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Faux Nuke in the Desert

by Erik Olsen on

A
pretty cool story out of the New Mexico desert.
The pyromaniac in me got kind of giddy when reading this.

A group of artists decided to commemorate the first nuclear explosion in history, the one simply known as the “gadget”
by creating an explosion of their own they call the Simnuke. Using six industrial fire-suppression fans, they pumped
400 gallons of a gasoline-and-biodiesel mixture into an apparatus creating a mushroom cloud blast over 300 feet
high.

The author writes that the blast “was so bright that by comparison, the pre-dawn light in the sky appeared entirely
dark. The ground glowed with the reflection of the blast.” Ah, that just gives me shivers. Not that I am unafraid of
the potential dangers of nuclear technology (big in the
news right now), but there is something
about blowing things up like this that stirs something primeval in us. Or at least it does in most guys.

Watching Fireworks

by Erik Olsen on

Don’t know about you, but in my experience watching big fireworks shows was always second to
actually blowing them up. And when I was young and my pyromaniacal tendencies were a little more reckless, we used to
head down to Mexico and fill up bags with M-80s and M-1000’s and then we’d spend hours blowing shit up. You name it, we
blew it up. Or tried. But no animals, I promise.

Anyway, that was then, and this is now. Now the laws are so uptight that you’d probably get thrown in the pokey
blowing stuff up the way we used to. So now we have to content ourselves with sitting around on a blanket watching
professionals explode high-tech fireworks in the sky. Oooh. Ahhh. Yawn.

As one of my favorite writers would say: And so it goes.

But if you are interested in catching 4th of July fireworks, I do herewith offer you a list of the places where they
are said the be the best. No, this is not a replacemnt for putting an M-1000 in a newspaper machine, but it’s what it
is.

The hot spots for fireworks fun:

• Marin County, Calif. (San Francisco): Marin County Fair. Thursday-July 4

• Madison, Wis.: “Rhythm & Booms!” Independence Day Celebration. Saturday

• St. Louis: Fair St. Louis. Saturday-July 4

• Addison, Texas (Dallas area): 20th annual Kaboom Town. July 3

• Washington: Independence Day Celebration. July 4

• New Orleans: 15th annual “Go 4th on the River.” July 4

• New York City: Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks. July 4

• Philadelphia: Philadelphia Freedom Concert. July 4

The Danube Delta

by Adrienne Wilson on

Here’s one for those infatuated with almost everything Eastern Europe and for those who aren’t take it as a mere suggestion. Don’t know how I found the site, but finding your way to the Danube Delta in Romania shouldn’t be hard. When I found myself staying in a boatel on the Danube river in Budapest, Hungary I thought I had died and gone to heaven and when I reached my destination in Romania, a sleepy Transylvanian town named Cluj-Napoca, I felt it happen all over again. It’s hard to imagine what the two together might be. Incredible maybe?

So, why might YOU want to hoof it down to the river anyway? For starters, it’s a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site not to mention one of the best preserved deltas in all of Europe, where the waters of the Danube make their way into the Black Sea. Residing in the delta is several bird species, fish and 800 plant species. Traditional fisherman villages are also to be found along the delta. Sounds fairly impressive, but if hanging out, exploring and being one with the river isn’t your idea of fun activities I do ask that you consider some other great things to do in the country.

Romania is amazing, having both excellent, inexpensive food (least while I was there four years back) and several interesting places to bounce in and around. The site for the delta supplies a great deal on the country, accommodations, and of course more useful information on making the delta apart of your travel plans.

Leave Your Couch, Build A House

by Adrienne Wilson on

Bored with the latest episodes of
Extreme Makeover Home Edition?  Me too.  If
those heart-wrenching stories turned to enchantment on your TV set really gets you going, wave your own magic hammer
and check out Habitat for Humanity International.  Like many volunteer
organizations around this time they are really trying to support builds in Tsunami affected areas, but they also have a
nice list of upcoming builds state-wide and globally. 

My first and only build to date was in the misty Transylvanian town of
Cluj-Napoca, Romania.  Building days were tough on me, but handsomely rewarding.  Each Habitat build
incorporates family visits and A LOT of R&R.  So if checking out all of Dracula’s old hangouts is on your
mind, look into Habitat.

The Dracula Hunt

by None on

It’s a bit early for ski season in Romania, but for those on a Transylvania quest, the end of October is an
excellent time of year to travel in Eastern Europe. Most tourists with an interest in Dracula are side-tracked by
Bran Castle, a fairly impressive,
Disney-style castle fortress built in 1212.

The “real” Dracula, Count Vlad Tepes Dracul (otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler), stayed only occasionally at Bran.
His home was Poenari Castle, now a ruin in the
Vallachia region of Romania. While you can get to Poenari by car or by tour bus,
David Lengyl decided to hike it:

“The trail led to hundreds of steps winding upward through the trees. I moved quickly, taking three steps at a
time, energized by the fear that one of the escorts would yell for me to stop or chase me down. But it was quiet,
save for my steps gaining rhythm, the same upward motion that had trained me for more serious ascents.

“It was an easy trek without a heavy load. I wasn’t exactly equipped for a night on a mountain. I had a loaf of
bread, two bananas, two beers and a pack of matches, all of which I would have traded later for a flashlight.”

While possibly illeagal overnight camping on a swaying Romainian mountaintop bridge might not be everyone’s idea of
a great time, it certainly sounds like a spooky way to get your kicks.