Television
I finally got the chance to catch Heroes during a marathon showing on the SciFi channel. Has anyone watched it? Given the fact that all my series are ending or have ended for the year (The Sopranos, American Idol, Battlestar Galactica), I'm in the market for some fresh TV.
Gotta love The Simpsons. Watching the cartoon version of 24 and the 400th episode shows reminded me of what an institution the show is.
Books
Vanity Fair published excerpts from The Reagan Diaries. Apparently, Reagan began writing the journal when he took office. The editor pointed out how Reagan was a great summarizer and it's fascinating to see complex, emotionally wrenching issues and events distilled into a few sentences. Some examples:
Mon. March 30 (written April 11)
My day to address the Bldg and Const Trades Nat Conf. Was all dressed to go and for some reason at the last min took of my really good wrist watch and wore an older one. Speech not riotously received--still it was successful.
Left hotel at the usual side entrance and headed for the car--suddnenly there was a burst of gun fire from the left. SS Agent pushed me onto the floor of the car and jumped on top. I felt a blow in my upper back that was unbelievably painful. I was sure I'd broken my rib . . . . Getting shot hurts."
Thurs Dec 22.
Air crash of Pan Am plan over Scotland began with some kind of explosion. New figure on dead. --273 on plane.
Thurs Jan 19
.. . .Tomorrow I stop being president
Movies
Pan's Labyrinth is finally out on DVD. I've had it saved on my queue for months it seems, but the wait was well worth it. It's as beautiful, horrifying and violent as critics have discussed. What most appealed to me was the multiple levels on which the movie could be viewed simultaneously. The fantasy could be taken literally as the quest of a princess. It could represent a child's way of working through the loss of her parents. Or it could be taken as a reflection of the political strife taking place in Spain at the time. At its end, I find myself reassuring Luc of the fairy tale ending while sobbing. (I'm trying not to be a spoiler in the event you haven't seen it.)
Nifty Art Happenings
Have you heard about Vladmasters? Like the ipod performance I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, viewers are each given their own viewmasters. While listening to a common soundtrack, they watch a narrative unfold before their eyes. It's just so interesting to see artists try to find a way to connect people while still allowing those people to maintain a sense of privacy in their viewing (or listening) experiences.
In the German countryside, people pay 1.35 to watch an American actor David Barlow is planting potatos in from 8 am- 6pm as part of Bauerntheater (Farmer's Theater) produced by David Levine. The producer of the agricultural experience chose to stage the performance because he became "interested in the idea of acting technique as a means of accelerated knowledge acquisition (i.e., is the technique good for tasks other than representation)." Rather than entertain, Bauerntheater is aimed at encouraging people to talk about possibilities for theater other than entertainment. One professor sees it as the logical extension of a certain acting technique, the psychological style, where the actor strives to feel real emotions. Ideally, the illusion ends up being complete not only for the viewer but for the actor. The wife of a neighboring father thought the actor was doing a good job for a city boy. Even though her husband thought it was ridiculous, she thought it was definitely art.
Architecture
A Japanese architect devised shleters for refugees in Rwanda made of paper tubes and used Kirin beer plastic crates filled with sandbags as foundations of houses built for victims of the Kobe earthquake. What's especially cool is that the buildings are apparently quite lovely. Like my favorite store, Target, he doesn't think that good design has to be costly for people or the environment.
Quote
From Raskolnikov in Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment:
In general, very few people are born with new ideas. Even people who are just capable of saying something that is in the slightest degree new are few and far between."
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Calamity Physics (5.9)
Television
It’s getting harder and harder to watch the last act of The Sopranos. Tony’s downward spiral is not pretty. At the same time as he turns into mother, his son is turning into him. Like he said last night to Dr. Melfi, “ My rotten f---in genes have infected my kid’s soul. That’s my gift to my son.” And the irony is that it’s nurture rather than nature which has done the most damage. If you’re interested in taking a little walk down memory lane with The Sopranos, check out the “Seven Minute Sopranos.” You’ll be shocked at how much life (and death) Tony has lived: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz_Ees_-kE4
Tonight, IFC is airing a documentary, The Bridge. The director trained a camera on The Golden Gate Bridge in order to capture suicides. He then interviewed the families of the victims to find out why.
