Vienna, home of the music

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Vienna is the capital city of Austria and one of the most famous cities in the world for its musical history.

Some of the most famous persons in classical music history – Mozart, Strauss, Schubert, Beethoven, Haydn, and Brahms all worked in Vienna.

Vienna is also the base of many international organizations such as the United Nations and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site over a decade ago.

Some of the most important sites in Vienna include the Schonbrunn Palace, Sisi Museum, Leopold Museum, Liechtenstein Palace, Military History Museum, and the Castle Belvedere.

The city also has several very important parks such as the Schloss Belvedere which is home to the city’s botanic garden.

Weiner Schnitzel is the national dish of Austria and can be had in Vienna. Also popular is the tafelspitz, sausages, and strudels such as apple strudel.

Some places to try Viennese cuisine include the Le Ciel, Hans Im Gluck, and Mini. Das Schick serves excellent Austrian cuisine.

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Launching CircleMe Curated Items

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To all passionate CircleMe users, and to the ones who are starting to become curious about our platform, today we are launching something we are very proud of: Curated Items.

What are curated items? Well, they are simply pages (i.e., specific interests on CircleMe) that any one of you, our Circlers, can decide to curate as an official “curator” of CircleMe. We want to give the chance to any of our users to become the ambassador of a specific interest just because we know that many of you are super-passionate about certain topics. Perhaps you already have a blog about a specific topic, or in life you are just known as the “guru” of a particular field: now, you can share your knowledge and passion also with the entire community of CircleMe.

Becoming a curator is easy and open to anyone: just visit the Curated Items page (http://circleme.com/curated_items) where you can learn the details about the program and where you can then apply for the role of curator for the item (or items – up to 5 per user) that you’d like to manage. If you are selected (and we will do our best to have everyone interested curate at least 1 item), you will be able to curate this items for a minimum period of 3 months, posting relevant and interesting stories and media on its page, and showing the rest of the CircleMe community what you find to be the best content to associate to a specific topic.

We have already several curators signed up, and you will start seeing these “curators” and “curated items” labels across the site. We hope the curators community will grow fast, and we look forward to having our curators interact with each other and represent CircleMe to the rest of the world.

Spotting a curated item ("water" is marked with a golden ribbon)

Spotting a curated item (“water” is marked with a golden ribbon)

We hope this initiative will allow many of you to “live your passions” even more than you do today, and by doing so, helping all our community of users enjoy more CircleMe and the relevant and interesting content it wants to broadcast to the world.

Ready to become ambassador of your passion? Get started by visiting the Curated Items page now!

Classic Tafelspitz

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Tafelspitz is a classic Austrian dish and is considered the national dish of Austria. It is boiled beef in broth served with horseradish.

To make Tafelspitz you will need 1 round of beef, 750 g beef bones, 3 carrots, 3 turnips/parsnips, 1 small celeriac, 1 onion, 2 bay leaves, 10 peppercorns, 2 juniper berries, salt, and chopped chives for decoration.

To prepare fill a pot with about a gallon of cold water. Wash the bones and boil them in the water. Place the meat, bay leaves, peppercorns, and juniper berries in the water and simmer for about 2 ½ hours.

Split the onion and fry in a pan until dark brown and cut the vegetable into cubes and add the onion to the meat.

Continue to cook until the meat is tender. Remove the meat and strain the soup and the put in the meat again. Slice the meat and arrange on a warm plate. Pour in soup and add salt to taste. Sprinkle with chives.

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Budapest for you

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Budapest is one of the oldest and largest cities in Europe and is the capital of Hungary. It was formed from the combination of two former cities – Buda and Pest which lie on both banks of the Danube River.

The city was once the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which was dissolved after World War I and has since been ranked the .second best city to live in by Conde Nast Traveler.

Several UNESCO World Heritage Sites lie in the city including the banks of the Danube River itself, the Buda Castle, Andrassy Avenue, and Heroes Square.

Other sites in the city include the second largest synagogue in the world, an underground system of thermal springs, Gresham Palace, and the Aquincum Museum which is a relic of Roman times.

The city boasts the second oldest underground railway system in the world behind that of London.

Hungarian cuisine relies heavily on meats and stews with goulash being a staple of the diet. Paprika and pork and casseroles are also important to the diet.

Places in which you can enjoy Hungarian cuisine include Gerbeaud Café, and the Százéves, Biarritz, Fortuna, Alabárdos, Arany Szarvas, Kárpátia as well as the world famous Mátyás Pince Restaurants.

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Stills released from new X-Men film

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The X-Men franchise continues with the X-Men: Days of Future Past due to be released sometime in 2014.

The film’s director Bryan Singer has released stills from the new film which is currently in production.

A short teaser trailer was released early in the week and then a few equally short new stills have also been released.

The images from the film, being produced by 20th Century Fox, were released by Empire andEntertainment Weekly magazines. Much of the main cast from the earlier films have reunited for his sequel.

Among the stars involved in the production are Charles Xavier played by Scottish actor James McAvoy, and Erik Lehnsherr being played by Michael Fassbender, Hugh Jackman asWolverine, Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde, and Shawn Ashmore as Iceman.

