GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of July 8

Time for another week of random picks from the bloggers here at Gadling. Saddle up, simmer down and go solo on the slow train if you must.

5. Albertan Cowboy Culture: Where’s the Real Old West These Days?:

When my mind conjures images of cowboys on the open range or prairie searching for the type of things cowboys go looking for I don’t imagine them in Canada. This could just be me, but thanks to Martha the cowboys in my daydream have a new home in Alberta. Some are a little commercialized and others a bit more authentic, but you’ll have to read further for the details.

4. Why Trains Suck in America:
I’ve never taken a train in America. Have you? Ever wonder why so many Americans don’t? See why Neil thinks train transportation is basically dead in the U.S.

3. The Best U.S. Cities for Singles:
It’s summer time in the city and you’re single. Find out which city has the most singles and mosey on over to find your better half. That’s if you don’t like being single for the summer and all.

2. A Canadian in Beijing: Reverse Culture Shock:
Goodbyes and readjustment can be a tough job to tackle after a long excursion abroad. Ember hasn’t been home long and already she is back on the road touring with her band. Check out this last post in her series and find out where you can keep tabs on her future jaunts.

1. The “Wonders of the World” Votes are in!:

The world has made its final decision and the new seven wonders of the world are…

The ‘Wonders of the World’ Votes are in!

Following up on an earlier post, the voting is now complete, and the winner has been announced. And here are the “New Seven Wonders of the World”: Mexico’s Chichen Itza, Brazil’s statue of Christ Redeemer, The Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Jordan’s Petra, the Colosseum in Rome, and India’s Taj Mahal.

The organizers say that they got about 100 million votes in what they’re calling the world’s first global vote.

The Egyptian pyramids at Giza retain their place in the “original” list of the Seven Wonders of the World, and that site is the only site which still exists from the original Seven.

The organizers are now busying themselves with the next world-vote: the New Seven Wonders of Nature. Vote online at www.natural7wonders.com

Seven Wonders of the World? Vote on Them!

This is following up on a post by Jamie back in February. There’s only little more than a month left to “vote” on your favorite Seven Wonders of the World, at New7Wonders. July 6, 2007, is the deadline.

Apparently, there have been a staggering 45 million votes on line so far. You can login and choose from between twenty-one buildings or man-made features currently standing.

Right now, the three leaders are the Acropolis, Chichen Itza, and the Coliseum.

The site was started by a Swiss filmmaker who wanted to raise funds to re-raise one of the Buddha statutes dynamited by the Taliban in 2001. (Price tag for the reconstruction? A staggering $50m.) Donations are welcome, and they are going to help preserve these sites.