Entertainment sights in USA
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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Pride Parade
Hands down, the year's biggest party. Pirates in pink and giant-winged fairies toss candy and condoms from overflowing fanny packs, while pit bulls in rainbow-hued tutus trot alongside. Stilt-walkers in glitter, trannies on unicycles, queens on roller skates – anything goes. Crowds pour from BART and Muni, climbing streetlight posts for better views, and float-dancers strut atop moving stages. Growing almost every year since 1971, Pride draws about a million participants and sidewalk supporters, running the gamut from sweater queens to granola dykes, bondage masters to GLBT seniors. Afterwards there's an all-afternoon festival at Civic Center. Hotels fill; book early. The…
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Grauman's Chinese Theatre
Even the most jaded visitor may thrill in the famous forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, where generations of screen legends have left their imprints in cement: feet, hands, dreadlocks (Whoopi Goldberg), and even magic wands (the young stars of the Harry Potter films). Actors dressed as Superman, Marilyn Monroe and the like are usually on hand to pose for photos (for tips), and it's a good bet you'll be offered free tickets to TV shows (those in season).
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Children’s Fairyland
In oak-shaded Lakeside Park, on Lake Merritt’s eastern shore, Children’s Fairyland was apparently Walt Disney’s inspiration for Disneyland. Through adult eyes, it has a weirdly dilapidated charm; little kids love it. The boating center lets you sail or paddle beneath Oakland’s downtown towers. At night, the lake is ringed with little lights, the kind you see decorating Christmas-tree lots.
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Julia Morgan Theatre
To the southeast of People's Park is the beautifully understated, redwood-infused 1910 Julia Morgan Theatre, a performance space (formerly a church) created by Bay Area architect Julia Morgan, who designed numerous Bay Area buildings and, most famously, the Hearst Castle.
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LA Live
Music pulses through LA Live. LA Live includes live-music clubs, a megaplex movie theater, a dozen restaurants and a 54-story hotel tower shared by Marriott and Ritz-Carlton.
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Masonic Auditorium
Conspiracy theorists, jazz aficionados and anyone exploring immigrant roots should know about Masonic Auditorium. Built as a temple to freemasonry in 1958, the building regularly hosts top jazz acts, such as Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. And every other Tuesday morning it hosts mass US-citizenship swearing-in ceremonies. If you’re looking for confirmation that California is run by a secret club, well, here you have it: many of the nation’s founding fathers were Freemasons, including George Washington, and the same can be said about California’s. It’s all captured in the modernist stained-glass windows, which su…
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Marjorie Eliot
Contrary to popular belief, the island of Manhattan does not end at 125th St (or 59th or 14th St, for that matter). Nope, it extends all the way to 215th St, and the treasures that lie in wait for you up in those nether regions are truly worth the journey north – especially if you take advantage of the recently completed bike path along Hudson River and pedal your way here. In addition to better-known destinations such as the amazing Cloisters and beautiful Inwood Hill Park, there are pockets of culture not on many people’s radar that you’ll be happy were on yours. Part of a cultural renaissance in Inwood, not far from the Morris-Jumel Mansion, is 555 Edgecombe Ave, at th…
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Sea Life Park
Hawaii's only marine park, Sea Life Park combines all the celebrities of the sea into a variety of zoo- and circus-like exhibits. The highlight is an enormous 300,000-gallon aquarium filled with sea turtles, eels, eagle rays, hammerhead sharks and thousands of colorful reef fish. The park also has a penguin habitat, a turtle lagoon with green sea turtles, and a seabird sanctuary that holds red-footed boobies, albatrosses and great frigate birds.
These programs have additional admission fees and various combo packages are available. You can visit the park's cafeteria and gift shop without paying admission, and from there you can also get a free glimpse of the seal and sea …
reviewed
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Coney Island USA
The heart of Coney Island in many ways is this two-part, nonprofit complex. Best is the Sideshows by the Seashore, where you can see glass-walking, a face-tattooed fire-eater, a Mormon sword-swallower and nostril nailers. During the summer, Sideshows hosts Burlesque at the Beach, a tongue-in-cheek program featuring ‘girlie revues’ and bubble machines; sideshow freaks and vaudeville acts add to the mayhem.
Upstairs is the small Coney Island Museum, featuring local memorabilia. It also hosts a goofball Saturday night film series, with such campy ‘classics’ as cult alien romp Forbidden Planet and anything by John Waters.
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Main-Street USA
Upon entering the park, you're funneled onto Main Street USA. Fashioned after Walt's hometown of Marceline, Missouri, it resembles a classic turn-of-the-20th-century all-American town, before the advent of the mall. Everything here is designed to celebrate an idealized vision of the USA. The music playing in the background is from American musicals and there's a flag-retreat ceremony every afternoon.
