Adding new tricks to the act is more than a hop, skip and jump

Recently, Cirque has been sporting a new roping skipping act featuring skippes Yusuke Funaki and Shoichi Kasuo.

From time to time Cirque du Soleil adds new acts so that returning guests can see something new.

Impetus for he new acts that begin in July, were inspired by a Cirque Show name Quidam.

Funaki, who is an aerospace engineer, was thrilled about the new skipping act which changed his priorities.

Many artists will be blended into the act including trapeze artists, areal artists, and trampoliners.

As the curtain is raised, oriental artists descend from rafters above outfitted in black-hooded costumes breaking into their individual routines.

This highly acclaimed choreography includes rope-spinning cowboy style, rapid-fire skipping, double-Dutch, acrobatic stunts and other rope tricks.

Many logistical challenges confront these world-class artists as they make a triagular shap with 3 ropes, 3 turners, 9 jumpers and skippers skipping from  rope to rope.

With so many props backstage, technicians need to know which ropes to select from a variety of shapes and sizes.

In order to prepare the troop for this highly syncopated routine, a professional skipper was dispatched from the Cirque headquarters in June.

Many of the cast members love to go beyond the normal routine and do something new.

A plethora of visitors driving hybrids will be plugging up during vacations

In the months to come, Hybrids like the Ford Escape SUV, Nissan Leaf, Nissan Tesla, and Chevrolet Voit will be plugging up at charging stations during vacation.
Mounting a national effort to promote new technology such as electric cars is the Miami-based Car Charging Group, CCG. 

Forming this partnership to install charging stations in Orlando will be Progress Energy, Orange County, Orlando, and NIssan.

Several parking sites already have charging stations installed by CCG including Delray Beach, Pompano Beach and Dania Beach.

Partnerships have crossed the isle to "Icon Parking", one of the most distinguished parking station providers in New York City including some 200 parking sites in Manhattan alone.

A bit of history - Back in 1996, when General Motors debutted their first electric cars, most of those cars completely left the scene causing critics to question "who killed the electric car?"  But the technological marvel dubbed "electric car", is far from dead today. In fact some dealerships in Orlando are backlogged with electric car orders.

Tomorrow, charging stations infrastructures many grow in the order of millions lead by the highly experienced CCG president Andy Kinard who has former experience with Florida Power & Light for 15 years.

Nevertheless, the electirc car today, continues evolving into what is commonly called, "Hybrid."  Hybrids like the Chevrolet Voit, first run on battery power, but then switch over to a small gas powered engine. 

Get ready for change. Growth based states like Florida offer a host of sites where charging stations could be installed including convention centers, commercial parking garages, restaurants, airports, official buildings, hospitals, shopping malls, and the theme-parks.

In the months to come, more and more travelers will be plugging in to what could ultimately be a very lucrative business for Oralndo. Perhaps revenues in the order of $12 billion in electric demand will be generated in the U.S. alone in the next five years.

Demand for these charging stations will be there with dozens of electric vehicles that boast as much as 60 to 100 miles between charges.

Can you imagine some 40 million plug-in electric rental vehicles  visiting  Orlando by the year 2030?

Florida Residents save $$ at Disney's  beachfront resort on the Atlantic Coast

Nestled amidst a canopy of majestic Oaks, guest can settle into beachfront resort fashioned after the fishing and hunting lodges of the 1940's.

Both Southern Charm and outdoor fun describes this enchanted  Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort. More than just a typical hotel resort, this charming resort located in South Carolina, convenys the rich history of southern life.

Rich in tradition, guests can stroll along 12 miles of sugar-white beaches,  frolic in the crystal clear blue water,  and soak up the golden rays in this family oriented setting.

There is no end to the adventure at this island resort.  Just travel a short distance and experience a host of family entertainment including swimming, arts & crafts, Kid's Night Out, Discovery Club, Pin Trading, Golfing, and Tennis. 

Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort offers four distinguished accomodations. Choose amongst an array of accomodations iincluding 3-bedroom Grand Villas, 2-bedroom Vacation Home, 1-bedroom Vacation Home and a Deluxe Studio room.

