Screenplay: Shrek (2001) Deconstructed

From our deconstruction of hundreds of Hollywood blockbusters at www.managing-creativity.com/

The Hero's Journey is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the Hollywood movies we have deconstructed are based on this template.

Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters.

The Hero's Journey:

a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

c) Interpreted metaphorically, laterally and symbolically, allows an infinite number of varied stories to be created.

and more...

Sample Movie Deconstructed: Shrek (2001)

FADE IN: context / foreshadow of the Journey: open book; once upon a time there was a lovely princess.

Meeting the Hero in his Ordinary World: Shrek in the swamp.

Hero's capabilities, status, reputation: "this is the part where you run away."

Meeting the Loyal Ally and his character: the Donkey.

Loyal Ally's Inner Challenge: "I don't have any friends."

Foreshadow of the Journey / Hero's True Nature: Shrek saves Donkey ; the soldiers run.

Hero and Loyal Ally relationship: Shrek wants Donkey to go away.

Hero's Inner Challenge: "I'm an Ogre, doesn't that bother you?"

Developing Hero's Inner Challenge: having dinner alone.

Call to Adventure: Fairy Tale creatures forced to seek protection from Shrek in the swamp.

Journey to the First Threshold: Shrek and Donkey go to see Lord Farquaad.

Meeting the Antagonist, important characteristics, nature: meeting Lord Farquaad; short; evil; torturing the gingerbread man.

The Antagonist's Challenge: to become a real king.

Meeting the Romantic Challenge: the mirror tells us that Princess Fiona is locked up in a castle.

Antagonist's Ordinary World / viewing the First Threshold form a distance / reminder of Antagonist's characteristics: the castle; "do you think he's compensating for something?"

Threshold Guardian: the guard runs away and the turnstiles.

Observing the World of the First Threshold: "it's quiet.."

Rules given by an Authority Figure: the puppets in the information desk repeat the rules.

Inner Cave: Shrek battles the Knights.

Forced into the Physical Separation: Shrek gets his swamp back if he brings back the princess.

Physical Separation: crossing the sunflower field.

Developing Hero and Loyal Ally relationship / Foreshadow of the Transformation: onions have layers.

Entering the World of the Trials: crossing various landscapes.

Viewing the World of the Trials from afar: Shrek and Donkey look over the top of the mountain.

Foreboding: Donkey is afraid.

Warning: the skeleton.

Dangerous crossing: the rickety old bridge; lava lake.

Resistance to the Crossing: Donkey doesn't want to go further.

Pushed into the Road of Trials: Shrek forces Donkey across.

Geography: Donkey finds the stairs and Shrek finds out where the Princess is.

Trial 1: battling the dragon; Donkey flirts with the dragon.

Trial 2: Meeting the Romantic Challenge: Shrek grabs Fiona; their relationship developed.

Trial 3: Escaping the dragon.

Meeting the Oracle: Fiona wants a kiss to fulfil the fairytale prophecy.

Resisting Seizing the Sword: Shrek won't take off his helmet.

Forced toward the Sword: Fiona tells Shrek to take his helmet off.

Resisting the Journey to the Sword: Shrek carries off an indignant Fiona.

Foreshadow of the Atonement: referencing Farquaad.

Foreshadow of the Romantic Challenge's Inner Challenge: Fiona afraid that the sun will go down.

Seizing the Sword: Shrek reveals why he wants to be alone by the fire: "everybody things I'm just a big ugly ogre."

Reward: Fiona makes breakfast.

Near Death Experience: Robin Hood battle; Shrek has an arrow in his butt.

Foreshadow of the Atonement: "if you wanted to be alone, all you had to do was ask.."

Reward: Attachment: candy floss and balloons.

Resisting the Return: "Donkey must be sick"

Atonement with the Father: Fiona and Shrek fall for each other; Shrek cooks weed rat by the fire.

Foreshadow of the Apotheosis: "she's a Princess and I'm an ogre."

Apotheosis: Donkey finds Fiona; she's an ogre by night.

Ultimate Boon: Shrek brings Fiona a sunflower.

Refusal: Shrek mishears Fiona; Donkey promises not to tell; "I tell him, I tell him not"

Time Pressure: Fiona wants to get married today.

Magic Flight: Shrek calls Farquaad and goes home; pursued by rejected Donkey.

Rescue from Without: Donkey comes back and tells Shrek that Fiona wasn't talking about him.

