This time lapse of Shanghai, submitted to Vimeo by hugociss, caught our attention. Well worth the watch.

 
 1 Galveston
 2 South Padre Island
 3 Lake Travis
 4 Corpus Christi
 5 San Antonio
 6 Port Aransas
 7 Kemah
 8 Austin
 9 Rockport
10 Canyon Lake
 
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We found this ad, to the left, while searching for info on the future of the world economy. 

Maybe we're just sensitive. Maybe not.

Seems like there's a better way to get a point across. 

 
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Cast of 'Jersey Shore' -- Courtesy MTV

If you're into off-beat travel, and will be in Chitown on October 28, you're in for a treat. 

The UChicago will be hosting a Conference on Jersey Shore Studies. 

Organized by David Showalter, a U of C student, the Conference is Tweeting and registration is free (?) and open to the public. Email David  if you want more info on registering, or tell him how lame this is.


Three sessions will feature numerous panels and presentations, all analyzing one of America's most mystifyingly popular (and stupid) reality shows.

Topics of discussion include "The Construction of Guido Identity," “GTL (Gym,Tan,Labor): Reproducing Labor-Power on the Shore,” “Foucault’s Going to the Jersey Shore, Bitch!”, and  “‘SHOTS!’ An Analysis of Italian, American, and Italian-American Beverage Consumption in Jersey Shore."

The conference venue slated is The Cloister Club. That's the largest space in Ida Noyes Hall at the University of Chicago. It will accommodate 250 desperately bored people. 




 
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Phish -- Courtesy ACL

You may be aware that Austin City Limits Festival is this weekend, at Zilker Park, in Austin, TX. The lineup is pretty impressive, and around 200,000 people will be there to keep you company. Of course you and the other 199K, or so, coughed up $100 for the privilege.

Didn't have the $100? Unemployed? House burned down this month? There are options. Including:

The second annual Ditch the Fest Fest, which goes all day Saturday, produced by Lucy the Poodle Productions, will donate most proceeds to help victims of the recent Texas wild fires.  




Courtesy Rayon Beach
(public domain)
Courtesy Coma In Algiers

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From Lucy The Poodle
The day showcases 75 great local bands including:  Dana FalconberryComa in AlgiersMother Falcon, The Sour Notes, Rayon Beach -- plus DJs. 

The Fest also features a number of venues: Club DeVille (900 Red River), Cheer Up Charlie's (1104 E. 6th St.), The Scoot Inn (1308 E. 4th) Red 7 (611 E. 7th St.), and Beauty Bar (617 E. 7th St.).

In addition to music, there's talk of free beer provided by Bird's Barbershop, performance art, vegan snacks galore and $5 gets you entry to all five venues, or (if your shift at Seven Eleven conflicts) you can pay a $2 cover fee at each stop you make. 

With the rain we're getting right now, great entertainment, temperatures below 100 degrees, a gate fee below $10, AND FREE BEER -- you know there's a God! Go celebrate the day!

 
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Click on image to enter the panorama

Here's your link to a stunning view from the 35th floor of the  Shard skyscraper, near London Bridge, which is now under construction. 

Photographer Will Pearson has posted this gigapixel panorama that allows the user to zoom in, showing the evening London skyline.

There's more of Will’s work (a great collection of photos of London) on his website.


 
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Photo courtesy KRGV TV

What he was doing was reckless. The plane he flew got dangerously close to 13 people on three different boats. He was a foreign national with only a tourist visa

The U.S. Coast Guard indicated reports of a plane buzzing boats stopped after he was arrested. Now he's returned to Mexico, and the Willacy County, Texas' sheriff doesn't know how he will get the accused back in this country. The accused has thirteen felonies charged against him. 

Would this be a Homeland Security issue? Did TSA pat him down?

Actually he was studying at Praat Flight Academy. Praat is a flight school, headquartered in Mexico, but offers flight training at Weslaco, TexasMid-Valley Airport. Praat has operated under the radar in Weslaco for the past three years. 

At Pratt, students are able to obtain a federal pilot certificate even though they aren't U.S. citizens, and then fly private or commercial planes. In the United States, foreign nationals can rent a plane and fly solo after working with a Pratt instructor. No questions asked. 

"Over there (in Mexico), you can't practice flying," a spokewoman for the school explained.

“Mexico is a good neighbor of ours, but the issue of 9-11 was foreigners coming in and flying and being able to get access to planes,” says the area's Congressman Henry Cuellar. He is now calling for a government crackdown.


