January 2011
116 posts
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December 2010
111 posts
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US New Year's Travel Resolutions | Lonely Planet →
Happy Almost New Year! And the season for half-assed resolutions. In the past mine have been to stop this or do less of that, as if January 1st were some secular Lenten. I rarely resolve to do something. I think Lonely Planet author Andy Murdock has the right idea. Sure, some of his resolutions are of the withholding variety but many are more positive and life-affirming. They’re not simply a...
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15 Most Popular Blog Posts of 2010 | Tripbase →
If you’ve ever asked yourself why travel sites feature so many posts that are just arbitrarily-numbered lists of the best this or that thing, then this list (irony!) should provide the answer.
Spoiler Alert: only one of the most popular 15 posts on Tripbase this year wasn’t a list post.
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2011 Prediction: Nay, guarantee. A great number of people will go all apoplectic when the iPad 2 is released and it doesn’t have a camera on the back, even though such a thing would be borderline useless. Front-facing for Facetime? Sure. Apple isn’t stupid. And that’s why there won’t be one on the back.
Click here for a round-up of iPad 2 rumors on Mashable.
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10 Great Caribbean Secrets | Lonely Planet →
“The Caribbean isn’t all just yachts and cruise ports (or souvenir hassle). Here are a handful of the region’s great experiences that don’t get as much press, but deliver unbeatable trips.” —Robert Reid, Lonely Planet
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“One thing I saw in England long ago struck me and has always stayed with me. I...”
– James Salter | as interviewed by Edward Hirsch for The Paris Review, 1930.
via condenasttraveler
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The not-so lazyreviewer has spoken! And she has suggested I read Marilynne Robinson’s novel Housekeeping. As I commented here, it’s been on my radar for some time, but for whatever reason I haven’t gotten around to reading it. Makes little sense, of course, as Gilead is one of my favorite books, and on the short list of best books of the Oughts. So, compelled by the...
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The Personalized Book Recommendation Blitz of 2010... →
The lazyreviewer of lazybookreviews has released a series of lists cataloging all the recommendations she made to her readership over the Christmas weekend. While she never got around to poising her keen eye on my list, there’s more than enough here to keep me (and you) busy until Rapture.
The Personalized Book Recommendation Blitz of 2010: Adams to Dune • Gray to Levin • Lovell to Salinger...
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Engagementcation!
They have given rise to the hell spawn: Engagementcation. I have expressed my distaste for such words before (here and here), but this one compels action. I fear I must shish kabob my eyes; better they roast on a spit than gaze again upon this demon bastard. So too must my tongue be torn out, my nose burned from my face and my ears lopped off, such a violation to the senses is this.
Read the...
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Wake Up, Geek Culture. Time to Die | Wired →
Patton Oswalt rants poetically on the commodification of geek culture in this Wired editorial. I find myself nodding approvingly and shouting, “Yes!” - while trusting that those far younger than me (and Oswalt) will subvert the oversaturated internet age and find their own geekdom within which to flourish. Yet while it reads like lunatic nostalgia, how can you not love it when it...
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Best Beach Vacation Destinations for 2011 | AOL... →
“The sun on your skin, the breeze blowing through your hair – who doesn’t love a great beach vacation? With resorts popping up left and right there are more choices than ever for couples, families and even singles looking for that perfect beach getaway. From bustling urban shores to remote islands, there’s something for everyone at these 5 best beach vacation destinations...
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“But I suppose life has made him like that, and he can’t help it. None of us can...”
– Eugene O’Neill | Long Day’s Journey Into Night
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Sweet Revolution | New Yorker →
A friend of mine on twitter remarked that “this is best writing on food this year.” I don’t read enough about food to confirm his bold claim, but it is a thrilling and wonderfully pretentious journey through the history of desserts, narrated by the pastry chefs that have taken the form to new levels.
Author Adam Gopnik’s tale begins with frustration.
It was as if the...
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The Fall | Gorillaz
I’ll say this about the new album by Gorillaz: it’s the best I’ve ever heard recorded on an iPad. That’s right, the whole thing was made on Apple’s tablet device. One could argue that it’s a gimmick (the promotion of it as an “iPad album” certainly is), but it’s hard to ignore how fairly indistinguishable from a...
