An animated version of New York City shows a timeless quality

by Jamie Rhein on

No matter how many ways New York City is depicted in film, there is always another view that offers a surprise. Here is a link to a video by New York artist and filmmaker Jeff Scher. He writes the blog The Animated Life for the New York Times. As he says about this particular 2:06 minutes of visual artistry he created in 1975, there is a timeless quality about New York.

What Scher made more than 30-years-ago looks similar to the essence of New York City today. That’s not true about many places.

A few years ago when I was on a six-hour walking tour of Cleveland, I thought about how that city had changed since the 1960s when the Terminal Tower was the 2nd tallest building in the world. It was the world that Ralphie of A Christmas Story went to on his visit to Santa Claus. Higbees where Ralphie gazed in the window at animated wonder has long closed. Downtown Cleveland on a Saturday morning along Euclid Ave. is not a crackling place. I really love Cleveland. I really do. I’d live there if I didn’t live here. But if you did a video 30-years-ago of Cleveland, it would not look the same as today’s version–at least not if you shot it downtown. Maybe it would, if you squinted and imagined people.

Scher’s vision of New York City is a jazzy rendition of a city that no matter what happens has a constancy that one can count on year after year. Jeremy is capturing much of it in his weekly series “Undiscovered New York.” Plus, Scher’s film is a cool art piece besides.

The photo is from another one of Scher’s blogs, Reasons to Be Glad. The blog has other shots of New York City that are examples of the variety of intersting angles out there.

A few years ago when I was on a six-hour walking tour of Cleveland, I thought about how that city had changed since the 1960s when the Terminal Towers was the 2nd tallest building in the world. It was the world that Ralphie of the movie A Christmas Story went to on his visit to Santa Claus. Higbees where Ralphie gazed in the window at animated wonder has long closed. Downtown Cleveland on a Saturday morning along Euclid Ave. is not a crackling place. I really love Cleveland. I really do. I’d live there if I didn’t live here. But if you did a video 30 years ago of Cleveland, it would not look the same as today’s version–at least not if you shot it downtown.

Scher’s vision of New York City is a jazzy rendition of a city that no matter what happens has a constancy that one can count on year after year. Plus, it’s a cool art piece besides. The photo of a bus and a taxi is another Scher creation and a feature of his blog “Reasons to Be Glad”.

Adventures in the Amazon: Ecotourism in the Rainforest

by Kraig Becker on

One of the biggest buzzwords in travel in recent years has been “ecotourism”. The term is generally used to describe a type of travel that is designed to minimize the impact on the environments we are visiting and is often used in reference to fragile or seldom visited destinations. It was my experience during my journey through the Amazon that ecotourism wasn’t a buzzword at all, but actually an approach to sharing the environment that has been in practice there for years.

When I arrived in Iquitos at the start of my journey, I was told that tourism was a large part of the economy there, although as I walked the streets and visited the markets in that city, I rarely saw anyone that even remotely resembled a tourist. Leaving the city aboard La Turmalina meant leaving nearly all semblances of tourism behind, something I was a bit surprised to discover.

When I elected to take a river cruise on the Amazon, I suspected it would be much like the cruise I took on the Nile a few years back. On that river, there are literally dozens of ships at every turn, and when you pulled into port, they would line up three abreast. You had to cross through other boats just to go ashore. But in over a week on the Amazon, I saw only one other boat that was carrying tourists, and the river was decidedly uncrowded.

We did see several ecolodges as we moved about. Some were located right on the main channel, within easy reach of the Amazon River itself, while others were tucked away, deeper in the jungle. No matter the location though, they all shared a common theme, respect for the jungle and a sustainable approach to protecting it.

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Built in the same style as the huts we saw lining the river, the lodges felt like they fit into the jungle both on an ecological and cultural level. Most of the bungalows were built on stilts and constructed in such a manner as to not endanger the plant life in the region. For instance, trees were not cleared to build these jungle retreats. Instead, they were built around the trees themselves, sometimes literally, with the trunks growing through the floor and continuing up, and out, the roof. It was clear at a glance that these resorts had been built with integration into the jungle environment in mind from the beginning.

Several lodges in the area offer canopy tours as part of their eco-friendly approach. These tours give travelers an opportunity to see the jungle from a whole new perspective, while at the same time protecting the environment. On a canopy tour, visitors to the lodge walk on rope bridges suspended high above the jungle floor and strung between two tall trees, sometimes hundreds of feet apart. The bridges can be forty or more feet in the air, keeping you well above the jungle floor, almost eliminating all impact on the environment.

I had the opportunity to walk one of these canopy tours on the morning after I had camped in the jungle. The bridges I crossed were not unlike something you would see in a B-action movie, swinging back and fourth precariously. Being agile on your feet helped to make things a bit easier, but not all of my traveling companions were comfortable with our little stroll amongst the leaves. Suspended 60 feet above the jungle floor, the bridges did indeed give us a new perspective however, while leaving zero impact on the environment around us. This was the very definition of ecotourism. In all, we crossed eight bridges, each connecting to a wooden platform built around one of the gigantic trees that grew out of the jungle. The last bridge gently angled back down to the surface, returning us to the muddy trail.

The eco-lodges of the Amazon do offer an alternate way to visit the jungle, with a completely different experience from the one that I had. While I spent the better part of a week and half aboard a river boat, cruising up and down the river and exploring its backwaters, a visit to an eco-lodge allows you to relax a bit more, while staying in one place, and still get an authentic rainforest experience. The best part is that at the end of the day you return to a comfortable bed and plenty of amenities.

