International Mime Festival

by Erik Olsen on

Fans of the recent Live8 concerts, who presumably enjoy a little sound with their entertainment, will likely find little to celebrate at the International Mime Festival, which takes place in the first week of August in Périgueux, France. But there are those who like a little mime with their cafe au lait, and for them, this will more than do the trick.

Mimes have come far since the days of Marcel Marceau. The traditional “guy stuck in glass box” repertoire has been hugely expanded over the years to include “guy caught in fierce storm” and “guy climbing rope”. Don’t let it ever be said that mime is not serious business. For those with intense interest in mime (you know who you are!), you can read a brief history of the craft here.

Tour de France Interactive

by Erik Olsen on

For Tour de France fans interested in well-done Flash-based interactive on the status of Lance Armstrong, et al., the New York Times is running a nice interactive in Flash that plots the tour and provided excellent details on the progress and statistics of individual riders.

I would have posted about it earlier (seeing as we’re already well into the Tour, which, by the way Lance Armstrong is winning…as if you didn’t know that), but I just stumbled upon it recently.

The feature is very elegant and informative, and lets you actually view the individual stages as maps with a brief description of the stage. Well done and worth checking on as you follow the tour.

Recipe: Make Escargots

by Adrienne Wilson on

The Food Network online has a world of amazing global recipes, fine cooking ideas, and great clips from some of their delicious food programming. I like to stop by at least twice a month to find something new to cook up in the kitchen, though my time has been quite limited these days. However, when I finally do get some time back, I won’t be preparing this Escargots a la Provence found here. I stumbled upon what seems to be a very pleasing dish for snail lovers by reading some fun food facts on the traveler’s food paradise found in Provence, France. I’ve never really been a fan of the dish, but I’m told I probably didn’t have it cooked right the last couple of nose-pinched attempts I made. In any case for those that do love the once slithering creatures cooked to perfection, try this recipe at home.

Everything else on the site sounds absolutely mouth watering especially the mention of lavender scents making appearances in many dishes from ice cream to roast chicken. Now, that will take me to Provence for sure. Yum.

Lotsa Lance

by Erik Olsen on

Well, we’re very close to Lance-time, so I thought I’d pull some sites of interest. Don’t know about you, but it seems to me he has been everywhere. I’ve seen his chiseled mug on magazines, newspapers, books, and all over TV. Just yesterday I flew in to LA and there was some kind of Lance Marathon on the scores of monitors lodged into the backs of people’s seats. A sea of Lances.

But it is of course a big deal that the guy is going for his 7th Tour de France victory. I mean, what a remarkable athlete he is. There must be some very odd mixture of genes that both foster discipline and provide for high tolerance of pain in Lance’s genome.

All that said if you’re a fan, you should probably check out the Discovery Channel site, which is one of the better Lance sites. You can also check out the Lance Armstong Fouundation site, which is quite good, but not as media-rich, and the Lance.com site. And then there is the Nike site with some of the very Nike-esque commercials available online. For the Tour itself, there is an Official site, and a Tour blog.

Outside Tour de France Issue

by Erik Olsen on

Lance fans unite. Outside’s July issue is dedicated entirely to the Tour de France and to a man they call on their cover the world’s greatest living athlete: Lance Armstrong. Sadly, there are not many articles yet online, but if you’re like me, you’re a subscriber and are beginning to devour this delicious issue.

The coming Tour de France as most people, and ALL Lance-fans know, will be Lance’s last. He has said so publicly. What he will do after he retires is anyone’s guess, but perhaps he will settle down with Sheryl and make more little Lances. This Tour is Armstrong’s seventh bid at a seventh consecutive Tour de France title, and if he wins, he may just be considered the best athlete in the universe.