Commze

Benidorm, Spain, with a permanent population under 70,000 is a small city, off the Mediterranean Sea, in the Province of Alicante. Not so long ago, just before the 1960’s in fact, this was just a small, quiet and somewhat quaint fishing village. Today, the luxury hotels Benidorm offer, along with the beautiful beaches, great climate, magnificent skyscrapers, fabulous restaurants and unusual landmarks, this city has become a very popular and famous holiday delight. The hotels are sheer pleasure with their elaborate decor both inside and out. The staff is very pleasant and helpful, giving excellent service.

Benidorm has a very rigid rule initiated in 1954 by then mayor, Pedro Zaragoza Orts. It was required that every building have an area of leisure land around it whereby prohibiting the encroachment of other structures into that space. Benidorm is the only city in Spain that still adheres to this old regulation, but in so doing it has prevented the tight congestion found in other cities. When you climb to a high peak, you are pleasantly surprised by the amount of green lushness throughout the city.

There is so much to see and do here, for instance, the Benidorm International Song Festival is held every summer, as has been the case since 1959. Julio Iglesias and Raphael both become famous after performing at this very popular song contest. The theme parks are a big hit for young families, there is abundant shopping so finding those unique souvenirs and treasures to take home will not be a problem, the beautiful beaches, the active and vibrant nightlife, the fabulous restaurants with excellent seafood dishes. And did I happen to mention the nightlife? Oh yes, Benidorm is known for its all night bars and nightclubs with their bright lights, loud music and fast dancing. You will leave part of yourself in Benidorm but find that you have taken part of Benidorm home.

The Singapore Botanic garden is one of the most spectacular parks on the island.  It is a tropical paradise that is sent in the center of the city, and is a wonderful combinations of gardens, varying gardens of roses, desert plant-life, ferns and frangipanis along side the primary and un-tended natural forest.  There is a wide variety of species located within the garden, including many rare and exotic varieties of plant life.  There are more than twenty thousand orchids on display each day, with species from South and Central America, intermixed with ponds and fountains.  Outdoor concerts take place on Symphony Lake, and one can find any number of treasures in the shops throughout the garden.  All this is within walking distance of a fine dining French Singapore restaurant. The location draws many tourists throughout the year, and this month of August has something special to offer those who make their way to the garden.

The Galapagos Islands were not the only islands providing inspiration for the study of the theory of evolution.   Another scientist at the time, Alfred Russel Wallace had been traveling throughout Malaysia, was based in Singapore, and discovered the theory of evolution very close to time of Charles Darwin’s discovery of the scientific theory.  While Darwin was testing his theory on the Galapagos, Wallace was at work in Southeast Asia.  He conducted many hours of research, and extensively wrote about his explorations and discoveries of the Bukit Timah Hill Reserves.  Throughout his eight year exploration he collected more than one hundred and twenty-five thousands examples from different species of plants and animals, one thousand of which had never before been seen and were new to the scientific world.  He then collaborated with Darwin, and the theories were born.  The entire month of August is dedicated to this collaboration between the two men, and will focus on the achievements Wallace made throughout his lifetime.  This exhibit is appropriately housed within the Botanic Garden, it is open to the public and free of charge.

During my stay in the wonderful city of Bath, I found some very interesting things to do, like the new Therma Spa, checking out the Worthing Open House and eating at The Hole in the Wall. I only made plans to stay a day and a half in Bath, so I only booked one night with a Bath Hotel. I now wish I would’ve planned to stay in Bath for a week. What a beautiful place and there’s so much to do and see here, but I’m glad to have been able to do and check out the things I did do.

Like the Therma Spa, wow, what luxury. Luckily, I had enough money to really enjoy most of what the spa offers. I was booked in for four hours. I got to wonder through the pools and steam room. There’s even a roof top bath, really lovely. I found out that 4 hour was a bit much, but I wasn’t complaining about being pampered with massages and oil treatments all the way through. I spent the majority of my time at the roof top bath, floating in the sunshine. I do recommend, if you can, bring your own towels, two towels, they don’t mind, but they would rather charge you to use their towels. Oh, and don’t worry about the food, because it’s marvellous. There’s a little cafe that serves up some very tasty flapjacks. But, really, 4 hours is too long. Try booking 2 hours, I think that that will be much better.

