GADLING'S TAKE FIVE: Week of February 21

by Erik Olsen on

It’s that time again, time to highlight some of the more
interesting Gadling posts from this last week. And it was a rather rich week, I’d say, especially when you consider
that we put up another podcast for your ear budding pleasure. But let me start at the beginning with this week’s
list:

5. Blimp Travel: This was a post I
found over at Popular Science and it really fired me up. I’ve long been puzzled why we haven’t been able to ply the
skies slowly in a dirigible. I mean, the technology has been around for a while, and yet, no blimp rides. Did the
tragedy of the Hindenburg ruin blimp travel? Well, perhaps not. Looks like someone may be building blimps for us after
all.

4. Tiki Mania: To be honest, I had only
heard of this whole Tiki business through Neil, whose post on Tiki Mania made it clear that the current Tiki revival
(revival? When was the last great Tiki boom, again? Oh, the 60s) is something to pay attention to, at the very least
for the promise of delicious fruity drinks.  But seriously, little did I know that the Tiki craze has its own magazine, blog, and, a band called Ape.

3. Calypso:
Adrienne, you might have read, is spending some fine time in Trinidad, and are we jealous! Well, she’s somehow found a
nice connection down there and is sending some excellent dispatches on life in a place most of us have never been. They
are really superb, and we are grateful. I’d like, in fact, to direct you to this wonderful post on Calypso and Soca
music. I read it last night, and then the daylight come and me wanna go home.

2. Tunisian Star Wars Locations: Sorry, I’m,
about a big a Star Wars geek as they get. I’ll not get into the details, but trust me, I’m out there in a galaxy far far
away. And so that is why I enjoyed Neil’s post on Tunisian Star Wars locations. What can I say? I’d go there just to
stand in the sand and say: These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.

1. Gadling Podcast: Joshua Davis: I really
enjoyed chatting with author Josh Davis about his new book Underdog: How I survived the World’s Most Outlandish
Competitions (not to mention the forthcoming film on his sumo exploits). The podcast here is our first since we spoke
with Fabien Cousteau about his shark submarine, and I think you’ll really enjoy it. Josh is a great guy, and his story
will make you shake you head in wonder. 

Photo of the Day (2/24/2006)

by Erik Olsen on

Two great things goiing for this photo, that gets our POTD today. First, it was taken at
the Great Barrier Reef, one place every diver should have on hiis/her lifelist. Second, it is a very nice photo. Taken
by LeeLeFever_TwinF,
the photo appears to be of a loggerhead turtle, buty I am not sure if that’s true. Maybe someone in the know can
help ID this little guy. But either way, a fine photo.

Remote Controlled Shark

by Erik Olsen on

Da dum. Da dum da dum da
dum…whirr click.

That is the sound, sort of, of the new remote control shark from Hammacher Schlemmer. I just caught this post over at
Divester, and, being a diver myself, thought it was great. The waterproof, 2-foot-long, remote-controlled robotic
shark maneuvers in every direction, and looks decidedly shark-like. Granted it’s quite small, so you’re not really
going to scare anyone but the most timid souls, but you have to admit it would be a hoot to have one of these things
for the pool. The toy shark can "swim" in 9 feet of water from as far away as 40 feet. One cool aspect of the
toy is the remote control is also waterproof, so you can swim with your toy shark. Isn’t that cute? Sounds like the
makings of a movie: A Boy and His Shark.

Sadly, and perhaps predictably, the shark runs out of juice
quickly, and no, it doesn’t run on human flesh. You have to charge it up and you only get about 15 minutes out of each
charge. Still, all this for $100 ain’t too bad. And as Willy points out, you can buy sharks of different colors which
run on different frequencies, thus allowing you and your buddies to stage a shark frenzy around the poor , fat kid in
the neighborhood who was unaware you were bringing robotic sharks to the local pool.

 And speaking of robotic sharks? Have you ever checked out our podcast with explorer and
robotic shark driver Fabien
Cousteau?

Cool Shark Video

by Erik Olsen on

I got this as a tip from the folks at
sharkdiver magazine and at first wasn’t sure what was up.

It’s a
video download that went to my desktop OK, but then didn’t seem to want to pay. It was something kooky on my end
because I just went back to it and clicked on it an lo! it is a very cool video shot by some guy who thought it was a
good idea to while away the minutes of, well, September 28,
2004, by spending a few minutes in the water with a Great White Shark.

A questionable thing to do, you
might ask? I think not. As crazy as it sounds, it is an adventure high up there on my own personal life list. So if
you’re a desk jockey like many of us, and you’er looking for a little bit of escapism…albeit escapism with big teeth,
give it a look.

Africa Travel: Eritrea

by Adrienne Wilson on

When Travel & Leisure put Eritrea on blast late 2004 I was so frightened for the recovering country. The wars that once tore throughout Eritrea appear to be done and gone for now and it is only a matter of time before something of a good bad nature starts tearing through. Tourists. While my fright is purely out of selfish reasons with fears that I’ll be the last off the bus herding thirsty travelers into the Horn of Africa.

Eritrea is an east African country mixed with amazing landscapes and Italian influences which can be seen in the architecture of both Muslim and Christian landmarks. Towards the coast one will find Dahlak archipelago, an island group made of two large and 124 small islands in the Red Sea off of Massawa. Within the warm waters are colorful fish and live coral best seen while snorkeling and diving in the area. Travel Adventures dot org covers the country in a great display of photos and stories, better than many others I have previously seen. If you’ve never given much thought to visiting this particular African country it could very well be time to start tuning in before the stampeding tourists actually do arrive. Since reading the T&L story sometime ago I haven’t many other big stories on the area, which tells me my worries have gotten the best of me. Now it’s just a matter of purchasing a ticket of my own.