Hope to see you all there in support of my career, in music and photography.

http://www.MichaelMulholland.com

Many Blessings,

Michael Red Crow Mulholland

http://www.MichaelMulholland.com…Photography & Music Career
http://www.Sector7Studio.LA…Music, Music in Film, Film Composer, Production & Post Production

I am going to start using MichaelMulholland.com for my Photography and Music instead of using Sector7Studio.LA that I will keep up using strictly for my film work…I am asking that all my follower sign up with me at MichaelMulholland.com for continued friendship and support…

White Lillies

Once, please follow me at MichaelMulholland.com and if you like to remain here at Sector7Studio.LA for my film work I’d appreciate that very much.  but I’d rather use MichaelMulholland.com for my Photography and Music…so please follow me there, all is welcome, thanks and many blessings

Michael Red Crow Mulholland Photography ~ Copyright 2013 ~ Sector 7 Studio Productions

Pretty, right?

But my “wtf” alarm went off immediately during the self-guided tour.  The buildings seemed too new – the Mission de Alcala was founded in 1769, but the structures just didn’t seem old.  Same for the artifacts. 

Sure enough – I came to find out that much of the site was restored in 1931 to match the original Mission. 

This sort of thing makes me cray cray.  I spent my elementary years visiting California sites like this on school field trips (coughcough, I’m looking at you, Sutter Fort).  This is how it works:  You pay an entrance fee or make a donation to tour a historical site that’s supposedly been preserved … only to learn, after entering, that the original buildings were torn down and rebuilt some years ago, and everything you’re looking at is actually a replica of what the historical site once looked like, before it was destroyed. 

Why is this so common in California?!  I feel like I toured historical sites in Boston and New York that were the real deal – old, preserved, and still in existence.  But it’s so rare to find that in California. 

Okay, rant over.  Now here is a picture of the (kind of creepy and Medieval??) chapel at the Mission de Alcala … Enjoy!

On Tuesday we started the day by horseback riding up to some Incan tombs. But first we had to get across the Urabamba river: two months ago a big flood washed out the river so we had to pull ourselves across in a little cart.

Once we got on our horses, we discovered this was no well-traveled trail. We were ducking to avoid trees and cacti. But it was so fun and the views were amazing!

After horseback riding we spent a couple hours exploring the ruins of Ollantaytambo just down the street from our hostel.

On Tuesday we took the train up to Macchu Picchu. It lived up to all my expectations. It’s amazing! We used a self-guided tour book, The Macchu Picchu Guidebook, written by several people who have been archeologists and researchers working on site. We had been told by quite a few people that tour guides at macchu picchu iften give conflicting and/or inaccurate info. The book was a great alternative. Highly recommend.

We were so impressed with the inca. They were masters of stonework and their city engineers were brilliant.

Located in Warren County Ohio, Fort Ancient is a gem of our local history. Ohio was a major stage in our country’s Native American past, and this site is a prime example of that. Fort Ancient is a prehistoric walled enclosure overlooking the Little Miami river, that was built by the Hopewell over a 400 year timespan during their time in the area. Over three miles of walls like the photo above are at the park, which has been designated as a National Historic Landmark, and a few miles of hiking trails are available as well. Yesterday, my son and I decided to check them out.

After stopping in the museum to pay our parking fee, we drove towards the southern portion of the park to start hiking the Earthworks trail. This trail starts on the flat hill top area near the shelter house, and winds around the ridge and walls for a mile. The view above is from the North Overlook. In the distance, you can see the I71 bridge, and also the smaller bridge on SR 350. This point of the trail connects to the Little Miami scenic bike path in the valley below, and also the Terrace Trail.

To say these hills are steep is an understatement. This part of the trail is usually a part of the Little Miami Triathlon; what a great way to end the run portion. Anyway, on the way down the hillside, we connected to the Terrace Trail, which winds around and connects back to the Earthworks trail.

After climbing out of the Terrace Trail and back onto the ridge, the topography really starts to stand out. The erosion caused valleys are incredible, and paired with the large earthen walls that ring the valleys, the topography seems unreal.

The Earthworks trail somewhat finishes at the South Overlook, and gives views down the river valley, which usually has quite a few Turkey Vultures soaring above. Both overlooks are pretty amazing, giving you an elevation that you typically do not get in Ohio.

