Interested in the Caribbean? Comprehensive list with of where to head

by Jamie Rhein on

I don’t know about you, but this time of year when the sky is slate gray more often then it’s sunny, and the leaves have dropped from the trees like rain, I start thinking about warmer pastures. “Let’s get out of Dodge,” I say. Not really, but that’s what I fantasize.

The Caribbean has been an appealing option since a couple of years ago a friend asked me if I wanted to go to Costa Rica. Although, Costa Rica isn’t part of the Caribbean scene exactly, it got me thinking about that part of the world. Our trip didn’t work out and remains unfinished business. This article in The New York Times offers oodles of option ideas for a Caribbean vacation from the pricey to the not so bad. Now, I’m thinking again.

One of the reasons for the Caribbean travel deals is the beating that the weather gave to the area this year. The financial meltdown is another. Just like Las Vegas has become cheaper in order to draw tourists, so has the Caribbean.

The article touts Anguilla, Bahamas, Barbados, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grand Cayman Island, Grenada, Martinique, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St. Marten, St. Kitts, St. John, St. Lucia, Turks and Caicos and Tobago.

Each destination has a different appeal depending on what you’re after.

Curaçao’s newest resort to open since the 1990s caught my eye because it was developed to be part of the 19th century Rif Fort which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The room rates at the Renaissance Curaçao Resort and Casino are above what we’d spend, but maybe there are cheaper hotels on the island. My adage is stay cheaper and pop over to the more expensive place for drinks, a meal and browsing.

There are cheaper digs elsewhere. One less expensive family option is The Virgin Island Campground on Water Island for $75 a night.

Reading the article is one way to get your mind wandering. Along with the places to stay suggestions are dive shops and restaurants. I’d use the article as a starting point and then see what else you can find by doing some research yourself. [The photo is of Honey Moon Beach at Water Island. You might be in competition with me if you chose this place.]

Roanoke’s new art museum opens today and the collection is fabulous

by Jamie Rhein on

Today people in Roanoke, Virginia are having a fine time of festivities. To celebrate the completion of its brand new building and name change to the Taubman Museum of Art, the museum is putting on an all day shindig. There are: “circus performers, jazz bands, jugglers, puppets, ballet, rock ‘n’ roll, a blues guitar legend named Guitar Shorty, ” and oodles of kids’ activities, according to this blurb in the Roanoke Times.

Even though going to the opening isn’t probably going to happen for you–or me, unless you live close and your timing is so impeccable that you happen to be reading this and say, “Well, I’ll be, that’s just around the corner,” the museum looks as if it will be one more terrific reason to head to Roanoke.

As I browsed the museum’s former Web site, the breadth of the collection and exhibits popped out. Two in particular caught my attention because of their unusual quality. One, Earthly Delights: Judith Leiber Handbags showcases Leiber’s 50-year work as a handbag artist. Her handbags have been carried by First Ladies at presidential inaugurations which made me wonder if Michelle Obama will get one for Obama’s inauguration. The museum has 100 pieces of Leiber’s work.

The exhibit Pens and Needles: Drawings for Tattoos highlights the intricacies of tattoo art. We’ve written posts on the subject. The focus of this exhibit is tattoo artistry, though–not tattoo language snafus.

Rachael Dunlap at Intelligent Travel was in Roanoke a couple of months ago and was impressed with the museum’s architecture and offers an overview of what makes it special. She also gives its permanent collection kudos.

Sounds of Travel 5: One Night in Tokyo

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Here at Gadling we’ll be highlighting some of our favorite sounds from the road and giving you a sample of each — maybe you’ll find the same inspiration that we did, but at the very least, hopefully you’ll think that they’re good songs. Got a favorite of your own? Leave it in the comments below and we’ll post it at the end of the series.

WEEK 4: Colder – One Night In Tokyo

Japan has a reputation of creating bewilderment and a sense of wonder for visitors from the Western world. For anyone who has ever gotten lost in the “fiction” of Japan created by movies like Lost in Translation or anime series like Gundam, there is a perception created of a place that looks strangely familiar yet somehow slightly askew, like your friend was hiding around the corner, waiting to jump out and scare the crap out of you. You’re left constantly on edge, ready to be surprised, shocked and amused by a constant barrage of stimuli.