Have your picture taken with Mickey or Minnie or any of the other oversized characters prancing around. You can also catch the Disneyland Railroad, a steam train that loops the park and stops at four different stations along the way. Pay attention to the wonderful optical il…
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Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
Treating Harlem Sunday services, which are mostly Baptist, like a theatrical tourist event is a bit of an odd pastime. Still, the music is electrifying, and folks with any desire to feel immersed in such soulfulness will have a hard time staying away. Just behave respectfully and logically – no photos of worshipers in action, for example – and the experience should be a great one. An old saying says that in Harlem ‘there’s a bar on every corner and a church on every block.’ Sunday services usually start at 11am. The Abyssinian Baptist Church (132 Odell Clark Pl (138th St) btwn Adam Clayton Powell Jr & Malcolm X Blvds) is quite welcoming to outsiders, as is the M…
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Castro St Fair
This is the yin to the Folsom St Fair's yang. Instead of black leathers, think white sweaters. Instead of whips and chains, think country & western dancing and hot dog booths. The Castro St Fair was started by gay political icon and city supervisor Harvey Milk in 1974 as a way to put the nascent gay community on the map. The fair succeeded beyond his wildest dreams, and an estimated 150,000 people now show up. Proceeds fund a variety of queer- and AIDS-related nonprofit groups. The fair is an all-day event, with nonstop bands, emcees and speakers. The primary activities are endless cruising and shopping, the latter being the favorite activity of the somewhat more conserva…
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Blue Ox Millworks & Historic Park
Don't miss Blue Ox Millworks & Historic Park. One of only seven of its kind left in America, the millworks uses antique tools and mills to produce authentic gingerbread trim and decoration for Victorian buildings. One-hour self-guided tours take you through the mill and surrounding historical buildings, including a blacksmith shop and recreated 19th-century skid camp. Kids love the oxen.
Master craftsman Eric Hollenbeck does everything by hand, and even manufactures his own stains. (When colleagues laughed, saying, 'Why waste time making stain when you can buy if for around US$10?,' Eric replied, 'The hidden cost of convenience is knowledge.' Indeed.) If you spend Saturda…
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Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk dates from 1907 and is the oldest beachfront amusement park on the West Coast. The boardwalk has a glorious old-school Americana vibe, with the smell of cotton candy permeating the salt air, punctuated by the distant squeals of kids hanging upside down on carnival rides. Its most famous rides include the half-mile-long Giant Dipper, a vintage-1924 wooden roller coaster, and the 1911 Looff carousel – both National Historic Landmarks. For kids, the Cave Train is unexpectedly fun for its portrayal of cavemen in modern times. But the thing that’s so great is its proximity to the beach, where parents can wait while teens explore. On Friday nights…
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Hollywood Pictures Backlot
Designed to look like the backlot of a Hollywood studio, this attraction includes a mishmash of building styles, with everything from a Frank Lloyd Wright knock-off to a Pantages-style theater. If you're early, you'll have an unobstructed view of the forced-perspective mural at the end of the street, a sky-and-land backdrop that looks, at least in photographs, like the street keeps going.
In the air-conditioned Animation Building you can put your voice into a Disney film and find out which Disney character you're most like - perfect for little ones. Across the street you can see Kermit at Muppet Vision 3D. The big attraction, though, is the 183ft-tall Twilight Zone Tower …
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The Epcot Center
An acronym for 'Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow,' The Epcot Center was Disney's vision of a high-tech city. It's divided into two halves: the sort-of-modern Future World, with corporate-sponsored journeys through not-very-cutting-edge technology, and the not-at-all futuristic World Showcase, which gives you an interesting toe-dip into the culture of 11 different countries.
They were originally intended to be two separate parks, which explains a lot. Epcot isn't the kids' paradise the Magic Kingdom is, but there are plenty of activities for the inquisitive tot. The new Soarin' ride is a winner, and Mission: SPACE is good for getting the adrenaline pumping afte…
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Downtown Media Arts Center
Orlando has one of the coolest movie theaters in the Downtown Media Arts Center. Behind its green, gothic facade is one of the gems in downtown, whether you're a cinemaphile or just looking to catch an indie flick that may or may not ever hit the big screen.
Its 1st floor masquerades as an art gallery, showcasing the unusual works of local artists on a rotating basis. But upstairs, the blank canvas of an intimate 80-seat screening room projects a mixture of shorts, documentaries, foreign films and cult movies to its lucky viewers. Don't miss the interactive 'film slams,' where audiences vote for their favorites.