Then, after spa time, I walked over to the Worthing Open House. I got a chance to see how artists live. They let me poke around inside their house. I could purchase original artwork, if I didn’t spend most of my money on the spa. But, that didn’t seem to bother the artist as they let me consume cake and tea. I got to witness really creative talent and when I left, I had a better understanding just how an artists mind works.

For dinner, I headed on over to The Hole in the Wall. A great local restaurant that is literally under the wall on George street. The staff made me feel extra special and the food was very reasonably priced, which was still good, cause the spa really did use up all of my budget. I ordered the rib eye steak which was served with apple potatoes. Really yummy and flavorful. I went back to my hotel room wishing I had more time here, but I did need to stick to my itinerary, didn’t I?

I made a special stop at Bristol with my wife and our two children and stayed at a Bristol Hotel in order for me to take them to the Bristol zoo. I have such fond memories of the zoo and I wanted my family to share what was my childhood.

After we spent the night at the hotel, we went early in the morning to have a full fun day at the zoo. Bristol Zoo has changed, I almost didn’t recognize it. What was weird was I did recognize the brown elephant signpost which has faithfully pointed the way to the zoo every since I was a child, but the Bristol Zoo no longer has elephants. Going through the zoo’s entrance, we now had to go through the gift shop first. Effective, sure. You can’t enter or leave the zoo without having to go through the gift shop. My children most definitely wanted all the very expensive items offered in the shop.

I successfully navigated my children through the shop without having to open my wallet, of course promising they’ll get something when we leave. We finally proceeded to the zoo itself and walked by beautiful trees and landscaping which were quite stunning and well manicured. This was new for me, or I just don’t remember, or I’m now more mature where I appreciate wonderful landscaping. The zoo is rather small, I remember being so much bigger. But, it’s only twelve acres. We stopped by the one of the two cafe/snack place’s the zoo offers and I was blown away with the pricing. Very expensive. If I wasn’t travelling, I would’ve prepared our own picnic basket, which the zoo allows.

As we strolled around the zoo, I noticed that there was more space dedicated to gardens, nice picnic areas and lakes than to animals. I got the feeling that it really wasn’t a zoo anymore, but more like a parkland. My kids weren’t disappointed though, they didn’t care that they didn’t see elephants, giraffes, rhinos or polar bears, like I did when I was a kid. All they wanted to do was chase all the ducks and geese around the lake, eat and of course have Dad buy them something from the gift shop when we leave.

A Chorus Line is a phenomenally popular musical that is based on a relatively simple plot line. It follows the experience of seventeen Broadway dancers as they audition and compete for spots in a production chorus line. Marvin Hamlisch wrote the music for it and the lyrics were by Edward Kleban. James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante wrote the book. Not only is the concept relatively simple, but the musical is set on a bare Broadway theatre stage. This was a unique structure in musical theatre that has a long tradition of elaborate stages and scenery. The spectacle is often as important as the music itself.

It originally ran Off and then on Broadway in 1975 and became an immediate hit. It’s success in the box office and critically had been unprecedented. It received twelve Tony Award nominations that year and won nine of them. It ran for 6,137 performances making it the longest running Broadway musical at the time. It still remains to be the longest running Broadway musical that was created in the United States. In 2006 a revival of the musical was produced and it is currently touring across the nation. Theatre tickets for area performances can be acquired through the venue themselves or found online.

The musical has enjoyed great popularity and successful productions throughout the world, and continues to be one of the musical theatre cannon’s favorite offerings for many people. Some of the popular songs in the musical are I hope I Get It, I Can Do That, One, The Music and the Mirror, and What I Did For Love. Audience members often leave the performance singing or humming their favorite song. Musicals are a stable of the Broadway tradition and continue to remain the most popular and constant offerings the Great White Way presents. And while these established musicals from previous eras are enjoying great current success in revivals, the new trend is to create a musical based on animated films, such as the Disney shows, and specific areas of music and musicians.

The Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago is well known for launching the premier productions of many plays that will go on to become major theatrical hits and move on to New York productions. It is a Tony Award winning company that is internationally recognized. It is also one of the most prominent and respected theatre companies in Chicago. Tickets for theatre productions are available at the box office and also online. Steppenwolf was founded in 1974 by Jeff Perry, Terry Kinney and Gary Sinese and was originally located in the basement area of a church in Highland Park. The group chose the company’s name based on the Herman Hesse novel. Since 1997, longtime ensemble member Martha Lavey has served as the Artistic Director.