Crossing the Return Threshold: flying back on the dragon.

Time Pressure: "can e quickly get to the 'I do's."

Resistance: Donkey convinces Shrek to wait until sundown.

Pushed Forward: Shrek impatient.

Master of the Two Worlds:

Antagonist reveals himself: Farquaad only want to marry you to be king.

Romantic Challenge reveals herself: Fiona turns into an ogre.

Hero and Antagonist battle: the dragon eats Farquaad.

Freedom to Live: Shrek conquers his Inner and Romantic Challenge: "I love you;" love's true from; Donkey and the Dragon together.

Celebration and Ceremony: the marriage.

Learn more

The Complete 188 stage Heros Journey and other story structure templates can be found at http://www.managing-creativity.com/

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Kal Bishop, MBA

**********************************

You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author's name and site URL are retained.

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://managing-creativity.com/

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Existential Migration

Leaving home can be a traumatic and exciting experience, especially if we are leaving to live in a foreign country. Research into the experiences of voluntary migrants has unexpectedly revealed that some of these people are actually using migration to express a deeply felt existential need. These 'existential migrants' discover more about themselves and feel more alive when confronting unfamiliar cultures. But by repeatedly exposing themselves to a vast range of different people and foreign places they can consequently end up living with a feeling of not being at home anywhere.

Alan is an executive in a large banking firm in the City of London. Six years ago as a recent business graduate, he left his native Maryland to 'seek his fortune'. After a year in New York and two years in the Netherlands, he arrived in London where he's worked for the past three years. When I first met Alan he presented as an intelligent, curious and ambitious young man with a passion for travel. He was proudly self-sufficient and independent but this was mixed with a slight air of melancholy. Alan came to therapy in order to deal with an increasing feeling of restlessness at work, mixed with a recurring anxiety about his plans to buy a property in London. For the past couple of weeks he has been feeling homesick for family and friends in America but also increasingly preoccupied with the idea of moving to Lisbon, where he spent an exciting three-week holiday last summer.

It may be tempting to simply view Alan as typifying a breed of young international executive moving around the globe according to the demands of 21st century capitalism. However, even a cursory examination of Alan's experience and his motivations for leaving home begin to offer another story. An exploration of Alan's life reveals that while growing up he had always assumed he would leave Annapolis, in fact he never really felt 'at-home' in his home. This is curious. Why would he not feel 'at-home' in the only home he'd ever known?

Looking back, Alan gradually realizes that he made many choices, including education and career choices, based upon the likelihood that each choice would hasten his departure and increase his ability to live in other parts of the world. This was such a natural longing for Alan that he was shocked when he discovered that many of his friends had no plans to leave Annapolis but instead were happy to plan their lives around friends and family and the familiar streets where they had grown up. In contrast, Alan always remembers being attracted to anything foreign. He experienced the familiar home environment as overly conventional, too homogeneous, boring and even suffocating. Though he had good relationships with this family and a good social network, he always felt different from those around him and longed for the adventures he would have once he left his homeland. He remembers thinking 'life begins when I leave home'. Alan's current experiences reveal his long-standing dilemma regarding the attraction and repulsion of belonging and settling in one place. He lives with ambiguous feelings regarding home, a deep longing to belong coupled with the panic of having to conform to a quotidian life that he finds unconvincing and abhorrent.

Alan's story illustrates a process of voluntary migration that has not been recognized until now. Unlike economic migration, simple wanderlust, or forced migration, 'existential migration' is conceived as a chosen attempt to express or address fundamental aspects of existence by leaving one's homeland and becoming a foreigner. These individuals move cross-culturally, sometimes repeatedly, in search of self-understanding and adventure. Such people are actually seeking to resolve deeper 'existential' questions such as 'who am I', 'how can I fulfill my potential?', 'where do I belong?', 'how can I feel at home?' Most of these individuals leave their home cultures because they never felt 'at home' in the first place. For some, the choice to leave can eventually result in not being at home anywhere in the world, leaving these individuals to live within a sort of 'homelessness' that includes a complex mix of inconsolable loss as well as perpetual adventure and self-discovery. These individuals raise interesting questions about our definitions of home and belonging. Is 'home' where we are most ourselves or is home the very thing that exiles us from ourselves?

The research that revealed this process consisted of in-depth interviews with voluntary migrants from around the world now living in London. The study generated impressively consistent themes including the importance of independence, the need to live fully, the need for freedom within belonging, the value of experiences of difference and foreignness as a stimulus to personal awareness. Among these migrants there is a marked preference for the strange and foreign and a consistent contempt for the conventional and easy life of the settled community.

