Travel Blog: News and Briefs
How the Waldseemüller Map Changed the Universe
by Michael Yessis | 10.16.09 | 2:43 PM ET
The Waldseemüller map was the first map to identify America, and as Toby Lester writes, it played a great role in Nicholas Copernicus’ argument that the earth revolves around the sun.
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Yahoo! Buzz‘Are Australian Horror Films Scaring Tourists Away From Australia?’
by Michael Yessis | 10.16.09 | 1:21 PM ET
One of the films in question is Wolf Creek, which made our list of 13 great holiday horror travel movies.
The Mystery of the Kashiwa Mystery Cafe
by Michael Yessis | 10.16.09 | 12:43 PM ET
Cabel Maxfield Sasser calls his visit to the Ogori Cafe in Kashiwa, Japan, an unforgettable travel moment. I agree. Read to the end for the payoff. (Thanks for the tip, @sophiadembling)
R.I.P. Kiddieland
by Eva Holland | 10.16.09 | 11:49 AM ET
The 80-year-old Illinois amusement park won’t be reopening next summer, USA Today reports. It’s a shame to see another vintage park closing its doors.
Chevy Volt Takes its First Road Trip
by Eva Holland | 10.16.09 | 11:03 AM ET
An eight-car convoy of Chevrolet Volts is on a three-day road trip from Michigan to West Virginia and back, Wired reports. The trip is part of final pre-production testing for the long-awaited electric car.
More Fun With Bad Tourism Slogans
by Eva Holland | 10.16.09 | 10:12 AM ET
There’s never any shortage of laughs to be had at the expense of bad tourism slogans, is there? This Just In has been collecting readers’ suggestions for the very worst, and they’ve got some great ones. My favorite? The reader who submitted Santa Fe’s slogan, “The City Different,” and wrote: “‘The City Different’ is the slogan lousy.”
‘My Life In Ruins’: Worth the Rental?
by Eva Holland | 10.15.09 | 5:00 PM ET
Publicity still via Fandango “My Life in Ruins” landed on DVD last week, and I picked up a copy to check it out. A follow-up flick from Nia Vardalos of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” fame, it tells the story of an uptight Greek-American tour guide who learns to let loose, and I was cautiously optimistic when I first heard about it. I’m happy to report that my confidence was rewarded with an enjoyable lightweight flick—with a couple of caveats.
First, anyone looking for unexpected plot twists will be disappointed: This is a safe, predictable comfort-food type of movie. Second, the jokes are a lot like the storyline; pardon the pun but this is well-traveled comedic territory. Still, Vardalos and co-star Richard Dreyfuss are charming enough to keep things together, the titular Greek ruins are gorgeous, and hey, do jokes about tourist stereotypes ever really get old?
If your answer to that question is yes, then “My Life in Ruins” probably isn’t for you. But if you can appreciate a sunny little story peppered with travelers’ inside jokes and some lovely Greek landscapes? Then I’d say it’s worth the five bucks and two hours of your time.
‘The Making of a Flyover American’
by Michael Yessis | 10.15.09 | 4:09 PM ET
Feel a traveler’s love for the United States bloom through the excerpts of a 32-year-old letter World Hum contributor Sophia Dembling shares at Flyover America. She wrote it during her first cross-country drive when she was a teenager.
Partway through the drive, I started writing a letter to my brother documenting the trip. I wrote 14 pages, all the way through the final leg of the drive, San Francisco to L.A. Nick saved the letter and returned it to me a few years ago. As literature, it’s unimpressive. But as a record of the awakening of a provincial city girl, it’s kinda special.
Indeed.
Video: ‘Ridiculous Long Walk From Room to Elevator’
by Eva Holland | 10.15.09 | 1:59 PM ET
Here’s a Jason Reitman original that I’m sure most travelers can relate to. It’ll have to tide us Reitman fans over until his larger-scale travel movie, Up in the Air, lands in December.
Travel Songs From the Archives
by Eva Holland | 10.15.09 | 12:43 PM ET
Love this list. Gadling reaches all the way back to the ’50s for some vintage travel tunes. And if their 10 aren’t enough for you, there’s always our own list of the top 40 travel songs, or our daily travel song selections.
Kyoto Joins Tokyo Near the Top of the Michelin Heap
by Eva Holland | 10.15.09 | 10:36 AM ET
Brace yourselves, foodies of the Western hemisphere: If you were disgruntled about Tokyo landing top Michelin honors last year—receiving more stars than Paris and New York combined in its debut guide—then you probably won’t be happy to hear that Kyoto is following close behind. The city received 110 stars in its first-ever Michelin treatment, including six three-star restaurants—one more than New York City.
The Onion: 1968 Hijacker Arrested, America Responds
by Eva Holland | 10.14.09 | 4:54 PM ET
After the news broke that suspected 1968 Pan Am hijacker Luis Armando Peña Soltren had finally been arrested, the Onion hit the streets to find out how Americans were responding. Here’s one answer: “This gives me hope that, maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but perhaps 41 years from now, the authorities will find my bike.”
Introducing ‘The Adulterer’s Concierge’
by Eva Holland | 10.14.09 | 4:00 PM ET
From the Daily Beast: “Because when you’re paying top-dollar for a penthouse hotel room or a corner banquette at a luxury restaurant, the establishment’s staff should know enough not to call your wife by your mistresses’ name.”
Slideshow: Glaciers, Seen From Space
by Eva Holland | 10.14.09 | 2:13 PM ET
Wired has put together an amazing selection of satellite photos. (Via Kottke)
‘You Might be Working at a Bad ESL School…’
by Eva Holland | 10.14.09 | 11:56 AM ET
One expat TESL blogger rounds up some nightmarish-but-true teaching scenarios. My favorite? “... if one American teacher quits without notice and the school, as a precautionary measure, fires all the other American teachers on the spot.”