Overall, we hiked probably only 1.5 miles, but it was nice to get out and enjoy the sunshine. The trails are very easy, the only steep spots are when you connect to the Little Miami bike path, everything else stays relatively flat. My son spent the hike in his backpack, but I would easily bring my toddler here for a hike. The history of this area is also amazing to me, and it makes this hike even better walking around the prehistoric walls. I am glad that the entire park was not bulldozed at some point in the past for something new. Check out the park’s website here to plan your visit.

Get Outside Cincinnati!

Saturday – travel from Moab to Santa Fe with a supper stop in Albuquerque for CHICK-FIL-A!!!
Sunday – church and a trip to Albuquerque for PBR Build Ford Tough Series Bull Riding
Monday – chill and rv school day
Tuesday – Bandolier National Monument
Wednesday – New Mexico State Capitol
Thursday – trip to Albuquerque to learn pewter casting, Chick-fil-A, Balloon Museum
Friday – Spring Cleaning

Unfortunately, on our trip there we discovered that the inn is now closed and a lot of the cute shops are no longer open.

Still we thought the location would be cute for some business head shots. The colorful, Victorian buildings made this walk easy to find beautiful backgrounds!

As explained in the previous post Bolsover Castle’s history is quite closely linked to horses. Its indoor riding school is always a joy to visit, but now it is once again home to William Cavendish’s horses.
He lived in the 17th century, so these are, of course, not his horses. It is the style of dressage he used to train his horses and their riders which can be seen today.

The horses’ tack and the riders’ clothes are replicas of the type used back then. During the 20 minute show they display various excercises. Due to the seats placed in the riding school there is not much space left (for modern horse riding standards), but this doesn’t seem to hamper them in any way. There’s even room for a galop here and there.

Afterwards we were given the opportunity to talk to the riders, touch the horses and take some photos (which was prohibited during the show).

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Easter Weekend Event
As it’s Easter weekend there were more demonstrations to see than the horse dressage.
There was a military display in the Outer Court – another display we rather enjoyed due to the fact there were horses. This involved some jumping and a galop. Even when horses galop away from you it’s impressive. Even though I have to admit it doesn’t look as good on a photo as it looks in real life when you also hear the hooves and, if you’re lucky, can feel them go past.

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In the Inner Court there was a sword fighting demonstration. The ‘gentleman’ in black saw fit to constantly pick on his opponent, George. Unfortunately for him this only resulted in most of the audience supporting George.

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While not hiking, tourists can easily get some exercise taking in the sights of San Antonio. The famous Riverwalk is the aqueous centerpiece of one of the cooler downtowns I’ve seen. It is easy to walk from our hotel to many great restaurants, shops, and historic buildings, walking on paths besides the water, often crossing lovely stone bridges like the one above.  There’s also a little place called the Alamo to explore, along with Hotel Menger, whose ice cream is so good, President Clinton had it shipped to Washington.  Don’t worry, I got out for a real hike, so stay tuned.

Tuesday morning, he called at around 9:45am and asked if I wanted to come with him to Martin Guitar in Pennsylvania. A little while later, he came over, said my car missed me, and asked if I wanted to drive. Naturally, how could I pass up a chance to drive? I know some people hate driving or do it because they have to, but I love being behind the wheel. It’s actually surprisingly easy to get there (routes 78 to 22 to 191), so 75 miles and one stop at the Key City Diner in Phillipsburg, NJ, later, and we were in Nazareth, PA.

Our first stop was the North Street Facility of Martin Guitar. I assumed this was the only building they had because my knowledge of Martin Guitars (and guitars in general) pretty much extends to knowing that they’re called guitars, but I was proven wrong when we drove a mile up the road to the actual factory. But we’ll get to that later.

It looked so cool and old.

A National Historic Site?! This trip just got so much better.

My uncle has gone to this place every single time he’s come to the east coast, so as soon as we walked in, the two women working in the store knew him. Here was where you could buy wood parts and supplies to put together your own guitars. I thought it was pretty awesome because I had never really thought about anyone making their own guitars. Being a child of the late 20th/early 21st century, I always just assume things like this are made with machines and didn’t think that an actual guitar would be something someone would be able to make out of prefabricated parts. But, still, it was awesome.

After a while there talking about guitars (most of it went over my head, to be honest), we headed over to the actual guitar factory. I thought it would be like a replica of a factory and more museum-like than anything, but I was super wrong about that. We pulled up and there were tons of cars, and I was wondering why there were so many people there for a tour; as soon as we walked in, I realized that I was in a place much bigger – both literally and metaphorically.

The factory! You can’t see it, but there’s some awesome masonry by the entrance made to look like a guitar neck.