The concept of existential migration fits well with themes in existential philosophy, especially concepts that point to the foreignness and mystery at the heart of human existence. The concept also challenges aspects of psychological research into acculturation and relocation stress. Even if an individual has relocated to a new culture solely for business purposes, he or she may find that their taken-for-granted assumptions about daily life are suddenly challenged, exposing a kind of groundlessness to living. Upon return to the home country, that revelation is not always convincingly 'papered-over', resulting in a restlessness that needs to be acknowledged and explored.

As a process, existential migration may occur with anyone, though certain people seem more predisposed towards it as a primary orientation to life. But even for 'existential migrants' the day may come when their process becomes one of settling rather than migrating.

Talking about issues of home and belonging in therapy tends to be very emotional and poignant, but voluntary migrants value and even enjoy these dialogs. Paradoxically, voluntary migrants usually find that openly discussing their experiences of leaving home, often for the first time ever, results in a shift regarding their feelings of restlessness. The approach in these sessions does not assume that anything is 'wrong' or pathological in these experiences; perpetual migration is not seen as less worthy than being settled. These sessions are simply an opportunity to have a facilitated dialog that delves deeply into the motivations for leaving and the feelings that have transpired along the way.

The concept of existential migration also offers a re-consideration of the psychological effects of globalization. As more and more of us are expected to have mobile lives, a kind of global 'homelessness' may be on the horizon; perhaps we are heading towards a time when no one really feels at home anywhere anymore, signaling the end of belonging. It is exactly these deeper issues that the study of existential migration has revealed as issues for us all.

Greg Madison, PhD, is a therapist in private practice in London who specializes in existential psychotherapy. Greg can be contacted through his profile here: http://www.goodtherapy.org/m15_view_item.html?m15:item=info%40gregmadison.net and here also: http://www.goodtherapy.org/Miami-therapy.htm

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How to Find a Good Commercial Estate Agent in London

A commercial estate agent can help those looking for new office space through their industry-based knowledge of the property market and the trends they are expected to follow.

For businesses looking to move to or within London, there are a few factors that can help define what makes a good commercial estate agent in London:
Industry knowledge is paramount, especially for companies moving to the capital for the first time
A good commercial estate agent will have knowledge of which areas offer the best value for money and which amenities will best serve their client's firm, as well as advanced notice of up and coming buildings new to the market
You can also appoint a relocation manager, who will get to know the company they are working on behalf of and evaluate what their needs will be. Using a manager in this way also allows the business to run as usual

A good commercial estate agent in London will probably be independent; they will have no allegiances to any landlords and can therefore negotiate a price on behalf of the buyer or tenant rather than those of the landlord or seller. They should also have one eye set firmly on the future; London is an ever-changing and evolving city. There may be developments planned in an area and a good commercial property estate agent will be able to ascertain whether they will be of benefit to their client, or not.

In four years time, London will play host to the Olympics and this will have a massive effect on the marketplace in certain sectors. Industry knowledge will, again, play an important part in helping decide just where a company should move to.

Once a suitable site has been found, a commercial estate agent can ensure that the move takes place efficiently, with as little disruption to the client's business as possible.

There is little doubt that the capital of England has many advantages to offer businesses of any size: London is served by five major airports, the Eurotunnel and many key road networks, as well as being provided for by its own rail, bus and underground systems. The capital has a population of around eight million and offers a diverse mix of people, cultures and business. Using a commercial estate agent to facilitate your move into or within London can help you benefit from these without disturbing the running and profitability of your firm.

Shivani Gurtu-Louth - Operations Manager of Devono Property Limited. Devono are the only commercial estate agents in London to exclusively represent tenants looking for office space and commercial property in London to rent. Our aim is to secure the best commercial property at the best price.
For interviews, quotes, images or comments contact:
Shivani Gurtu-Louth
Devono Operations Manager
Tel(DDI): +44 (0)20 7096 9911
E-mail: sg@devono.com

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Two Must-See Places in London

Tours of the famous Lord's Cricket Ground

A tour around what is called the 'home of cricket', Lords Cricket Ground, gives amazing insight into the game's almost legendary headquarters. This is also where the Marylebone Cricket Club, the MCC, and the England Cricket Board are based.

