In This Issue Welcome Free Monthly Desktop Wallpaper Space Shuttle Status Florida (Eyewitness Travel Guides) book review Mosquitoes Theme Park News August events Weather forecast

Hi subscriber, welcome to the August newsletter of the Florida Review & Travel Guide.

It has always been my plan to launch a free Florida desktop wallpaper background for your computer and this month, it has finally happened; see below for more details.

July 4 saw the successful launch of the space shuttle Discovery on the second "Return-To-Flight" mission to prove the viability of continuing with the shuttle program. NASA are now set to resume shuttle missions with Atlantis due to launch at the end of August and launch tickets are already on sale.

Florida books published in August

A new feature starting this month, is a list of the new guide books published each month.

On August 21, the 2007 edition of "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" is published. You can read our review here.

On August 30, the new edition of Orlando (Eyewitness Top 10 Travel) by Dorling Kindersley is published. Look out for our review of this great little pocket guide book next month.

This month, we are launching our free monthly Florida desktop wallpaper calendar for your computer.

Each month, we will bring you a new desktop picture from Florida to help remind you of vacations past or vacation planned for the future. Each desktop background image includes a handy calendar for the current month.

Each free wallpaper is available in three different sizes; 1600 x 1200, 1024 x 768 and 800 x 600, to suit your computer monitor's resolution.

Desktops for August 2006 (Shamu at the SeaWorld Believe show) and September 2006 (Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck with Donald Duck in Animal Kingdom) are ready to download now.

Note that some of the larger files can be 200-300k in size so if you are on a modem dialup line it will take a few minutes to download.

To view and then download the Florida free desktop wallpaper for August now, click here.

Following the success of the second "Return-To-Flight" mission by the Space Shuttle Discovery, the shuttle program is now back on track.

NASA have already announced that the three remaining shuttles will be retired in 2010 and the race is now on to complete the International Space Station.

Discovery (OV-103) first flew in 1984, Atlantis (OV-104) in 1985 and Endeavour (OV-105), built to replace Challenger, in 1992.

Challenger (OV-99) was tragically lost in 1986 and then Columbia (OV-102) in 2003. The first shuttle, Enterprise (OV-101) was never intended to go into orbit and has now been retired to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.

You can also see the replica Space Shuttle Explorer at the Kennedy Space Center and there is another replica at the nearby Astronaut Hall of Fame.

NASA hopes to complete a further 16 missions between now and 2010 in an attempt to complete the half built International Space Station.

There is also a hope that it will be possible to make one last servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope in order to repair and upgrade the telescope so that its mission can be extended well into the next decade.

Two further flights (Atlantis and Discovery) are planned for this year with five flights in 2007, four flights in 2008, four flights in 2009 and finally two more in 2010.

For information about future shuttle missions, click here.

Florida (Eyewitness Travel Guides) is one of the Eyewitness Travel Guide series published by Dorling Kindersley and is now updated annually.

It is lavishly illustrated throughout with over 1000 stunning photographs, illustrations including isometric street plans, cutaway diagrams of important buildings, floorplans and maps.

Like all of the Eyewitness Travel Guides, the artwork in the Florida book is beautifully presented so you can really see what the places look like and the best way to explore them.

The introductory chapter gives you a feel for Florida, its history, people, landscape and habitat, architecture and culture.

The main guide splits Florida into six regions plus a separate section for the Miami area and each region is colour coded. Each section starts with a map of the region highlighting the location of the main sights, major roads, railways, airports and information on getting around.

To read the rest of this review and details of where you can buy this book, click here.

One of the biggest problems of being in Florida during the summer months is the intense heat/humidity and mosquitoes.

From May through to November, particularly in the south you may be bothered by mosquitoes. There are over 70 species of mosquitoes found in Florida but luckily only one of them carries a disease that is harmful to humans.

This year's drought has helped to curb the start of the season in some counties but it only takes a few days of rain for the mosquitoes to start breeding.

