You can hike into the verdant
slopes of the Na Pali Coast in Hawaii, but the best way to see them is unquestionably by boat.
We’ve just slipped out of the time when humpbacks can be seen in cetacean plentitiude, but the diving is great and
the view of the hills is unreal, like something out of Jurassic Park.
For a tour by boat, check out Napali Explorer, a tour company that will
find you the best spots to hang out and will take you to a few secret swimming holes.
You probably already knew that…assuming you know who Rick Steves
is, of course. Well, have you checked out Rick Steves site lately? Probably
not. But you might be surprised how much stuff he has here. He has links that describe his famous tours, to his radio
and TV stuff and to much of his writing. Steves writes a column for USA Today and often pontificates on matters both
cultural and political in Europe. He’s also a good guy. I actually got to
interview him a while back for a story I did for MSNBC and he was
really friendly and thoughtful.
Whether you like him or not, you have to admit he’s done a brilliant job building himself as a brand…a brand related
to all things travel.
He is the man behind some of the funniest movies of all time. I mean, Spinal Tap alone, and his character Nigel
(Mine goes to 11) Tufnel, one of the great characters should earn him a top spot in the annals of American
satire.
But then there is Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman…the fact is Chris Guest is brilliant. The
Times calls him perhaps “the best parodist working
today”. But given all this, you still might be surprised to learn that
opening today, here in New York,
is a “tightly focused” retrospective on his work at the Museum of Modern Art.
Now it is a strange moment in modern art when a moviemaker like Guest gets his own retrospecftive at MOMA, but this
doesn’t bother me at all. In fact, I think this is way cool. But art purists may disagree…and it would be interesting
to hear an opinioon or two about the matter. But in the meantime, I will likely go check the exhibit out, and will
dutifully report back on it.
As always I like to post new fullscreen VRs
when they appear at hans Nyberg’s teriffic site, and when they are of particular high-quality. Such is the case with
the one done in Rome for the Pope’s death. Check these
out, they are marvelous.
We’re in the age of the digital picture, which means most of your favorite photos are now saved on your hard drive
with names like 213122.jpg. But chances are, you’ve got some excellent pictures that you just might want framed and
sent to friends or family.
Luxist has posted about a service from
Red Envelope that will do just that. You send them your digital pictures and they print them out and mount them in
an elegant frame which can then be sent to whomever you choose. It’s a nice idea and a way to show off that last big
trip.