Each tour, following an expert guide, takes ninety minutes and begins in the MCC Museum. You then process through the famous Pavilion to the well-known Long Room, which boasts panoramic views of the famous pitch and many portraits of the game's most-distinguished players. The Honours Boards in the dressing rooms reveals the most historic batting and bowling that has taken place here over the years.

The tour also covers the Tennis Court, the Cricket School and many of this famous ground's outstanding features: including the Grandstand, the new Mound Stand and the famous and controversial, yet futuristic, Media Centre (which is one of the "The Fifty Best Buildings in Britain"). You also have the chance to enjoy shopping for exclusive souvenirs at the shop, where the tour finishes.

You can book your visit on the day or well in advance, and specialist individual tours are also possible: for example, educational tours can always be tailored to meet the needs of school curricula, or architectural tours can be designed to concentrate on the buildings.

The MCC Museum, which is the starting point of the tour, is the world's oldest museum devoted to sport! Here you will find a marvellous range of exhibits, not least the world-famous Ashes urn. There are sports kits used by the most famous players of the club, including Victor Trumper, Don Bradman, Jack Hobbs, and even Shane Warne.

Many of the exhibits are as old as the 19th Century: you can enjoy the sight of old photographs and other cricketing memorabilia in the museum, where you will also find the Brian Johnston Memorial Theatre, a venue which plays some of the greatest moments in the history of the sport.

Special exhibitions are also on offer form time to time. The tours proceed daily at 10.00, 12.00 and 14.00 (although they do not go on match days and around the time of major fixtures). Only the early tour goes into the Pavilion. Marylebone Cricket Club, based at the famous Lord's Cricket Ground, can be found in St John's Wood, NW8 8QN Phone: 020 7616 8595

The Arsenal FC Museum and Tour

Arsenal FC was formed in 1886, and turned professional in 1891. After 93 years, Highbury has now been replaced by the new Emirates stadium.

You can visit this amazing venue and get a wonderful and informative view of the stadium that even the most ardent supporters rarely see.

A tour will let you visit the players' tunnel and the most amazing part of the club: the first team dressing room! The tour also takes in the plush Directors' Box, the site of many amusing incidents, the Press Conference Room, and the famous Arsenal Museum. You'll even be able to go onto the hallowed pitch and see the facilities close up.

For a once-in-a-lifetime experience, you can book a Legends Tour. You'll be taken around the ground by a retired Arsenal player, who can tell you all about his experiences and views of the current team, relate stories of his days on the team, and offer a profound insight into how professional football is played at this high level. To make this extra-special, you'll also get a signed photograph of the player and a Legends Tour gift.

Tours can, as you might expect, be booked in advance: group bookings are also available. Alternatively, you can buy a gift voucher for the tour, which allows a choice of when the tour takes place.

The Arsenal Museum includes many excellent things to see, including Charlie George's Cup Final shirt and medals from 1971, shirts and caps once owned by David O'Leary, and other well known characters such as Messrs Lee Dixon and Brian Marwood.

As you may know, this famous club was unbeaten in the 2003-2004 season and the trophy presented to them by the Football Association is on view. Last but not least you can see sections of the tour based on the history of this famous London sporting club.

Open from Monday-Friday 10.00-18.00, Saturday 11.00-18.00, Sunday 10.00-17.00. The opening hours are more limited on match days. Arsenal Football Club, Highbury House, 75 Drayton Park, N5 1BU Phone: 020 7704 4504

The London Visitor Guide contains London hotels and other accommodation, restaurants, and many unusual places to go. Find us at The London Visitor Guide

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Top 10 Fall Perfumes

When autumn arrives in my part of the country, it's often accompanied by fog and rain. The vibrantly colored red, purple, orange and yellow leaves on maples, gingkoes, liquidambars, smoke bushes, and all trees and shrubs that have a colorful "faint" into dormancy, are even more glorious with a gloss of moisture. The chilly Northwest damp also accentuates aromas; the ground smells pungent, leaves lose their juicy, "green" summer scents and begin to smell like antique paper or old books. As wood smoke begins to swirl from chimneys, providing its own gray mist to the heavy air, I feel as if the entire city is burning incense to mourn the lost summer and to pay homage to the coming winter.

Fall is a time of excitement and stillness; cool winds and refreshing rains energize me, while the sight of dead leaves slowly dropping to the ground, and the silence in the garden (most birds have headed south) put me into a contemplative state of mind. The perfumes I wear in autumn reflect these shifting moods of the season.

