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Olá Portugal

If we are lucky in our lives, we get unexpected windows of opportunity, a chance to do something totally different, to change tack or to travel a different path. Two years ago this month, I was offered an impromptu visit to Portugal – it was to change my life for ever. I knew if I missed this opportunity I would regret it for life. Six weeks later, I relocated here.

I moved from South West England to South West Portugal. As one of my best friends rather quaintly put it, “I moved from the ass end of nowhere to the ass end of the ass end of nowhere.”

From Here to there:

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The Boles Blues iPhone 4S Review

On Friday, the long purgatory that was AT&T and the iPhone came to a bloody end for Janna and me as we ripped open our Verizon boxes to set up our new iPhone 4S devices of love!  I was actually so happy being back with Verizon that I took a hammer to Janna’s AT&T 3G iPhone and my AT&T 3GS iPhone and smashed the screens to smithereens!  Then I took those broken AT&T iPhones and dunked them in salt water and let them sit there for an hour before I took them outside and dropkicked each one into the trash bin!  Begone AT&T!  Your misery knows no bounds and you have no shame!  I can’t believe all the money we wasted paying you for lousy voice and data service!

The first thing you notice about the 4s, coming from the 3G series, is that the retina display is just as wonderful as you’ve read about since the rise of the 4.  You can actually read tiny text and, as you can see below, the screenshots are magnificent!

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When A Gun At an Airport Indicates Forgetfulness

While traveling to California and back, I was certainly glad that, for whatever reason, the TSA did not ask my family to undergo the scary full body screening. I was apprehensive about being asked to choose to do either that or go through a rather unpleasant pat down that some people have characterized as feeling like being molested. I have always wondered how efficient the TSA really is at actually catching people who are up to no good, and when I found out about a gentleman who somehow made it past the TSA and flew without either a valid ticket or a passport, I really had to wonder. It therefore made me raise an eyebrow when I read about the case of Tam Nguyen, who was imprisoned because he brought a handgun to the airport — albeit not intentionally.

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The SKB 56 Deluxe Les Paul Case Review

Protecting your gear while out in the wilds is important — especially if you have a nice guitar like a Les Paul.  For around $120.00USD, you can buy the SKB 56 Deluxe Guitar case with TSA locks and protect your vital investment while you travel the road.

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When Trip Advisor Gets You Thrown Out of Your Hotel

When I was a child, my family would go on a couple of vacations every year. We would rely on books to tell us which hotels were better than others. Almost as long as there has been a world wide web, there have been web sites waiting for you to tell them how well you think of hotels and other travel related accommodations.

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Sleepless from Seattle: Being Your Own Captive Audience

Several people had already told me as much, but it was only about a few hours into the flight that the real insanity of this trip really dawned on me. As far as I know, I am going to be spending more time on the way to the airport, back from the airport, and on the airplane than I will be spending at the actual place I am visiting. This seems like madness.

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Let's Cheat the Time Warp Again

Sometimes, you have to cheat a bit to get a theory to conform to reality as we currently understand it.  We love to think of time travel and of warping space — and there are Big Thinkers who are bringing us closer to that total destiny today.

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Chasing a Receding Horizon

It is human nature to press ahead and chase what we can never catch.  For all of human existence we have been obsessed with the horizon and what riches and wonders wait for us just beyond the ken of its bend.

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Slumming at the Westwood Marquis Hotel and Gardens for $150 a Night

[Update – June 17, 1998: I get weekly messages about this article from GO INSIDE Magazine readers who continue to confirm my experience with the Westwood Marquis Hotel & Gardens despite what, I am told, is the hotel’s occasional claim over the phone that the “UCLA suites” have been remodeled and that my article is “out of date.” However, other readers report that the hotel confesses the “UCLA suites” have “not yet been remodeled” when confronted with the experiences I report in this article when they attempt to make a room reservation. I recently called the hotel and posed as a prospective guest. Without identifying myself, I casually mentioned this article and I asked if the “UCLA suites” description was accurate? I was told that those rooms have “yet to be remodeled.” All I can say is “Buyer Beware!” since the veracity of the situation appears to spin on who answers the phone at the hotel’s reception desk. I’ll continue to update this article as necessary.]

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A Shooting in New York: Survival Tips for the Wary

After the shooting of eight tourists on the Empire State Building’s Observation Deck yesterday by a disgruntled 69 year old man from Palestine, it’s my duty, as ten year New York resident and publisher of this international magazine to offer you some tips for surviving the Big Apple.

Analysis of an Assassination
Before we get to the hardcore survival tips, let’s examine precisely what happened during the Empire State Building shooting. The disgruntled man was touring the Observation Deck from 4 pm to 5 pm and he was alone and muttering to himself during that hour. At 5 pm he dropped to his knees, started praying aloud and then he drew his handgun and immediately assassinated a young Dutch musician by firing a single bullet into the base of his skull.

After the initial shot, everyone on the Observation Deck panicked and a stampede began as the Palestinian squeezed off 7 more shots. As hot lead flew, a five month old child took a bullet in the side; a man from Queens was punctured by a slug in his thigh; a six year old was shot in the arm; a mother was grazed on the elbow and three others were mildly wounded. Other women and children were injured by a stampede of Tourists pushing each other to get out of the way of the bullets.

Continue reading → A Shooting in New York: Survival Tips for the Wary