Books
I absolutely fell in love with Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. When I saw that each chapter was named after a great books, I thought the book would be a clever, gimmicky, post modern take account of a precocious high school senior sparring with her professor father. But it ended up being a compelling, page turning murder mystery with a heart. It seemed to me a blend of Donna Tartt’s A Secret History, Lolita, and Hitchcock’s Vertigo. After I finished it, I picked it up and started rereading it (which I almost never do unless I have to write a paper)
Summer Movies
I’m not all that excited about Spiderman I’m definitely looking forward to some summer fun: Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up (He was the man behind The Forty Year Old Virgin), The Bourne Ultimatum, Nancy Drew (I was such a big fan). Mr. Brooks (How can I resist seeing Kevin Costner playing a cold-blooded serial killer?), Paprika (Japanese anime about a dream guide) and The Order of the Phoenix. What movies do you think look good?
Music
In an article on reunion tours (Is anybody seeing The Police?), I read that a few years back, Wire had a cover band open for them which played their old songs while they played their new ones.
Ideas
A sheep herder in Northern California hires out some of his flock as lawn mowers. In his words: “500 sheep will turn 10 grassy acres into a golf course overnight.”
Roman aristocrats would travel with nomenclators, alert slaves whose duty it was to supply their masters with the names of acquaintances they encountered.
Did anyone read the NYT Magazine article on the current research into wisdom? There are some interesting ideas in it such as the theory that early exposure to adversity or failure may act as a vaccination of sorts (a “stress inoculation) so that people are better equipped later in life to wisely handle tragedy. But ultimately it ends by saying that although we seem to know wisdom when we see it, how we acquire it remains a mystery. If you’re interested in checking out just how wise you are, you can visit nytimes.com/magazine to answer a questionnaire by Dr. Monika Ardelt.
Quotes:
“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” --William James
It’s getting harder and harder to watch the last act of The Sopranos. Tony’s downward spiral is not pretty. At the same time as he turns into mother, his son is turning into him. Like he said last night to Dr. Melfi, “ My rotten f---in genes have infected my kid’s soul. That’s my gift to my son.” And the irony is that it’s nurture rather than nature which has done the most damage. If you’re interested in taking a little walk down memory lane with The Sopranos, check out the “Seven Minute Sopranos.” You’ll be shocked at how much life (and death) Tony has lived: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz_Ees_-kE4
Tonight, IFC is airing a documentary, The Bridge. The director trained a camera on The Golden Gate Bridge in order to capture suicides. He then interviewed the families of the victims to find out why.
Books
I absolutely fell in love with Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. When I saw that each chapter was named after a great books, I thought the book would be a clever, gimmicky, post modern take account of a precocious high school senior sparring with her professor father. But it ended up being a compelling, page turning murder mystery with a heart. It seemed to me a blend of Donna Tartt’s A Secret History, Lolita, and Hitchcock’s Vertigo. After I finished it, I picked it up and started rereading it (which I almost never do unless I have to write a paper)
Summer Movies
I’m not all that excited about Spiderman I’m definitely looking forward to some summer fun: Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up (He was the man behind The Forty Year Old Virgin), The Bourne Ultimatum, Nancy Drew (I was such a big fan). Mr. Brooks (How can I resist seeing Kevin Costner playing a cold-blooded serial killer?), Paprika (Japanese anime about a dream guide) and The Order of the Phoenix. What movies do you think look good?
Music
In an article on reunion tours (Is anybody seeing The Police?), I read that a few years back, Wire had a cover band open for them which played their old songs while they played their new ones.
Ideas
A sheep herder in Northern California hires out some of his flock as lawn mowers. In his words: “500 sheep will turn 10 grassy acres into a golf course overnight.”
Roman aristocrats would travel with nomenclators, alert slaves whose duty it was to supply their masters with the names of acquaintances they encountered.
Did anyone read the NYT Magazine article on the current research into wisdom? There are some interesting ideas in it such as the theory that early exposure to adversity or failure may act as a vaccination of sorts (a “stress inoculation) so that people are better equipped later in life to wisely handle tragedy. But ultimately it ends by saying that although we seem to know wisdom when we see it, how we acquire it remains a mystery. If you’re interested in checking out just how wise you are, you can visit nytimes.com/magazine to answer a questionnaire by Dr. Monika Ardelt.
Quotes:
“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” --William James
28 Weeks Later (5.30)
Music
If you’re looking for cool, downbeat lounge music, check out “Hotel Costes” series d.j’ed by Stephane Pompougnac. I think he’s up to 9 volumes of music.
