Travel Blog
What Will Become of the Mark Twain House & Museum?
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.18.08 | 5:49 PM ET
It’s buckling under financial pressure just five years after a $19.5 million, 35,000-square-foot modernist museum devoted to the famous author opened its doors in Hartford, Connecticut, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Related on World Hum:
* A New Look at Twain’s ‘Life on the Mississippi’
* I Still Don’t Know For Whom the Bell Tolls
Photo by cliff 1066 via Flickr (Creative Commons).
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Yahoo! Buzz‘Graffiti Tourist’ Indicted in New York City
by Michael Yessis | 09.18.08 | 5:17 PM ET
Newsday reports that Robbert Boxem of the Netherlands, aka KRAE, was in town for the “international graffiti event known as Meeting of Styles,” and he was charged with “spray painting a subway car and leading police on a dangerous chase.” The biggest surprise to me? The existence of such a thing as “graffiti tourism.”
‘The Case for Mass Tourism’
by Michael Yessis | 09.18.08 | 4:24 PM ET
Rahul Jacob makes it in the Financial Times.
The ‘Art’ of the Cruise Bath Towel Creature
by Jim Benning | 09.18.08 | 1:01 PM ET
Speaking of the excesses and absurdities in cruising, USA Today has published a series of reader photos of cruise towel creatures—probably best appreciated after a few Slippery Nipples or Fuzzy Navels with Cocopuff or Mojo Mike.
Audio Slideshow: Aboriginal Australia
by Jim Benning | 09.18.08 | 12:34 PM ET
The Sydney Morning Herald has put together a powerful slideshow narrated by photographer John Ogden.
What Did Documentary Filmmaker Ken Burns Do on His Summer Vacation?
by Jim Benning | 09.18.08 | 11:43 AM ET
“A six-part, 12-hour series, of course,” writes Christopher Reynolds in the Los Angeles Times. Actually, I don’t think Burns finished the project. But when Reynolds caught up with him at Glacier National Park, he was at work on one of his trademark PBS series—this one, scheduled to air in fall 2009, about America’s national parks. “For the first time in human history,” Burns remarked, “land was set aside not for the pleasure of kings and noblemen and the very, very rich, but for everybody, for all time.”
Columnist to U.S.: ‘Welcome to the Third World’
by Jim Benning | 09.18.08 | 10:25 AM ET
Writes Rosa Brooks in today’s Los Angeles Times: “It’s not every day that a superpower makes a bid to transform itself into a Third World nation, and we here at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund want to be among the first to welcome you to the community of states in desperate need of international economic assistance.” Uh, thanks?
Related on World Hum:
* A Journey Into ‘The Second World’
For Sale: Gatwick Airport
by Eva Holland | 09.18.08 | 10:16 AM ET
The British Airport Authority put the London airport up for sale yesterday. The Guardian offers some thoughts on the decision, and on Gatwick’s potential buyers.
‘Airports are Embracing the Green Zeitgeist’
by Michael Yessis | 09.17.08 | 5:21 PM ET
USA Today’s Roger Yu has a thorough look at eco-friendly practices and projects at airports around the country, complete with chart. He writes: “From low-flush toilets and hybrid taxis to solar panels and recycled coffee grounds, some of the largest airports are aggressively implementing green measures to save on energy costs and to generate favorable impressions among travelers.”
Related on World Hum:
* A Plea to Take Global Tourism Seriously: ‘It’s Nothing Short of a Planet-Threatening Plague’
* A German ‘Eco-Wander’
Photo of wind turbine by phault, via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Are Airports the Ideal Places for Media Companies to Promote Their Brands?
by Michael Yessis | 09.17.08 | 3:53 PM ET
Many of them seem to think so. The AP reports that USA Today and Sports Illustrated opened their first retail stores today at the new North Terminal at Detroit Metro Airport, and they’re not the first media entities to try to take advantage of the “unique customer set”—read: high income—of air travelers. The New York Times, CNBC and Fox News all have existing stores at various U.S. airports, and they’re talking about opening more.
Related on World Hum:
* Airport Gift Shops Feel the Sudoku Effect
* Long Descent Be Damned: Airports Still Romantic
Travel Headline of the Day: ‘Iron Maiden Star Flies in to Help Stranded XL Passengers’
by Michael Yessis | 09.17.08 | 3:09 PM ET
Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson is also a pilot, and he was among those called upon to pick up travelers stranded after the collapse of British travel outfitter XL. Said Dickinson: “I was just doing my job.”
You Won’t Get That Kind of Room Service: Turkish Hotel Fires Promiscuous Male Staff
by Valerie Conners | 09.17.08 | 12:19 PM ET
Ladies, take pause before indulging in your next foreign fling with that sexy bellhop—all male staff members at at the Image Hotel in Marmaris, Turkey, have been fired after a series of dalliances with guests, the AP reports. “The last straw was when I saw our bartender, who was a very decent man, walk out of the bathroom with a British tourist,” the hotel’s manager explained.
A Grim Anniversary: 100 Years Since First Airplane Fatality
by Valerie Conners | 09.17.08 | 10:49 AM ET
A century ago today, Orville Wright piloted a flight that was to incur history’s first airplane fatality: Five minutes after taking off, Wright’s plane crashed into the ground, killing his passenger, Thomas E. Selfridge. That tragic flight and its legacy has drawn recent press, and now the AP commemorates the anniversary.
‘Come to Syria. Leave Your Preconceptions at Home.’
by Eva Holland | 09.17.08 | 10:30 AM ET
“Damascus is a city of which we—or certainly I—have barely a notion, so obscured is it by ignorance and Syria’s unwholesome image,” Tim Jepson writes at the beginning of this essay from the Telegraph. By the end of the story, though, Jepson discovers the many pleasures of the Syrian capital—and convinces me of them, too.
Related on World Hum:
* Damascus Becomes Haven for Westerners Learning Arabic
Photo by James Gordon via Flickr (Creative Commons)
‘Can You Really See Russia From Alaska?’
by Eva Holland | 09.17.08 | 9:41 AM ET
Following Sarah Palin’s recent comments about her “next-door neighbors,” inquiring minds want to know. And the answer? Yep, says Slate. Details on the where and how are in the latest Explainer.
Related on World Hum:
* How Does Sarah Palin Rank in Foreign Travel Experience?*
Photo by jomilo75 via Flickr (Creative Commons)
