What We Loved This Week: Son Jarocho, the Ottawa Public Library and the BBC’s ‘World of Business’

Terry Ward
Learning to love sharks in Palau. I spent four days aboard the Ocean Hunter III liveaboard, diving Palau’s outer reefs. On every dive, we spotted multiple sharks—grey reefs, white tips and black tips. Unlike at some Caribbean spots, there’s no feeding needed to get the guys to gather here. The water was literally clouded with reef fish and schooling pelagics. Clipped with a reef hook to the edge of the drop offs, swaying in the current and watching the sharks materialize from the blue to skirt the coral walls, gave me a new admiration for the ocean’s top predator.

Elyse Franko
I returned from Vienna in June, and have since been at home on Long Island lamenting the absence of goulasch and amazing kebab stands—I know, I know, New York has a great food scene, but it’s generally expensive and often less-than-authentic. So I was thrilled to see Anthony Bourdain digging through the culinary delights of New York’s outer boroughs on Monday night. I’ll be sure to check out that noodle shop in Queens—though I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to agree with New York Dolls singer David Johansen’s claim that Staten Island is just like Hawaii.

Eva Holland
The Ottawa Public Library. The main branch has a generous magazine section stocked with back issues, so I spent a pleasant morning last weekend getting my vicarious outdoor activity fix, browsing through a year’s worth of Backpacker, National Geographic Adventure and more.

Jim Benning
I loved Los Cojolites, a great young son jarocho group from Veracruz that played last night in San Diego’s Balboa Park. Here’s a taste:

Frank Bures
I’ve been trying to figure out why I like Peter Day’s shows on the BBC, Global Business and World of Business, so much. I’m not much of a bean counter, and I usually skip the business section. But I’ve listened to his show for years—he’s funny, smart and insightful—and I think I finally realized why the show is so good. It sounds incredibly boring, but at its heart the show is about how the world is changing and what that means for those of us living and working in it.

Michael Yessis
The just-out trailer for Up in the Air. It solidifies the movie’s place at the top of the list of flicks I’m most looking forward to seeing.

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