Santa Barbara pueblo hopping with J. Peterman

by Kelly Amabile on

When things calm down in California, let’s hope you’ll still be able to consider this unique walking tour in Santa Barbara. The Conference and Visitors Bureau has created a Red Tile Walking Tour of the city’s original pueblo district, and are promoting it with a brand new video podcast. Before embarking on a trip to the American Riviera, travelers can first watch Beyond the Rooftops to get a preview of the historic adobes and distinct architectural style that characterizes Santa Barbara.

The 16-minute video gives an overview of the actual self-guided 12-block tour and is narrated by none other than John O’Hurley, best known for his role as J. Peterman on Seinfeld. The historic Santa Barbara County Courthouse serves as starting point for the tour, which includes 17 stops and 22 homes dating from the late 1700s through the 1800s. Other historic landmarks along the way include the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the Lobero Theater.

GADLING TAKE FIVE: Week of October 13-19

by Jamie Rhein on

If you missed that big things happened at Gadling this week, then all I have to say is, “Where have you been?” Gadling has a brand new look and we’re enjoying it. It’s kind of like a shiny new toy. Wow! What does this drop down menu do on the left? The information we used to have is all here, it’s just relocated and gussied up. Also, perhaps you’ve noticed the slight name change. Instead of the heading “Gadling: The traveler’s blog,” we’re “Gadling: go there.”

Here our some of the offerings we’ve dished up this week that hopefully will help you go there where ever that may be. Hey, and if you’re not going off on some huge whirlwind mega trip, that’s fine by us. Sometimes, it’s the close to home treasures that are worth writing home about.

Abha Malpani, who just joined our Gadling forces this week, has some ideas for the best places to hook up with someone if you are so inclined, while Catherine’s got you covered when it comes to avoiding tourist traps. Grant knows just where you can get your hands on some of the best street food in Europe, and if you have a sweet tooth craving, check out Martha’s top places in the U.S. for a sugar fix ideas. To help you gather a bunch of facts that might come in handy at a party, or on a bus, or on an airplane –or just to amuse yourself in the privacy of your own bathroom, pick up a copy of Take Me to Your Leader. Kelly’s always dishing up good finds with her One for the Road Series.

Okay, that’s five and I still haven’t mentioned Matthew’s wealth of Japan know-how this week. Lastly, don’t miss Neil’s post “Visiting an American embassy, Simpson’s style.” Perhaps, you can relate.

One for the Road: Burton Holmes Travelogues

by Kelly Amabile on

Do you know who coined the term “travelogue”? Until today, I didn’t know that it was this guy. Burton Holmes is known as America’s most famous travel showman, and even has his very own Hollywood star. A camera enthusiast from a young age, Holmes dropped out of school at sixteen and began traveling, first to Europe with his grandmother, and then to Japan. Early film clips from his travels are recognized as the very first travelogues. He soon established a travel film production company and began capturing the world.

There’s much more to the story, and a good place to continue learning about this travel pioneer is between the pages of Burton Holmes Travelogues: The World’s Greatest Traveler, which was released last fall by Taschen. Holmes took over 30,000 photos and 500,000 feet of film during the course of his travels through every continent. This 300+ page archive has collected the very best of his work.

Bonus for folks in the Rochester, NY area: Author and editor Genoa Caldwell will be giving a presentation about Burton Holmes at the George Eastman House tomorrow, Oct. 18 at 6 pm, as part of their Wish You Were Here travel photography lecture series.

Sour Death Balls: A Funny, Uplifting Gaze at Humanity

by Jamie Rhein on

Jessica Yu won the Best Documentary Short Oscar for “Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O’Brian” in 1997. I met her shortly after when she was at Ohio State talking about her work as a film maker and showing some of her films. “Breathing Lessons” was wonderful and she was totally charming. One of the short, short films she showed was “Sour Death Balls,” one I have thought about from time to time. To my delight, when I was looking for Gadling mentions a few days ago, “Sour Death Balls” showed up on Hob Gadling’s Web site Hob’s zeitgeist. I watched it and loved it all over again. I rediscovered what I thought was so wonderful the first time. Here are all these people from diverse ethnic backgrounds reacting so unguarded to a common experience. So simple. Give people the sourest sour ball you can find and see what happens. Here’s an article about Jessica written not long after she won the Oscar.

Bringing the Underwater Marine World to Your Couch

by Abha Malpani on

For someone (like me) who is petrified of marine life — but still thinks it’s phenomenal and often moans about probably never being able to see the “real thing” — the leading resource of marine life imagery, Wetpixel has launched a quarterly print magazine to quieten such moans and to bring the splendor of the marine world to your couch.

In the market since 2000, Wetpixel is the best online resource for professional real-life underwater photography and videos; the new quarterly is an extension of the site that will bring that quality to print.

When I see mind-boggling photography (especially underwater shots), be it online or in print, I always think that there must be some computer manipulation here. But no: It is possible to capture marine life in its complete essence without using Photoshop, and Wetpixel’s new print piece proves just that.

Wetpixel has always provided a platform encouraging dialog between those interested in marine conservation, and is open to contributions from professional as well as amateur photographers and videographers; the magazine will continue with that.

For as little as $45 a year, you can subscribe to this slick quarterly, especially if — like me — you want to see the underwater wonders without any fear of fish attacking you or of your tank running out of air.

To get a taste of what you’ll be getting as a subscriber, check out the sample images below…