Destination: Europe
Saving ‘Cleopatra’s Beach’ and a Jewel of the Aegean
by Joanna Kakissis | 04.03.09 | 11:15 AM ET
I’m not surprised that the beautiful Gulf of Gökova off the southwestern coast of Turkey has practically been loved to death. The Aegean blue water and soft beach sand (which Mark Antony allegedly imported to Gökova from Egypt for Cleopatra) is the stuff of sea-loving tourists’ dreams.
Over the years, yacht tours polluted the bay, illegal fishing depleted its marine life, and all those sunbathers started eroding that queenly beach sand. The European-funded Gökova Integrated Coastal Management program banned the sunbathers from the beach in 2007 and is now working to support sustainable fishing, protect the bay’s natural flora and fauna, and keep the Gökova waters clean. (Via Treehugger)
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Yahoo! BuzzInterview With James Wallace: Reflections From an Aerospace Reporter
by Rob Verger | 04.03.09 | 9:26 AM ET
Photo courtesy of James Wallace. Award-winning reporter James Wallace covered aerospace for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for more than 12 years. He worked for a total of 27 years at the paper, which recently stopped printing and transitioned to an online-only version with a comparatively tiny reporting staff. When that happened, Wallace’s job disappeared.
Wallace, who wrote a goodbye blog entry, is the author of two books, “Hard Drive” and “Overdrive,” both about Microsoft.
I caught up with him over the phone to hear about his years on the aviation beat.
World Hum: You covered aerospace for 12 years. How have you seen commercial air travel change during that time?
Jamie Oliver to G20 World Leaders: You’ll Eat British and Like It!
by David Farley | 04.02.09 | 4:13 PM ET
In the 1970s and ’80s, Great Britain had a reputation for bad teeth and even worse food (I wonder if there’s a connection?). Dentists were finally imported from parts of the erstwhile empire while British chefs began looking outside Britain for influences. They found it in France, the Mediterranean and even Southeast Asia. The results, however, were anything but British. Nonetheless, it helped bring England out of its culinary cellar. Five years ago, Gourmet magazine proclaimed London to be the best food city on the planet. This wasn’t a surprise to those who had been paying attention to global dining trends, but most people were caught unaware of London’s “new” prowess in the dining sphere.
Thames River, London, England
by World Hum | 04.02.09 | 11:42 AM ET
REUTERS/ Adam Oliver A general view of London Tower Bridge overlooking the River Thames is seen ahead of the G20 summit in London.
Five Best Mood-Matching Museums
by World Hum | 04.02.09 | 9:25 AM ET
(c) Sam Buxton, courtesy Kinetica What kind of art do you feel like today? Hayden Foreman-Smith knows where to go to match any mood.
Dhani Tackles Poetry: ‘For YOU and YOU and YOU ...’
by Dhani Jones | 03.30.09 | 2:21 PM ET
Dave Evans, Havass Sports, Courtesy of Red Line Films NFL linebacker and Renaissance man Dhani Jones hosts the new Travel Channel show, Dhani Tackles the Globe.
Like any good Renaissance man, he’s writing poems inspired by the travel experiences featured on each show.
The topic of tonight’s journey: England.
Pateley Bridge, England
by World Hum | 03.30.09 | 11:17 AM ET
REUTERS/Nigel Roddis Shopkeeper Kirsty Shepherd cleans the window of The Oldest Sweet Shop in England, in Pateley Bridge, northern England.
Looking Back at the Bed-In
by Eva Holland | 03.27.09 | 2:29 PM ET
This week marks the 40th anniversary of John and Yoko’s first bed-in, at the Amsterdam Hilton. The couple spent their honeymoon, from March 26 to 31, 1969, inviting the press to visit them in their hotel room, where they sat in bed and talked peace. (A second, more famous bed-in took place in Montreal in May of ’69 and resulted in the recording of “Give Peace a Chance.”)
If you happen to be in Amsterdam this weekend, check out a few ongoing commemorative events there, or—for a virtual commemoration—head over to Yoko Ono’s ImaginePeace.com for photos, video and reminiscences. You can also follow Yoko on Twitter; she’s had the anniversary on her mind. Yesterday she wrote: “I never liked ringing the service bell because it often made me realize that there was nobody at the other end.”
The Thrill of Gel and Other Disappearing Edible Delights!
by David Farley | 03.27.09 | 1:30 PM ET
Grant Achatz, the avant-garde Chicago chef, went to Madrid to attend Madrid Fusion, a congress of 50 of the world’s best chef, and all he got was a crappy food-stained T-shirt. Moreover, in this article he penned for the Atlantic, Achatz bemoans on a grander scale by wondering if molecular gastronomy is dead. Most of the world’s population didn’t even know that it had been born. But Achatz sat there during the meeting as chef after chef took the mic and felt pangs of emptiness:
“Where were the culinary fireworks? The introduction to the next ingredient that was going to enable us to turn oil into powder, serve a gelled liquid hot, or thicken an infusion by simply blending in a magical white substance? Where were the explanations of new techniques? Like the ones used to create raviolis with skins made from themselves, making pasta from stock, and aerating food to produce sponge-like textures?”