UPDATE: At least (as far as we know) the Mexican flight student wasn't trying for the mile high club.


Does this steam you too? Just a little?
 
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We know why families get pumped over the potential of an Orlando vacation. Walt Disney World, south of Orlando, attracts  many to some of the most desirable vacation rentals in the US, and they surround the park. Disney, however, is not the sole Orlando attraction.

With California's Disneyland traditionally calling itself the "Happiest Place on Earth," Disney World, in Florida, certainly has to be the happiest place in the universe simply because of its size, and the attractions surrounding it. 

 "As soon as people find out about the availability, and the low cost associated with vacation properties for rent in the Orlando area, they really see the potential for having a great vacation, rather than the good one they had planned," says one vacation property owner.

The big appeal of Orlando (claiming a whopping 48 million visitors annually), is affordability. That includes the accommodations. But for most vacationing families, considering the huge number of units and competing hotel room -- space and comfort become greater motivations. With that, vacation rentals are a no brainer

"Within half an hour of Disney World, you can get a two-bedroom, 2½-bath in a decent neighborhood for the cost of a hotel stay," says Yung Ha a recent vacation renter.

Many Orlando visitors envision purchasing a vacation home in the region, and the huge market for vacation rentals tempts would-be buyers with the dream of added rental income, but then many realize it's just better to know a rental owner than to be one. 

With four theme parks, several golf courses, more than 100 restaurants, and countless shops and entertainment venues, Orlando is a top vacation destination in our book.


Have a plan for Orlando? Share with us.



 
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Average Child

We've noticed lately, there's some weird stuff going on in blogging. We're beginning to think someone is actually doing that 100-monkeys-with-keyboards experiment.

Most of what we are running across involve links on Twitter, but they lead to great blog stuff like:

“I’ve journeyed sufficient to know that even if you are encouraged only by greed, if you know what is great for you then you do not wish to be dirty abounding in a desperately bad country,” Steves mentioned in an interview.

Now this is supposed to be a quote from Rick Steves, and we're assuming it's the Rick Steves who travels a lot. However, we've never heard Steves mangle a sentence like that. What the hell does “I’ve journeyed sufficient to know.  .  ." even mean?

Here's a couple more:
  • The invulnerability andperpetuation  of those cutshas  an intent of inhuman insurgency.  .  . (Huh?)
  • His parent ran a piano store and supposing German unison pianos.  .  . (Whaa?)

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Do Not Confuse Us With Val
What's `inhuman insurgency'? How about `German unison pianos'? We don't have time to run this through a Google translator for English to English.

Don't get us wrong. We will never be confused with Proust, but we keep the damn monkeys away from the keyboards! Besides -- they're much better at graphics!

Want to read the crap that started this rant, Go Here: Something Close To English Crap

 
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From Southwest Airlines' SPIRIT

Months ago, while reading Southwest Airlines' Spirit Magazine, their in flight mag, I ran across this.  It's the definition of Laptopistan which is: 

  1. A cafe littered with MacBook Pros, the occaisional PC and their highly focused owners. 
  2. A place where audible conversations are frowned upon.

Laptopistan is a word coined by the brilliant David Sax in his December 3, 2010 New York Times story "Destination: LAPTOPISTAN". (However, he did misspell Willie Nelson's name in the story, so I'm deducting ten points.)

I couldn't resist. I had to snap it to share. I've also been wanting to feature it here, but I've been negligent. Negligent until today! Today I felt I was given the cosmic opportunity to compare it to something.


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As one can see, I was helped along in this process by  @budgetplaces, a Twitter gumba. (After all, what are gumbas for?)

Note: Noun -- gumba m
  1. friend
  2. godfather

Etymology
Early Sicilian compare (“countryman”), from Late Latin compater, from cum + pater.

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Click to enlarge
Anyway, this Tweet directed me to Expatistan.com which I immediately recognized as a clever, collaborative tool (meant only in a good sense) that I may use on occasion. (In fact I already did.)

I was able to use Expatistan to determine that it would cost me thirty-one percent less to live in Berlin when compared to New York City. 

Little do they know, I would spend the same amount having more fun in Berlin. Drinking, saying things like "auf wiedersehen" and "guten abend" while essening, and humming Wagner tunes.

AND I could watch Scrubs in German, acting like I never heard the funny bits before!


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