Last year NPR ran a
fantastic radio series on traveling in
China. The series writer Bob Gifford traveled across the country to bring the changes happening there to light. Near
the end of his 3,000-mile journey, on the western side of the Gobi Desert, he found the
unexpected: a bowling alley. The alley is a symbol of the regional capital’s new middle class, and of
the new standard of living that many Chinese now realize as part of their daily lives. It’s a fascinating story,
kepping in theme with some of our other posts today.
Great Hudson River Paddle
Just a heads up for East Coast paddling fans who might want to participate…well, actually,
it’s too late to sign up, but you can still get in a day
paddle during the fifth annual Great Hudson River Paddle (GHRP
2005). This year’s paddle will be held Friday, July 8 to Sunday, July 17, 2005. This is a killer event. Paddlers from
around the state and country come, and the governor often makes an appearance as well. Participants paddle nearly 150
miles from Albany to New York City, a long haul, but with stops along the way at some of the state’s great
campgrounds.
The idea behind the event is to bring awareness to the wonders of the Hudson, and for folks to celebrate how far the
river has come since the awful days in the 70s and 80s when it was a foul cesspool of industrial pollution. But things
are better now! We promise.
Risks in Global Filmmaking
Great site on what it takes to venture to
exotic locales to shoot your dream film. The
Global Filmmaking Map shows the
best and worst places to shoot your film. It’s a simple, but comprehensive look at the state of the world. Not
surprisingly, would-be Spielbergs should stick to places like Canada, the US and Europe, and avoid shooting their next
masterpiece in, say, Sudan. Not gonna happen.
The Moby Remix
An interesting article
culled from Boing Boing
this morning on whale songs. While most of us are familiar with the fact that whales actually sing to one another, this
cetacean crooning turns out to be more complex than we thought, and gives new meaning to the Moby remix.
According to Dr. Robert Payne,
Humpback Whales copy their songs from each other, remixing the songs and adding to them. Whale songs also evolve over
time and these clever animals actually pass their riffs along to other whales across the world. Like rappers with
flippers, the whales also have songs that rhyme. No word yet on whether a Humpback will soon be featured on Saturday
Night Live.
Manhole Covers in Japan
I love the little details of everyday life, the attention occasionally paid to the mundane. In New York City, you
see this all the time. Walking around you’ll be struck by some stone carving of a gargoyle up high on a ledge or the
metal work of someone’s door. Those are the things that offer an incremental, but valuable, addition to our lives. This
is why strip malls suck. Strip malls are the antithesis of artistic attention to detail. And sadly, this is why many of
our cities and towns also often suck. People neglect the details. We build for immediacy and economics.
So along these lines, I thought this was really
cool. A site dedicated to manhole covers in Japan. The variety here is wonderful, the artistry sublime. I herewith
suggest that every city in the country have a manhole design contest and build the best 25 designs for cities around
the country. It’s a small gesture, and it will lift our spirits just a fractional amount, but those fractions count.
Just ask Darwin.