It was with these thoughts in mind as I landed in Tokyo for my first trip to Japan earlier this year. My home base for the next 10 days was a high rise in the Shinjuku neighborhood – a bustling, neon-lit business district in central Tokyo. As I unpacked my things in my room, I flipped on my iPod to a song by Colder, a French electronic artist known for his moody, atmospheric compositions, fittingly selecting one of my favorite tracks called “One Night in Tokyo.”

As the track slowly kicked in, I took in my surroundings. Dusk was beginning to settle over this massive metropolis. Thousands of office towers lay before me – giant monoliths of concrete and glass glistening quietly, silhouetted against the quickly darkening sky. Each pulsated at the top with the intermittent blink of tiny red light, creating a vision of thousands of tiny insects flashing alone in the dark, performing a giant light show for an unknown audience that rushed by, oblivious. The scene was punctuated by the clackety-clack of endless subway cars as they rumbled into the gigantic Shinjuku rail station down below.

“One Night in Tokyo” was the perfect complement to my overwhelming sense of vertigo at the scene before me. The song builds slowly, adding layer upon layer of warm keyboard synths, dub echoes and handclaps, while lead singer Marc Tan sings in a detached, mysterious monotone. The sound effects fade in and out of the song chaotically, much like the intermittent trains that pierced the silence of my quiet hotel room.

As isolating as this all may sound, One Night in Tokyo was absolutely perfect for setting the right Tokyo mood. It captured what I found so intriguing about Tokyo at night – the air feels thick with excitement and potential. The dark alleyways, the searing neon, the bustle and the activity all created a sense of mystery and excitement. There was a constant sense that at any moment I would be thrust into my own movie plot, filled with strange characters and shady villans darting onto subway platforms and down sidestreets.

My next 10 days in Japan presented me with an experience I will never forget. The Japan of reality is surprisingly not like the one portrayed in my imagination – in fact it’s far weirder. But for those first few hours in Tokyo, as the day began to dim and One Night in Tokyo slowly dissipated from my speakers, my fantasy vision of Japan was alive and well.

Click here for previous Sounds of Travel

Jack Black in his most believable (?) role yet … Gulliver

by Karen Walrond on

From the blog I Watch Stuff comes the news that Jack Black, comedic actor known for his roles in such classics as Nacho Libre and Tropic Thunder, has signed up for a new Twentieth Century Fox adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels. Quoting from Variety:

“Twentieth Century Fox is moving forward with a bigscreen adaptation of “Gulliver’s Travels,” with Jack Black taking on the title role as his next project.”

Should be interesting. If memory serves, the story is about a regular-sized man (in this case, a travel writer) who gets shipwrecked on the island of Lilliput, filled with tiny little people called Lilliputians. So, if IMDB lists Jack Black as being 5’7″ …

… how bleeding tiny are the Lilliputians going to be??

Where the Hell is Matt video used on the Daily Show to show Obama election celebrations

by Jamie Rhein on

First I recognized the music, and then I saw him. Matt Harding dancing on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

In a segment to show the world’s reaction to Barck Obama’s election win, The Daily Show wove snippets of Harding’s video Where the Hell is Matt? with footage shot in various countries of people celebrating. The song played throughout, and location names flashed with each scene change just like in Harding’s original.

In Daily Show fashion, there was a bit of fun mixed in. Sure there were the shots of real people dancing on Tuesday night woven in with the original video, but there was more. There was Jennifer Grey jumping into Patrick Swayze’s arms in Dirty Dancing in Catskill, New York, Jimmy Stewart dancing in a movie party scene I couldn’t place in Bedford, NY, a Star Wars dance scene at Third Moon, Endor, and Michael J. Fox as Teen Wolf in Beacontown, Pennsylvania.

Although I couldn’t find that video by itself, you can see it on the Daily Show web site in the November 6 episode. You’ll find it at the 9:53 marker, but start watching at 9:46 to get the lead in.

Because we’ve been longtime fans of Harding’s work (see posts), it was a pleasant surprise to see it surface in another form.