Destination: United States
Michael Jackson: A Global Force in Life and Death
by World Hum | 06.26.09 | 11:07 AM ET
REUTERS/Patrick De Noirmont See the full photo slideshow »
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Yahoo! BuzzMapped: How Hollywood Sees the United States
by Michael Yessis | 06.26.09 | 10:33 AM ET
What, you’ve never been to Alabanjorape?
The White House Luau: President Obama ‘Wants his Hawaii Grinds’
by Michael Yessis | 06.25.09 | 11:27 AM ET
The first-ever White House Hawaiian-style luau is scheduled to take place tonight, with President Obama hosting a meal created and prepared by Alan Wong.
Good for Obama. He loves his home state of Hawaii, and Hawaii loves him back—though, as seen in this slideshow, sometimes it loves him in funny ways.
In any case, Obama will get some Hawaiian food—the chef’s shopping list includes 84 pounds of Hawaiian macadamia nuts, 130 pounds of salmon and 650 pounds of pork butt—cooked by the proprietor of one of his favorite restaurants. And Hawaii hopes it will get what it desperately needs: a boost for tourism.
Meet Two Roadside A-Kitschianados
by Sophia Dembling | 06.25.09 | 10:33 AM ET
Photo courtesy of Vintage Roadside OK, all my kitsch-lovin’ friends, here’s a site for you.
Vintage Roadside sells T-shirts and advertising images of just the kind of kooky roadside kitsch we love so much. Not only is the stuff super fun, but a portion of all Vintage Roadside sales are donated to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Obama in Hawaii: Commander in Kitsch
by Pam Mandel | 06.25.09 | 10:31 AM ET
Photo by Pam Mandel Obama bobbleheads! Obama license plates! Obama meets Elvis! Pam Mandel reports from the souvenir section of Obamaland.
See the Obama in Hawaii slideshow »
South Carolina Governor’s Mystery Vacation: Is He a Tango Addict?*
by Jim Benning | 06.24.09 | 1:07 PM ET
Nobody seemed to know where South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was for days. His wife said she didn’t know but wasn’t worried. His staff said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. The police got involved.
Well, today the governor emerged at the Atlanta airport saying work had been stressful and he had gone to Buenos Aires because he needed a vacation and “wanted to do something exotic.” He said he spent the week driving the Argentine coastline.
Some don’t buy his story. Speculation about what he was really doing is rampant. Talking Points Memo has put together a handy timeline of events surrounding the mystery trip.
Anyone have any good theories?
Call me crazy, but I’m going to suggest the governor did indeed go to Argentina—because he has a tango addiction. I have no evidence for this. I just like the idea of it and think it would make for a good HBO movie.
Come clean, governor. Is it tango? If it is, it’s OK with us.
*Update 11:37 a.m. PT: Well, I was close. The governor gave a press conference clearing up the mystery. It was a tango of a different sort.
*Update 4:34 p.m. PT: Gawker commenter flossy has the line of the day on the mixed messages earlier about the governor’s whereabouts: “In all fairness to his aides, “I’m getting some Argentinian tail” sounds a lot like “I’m hiking the Appalachian trail” when you’re on a fuzzy satelite phone connection. Who hasn’t had that kind of innocent misunderstanding?”
Travels in Tehrangeles
by Jim Benning | 06.24.09 | 9:59 AM ET
Photo by Jim Benning Los Angeles is home to an estimated half a million Iranian expatriates. On Monday, Jim Benning grabbed a camera and hit their streets.
See the full photo slideshow »
Nashville: You’ve Still Got It
by Jenna Schnuer | 06.23.09 | 4:30 PM ET
Nashville,
Just after I plucked my bag from the baggage carousel and walked out the airport doors to meet my ride, you wrapped me up in your humidity. Though that kind of welcome would, normally, put me off, I found it comforting. You were just making it clear that I was back in Nashville, that my two year for-no-good-reason exile from your borders had come to a close.
