Nudestock Starts Thursday

by Erik Olsen on

If bearing your glowing white buttocks to an admiring crowd is your idea of a good time (and why wouldn’t it be?),
you might be very interested to know that we are a mere two days away from one of the biggest nude events of the year:
Nudestock.

The annual celebration of bareness, a kind of naked Nirvana, is like a streaker’s sprint back to the sixties with
music, sun, peace demonstrations and more bongs than a Chinese phone book. Last year, experts counted a record 1,237
bare breasts, enough to unravel turbans across the Middle East.

It all takes place in aptly-named Wilton, Californiia, where the occasional cold weather snap is known to cause severe
outbreaks of “shrinkage”. Bands playing at this yeaer’s Nudestock include Regulation of Tribe, Soul Sacrifice, and The
Unauthorized Rolling Stones, and needless to say, if you’re in the market for a new bong, you’ll have your choice of
several new psychedelic styles. The event begins on Thursday, so stop your grinning and drop your linen.

(via TravelPost)

Do They Know It’s Halloween Song

by Erik Olsen on

File this one under odd, but funny.

With Halloween just around the country, Vice Magazine
has released a bizarre, star-addled song about the dangers of Halloween. The song is called “Do They Know It’s
Halloween,” and is performed by a sort of anti-“We-Are-The-World” ensemble including Arcade Fire, Beck, Devendra
Banhart, comedian David Cross, Thurston Moore, Feist and more. They created the song under the fictional band/NGO
called the North American Hallowe’en Prevention Initiative (NAHPI).

It’s funny, pretty clever…sort of sounds like a mixture of Oingo-Boingo and Sparks (remember them?)

Dream Jobs

by Erik Olsen on

I opened this month’s Outside Magazine to find a feature about an idea I’ve had and have been pitching around for a
long time: Dream jobs. I’ve been making
a list for years about the coolest, most amazing jobs to be had, from Playboy Magazine photographer to motorcycle test
driver. Sad thing is, Outside beat me to it. But that’s OK, if any of the
glossies out there deserve to steal my ideas, it’s Outside. They remain one of the best of the adventure magazines on
the racks, and have largely avoided going ad-addled, “get your rock-hard abs in one week!” route of Men’s
Journal.

Anyway, as I say, the dream jobs piece is a good one, listing all sorts of cool jobs (and the people who hold them)
that you probably never considered in life (tea purveyor?). Of course, some of them are more or less unattainable to
the average Joe. I mean, you don’t just decide to be Jack Johnson. I mean, duh. But many of the other ones are doable
if you set your mind to it. Here’s the list.

Jack
Johnson: How a rock supernova keeps his balance on the ride of his life.

Timm Smith: Product
Developer

Jessie Stone:
Health-Clinic Director

Holly Morris:
Adventure Filmmaker

Lincoln Else:
Climbing Ranger

Jim Cantore:
Broadcast Meteorologist

Rogan Lechthaler:
Sous-Chef

Kelly Streeter:
Structural Engineer

Sebastian Beckwith:
Tea Purveyor

Kristen Ulmer: Ski
Guru

Chris “Gunny”
Gunnarson: Terrain-Park Designer

Jimmy Lizama:
Cycling Angel

Rob Spencer: Brew
Meister

Lake Baikal and Olkhon Island

by Kelly Amabile on

Erik linked to a piece about Russia’s Lake Baikal
a few months back, noting the environmental
problems that challenge the region. I had to mention this fascinating place again because the
feature
article I read in today’s Baltimore Sun (first printed in the
LA Times)
praised the wonders of this “Galapagos of Siberia” and sent me searching for more.

The article does not directly address environmental issues, but does describe a place rich with ecological wonders.
The deepest freshwater lake in the world, Lake Biakal is known for nerpa seals, epischura and the unique omul fish. It
appears that management of the massive watershed may lie at the heart of environmental concerns, but there are groups
like Baikal Environmental Wave,
Greenpeace Russia and the
Tahoe-Baikal Institute working to protect the habitat, while still allowing
room for growth in the region.

In the Sun article, author Neil Woodburn shares the story of his trip to the
Lake Baikal region, and specifically to
Olkhon Island, located almost smack in the middle of this
395-mile stretch of water. The island is a sacred spiritual center for the Buryats, a large ethnic minority in Siberia
that lives in the areas surrounding the lake. Woodburn visits the main city of Khuzhir, and the holy Shaman Rock. The
island has no phone service or restaurants, so tour guides work with local bed and breakfasts for food and lodging. Two
tour groups based out of Irkutsk are Green Express and
Baikal Explorer.

Go Abroad

by Kelly Amabile on

If you’re looking to do more than just wander when you next hit the road, be sure to spend time exploring the
comprehensive collection of alternative travel options gathered at Go
Abroad.com

It is an excellent site to assist with generating creative ideas on how to tackle your next continent, or, if you
already have some idea of what you want to do, but are looking for the right organization to work with, the Go Abroad
site is a must-visit research tool.

They organize things in sections: Volunteer, Study, Intern, Teach, Work. The site is updated daily and has over
25,000 travel abroad opportunities, so there is sure to be one that matches your interests. Go Abroad is also a portal
for general travel information, with sections on insurance, phone cards and travel gear. Sign up for their
newsletter to keep current with the latest offerings added to the
site.