Inside there was a museum with a bunch of old guitars and ukuleles. It spelled out the history of C. F. Martin and his guitars, and since museums and history are totally my thing, I really enjoyed that part. After a quick walk through, we started our tour.

Ukuleles of every size in the museum.

Like I said, I know pretty much nothing about guitars, and the only knowledge I had of Martin before yesterday was that it was this place my uncle always went. But they’re actually extremely famous and known worldwide! I was so surprised when there were people in our tour group from Delaware, Maryland, Oregon, New York, Arkansas, and even Italy! Crazy!

Every single guitar is handmade from scratch.  We saw where they glue the wood, where they cut the wood, where they shape the wood, where they brace the backs and fronts, where they cut the sound holes, where they sand the wood, where they add this and that to the guitar, etc.  Every single step happens right in that factory, and it was awesome.

Look at ‘em goooo!

Then there was final inspection, where the guitars are tested out to make sure that they’re up to par with every Martin standard.

At final inspection – I thought this guy was wearing an American University logo on his shirt, but, sadly, I was wrong.

It was a super awesome day, and I’m really excited that my uncle invited me to tag along.  Any day that includes a road trip is a good day in my book!  I need to take those more often.

I swear if something doesn’t change in my life soon I’m going to blow!  Well, I did finally decide to get the heck out of Dodge for a few days because our “task order” is ending, again, next Friday and we have not heard a peep about extensions or awarding a contract.  And now with the government furloughs being pushed off for another 2 weeks, who the heck knows what is going on.  This is about to make me just quit and join the circus.  Anyways, headed to New Orleans on Sunday and I am going to do everything under the sun this time.  Swamp tour, voodoo tour, ghost tour, vampire tour, underground tour, pirate tour, cemetery tour, visit the historical sites and state museums, get a psychic/tarot card/palm reading, go to the end of the foodfest on Sunday and watch hot firefighters shoving beignets in their pie holes for the eating competition, have some of my own beignets (okay most likely a lot) and tons of other delicious Cajun cuisine, buy local art at Jackson Square in front of the St. Louis Cathedral, probably have at least one Hurricane at Pat O’Briens (I mean, how can you not?), and maybe even hit the casino if I can fit it in.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

My middle and youngest brothers

There are so many things for our family to be excited about this spring and summer, that it is hard to keep them in order and write about them all.

I guess one of the most exciting events will be  this coming summer. My younger brother, Eric, is getting married to the sweetest gal I’ve ever met, his fiancee, Rachel. (Eric is picture on the right wearing the glasses and standing next to my baby brother, Roy.)  As if a wedding and the resulting family reunion that creates wasn’t exciting enough,  Eric and Rachel will tie the knot on Pioneer Pa and I’s  11th Wedding Anniversary.  It is sure to be a great time for all, including our kids, who will be getting to see their cousins for the first time in 7 years and getting to see their great-grandmothers, whom the older two barely remember and the youngest has never met.

The Original Modern Pioneer Ma… I learned from the best!

Traveling to Missouri this summer for Eric and Rachel’s wedding will be our family vacation this year.  It will also be our 1st major homeschooling field trip.  We plan to visit, Independence Square & Courthouse (the gateway of the Oregon, Santa Fe and Mormon Trails), visit the Harry S. Truman Home, Library, the soda fountain where Harry Truman had his 1st job, Bess Truman’s Tea Room, Ft. Osage and the Lexington Civil War Battlefield.  If there is time, we might visit Jamesport, MO (home of the outlaw, Jesse James), a Natural History/Science Museum or a Zoo.

In other news, I’m so pleased and relieved to once again have my income taxes filed for another year.  If you’ve never had to file your farming income along with the regular income taxes for a job in town, this is quite the chores and every year I am thrilled and excited once it is crossed off my to-do list.

Other things I’m happy to have crossed off the to-do list this week: Finding Eggplant purple dress shirts for both Farmer Boys to wear at their uncle’s wedding and finding the perfect yellow & white Easter dress/dress for uncle’s wedding for our Littlest Pioneer Girl (oh and finding a matching pair of  dress shoes to go with it for $1 at the thrift store! Cha-ching!)

Other things of course have been added to the to-do list since though.  My mom and I were assigned to plan the rehearsal dinner/BBQ.  And I was specifically assigned the task of designing, baking and decorating the grooms cake because I am apparently the family guru of special foods needs AND the best cake decorator in the family.

If that doesn’t mean anything to you, let me explain.

Bolsover Castle was built in the 12th century. In 1608 it ended up in the ownership of Charles Cavendish, a son of Bess of Hardwick and her second husband, William Cavendish. He started rebuilding it. His son, William Cavendish, continued building. One of the results of all this building work is the Little Castle, which was finished in 1621.