Indulge in a charming guestroom that features private porches or balconies, fully equipped kitchens, queen or king-size beds, whirlpool tubs, and washer & dryer.

A home away from home, Disney assures the most modern ammenities and conveniences while you enjoy incredible services that you would expect from the world renown entertainer.

Disney makes an effort to make every magical moment the best it can be with world-class recreational activites in the water and on land.

Stay cool in the crystal clear swimming pool, ride bikes under the tall Oaks, go on a teen adventure, conduct a nature safarii, shop until you drop, and sit around the campfire under the stars at night.

But the best part is yet to come. At the Hilton Head Island Resort you can indulge in sumptuous Southern cooking with a variety of dinner options.

Enjoy Down-home Carolina cooking at Tide Me Over, a finger-licking barbecue at the Barbecue Grills, between meal snacks at Signals, or enjoy refreshing ice cream, drinks and snacks at the Surfman's Sand Bar. 

This Southern getaway vacation is guaranteed to create lasting memories for years to come. 

Churches may be the next movie theatres for faith-based films

Filling a gap in Hollywood's portfolio, Christian-based films are soon to make their nitch in Central Florida.

Where Avatar costed approximately $300 million to produce, some Christion-based films are made on micro-budgets between $70,000 - $3.5 million.

From Ocoee to Mount Dora, fans are seeing a greater number of faith-based films include Ryann Waters and the King's Sword, Heading Home, and The Whisper House.

Directors like David Nixon believe that Central Florida has all the resources for faith-based films making it the prime location for the new "Holywood."

But unlike their counterpart filmakers in Hollywood, many of these inspiring productions rely on local resources including local talent from theme-parks and churches to take a film from concept to a box office hit.

One of the first faith-based film shot in Central Florida was "Letters to God" costing just $3.5 million to produce including state incentives, gear and donated labor.

Ofter times faith-based filmakers believe that God will inspire supporters to make donations to complete their films.

But why Florida and not L.A.? 

Florida offers a unique tropical oasis where films can be produced all year long. Still, many actors don't have as much visibility to showcase their work while others would just like to help out making movies outside of L.A.

One of the greatest assets of Florida is the retired pool of talent that is available like actor Gary Burghoff of TV's M*A*S*H who lives in Florida during the winter.

One such film that used local talent was the inspiration film Daniels' Lot."

Some aspiration come right out of Albany Ga., where the Kendrick brothers both preachers and moviemakers, produced various classics including Fireproof,  Facing the Giants and Flywheel.

Today, it's not uncommon for large churches have  multi-media and state-of-the-art surround sound audio systems which can become the theatres for such faith-based movies.

Sometimes the target audience can become the host where the film is produced i.e. "Whisper Home" where the church site was donated and church members provided food for the production crew.

Some churches have set up production companies with the notion that aspirational films can be used for the great commission of saving the lost through preaching, teaching and baptism.