To protect yourself:

• remove containers from the garden like paddling pools, buckets and wheelbarrows that could collect stagnant water (or empty them every couple of days)
• try to stay indoors at dawn, dusk and the early evening
• wear long-sleeved shirts, trousers (pants) and a hat when outdoors
• use unscented products such as hair spray, soap and deodorant
• spray clothing with insect repellent containing permethrin or 35% DEET

Follow the manufacturers instructions when spraying and try to avoid contact as insect repellents may irritate the eyes and mouth. Note that "ultrasonic" devices are not effective in preventing mosquito bites.

In a rather unusual incident, a man was bitten by a poisonous pygmy rattlesnake whilst he was shopping in the garden center of a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Sanford. Luckily their bite is not usually lethal and he is making a good recovery.

To read more about mosquitoes and other creepy crawlies, click here.

Following the runaway box office success of the second Pirates of the Caribbean film "Dead Man's Chest", Disney Cruise Line guests at Disney's exclusive private island, Castaway Cay, have spotted the Flying Dutchman.

The 175 ft ghost ship is moored off shore and if you are lucky you might also see Captain Jack Sparrow posing for pictures and signing autographs around the island.

Disney have also announced that at the end of this month they are stopping the regular Mickey's Pin Trading Nights at the Walt Disney World® Resort hotels. No reason has been given but pin trading will continue in the parks.

Universal Studios have started selling tickets for this year's Halloween Horror Nights, entitled "Sweet Sixteen" to celebrate 16 years of scaring the wits out of people. Halloween Horror Nights run on specific weekend nights between September 29 and October 31.

The dates for the Disney Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party are from September 15 to October 31.

Over at SeaWorld, if you stay in one of the participating Orlando Marriott or Renaissance Hotels and Resorts, then children can play and stay for free.

Children must be aged 9 or younger and you can get one free ticket for each adult ticket you buy. You must book by the end of September and visit by the end of December.

SeaWorld have also introduced a SeaWorld Anytime ticket option which allows you to visit anytime you like for up to six consecutive days.

Read more about Orlando theme park tickets here.

This year's Annual Possum Festival & Funday is on August 5 at Wausau near Chipley north of Panama City.

New Port Richey hosts a Key West style street party A Night in the Tropics! on August 18 from 7 pm to midnight in Downtown New Port Richey. There are flamenco dancers, food from around the Southern hemisphere, a beer garden and Latin music from three stages (www.nprmainstreet.com for more details).

The last 2006 Smooth Sounds of Hot Summer Nights Jazz Concert in the series at the Sea Walk Pavilion, Jacksonville takes place on August 20 and features Stacey Knights and Euge Groove (www.jacksonvillebeach.org for more details).

The Naples Beach Hotel continues their 21st season of SummerJazz on the Gulf with Jazz Guitarist Les Sabler on August 26 (www.naplesbeachhotel.com for more details).

On August 27 at 4:30:00 pm, the Space Shuttle Atlantis, STS-115 is set to blast off for the next mission to the International Space Station. The launch window remains open until September 13 (www.kennedyspacecenter.com for more details).

The Boeing Delta 2 STEREO mission has been delayed again and launch date is now set for August 31 at 3:12:24 pm from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (www.kennedyspacecenter.com for more details).

July remained quiet on the hurricane front and the weather in August is expected to be typical for the time of year. It will start out warm with scattered thunderstorms throughout most of the month.

Temperatures across the whole of Florida will be in the high 80s/low 90s with high levels of humidity.

To check out the rest of the Florida weather including monthly temperature and rainfall charts across the State and the latest hurricane news, click here.

We plan to bring you a newsletter on the first day of each month with details of upcoming events and news from across Florida.

Copyright © 2006, Stephen Downs, Florida Review & Travel Guide. All rights reserved. Please do NOT reprint or host on your website without explicit permission from http://www.floridareview.co.uk.

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