There are few fragrance houses whose entire offerings I would happily wear - Eau d'Italie is one such fragrance house. Bois d'Ombrie smells of wood, cognac, leather, incense, myrrh, tobacco and beeswax; wearing it is like stepping into a wood-paneled room of the Renaissance era, a room that's absorbed centuries of delicious aromas.

I often burn Papier d'Armnie to freshen rooms in my home. Now, I can walk about freshening spaces I move through. Annick Mnardo has created liquid Papier d'Armnie with her Bois d'Armnie perfume. Bois d'Armnie is part of the Art et la Matire line of scents by Guerlain and though it contains pink pepper, rose, iris, coriander, patchouli and musk, what I smell are the signature powdery fragrance notes of Papier d'Armnie - benzoin, incense, amber and vanilla.

For me, a 'sturdy' (and simple) sandalwood perfume is a necessity for fall and winter and Santalum by Profumum fits the bill. It has a rich, slightly sweet, and long-lasting sandalwood fragrance, with added, but not distracting, notes of myrrh and cinnamon.

A Dream: While touring some vetiver fields on a damp day, I am spotted by a spy from the Society for the Promotion of Ozone and Marine Notes in Male Perfumery/Mainstream Division. Seeing his chance to silence me forever, he waits till I wander into a deep, stony ditch and then topples 100 bales of dried vetiver roots onto me. I realize, to survive and write more negative reviews of mediocre men's perfumes, I must use my hands and teeth to pull apart and gnaw thru the bales of tough vetiver roots that envelop me. As I emerge through the last bale of vetiver, I smell of cool moist earth and stones, "exertion" and...vibrant vetiver. In other words, I smell like Vetiver by Etro. Though Etro's Vetiver also contains artemisia, clary sage, cypress, cedar and tobacco - vetiver root is the star of the cologne. If I were forced to downsize my perfume collection and could only keep one vetiver fragrance, I'd keep Etro Vetiver. Roll your eyes, gasp, thrust a hand to your mouth in shock, even laugh at me, but I'd choose Etro's Vetiver over Herms' Vetiver Tonka, Frederic Malle's Vetiver Extraordinaire, Matre Parfumeur et Gantier's Route du Vetiver and Guerlain's Vetiver.

I don't possess a classic "comfort scent" in my perfume arsenal. My comfort scent would not involve food (vanilla, rice pudding, apples, cinnamon); if I could create a comfort scent, it would smell of freshly shampooed English Bulldog or Pug. Since that is not about to happen, I will note one scent I find comforting and that I encounter this time of year: the scent of my wool sweaters. As I unpack my sweaters (the ones I forgot to dry clean before storing), I smell the ghostly remains of last fall's (and winter's) perfumes: sandalwood, cedarwood, patchouly and vetiver. Parfum d'Habit by Matre Parfumeur et Gantier smells like my 'scented' wool sweaters - and I love it.

I won't wear a simple wool sweater with my next fall fragrance selection: a tuxedo or finely tailored suit would be more apt. When I spray on Jacques Guerlain's 1904 creation Mouchoir de Monsieur, with its bergamot and verbena, its rose and jasmine, its vanilla, fern and iris, my posture improves, my pronunciation and enunciation improve, I feel smooth, shiny, impeccable; I feel I could issue edicts and be obeyed. I'll be giving gallery talks at the Seattle Art Museum this winter for a show called "Roman Art from the Louvre" - guess what scent I'll be wearing as I talk, and walk, my way through the sculptures of gods and goddesses, the Caesars?

Since I like cows and feel bad about buying products made from their skins, I take really good care of my leather goods, especially my leather bags. I buy a bag and use it till it falls apart, so I rarely get to smell "new" leather. When my leather bag or backpack needs a leather "fix," I moisten a cotton ball with some Serge Lutens Cuir de Mauresque, stuff the cotton ball into a tiny glass pill bottle (uncapped), toss it into my bag and the scent of perfumed leather wafts from my old bag every time I open it. I wear Cuir de Mauresque on my body too; how can I resist its heady mix of myrrh, burnt styrax, incense, aloeswood, cedar, civet, cloves, cumin, cinnamon, orange blossom, nutmeg, mandarin peel, and jasmine? Such perfume luxury, and luxuriousness, seems most appropriate in autumn as heavy ('important') jewelry, velvet, cashmere and, alas, furs start appearing everywhere.