Raviolis with skins made from themselves? Aerating food to produce sponge-like textures? Sheesh. And he wonders why people may be losing interest in it.
Tradition, Change and the Fate of the Irish Pub
by David Farley | 03.26.09 | 4:16 PM ET
In Europe, Straighter Flight Paths Could Cut Costs and CO2
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.26.09 | 12:47 PM ET
About 3 percent of Europe’s CO2 output comes from airlines, which use up tons of fuel by zig-zagging between the national airspaces of the 27 member-states, Reuters reports. This week, EU lawmakers in Strasbourg agreed to the Single European Sky II plan that would save billions of euros in costs by modernizing air traffic management, straightening flight paths and streamlining the 27 airplaces to nine by June 2012.
The move could help the EU cut CO2 emissions to a fifth below 1990 levels by 2020. Could it also making flying the European skies faster and more pleasant?
No Heart-Shaped Jacuzzis for Couples at the Frog Hotel
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.24.09 | 3:34 PM ET
Because even amphibians need a place to get away from it all. The Frog Hotel in Edinburgh is more like the Bates hotel in “Psycho” than some smooth-lovin’ honeymoon inn soundtracked by Barry White, said Robert Henderson, Scottish coordinator for the Community Service Volunteers’ Action Earth campaign. But dark, dirt-scented ambience, complete with a compost cafe full of bugs and and a tiny ramp leading to a sleeping area, is just what gets frogs in the mood to schmooze.
Henderson’s group is encouraging people to put Frog Hotels in their gardens and yards in the hopes of preserving biodiversity in urban areas. It could work out really well for the frogs unless one of the hotels ends up next to a chef fond of cuisses de grenouille.
For Sale: Three Airports in the U.K.
by Rob Verger | 03.24.09 | 1:30 PM ET
Want to buy a British airport?
Last week the United Kingdom’s Competition Commission ruled that BAA—the company that owns seven airports in the U.K.—is required to sell London’s Gatwick and Stansted airports and one of two airports in Scotland.
This, the Economist reports, could perhaps improve conditions at Heathrow, which sees 67 million people a year. Speaking of that congested airport, the Economist writes: “Ideally, an expanded Gatwick or, to a lesser extent, Stansted could relieve the pressure. But crowded Heathrow generates plenty of profit and Gatwick and Stansted are also owned by BAA, so reducing congestion is not the firm’s top priority. Splitting ownership of the airports should encourage competition between them.” (Read the Commission’s full report via their website.)
Meanwhile, in reaction to the news, the Times of London offers 10 ways to improve airports, and also has put together a video that shows unhappy conditions at different airports in the world, including a lonely bag left out in the rain in Madrid, nasty weather at Chicago O’Hare, and yes, the “Airport Auntie.”
Dhani Tackles Poetry: ‘Dust From a Tree’
by Dhani Jones | 03.23.09 | 12:20 PM ET
Adam Fish/Travel Channel, L.L.C. NFL linebacker and Renaissance man Dhani Jones hosts the new Travel Channel show, Dhani Tackles the Globe.
Like any good Renaissance man, he’s writing poems inspired by the travel experiences featured on each show.
The topic of tonight’s journey: Switzerland.
Dust From a Tree
I step without sound…
Tip toe to be exact…
To silent it is…
Meandering about I encircle my challenger to ease my pain I speak quiet voices of speech…
I wrestle the unconscious thoughts of calamity reaching a Meringen paradise…
Quietly for the chance to understand and kneel before those who have done more I implore…
An aroma of clarity enters my mind, I hear the rushing water of the alps behind me as I grab a hold…
Adjusting my grasp gently tilting my head I catch a glimpse of cheese and wonder what I’m doing…
Shall I dip or will I fondue the moment…
From where my help comes from I reach to the rainy sky and let out a sigh of relief…
A second later my mouth full of dust from the trees is full and I am home…
Is an ‘Angels and Demons’ Boycott in the Works?
by Eva Holland | 03.23.09 | 10:00 AM ET
Publicity still from "Angels and Demons" (via IGN) Get the Big Picture blogger Colin Boyd rounds up rumors from Reuters and Italy’s La Stampa newspaper about a possible Vatican-backed boycott of the upcoming Dan Brown adaptation. The movie—which has already spawned the inevitable bus tours—hits theaters in May, and Boyd is doubtful that a boycott would have much impact (or at least, not the sort of impact the Vatican is hoping for) on its potential success. He writes: “Perhaps there is no better, more effective form of advertising and buzz-building than a good ol’ fashioned protest. I can’t think of any product or service, actor or athlete who became less well known following a public ignoring session.”