Destination: United States
‘The United Steaks of America’
by Michael Yessis | 09.10.09 | 10:13 AM ET
Alright, Al Franken. Impressive work drawing the map, but I’d be more amazed if you could do this with beef.
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Yahoo! BuzzAl Franken Draws a Map of America
by Eva Holland | 09.09.09 | 1:12 PM ET
From memory. Apparently the good Senator’s been pulling out this party trick for years, but his latest display—presumably, his first since taking office—is drawing a lot of online attention. Here it is, from the Minnesota State Fair:
Hey, wouldn’t it be nifty if an excellent grasp of the country’s geography was a prerequisite for federal office, rather than a viral video-worthy feat?
Two Days in the Life of a Rest Stop on the New York State Thruway
by Michael Yessis | 09.08.09 | 3:15 PM ET
This American Life did it again this weekend with a superb program chronicling the happenings at a highway rest stop in Wallkill, New York. Some accompanying photos can be found on Flickr.
The Best Travel Photo I Never Took
by Doug Mack | 09.04.09 | 11:20 AM ET
iStockPhoto His Facebook friends would have loved it, but Doug Mack has no regrets
Mapping Manhattan in 1609
by Eva Holland | 09.03.09 | 12:32 PM ET
Union Square in the early 17th century? According to The Mannahatta Project, an interactive map that lets users search block-by-block for the ecological and wildlife history of Manhattan, it was home to the meadow vole and the white-footed mouse, rather than the Greenmarket browsers of today. (Via Boing Boing)
Hawaii: ‘Prejudice in Paradise’?
by Michael Yessis | 09.02.09 | 2:58 PM ET
The Southern Poverty Law Center has issued an intelligence report about racial tensions and issues with non-native Hawaiians on the islands. The report goes well beyond the issues we touched on earlier this year after a Saturday Night Live skit about “two grass-skirted, uke-playing, hula-dancing, minimum wage entertainers” who abuse guests at a hotel restaurant in Hawaii. (Via Fark)
Travel Song of the Day: ‘Los Angeles’ by X
by Jim Benning | 09.01.09 | 3:50 PM ET
Book Bannings in America, Mapped
by Eva Holland | 09.01.09 | 1:25 PM ET
Banned Books Week has a mashup of all the book bans (and resulting challenges) in the Lower 48 over the last two years. Anyone expecting a certain, er, geographical censorship concentration might be in for a surprise: Brooklyn and the Bay Area, for instance, are represented right alongside the more stereotypical suspects. (Via The Book Bench)
Canuck to American Travelers: Lose the Canadian Flag
by Eva Holland | 08.31.09 | 12:58 PM ET
Gadling’s Sean McLachlan has a message for fearful Americans headed overseas: “The world doesn’t hate you as much as you think it does.”
The Warm Bacon-y Wind of New York City
by Michael Yessis | 08.31.09 | 12:05 PM ET
Jason Logan walked New York City from tip to tip, chronicling the smells of his journey in a fantastic New York Times Op-Art piece. It looked great in print yesterday. Online, it’s better—and interactive. Click on TriBeCa and you’ll find out that while he was there Logan smelled, among other things, deep-fried something, faux-leather fanny pack and a warm bacon-y wind.
There’s great detail throughout. For instance, roll over the map and your cursor turns into a nose.
Revealed: Robert Frank’s Elevator Girl
by Michael Yessis | 08.31.09 | 11:09 AM ET
The previously unknown woman in Robert Frank’s photo “Elevator—Miami Beach,” the woman Jack Kerouac singled out in his introduction to Frank’s book, “The Americans,” has revealed herself. She’s Sharon Collins. At the time of the photo she was working the elevator at the Sherry Frontenac Hotel.
Kerouac described Collins as “That little ole lonely elevator girl looking up sighing in an elevator full of blurred demons.” In an interview with NPR this weekend, Collins said Kerouac’s description of her was “pretty close.”
He saw in me something that most people didn’t see. I have a big smile and a big laugh, and I’m usually pretty funny. So people see one thing in me. And I suspect Robert Frank and Jack Kerouac saw something that was deeper. That only people who were really close to me can see. It’s not necessarily loneliness, it’s ... dreaminess.
Here’s the iconic photo.
If it’s August, it Must Be ‘Les Vacances’
by Eva Holland | 08.28.09 | 3:17 PM ET
We’ve all been there: wandering in a medieval town emptied of locals, or reading the note in our guidebook about business closures for the month of August—those pesky paid vacation days again. Global Post’s Teri Schultz takes a look at government-mandated vacation time over in Europe, and the lack thereof back in the States.
New Orleans: The Tourists are Back
by Eva Holland | 08.28.09 | 11:43 AM ET
With the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina being marked this weekend, and the re-building still ongoing, there’s some hopeful news for New Orleans: Tourism in the city is creeping steadily back towards pre-disaster levels. USA Today crunches the numbers.
Photo We Love: Obama on Holiday
by World Hum | 08.28.09 | 10:59 AM ET
REUTERS/Jason Reed President Obama, who clearly didn’t read Tom Swick’s open letter about his vacation plans, cycles on Martha’s Vineyard.
Yeah You Right: A New Orleans Manifesto
by Adam Karlin | 08.28.09 | 10:57 AM ET
After spending two months in NOLA writing a guidebook, Adam Karlin reflects on what makes the city as indispensable to the U.S. as Yellowstone and Manhattan