To commemorate my first visit to Paris, I wore a scent I had not tried before - Penhaligon's Hammam Bouquet (created in 1872). Many years later, I still love Paris and Hammam Bouquet's sophisticated scent, made with rose, iris, jasmine, cedar, lavender, amber and sandalwood. My only gripe: the perfume extract version of Hammam Bouquet was discontinued. Note: if you ever call Hammam Bouquet a "grandfatherly" scent in my presence, first, I will slap your face (not really, but I'll WANT to), and then I'll position you on my Perfume IQ list under: "Semi-ignorant; tastes/descriptive vocabulary: limited; refers to complex, classic scents as 'old lady' or 'old man' fragrances."

On London's Jermyn Street, not far from one of Penhaligon's London shops, you can buy Frankincense & Myrrh by Czech & Speake - a marvelous, under-appreciated, under-worn, and virtually unknown (in the U.S.) unisex fragrance. Yes, there's frankincense and myrrh in the perfume, but also the enchanting aromas of chamomile and fine sandalwood. Frankincense & Myrrh smells like "church," especially if the church was built in the 13th century and has been permeated with the scent of burning incense for hundreds of years.

As fall arrives, I can't forget my summer garden and the scented flowers it provided, so I buy real flowers in winter and "wear" flowers in my perfumes. Kismet by Yosh reminds me of a protected, walled garden in a high desert - the type of desert that's warm and nurturing in day, and chilly at night. Kismet's cool narcissus, chamomile, boronia and osmanthus act as foils for its 'hotter' cedar, frankincense and turmeric aromas - this mix of coolness and warmth mimics the changeable days, and moods, of fall.

This article can be freely published as long as the hyper links remain effect. For more information and a great website that has a large selection of designer perfume and cologne products, visit YourNewFragrance.Com. They have all the new discount perfumes as well as older and hard to find scents.

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Lake Havasu City - Lakeside Resorts & Community Keeps Stepping Up the Pace

The adage that reads, "Go west, young man, go west" should be modified to advise going to the far west of Arizona to Lake Havasu City. This area is deservedly known as Arizona's beach resort city. The majestic Colorado River, at this point in its 1400+ mile journey, has been dammed to form Lake Havasu with an expansive 25,000 acres. The fast-growing Lake Havasu City includes a mainland portion plus a manmade island, formed by dredging a stagnant stream and converting it into an integral part of the lake/river.

We first visited Lake Havasu City about 1999, and, by way of confession, were not overly impressed. Maybe we weren't looking hard enough. But, in 2008, through guided tours and other means, we saw first hand what a thriving small metropolis it is.

Lake Havasu City was founded in 1962, as the work of industrialist and visionary Robert McCulloch (1911-77). The lake itself goes back to the late 1930s when Parker Dam served to control the Colorado River in those parts.

A unique talking point about the city is that it features a bridge brought over to the U.S., lock stock and stone, from London in 1968-71. When London authorities decided to auction off their sinking London Bridge, McCulloch got the idea of bidding on it and resurrecting the original stones over Lake Havasu. This project cost him about $7 million, with most of the total made up of stone transportation.

Naturally, it seemed unique to walk across the reconstructed London Bridge in Arizona. On the city side, under the bridge, is a waterfront area known as the English village, featuring the London Bridge Hotel. We enjoyed walking and window shopping.

As you would expect, the city's main revenue source is tourism. However, with 8 boat manufacturers having a presence nearby, the area is noted for its supply of boats and boat races as well as annual regattas to showcase their latest products. It justly owns the title, Personal Watercraft Capital of the World, and has hosted the annual International Jet Sports Boat Association (IJSBA) World Finals since 1982. From our hotel room balcony, we enjoyed witnessing many of the varied watercraft.

Fishing, paddle boating, canoeing, kayaking, parasailing, windsurfing, scuba diving and sailing are also available. What is nice is being able to rent all the equipment you need by the hour, half day, or full day. This area is becoming a destination of choice in the Southwest for water sports.

Land lovers need not be bored. There is plenty to do within a considerable amount of public shoreline, all within city limits. This area includes London Bridge Beach, Rotary Park Beach and Windsor Beach. In addition to miles of public shoreline and beaches, Lake Havasu State Park also features camping and 138 boat-in campsites. We managed to get exercise just walking through the parks.

Golfers are not left out, as Lake Havasu City features five distinctly different golf courses. They cater to golfers of all different levels of expertise. In addition, they have more courses in the planning stages. Since we are not golfers, we can't provide first hand experience.

