There is a newly published Forbes.com article on the top 10 cities for making a living in the United States. Each has something to offer travelers as well. Here are the top cities and one place to go to in each. These are the first places that immediately came to mind. It's an odd assortment.

1. Houston, Texas. I've been to the Holocaust Museum in Los Angeles and found it incredibly worthwhile and moving. From the description of the Holocaust Museum in Houston, it sounds similar, although there is a section that includes first person accounts of the Holocaust survivors who live in the city.

2. Minneapolis, Minnesota. As I've posted before, the outdoor art in Minneapolis is fantastic, particularly, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

3. Boston, Massachusetts. The Freedom Trail that winds through the old part of Boston highlights the important places during the American Revolution. Here's a tour that looks like a fun way to take it in. When I walked the Freedom Trail in Girl Scouts, we were on our own. I wish we had been on this tour.

PopEater gave me a heads up about David Byrne of the Talking Heads designing bike racks in Manhattan in order to promote bike riding. The bike racks are finished and in place. Each reflect its location. For example, head to Wall Street and you'll find one shaped like a dollar sign. Here is a link to his Web page that shows the racks and where they are located.

The video is a clip from this past July. The rack on Wall Street is one of them shown. Plus, you'll get a feel for Byrne and the experience of bike riding in Manhattan. If you do bike ride, watch out for vehicles.

A taxi driver opened his car door without looking first which caused someone near and dear to me to fly over the door and break his collar bone.

An article I read in the New York Times last Thursday night left me feeling miffed. It explains one reason why it can be difficult to snag tickets to see "Hair," the current, free Shakespeare in the Park Public Theater production at Central Park's Delacorte Theater.

It's called CHEATING. Clever, but CHEATING.

According to the article, there are people who are hired to wait in lines by people who don't want to wait in line themselves. The line at the Delacorte Theater is one example of where this hired-line waiting cleverness happens.

And, why am I MIFFED?!

As a person who STOOD IN LINE with my brother and my 6-year-old son on August 6, slathering on sunscreen and sweltering, waiting for the line to move into the shade, but DID NOT get tickets, I'm annoyed.

Here is the saga. The good news first: My brother lives in Manhattan, therefore, I have the enviable position of having a place to stay whenever I show up in the Big Apple for a visit.

The smart news: Knowing that anything can happen in Manhattan, we had back-up plans when we took our spot after walking past the gobs and gobs of people already waiting when we walked the distance from the subway stop to the end of the line. Some were reading in the lawn chairs they had the foresight to bring with them, and others were eating a picnic feast.

The not so smart news: We showed up at 11:00 hoping for the best. Getting tickets can mean arriving in line as early as 6:00 A.M. As if, I'd drag my son to Central Park at 6 A.M. for an 7-hour wait. Hardly.

After you return home from your trip to New York City, what are people going to ask you? Did you see the Statue of Liberty? Did you ride the subway? Did you eat at one of those restaurants?

Your answers in order might be: Yes, yes, and it was just too damn expensive.

Eating in New York is pricey, especially if you want to go for the complete experience at the high end. For the remainder of July, though, more than 200 of the city's restaurateurs will celebrate NYC Summer Restaurant Week by making their product more accessible to the hot-dog-cart-frequenting, subway-riding masses.

Meal prices are set at $24.07 for lunch and $35.00 for dinner. Sadly, that does not include beverages, tax, or tip.

The best aspect of Restaurant Week is that it is not confined to one neighborhood of the city or one type of cuisine. Diners can try funky fusion dishes at Vong's in Midtown, rub shoulders with New York tend-setters at the TriBeCa Grill, or swirl pasta on their forks at Centovini in SoHo.

It's probably best to get reservations at one of the many participating restaurants. That is unless you are prepared to pay a hefty bribe to the maitre d'.

Those who don't care for the heat of New York in summertime can wait for NYC Winter Restaurant Week, which is normally held in late January.

Photo via Flickr user Plate of the Day

What a New York City shot! At first, I thought, where is this place? And then, "Aha!"

Taken from a distance by Damon Green, this view of people waiting by a train track is an every day New York experience that is often lost in the busy shuffle of life there.

It's great to have time to see how these three men are sitting on this bench waiting. This reminds me a bit of the Edward Hopper painting "Nighthawks." It's the voyeuristic quality perhaps.

The lines and color tones of this shot are also exquisite. Well, done.

If you have shots that capture an experience where you are, please send our way at Gadling photo pool. It may be picked as Photo of the Day.

Let's hear it for the Naked Cowboy. There are new details since I posted about his lawsuit against Mars Inc., the maker of M&Ms. Although some of his claim against the company has been thrown out, the judge has ruled that the lawsuit can move forward.

A jury will decide if the Naked Cowboy can collect any money from the Mars Inc. for dressing a Blue M&M up to look like the Naked Cowboy and using the image in an ad campaign. The idea behind this lawsuit is that the Naked Cowboy has created a persona and should have been paid for the use of the image since the ad implies that the Naked Cowboy endorses Blue M&Ms.

