Do you think you could handle having one leg tied to the top of a shaky 30 meter pole while you hang limply from the top? How about then being quickly spun in circles as you slowly fall to the ground?
The feat is known as the Danza de los Voladores de Papantla, or Dance of the Flyers. The ritual, which is thought to have been used to call on the gods during times of drought, is best associated with the town of Papantla, Veracruz in Mexico, where it still takes place. There are five people who take part in the dance, including four flyers and one person who stands at the top of the tall pole dancing and playing a flute and drum.
We’ve seen the thrill seeking travelers of Fuel TV‘s “Strangers in Danger“, Mike “Rooftop” Escamilla and Zach “Catfish” Yankush eat live octopus in Korea, and tonight we’ll get to watch as they do the Dance of the Flyers, a feat which seems to scare them even more. Check out a clip of what you can expect here or watch the full episode tonight (and every Tuesday) at 10:30 E/P.
Literally everywhere you look, from the media to public transportation to city sidewalks, you will find companies heavily advertising. Apparently, no place is safe from billboards, not even air traffic control towers.
Yes, you read that right. In Medford, Oregon, Jaunted reports that the city council has just approved 25×25 foot signs that will be added to every side of the air traffic control tower. The tower itself is about 100 feet tall, so the enormous ads should be quite a sight to see. But, I guess that’s the point.
The reasoning behind this new advertising plan is to raise enough money to counteract some airport costs, for example, landing fees, that could help make the airport more desirable to new airlines and flight routes. Right now, officials are projecting that the ads will bring in an extra $3,000 per month.
While the Medford, Oregon, airport is the only one that we’ve heard of implementing this new advertising plan, we’re wondering if this will become the norm at airports. Of course, making extra money is nice. However, it would be nice if some structures retained their actual purpose, like keeping passengers safe, instead of becoming gigantic advertisements.
What are your thoughts on this new form of advertising?
This Thanksgiving, holiday traditions and messages are going farther than the family dinner table. In fact, they are going all the way to the Middle East as American young adults spending time abroad will be spreading the message of coexistence throughout diverse communities by recreating the Thanksgiving feast from their childhood.
Masa Israel Journey, a project of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israeli Government, sends more than 6,000 young Americans to Israel each year to study, intern, and volunteer, as well as spread a peaceful and harmonious message. Diverse groups of people such as Arabs, Israeli Jews, Palestinians, Europeans, and American peers are all positively affected by the introduction and blending of Thanksgiving traditions.
Some examples of how American young adults have spread their traditions and the message of coexistence include:
Abra Berkowitz, a Boston-native who studied at Masa Israel’s Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, shared a potluck dinner with other students from Jordan, Isreael, the Palestinian Territories, South Africa, Canada, and Australia. A blending of cultures could be seen by a turkey seasoned with zaatar and a side dish of tahini stuffing.
Detroit-born Josh Kanter, who enrolled in Masa Israel’s Career Israel internship program, celebrated Thanksgiving at a Herbrew University-sponsored dinner with other international students from Argentina, Uruguay, Guatemala, Israel, and the United States. While there was turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, hummus was also a big hit at the table.
Jessica Simon from Philadelphia, who studied at Masa Israel’s Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, was also volunteering at Jerusalem Open House, the organization that supports LGBT people and their allies in Jerusalem. She planned a Thanksgiving potluck and read from a gay friendly prayer book with Hebrew explanations about Thanksgiving to the Israeli attendees. Because sweet potatoes were not available, Simon substituted them with carrot soup.
“Oh Georgia, take me to your Southlands. I sometimes feel that life has passed me by. Oh Georgia, lead me through your heartlands, I need to see them one more time before I die” -Elton John-
While I’m sure there are more than a handful of world nomads who have already experienced all seven of the new wonders, I can almost guarantee there is no one out there who has been to all seven of the new wonders and has also–get ready for this one–visited all seven of the Natural Wonders of Georgia.
If I had read that statement five days ago while hiking the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon I would have coughed up a good chuckle at the thought. As I stand here on a roadside in northeastern Georgia, however, the hills dripping in red and orange foliage that spills nearly 1,000 ft. down into Tallulah Gorge, I’ve suddenly stopped my chuckling.
One of the state’s aforementioned wonders and the deepest canyon east of the Mississippi River, Tallulah Gorge State Park is best known for a series of six waterfalls that carve through the gorge and erupt into the Talullah River far below. A regional haven for whitewater kayakers, the Tallulah is known for a steep descent where the water drops 500 vertical feet over the course of only half a mile. You can only kayak the Tallulah, however, on days when there is a planned water release, which is an event that only happens six times every year.
Oh, and you also have to be completely out of your mind. Many of the rapids in Tallulah are classified as class V+, and one rapid by the name of Oceana Falls was described to me as simply being “boat-breaking”. Thanks, but I’m fine with sticking to the 20 miles of hiking trails for the time being.
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Speaking of completely crazy, although it’s pleasant enough to take a late autumn stroll through the park, there have been two notable figures in history who thought it would be a better idea to actually walk OVER the park and get a view of the Gorge from directly above.
The first tightrope crossing of Tallulah Gorge took place in 1883 as part of a publicity stunt for a local hotel, and it would be another 87 years before the famed daredevil Karl Wallenda would become the second man to walk over the gorge on a tightly stretched piece of wire. An estimated crowd of 30,000 people gathered around Tallulah Gorge to watch the nimble German do two complete headstands in the middle of his death-defying crossing, and the large towers from where he strung his high wire are still visible in the Gorge today.
Although Wallenda would eventually fall to his death in a tightrope stunt in Puerto Rico 8 years later at the age of 73, his crossing of the Tallulah Gorge still ranks as one of the most notable events to ever take place high up in these Georgia hills. The other, of course, being the filming of the 1972 hillbilly thriller Deliverance, which was filmed and set right here in the gaping Tallulah Gorge.
Tight rope acts and toothless movie characters aside, northeastern Georgia and the towns around Tallulah Gorge are a remarkably agreeable part of the country. After nearly 3,400 miles of driving, I am met with the same sensation I had in Durango of thinking I really could just stay and live here.
Single lane roads. Country stores selling locally made jam. The refreshingly slow pace and community feel of small town America. These are the scenes which inspire me to crawl behind the wheel of a car and drive across the third largest country on the planet. The simple joys of leaving the chaotic drone of the Interstate in favor of winding back roads that lead you to corners of this country you never knew existed.
Corners of this country, like Georgia’s Tullulah Gorge.
On November 13, 2011, the “Tiger & Turtle – Magic Mountain” sculpture in Duisburg, Germany, opened to the public. This isn’t your average piece of public art, however, as it is designed like a giant roller coaster with stairs and slopes that people can actually walk on.
Traversing over the sculpture, visitors will be put 148 feet above the surrounding countryside, gaining access to great views of the famous Rhine. While trekkers will reach great heights, they unfortunately will not get to go upside down, as the intimidating-looking loop actually contains stairs that keep you standing straight up.
The piece, which took one year to build, was created by German artists Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth, who describe the sculpture like this:
“The curved flight of stairs inscribes like a signature on the landscape and recruits the nimbus of the classical roller coaster. Having a closer look, the public is disappointed in a disarming way. The visitor climbs on foot via differently steep steps the roller-coaster-sculpture. So the sculpture subtly and ironically plays with the dialectic of promise and disappointment, mobility and standstill. Visitors happen to briefly meet with oncoming visitors on the steep and about 1m | 1yd wide corridors. Led-lights are integrated in the handrails and highlight the flight of stairs so the sculpture is accessible at night, too.”
Make sure to visit during the day, as well as at night, when the LED lights are on.