Not Just for the Birds: Oktoberfest Courting Rituals
Posted on September 24, 2007 - Filed Under Video, California, Culture | Leave a Comment
If you think the mating rituals of birds are weird, you should check out Tyrolean folk dancing. We stayed away from the real Oktoberfest this year, opting for a far more civilized celebration in Northern California. More on (and high-quality Flash Video) on The Connected Traveler.
Belgium: What Would Poirot Do?
Posted on September 21, 2007 - Filed Under Audio, Belgium, News | Leave a Comment
It looks like a case for Hercule Poirot. The Economist wants to kill off Belgium. What is the motive, what will be the instrument of death? In an editorial this week, that venerable bastion of common sense in a world of cable news banshees suggests that Belgium should be allowed to just wither away. Not [...]
Big Trees
Posted on September 19, 2007 - Filed Under Audio, Books, California, Tech & Science | Leave a Comment
Stout Grove Redwoods Stout Grove — Photo & Review: Russell Johnson On this Fourth of July I am looking out my window at something that transcends our brief, troubled time, a being whose living cousins were born before Jesus, who have survived the scores of scoundrels that have spread misery across the earth in the [...]
Taipei 101:Our Future is…
Posted on September 10, 2007 - Filed Under Video, Taiwan | Leave a Comment
Forget Mad Max, forget Bladerunner, forget The Matrix and all of the rest of those visions of a future of bombed out cities, leather-clad mutants and cyborgs on Harleys. I am looking at the REAL future, a tall, marble-floored tower of soft-spoken beings offering precious gifts of Gucci and Tiffany and YSL, every overpriced [...]