The little castle is in a very good state and a joy to walk through.
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If you wish to understand the historical significance of all this, I suggest you do a little bit of online research. You will find that Bess of Hardwick was a remarkable woman. She became one of the wealthiest women in England (yes, a woman who owned her own property and had money!) during the Elizabethan era. She had a lot of properties built, not in the least what we now know as Hardwick Old Hall and Hardwick New Hall, both in Derbyshire.

Hardwick New Hall as seen from Hardwick Old Hall. The old hall is unfortunately a ruin nowadays, but still a very impressive building – well worth a visit.
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Let’s move on to William Cavendish, Bess of Hardwick’s grandson.
Not only did he, like his grandmother, have a passion for building, he also loved horses. William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne, brought artistic horse dressage to England. In order to be able to train horses he built the indoor riding school at Bolsover Castle.

The indoor riding school at Bolsover Castle
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He also wrote two books on the subject. One of these books is still fairly easy to find, if you’re interested.

As you can read on the ‘About’ page of this blog, Joanne and I have a passion for history. But we also have a passion for horses. And now English Heritage is bringing the Cavendish horses back to Bolsover Castle. 29 March until 1 April is the first weekend where you can see horse dressage in the way William Cavendish intended it. Tickets are included in the entry price, but limited to 120 seats. If you can’t make it, don’t worry. This event will be repeated throughout the year – every weekend until September. I think it’ll be one of these events that is not to be missed!

So..since the city of Hangzhou was 1.5 hours from Yuyao…. we decided to pack everything in a week…. then move it in our small car…. back and forth. It seems you can not driver a pick up truck in the Hangzhou.. it is illegal… so that made things a little more difficult.    I had about 15 boxes to move and our car only held 4 to 5 boxes a trip.  Yeah…. now you can picture our pain.

Montage of various Hangzhou images (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It was only the two of us moving everything… (just like in the states.. people have good intentions of helping you move.. well, until you actually move then they are too busy)

Michael, bless his little heart, carried all the boxes down 6 flights of stairs;one by one and put them into the car.   When we got to Hangzhou the first time… we unloaded the boxes and had to carry them to the elevator… the security guy (and my new friend) … helped us carry boxes.   He was so kind

Then Michael told me to stay in Hangzhou so he can go back and bring more boxes…he could fit more in if I wasnt in the car.  I agreed.

So… I stayed back in the new apartment, while he drove all the way back to Yuyao for a second trip.

While I was unpacking boxes and setting things up…. i noticed that the electricity wasn’t on.   No the electric company said it was paid and should be on… and everyone was telling me to try the breakers.  I tried the breakers several times before I called for assistance.   I started to get a little pissed about it because it was getting cold and darker….. and everyone was asking me… “Are you sure the lights aren’t on?”    I told them I am not an idiot … i know if the lights are on or not.

Finally, Michael came back with the second load… and we went to the service workers in the building.   They went to the main building breaker and told us that the bill wasnt paid.    However, we had called the electric company 4 times and they told us it was.   Finally… the stupid service guy of the building turned out power back on and tried to have an attitude when he did …like we were putting him out.

Not a good feeling…. to start in my new home.   However, now it has been about 3 weeks here in my new place.   I am starting to adapt.  The security guards all know me and greet me when they see me.   The taxi drivers all know me and even have my address of where I work… (i know it is scary)… the bus drivers know me.. and usually look for me before they leave the station and even some restaurant owners and workers know me know.   So.. like water flowing into their lives… whether they like it or not?  You know because that is how I roll.

I have found several amazing restaurants that have foods I have missed.  For example, I found a small zen like cafe that serves… wait for it… wait for it…. Lemon Merengue Cheesecake….. I KNOW… IN CHINA.…. and it tasted like the real thing!   There is also a restaurant called Splash that serves….. fajitas and Burritos….. the real ones… ITS JUST CRAZY..…and… this place also serves East Indian food…. and they are not far from my apartment.   There is a God, after all.

Leifeng Pagoda as seen from West Lake in Hangzhou, China. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am not in Hangzhou City center. I am in the Bin Jiang area.. which is a suburb of Hangzhou City.  I can take the bus into the city in about 30 mins.   or take a taxi that costs me about 65 rmb ($10)….in Hangzhou City .. it is almost like I have come back to America… almost…. there are a lot of Bars, restaurants and sites to see.   Hangzhou is famous for their large West Lake which is seated in the center of the city.   As far as China goes…. this city is considered one of the most beautiful cities in China.   After seeing many Chinese Cities .. I will have to agree.

until next time….

