One of the places I most want to visit in the world today is Vietnam. Everyone I’ve spoken with who has been there
has nothing but high marks for the country. The food is great, the people are friendly and some of the sites are truly
spectacular. The Detroit Freep has got a
feature on Da Nang that makes for a good read. The writer heads to China beach and seveal of the mountainous areas
in the vincinity including Ngu Hanh Son, better known as Marble Mountains, where Viet Cong troops watched what was
going on during the Vietnam war in Da Nang (the site, you will remember of several major battles). She chows lobster
and enjoys some history (from the Vietnamese perspective) of the war.
Fat-Bottomed Divers
Are you a bit flabby around the mid-section? Perhaps you’ve put on a few pounds since the active days of your youth
and now wonder if diving is a safe activity for you? When you dive, do you find that you need a bit moore weight on
your belt than you did just a few years ago? Does the divemaster suggest you try an anchor instead?
Here is an article for the fat diver. It discusses
health concerns like heart attack and diabetes, as well as a nice equation for determining your BMI or body-mass
index.
— Divide your weight in pounds by your height in inches squared.
— Multiply the result of step 1 by 705
Simple, eh? Did you know that if you are really obese, your dive calculator might actually be inaccurate. the article
explains this, too. So, as you embark on your next diet, give this a read and start to drop those pounds.
Travelfish
Travelers interested in Southeast Asia, in particular Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, will be very interested in this site called Travelfish.
The site has very specific, traveler-written guides to these places, providing information on the best unspoit beaches, the best food, where to go in Laos to find “mist shrouded Lao mountains” and “luxury lodges for a hilltribe trek”. In some ways, I actually think the site is better than Lonely Planet, because for each place they actually provide listings and links to their recommendations.
So yes, the site is actually quite good. Well organized, nicely designed and chock full of good information. If you are planning a trip to this region, I urge you to check out Travelfish.
Watching Fireworks
Don’t know about you, but in my experience watching big fireworks shows was always second to
actually blowing them up. And when I was young and my pyromaniacal tendencies were a little more reckless, we used to
head down to Mexico and fill up bags with M-80s and M-1000’s and then we’d spend hours blowing shit up. You name it, we
blew it up. Or tried. But no animals, I promise.
Anyway, that was then, and this is now. Now the laws are so uptight that you’d probably get thrown in the pokey
blowing stuff up the way we used to. So now we have to content ourselves with sitting around on a blanket watching
professionals explode high-tech fireworks in the sky. Oooh. Ahhh. Yawn.
As one of my favorite writers would say: And so it goes.
But if you are interested in catching 4th of July fireworks, I do herewith offer you a list of the places where they
are said the be the best. No, this is not a replacemnt for putting an M-1000 in a newspaper machine, but it’s what it
is.
The hot spots for fireworks fun:
• Marin County, Calif. (San Francisco): Marin County Fair. Thursday-July 4
• Madison, Wis.: “Rhythm & Booms!” Independence Day Celebration. Saturday
• St. Louis: Fair St. Louis. Saturday-July 4
• Addison, Texas (Dallas area): 20th annual Kaboom Town. July 3
• Washington: Independence Day Celebration. July 4
• New Orleans: 15th annual “Go 4th on the River.” July 4
• New York City: Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks. July 4
• Philadelphia: Philadelphia Freedom Concert. July 4
Whale Burgers to Sell Big?
Don’t know how I feel about this one. It just seems such a shame to eat whales, but maybe that’s my Western
sensibilities talking. But as this article points
out, whale burgers are in high demand. A Japanese fast food chain estimates that demand will be so high that it
will sell 200 whale burgers a day. The chain, Lucky Pierrot (that doesn’t sound very Japanese?), runs 10 shops in the
northern island of Hokkaido, and will use the mean minke whales caught under Japan’s controversial research whaling
program. The burgers are said to taste a lot like beef. No word on whether the burger will be called the McMoby.