For those who’ve wondered what local life is like in Burma (Myanmar), “Bonsai Burma” by Berlin filmmaker Joerg Daiber can enlighten you. Using tilt-shift photography, Daiber takes viewers on a cultural tour of the country showing daily life, women working in the hillsides, children playing, hawkers selling goods at the market, and fisherman working for their catch. Furthermore, viewers will be taken through various cities and shown an array of landscapes – mountains, hillsides, rivers, and cities – giving an all-encompassing tour of the country.
Video: New York City subway tap dancer
If you find yourself on the New York City subway on any given weekend, you may be treated to the dance styling of a young tap dancer trying to support himself through college. Joshua Johnson is a junior at Penn State University and a native New Yorker who travels home twice a month to tap dance on the subway and earn extra cash through donations of subway riders. Joshua primarily taps on the 2, 3 and Q trains and calls his performance “The Tap Express.”
While performing and soliciting donations on the subway is illegal without permission from the MTA, chances are you’ve seen some kind of performer on the train if you’ve ridden enough times. In my 12-plus years in New York, I’ve seen (and even participated in) a few acts including magicians, break dancers, comedians, steel drummers, Doo Wop singers and plenty of just-plain-crazies, often the most entertaining performers of all.
Video produced by the New York Times.
Avalanche destroys ski lift with passengers aboard
A massive avalanche hit a ski resort on the St. Francois-Longchamps mountain in France this past weekend, destroying several pylons that held the ski lift in place even while passengers were still riding it. The entire event was captured on video by bystanders who stood at the bottom of the hill as the wall of snow slowly moved down the slope crushing everything in its path. That video can be seen below.
At the time of the avalanche there were 70 people on the lift and miraculously none of them were harmed. Helicopters were soon brought in to evacuate them from the debris, which took about two and a half hours to complete.
Watching the video I can only imagine how helpless and frightened the people aboard the lift must have felt. The avalanche almost seems like it is moving in slow motion as it slides down the face of the mountain and easily crushes the metal pylons for the lift as if they aren’t even there. It is a wild scene to say the least.
Travel safety: are swans dangerous?
Mr. Asbo is not a nice swan.
He’s attacked numerous boaters on the River Cam at Cambridge, England, hissing and pecking at anyone who comes close. Back in 2009, he even attacked the Cambridge Rowing Team during their historic May Bumps race. The race had to appoint a special marshal to keep an eye on the naughty bird.
Swans are very territorial, especially when they have a nest full of cygnets (babies). Mr. Asbo and his lady friend have several cygnets a year and their nest is right on the main boating area of the river. This has led to numerous confrontations where Mr. Asbo hisses, snaps at oars, and tries to bat people with his wings. It’s even reported that he’s strong enough to capsize small boats.
His name refers to the Anti-Social Behavior Order, a punishment usually meted out to lager-soaked louts to ban them from playing loud music, being drunk in public, aggressively panhandling, or even stealing eggs. Now local residents have had enough and there are plans to move Mr. Asbo and his family to a rural area 50 miles away, where hopefully he won’t bother anyone.
Swans are one of the many attractions of the English countryside, especially at the popular riverside destinations of Cambridge and Oxford. They are strong, fast, wild animals and should be treated with caution. The Swan Sanctuary says they’re generally not a danger, but their peck can be painful and they can even break your arm or leg if they hit you with their wing.
Attacks are rare, however. Swans only get aggressive if you get near their young, enter their territory, or deliberately antagonize them, like the idiot in this video. Don’t be the idiot in this video.
A journey through Turkey in high definition
In this video, titled “Going to Cappadocia” by Kyoto Studio, a filmmaking couple from Krakow, Poland, documented their journey through Turkey as they visited Ölüdeniz, Marmaris, Dilek National Park, Kusadasi, Cesme, Izmir, Efez, Cappadocia, and Istanbul. The video explores an array of Turkey’s features, including ancient ruins, wildlife, landscape, shopping, transportation, street food, and people going about their everyday life, giving you a broad look into the culture of the country. You’ll also get an aerial view of Cappadocia’s unworldly yet beautiful landscape from a hot-air balloon ride. To create the video, the couple used a Canon 5D Mark II as well as various lenses and editing software. The music is “Limbe” by S-tone Inc.