Let’s go to Whileseated for today’s
POTD, a coloful and humorouus shot of a
boy struggling up the stairs at Zojo-Ji, Tokyo. One wonders if this ambitious youngster is going up the stairs or down
them. Either way, it seems obvious the stairs were built with adult legs in mind. (Is it just me, or are a lot of
gadling watchers traveling to Japan?)
Hitchhiking & Road Travel
This recent
article from the Houston Chronicle got
me wondering about hitchhiking. I’ve never considered it, and I would not want to suggest unsafe travel methods to
anyone, but I do believe there are certain situations when hitching a ride may be an appropriate, necessary and viable
way to move about, and quite possibly rewarding and fun as well. The article mentioned
Digihitch, a portal for everything imaginable related to hitchhiking, rail and
road travel, so I spent some time exploring the site.
My favorite part is the Encyclopedia of Road Subculture,
loaded with profiles of noted hitchhikers – true engaged travelers! – from different time periods, including
bohemian,
beat,
hippie and
modern day. The
global vagabond language guide and
lexicon guide are handy resources for current hikers,
and the movie list is an impressive collection of
flicks with hitchhiking scenes or themes.
The site, created in 2001, now boasts over 5,000 members, united by their interest in uncommon travel. There are
thumb blogs and
photos too,
rideboards (for both North America and Europe) and downloads of travel
guides for those who register with the site (it’s free). I’m probably leaving out at least five other cool features
that I wanted to mention (like the exhaustive web links section or
the world travel guide), so be sure to spend some time on the site — you
never know when hitchhiking might present itself as the best way to
travel.
Taking on Easter Island
The writer of this piece is
exactly right. I best know the massive head statues of Easter Island from the program In Search of, by Leonard Nimoy.
To me the heads are kind of the equivalent of several classical music compositions which, when I hear their familiar
notes, think only of various Bugs Bunny cartoons (if only Wagner had thought to write Kill the Wabbit! into his
libretto, his music might have been popular among children a whole lot earlier). Well, I have learned a bit more about
Easter Island now that I have read this
article from Stellar Magazine.
I have learned that the island is too large to travel by foot, and that music and dancing are a major aspect of island
life. I have learned that there are more than 2000 of these heads, or moals, scattered around the island, and that
these moals likely reflect the growing problems that the people of this island faced as they cut down its trees and
depleted its resources. That is, as the island’s resources dwindled, the people built the moals larger and larger,
hoping, one would think, to gain the succor of the gods. Or maybe the gods were pissed because these people were
obviously insinuating they had big heads…OK, then, forget them! And so the population starved and many died and some
left for other distant places and all was not well with the people of Easter Island. Don’t believe me? Just ask Leonard
Nimoy.
Mapping Sex in America
Here is your chance to have your voice heard, to become part of an engaging ongoing archive of men and women who
document their sex lives for all to read and ponder. The Mapping Sex in
America project comes out of the NYC-based Museum of Sex, and might be
called a kind online Kinsey Report. Of course, that’s exactly what they’d LIKE to be called, but obviously the
methodologies here (people anonymously typing in their sexual escapades) would hardly pass muster with a stickler
statistician like Kinsey…after all (to paraphrase that old New Yorker cartoon), on the internet, no one knows you’re a
virgin. But the idea here is pretty neat and the Flash interface is elegant and well done, and at the very least,
should you feel no impulse to contribute, you can at least read about other people’s sexual adventures (or
misadventures). That’s always good for a laugh.
Cambodia’s Newest Citizen
Angelina Jolie, who adopted her son Maddox from Cambodia, will
donate $5 million dollars over the next 15 years to set up a wildlife sanctuary in the region, where she has bought a
home. Dubbed the Maddox Jolie Project, the goal
will be to rehabilitate the eco-system of the Samlaut Multiple Use Area in the Battambang Province. You can read an
account of her visit to the from region several years ago.
(Via Treehugger)
Battambang is Cambodia’s second most populous city, known for its rice mills, Khmer history, French colonial
architecture, plethora of statues, and location along
the Sangker River. Lonely Planet
calls it an “elegant
riverside town” and the Thorn Tree board members who have been there tend to say it is relaxing and not as crowded as
some of the more popular traveler spots in Cambodia. You can get to Siem Reap from Battambang by bus or boat, although
the travel time can vary considerably. The city is also not far from Thailand.
We’ll point you to some spots to start further research on the region: This BootsnAll traveler shares the story of
his 2002 visit to the region, and this
travelogue and
collection of photos both provide great info. Here is a
map of the city and a good list of
resources to get you started on planning a
trip.