Sleeping with the Dinosaurs

by Iva Skoch on

Starting next month, the Natural History Museum in New York City will host all-night sleepovers.

I thought this would be a great opportunity to save some money on rent in Manhattan while actually having a view of something other than a brick wall, but that was just too good to be true….Not only is the invitation extended only to kids 8-12 years old, you also have to pay $79 per person. And no, I don’t think you get Best Western points for that, either.

According to Newyorkology, $79 is a good deal. The Bronx Zoo apparently charges $4,500/group and FAO Schwarz sets you back $25,000 for a private sleepover. Unless Michael Jackson pays, of course.

Pursuing the Pitohui

by Erik Olsen on

It has been a long time, to long, since we last visited the NPR Radio Expeditions site. I used to head over there quite often to listen to the numerous audio bios they’ve got posted of various well-known (and a few rather obscure) explorers and scientists. But I more or less heard them all, so I kind of went on to other things. But they are always producing new stuff, so it behooves us to check in every once in a while. To wit: I offer you today this excellent piece on a conservationist named Bruce Beehler who is wandering the mysterious cannibal-inhabited jungles of Papua New Guinea in search of a mysterious and poisonous bird native to the region called the pitohui. In typical NPR fashion, you really get a feel for the heat and the exoticness of the location, and as you follow Beehler and the local shaman that he befriends, you can’t help wonder, how did I end up in a damn office?

Climbing Fire Towers in So Cal

by Erik Olsen on

Even though I spent most of my youth in and around Southern California, there are still some wild places I never managed to see. To wit: I just came across this article in the LA Times about a writer who spent time checking out the fire towers in and around both the Sierras and the San Bernardino National Forest. What a col idea. Turns out that the towers are operated by the National Forest Service and most, says the article, are open to visitors. I imagine that is NOT the case during the high fire season, but still it seems like a rather cool adventure to go up and hang out in some of these towers to savor the view and perhaps nibble on a sandwich. Some of these towers even allow overnight stays, which sounds totally cool…perhaps the closest we have in this part of California to the alpine lodges so common in Europe.

The writer in the article ventures to the top of 10,365-foot Mitchell Peak and takes in the 360-degree view of the central Sierra Nevada, but also heads to Buck Rock, a tower perched on an 8,500-foot granite cone in Sequoia National Forest, about 250 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The article here also provides a nice little dose of history, wherein we learn that the whole fire tower thing was started during the administration of Teddy Roosevelt and that much of the effort to build them was in response to a five million acre blaze that killed some 78 firefighters. A nice dose of adventure and history to kick off your Monday.

Flying Kites for Family & Guatemala’s Dead

by Adrienne Wilson on

Every November 1 better known as All Saint’s Day in Guatemala, the people of Santiago Sacatepequez gather in crowds with enormous homemade kites to celebrate both family and those who have come and gone. From the cemetery residents will set their kites to soar in the skies as a tourist or two sits watching in awe on top of the graves. In this warm travel piece found in the Miami Herald, Kevin Revolinski describes el Dia de Todos los Santos, a holiday with traditions more than 100 years old. While I’ve never placed Guatemala in any of my future travel plans I can’t deny the whimsical sound of celebrating both life and death sounds worth checking out.

Flying kites for any reason is something I’ve always taken fancy to yet never really have the time to embrace on my own. So that I don’t get too carried away or sidetracked here, this one is worth the read if you’re heading down to Central America soon and if you happen to make it to this event, please report back with a word or two of your own.

via MiamiHerald

Central Europe in Trouble?

by Iva Skoch on

If you missed 1989, now is a good opportunity to sample the “revolutionary, yet peaceful” spirit of Central Europe once again. Head over to Budapest.

Hungarian students have been protesting the new socialist government of the Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány for a week now. Last weekend, he admitted to the nation, that his party lied about the real state of the Hungarian economy in order to win the election. Apparently, everyone lies, so he didn’t see anything wrong with admitting to it. Since then, students have been demonstrating in the streets of Budapest, demanding his resignation. Sure, you have some radical nuts and soccer hooligans joining the crowds, but that is the way things in Central Europe have been — ranging from the extreme left to the extreme right.

Some say this is the first indication that Central Europe is in trouble: Hungary is wrapped up in protest, Poland is on the verge of a government crises and Czech Republic has a “puppet” government in place before preliminary elections are called. I think being in the good old revolutionary days is pretty cool. It’s good to see students in the streets again, rather than only in their bedrooms playing computer games. You know people care. The spirit is contagious.

Maybe Neil was right in his post, suggesting that Budapest is stealing some of Prague’s spotlight.