One aspect of the region that impressed us is the commitment of its people and the city to keep activities going all year long for a vibrantly desirable area. Volunteer organizations construct the local parks and keep them up to date with enhancements.

While visiting in February, we arrived for the Winter Festival. We saw around 250 booths and 35-50K attendees for a crafts, foods, and related sights demo, along a closed off Main Street. It had been years since we attended a craft fare. Walking up and down Main, we found that local vendors added tremendous color and history to our excursion.

In tandem with this, about a week later, Winterblast, an annual convention of pyrotechnics manufacturers, was scheduled. Annually, it provides a showing of latest advances in their field. It culminates in a huge, free fireworks display. Winterblast is something all look forward to watching, the Saturday after President's Day. This event was described by several with such enthusiasm, we will try to take part next year.

After the festival, we checked into Arizona's only all-beachfront resort, The Nautical Inn http://www.nauticalinn.com. Its 139 beachfront and lake-view accommodations provide a relaxing atmosphere.

That evening, we drove a mile to the Island Mall & Brewery and enjoyed an excellent dinner at Shugrue's Restaurant & Bar http://www.shugrues.com. We enjoyed man-sized portions of halibut and pork chops, creamed baby spinach, and stuffed baked potato, topped off by bananas foster for two. Our young waiter, son of the chef, talked us into the latter two selections. In checking to see if we were pleased with these innovative new dishes, he didn't realize that, for us, they brought back memories of the 60s and 70s.

We were fortunate the next morning to have Jared Lyman of the Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) http://www.golakehavasu.com give us a tour of the city and surrounding areas. The numerous parks in the city are easily accessed and well manicured. Jared took us out of town to visit one that members of the Chamber are expanding and enhancing. Listening to him describe how long it took his team to install stone gate posts and forge some of the trails made us appreciate walking them.

We were surprised to learn that, according to Dr. Michael Rourke, life sciences faculty member of Mohave Community College, "There are over 300 species of [water] bird that either make Lake Havasu their home or use it as a stop in their migratory route." Most arrive late in September and leave in the spring. Some good sites to view include Mesquite Bay, south Dike Road, Bill Williams Refuge, Parker Dam, and the Aha Khav Preserve. We were amazed by the number of species we observed.

After a morning of walking, during lunch at Javelina's Mexican Restaurant http://www.javelinacantina.com/, we found their fajitas to be an exceptional choice.

We were on our own after lunch and decided on a memorable boat tour around the lake in the Dixie Belle. Sailing from the English Village Dock next to the London Bridge, the narrated tour was exceptional. We viewed all the many lighthouses around the lake.

The closest one can get to experiencing what it was like to be on a steamboat on the Colorado River is with a replicated one (powered with twin engine out-board motors instead of being powered by cottonwood as they were between 1852 to 1909). At that point, the Colorado River could be sailed non-stop with a dredge, barge, or paddlewheel.

The Dixie Belle, a 68-ton vessel, is 51+ feet long and carries 122 passengers. One of the current captains, Gregg Smith, says the Dixie Belle replicates an old South sternwheeler. Captain Smith has been piloting this vessel since 2005. When taking this tour, it is easy to step back in time.

As dinner came around, we were still content from lunch. So, we opted for dessert at Cold Stone. Returning to our room, we enjoyed watching the lights across the lake.

The next morning, we wanted to try breakfast at the Makai Cafe. Located below Shugrue's, Makai was one of our favorite spots. There were many more locals than tourists, and it was easy to understand why. We tried the widely acclaimed Eggs Benedict and French Toast. Our breakfast was favorable, hot, with great customer service and good coffee. We found it quite calming, while looking out on the lake with a great view of the London Bridge.

After breakfast, we drove into town for a tour of the Lake Havasu City Historical Museum. Though quite small, it is well worth the time to spend an hour or so visiting.

We opted for a smoothie lunch downtown. Then we returned to The Nautical Inn to meet Robert P. Keller for an afternoon tour, concentrating on lighthouses. In addition to the London Bridge, Lake Havasu now has 14 lighthouses, modeled on a smaller scale to working lighthouses on both the Great Lakes and East coast. They serve as navigational markers for those out on the lake as well as attracting tourists. Bob is a Lake Havasu City historian and character re-enactor, who brings tours to life. He did a combination tour for us, but we were especially interested in how the idea of the lighthouses came about. What started as his one-man endeavor is now a club, and its members try to add several lighthouses a year. His RV garage is the club's workshop for this ongoing club project.

