Travel Blog
‘They Ain’t Writin’ Car Songs no More’
by Michael Yessis | 09.09.08 | 12:09 PM ET
J. Freedom du Lac looks at the passing of a tradition: the fetishization of cars in popular music. Ike Turner started it all in 1951 with Rocket 88. And now?
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Yahoo! BuzzFoodie Alert: Britain’s Regional Delicacies
by Eva Holland | 09.09.08 | 8:41 AM ET
Here’s one more nail in the coffin for all those outdated jokes about British cuisine: the Guardian has a round-up of 10 UK regional specialties, both well-known and obscure—and most of them are as fun to say (try “ham-and-pease-pudding stotty-cake sandwich”) as I’m sure they are to eat.
Photo of roast beef with Yorkshire pudding by robbie jim via Flickr (Creative Commons)
‘State by State’: Five Excerpts
by Michael Yessis | 09.09.08 | 8:21 AM ET
This week Slate’s Well-Traveled rolls out five stories from the upcoming book State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America, which features 50 writers writing about the 50 states. The editors sent some stellar writers into the field. Those featured at Slate: Heidi Julavits, Mohammed Naseehu Ali, Dagoberto Gilb, David Rakoff and Charles Bock.
Related on World Hum:
* Revisiting the American Guide Series (Again): Around the U.S. With Saul Bellow and John Steinbeck
Fake Sarah Palin: I Was an Extra in ‘Into the Wild’
by Michael Yessis | 09.09.08 | 6:57 AM ET
She says she played a grizzly bear in Sean Penn’s movie. Her riff about it begins a minute into the video below.
Happy Birthday, Google
by Eva Holland | 09.09.08 | 6:37 AM ET
The world-shrinking company that launched a verb turns 10 this week, and the event (so my trusty Google search tells me) is gaining plenty of media attention. The Globe and Mail has a list of 10 ways Google has changed the world (No. 1: “perpetual beta”), while the San Francisco Chronicle takes a look back at the early years of the “nascent search engine, operated from a couple of cramped dorm rooms and burdened with a goofy name.” Cnet’s Charles Cooper, meanwhile, explains why he won’t be showing up to the party.
U.N. Reports Seven British World Heritage Sites ‘In Danger’
by Valerie Conners | 09.08.08 | 4:30 PM ET
We’ve long known that Stonehenge, like many culturally relevant sites, has experienced the dangers of vandals and tourists. Now Unesco has given the United Kingdom a formal slap on the wrist for failing to protect seven of its world heritage sites—including Stonehenge—from building developments and other dangers.
Sex, Money and a Little ‘Blind Faith’: Travelodge Racks ‘Em Up
by Eva Holland | 09.08.08 | 3:02 PM ET
Photo by ElektraCute via Flickr (Creative Commons)
In its annual survey of books most commonly abandoned in its hotel rooms, Travelodge reports the most popular throwaways include the Kama Sutra, John Prescott’s latest memoir and a whole lot of “lighter reading.” The Guardian has the cocktail-party-worthy survey highlights.
Café du Monde in New Orleans: ‘Nostalgia Can Make Even a Local Into a Tourist’
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.08.08 | 2:00 PM ET
For Sale: Train Trip with Writer Paul Theroux. $12,000.
by Jim Benning | 09.08.08 | 12:34 PM ET
Exeter International is offering a 14-day trip aboard the Trans-Siberian Express to the Arctic Circle with none other than Paul Theroux. The trip is scheduled for June 2009 and starts at “just” $12,795 per person based on double occupancy.
The Long Descent: Airline Frequent-Flier Miles Losing Value
by Jim Benning | 09.08.08 | 11:48 AM ET
USA Today chronicles the latest cuts airlines are making to their frequent-flier programs. Continental, Delta, United and Frontier are all mentioned. It’s not pretty.
BBC Launches Shipping Container on Global Odyssey
by Jim Benning | 09.08.08 | 11:27 AM ET
It’s a fascinating project that the news organization is calling “The Box.” Explains the BBC’s business editor: “We have painted and branded a BBC container and bolted on a GPS transmitter so you can follow its progress all year round as it criss-crosses the globe. The Box will hopefully reach the US, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa and when it does BBC correspondents will be there to report on who’s producing goods and who’s consuming them.” Readers can follow its progress on a map. It’s now in Southampton, apparently waiting to be shipped out.
The Grand Canyon Skywalk: A View from Above—and Below
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.08.08 | 10:37 AM ET
We’ve read the big-league critiques and pondered potential stunts at the Hualapai Indians’ horseshoe-shaped glass perch that allows visitors to peer 4,000 feet down into the Grand Canyon. Now comes a personal view in Sierra Magazine from a young writer and environmentalist who visited the site with the hopes of understanding why the Hualapai have invested so much in it.
Abu Ghraib to Become a Museum
by Eva Holland | 09.08.08 | 10:13 AM ET
The infamous Iraqi prison, which was used as a torture site under Saddam Hussein’s rule before achieving notoriety in more recent years, is now destined to become a museum detailing the crimes committed during Hussein’s rule, the Iraqi government has announced. Interestingly, notes the CBC: “There’s no mention in the announcement whether the abuses by U.S. soldiers will be covered in the museum’s exhibitions.”
World Hum’s Most Read: Aug. 30-Sept. 5
by World Hum | 09.05.08 | 4:31 PM ET
Our five most popular features and blog posts for the week:
1) How Does Sarah Palin Rank in Foreign Travel Experience? (pictured)
2) One Man’s Odyssey into ‘Eat, Pray, Love’
3) A Tourist With a Shovel and a Hoe
4) R.I.P. ‘Staycation’
5) Voluntourism: ‘Overpriced Guilt Trips’ or a ‘Real Chance to Save the World’?
Photo by http2007 via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
What We Loved This Week: Jose Feliciano, Rub’ al Khali and Raw Oysters
by World Hum | 09.05.08 | 3:29 PM ET
World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
Frank Bures
In the weekly email I get from NASA’s Earth Observatory, I received a satellite photo from miles above Rub’ al Khali (pictured), or the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Peninsula. It’s the world’s largest ocean of sand, and it was crossed by Wilfred Thesiger in what World Hum selected as the best travel book of all time, Arabian Sands. The photo is beautiful, and a reminder of how far we’ve come since the days when the only way to see across the Empty Quarter was to travel with your own feet.
