Flying pigs? Maybe not. But they’ll jump through hoops of fire

by Martha Edwards on

I thought performing animals were the height of cuteness when I headed to Monkey Island off the coast of Nha Trang in Vietnam. In fact, that’s why I went. But after watching a bear ride a motorcycle in a Tutu and a spiked metal harness that bent his neck to an impossible degree of discomfort and an elephant that got whipped into standing on a foot stool, I kind of changed my tune. While I’m glad the bear wasn’t free to roam and maul us all, it was a pretty heartbreaking. Except for the dogs, every animal that appeared in the show that day was chained and whipped into doing cute but unnatural things. I supposed this has been going on for years, but I guess I didn’t notice until now.

So I’m not sure what I think about this story about performing pigs in Thailand. Apparently, tigers were too dangerous and unpredictable, but while pigs require a very patient trainer, these ones have been put through the rigors and have have stolen the show. The pigs can dance, pick up tennis balls and jump through flaming hoops, among lots of other things. They won’t be stars for long though — once they become full-grown adults, they become too fat to perform, and go to live in the zoo (really!)

Sounds cute — sans metal shackles, of course.

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World Hum and where the heck is Justin?

by Jamie Rhein on

When I came across his interview and picture posted yesterday on World Hum, I was so happy to see that Gadling’s lead blogger Justin is keeping warm during his travels in Eastern Europe. He was staying near Prague in the Czech Republic. I knew his girlfriend had caught a cold a while back, and being the fine fellow that he is, he had tracked down medicine to help her feel better. [see post] Now that he’s shown up in this interview I’m feeling even more envious of his trip than I did before–except for one thing.

In his interview I did notice his details of the teenage travelers who were swapping spit (not Justin’s words, but mine) on a good part of a bus trip he took through the Czech Republic countryside. As wonderful as travel is, there are those moments when it is just hard to relax in any kind of Zen-like way. From what he said, the teens were in competition with the scenery for his attention.

At what point does a lovefest, when it’s not our own, become a point of distraction? Once when I was ushering a concert at the New Mexico State Fair for a civic club I belonged to, I had to repeatedly ask a couple to quit necking. Seriously, they were all but laying across their seats. The people around them kept imploring me to do something to get them to stop. From what I recall, they never did stop. The people who paid to see the concert who had the honor of sitting next to these two hickey makers ended up with a show quite different from the one they anticipated when they first settled into their seats for a night out. [Thanks to valerio for the shot on stockxchange]

Sex, dolly buster, Britney Spears and burrito: which country Googles what the most?

by Jamie Rhein on

Big Brother named Google is watching and there’s a tally of the number of people in countries who search certain key words. It’s a fun little tally, though, although I’m not sure what the findings mean. Are these people’s obsessions or just musings? I think another interesting tally would be words that countries don’t Google. For example, “sex.” This wins top place as the word typed in the most in Egypt, India and Turkey. I think in some countries Googling sex might find that person in a world of trouble. I also want to know what a Dolly Buster is. Is it a beer? A buxom blond? I could look it up, but I’d rather ask you all.

Here’s more of the top searched words and the countries where the people are Googling them. I say this list also indicates where Internet access is more easily available–and perhaps who has desk jobs.

  • “Jihad” – Morocco, Indonesia, Pakistan
  • “Terrorism” – Pakistan, Philippines, Australia
  • “Hangover” – Ireland, United Kingdom, United States
  • “Burrito” – United States, Argentina, Canada
  • “Iraq” – United States, Australia, Canada
  • “Taliban” – Pakistan, Australia, Canada
  • “Tom Cruise” – Canada, United States, Australia
  • “Britney Spears” – Mexico, Venezuela, Canada
  • “Homosexual” – Philippines, Chile, Venezuela
  • “Love” – Philippines, Australia, United States
  • “Botox” – Australia, United States, United Kingdom
  • “Viagra” – Italy, United Kingdom, Germany
  • “David Beckham” – Venezuela, United Kingdom, Mexico
  • “Kate Moss” – Ireland, United Kingdom, Sweden
  • “Dolly Buster” – Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia
  • “Car bomb” – Australia, United States, Canada
  • “Marijuana” – Canada, United States, Australia
  • “IAEA” – Austria, Pakistan, Iran

7 gravest threats facing America, according to GQ (It’s not Capri pants)

by Iva Skoch on

I admit it. I actually got the 50 Anniversary Issue of GQ with the big “50 Most Stylish Men of the past 50 years” title on the cover. The cover page comes in 10 mutations, ranging from Michael Jordan to JFK. I got Johnny Depp because he lives in France…and that’s how this is all related to travel, in case you were wondering. (I also got it because Johnny Depp is, you know, Johnny Depp.)

Here is what Gentlemen’s Quarterly thinks the Gravest Threats to America are:

  1. The Media (“I like my truth like my coffee: black or white. Shades of gray are for brain tissue and for the weak. neither has a place in the News Business.”)
  2. Immigrants (“Yes, Virginia, there is a right kind of foreigner. The kind who comes to America, loses his brogue, and creates US Steel”)
  3. Divorce (“Walk it off. Work it out. Thirty day return policy and then no exchanges.”)
  4. The Homosexual Agenda (“I am perfectly fine with someone being gay as long as he marries a woman and has kids like the rest of us.”)
  5. Race (“The worst thing about affirmative action is that it encourages reverse discrimination, so-called because it goes in the opposite way of how we naturally discriminate.”)
  6. Religion (“America is a Christian nation…Think of Judeo-Christian values like ‘Sears, Roebuck and Co.’ Judaism is Roebuck.”)
  7. Evolution (“Just because Darwin was a sick twist with a God Complex doesn’t mean you have to buy into this power trip.”)

Yes, I know what you are thinking. Although funny, it is ignorant and oversimplified. At the same time, these seven points nicely sum up what America doesn’t want the rest of the world to know about America, don’t they?

Survey finds Philadelphia populated with America’s least attractive people

by Neil Woodburn on

People watching is such an integral part of travel. And, of course, it’s all that much better when those people you are watching are very attractive.

But sometimes they are ugly. In fact, I’ve been to a handful of cities on this planet where it seems the entire population has been beaten silly with a massive ugly stick.

Apparently Philadelphia is one of them.

According to a recent Travel and Leisure survey of 60,000 people, the city of brotherly love has been tagged as having the least attractive people in the United States. Man, that must hurt!

The capital of Philadelphia was ranked 25th out of 25 cities when it comes to overall attractiveness of its population. Washington DC and Dallas/Fort Worth came in at 24th and 23rd respectively. For the record, I happened to be in both Philadelphia and DC last week and I greatly disagree with these ratings.

Oh, and for what it’s worth, the most attractive people in the States can be found in Miami and San Diego according to the survey. So you might want to take that into consideration when planning your next travels.