The theatre has had a few location changes throughout their existence and is now located on Halsted Street. It is one of the most successful regional theatre companies and has an annual subscription base of nearly 20,000. In 1982 they staged a production of the Sam Shepard play True West. This was the first of many subsequent productions to move on to New York productions. August: Osage County was the latest of productions to come from this company and it went on to become a Tony Award winning show in New York. It is one of the most critically successful productions to come from the company.

The play was written by Tracy Letts who is a company member, and was directed by fellow ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro. The Steppenwolf theatre has a strong commitment to the development of new work. Their New Plays initiative works with playwrights from the international scene and is aimed at supporting the new work of emerging writers as well as though that have already established a certain level of career success. Many of America’s top actors have launched their careers here and some of them are Joan Allen, John Malkovich, Gary Cole, Martha Plimpton and Laurie Metcalf.

Elton John is an incredible musician composer and performer. His concerts are extremely energetic, dynamic and constitute an event as well as a performance. He usually has a group of background singers placed onstage that dance and sing, which greatly contributes to the overall vibrancy of the show. One of the other interesting aspect of his performances is that they are extremely diverse and represent multiple populations and communities. Audiences of all ages fill the seats and dance on the floors at his shows, as well as various ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations. This contributes to the festival atmosphere of his concerts. His concert tickets always sell out in record time.

Elton John is unique in his appeal, which stresses across many social and political boundaries. He also has the distinction of having been the background musical themes for many people throughout their lives. He has been performing and creating hit songs for decades, and people from all generations love him. Even people that have never purchases one of his albums will recognize most or all of the songs on his play list because they have all been hits at one time or another.

Songs like Goodbye Yellowbrick Road, Daniel and Candle in the Wind, among many others, are still played on the popular radio stations on a daily basis. It’s almost impossible to exist today and not be familiar with and even a fan of some of John’s music. His songs reflect the temperance of various social periods and many people reflect back on specific points in their lives and relationships that relate to particular songs. In addition to his albums, Elton John has written the music or worked in other areas on Broadway musicals. He has contributed to the creation of Billy Elliot the Musical, The Lion King, Aida, Lestat. He has also appeared as himself and characters in films. He played himself in Spice World, and The Country Bears and also he played the Pinball Wizard in Tommy.

New York is a city of contradictions and beyond contradictions. It can also be a budget-buster or if you know where to go and what your doing, you can make it in New York for under $30 a day. I found a place where I can get discounted Theater Tickets for a Broadway show for as little as $18, that’s if you don’t mind what they call an obstructed view, which really isn’t as bad as it sounds, especially when compared to a regular priced ticket starting at $90.

Or, just go to a free theater production in Central Park, but you need to be in New York in the summertime and love Shakespeare. I got to see Pavarotti for free one time, now that was a treat. Really, New York is a fantastic place for the arts, and there is so much going on, you’ll need to spend money on a newspaper, but the newspaper will be your friend and let you know where first-rate performances are to be found at very reasonable prices. Just don’t fall into the trap that you need to see a big spectacular show, because the best shows are the spontaneous performances happening all around the city.

For me, I can amuse myself for hours with browsing around at a bookstore and there are tons upon tons of bookstores in New York City. I also love a good antique store, I can literally spend a whole day marvelling over antiques and talking to the owners of the store and listen to some very fascinating stories about a certain antique piece. It was easy to get free ticket to television shows or find where they are filming a movie (happens a lot in New York) and go a stand behind the barricades and watch a the behind the scene action. I found out about one indie movie being filmed when I went to a tourist information center. So, don’t do the regular expensive things which New York is known for, but do the unusual and save money.

It was nightfall and there were quite a lot of people already standing in line to get Concert Tickets VAMPS. I couldn’t sleep at all, mostly because of the face that I was paranoid about having any of my stuff stolen. Also, I needed to make sure nothing happened to the other fans waiting in line with me. I was responsible for getting there first, at the ticket booth and having people sign a form to help save a spot in line for when they could actually physically stand in line. Yes, I made a little money doing this. This is how I manage to pay for most of my concert tickets.

I would walk up and down the line repeatedly all day making sure people were doing okay and to make sure there were no tensions building. I like to talk to people, I just a really friendly type of guy, so I’m pretty good at easing tensions. It was sometime after midnight and more people joined the line and I would have them sign the list so that they too could leave the line if necessary, but be able to come back and keep their spot. Everyone in line had to agree to this or the list wouldn’t work. Luckily, most VAMP concert goers are pretty cool people, laid back, so it’s easy to make the ‘line position’ list work. Plus, people don’t feel so stressed out waiting in line, knowing they won’t lose their spot.