The Naked Cowboy (aka Robert Burck) is a guy that dresses in nothing but underwear, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat while he plays the guitar in New York City's Times Square. He's a fixture. A couple years ago, I saw him when we were passing by in a taxi. You can't miss him. He braves all kinds of weather.

Personally, I think that the Naked Cowboy has a point. He is a well-known figure in Manhattan and adds to Times Square's personality. Also, he has appeared as the Naked Cowboy in various other venues.

Mars Inc. claims that the company is using the Naked Cowboy image as a parody. Huh? Isn't that Blue M&M dressed like the Naked Cowboy? [see article] I still think the Naked Cowboy has a point. I'd say he better not be caught eating any blue M&Ms though.

Continental Airlines, for the fifth year straight. Congratulations.

The Official Airline Guide (OAG) just had its annual award ceremony to award the top performers in the industry, and the winner among all frequent flyers polled was Continental.

With a strong market presence out of New York City, hubs across the country, a superior first class and meals still served in coach (gasp), it's not hard to believe. Continental has perennially been a favorite among business and leisure travelers alike, and as long as they keep up this quality behavior they'll stay that way.

We'll see if they jump on the bandwagon of cutting amenities and increasing fees like the other legacy carriers did.

Other notable winners were:

Best Economy/Coach Class: American Airlines
Best Airlines based in Western Europe: Virgin Atlantic
Best Airport: Singapore Changi
Best Transatlantic Airline: British Airways

You can check out the full spectrum of awards over at OAG.com.

Earlier this week, Big in Japan brought you a how-to-guide for getting down and dirty in a love hotel (ラブホテル, rabu hoteru).

In case you missed the post, click here to get up to speed on the syrupy sweet yet delightfully sinful world of Japanese love hotels. Of course, if you're reading this blog now, and thinking to yourself that Japan is awfully far away, than fear not as there may be a love hotel closer than you think!

Located at 51 Tenth Ave in Manhattan, the Liberty Inn NYC was recently voted in the Best of New York - 2008 issue of New York Magazine as the City's BEST "by-the-hour" hotel.

Inspired by Japanese-style love hotels, the Liberty Inn NYC is home to twenty-eight uniquely designed rooms that are perfect for an old lover, a new partner or an adulterous tryst.

Can you feel the love tonight ﾎﾟｯ(*ﾟ.ﾟ)(ﾟ.ﾟ*)ﾎﾟｯ

So, you want to get tickets to see Conan O'Brien before he ups and moves to Los Angeles to take over Jay Leno? Better hurry -- by this time next year, the Late Show in New York will be a thing of the past (unless you really like Jimmy Fallon or something).

But, as you'll soon find out, scoring said tickets can be tricky. Don't fret, though -- Gadling is here to guide you through the process.

HOW TO GET TICKETS

Tickets to see a live taping of Conan O'Brien are, no doubt, some of the hardest to score in all of New York City. But don't let this dissuade you; with the right amount of planning, persistence, and spring in your step, you won't have a problem. First, the gritty details: Tickets are free, and can only be secured over the phone by calling (212) 664-3056 -- no websites or fax machines allowed. You can request a maximum of four tickets, and everyone in your party must be over 16-years old. Finally, you can only requests tickets once every six months.

The first step in the process is figuring out exactly when you'll be in the Big Apple. If you're a local, you can skip this part for obvious reasons -- but if you're visiting, don't bother trying to get tickets before you have your trip planned and know the exact dates in which you're available.

About two years ago, I saw the "Bodies" exhibit when it was in Cleveland. As I found out when reading Jaunted, there is a problem with the New York City exhibit. Perhaps, some of the people who were turned into plastic sans skin didn't have a say in the matter.

In the exhibit literature I saw, there were many assurances that the people on display had agreed to be a museum piece before their deaths. There were detailed explanations about how the bodies were preserved. In general, I felt partly fascinated and partly uneasy. I was fascinated because this was a wonderful way to see how the body is put together and how the muscles and skeleton actually work.

The uneasy part came from human bodies being turned into sculptures. It's not as if there was a check off list where the donor could make a request to be turned into a skateboarder or a ballet dancer. I've never been that flexible. It's odd to think I could be made to look that way down the road and people could walk around me to catch a glimpse at all angles. One body where it looked as if the body had been exploded into hundreds of pieces, the pieces hung from fine threads from a metal frame, also gave me pause. My first thought was, what a nightmare to move. Can you imagine what it's like to avoid tangles? It was cool for sure, but weird. I have to admit, I did like it.

People do have an interest in weirdness. We like being fascinated and slightly repulsed at the same time. In this case, big money has been made, and the integrity of the exhibits, perhaps, are not as pristine as we would hope. There are nine more besides the one in New York City.

I'm surprised that it's taken so long for people to get to the bottom of where exactly all these bodies have come from--although it may be one or two tainted bodies have slipped in from China through the cracks in an otherwise well thought out system. Just like some toys and toothpaste from China were found to be dangerous, not all. But, like toothpaste, a body may be questionable. The majority of the bodies, however, may be legitimate, and a chosen few get to look in death as if they could soar over buildings in a single bound.