Before my visit, I told you I was nervous. One of my favorite cities, you had gone magical in my mind. When I thought about you, it was always fun fun fun, big food, history, music, blah blah blah. You were far removed from daily life. But from the minute that humidity grabbed me, I knew all would be OK. While my past visits have been anchored with purpose (reporting stories, the Tin Pan South festival, and so on), this trip was about, simply, hanging out and letting the week unfold as it might. I wanted to see what it was like just to be in Nashville, no run-around keep-yourself-busy necessary. My only requirements: eat at least one ice pop at Las Paletas and get a better understanding of the way your neighborhoods relate to each other.
You delivered.
Which Budget Bus Line is the Best?
by Eva Holland | 06.23.09 | 2:05 PM ET
Slate’s Noreen Malone offers up this amusing “snob’s guide to bus travel”—in which she compares the Northeast’s various discount bus lines, applying “the supremely useful, difficult-to-master art of distinguishing among the baser things in life” for the task.
I haven’t tried out Fung Wah, but I’ve ridden all the other lines mentioned—Megabus, Bolt Bus and good old Greyhound—and I agree with her choices for best and worst: Quasi-hip, wired Bolt comes in tops, while Megabus (whose glowing green ceiling lights kept me awake for the bulk of a 10-hour overnight ride a couple weeks back—honestly, who doesn’t dim the lights on an overnighter?) often makes me wish I’d shelled out for the train.
Got a favorite discount bus line? Or any budget bus horror stories?
Remembering America’s Lost Train Stations
by Michael Yessis | 06.23.09 | 12:12 PM ET
The Infrastructurist has a terrific then-and-now photo essay on beautiful American train stations that fell to the wrecking ball. Write Yonah Freemark and Jebediah Reed: “One lesson of this legacy is that what replaces a well designed and centrally located rail depot can is rarely of equal worth to the city.” (via @frugaltraveler)
See This Now: ‘Give Peace a Chance’
by Eva Holland | 06.23.09 | 10:14 AM ET
Photo by Eva Holland As we’ve noted, this spring marked the 40th anniversary of John and Yoko’s iconic “bed-ins” for peace, first at the Amsterdam Hilton and later (and more famously) at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel. The commemorations in those two cities have passed, but a powerful exhibit about the Montreal bed-in has just opened at the Museum at Bethel Woods (aka the Woodstock museum), and it will remain open through the summer.
Blog to Watch: ‘Recession Road Trip’
by Michael Yessis | 06.22.09 | 11:36 AM ET
Christina Davidson departed Washington, D.C., 11 days ago to “travel the back roads and State highways through the 48 contiguous United States, uncovering stories of economic survival and endurance,” she wrote in her debut post at The Atlantic. “In diners, bars, bingo halls and coffee shops, I seek those Americans who have lost everything—except hope.”
She’ll also tweet during her four months on the road.
The Secret is Out on Secret Dining
by David Farley | 06.19.09 | 10:38 AM ET
I met a woman at a party a few months ago who, when she witnessed my eyebrow-raising eating prowess, revealed she knows of a few secret dining spots: places only known by the covert band of dining cognoscenti, a cabal of eaters who fetishize the idea of eating in places that no one else knows of. I know, it’s exciting. I tried to extract the information from her that night with the grace of a tooth-pulling dentist, but she wouldn’t budge.
Where to Find Free Food in New York City
by Eva Holland | 06.19.09 | 9:45 AM ET
For those budget travelers who sometimes prefer to spend money on our drinks than on our meals (who, me?), Matt Gross has a helpful run-down of New York City’s free bar snacks. I can vouch for the tasty popcorn at Temple Bar.
The Critics: ‘Fordlandia’
by Alicia Imbody | 06.18.09 | 2:08 PM ET
Greg Grandin’s new book, Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City, analyzes the surprising history behind the brilliant car mogul’s disastrous attempts to transplant the American way of life into a remote Amazonian village. Ford is credited as the father of America’s consumer culture, but his utopian plans to capitalize on new sources of rubber resulted in one of the greatest failures of his distinguished career. The critics are chiming in on the man behind the story and the modern day implications of exporting Americanism.