Friday Funny: Lifestyles of the Rich and Fascist

by Erik Olsen on

For today’s Friday Funny, we bring you an entertaining, tongue in cheek piece from Radar Magazine on how the rich and autocratic live.

From Libyan dictator Muammar al-Quaddafi, whose personal bodyguards are made up of an all-girl Amazonian unit alleged to be virgins to Myanmar’s repressive Senior General Than Shwe, who has been taking cooking classes with a leading French chef in Rangoon, to North Korea’s Kim Jong Il, whose escapades and eccentric tastes have been well documented, the list is a wonderful slice of egotistical life. There are ten dictators in all. Be sure to collect all ten! I have no idea how accurate this stuff is, but it IS funny in a sick kind of way.

Jerusalem as Destination

by Erik Olsen on

I sometimes puzzle friends when I tell them that I did my honeymoon in Israel. Are you Jewish? they immediately ask, wondering if my WASPY appearance belies a history of Yom Kippurs and Saturday morning services. I am not Jewish, not that I know of anyway, but I am intensely curious about Jewish history and culture, and in my mind there was no better place to get a sense of this, let alone a sense of our common history over all, than Israel. Of course, Israel is more than just the cradle of Western culture. It is more than one of the most historically rich places on the planet. It is also a lovely, friendly, adventuresome place that I believe everyone should visit in heir lifetime.

I could go one about all the great things you can do in Israel. Floating the Dead Sea, grabbing dinner and drinks in Tel Aviv, scuba diving the Red Sea at Eilat, hiking the hills of Bethlehem. But probably the most interesting place in the country is its capital city: Jerusalem. The city is a marvel of sights and sounds, of history and heritage, of tastes and smells. I have not thought about Jerusalem lately other than what I read in the news. I have not thought of it as a tourist destination. But this piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer reminded me how much I love Jerusalem, and how much I’d like to return. The piece does a fine job laying out many of the allures of the city, its well-known historical sites, the thriving markets, the taste of history and culture that hangs in the air. Just thinking about it makes me want to go back and spend a few weeks.

Get Lost in Bermuda

by Adrienne Wilson on

When you’re talking the ABC’s of the Caribbean islands the ‘B’ usually stands for Bonaire or some might say Barbados or the Bahamas, but today it stands for Bermuda. Why Bermuda and why today? Well I recently found this story from the Baltimore Sun online on one man’s journey to the island dominated by shades of pink and super nice sandy beaches that seems very much worth your attention whether you are an island lover or not. The author, Robert Cross, warns us almost immediately that he is not fond of beaches with a lot of hype and despite all of what he’d heard he decided to go anyway. Turned out it was his luck and in his story he points other perspective travelers beyond the beach to nice places to eat, sleep and peep the local history scene. I never gave Bermuda a whole lot of thought, but after reading through his tale it is safe to say I wouldn’t mind going maybe. I like beaches with tons of hype or none at all. Isn’t it time you got lost in Bermuda too?

New York by Bookstore

by Erik Olsen on

I’d already written some of this post about bookstores in New York when saw Neil’s post on homogeneity. My point was going to be that you can stand in almost any Barnes and Noble in the world and probably NOT know what city you’re in. Same with Starbucks.

I lament the homogeneity of our culture, even though I know that there’s not much we can do about it, and that it makes no sense for me to try and deprive people of their cheap Wal-Mart goods if they want them. But still, I do sometimes get sick when I go to a place like Santa Barbara and the main esplanade is littered with chain stores. Which all brings me to this fine little piece in the Globe and Mail (Canada’s answer for the New York Times) about little bookshops in Manhattan.

Having lived in New York City for the last seven years, I always try and buy my books in little bookshops. I also really enjoy wandering among the stacks in these stores, plucking up the newest non-fiction hardbacks and feeling their lovely, brain-enriching heft. It is sad, though, that while several great stores still exist, many have gone the way of the Dodo. Several old-school, wonderful bookstores like Coliseum Books and Brentano’s are now gone…which breaks my heart. Again, what do you do? Maybe just try and appreciate the old stores while they’re still around…and buy a book or two while you’re at it.

The Places In Between

by Iva Skoch on

We’re not shy about plugging audible.com. First, listening to books gives our computer-weary eyes a needed rest. Two, schlepping around an iPod is easier than a big, new hardcover. Third, often the authors themselves read the books, adding an extra dimension that reading can’t touch. (audible.com version of Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, anyone?)

We’ve been hearing about another book for a while and we mentioned it a few months ago, but hadn’t picked it up until just now, because now we can hear it from audible.com: Rory Stewart’s The Places in Between.

What makes this book special? Mr. Stewart walked across Asia solo. The book is about just a relatively small portion of that trip: walking–as in on foot–across Afghanistan during the war in 2002. He’s a young, Farsi and Persian-speaking, former British diplomat and current resident of Kabul, and his tale is fascinating. He re-traced the steps of a 16th Century Muslim Emperor (Babur), straight across the country, across high mountain passes–in the middle of winter–from Herat to Kabul.

You’ll definitely gain new insights into the culture and people of Afghanistan and hearing it directly from the author himself is well worth a listen. It’s surprising and interesting, and you’ll definitely learn a lot. We sure did.