Also making their return to this new X-Men movie are an old Professor Xavier played by English actor Patrick Stewart and Magneto, played by Sir Ian McKellan.

The X-Men has spawned a slew of sequels and prequels including Wolverine, and X-Men United.

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Daniel Avery a Solid Gold Investment

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If there is one electronic music DJ you can bank on then it is Daniel Avery. The DJ hails from Bournemouth, England.

Avery grew up in the seaside town in the UK and spent much of his days honing his skills playing on independent nights at venues in the city and has now grown to become one of the most recognised names in electronic dance music.

Avery, 28, spent a bit of his history in residency with Fabric which helped to shape his growth. Avery’s beat is known for its mix of mechanical, industrial, and psychedelic sounds.

Among his resume are the tracks ‘Drone Logic’, ‘Water Jump’, ‘Simulrec’, ‘These Nights Never End’, and ‘Reception’. ‘Drone Logic’ is his debut album, which he released in October, on Erol Alkan’s Phantasy label.

The 12-track album is being described as a masterpiece and has Avery’s own contemporaries and critics discussing its mastery. The sounds of the EP are said to blend al that Avery is about. Producer Weatherall has described Avery’s record as “gimmick-free machine funk of the highest order.”

Avery currently makes his home in London.

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Zac Efron reunites with British girlfriend

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American cinema star Zac Efron has reunited with his British girlfriend Lily Collins after the actor went into rehab.

It appears that Collins has been offering Efron support through his struggles and the flame was reignited. Efron, who starred in the High School Musical film and their sequels, has been struggling with a cocaine addiction. He stayed in a rehab facility several times and Collins was one of the persons who reached out to him in his hour of need.

The pair had split up prior to his troubles and so they never quite ended their romance. The two dated for three months in 2012 and then they ended their relationship in June. It was assumed that their relationship ended because they weren’t serious about each other.

However, now that Efron is in trouble maybe the two will find common ground once again. The two have been sighed together out in public, at the movies. It appears that Collins has competition though. Efron was also seen out with another actress, American Brittany Snow.

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Genovese-style artichokes, stuffed thistles

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Artichokes are a real interesting way to spice up any kind of meal. The interestingly shaped vegetable is really a thistle that is grown as food.

The Genovese-style artichoke is one good way to enjoy this food. To make it you will need 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1/4 cup, 1 pound button or Roman mushrooms, trimmed and chopped, 1 onion, diced, 4 garlic cloves, chopped, 4 slices prosciutto, chopped, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 4 fresh artichokes, trimmed and cleaned, and 2 cups white wine.

To prepare, first in a large skillet heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over a medium high flame and add the mushrooms, onions, and garlic.

Cook them stirring often and until the mushrooms are tender and the onions gold. Place the mushrooms in a bowl and allow to cool then add the prosciutto, parsley, Parmesan, salt, and pepper and stir to combine.

Pull the artichoke leaves apart and widen the spaces. Then stuff the mushroom mixture between the leaves and place them in a pan. Add the wine and 1 cup of water and olive oil. Cover the pan and allow to simmer for 45 minutes until he artichokes are tender. Remove from the flame and serve hot.

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Gesaffelstein: The next big thing in EM

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Gesaffelstein
Gesaffelstein may just be the next big thing in electronic music. The artist, whose birth name is Mike Levy, plays in the Paris Social Club to resounding welcome.

He says he got the name Gesaffelstein while living in Belgium for six months and adds that it was a combination of two names, Gesamtkunstwerk and Einstein.

The Frenchman was not a born convert of electronic music but loved the arts, such as drawing and became attracted to the music after listening to the group Depeche Mode. After becoming initially hooked he started investigating more about electronic music and the sounds of Detroit where the house music first emerged.

He stopped listening and started learning more about playing himself. He got hooked up with a few other producers The Hacker being one of them back in 2007.

The pair now come together often for gigs and they are partners in running Zone Records. Levy states though that even if The Hacker was not around, he would still be doing his thing.

Now he spends time improving himself without the aid of others and got some real publicity and kudos after some releases of his own.

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Genova, city of history

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Genova is a city in Italy most associated with the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus.

The port city is the capital of Liguria in Italy and is the sixth largest city in the peninsula. The city is one of the largest on the Mediterranean Sea and also one of the largest seaports in Italy. Much of the city is surrounded by an ancient wall, parts of which still exist today.

It has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is important for its art, history, ,music, architecture, and food.

Among the city’s main sights are the San Matteo Square, San Lorenzo Cathedral, the city’s Lanterna or lighthouse, the fountain in the Piazza de Ferrari, the Doge’s Palace, and the Royal Palace of Genoa.

The city also has a number of parks that are suitable for relaxing such as the Villa Durazzo Pallavicini while the old harbour is one of the most ancient in Europe.

The city is famous for also its artwork and several important European artists such as Ruben Van Wyck and Strozzi had bases in Genoa.

The Genovese cuisine, like that of much of Italy is special and pesto sauce originated there. Some fish dishes are also unique to the city such as pansoti. Places to try Genovese cuisine in the city include the Gran Ristora and Profuma di Roso.

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