That night, we were done touring and chose to spend time with visiting friends from Chicago. We picked them up and went to Angelina's. This small intimate Italian restaurant is reasonably priced with well prepared dishes. It was a delightful finish to a wonderful 3 night get-a-way.

Lake Havasu City promotes many annual events, including the Havasu Classic in April when classic cars roll into town. October features the Relics and Rods Run to the Sun, with more than 1000 cars from 1972 and older. October is also host to London Bridge Days, which is a two week celebration. November brings the Chillin N' Swilling Brewfest. In December, the waterfront is decked with more than one million Christmas lights. Along with the Festival of Lights, a Holiday Boat Parade is part of the festivities.

There is more to Lake Havasu City than we can cover in one article. What pleased us the most is our strong desire to return. We encourage you to check the latest calendar of events. E-mail them if you want specifics for a particular month. Lake Havasu has something for everyone.

For further information, call Lake Havasu Tourism Bureau 1-800-2 HAVASU. We'll be returning late August to check out some of the other activities it has to offer.

You may use any portion of this article as long as credit is given to the authors, Maralyn Hill and Norman Hill.

Maralyn and Norm Hill write together and individually. Norm's new book, "Winner and Final Chairman<" was recently released. Maralyn's new book, co-authored with Brenda Hill, "$uccess, Your Path to a Successful Book," will be out August 08. You can get the Hill's books at http://booksbyhills.com Maralyn writes many articles individually, with Norm and with Brenda. Norm is published in many insurance industry magazines and writes travel articles with Maralyn. They also have blogs which you can see on their website. They always welcome questions and the next adventure.

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Professional Wrestling's Grip on the UK

Professional wrestling has always largely been seen as a quintessentially American form of entertainment, with the over the top characters and storylines prevalent in the "sport" resulting in it being regarded as nothing more than a low brow soap opera by many. However, few people realise that it was the money made in foreign countries, specifically the UK, that kept World Wrestling Entertainment - now the largest wrestling company in the world - afloat during some trying times.

Pro wrestling was big business throughout the United States as far back as the early '70s. However, after the mainstream success of the "Wrestlemania" franchise created by Vince McMahon, owner of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), in the '80s, interest in what became known as "Sports Entertainment" began to wane, mostly due to allegations of steroid distribution and abuse levelled at the WWE by the US federal government. During the proceeding court case, the WWE was forced to look further afield to make their money, with the first port of call being the UK.

Since the advent of satellite television in the mid '80s, more and more members of the British public were exposed to World Wrestling Entertainment programming. Offering glitz, glamour and showmanship that home-grown UK wrestling promotions couldn't contend with, the WWE quickly became a phenomenon. Realising that there was a fortune just waiting to be made in Britain, Vince McMahon announced the first ever WWE show to take place in the UK, which occurred at the London Arena in 1989. Tickets for the event sold out rapidly on the first day of sale, which was to be the case for WWE events in the UK for years to come.

With the first show being an overwhelming success, the WWE began to visit the UK on a bi-annual basis, capitalising on the immense popularity of the British Bulldog and Bret Hart, two wrestlers within the company that had strong ties to the UK. This popularity reached its peak in the summer of 1992, when WWE announced that one of its premier pay-per-view events, "Summerslam", was to be held at Wembley Stadium in London, the first and only time a 'premier' WWE pay-per-view spectacular has been held outside of the US. Critics scoffed at the idea of a wrestling show being able to fill the expansive Wembley Stadium; however, with the British Bulldog and Bret Hart at the top of the card, every ticket was sold in ten hours, resulting in a capacity crowd of 80,355 attending the event, making it the second biggest WWE live attendance ever, after the 93,133 that witnessed "Wrestlemania 3".

After the unprecedented success of "Summerslam", the WWE began hosting pay per views regularly in the UK, albeit broadcast only for the British audience and not internationally. While that practice was stopped in 2003, the company still tours the UK twice a year, with London also being the chosen city for several live broadcasts of the WWE's flagship TV show, "Raw". Smaller wrestling organisations, namely TNA, have also followed in WWE's footsteps by venturing out to the UK, with the organisation recently completing their first tour of the country.

With London's Wembley and O2 arena's set to host several WWE and TNA events in the coming months, hotels in London are sure to be packed with rabid wrestling fans, intent on capturing this unique form of entertainment live.

Paul McIndoe writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.

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