Movies
Summer at the movies means sequels, sequels, sequels. More often than not, they are bloated and incoherent so I tend to avoid them, especially sequels to horror movies. Think of how perfectly good concepts like Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream deteriorated. Occasionally, Aliens will pop out of a filmmaker’s chest to delight all of us who like a little gore with our popcorn. Happily, 28 Weeks Later felt more like Aliens than “Jason Battles Freddie and Predator on Uranus.” As pointed out by a clever film reviewer, the film “mutated” enough to remain vital. There’s a clear parallel between the US containment of Jihaadists, but what I enjoyed most was the fact that the true horror remained within the family unit itself much in the same we see in the mother of all zombie movies, Night of the Living Dead. I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone who will watch it, but, man oh man, there’s a scene between a married couple that’s horrifying on so many, many levels.
Television
Feeling the need for a sci fi fix, I put the TV series Firefly in my queue. As a Buffy fan who enjoyed the movie version of Serenity, I’m surprised it took me this long to watch it and I’m definitely not disappointed in spite of the fact that I haven’t yet seen the teenage chick kick serious butt. Its blend of sci fi and western generic conventions keeps it fun and fresh.
I’m pretty sure that On the Lot is a little too geeky for the majority of TV viewers. The hostess is an idiot who can’t even read names off a teleprompter and the hour recap/elimination round is awful, but watching the short films is pretty fun. If you haven’t gotten a chance to check it out, give the film showings on Monday a try. My favorite short films from last Monday night were “Lucky Penny,” “Danger Zone,” and “Checkout.” (By the way, Norwalkers DJ Caruso was the guest judge on Monday night. )
Internet
YouTube can be a dangerous place for the easily obsessed. And I certainly don’t want to encourage anyone to waste their precious time, but if you type in “parkour” and “parkour”, you’ll see some amazing and very funny things. Since watching District B13 a while back, I haven’t been able to get enough of the stuff. (And Madonna made good use of parkour guys in her last series of concerts and the video, “Jump.”)
Heather pointed out a very cool site which sells nifty items for the savvy traveler: http://www.flight001.com/
Business
The other day Heather praised Apple stores for the ease with which she purchased her power book. The NYT had an article on the success of the Apple stores which echoed her comments. Store sales are up 34% from the quarter a year earlier thanks to Apple’s decision to amp up the high touch along with the high tech. What sounds especially appealing is the presence of the “Genius Bar” whose offer their expertise for free. I’ve always had a soft spot for Mac’s (and I admit that I’m a sucker for the Mac vs PC commercials) and I think I’m going to have to make a power book my next tech purchase.
Anecdote
Did you see on AOL news that Mike Figgis (British director of Leaving Las Vegas) was detained at LAX Immigration because he told officials he was in town to “shoot a pilot.”
Quote
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.” -- Edward Abbey
If you’re looking for cool, downbeat lounge music, check out “Hotel Costes” series d.j’ed by Stephane Pompougnac. I think he’s up to 9 volumes of music.
Movies
Summer at the movies means sequels, sequels, sequels. More often than not, they are bloated and incoherent so I tend to avoid them, especially sequels to horror movies. Think of how perfectly good concepts like Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream deteriorated. Occasionally, Aliens will pop out of a filmmaker’s chest to delight all of us who like a little gore with our popcorn. Happily, 28 Weeks Later felt more like Aliens than “Jason Battles Freddie and Predator on Uranus.” As pointed out by a clever film reviewer, the film “mutated” enough to remain vital. There’s a clear parallel between the US containment of Jihaadists, but what I enjoyed most was the fact that the true horror remained within the family unit itself much in the same we see in the mother of all zombie movies, Night of the Living Dead. I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone who will watch it, but, man oh man, there’s a scene between a married couple that’s horrifying on so many, many levels.
Television
Feeling the need for a sci fi fix, I put the TV series Firefly in my queue. As a Buffy fan who enjoyed the movie version of Serenity, I’m surprised it took me this long to watch it and I’m definitely not disappointed in spite of the fact that I haven’t yet seen the teenage chick kick serious butt. Its blend of sci fi and western generic conventions keeps it fun and fresh.