I was finally beginning to feel a bit tired, but at the same time I couldn’t sleep. I managed to walk around some more and got any more people joining in the line to sign the list. I’ve stayed awake before for 24 hours, and it’s always interesting to watch the sunrise, but during the week, I really didn’t get much sleep do to a project I was working on, so my lack of sleep finally caught up with me around 5am. I went back home and took a shower and returned back in line as soon as possible. The line grew triple and I heard there were some issues while I was gone, but nothing too serious. I got back in the front of the line and waited with all my other wonderful fellow concert goers.

My friends and I were standing in line to get Event Tickets for a haunted house attraction, when our highschool teacher came walking past us laughing so hard he could hardly walk. We stopped him and asked him if the Haunted House wasn’t that scary, and all he could do at the moment was shake his head ‘no’, then he finally stopped laughing and told us that there was a student he knew going through the new Maze addition of the Haunted House and all the student could do is scream like a young female going through a horrible fraternity hazing. Then he started laughing again and stumbled away from us.

We got our tickets and went inside hoping that who ever the student was, was still inside. While we kept our eyes open a guy wearing a white sheet had been keeping it pretty lively and scaring not only me, cause he snuck up on me, but many other people as well. The ghost then balled himself up on the floor, like in a fetal position and began to moan and horrendous sound. My other friends were laughing, but I thought this guy wasn’t acting. He wasn’t, I saw a man running away from the ghost fast and heard someone yell to stop him, he had just slugged the ghost in the stomach.
I figured being punched in the stomach or any other part of the body would be par for the course sneaking up on someone and screaming in their ear. When he did that to me, I almost turned around and punched him, luckily, I did not. I would’ve felt really bad. When my friends found out the real reason the ghost was on the ground, they really began to laugh hard. Finally, two men with headsets came by and picked up the ghost and helped carry him out of the event. I didn’t know why my friends found that even more funny that someone got hurt. I will have to revisit that thought later.

We made it to the Maze and heard many screams coming from deep inside. It was dark, so we had to grope our way around in the dark, I’m a little claustrophobic, so being dark, groping and in a small enclosed area really got my nerves going. We’d bump into disoriented people who were desperate to find the exit. Spookers hiding around every corner scared me each time even though I knew they would. I was familiar with how Maze’s work, so my strategy was to follow the right-side walls, but that wasn’t working at all. I heard one of my friends say ‘Over hear’, so I groped in that general direction and that’s when…I heard that student scream like a young girl during a frat hazing. I was laughing so hard, I almost peed my pants.

I waited an extra half hour this morning while standing in line to get into Wimbledon, because the security status in England was classified at critical. So, I didn’t mind the extra wait. I was told that the All England Club would be taking extra steps to beef up security by the ticket agent when I was ordering my Sports Tickets over the phone. With all the stuff that happened in London and Glasgow, I don’t blame them on bit.

I watch them early this morning put up more concrete barriers in from of gates which looked like that was to prevent vehicles from entering the premises. I heard that everyone without exception had to enter the venue on foot, that included the tennis players themselves. I was hoping while I stood in the security check line, that I’d be able to see one of the players, but I’m sure they had their own special entry point. I think Wimbledon is doing its best so that they can still put on a successful event and keep safe the competitors and the fans. I read that a few days before the event that bomb-sniffing dogs will scour the grounds in search of suspicious scents and that they’ll be here today sniffing all bags at the entry gates. I even saw a helicopter patrol the skies above.

I just hope all this added security won’t effect how the players will play, won’t effect their psyche. I did see Venus Williams being interviewed last night on the television and she didn’t seem upset at all, actually she said she was glad that any and all precautions were being taken by the All England Club. She was surprisingly upbeat. She seemed to echo the sentiments of all the players. We can’t stop living our lives, that’s what the terrorists want, so I’ll put up with waiting a little bit longer to see the best tennis in the world and know that I will be safe doing so.