The café on the 1st floor is highly recommended - with live m…
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New Orleans Square
Adjacent to Adventureland, New Orleans Square is a refrain of that city's French Quarter, minus the marauding drunks. Pirates of the Caribbean, the longest ride in Disneyland (17 minutes), opened in 1967 and was the first addition to the original park. You'll float through the subterranean haunts of tawdry pirates, where buccaneers' skeletons perch atop their mounds of booty. This is the only ride in the park that addresses sex ('Buy a Bride') - blame it on the '60s.
At the Haunted Mansion, '999 happy haunts' - spirits and goblins, shades and ghosts - evanesce while you ride in a cocoon-like car through web-covered graveyards of dancing skeletons. The Disneyland Railroad …
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Golden State
Broken into sections that recognize California's cultural achievements, the Golden State has several distinct areas. Condor Flats, a nod to the state's aerospace industry, features Soarin' Over California, a virtual hang gliding ride using IMAX technology. Keep your nostrils open for the smell of the sea, orange groves and pine forests. Grizzly River Run takes you 'rafting' down a faux Sierra Nevada river; you will get wet so try it when it's warm.
Raise a glass to the Napa Valley at the Golden Vine Winery. At the Palace of Fine Arts in 'San Francisco,' check out Golden Dreams, where an eerie embodiment of Whoopi Goldberg takes you on a 22-minute film journey through Cali…
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Canaan Baptist Church
Treating Harlem Sunday services, which are mostly Baptist, like a theatrical tourist event is a bit of an odd pastime. Still, the music is electrifying, and folks with any desire to feel immersed in such soulfulness will have a hard time staying away. Just behave respectfully and logically – no photos of worshipers in action, for example – and the experience should be a great one. An old saying says that in Harlem ‘there’s a bar on every corner and a church on every block.’ Most church marquees proclaim ‘all are welcome.’ Sunday services usually start at 11am. Canaan Baptist Church, near St Nicholas Ave, is an extremely friendly church.
reviewed
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Disney's California Adventure
The entrance to DCA sits directly opposite the entrance to Disneyland and was designed to look like an old-fashioned painted-collage postcard. As you pass through the turnstiles, note the gorgeous mosaics on either side of the entrance. One represents Northern California, the other Southern California.
After passing under the Golden Gate Bridge, you'll arrive at Sunshine Plaza, where a 50ft-tall sun made of gold titanium 'shines' all the time because heliostats direct the rays of the real sun onto the Disney sun. Close your eyes and stand in the plaza, and you'll hear the simulated sound of the surf as produced by the plaza's fountain, a neat trick.
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Walt Disney World
This is a self-contained city. Apart from the four main parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom), there are three water parks, a shopping district, 22 hotels, countless eateries, a police force, transport systems, medical centres, even kennels for the pooch. Watch out for the mouse.
In its first year, Disney World saw over 10 million visitors, and it remains one of the world's top tourist destinations, now attracting more than 20 million visitors a year. It's also the world's biggest amusement resort, covering an area twice the size of New York's Manhattan. It would have made Walt very, very happy.
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Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater has been Harlem’s leading space for concerts and political rallies since 1914. Virtually every major black artist of note in the 1930s and ’40s performed here, including Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker. After a desultory spell as a movie theater and several years of darkness, the Apollo was bought in 1983 and revived as a live venue. It eventually fell into disrepair again, but now, after the completion of an extensive renovation, the Apollo is more beautiful than ever, as it finally has a restored facade, marquee, glass-and-steel storefront and brand-new box office. Its famous weekly Amateur Night – ‘where stars are born and legends are made’ – still…
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PAL Sailor Circus
Sarasota even celebrates its circus heritage in its school system. The PAL Sailor Circus is a truly unique circus experience – you don’t have to worry about animal or human cruelty here – its troop is comprised entirely of Sarasota County students. The kids take ‘circus’ as an extracurricular school activity, and learn high-flying, tumbling and clowning, which they then perform under the big top. It’s a wonderful experience that also supports positive after-school activities for children. Look for it tucked under the big blue-and-white circus tent east off S Tamiami Trail.
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Tomorrowland
The future looks different now than it did in 1955 when this exhibit opened, so in 1998 this 'land' was revamped to honor three 'timeless' futurists: Jules Verne, HG Wells and Leonardo da Vinci. Don't miss Space Mountain, one of the park's signature attractions and one of the best roller coasters in America. It takes your head off as you hurtle into complete darkness at frightening speed.
A 2005 revamp means new visual effects, but the biggest improvement is the new sound system, so it seems like Deep Space is penetrating your eardrums.
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