Photo Of The Day: Bicycles In Batavia


Sometimes on our travels, we come across a scene so perfectly photogenic, we have to wonder if it was staged. Today’s Photo of the Day was taken by Flickr user thetravelingteacher in Jakarta‘s Old Batavia, or Kota, area. The line of rented bicycles with matching helmets is so beautifully colorful and unusual, it almost looks painted, and I bet she wasn’t the only passerby who took a photo. Not sure those helmets would pass many safety tests, but they sure are fashionable. Why shouldn’t we match our accessories to our transportation?

Share your favorite travel photography in the Gadling Flickr pool, we may choose one for the Photo of the Day series.

[Photo credit: Lauren Irons]

Photo Of The Day: Bangkok Motorcycles

If there’s one sound I remember from my travels in Southeast Asia, it’s the motorcycles. The insistent motorized whine of these two-wheeled bikes is audible everywhere you turn, from Hanoi to Bangkok. Today’s photo, taken by Flickr user halvora, is a great visual reminder of one of the most iconic images of Southeast Asia. Taken in Bangkok, the black and white image, dashed road lanes and cluster of helmeted bikers form an interesting pattern and a great reminder of this most familiar of symbols.

Taken any great photos from your trip to Bangkok? Or maybe just from your trip to Boston? Add them to our Gadling group on Flickr. We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

SkyMall Monday: iRestore Hair Laser

No man wants to go bald. As a man who shaves his head because it’s the only hair style that looks good anymore, I can tell you that I frequently feel pangs of hair envy when I see a guy with thick, luxurious locks. That’s why I often just sit around the SkyMall Monday headquarters wearing a wig. That said, I’ve never pursued any type of hair treatment or restoration because I’ve always believed that you should just make the best of what you have. Thankfully, my parents never dropped my on my head, so I look good bald. That’s helped me avoid any urge to use those potent pills that can’t be handled by women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, as well as any strange topical ointments, salves and creams. All of those remedies sounds frightening and messy. However, recent innovations in the hair restoration industry have led to developments that include lasers. Lasers make everything cooler. If anything can bring back hair that has been lost for years, it’s lasers. That’s why I am completely on board with SkyMall offering the iRestore Hair Laser.Historically, the problem with lasers is that they’ve been dangerous and often used by aliens to enslave the human race. Now, however, lasers have been put inside a helmet so that bald men can use them while doing anything from sitting around on the couch watching TV to eating a rack of ribs to sitting on the couch watching TV while eating a rack of ribs. It’s about time lasers became convenient for lazy bald men.

Think that you should play with the hand that nature dealt you? Believe that lasers are dangerous, precise instruments that are best left to professionals? Well, while I shine these lasers into my eyes, why don’t you take a look at the product description:

Adjustable Laser Dome for full scalp coverage!

That’s all you really need to know. Well, that and the fact that you’ll be able to tell your friends that you have an adjustable laser dome. They’re sure to feel stupid for being stuck with non-adjustable laser domes. Fools!

So, if you’re bald, wish you had a full head of hair and enjoy standing around reading books in an infinite black emptiness, then the iRestore Hair Laser is for you. Or, it might not be for you. To be certain, check out this handy and not-at-all amusing chart on iRestore’s website.

Stop being bald and laserless when you could be hairy and laserful. The choice is yours.

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.

Ski resort adds mandatory helmet rule

Following the tragic death of actress Natasha Richardson at Quebec’s Mont Tremblant ski resort in 2009, the Canadian company that manages the park is imposing a mandatory helmet rule at all its North American resorts for the upcoming season.

Intrawest, the company that oversees Tremblant and nine other snow resorts across North America, will require helmets for all teen and child skiiers and “recommend” them for other guests. Beginning in 2010, all skiiers and snowboarders at the resorts’ freestyle terrain parks will also be required to wear helmets. The new rules will be phased in at Intrawest’s resorts in Canada as well as their properties in the United States, including Steamboat and Stratton. In order to better publicize the decision, Intrawest plans to make a number of changes to its website and advertising, updating the imagery to include photos of guests wearing protective headgear.

Say what you will about the wisdom of mandatory helmet laws, but Intrawest’s decision just makes sense. Whether you’re riding a motorcycle, paddling the rapids or skiing down a hill, it should be natural to wear a helmet during higher risk activities. Richardson’s high-profile skiing death only seems to have further pushed the issue to the forefront. Whether this sort of mandatory helmet rule will be extended to other American ski resorts remains to be seen.