Archive for the ‘travel’ Category

When in Rome

…As they say, do as the Romans do! This is from the same folk that brought us Bridge the Divide in the Column on MNP. This time Above has filmed his experiences with a local Gladiator and graffiti done by the film maker.

Be sure to check out his page and FAQ, for tips on a levitation technique!

The Man in a Van Project

The beat-up 1989 Dodge van carries a sign with a question: "How has the recession affected you?" Along the side, a request: "Tell me your story."

Scrawled in marker across the orange paint are hard-luck tales: "My grandma lost her house and my dad is working less hours," signed Peoria, AZ. "I lost my job, my home, my car & was homeless for 6 months. This was the first time in 27 yrs I was out of work," signed Sue W.

The man behind the wheel is Aaron Heideman, 29, an artist from Grants Pass, Ore., who in the past year began sleeping in the van on a mattress he bought for a six-pack of beer and lost his job at a paint store. He hit the road July 1 with what he calls "The Man in a Van Project," angling for a $250,000 prize at an art fair.

"I just want to give people a voice," he said during a stop in Rhode Island, the 20th state he stopped in during what he calls a nationwide conceptual art piece. His media, as he describes it: a 50-yard roll of Tyvek, a Dodge van, and a homeless man (himself). His final destination is Grand Rapids, Mich., home of ArtPrize, where he plans to display his project in September and October.

During Heideman’s stops, he unscrolls several feet of the roll, lays it in front of the van with a couple of Sharpie markers, and encourages passers-by to pause for a minute and add their thoughts.

.:: continue reading the article ->

Highspeed Rail in the US??

An analysis detailing the possibilities of a high speed rail system in the US- definitely a good read.

.::infranetlab->

Clothing Optional

Ita€™s a big world out there, with plenty of private little nooks and crannies for getting naked in nature, as God originally intended.

If you want to be sure youa€™re not hassled, here are 10 popular beaches where bathing attire a€" actually, any attire at all a€" is optional…

Coincidentally, a nude beach is where I met your mama.

::[ Check out the list of top ten nude beaches via Matador ]::

Gamers can try NYC river ditching

A free computer game has gone online that challenges players to become the next "Hero on the Hudson" by safely landing a virtual passenger jet on the New York City waterway.

The streamed game warns players that both jet engines are disabled, it is impossible to make it to an airport, and they must ditch in the Hudson River in a virtual version of the US Airways miracle landing on January 15.

"The fate of the passengers is in your hands," reads an introductory page of the game available online at www.tastyplay.com.

Players then use left and right arrow keys to keep an animated jet parallel to the surface of the onscreen river as it makes an emergency descent with dark smoke billowing from its engines.

Level landings are rewarded with a banner proclaiming the player a hero as tiny figures representing passengers file onto the wings. Sloppy landings are met with the sight and sound of a sinking jet.

The pilot of the US Airways jet that ditched in icy waters off New York in real life was hailed as a hero for coolly saving 155 passengers and crew.

The former fighter pilot was lauded for smoothly ditching the jet belly-first onto the Hudson River.

The soft landing allowed passengers to safely escape from the stricken craft.

Via -> smh.com.au

Tourism leads to artificial waste islands

The world’s biggest and dirtiest rubbish island most would find shocking to believe, sits within a well known tropical paradise with over 1,200 coral islands nestled nicely in the Indian Ocean. This place, this island, this location, which hides such a stinky secret, is none other than Thilafushi, in the Maldives. Yes, close your mouths my dears.

Thilafushi is but a few miles and a short boat ride away from the Maldivian capital, MalA©. The artificial island ironically was built to resolve MalA©’s refuse (reclamation project) problem in 1992. The island has since super-sized to cover a mass of 124 acres of waste (calculating at around 330 tonnes of rubbish everyday). Not surprising considering over 10,000 tourists visit the Maldives every week.

While the Maldives can boast at being the richest country in South Asia, MalA© however, is one of the world’s most densely populated towns with around 100,000 people being squashed into 2 square kilometers. Though, thankfully for tourists, Thilafushi is hidden from view, and nobody except workers go there. It wouldn’t make for ideal sightseeing.

Waste pollution and rising sea levels caused by global warming don’t add up to the ideal living conditions. Earlier this month the new president, Mohamed Nasheed, stated that in order to solve this growing problem, the government will put aside some of the Maldives’ tourism revenues to buy another homeland. Who says social innovation and comedy don’t go hand-in-hand?

VIA -> i-genius

"Row, Row, Row Your House"

From the New School Free Press (Kate Hanselman):

Looking strikingly like an old Gloucester fisherman, with a full black beard and windblown hair, Dayyan Armstrong trudged through the afternoon drizzle at the Worlda€™s Fair Marina. Wearing a wool sweater over a plaid oxford, with an earthen mug in hand, he unlocked the pale blue metal gate leading to the docks. As he traipsed past rows of weatherbeaten boats bobbing calmly on their tethers, he explained that his situation was a little precarious. a€oeNo one really cares that Ia€™m here except this one guy who keeps asking me if I live here…I had to hide behind a bush once, but he saw me and waved,a€A he says.

Armstrong, a 23-year-old student in the New School Masters program for Economics, has been living on his 28-foot sailboat, Goose, since this summer, when he sailed her down from Maine. He lives in the marina between LaGuardia Airport and Shea Stadium in Queens and pays roughly $980 for the six-month winter season to moor his boat.

a€oeIn high school, for my stepbrother and I, it was, do we get a car or a sailboat?a€A Armstrong said.

.::Read on at -> NS Free Press

Air Traffic (24 hours)

.::blog.wired

Yves Rossy (Jet Man)