Adventures for Adrenaline Junkies

by Erik Olsen on

Do you feel the need? The need for speed? Do you watch too many Tom Cruise movies? We thought so. Well get off your flabby backside and launch yourself into new adventures that require your full and immediate attention and a bit of physical exertion to boot. I’m not talking about wandering the stale halls of a museum. I’m talking about Alpha Male adventures, the kind of adrenal gland squeezing stuff that will either get you fired up or, quite possibly, get you killed.

This piece over at MSNBC tells you how to do it and with whom (sound provocative ,does it not?). With companies like Sarasota, Florida-based Incredible Adventures, you can fly supersonic jets or reach the stratosphere. Or, if you haven’t worn your chaps in a while, there is West Virginia-based Z Bulls, whose day-long programs will have you riding bulls like…um…some famous bull rider, none of who’s names I can think of. Or, become a polar explorer for a day and try your paw at dog sledding in the Swedish Lapland.

Or, you can just stay at home and do nothing, playing with your new Sony video game console, eat potato chips get fat and die the easy way. It’s up to you.

Battles over Budweiser

by Iva Skoch on

Yesterday was a good day for beer lovers. After almost a century of disagreements between Anheuser-Busch and the Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar (BBNP) over the name for their beers, the two brewers have formed an historic alliance in which Anheuser-Busch will become the U.S. importer of Czechvar Premium Czech Lager. Now that both parties have figured out a way to make money, pride suddenly went aside.

The new alliance does not stop any existing legal proceedings, but it is a step towards a reasonable agreement. Budvar cannot legally use the name “Bud”, “Budvar” or “Budweiser” (which they use throughout Europe) so they use the brand “Czechvar” in the US market. Czechs are claiming that Americans “stole the name” from the centuries-old brewery in Budweis (town in southern Bohemia). Americans, however, have invested too much into the brand to give it up. Maybe it is time that Anheuser-Busch started investing in the taste of their beer, not the name.

Chiloe Stories

by Erik Olsen on

This impressive little award-winning feature on the Chilean island of Chiloe took me by surprise. I spent a fair amount of time in Chile and remember well the unique character of Chiloe.

I always thought there was a cool documentary to be made there, but these guys have gone and made a kind of Webumentary in Flash, with photos, audio and music. The stories are varied, covering the stories of young dreamers to traditional ways, and attempt to cover many other aspects of life on the island. I’d love to see some video, really see and hear the people talking, but the audio slide show thing works well.

Exotic World

by Erik Olsen on

Tell me what city you think of when I use the word “stripper”. Vegas, right? Well, I’m sorry to say, but the correct answer, at least in the context of this post, is Barstow. Let me introduce you to Dixie Evans, the curator and director of the Burlesque Hall of Fame. The museum is dedicated to the, and I use this word loosely, ART of stripping. Yes, if you just head a wee bit out of lovely Barstow (stop and grab some lettuce on your way out), there it is, the museum dedicated to taking off your clothes so drooling, drunk men can gawk and spend their hard-earned singles.

The museum is loaded with stripping artifacts, including sexy photos, G-strings, elaborate costumes, boas, and, one would guess, a metal pole or two. It should be noted that the art show here is of the American variety, so mules, ping-pong balls and razors, a la Tijuana and Bangkok, have likely been left out. Lots of history and tasteful images can, of course, be seen on the Web site.

World’s Most Aggressive “Queue Jumpers”

by Iva Skoch on

One of the things that annoy me to no end when traveling are people who cut in front of you when waiting in line or as the British say “Queue Jumpers“.

Part of the problem is that I never know whether I should just relax, ignore it and let everyone get ahead of me (I am on vacation, after all… no rush to get any place) OR whether I should “do as the Romans do”, assimilate and become a champion queue jumper myself. I have a feeling I would be pretty good at it, too. What I do know is that most countries in the world could use an elementary school subject called “The Art of Forming a Line”. It would make the world seem a lot more civilized.

Every time I travel from the US back home to Prague I notice how much more aggressive people are in Europe about their spot in line (The UK is an obvious exception here). Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin airports…I swear sometimes you feel like if you don’t squeeze into the front, they would not let you board. The further east you go, the worst it gets.

I just read a piece in the December 23 “The Economist” about the airports in Russia which really made me laugh. The author is describing the various species of the Moscow airport queue jumper: “the brazen hoodlum, the incremental babushka and the queue-surfing clans who relocate in groups when one of their number reaches the front.” It reminded me of my trip to China where elbow-wrestling with 70-year old women in lines was a norm. The Darwinism of the 21st century is quite sad, really.