Destination: United States
‘The Asian Food Lovers’ Guide to L.A.’
by Michael Yessis | 10.27.08 | 7:10 AM ET
The cover story of the latest Los Angeles Magazine takes a thorough look at the Asian food scene my home city. Alas, only the noodles section is online.
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* The Greatest Thing About Los Angeles Is ...
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Yahoo! Buzz‘State by State’: The Film
by Michael Yessis | 10.24.08 | 11:17 AM ET
The book “State by State”—we posted Frank Bures’ interview with coeditor Matt Weiland yesterday—has a companion piece: A 38-minute film staring 19 of the book’s contributors, including Anthony Bourdain. The No Reservations host gets some good screen time in the trailer:
Matt Weiland: Through 50 States With 50 Writers
by Frank Bures | 10.23.08 | 4:23 PM ET
Photo courtesy James Lester Films The coeditor of "State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America" talks to Frank Bures
David Sedaris Explains Undecided Voters With Airline Food Analogy
by Michael Yessis | 10.22.08 | 3:32 PM ET
From Shouts & Murmurs in the latest New Yorker: “To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat,” Sedaris writes.
Is Scranton the New Peoria?
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.22.08 | 10:50 AM ET
At the very least, Peoria’s got to be a little jealous, since Scranton is the locale for the wildly popular series The Office and perhaps the most visible campaign stop in the most exciting presidential race in recent memory. Joe Biden grew up in this working-class town, but all the candidates have wooed the city, which, the the Wall Street Journal reports, one local described as “the poster-boy for small-town, blue-collar America.”
U.S. Business Travelers Abroad Facing ‘Blunt Questions,’ ‘Heated Discussions’
by Michael Yessis | 10.21.08 | 9:58 AM ET
It’s because of the worldwide interest in the U.S. election. Says one traveler: “I have been doing this for almost 20 years, and never before have so many people from so many different cultures been so interested in our government and asked my opinion of who I think will win the election.”
Sesame Street, Global Edition
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.17.08 | 1:59 PM ET
When I heard Big Bird and South Africa’s muppet Zikwe talking to NPR about Putumayo Kids’ “Sesame Street Playground” album this weekend, I couldn’t help feeling jealous that I hadn’t grown up hearing songs like “Rubber Duckie” in Mandarin. The 40-year-old dean of all children’s shows now airs in 120 countries, and the new album showcases its worldwide reach.
There are songs from Israel, Palestine, Tanzania, South Africa, France, China, Russia, Mexico, the Netherlands, India and the United States. Concierge is especially fond of the “Pollution Song” from South Africa: a ditty about cleaning up after yourself. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone in the world sang along to that?
Diane Keaton on the Lessons of the Ambassador Hotel
by Michael Yessis | 10.17.08 | 9:40 AM ET
A thoughtful op-ed this week from the actress, who is also a trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
U.S. Government Twitters for Travelers
by Julia Ross | 10.15.08 | 10:05 AM ET
We were pretty impressed after learning that the State Department had embraced using Twitter and its pithy 140-character messages to issue travel warnings. Now it appears the trend is spreading among U.S. government agencies. The Silicon Alley Insider gives seven U.S. government agencies props for employing Twitter as a way to disseminate information quickly.
Tourists Descend on Wall Street: ‘Everyone Wants to See What’s Going On’
by Michael Yessis | 10.14.08 | 12:09 PM ET
The AFP paints a surreal picture of the scene on Wall Street last week, as tourists “brought a bizarrely carnival-like atmosphere” to lower Manhattan. A “white-bearded busker [played] Amazing Grace on the flute,” and one Swedish visitor said what many of the scared and “numb” money guys might be thinking: “The Americans aren’t world leaders any more. It’s time for a shift and this is the symptom of that. Power is shifting away—perhaps to China.”
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Photo by Helico, via Flickr (Creative Commons)
The Linkery: ‘The Nation’s Only Anti-Tipping Laboratory’
by Michael Yessis | 10.13.08 | 10:17 AM ET
A San Diego restaurant embraces a no-tipping policy, provoking an examination of why we tip, what tipping means to workers and diners, and why European and American restaurants don’t see eye-to-eye on the issue.
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* Experts to Americans: Easy On the Tipping!
Hawaii Tourism Hit by ‘Perfect Storm’
by Michael Yessis | 10.09.08 | 4:03 PM ET
The economic downturn has hit Hawaii hard, but that’s not all. Hawaii tourism chief Rex Johnson resigned yesterday after “exchanging racist and sexist jokes by e-mail on his state computer,” according to the Honolulu Advertiser.
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* Hawaii: Too ‘Foreign’ and ‘Exotic’ for a Presidential Vacation?
The History of ‘Main Street’
by Jim Benning | 10.09.08 | 12:13 PM ET
Linguist Geoff Numberg traces the roots of the phrase used so often these days to describe the effects of the country’s financial woes on everyday citizens. Among its influential early uses: as the title of a 1920 Sinclair Lewis novel.
Voting Options for American Travelers
by Jim Benning | 10.06.08 | 12:05 PM ET
Traveling Nov. 4? USA Today offers tips to ensure travelers have their say, from voting early by absentee ballot to, in 31 states, voting early in-person.
The World’s Greenest Museum?
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.03.08 | 10:06 AM ET
Renzo Piano’s design for the $488 million, 410,000-square-foot California Academy of Sciences is reaping accolades for its architecture (“an unusually rich, thoughtful and evocative building”), content (exhibits include a planetarium, rain forest and aquarium) and opening-weekend popularity (the entrance line was a mile long).