Related articles

• New Year, New City, New Job… (lifebehindthewall.wordpress.com)
• Road pavement collapsed in Hangzhou City (fmnnow.com)
• “Unseen Beauty, Unforgettable Hangzhou” (sys-con.com)
• Hanging around – Hangzhou, China (travelpod.com)
• Winter in Hangzhou, West Lake (杭州, 西湖冬季) #09 ~ an appreciation of Chinese landscapes by Eddie Cheng (500px.com)
• Up the Hill I Go – Hangzhou, China (travelpod.com)

Our professor asked us to participate and observe the event in exchange for additional quiz points. Desperate to pass the course, me and me EXO buddy, Allain, and other classmate decided to grab the opportunity. And it is also a very rare opportunity. Gen. Rizal is one of my icons: my father always tell us that if he wasn’t there, his brother, Dr. Jose Rizal (our national hero) may not be what he was during that time.

7:30 am. Me and Allain was already in front of the venue. OMG! Everyone’s in formal, traditional, Filipino attire. Me and my buddy, the most decent shirt and pants we have today. (It’s weekend.)

Well, we’re already there. Gathering up courage, we approached one of the women in formal attire. She turned out to be a great-great granddaughter of the celebrated hero. She then told us that she is not sure if we can, and excused for a moment to ask her sister. She came back telling us that we can, though it was a really bad timing cause everyone is busy. But she definitely led us inside.

Apparently, there has been misunderstandings. She thought that we are asking if we could go inside the historical house. We are just supposed to be asking for permission to go inside the venue.

Anyways, we grabbed the opportunity. She toured us inside, and it was a very great experience. Why? First, it’s our first time to visit that home. We have been staying at the same locality (where the university is located) but little we did know that he has a house there. Next, it was a really nice place. Then, of course, the historical memorabilia they have to show.

She told us that we can comeback anytime, and we could stay for the celebration.

So, the mass has started. After that, there are series of long speeches regarding our revolutionary history wherein Gen. Rizal actively participated as one of the revolutions leader, and of course his strong inclination of how Dr. Rizal became a heroic icon. (He was the one who pushed him to pursue studying medicine abroad, the one who constantly supports his studies and most importantly, the one who motivated him to bring nationalism into practice for their fellowmen.)

Then, I saw this tall guy, wearing sky blue polo, taking photos using his iPad. He moved a little, turned his head, and he seemed to look like Minho. OMG.

Because of that, I “occasionally” look at him while people from their family lined up for the offering of flowers to their ancestors tomb. And guess what? He was asked to put the candles first, so he walked to the tomb that is apparently half meter away from where we are standing. HE REALLY LOOKED LIKE MINHO! The differences is just that he has wider forehead and lazier eyes. But, he is just so good looking. I took pictures, as part of the requirements, but, because of a lot of people are thoroughly moving, their were blurred. But still, he looked like Minho in those photos.

I told Allain, and he said why not ask him later to have his picture taken. I said no. It’s embarrassing, plus that was a very solemn, family affair for them.

“Just tell him, can I take a picture of you? You look like a Kpop star.”

“No.”

“Okay. Just don’t regret it.”

There are moments when he will turn to our direction. He seems to be, very to himself. He laughed, and apparently pretty much how Minho laughs. He put on lazy faces, smiling much to himself and seems to be commenting on everything that happens, on just his mind. But he just talked to three people: his mom, the MC (he’s uncle) and his cousin who is a doctor.

Well, he loved taking photos, then smiling childishly to himself.

We finished the program and left. Maybe I regretted not asking him for a photo, but nonetheless, I would have also regretted asking him. It would be very impolite, I think.

Then we left, laughing to ourselves of what had happened. Our other classmate, well, he was pushing me to go back and ask him.

“Maybe, you’ll get married to him.”

“HAHA. Impossible. I love my boyfriend.”

It’s just a manifestation of being a fangirl. It’s not like I’m gonna look for someone who looks like my bias and get married to him. I just appreciate things and coincidences.

P.S. My boyfriend nags at me before when I always comment “You look like Onew”.

He really do, but that is not why I love him.

I decided not to post the photos because I don’t want the guy to be creeped out if he’ll find out that someone shared his photos without asking for permission. Maybe, someday, if I’ll be able to meet him again and ask him formally.

And, Allain is fussing constantly about Chanyeol’s hair and the rest of EXO, before, during and after the event.