Bulgaria versus the European Union

by Neil Woodburn on


People in poorer countries always have a romantic image of just how perfect life is in the United States or the European Union compared with what they have to endure in their homeland. Throughout my travels in Russia and Eastern Europe, for example, people I’d meet would say things like, “we have many of potholes in our country! In America, you have not potholes, right?”

Sure, things were and still are bad in many parts of the former communist empire, but life is never as perfect as most people imagine it to be in the West. And that is why I had to laugh at the short animated film above. It basically sums up this concept as it flashes between life in Bulgaria and life in the EU. Naturally, everything is just perfect in the EU; Bulgaria, on the other hand, is falling apart.

Parkour, The Art of Movement: Why Just Walk from Place to Place?

by Jamie Rhein on

On a few occassions in my life, I have had bouts of walking around on top of buildings. The first time I was three. My mother couldn’t find me until she looked up. There I was on top of our apartment house. There was a ladder or something. When I was 12, I figured out how to get on top of the school where I attended 6th grade and had a blast figuring out how to get from one place to another. Once in high school, I climbed out a second floor window to the roof just for a bit of air. I didn’t know that I was ahead of the trend called parkour.

Started in France by David Belle 10 years ago, the aim of parkour is to use your body and movement to travel from point to point in creative and interesting ways as quickly as possible. The trend has even hit Columbus at Ohio State University and is sanctioned by the school (see article). Here’s a video of David Belle demonstrating his methods. There’s no way my son is seeing this though. I have a hard enough time keeping him on the ground. I think he must come by this naturally.

Monty Python Day: Reenact the Holy Grail

by Jamie Rhein on

Neil wrote a post about the best swear words in various languages, some perfect for lobbing insults. How about this bit of dialogue? Sound familiar?

“ French Soldier: I don’t want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.”

“Sir Galahad: Is there someone else up there we can talk to?
French Soldier: No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time.”

(Quotes from IMDb: Memorable Quotes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

The first time my friends and I saw the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, we recounted this particular scene afterwards just to laugh some more. I’m not quite sure why “I fart in your general direction,” is so funny, but the scene is still a hoot. And I’m not the only one who still thinks so.

Today, 500 lucky people who snagged a ticket are at Doune Castle in Scotland to reenact scenes from the movie as part of Monty Python Day. The 1300s castle is a real one and not just a set. The rest of the year, it’s open for people to tour the rooms and imagine life back in when it was occupied by Robert Stewart, the Duke of Albany. However, on Monty Python Day, it’s turned over to silliness.

The tickets are already sold out, so it’s too late to go this year’s event, but keep this in mind as a September thing to do next year. This year is the event’s third. Since the movie is what mostly brings tourists to this Scottish location, I bet that Monty Python Day will continue to flourish. To tide you over until you can get there, here’s the insult scene (starting before Sir Galahad and his men reach the castle) posted on You Tube. I wonder if at the event today any animals came hurling over the wall? Thanks to Marilyn Terrell at Intelligent Traveler for pointing out this fun and frolic happening.

Video: Carnival Rides at Oktoberfest’s Funfair

by Justin Glow on


If you wander just outside of the massive beer tents during Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, you’ll find the funfair. What’s cool about the funfair is all the crazy-looking carnival rides they have. In the United States, carnival rides are usually rusty death traps operated by drunk amputees, but the rides in the video above look absolutely amazing. Not only do they look safe, but I’ve never seen many of them before — they even have full size roller coasters. At a carnival! The coolest ride is at 01:26 (remaining) — the giant flipping, spinning, flower-like thing that dangles riders and shakes them about.

Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany runs from September 22, until October 7.

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Fair Food On a Stick: 59 Choices

by Jamie Rhein on

Pair the words “fair food” with “stick,” and I think corn dogs. How pedestrian! How normal! How so early 1940s. That’s how long corn dogs have been fair food according to the corn dog history lesson at Food Services of America.

These days, the options for what you can lick, bite, chew, nibble or chaw on as you wander through the Midway or take in stellar entertainment options like pot-bellied pig races are dizzying. Here’s a video “Minnesota State Fair on a Stick” that serves as an ode to a summer and fall of not-so-healthy eating. The variety of people featured are as varied as the food. Unfortunately, this fair ended on Labor Day, but if you head to any fair or festival there’s bound to be food on sticks.