Ripples #52
Compiled and Written by Lenny Giteck   Lady Gaga and Armenian Bigwig  Close Hotel Pools for Romance    British tabloid Web site thesun.co.uk reports that while Lady Gaga was in Stockholm recently to perform in the Swedish capital, her boyfriend Taylor Kinney showed up unexpectedly 
Encircled Perfection
As I’ve mentioned before in these Travelogues, I have strong ties to Pennsylvania and have spent a considerable amount of time exploring all it has to offer visitors, from the basic touristy stuff to some wonderfully off-the-beaten-path sorts of experiences.   My brother Tom lived in Philadelphia through most of the 1980s, and both work and pleasure led me to visit him on so many occasions that I came to know the city quite well.  The waterfront is amazing, and so is the historic district 
Test Your Knowledge #41
Blind U.S. Navy Swimmer  Wins Paralympics Gold 
Rethinking a Pond?
It’s accepted wisdom in the pond business that most homeowners who get bitten by the watergardening bug will commonly own three ponds before they’re truly satisfied.  They’ll start with a simple, small pond and work up through an intermediate stage before acquiring a large, full-featured pond that reflects their growing confidence and competence in 
Pardon Our Dust!
To read WaterShapes EXTRA’s August 22, 2012 edition, click here. To read WaterShapes EXTRA’s September…
A Classic Crescendo
‘Project of a lifetime” may not be enough to describe our work at Cima del Mundo.    [T]he hilltop home had experienced many changes since its original construction in 1925, including service as a makeshift monastery as well as a stretch of years in which the property was abandoned and allowed to go almost disastrously to seed.  In all its history, however, the estate has never been through as much by way of transformation as it has 
Thinking Video
Back in 1999, when WaterShapes magazine was just starting, we engaged in lots of discussions about our need for good-quality photography to illustrate the points we wanted to make about superior construction and the minute details involved in 
Making Water Dance
These days, clients who’ve been out to see a bit of the world come at designers and builders with all sorts of interesting ideas and requests.  For the most part, they’ve seen something they or their children really like and want to get an appropriately scaled version of the same sort of water effect as part of their own backyard resorts.
Blast from the Past
Ever since people started adding swimming pools to their backyards, the companies that make the equipment, tools, systems and accessories that drive or ease their use have tried to reach and influence consumers. Real successes in those efforts can probably be counted on the fingers of a hand or two; I’ve always thought that, as an industry, we do a much better job of talking among ourselves at trade shows and in trade magazines than we do at getting to consumers where they live. You’ll be glad to know that this is not a discussion I want to pursue here; rather, I want to focus
A Walk in the Park
By Jim McCloskey A few weeks back, I came across a story on a celebration that ran off the rails in San Diego’s Balboa Park.  In the wee hours of August 12, a party instantly organized on social media lured an estimated 1,500 people to participate in a gigantic water fight.  Unfortunately, the park’s largest open and available source of water to