Bribery.  This is a form of corruption that affects the world of business and the world of politics.  The definition of bribery is any form of payment that is accepted or offered that is deemed improper.  When conducting business with foreign countries and companies, the defense of accepting or offering such payments has been that cultural differences account for misunderstanding, that customs in other cultures vary from the culture of the United States and what may be seen as a simple gift in another country is seen as a criminal act of bribery in the United States.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act outlines the specifications regarding what constitutes a bribe, and the definitions are very clear.  These laws apply domestically to any entity or individual who conducts business with governments and/or corporations abroad.  A domestic concern refers to all nationals, residents and citizens of the United States.  It also refers to any partnership, association, un-incorporated organization, or sole proprietor of a business that is located within the United States or those that are involved with American businesses.

This also applies to territories and commonwealths of the U.S.  All of those divisions mentioned above are held liable and accountable for their actions, which involve not only physical actions, but those conducted through the U.S. Mails services, the phone, and the correspondence by use of any technological means, such as faxes and emails.  The laws and regulations apply to those actions that are taken outside of the United States, when such actions are involving U.S. companies or members of the U.S. government.  These laws and regulations are meant to protect the integrity of the United States, through the ensuring of ethical business transactions and political actions.  These are intended not only for moral reasons, but for economic reasons as well, for when a business or a country gains the reputation of conducting corrupt transactions, other companies and countries take their business elsewhere, leaving the accused in danger of economic ruin.

One of the programs of the United States government, created to track down terrorists and those fund them, can frighten customers unnecessarily.  The critics of the suspicious activity report claim that those who are conducting legitimate transactions are being victimized by the financial institutions.  They claim that the paperwork created by the filing of the reports is useless and is burdensome to those who are employed by such institutions.  A burden with the financial cost of billions of dollars and creates work that they deem time consuming and not necessary.  The reality is that the system and the procedures that are required, are ways in which the funding of terrorists and the crime of laundering money are detected.  Another aspect that has people frightened is that is against the law for those filing the reports to inform those about which the report is being filed against.

Reports are generated when activities take place that are considered to be not of ordinary circumstances.  If they are transactions that the customer is not usually known to make, the personnel is required to file a report.  This can be related to being pulled over due to a traffic violation.  A law enforcement officer may see a driver weaving and having difficulty controlling their vehicle.  The may pull the driver over under the suspicion that the driver is impaired, when in fact perhaps the steering or the transmission of the care has gone out.  When the facts are uncovered the truth is revealed.  The Suspicious Activity Report is extremely regulated.  If no crime is being committed, evidence will be gathered that supports that innocence.  People who are truly doing nothing wrong, need not be nervous or afraid.  These reports have resulted in the interruption of funding for those who were intending not only crimes that break the laws of the nation, but crimes against humanity without regards to moral or ethical action.

During the years following the September 11th terrorist attack on the United States, governments around the world are creating the means and the organizations which create difficulties to those involved in the financing of terrorist activities.  One of the elements used in the fight against money laundering and other forms of financial corruption is the Suspicious Activity Report.  This has become one of the most important and one of the most valuable tools, as the reports will allow the proper law enforcement agencies access to the information that will serve to further their investigations.

Throughout the world, criminals have been laundering money, for decades, as a way to conceal their criminal activities.  Such activities include the trafficking of drugs, financial fraud such as tax evasion and scams, and even the funding of terrorist cells.  To not address the activity of money laundering, is to allow the criminals free reign to keep on conducting their business, giving power to the drug dealers, the arms dealers and the terrorists which threaten the lives of innocent citizens on a daily basis.  Not stopped, their criminal gains will look legitimate through the process of laundering the funds.

Suspicious Activity Reports should be filed when a company or an individual suspects that the funds being deposited, or when certain transactions are suspected to revolve around such illegal and criminal activity.  Aspects to look out for are really common sense situations.  If money deposited smells like chemicals or has a strange odor or if a young kid walks into a bank with a bag full of money, attempting to deposit it and set up a wire transfer.

If one notices that a customer is sending and receiving transfers of large sums of money to and from various individuals.  Certain amounts of cash transactions require employees to fill out Currency Transaction Reports, and it goes without saying, that should a customer attempt to bribe an employee to not fill out the report, that would warrant the filing of an SAR.  Human behavior plays a large role, and noticing signs of fraudulent activities can save the institution from loss of integrity and possible criminal connections to those committing the crimes.

