Cuba & Fidel in Photos

We can all thank the folks at Polo’s Bastards for bringing us this fine collection of Fidel and Cuba photos while we pack our bags and prepare to flock over when the time comes. (Coughs.) If you didn’t know already, Fidel hasn’t been feeling too well and Raul is helping out around the little island located approximately 91 miles from the U.S. Whether Fidel has reached the end of the road or not, Cuba is such an amazing country in my book. It’s the type of place I’d like to go sit rolling cigars with an old wise lady twice my age discussing politics and they way things were back in Fidel’s heyday. Of course my Spanish would be beyond broken and her English the same if not worse, but over time we’ll come to understand one another. Wouldn’t hurt if there were some Omara Portuondo humming from a radio in the background either, but I won’t be too picky here and I’ll stop rambling now.

Head to: Cuba – Hi Fidelity

Oil Travelogue at Chicago Tribune

This isn’t exactly the kind of trip you’re going to want to take with the family, but it is a worthy trip to make online, at least.

This fine interactive over at the Chicago Tribune, takes a long, interactive and video look at where a gallon of gas comes from .The reporter, Pulitzer-Prize winner Paul Salopek, traversed the globe to find out where our gas comes from, how we’re able to drive those SUVs, what is that stuff, exactly that comes out of the pump .It is a superb piece of travel/issue-oriented journalism and is worth spending a lunchtime watching. In addition to the video interactive, there is also a series of articles.

I give this a big thumbs up.

Amnesty International Ceasefire Photo Gallery

Here’s something to spend just a few moments checking out. On August 7th, Amnesty International held a global vigil for ceasefire in the Lebanon/Israel conflict. The gallery showcases how members and supporters from over 30 countries came together to show their solidarity for victims and survivors of both sides. Quite moving in a way – it includes shots of people covered in banners, sprawled out in streets, and candles spelling out “ceasefire” in Arabic from Beirut. Take a look at how folks in Paris, Pakistan and Santiago demonstrated their cry for peace and ceasefire.

No Such Thing As Eco-Tourism?

Anneli Rufus may have gained a couple followers tagging along and hi-fiving her long-winded rant which compares colonialism to eco-tourism, but she sure ruffled more than a few feathers. While I don’t necessarily agree with all her commentary myself, the writing is biting, cut-throat, makes you think and has generated what actually looks like 109 well-thought out responses. (Mind-blowing, but not surprising.) Anneli who claims to have been a adventurer in the past, writer of travel books (and actually was) and so-on, no longer wanders into Third World territories, but now deeply contemplates whether First World travelers are doing nothing more than boasting, bragging and dismantling the landscape in their gnarly little eco-tourist excursions. What do you say?

If you’ve got some free time (and I do mean free time) then swing over to AlterNet for a read. Actually, even if you’re very busy at work trying to get through the middle of the work week I suggest you go over and see what side of the picket-white fence you’re on. Are you a status conscious colonialist using eco-tourism for a mask while trampling, intruding and wrecking foreign locales in the name of a snapshot or do you believe differently? Is Anneli totally off the mark?

What does eco-tourism mean to you? How do you define adventure travel

Weird Michigan

The weirdest state in my book is Nebraska and I say this knowing just about nothing of the land with the exception of the state capital. Omaha, right? I bet it’s where all the alien abductions and probings go down. There’s nothing anyone can do or say to change my mind about this one. Don’t even try. I won’t listen. La-la-la-la-la, there! I’ve already convinced myself so there’s no turning back now.

Anywho, the makers of Weird Guides haven’t gotten around to proving my absurd theories on Nebraska factual, but they have recently gotten around to the glorious Great Lake state of Michigan. Weird Michigan like the other Weird guides points the eccentric traveler to all the unordinary offerings and site the state can provide. Hunt for the ghost of a boy in blue pajamas in Ishpeming or look for the underwater crucifix near Petoskey. Doesn’t stop there though, it just gets weirder.

via Detroit Free Press