If Erik can point our attention to spiral photos from around the globe then I think it is only fair if I point you to drains or manholes from various lands. Yes, contain your excitement, but really you should be just a little revved up to see these decorative drains. Too often during our rushed work days do we forget to look down and around and miss these works of art right underneath our feet. I thought the one pictured here out of Seattle, with the flowers was rather lovely for a drain. In any event you get to explore different drain styles from here and beyond, so just as you begin to feel your job going awash and start thinking about leaving it all for foreign lands, be sure to reference this Drainspotting site. It could help in your decision or suck up time you should be spending doing something much more important.
via Pology Culture Blog
South America
Travel through South America by country:
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela
Travel through South America by popular city:
Bogota, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro
Travel through South America by popular things to do:
Adventures in the Amazon, Falkland Islands, Iguazu Falls, Tierra del Fuego
Holiday Fares Starting to Soar
San Francisco Chronicle has a very good reminder for those of us wanting to travel this holiday season: buy your tickets NOW! They not only dish this common travel knowledge our way, but make clear which dates are going to cost you a pretty penny and which may save you a buck or three. For instance the following dates (Friday, Nov. 17 thru Monday, Nov. 27 ) around Thanksgiving are going to mean more damage on the pocket book. No one wants to travel while the turkey is being passed around the table, but that kind of flexibility will allow you to see your loved ones without paying a mini fortune.
Other dates worth looking into are those between Thanksgiving and Christmas – the period of Nov. 28 to Dec. 16. In addition to helping you select which dates are right to go, they also spill which destinations will cost more on the inbound and return flights. You almost couldn’t ask for a better summary! Check it out.
Hungry Planet: The Book
It’s already been pretty much established that America is a fast food nation. In fact, a book by Eric Schlosser with that exact title pretty much spells it all out. Many of us eat our own weight in hamburgers and fries every year, and you could fill a Volkswagen with the amount of grease that oozes its way though our bodies in a lifetime.
But is America unique in this respect? I’m always reading articles about how the Chinese are becoming increasingly obese. Same with the Europeans…yes, even the culinarily snooty French. But it still raises a very interesting question: What does the world eat?
In an amazing-sounding book of photos and text called Hungry Planet, photographers Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio offer a study of families from around the world, revealing what people eat during the course of one week. Each family’s profile provides a description of their weekly food purchases and is accompanied by photographs of the family enjoying food at home as well as shopping and out in their community. There is also a main shot showing the family surrounded by, well, food. The book also contains essays by a gaggle of well-known writers like Francine R. Kaufman, Corby Kummer, Charles C. Mann, Michael Pollan, and Carl Safina. I’m actually listening to Pollan’s Botany of Desire right now on my iPod, so I’ve been tuned into these “What do we eat and why” books, shows and articles.
Anyway, I thought this was one of those really simple, but cool, ideas that reveal a lot about how we live in this fast food day and age.
Patagonia in the Star Trib
If there’s one place that I’ve blogged about here that I sometimes dream about, it’s Patagonia. It seems like a century ago that I was there with a friend of mine, trekking the Torres del Paine circuit in Chile, and trudging my way (by horse at one point) to the base of the Grey Glacier. The landscape in Patagonia is awe-inspiring. I like to tell people that it is a mixture of Yosemite, Yellowstone and scenes from a science fiction novel. In regards to the latter, not only are some of the gaping spaces there other-worldly, but there are animals like the guanaco and the reah (also known as the Nandu, an awkward, flightless ostrich-like bird) that roam the countryside and sometimes stalk unsuspecting passers-by (we were followed by a curios rhea for about three miles).
So given my enthusiasm for the place, I can hardly pass up the opportunity to post about new articles on Patagonia as I fine them. To wit: here is one from the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. Writer Chris Welsch finds the allure of the true land down under nearly as inviting and fascinating as I did. He’s on the road with several fellow travelers including some Aussies and an Argentine makes a fine story of his trip down there. Of course, he make the obligatory nod to Bruce Chatwin’s In Patagonia and rather conspicuously throws in a couple of foreign words like cebadora, but that’s OK. We’ll forgive him the travel-writing cliches. It’s otherwise a fine piece.
Marathon Tours
Only 17 days remain between now and the moment in which I’ll run my first 26.2 mile full marathon in Detroit. Am I excited? Heck yeah, you bet I am. And you probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you this, but I despise running. I hate the high impact and grueling feeling it has on my knees. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy the sense of community and spirit amongst runners, the feeling of achievement and most certainly the opportunity to go places, but it’s so hard for me to remain mentally positive when my body is wondering why I’m pushing it the way I am. Anyhow, what I’m trying to say is if you’re in Detroit or Windsor on October 29, come out and cheer me on! I’ll need the support.
Moving right along now that I’ve managed to squeeze my own shameless promotion into the plug, I suppose I should point running loving individuals or people who may want to get into the sport to this Marathon Tours site. First off, if you’re truly a marathon fanatic you’re probably already aware of this site, but even then I encourage you to check it out and start planning some serious marathon trips. Perhaps you’ve exhausted some of your options, favorite races, scenic routes or whatever. Why not run Antarctica or Dubai? To be quite honest it’s destinations like these and doing some so crazy that may keep into all this running jazz. Seriously, how cool would that be? Marathon Tours makes it easier if you’re looking to head abroad and check out the local scene in places like Iceland, Jamaica, Stockholm, Kenya and Australia. With all the other prep going into the race I’d imagine their services to be a huge load off one’s plate.