From my personal experience there was a clear commitment at every turn to protect the environment and ensure that the Amazon stays healthy and strong for future generations to visit and marvel at as well. My traveling companions and I contributed to that effort be each of us planting small trees and giving a little something back to the rainforest, and although it felt like a small gesture at the time, it is also rewarding to think that that little sapling could one day be an integral part of the greatest biosphere on the planet.

Next: The Future of Tourism in the Amazon

Read more Adventures in the Amazon posts HERE.

Little House on the Prairie travel in Missouri and Kansas

by Jamie Rhein on

A few years ago, a friend of mine embarked on a trip to Kansas City on the now defunct Skybus for an anticipated mini-road trip vacation that included stops at two of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s houses.

These weren’t the only places on my friend’s family’s itinerary but they are the only highlights I can remember. Both of the houses are near small towns where life moves at a slower pace and charm is part of the draw as well as their unique spots in American history.

Starting in Kansas and Missouri isn’t a chronological approach to Laura Ingalls Wilder travel, but it is a way to pick up two significant Little House locations. Although Laura was born in Pepin, Wisconsin, these other landmarks were significant to her life–one provided the framework for the 1970s-1980s TV series. The other is where Wilder lived during her adult years until she died.

The Little House on the Prairie Historical Site is about 13 miles from Independence, Kansas and is a small reconstructed cabin that reminds me of Lincoln’s boyhood home in Indiana, although a bit more rough around the edges. Even though the rustic log cabin is not the actual home of Wilder, it is close to where the original cabin once stood about 13 miles from Independence. Built according to descriptions from Wilder’s book, the cabin, along with the 1872 school house, general store and post office offers a glimpse into what it was like to be a family creating a life in the early Midwest.

The cabin’s surroundings are similar to how the area looked when Wilder lived here with Ma and Pa and her sisters. I imagine if you look over the tall waving grass and the clouds drifting across the sky in the summer you can almost hear the TV show’s theme song.

For a bigger taste of life on the prairie living head to the Prairie Days Festival on June 13 where food, wagon rides, costume character contests, a petting zoo and craft vendors tap into the nostalgia of that time period. If June is too soon, I noticed Bluegrass on the Prairie on October 10 and Christmas on the Prairie, November 28.

For more Laura Ingalls Wilder travel head to Mansfield, Missouri. Rocky Ridge Farm, about 30 miles from Springfield is where Laura moved with her husband Almanzo and penned all nine of the “Little House” books. At this house are Wilder family artifacts and details about early American pioneer life. Here’s a tour of the house that provides an excellent overview of what you’ll see here, as well, as details of the changes the farm has gone through over the years from the first time Wilder settled here.

Mansfield, like Independence, throws a Laura Ingalls Wilder-themed festival each year. Wilder Days is on September 19. From the description, it seems like the crowds participate in 19th-century style fun. Don’t come expecting to just sit around.

There’s also Laura’s Memories, an annual outdoor theatre production in August and September that chronicles Laura’s life and her grave, along with her husband’s at the Mansfield Cemetery.

One place that sounds like a worthwhile eatery is the Owl’s Nest Cafe. The food is a mix of Native American and recipes from the Laura Ingalls Wilder Cookbook and the cookbook Good Ol’ Downhome Cookin.’

As a three-day weekend trip, making a loop that takes in Independence and Mansfield might be a simple, relaxing and interesting getaway. My friend’s trip exceeded her family’s expectations. If you do go, I’d bring a copy of Little House on the Prairie to add to the experience. The book is also on audio CD that includes fiddle music. Listening to the book while driving through land that can seem as flat as a pancake would nicely pass the time.

While you’re tootling around, for more Laura Ingalls Wilder travel, you might as well head to Marshfield, Missouri to see her star on the “Walk of Fame” outside the Webster County History Museum and to the State Capitol Building in Jefferson City to see the bronze bust of Wilder as part of the Hall of Famous Missourians collection.

Because Independence and Mansfield are only a little over three hours from each other, you could put them together into an inexpensive travel option. Joplin, Missouri is almost exactly in the middle of the two and would be another worthwhile stop.

For an account of Little House travel starting in Minnesota and taking in South Dakota read Marla Elena Baca’s article about her experience recently published in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Cross-dressing nuns get off in Crete

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Insult is added to industry when you appear in court wearing the clothes that got you arrested. The 17 Britsh men, ranging in age from 18 to 65, who were pinched for their drunken nun-attired escapades made their appearance this morning – and were judged innocent! Nobody, it seems, was willing to talk … or, they just didn’t think it was worth it to testify.

According to local police, the British tourists dressed as nuns and carried crosses. Under their habits, however, they were clad in thongs, which they had a penchant for flashing. This behavior resulted in charges of exposing themselves and offending religious symbols.

With no witnesses, though, the judge had no choice but to judge them innocent. Local residents need not worry: there will be more.

A report on BBCD says that “Malia has become synonymous with Britons behaving badly.” I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what the next costume is!

Vancouver hookers get media training for Olympics

by Tom Johansmeyer on

A magnifying class will be held over Vancouver from February 12 to February 28 for the Winter Olympics, and Vancouver’s prostitutes want to put their best feet forward. To prepare for the influx of business and – media onslaught – Prostitution Alternatives Counselling and Education Society (PACE) is helping the city’s sex worker population understand what to expect.

The Canadian agency is putting together a brochure that will help the local working girls understand how to handle requests for photos and interviews – and a general sense of what their rights are when dealing with society’s true vermin (the press). In addition to the pamphlet, PACE will hold a discussion session to bolster the printed lessons.

Congratulations, reporters: even hookers aren’t comfortable around you.

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