Friday Funny: Lifestyles of the Rich and Fascist

by Erik Olsen on

For today’s Friday Funny, we bring you an entertaining, tongue in cheek piece from Radar Magazine on how the rich and autocratic live.

From Libyan dictator Muammar al-Quaddafi, whose personal bodyguards are made up of an all-girl Amazonian unit alleged to be virgins to Myanmar’s repressive Senior General Than Shwe, who has been taking cooking classes with a leading French chef in Rangoon, to North Korea’s Kim Jong Il, whose escapades and eccentric tastes have been well documented, the list is a wonderful slice of egotistical life. There are ten dictators in all. Be sure to collect all ten! I have no idea how accurate this stuff is, but it IS funny in a sick kind of way.

Jerusalem as Destination

by Erik Olsen on

I sometimes puzzle friends when I tell them that I did my honeymoon in Israel. Are you Jewish? they immediately ask, wondering if my WASPY appearance belies a history of Yom Kippurs and Saturday morning services. I am not Jewish, not that I know of anyway, but I am intensely curious about Jewish history and culture, and in my mind there was no better place to get a sense of this, let alone a sense of our common history over all, than Israel. Of course, Israel is more than just the cradle of Western culture. It is more than one of the most historically rich places on the planet. It is also a lovely, friendly, adventuresome place that I believe everyone should visit in heir lifetime.

I could go one about all the great things you can do in Israel. Floating the Dead Sea, grabbing dinner and drinks in Tel Aviv, scuba diving the Red Sea at Eilat, hiking the hills of Bethlehem. But probably the most interesting place in the country is its capital city: Jerusalem. The city is a marvel of sights and sounds, of history and heritage, of tastes and smells. I have not thought about Jerusalem lately other than what I read in the news. I have not thought of it as a tourist destination. But this piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer reminded me how much I love Jerusalem, and how much I’d like to return. The piece does a fine job laying out many of the allures of the city, its well-known historical sites, the thriving markets, the taste of history and culture that hangs in the air. Just thinking about it makes me want to go back and spend a few weeks.

InFlight Magazines

by Erik Olsen on

Sometimes when you fly, you forget to bring along reading material. And when this happens, which is quite unfortunate, you are forced to either endure the in flight movie (usually something horrendously awful) or you pick up the airline’s magazine stuffed there in the pocket in front of you. Is there a sniglet for this pocket? I’m not sure. Perhaps it is called the “flybrary”. But whatever, I always find it interesting to see how different airlines come up with stuff that they think flyers will like. Each airline is a bit different, and as you can see from this list of in-flight magazines, each has its own language, too.

I have to admit, I spent some time clicking around the list here and there some some interesting ones…even those NOT in English. Take a look, for example, at SkyEurope’s Magazine, which offers, obviously, lots of pieces on things to do in Europe. Or what about the magazine for Montenegro Airlines. Now, that’s rather interesting. The articles are downloadable as a Word document, just in case you feel the need to have it while you’re not connected. The list is extensive and it made me think that maybe these would be a good source of info for whatever trip I decide to take next.

Word for the Travel Wise (12/27/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

No rhyme or reason for selecting this word tonight. It is short and simple and shouldn’t be used loosely I’d imagine.

Today’s word is a Russian word used in Russia:

durak – fool

Ready to learn Russian? Check out Master Russian first. They have numerous excellent sound files and the text is clear and easy to read. Learning also goes beyond your Russian A, B, C’s at their site as they have crosswords, literature, proverbs, folk music, and homework help. Other good sites include Learning Russian and this Ectaco Translation Dictionary. Click here for two language book rec’s on Amazon. BBC has the basics to download and hear audio, while Wiki provides the in depth Russian lang back history.

Past Russian words: , shakzochniy, paka, spasiba, tuhmohzhmyah, tantsihvat

Polo’s Bastards Top 10 Worst Destinations

by Adrienne Wilson on

With the current conflict going on between Ethiopia and Somalia, my mind immediately began to wonder what the writers at Polo’s Bastards had been up to and what dangerous lands they’ve been exploring. Last time I checked in they’d just posted a piece on Rio’s favelas. Since then North Korea and Chechnya have also made their blog pages.

To round off the year though, Lee Ridley spent a little bit of his Christmas day highlighting some of the world’s worst destinations in 2006. Iraq assumes the position of No. 1, which doesn’t come as a shocker at all. The conflict created by the Hezbollah kidnappings of Israeli soldiers earned Lebanon the No. 10 spot, and in the middle you’ll find Haiti, Afghanistan, the entire Horn of Africa (poor Eritrea), Nepal, Chad, Chechnya and North Korea. If you’ve been in the dark concerning the political climate of these particular areas, you might want to mosey over and see what the deal is. Otherwise, just be sure to proceed with caution in the upcoming year. It is a far, far more dangerous world out there.