reviewer

Going to London, England can be an exciting trip. It is one of the most elegant, historical, and active cities I have ever seen. I simply love London. I have been there twice and would recommend it to anyone wanting to travel somewhere that is exciting. One thing about London though is when you visit in the winter time you will get some cold weather. The days are very short and it spends most of the time being cloudy if not raining. Yet, it is still worth a visit.

Some of the best places to visit in London are the London Bridge to start. I took photographs near the bridge by a park and up on the bridge. There is even a tour that will take you up into the bridge itself where you can look out into the ocean and the city.

Buckingham Palace is a must-see. The beautiful architecture is a sight to behold. The black and gold gates are striking especially when the bobbies stand next to them. I had a picture taken with one. The guards are also switched out every couple of hours and it is intriguing. Many people will stand outside the gates to try to get a glimpse of royalty.

Abbey Road Studios is located off St. John’s Wood and isn’t open to the public but you can take photos there. You can check out the place where the Beatles crossed the street for their album cover Abbey Road.

St. Paul’s Cathedral is an amazing Catholic Cathedral to take a tour in. It has several sections. The first section reaches a walkway called Whispering Gallery. The next section is an outdoor walk. These sections continue to go into higher levels and eventually you will get a spectacular view of London.

Portobello Road is opened daily and it is a type of flea market that sells antiques. It is a cool place to visit when you are looking for a bargain.

The National Gallery in Trafalgo Square is a good museum for those that enjoy going to museums on vacations. They display works of Leonardo De Vinci and have several Egyptian artifacts and antiques as well as Ancient Greek sculptures. It is one of the better museums in London.

Finally, there are a few more places to visit while in London. Take a walk to the West End where you can catch a show. It is considered the Theatre District. Go to the Tower of London which is best seen at night. If you have a chance to do so go visit the Big Ben and take a bus tour around the city.

Season 6 American Idol winner Jordin Sparks released her self-titled album in 2007. Since then she has released four singles in which all entered the Billboard Hot 100. Sparks is the daughter of former football player Phillippi Sparks. At age 19 she seems rather awkward when performing and still hasn’t found what she enjoys singing.

Sparks first hit was from the American Idol show entitled “This is My Now” which reached as high as number 15 on the Hot 100. The second release was “Tattoo You” which was a good song that I am surprised didn’t do better on the charts. It reached has high as number 6 on the Pop Charts. The video was simple and fast paced. The video basically followed Sparks around while she sang “Tattoo You” but it kept moving and was never boring to look at.

“Tatttoo You” had simple lyrics but nothing outstanding or really memorable. Here is an example:

“I can’t waste time so give me the moment
I realize nothing’s broken
No need to worry about everything I’ve done
Lived every second like it was my last one.
Don’t look back got a new direction
Loved you once, needed protection.
You’re still a part of everything I do, you’re on my heart just like a tattoo,
Just like a tatto, I’ll always have you”

The third release was “No Air” which featured Chris Brown. I didn’t care for this song much or the video. I thought the song was dull and didn’t use the talents of both of these singers what so ever. The video’s direction was slow and made the viewer lose interest rather quickly. “No Air” reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Both “Tattoo You” and “No Air” reached mild success outside of the United States. Sparks released her fourth single “One Step at a Time” in April. It hasn’t faired very well, but it is number 138 in the Top 40 airplay reported by mediabase.

Sparks needs to find what she wants to sing about and what she relates to best in order for her to have a successful career. The girl can sing, but she doesn’t seem to be finding her niche. When other people write the songs for you, as an artist you must select what fits you best. Otherwise her career is going to fall short.

Dressing your kids on a budget can be easy especially if they are smaller children. As the kids become teenagers it tends to become more challenging. There are a few ways to go about buying clothes for the children that can save money and still be in style.

1. Look for sales. Always check the newspaper or television ads for the latest sales going on at department stores. When the season ends you can find great sales especially for your teenagers. For younger children try to buy a size bigger since they will have grown by the next time the season comes around again. Simply plan ahead and buy more than one color of the same clothes if they are really cheap. Having a few selections always helps especially if one of the shirts, skirts, or pants gets ruined.
2. Put money aside every month. Each time you get paid put a little aside to plan for the time that your children will need new clothes. You do not want to put yourself a position that requires you to put a lot of money out at one time.
3. Hand-me-downs from family or friends. Receiving hand-me-downs are not necessarily a bad thing. If you have small children and one grows out of the clothes then have your smaller child wear them as long as they are not worn too badly. You don’t want to embarrass your children either so be sure they are not torn or worn. Teenagers will tend not to accept hand-me-downs since they are more concerned at this age about how they look.
4. Gift cards for special occasions. When your child is having a birthday and a family member or friend asks what they could get the child then ask for them to either get a gift card or money so that you can decide where to go for clothes. Gift cards are a less tacky however. Or you could ask that they donate money towards the child’s wardrobe.