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23 Movies That Will Make You Want to Travel |... →
As Lonely Planet tweeted, if you’re among those snowed-in on the east coast, Matador Network has a list of movies you might want to consider to pass the time by the fire or whatever. It features films notable for their locations, but more than that it’s actually a list of some very good and perhaps less obvious movies (for example, The Lord of the Rings and its New Zealand destinations...
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True Grit | Directed by Joel & Ethan Coen
True Grit is the kind of movie Hollywood rarely makes anymore. Most films on offer are either big-budget extravaganzas or small melodramas that beat you over the head with “meaning.” True Grit is thankfully neither. It has no greater ambition than to entertain by way of it’s simple, expertly crafted story. And it’s all the better for it.
The film is considered by some to...
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Hot spots to travel in Europe in 2011 | Los... →
The paper of record in Los Angeles offers up three European destinations to explore in the new year: the Basilacata region of Italy; Dresden, Germany; and Albi, France.
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“To me it seems rather Christlike to be as unadorned as this place is, as little...”
– Marilynne Robinson | Gilead
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Looking for a good book?
On this lazy day after Christmas, I am thoroughly enjoying reading all of the book recommendation posts by lazybookreviews. Already one of the best tumblr blogs around, the site got even better when the lazyreviewer asked her readers to provide her with four of their favorite books with a promise of a personalized book recommendation in return. It’s a joy to discover what books others love...
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In Search of the Authentic Travel Experience |... →
I’ve always found the idea of “authenticity” a little suspect, no matter what the subject. It’s particularly suspicious in travel, where the search for an authentic experience seems completely dependent on one’s definition of the word and little to do with actual local culture. Unbrave Girl ponders the issue in this article, inspired after a rather...
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Top 10 Ski Vacation Destinations | AOL Travel →
Obviously anything of this sort is subjective, but the highlighted ski areas are certainly worthy of inclusion. More surprising is what’s omitted - nothing from the Sierra Nevada, for example. But that’s what happens when you’re slavish to the Top 10 approach.
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Top 40 iPhone Apps of 2010 | TechCrunch →
The list is skewed heavily towards games (which is useful in its own right), but there are plenty of others featured here that might well end up in my Traveling with the iPhone series.
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“Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood...”
– Charles Dickens
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Top 10 Food Travel Books of 2010 | Tripbase →
Is there such a thing as a literary foodie? If there is this book from the list is perhaps the perfect gift:
Twain’s Feast by Andrew Beahrs
Mark Twain is one of the best loved American writers of all time, but who knew he was also a 19th century foodie? Andrew Beahrs combines in-depth historical research into Twain’s eating habits with his own field studies of regional American cuisine....
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10 Books | Lonely Planet →
Lonely Planet writer suggests ten “particularly interesting” books from 2010 - five travel books and five fiction titles with “a travel connection.”
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The 9 Most Successful Travel Bloggers of 2010 |... →
“Thanks to the massive growth of social media, geeky tech toys, user friendly blog tools and growing community support (such as Travel Blog Exchange), the travel blogosphere thrived in 2010. With many talented new-comers filling in the gaps, bringing on various, unique approaches to travel blogging, everyone is working even harder to get to the top of the field. Ultimately, it forces us to...
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El Niño 2: This Time It's Personal
Whenever it rains for any extended period of time here in Southern California, I blame El Niño; somewhere along the line local meteorologists conditioned me and pretty much every other Angelino to think that. Honestly? I have no idea if this is an El Niño year or not, but it sure feels like it. And, may I say, the little boy appears to be particularly pissed at the moment.
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Traveling with the iPhone | Camera+
There are hundreds of photo apps in the iTunes store and weeding out the good from the bad is not easy. My personal favorite for in-Phone editing has long been Camera+, but as I mentioned before, the app was pulled due to some violations of Apple policies. Well, folks, it’s back!
What makes Camera+ superior to its counterparts is its comprehensiveness. It has virtually all of the editing...
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7 Up-and-Coming Adventure Travel Destinations for... →
“2011 is just around the corner and another exciting year packed with thrilling travels is looming ahead! In 2010, we saw more unconventional destinations popping up in our adventure travel world – such as South Africa and Bhutan. In the new year, I predict a similar trend but with a focus on destinations closer to home.” -Wild Junket
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“We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing...”
– Tom Stoppard | Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
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I'm just going to leave this here
According to the email that just landed in my inbox, Duran Duran is still together and has a new album coming out.