Blast Monday mornings! Can’t it just be Saturday again? Not sure how some of you are feeling on the start of this day, but this picture describes my many moods perfectly. StrudelMonkey captured this floating heads installation while hanging out at the Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow one weekend. I think the face to the far right with it’s mouth wide-open provides the most comic relief. The face to far left center all frowned up is how I’m feeling right about now. Thanks for tucking this one into the Gadling Flickr pool!
Cat in a Box
Cats do the darnedest things. Or at least their owners do. Here we are, engaged in the most serious security operations in the history of flight, and some lady goes waltzing about on airlines with her cat in a box. Yes, the nice old lady (aka: the flying at lady) found the kitten as a stray and put the thing in a box taking it through checkpoints in Tehran and Amsterdam (it’s the Tehran part of this thing that most worries me about the competency of the airline security folks). Then she heads to Newcastle Airport in Britain. All the while, the cat goes through x-rays and sits happily in its box. Tabby was only found after landing in Newcastle when Customs officers asked the lady to open the box. At least they fond it. I mea, I feel safer already.
Dog Tag Tool
Calling all MacGyver’s, Rambo’s, and travel gadget fanatics here’s something I think you’ll enjoy. The Dog Tag Tool runs at $35.98 (purchase at I Want One of Those) and contains an assortment of tools much like a pocket knife. The item can be worn around the neck like a traditional dog tag or toted on a keychain. Tucked inside the little gadget is a bottle opener, Phillips Screwdriver, tweezers, knife with serrated edge, a file with both a coarse and fine side as well as a 3mm LED torch in its arsenal.
I wish I had ordered one of these a few weeks back when I ordered my Road ID. Sure they’re helpful if I collapse while jogging long distances, but the Dog Tag Tool could be used for so many things! Splinters, nail filing, etc. Very, very gnarly.
Let’s Go! with Jiang Zemin
Move over Bill Bryson, here comes Jiang Zemin. Yes, the near-octogenarian former leader of China is publishing his memoirs, which will include a hefty dose of travel writing, says this piece over at Yahoo news. Sure, it was tough running the most populous nation in the world, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a downright hoot at times. And when you’re number one, you get to do a fair amount of globe-trotting.
Now, chances are he’s not going to be writing about the condition of various hotels he stayed at and his recommendations for places to eat will more likely to include Buckingham Palace, but you have to admit a dose of curiosity at what the old Communist leader has to say about seeing the world. His travel book, “For a Better World: Jiang Zemin’s Overseas Visits,” will include 167 pictures of Jiang with leaders ranging from Bill Clinton to Nelson Mandela. No word, however, if there will be video of him dancing at various popular tourist locales around the globe.
Strip Poker Championship
If the Travel Channel can foist gambling off as travel then so can we.
Tomorrow kicks off the very first World Strip Poker Championship at Café Royal in London. Contestants will be competing for £10,000 in prize money and will be playing “No Limit Texas Hold ’em” (get it?, Hold ’em. har har har).
The game is similar to regular poker, butt with a few exceptions. Here are just a couple of the official rules from the main sponsor, Paddy Power:
Each player must wear five items of clothing which will be supplied by Paddy Power.
Each participant will be given a towel to sit on and cover them selves with when naked.
Participants can only cover themselves with the towel after they have taken off all their clothes otherwise they will forfeit any prize they have won.
Inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated and security will eject anyone engaging in activity deemed inappropriate.
Hmm… This promises to be much tamer than initially expected and begs the question; why in the world would anyone hold this event in England? No offense, but wouldn’t the less modest and genetically richer Scandinavians make for a far better host?