The city of Johannesburg is home to the Heritage Site, Cradle of Humankind.  The cultural and social history of the region and the country is evident in the vast array of museums in the city.  Many travelers interested in world history visit the city every day, visiting the museums and staying in one of the many luxury hotels.  Johannesburg just about an hour drive from the famous caves at Sterkfontein.  This has been one of the most productive archaeological sites in the world.  The caves are one aspect of the Cradle of Humankind.  Two famous findings in the caves have been the complete skull of the extinct species, Australopithecus, and the close to complete skeleton of an ‘ape-man’, believed to be more than four million years old.  The study of fossil hominids reveals the stages of evolution, of the world, and more specifically, of the species of homo sapiens.  They show us where we came from.

In 1936, the first fossils were found in the Sterkfontein caves.  Australopithecus africanus is a species of hominids that are very closely related to human beings and existed as recently as two to three million years ago.  The title of the heritage site, Cradle of Humankind, is in response to the the adult fossils of the ape-men that were found, and due to the fact that these fossils are bringing information to scientists and primatologists that reveal the beginnings of the human race.   The site is an archaeological dig, however over the years has become home to many conference facilities, restaurants and hotel accommodations.  Those visiting will be able to access the caves, and take walks along the boardwalk that winds through the site and to witness first hand the location of the fossils that are now acclaimed world wide.  There are also tours and discussions on other subjects of natural science, such as the formations and the geological history of the caves as well as the early forms of life of other species of mammals and species of the botanical world.  This is an interesting and emotional journey into the journey that has brought the human species to where we are today.

The history of South Africa is steeped in struggle and in strength.  For years the country was wracked with political and racial wars.  Thus when one visits this country, there are many opportunities to expand one’s knowledge and understanding of just how far this country and her people have come.  Walking out of their Johannesburg boutique hotels entry way, the museums that await tourists and visitors offer everything from the history of the diamond and gold mining industries, to the history of South African Aviation.  There are many locations that are more focused on events and experiences of individuals, such as the Museum of Apartheid, and the Madiba Freedom Museum.  This is Johannesburg’s museum that commemorates and honors the work of legendary freedom fighter, Nelson Mandela.

Madiba, was Mandela’s nickname given to him by family and friends.  This is a man that is respected and loved not only in his homeland, but worldwide.  His efforts have created a better world for all those living currently.  When questioned Mandela has stated that he did not want to be memorialized by the museum, but he would rather it serve as an educational and inspirational spring board for the development and the uplifting of struggling communities and people throughout the globe.

Throughout Mandela’s presidency he was inundated with gifts from those wishing to express their gratitude for his dedication, and their love for him.  The Madiba Museum houses these gifts and the variety of items is astonishing.  Everything from a basket of dates from an Arabian sheik, to a rug that was given to him by a Kurdish organization for liberation.  There are paintings sent to him from international artists as well as signed editions of books from international writers.  There are jerseys from football teams from almost every country in the world.  The museum contains a sombrero from Mexico as well as dolls and figurines from various countries.  This is just a few of the items one will find when visiting the museum, and stand as a testament to the global effect this incredible man had on people from all nations.

The Ndebele women of South Africa express themselves through their artwork.  Beads are used in the culture to decorate clothing, and sometimes is even the clothing itself.  Both men and women wear the beaded clothing although in recent times, these pieces are only worn during times of festivals or ceremonies.  Each artist has her own personal style, which often reflects their personal lives, their families, the changes in the world surrounding them.  Each has her own sense of creativity and design.  Women and girls wear aprons constructed out of the beads, varying depending on the age or the marital status of each individual.  During the wedding ceremony the apron is made from goatskin, and is called an isiphephetu.  This is a plain apron during the wedding, and throughout her married life the woman herself adds the bead-work which reflects the various changes that occur throughout her life time.  This apron is worn for the rest of her life, for special and significant occasions.

Traditional Ndebele works from the early 1900′s are different from the works of today.  The past work consisted of mainly white beads, with accents of orange and green.  When one compares the work throughout the years, one becomes aware the white backgrounds become smaller and smaller, and the field becomes more colorful.  This could have a connection with the growing use of color in the mural paintings on the houses, the businesses and the boutique hotels.  South Africa is a colorful country, and the changing artwork reflects that as more commercial paints become available to the artists.  However noticeable this shift in color is to the eye, not much research has been conducted as to the exact cause for the transition.  It could just have to do with the way style and fashion changes over time, in all regions and cities of the world.  The artwork has been one of the aspects which allow the Ndebele to maintain a group awareness and consciousness.  Their cultural identity has been threatened throughout history due to the relocation of the tribes due to war and turbulence.  Their art allowed them to hold on to their identity, regardless of where they were.