If you follow these ideas chances are you will be able to afford clothing on a small budget. There’s no need to get carried away and buy something just because your teenager wants the latest style for example. This would be the absolute wrong thing to do. By allowing the teenager to get what they want even though you are trying to remain on a budget will only teach them bad habits and possibly spoil them. They won’t understand the concept of money and will expect you to dish out funds whenever they want it. Therefore, be careful and choosy about what you buy for your children. Never buy something that just came out since it is going to be selling for full price. The cost for a t-shirt is ridiculous and there’s no need to spend $10 for any t-shirt when you can get them at 3 for $10 if you just wait a couple months or a couple weeks. Plan ahead, put money aside, make use out of clothes from older children for the younger children, and accept or recommend gift cards or cash.

After experiencing identity theft one of the ways to help prevent fraudulent accounts from continuing to open is to have a fraud alert on your credit report. Understanding what the fraud alerts are for and what freezing your credit can do will only help preventing further problems with others stealing your identity.

There are two kinds of fraud alerts, initial and extended. An initial fraud alert will remain on your credit report up to 90 days. Creditors must use a procedure that is stated by law that requests personal information to identify if it is really you that is requesting information about your account or trying to open a new account. An extended fraud alert stays on your credit report for seven years. This can happen if you reported identity theft to the police. You would have to mail in a copy of the report to the credit reporting companies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) in order for it to be extended. When trying to open a new account the creditors will have to either meet with you personally or contact you rather than an online or mail service. The credit reporters will also remove your name from a listing for pre-screened credit offers.

Depending on which state you live in will depend on whether or not you can freeze your credit. Some states will not allow you to freeze your credit unless you have proof of identity theft happening to you. If the state allows a person to do a credit freeze without proof of identity theft then chances are they will also charge a small fee. Once you request a credit freeze then this will limit access to your credit report from being viewed by potential creditors. You can still have access to your credit report and score, but it just won’t allow any potential or current creditors or third parties to view it. If you want to apply for new credit the only way you can do this is if you lift the freeze temporarily by using a PIN number. In order to lift the freeze you may also need to pay a fee and it will take about three days before it is lifted. You must also realize that if you decide to do a credit freeze then you must contact all of the major credit bureaus and if you decide to lift it you will have to do it with each of the three bureaus as well.

Even though using a credit freeze may help in most cases of protecting yourself from further identity theft it cannot help in some areas. For instance, if you didn’t have new accounts opened and someone has been using your credit cards then the credit freeze will not help. Also, new accounts can be opened such as bank accounts that don’t require a credit check. Despite this fact a credit freeze will help protect you from most credit thieves.

Those in serious relationships or marriage have been tempted and may have wondered if they should go with another person just to see what it would be like. It isn’t like it is going to hurt anyone especially if they don’t get caught. Right? Well, this isn’t so. Cheating is highly not recommended. There is a reason why it is called cheating. And you have heard the phrase once a cheater always a cheater. You don’t want to prove this theory right, do you?

If you have any self respect or respect for all parties involved then you will say no to cheating. You can always make excuses that your friends are doing it or you know of many other people that do it all of the time and everything is still great in their lives. This just isn’t so. You don’t realize what comes along with cheating. If you cheat on your spouse you will find a large amount of guilt wallowing in your body. You will begin to feel really guilty and may have a harder time looking at yourself in the mirror. If you are caught cheating you will not only hurt your spouse but your marriage as well. It may be over for you and if there are children then you may not see them as often or you will have to raise them mostly on your own. It won’t be so easy to raise children on your own without a second person around to help out. It won’t be easy not seeing your children either.

Other problems cheating may cause is transmitting sexual diseases. If your spouse suddenly ended up with herpes then chances are they are going to quickly realize you were probably having an affair. Aside from that, your spouse and you just caught something that will remain with you forever and for no reason.

You may have to face the issue of pregnancy. If you had an affair with a female she may become pregnant or if you have an affair with a male you can become pregnant. If you have a gay relationship outside your straight marriage you risk causing so many more problems to your relationship. This is an issue that needs to be addressed with yourself and then your spouse.

Cheating is never helpful or an answer to any problems you may be having in your relationship. You need to address the issues that are causing problems in your relationship. Let it be known that you are not happy and that you are tempted to go outside the marriage or relationship to receive the things you long for. A divorce is probably recommended or a split. Hurting people in more than emotional ways is not necessary when all you have to do is be honest.

I find myself watching America’s best dance crew 2 avidly. I love the routines these dancers come up with. They are so original. I have to say now that America knows what to expect from this show many dance groups came out to try out to show what they got. Some are better than season one and I think as each season progresses this is going to turn out to be one of the hottest shows on television.

Right now the show airs on Mtv but I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the main networks pick it up later on. I must admit I started watching the show since JC Chasez of NSync was one of the judges. That is one goodlooking man. But I found myself intrigued in the dances as well. I am glad that all of the three judges returned, Lil Mama, choreographer Shane Sparks, and my favorite JC. Of course they have to keep Mario Lopez working. Sometimes that guy gets annoying with his sugary sweet smile but as long as he cools it a bit he may work out as the host.

