On April 12, 1861, exactly 151 years ago today, Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina officially igniting the American Civil War. What followed was four years of brutal fighting that would not only decide the fate of over 4 million slaves, but also the very future of the nation. That war left an indelible mark on American history and culture that is felt to this day and many of its battlefields and important landmarks are still visited a century and a half later.
In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh, the National Park Service has launched a new website dedicated to the Civil War and the various locations from that conflict that now fall under NPS supervision. Places like Gettysburg, Antietam and Appomattox Court House to name just a few. The website provides travelers with tools to discover these destinations for themselves while providing a historical context for their significance. It also lists upcoming events for those places and provides insights into what to expect while visiting these important national parks and monuments.
The new website also features an interactive timeline that describes the significant events before, during and after the war. A series of detailed stories provide more depth on the background of the conflict, while profiles of the most important political and military figures from that era help to put a human face on the struggle as well. There is even a “civil war reporter” that delivers daily news about the war via Twitter.
Whether you’re a history buff or just a simple traveler looking for information on Civil War related destinations, you’ll find this site to be a great resource. The Park Service has done an outstanding job in bringing all of this online.
In case you haven’t yet heard of Caine’s Arcade through the social media storm that’s been spreading this video this week, here’s your chance. In short, this cardboard arcade constructed by a 9-year-old boy, Caine, inside of his father’s auto parts store in Los Angeles is a real place you can visit. You can play the arcade games designed by Caine. He’ll even go as far as to feed you winning tickets by hand through a slot in the cardboard “machine.” Before October 2, Caine had only ever entertained one customer, but that one customer happened to be a filmmaker. This video documents the building of the arcade and the special project that brought attention to the arcade. If you’re impressed with Caine’s design skills and motivation, you can even donate to a college fund set up for him on the Caine’s Arcade website. When thinking of where to go in the Los Angeles area, this little boy’s arcade tops my list.
Katchadourian started with a basic paper toilet seat cover and a camera phone, and then introduced a few scarves to create different backgrounds and airplane accessories ranging from an eye mask to a neck pillow to build a group of portraits. The resulting photographs resemble Dutch masters you might see in an art museum, but savvy travelers will recognize some of her props from around their airplane seat.
This isn’t Katchadourian’s first appearance on Gadling. We’ve previously admired her work with maps, and Mike Barish found a kindred spirit with her “Skymall Kitties” video.
Want to put your own spin on the laviator portrait? Snap a pic on your next flight and add it to the Flickr pool. You might even usurp my title as cutest laviator.
Autonomous cars, once seen only in works of science fiction, are almost a reality. The robotic version of today’s motor vehicle is promising to deliver fewer crashes, increased roadway capacity, improved parking ability and more. Car makers say the driver-less vehicles would even eliminate constraints due to the occupant’s state assessing age, disabilities or even blood alcohol level.
As Gigaom reports, the future is fast approaching.
“There is no technology barrier from going where we are now to the autonomous car,” said Jim McBride, a Ford Research and Innovation technical expert who specializes in autonomous vehicle technologies. “There are affordability issues, but the big barrier to overcome is customer acceptance.”
Research vehicles with cameras that can see the road in all directions should be more efficient than a driver with just mirrors. Scanning lasers, vehicle-to-vehicle communications and a hive-like network linking thousands of vehicles at once for maximum safety are all elements available today.However, drivers are not so eager to embrace autonomous cars, so automakers are taking it a step at a time by gradually introducing drivers to more automation.
“People are more accepting of the idea,” Mike Kane, the Ford vehicle engineering supervisor for driver assistance technologies. “They always want their cars to do more. . . . It is going to take a decade before the masses fully accept the autonomous car, but they’ll get there.”
The term “hillbilly” is widely considered an offensive way to describe a poor, uneducated person from a rural area, but the residents of Pike County, Kentucky, have found a novel way to co-opt the term in order to poke fun at themselves and raise money for a good cause in the process.
April 19 marks the start of Pikesville’s 36th annual Hillbilly Days Festival, a three-day long celebration of Appalachian culture that benefits the Shriner’s Children’s Hospital in nearby Lexington. The event was co-founded by Howard “Dirty Ear” Stratton and Grady “Shady” Kinney in 1977 and has gradually evolved into a major event that draws a host of nationally known musicians and over 100,000 festival goers.
The term hillbilly apparently dates back to Appalachia’s deep Scotch-Irish roots but it gained popularity along with a band called The Hill Billies in the 1920’s. The Hill Billies, who got their start playing in a barbershop – now a museum – in Galax, Virginia, on The Crooked Road (see photo), became popular enough that what we now call country music was called hillbilly music. By the 50’s, hillbilly music was re-branded as Country & Western.
Participants at Hillbilly Days dress up in bib overalls and don straw hats, display Confederate flags, drive pimped-out hillbilly limos and eat traditional hillbilly foods. Pike County is also the former stomping grounds of the legendary Hatfields and McCoys, whose infamous feud in the 1880’s resulted in 13 fatalities. Pike County has a Hatfield and McCoy driving tour and a museum for those who want to learn more about this bloody chapter in Appalachian history.
We spoke to Jimmy Kinney, Grady Shady’s son, to find out more about this intriguing cultural event.How did this get started?
My dad and his friend, Dirty Ear Stratton got together and decided they wanted to have a parade. They went to a hillbilly parade in Ohio and got the idea to have one here. It was to make money for the Shriners Children’s Hospital in Lexington. It just took off; it grew from a small festival to well over 100,000 people now.
At one time, the term ‘hillbilly’ wasn’t considered insulting. How do you think the phrase has evolved?
It’s gone in different directions. We’re just having some fun and making fun of ourselves. But there’s a fine line. We’ve gotten some criticism about it, but I ask them to think about the good cause we’re raising money for. We can make fun of each other but we don’t let other people make fun of us.
How do people dress up for this?
Bib overalls, old straw hats – you’ll see just about everything.
I understand there’s also a special hillbilly breakfast available at the festival?
Yeah, it’s biscuits and gravy, fried apples, cornbread – all kinds of stuff.
What about hillbilly drinks like moonshine?
Can’t have that now; it’s against that law. When we first got Hillbilly Days going, we did have a member who brewed 114 quarts of moonshine. He was in our city park selling it for $10 per quart. The city police chief came by and told him he couldn’t sell it. So he says, ‘I’m not sellin’ it. I’m givin’ it away for a $10 donation.’
What goes on at Hillbilly Days?
Great music, five different stages. In the city park, we have old time and traditional bluegrass music. You’ll also hear country music and rock too. We have a big parade on Saturday with lots of hillbilly vehicles. You see vehicles that you wouldn’t even think could run, but they do.
Hillbilly limousines?
Right. People are very proud of them. People build them. They work on them in their garages all year to bring them here. You’ll see cars you’ve never seen before.
I noticed on the website that some participants were flying Confederate flags in previous years. Is the Southern heritage a big part of this event?
We get people from South Carolina and Georgia and around the South for it. But we also get people from all over – New York, Michigan, Canada.
Is it hard to get a hotel room in Pikesville during this event?
Very hard. If you can’t find a room in Pikesville, you might find one in Prestonsburg, which is about 20 miles away.
What is a hillbilly?
A hillbilly is a really fine person. It’s people from this area. Laid back people. People from this part of the country are super. The whole community is great – I can’t imagine a place with better hospitality than Pikeville, Kentucky.