Learn Broadcast Journalism in Two Minutes
From Charlie Brooker of BBC4 in London.
Roughing It On Safari
Emma hadn’t before been camping, and had some apprehension about sleeping in a tent. Pity us having to sleep in this one. July 20-21, 2009. Shamwari Game Reserve, near Sidbury, Eastern Cape, Republic of South Africa.
The Decade's Most Egregious Retouching Scandals
A few years ago, I posted an item here about American marketers retouching actresses’ photos to make their bosoms more buxom. Newsweek magazine recently published a photo story about the decade’s most egregious retouching scandals. I particularly like ‘the many shades of Beyoncé’.
The World's Best Hotels and the World's Dirtiest
TripAdvisor.com has released its 2010 list of the world’s best hotels and its list of the dirtiest, as selected by travelers themselves.
Absolutely the Wrong Lover
I couldn’t resist posting this, simply because it’s so sad: An innocent person picks the wrong lover. Absolutely, the wrong lover—a charismatic client of the photography studio where she works as a secretary. But even though she doesn’t know or understand his true character until almost the very end, she stick with him until the end.
The Bayeux Tapestry Animated
My niece Meredith pointed me towards David Newton‘s animation of the Bayeux Tapestry. Even without animation, people in the Medieval Period must of thought of it telling its story that way. I remember seeing the 70-meter long original in Bayeux during 1972.
Another Reasons Why I Love The Europeans
The city of Stockholm revamped Odenplan subway station’s stairs to provide a wonderful alternative to the escalator. If an American city had done this, some citizens (mostly conservative Republicans) would call it a frivolous waste of public, funds.
However, Volkswagen subsidize the construction of these piano stairs. It’s all part of a project that believes the easiest way to change people’s public behavior for the better is by making it fun to do. See http://www.thefuntheory.com for more examples (I particularly like the World’s Deepest Trash Bin).
My New Roommate
I am pleased to report that Dr. Emma Rodríguez Suárez has moved in with me.
Back from Africa
World’s Most Famous Crosswalk
Staying in Saint Johns Wood, London, this week, I realized I was only a few blocks from the legendary Abbey Road Music Studios, so I made a pilgrimage.
Sir Edward Elgar, Cliff Richard, the Zombies, Hollies, U2, The Red Hot Chili Peppers have recorded there. But what made it most famous was the Beatles recorded all their albums there and Pink Floyd recorded all of its major albums there. Although the Beatles released their Let It Be album later, their last recorded album was named Abbey Road and its cover photo [inset] made the pedestrian crossing in front of the studios famous.
Unlike Iain MacMillan, who in took the cover photo on 8 August, 1969, I couldn’t stand in the middle of Abbey Road due to heavy traffic. So I took the reverse shot (standing next to the nearby taxi stand you can see between Ringo Starr’s and John Lennon’s heads in the albumn cover).
There’s also a Web cam looking at the crossing.
In addition to popular music albums, Abbey Road Music Studios was where the musical scores for the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and dozen of other films were recorded. Orchestral musicians were arriving for work while I was photographing.
When the Nationality of the Hotel is Different from its Location
Am in London this week to give the opening keynote at EPublishing Innovations 2008. Despite the 2008 in that title, it's a new conference with a limited initial budget. Despite its being held at the Marriott Regency Park Hotel, they've booked me into the Hotel Danubius. Both hotels are in St. Johns Woods and reasonably near each other (ten minute walk or a four minute taxi ride). Moreover, the Danubius is across the street from the London Central Mosque and one block from Regents Park itself (the Marriott is some ten blocks from the park) and from Winfield House, home of the U.S. Ambassador
As I suspected from its name, however, the Hotel Danubius isn’t a Anglo-Saxon hotel. Its the only hotel in the United Kingdom operated by a Hungarian hotel chain. So, what does one do when one stays in a Hungarian hotel in London?
Well, when in a Roman hotel, eat Roman. Sure enough, the restaurant in the Hotel Danubius is great at Hungarian food but only average at English dishes. So, I’ve spent several days eating great goulash in the hotel and walking outside it amid veiled Islamic women who are accompanied by Islamic men smoking water pipers at the cafe across the street from the mosque. Welcome to this block of London town!
'Speedflying' Down the Eiger
Many of the Americans I’ve met who’ve never traveled outside the 50 States are so gullible that they believe the French are — as the Simpson animated TV show once said — ‘Cheese-Eating, Surrender Monkeys‘. But the time I’ve spent climbing with French guides in the Alps or watching French extreme skiers descend those peaks has led me to admire how courageous they can be. Sometimes crazily so!
Above is an example, a short video that won the ADVENTURA award for best short extreme film at the international adventure film festival of Montreal last year. The 3-minute 15-second clip, shot from his helmet camera, shows François Bon’s 5,000-foot ‘speedflying’ (skiing with a parachute) descent from the summit of the Eiger on June 16, 2006.