Taking off at the Fantasy of Flight

I never thought I’d find myself going to fantasy of flight if it wasn’t for my child’s class project I probably would have never went to this museum. Since I was very young I used to enjoy going to museums being that I was born and raised in New York it was very accessible to go to the many museums that N.Y. had to offer but for what ever reason I thought it wouldn’t be like that in Florida I mean let’s be honest when you mention Florida the first thing that pops in your head is Mickey Mouse right? The one reason why I thought fantasy of flight would be boring is because I did not have that much of an interest in planes but of course I’ve always had an interest in history so I wanted to give it a chance and learn something new. My daughter was very excited to go to this place because she wanted to see for herself how these older aircrafts really looked like as apposed to seeing them through the internet. So I went to a local discount ticket store and purchased two tickets to the fantasy of flight as soon as I returned home I quickly map quested my home address to the fantasy of flight and surprisingly it was only a 30 minute drive. So the very next day my daughter and I went to have lunch and from there we went to the fantasy of flight as soon as we enter in this place it was a bit overwhelming because you finally are in this place and you can see that they put a lot of details into this museum so that you could completely understand the significance of the history of the airplanes from back then until the present date. First of all you might have to pay a little extra but I highly recommend getting on and experiencing the Corsair Fighter simulated aircraft carrier it really feels like you are really flying this aircraft. We were also able to enjoy the one of a kind virtual hot air balloon it was awesome. My Daughter was really interested in getting on the hand gliding simulator were you soar above the earth. The one thing I was excited to get on was the Virtual Flight Explorer where you can program your flight plan for an awesome full motion virtual journey. What I found the most interesting was the tour of the runways, hangars and their private airfield. The person that was guiding us through the tour was extremely knowledgeable and you could tell that he is really into the history of the aircraft and of course for flying. He took us to a location where they are actually restoring these old planes this was really great. We had reached an area that they call the multi-media exhibits which featured the fearless WASP (woman air force service pilots) and the courageous and heroic Tuskegee Airmen. By the end of the tour my daughter and were able to name the most popular airplanes from back in the day from the legendary WWII B-26 Marauder and the B-24 Liberator and of course the unstoppable P-51 Mustang and also the B-17 Flying fortress but the one that I most definitely will remember is the Incomparable Ford Tri-Motor this was the actual plane used in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I’m telling you this was not what I was expecting it was one of the best museums I had ever had the pleasure of visiting I definitely recommend it to everyone.

Among the top 10 vacation destinations, Orlando is rated #9

While the ban on recreational and commerical fishing is lifted in the Florida Panhandle, agencies like AAA blame the Gulf oil-spill as the number one culprit for the damaged year-over-year growth in the Southern Florida region.

Rated as the #9 vacation destination during the Labor Day weekend, Florida vacationers are expected to hit the road in record numbers for one last time according to various travel groups.

Forcasters predict that people will travel roughly 50 miles over Labor Day up 3.9% representing some 1.6 million Floridians during the same time in 2009.

charter fishing boats are getting their rigs ready to reel in some customers in the Panama City Beach area. Some will be pulling their boats out for the first in the aftermath of the Gulf oil-spill.

Labor day usually marks the beginning of the scholastic year in the northern regions of the country but this year, some schools will start before labour day slowing down the back-to-school frenzy.

Having said that, some 34.4 million Americans are expected to hit the road for a weekend getaway.

Looking on the bright side, some hoteliers are jumping for joy with average hotel prices "Downtown Orlando" starting at $43 + tax per night.  This represents an average price increase of just 12% from the same time last year.

Tom Joyner's Family Reunion is causing a buzz around town featuring a stay at the illustrious four-star resort, Gaylord Palms Hotel Y Convention Center.  

Just under $2,500 per family of four, Joyner's vacation package includes a special barbecue, tickets to the major theme-parks, family activities & entertainment and much more.

America's iconic insurance giant Allstate will feature the Allstate Family Expo including daily concerts, events and seminars during the Labor Day Weekend. 

Joyner's Family Renunion is expected to draw in the order of 5,000 people over the September 6 weekend.

Albeit not so nutricious, Butterbeer still tastes good

Immerse yourself in the exciting World of Harry Potter where you'll experience The Flight of the Hippogriff, Hogwarts grounds,  the Dragon Challenge twin roller coasters and much more.

At Three Broomstincks,  curious muggles can enjoy fish & chips, shepherd's pie, cornish pasty, turkey legs and then wash it all down with Harry Potter's slurpee-like delicious concoctions.

Travelers come from miles around just to experience tasty delites at Hogsmeade's Three Broomsticks rustic tavern offering the Great Feast Platter and the renown pumpkin juice and Butterbeer.

A cross between a slurpee and butterscotch Life Saver,  what's exactly behind the taste of that liquid concoction anyway?

In a kind of euphoric bliss,  unsuspecting visitors made long lines in June just for the pleasure of consuming the innocuous beverage  for $11 a mug.

While many are oblivious as to the contents of the magical liquid, the closely guard secret has finally come to light. Author J.K. Rowling's delicious delight contains 200 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 42 carbohydrates, 29 grams of sugar and zero protein.

Not considered by nutricionists to be of any nutricional value by far but it still beats the benefits of a milkshake which contains triple the fat and double the sugar.