This show is the product of Randy Jackson who also is a judge on American Idol. Shane Sparks is a choreographer and alternating judge on So YOU Think You Can Dance. Nigel is the creator of that show and also helped produce American Idol. Hmmm. I think there’s a lot of people that are connected with each other and continue to create new ideas using the same people. But that’s ok as long as it keeps working. I look forward to see who is going to win America’s Best Dance Crew.

If you watched the recently aired MTV Movie Awards you probably noticed how bad some celebrities dressed while others dressed very well and fitting for the occasion.

Sarah Jessica Parker who came out in order to help promote her recently released film Sex and the City, wore a grayish black dress. It was so tight that I am surprised she didn’t bust out of it. With her legs separated in many photos you can see right through the short skintight dress. She wore white high heel boots that simply didn’t match with the dress. They were two completely different styles. She walked awkwardly in the boots and in the dress. Very poor choice.

Rumer Willis (daughter of Bruce and Demi) showed up in everything black. Her hair was dyed black and it matched the dress and shoes she was wearing. It was a boring dress that brought her pale skin even more. It was something you wouldn’t wear to an MTV award show.

Jennifer Hudson wore a white form fitting dress with a pink belt and a pink halter showing out from the white top of the dress. It was a nice dress that you could wear out on a lesser known occasion. She looked very elegant yet when she stood next to tiny, frail Sarah Jessica it looked as though Jennifer suddenly became a monstrosity. She appeared bigger since the dress was white; she was on television, and then standing next to someone that is as big as a wafer made Jennifer look tremendous.

Charlize Theron is a beautiful woman who showed off how thin she really is in one weird yet superhero type of outfit. In fact the tan colored top was really too low and emphasized her small breast size when it was actually supposed to enhance them. Her stiletto shoes were awful with the front lining and four straps to buckle. It all looked a bit odd.

Lindsay Lohan wore a purple bluish strapless mini dress that was enhanced with a black belt. This folded up dress could have made a statement but it was entirely too short for her pale legs.

Paris Hilton came in a short black and white dress. The black consisted of lace and paisley pattern while the white remained plain. It was elegant and simple. For once she wasn’t over the top. The only problem was her boney feet that were very evident in her black high heeled shoes.

Ashlee Simpson released her third album, “Bittersweet World” on April 22, 2008. Her first single “Outta My Head” did so poorly that they chose to ignore the single and promote the second release, “Little Miss Obsessive” as if it were the album’s first single. The single has had better success with downloads than being bought in stores or played on the radio. It hasn’t faired much better than its first release either.

“Boys” is the third single being released from “Bittersweet World”. After listening to her sing it on several prime-time shows such as Dancing with the Stars I have to admit it was catchy. I am not a big fan of Ashlee Simpson since she never really proved that she had much talent, but I do like this song.

“Outta My Head (Ay ya ya) has a very strange video that accompanies the song which didn’t help promote a reasonably good song. Ashlee’s problem is that when she finds a chorus she enjoys singing she repeats it over and over and over to the point it gets annoying. One of the things she must remember that in most cases less is more. She would have also had better success if she promoted the song as much as she has been doing with “Boys”. How can you sell anything if no one knows about it?

“Little Miss Obsessive” is hard to listen to. The music seems unbalanced and Ashlee’s lower range doesn’t match up to what this song requires. She is under such scrutiny with all of her flubs in the past including not singing live on the Saturday Night Live show and bombing out horribly with off key notes at the Orange Bowl half-time show. She has proven to many people with such incidents that she cannot sing and is riding on the success of her sister Jessica. Therefore, if she wants to keep singing, Ashlee desperately needs to promote as much as she can and sing live as often as possible to prove otherwise. She sounded bad on the Today Show performing “Little Miss Obsessive” which is a shame. As I said before I am not a big fan of Ashlee but I don’t think she should have gone through such horrible press. It is very difficult to come back the way she has and pretend nothing like that happened and continue singing. I do give her credit for trying. “Bittersweet World” is a hit and miss album and I predict Ashlee to have some success with the single “Boys,” but not much more than that.

There are several couples that I know that have had arranged marriages. It is interesting to see if some of these relationships actually work. One of my closest friends who comes from Nigeria was set up with a girl also from Nigeria. They both live in the United State and they have been married for almost a year with an 8 month old baby.

I began thinking how long this marriage will really last. Does she really love him? Living in America you tend to have more choices and will look outside the box. She may venture out to see what else waits for her since her husband and my friend is also handicapped. He has a hard time walking without crutches. I can only hope she will stay with him but one never knows. Arranged marriages seem to fail leaving one of the people in the relationship sad and lonely. I’m sure there a few that probably work with both people in the relationship being happy but I haven’t seen them.

I just wrote articles on tax foreclosures that are going on around the country on a foreclosure website. I became quickly informed of this latest problem. I never realized that if you don’t pay your property taxes you could lose your house even if you are consistant with your mortgage payments. What’s up with that? People shouldn’t have to suffer through this. There should be help for those that can’t afford to keep up with the rising property taxes. Besides there are penalties given for those that don’t pay on time, but they should never lose their home. This is a shame this happens in America.