and Magnolias are blooming?


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