Travel Blog: News and Briefs
Mapped: ‘Pygmalion,’ ‘Faust,’ ‘Oedipus’ and ‘Leviathan’
by Eva Holland | 03.24.10 | 4:29 PM ET
In a very cool map graphic, Lapham’s Quarterly tracks the four classics—in all their various incarnations—across the globe. (Via The Book Bench)
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Yahoo! BuzzHow to Drink for Free in New York City
by Eva Holland | 03.24.10 | 3:18 PM ET
Frugal Traveler Matt Gross tells all. Hint: Neighborhoods with a high wine shop density are key.
The Chain Restaurant, North Korean-Style
by Eva Holland | 03.24.10 | 2:07 PM ET
Slate’s Sebastian Strangio goes inside the Pyongyang restaurant chain, a government-owned operation that brings a taste of North Korea to diners across East and Southeast Asia—and, allegedly, launders money and funnels foreign currency back to the North Korean regime.
Sewage! Smokestacks! Corroded Shipping Containers! It’s the Urban Ocean Boat Cruise.
by Michael Yessis | 03.23.10 | 1:33 PM ET
This ain’t whale watching. From the Los Angeles Times:
The aim of the Urban Ocean Boat Cruise—run by the Aquarium of the Pacific and Harbor Breeze Cruises—is to ply Southern California’s most compromised waters to show the environmental effects of trade, fishing, industry and other human activities.
The tour balances lessons on tainted seawater and polluted air with an appreciation of the port as a bustling commercial hub that remains home to sometimes surprising amounts of marine life. Or as tour guide Dominique Richardson puts it: “The multiple and conflicting uses of our urban ocean.”
Aquarium president Jerry Schubel, who came up with the idea after taking an architecture cruise last year in Chicago, said he asked himself: “What is it about Long Beach and Los Angeles that’s distinctive? And I realized that Southern California is one of the most heavily used areas of coast in the nation.”
Good story. Great idea.
Orlean: ‘For The Well-Equipped Traveller, the Wall Outlet is the Mothership’
by Michael Yessis | 03.23.10 | 12:05 PM ET
Susan Orlean’s latest blog post at the New Yorker goes where most travelers have to go these days: In search of electrical outlets.
In the last couple of years, I noticed that competition for the outlets had gotten stiffer and stiffer, as more people carried more gizmos needing juice; often, there were lines to get a turn, and sometimes a huffy “Are you going to be using the outlet for much longer?” that betokened scarcity and a rising panic. The squatting and searching, the anxious scooting behind the ticket-agent desks in unused gate areas to try to score an unnoticed outlet, got a little more frantic.
Need help finding an outlet at the airport? Gadling has tips.
Time Traveling Through Travel Ads
by Michael Yessis | 03.22.10 | 4:26 PM ET
Over at the Big Money, Martha C. White is the latest to dig up some old travel ads to smile and gawk at. Sophia showcased a good batch of old-timey travel ads from magazines last year at Flyover America.
Slideshow: A Quest for Bukowski in Las Vegas
by Michael Yessis | 03.22.10 | 3:04 PM ET
Alec Soth got a trip to Vegas and $500 for his 40th birthday. He came home with something he’d like to sell you.
Thanks for the tip, Pam.
R.I.P. Charlie Gillett
by Eva Holland | 03.22.10 | 2:18 PM ET
The veteran British DJ, who spent the last four decades bringing world music to a wider audience, has died at 68. The Guardian notes his impact on the globalized music scene:
His discoveries were numerous, from Johnnie Allen’s Cajun version of Chuck Berry’s Promised Land in the early 1970s, through Youssou N’Dour and Salif Keita to Mariza, the young singer of Portuguese fado music who went from appearances on Charlie’s show in 2001 to sellout concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Throughout the last decade he compiled CD anthologies, presenting the best of new music from around the world.
(Thanks for the tip, Frank.)
What We Loved This Week: ‘Crazy Heart,’ Spring and the Photos of the Year
by World Hum | 03.19.10 | 4:18 PM ET
Eva Holland
“Crazy Heart.” I caught the Oscar-winning flick last weekend and especially loved the road scenes, with Jeff Bridges’ seen-better-days country singer driving a beat-up truck under enormous Texas skies. Here’s the trailer:
In Praise of Jet Lag
by Michael Yessis | 03.19.10 | 1:27 PM ET
James Parker makes the argument for basking in its uselessness.
Because really, if you’re not lagged to a standstill, how can you tell that you’ve gone somewhere? This is, in a phrase I intend to copyright, “the wisdom of jet lag.” Let us not back away from it, superstitiously warding it off with rituals and hygiene. Let us rather embrace jet lag. As a positive: a rich and naturally achieved state of philosophical disarray. And as a negative: a refusal, by the ever-sensible organism, to keep pace with inhuman modernity.
Travel Movie Watch: ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ Trailer
by Michael Yessis | 03.18.10 | 2:43 PM ET
The movie version of Elizabeth Gilbert’s blockbuster travel book “Eat, Pray, Love” comes out this summer. The trailer was just released:
In December, World Hum contributor Liz Sinclair reported from the set in Bali.
Photos: ‘London for Loners’
by Michael Yessis | 03.18.10 | 2:33 PM ET
We’ve seen what Los Angeles looks like without traffic. Here’s what London looks like on lonely Sunday nights.
High-Speed Rail in Australia?
by Michael Yessis | 03.18.10 | 12:47 PM ET
Only if the country gives up its “national can’t-do mentality,” says Clive Dorman.
Paris in 26 Gigapixels
by Eva Holland | 03.18.10 | 12:16 PM ET
Zoom from a cityscape right down to street level in this amazing browsable image. (Via Kottke)
R.I.P. Alex Chilton
by Michael Yessis | 03.18.10 | 9:15 AM ET
The singer-songwriter behind Big Star, the Box Tops and classic travel song “The Letter” died of a heart attack in New Orleans. He was 59.
The greatest tribute song to Chilton has already been written, by Paul Westerberg:
