Travel Blog
‘The Shawshank Re-Redemption’: Travel Movie Sequels That Could Have Been
by Eva Holland | 11.18.08 | 1:42 PM ET
The National Post’s Chris Knight has some fun pondering what most movie sequels would look like if they were required to pick up precisely where the previous flick left off, as the latest James Bond does. Among the more appealing travel-themed sequels he envisions? “The Shawshank Re-redemption, featuring the wacky hijinks of Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins as escaped convicts on the lam in Mexico.”
Of course, the rule would create some stinkers, too: “If Indiana Jones IV followed right after the end of The Last Crusade, it would consist of little more than everyone riding out of the desert and going back to work.”
Email to friend
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! BuzzCalvin Trillin on ‘The Best Texas BBQ in the World’
by Michael Yessis | 11.18.08 | 11:32 AM ET
When Texas Monthly named Snow’s, a relatively unknown barbecue joint in Lexington, Texas, the best in the state, many people were surprised. Among them: Trillin. The New Yorker’s food guy writes: “I felt like a People subscriber who had picked up the ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ issue and discovered that the sexiest man alive was Sheldon Ludnick, an insurance adjuster from Terre Haute, Indiana, with Clooney as the runner-up.”
Louvre to Display Abstract Sculpture by TV’s Wally Cleaver?
by Michael Yessis | 11.18.08 | 9:20 AM ET
The AP reports that Tony Dow, Beaver’s brother on the iconic television show “Leave it to Beaver,” will show a piece of his art at the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts exhibition in Paris. San Francisco Chronicle pop culture critic Peter Hartlaub follows up and says Dow’s work will actually be on display at the Carrousel du Louvre Dec. 11-14.
Bienvenido a Cuba, 2 Millionth Tourist!
by Valerie Conners | 11.17.08 | 2:25 PM ET
“Strong mojitos” and a salsa band greeted Cuba’s two millionth tourist (albeit symbolically—they actually greeted the incoming plane holding number two mil), as the island celebrated what it hopes will be a record year for tourism. Despite the three crippling hurricanes that ripped through here earlier this year, Cuba expects to have had more than 2.3 million visitors in 2008.
Air Traffic Controllers: ‘You Have to Ask Yourself, How Close Was That to a Midair Collision?’
by Valerie Conners | 11.17.08 | 1:36 PM ET
World Hum contributor Terry Ward sheds light on life as an air traffic controller in a piece for AOL Travel that features the perspectives of a veteran controller, a trainee and a union rep. All three paint a bleak picture of the industry, and offer (at least to this flyer) some terrifying recollections of near misses in the sky. “We all have the suspicion that someone’s going to mess up,” said the trainee. “I just dread that thought, and that’s part of the reason I have trouble flying.”
90 Years Later: Searching for Wilfred Owen
by Eva Holland | 11.17.08 | 11:14 AM ET
The 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War just passed, and The Times of London’s travel section marked the occasion with a powerful essay by Chris Haslam, who traveled around France in the footsteps of war poet Wilfred Owen. Haslam’s search covers several battlefields, and ends at the forest cottage where Owen spent his last night.
The Frugal Traveler Goes to Chiapas, Mexico
by Jim Benning | 11.17.08 | 8:48 AM ET
Nice piece on visiting Chiapas by the New York Times’ Matt Gross. I particularly liked this quote from an American anthropologist who lived there for years: “The only place it compares with is maybe Tibet, Nepal years ago. In terms of leaving your normal space and being with people who truly think differently and who do interesting things, this is about as exotic as you can get within a few thousand miles of the United States and a short plane ride.” So true. I just don’t think the southern Mexican state gets as much love from Americans as it deserves. But perhaps that’s for the best.
How About a Cheap Trip to Rome With Those Groceries?
by Eva Holland | 11.17.08 | 8:44 AM ET
Talk about an impulse buy. British supermarket chain Aldi has announced that its customers will soon be able to purchase discount holiday packages along with their canned goods and fresh produce. Sounds like a dangerous combo: I have a hard enough time resisting the magazines and chocolate bars at check-out, let alone a discount weekend in Rome.
World Hum’s Most Read: Nov. 8-14
by World Hum | 11.14.08 | 5:53 PM ET
Photo by spcoon, via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Our five most popular speaker’s corner stories for the week:
1) Confessions of a Cross-Border Shopper
2) The Death of the Mile-High Club (pictured)
3) Vagrant Ruminations of a Compulsive Traveler
4) Why I am Still Going to Bali
5) Affairs to Remember—On-Screen and Off
What We Loved This Week: Cafe Tacuba, Nantes and The Orwell Diaries
by World Hum | 11.14.08 | 5:51 PM ET
Julia Ross
I loved this week’s New Yorker cover. Sure, I voted for Obama so I appreciated the sly wink at his victory, but the image also elicited a swell of affection for my hometown. My earliest memory of Washington—from the summer of 1974 when my family moved here—is of a nighttime visit to the Lincoln Memorial. It overwhelmed me as a 7-year-old, and remains my favorite of the city’s monuments for its reassurance that the country is stronger than the sum of its parts. When I glimpsed artist Bob Staake‘s stunning homage, I was reminded that Washington projects the American idea like no place else.
R.I.P. Forbes Traveler
by Jim Benning | 11.14.08 | 4:59 PM ET
Media Bistro reports rumors that the pub is folding, and a contributor tells us an editor there confirmed it today. What a shame.
$20 a Barrel? Don’t Tease Us.
by Eva Holland | 11.14.08 | 11:11 AM ET
A Calgary economist is predicting that oil prices could slide as low as $20 a barrel in the coming months, down from $150 this summer. If he’s right, that’ll be one more reason why the road trip isn’t dead.
Travel Headline of the Day: ‘Australian Backpackers Biggest Sperm Donors’
by Michael Yessis | 11.14.08 | 11:06 AM ET
Now we know how a lot of male Aussies fund their travels. They apparently donate their sperm while passing through London. A spokesperson from one clinic in the city told the Daily Telegraph, “What you get with the ‘grand tour’ is very enterprising people who look at every single way of making a buck.” (via Jaunted)
Bob Dylan, Rock ‘n’ Roll Pilgrim
by Eva Holland | 11.14.08 | 9:57 AM ET
The couple that lives in Neil Young’s childhood home in Winnipeg is used to die-hard music fans stopping by—but they never expected to see Bob Dylan turn up on the front porch. Homeowner John Kiernan told the Globe and Mail about the stranger who arrived a couple weeks back: “I was thinking I gotta do laundry, I gotta rake leaves: it’s Sunday afternoon. I’m thinking this guy has great boots on ... I look at him and go, ‘Oh my God. We’re talking to Bob Dylan.’ At which point, I said, ‘Do you want to come in and see the house?’”
More Family Lanes Coming to Airport Security Lines
by Jim Benning | 11.13.08 | 1:36 PM ET
They’ll be in every airport security checkpoint in the nation by Thanksgiving. Oh, if the pilgrims could see us now.