I’m pretty sure that On the Lot is a little too geeky for the majority of TV viewers. The hostess is an idiot who can’t even read names off a teleprompter and the hour recap/elimination round is awful, but watching the short films is pretty fun. If you haven’t gotten a chance to check it out, give the film showings on Monday a try. My favorite short films from last Monday night were “Lucky Penny,” “Danger Zone,” and “Checkout.” (By the way, Norwalkers DJ Caruso was the guest judge on Monday night. )
Internet
YouTube can be a dangerous place for the easily obsessed. And I certainly don’t want to encourage anyone to waste their precious time, but if you type in “parkour” and “parkour”, you’ll see some amazing and very funny things. Since watching District B13 a while back, I haven’t been able to get enough of the stuff. (And Madonna made good use of parkour guys in her last series of concerts and the video, “Jump.”)
Heather pointed out a very cool site which sells nifty items for the savvy traveler: http://www.flight001.com/
Business
The other day Heather praised Apple stores for the ease with which she purchased her power book. The NYT had an article on the success of the Apple stores which echoed her comments. Store sales are up 34% from the quarter a year earlier thanks to Apple’s decision to amp up the high touch along with the high tech. What sounds especially appealing is the presence of the “Genius Bar” whose offer their expertise for free. I’ve always had a soft spot for Mac’s (and I admit that I’m a sucker for the Mac vs PC commercials) and I think I’m going to have to make a power book my next tech purchase.
Anecdote
Did you see on AOL news that Mike Figgis (British director of Leaving Las Vegas) was detained at LAX Immigration because he told officials he was in town to “shoot a pilot.”
Quote
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.” -- Edward Abbey
Pound and Ground (5.24)
Earlier in the week Chris and other “mature” tae kwan do students took a class with an Ultimate fighter, a six foot five mountain of rock named Nathan Kirby. Chris knew that I was terribly disappointed to miss a seminar on mixed martial arts combat, but he generously shared a couple of useful techniques that will serve him well at the university. I thought I’d share them with you because you might also be able to apply them to your daily struggles for power and glory. Lesson #1: When you’re battling in a cage, remember to “Pound and Ground.” Those simple words will inspire you to beat your opponent to a pulp. Lesson #2: In the rare event that your opponent does not want to remain in a prone position on the ground when you pound, simply break his (or her) arm. Apparently, the snapping of a bone and/or the tearing of cartilage demoralizes most people. Such life lessons learned on the mat truly validate our decision to study the martial arts with Luc.
Television
Have you read about the latest in the long line of excruciatingly painful dating shows? Age of Love premieres in the middle of June on NBC with 31 year-old tennis player Mark Philippoussis as the bachelor looking for love. The twist is that he will be choosing between “cougars” (40-somethings) and “kittens” (20-somethings). Just thinking of the potential for embarrassment makes my stomach turn.
I must admit that part of me was looking forward to the season/series finales of “American Idol,” “The Sopranos,” “House” and “Lost.” Without those shows tempting me into a vegetative state, I thought that I could boast to be something more than a couch potato. Alas, Fox brings us “So You Think You Can Dance” along with “On the Lot.” I am not strong enough to resist reality competitions centering on dance and movies.
Books
In The Ghost Map, Stephen Johnson gives a very interesting account of one of the last London cholera epidemics in 1854. He describes the events which led to the contamination of a public drinking well in a Soho neighborhood, the deadly consequences and finally the medical investigations of a local doctor as well as a minister. Peering over the shoulders of 19th century detectives while they hunt for clues is always fun if you have a weakness for Caleb Carr, but what impressed me most about The Ghost Map was the discussion of the reasons behind people’s resistance to notion that it was contaminated water and not miasma (noxious gases) which sickened and killed people. Nudged by Johnson, I found it fairly easy to draw a parallel between the 19th century skeptics he describes and the global warming naysayers in the 21st century.
Music
I’ve been resisting Amy Winehouse because a young, wild, buzzworthy Brit with a passion for 60s girl groups and vodka just didn’t appeal to me, but I have to admit to downloading “Rehab.” It’s a great song.
Ideas
In the latest issue of O Magazine, Helen Fisher observes that as far back as Plato (and no doubt even before then), students of the human condition have tended to place people into four categories. The names of the categories may vary but the qualities associated with each remain consistent (e.g. Artisan, Guardian, Idealist, Rational). Fisher suggests that there is a correlation between those four categories and a combination of genetic clusters, personality traits and brain chemistry. She goes on to argue that people are biologically driven towards others with different personality traits in order to ensure genetic variety and a working family unit. Fisher doesn’t supply any science to support her claim, but it’s something that is intuitively appealing and I’d like to see if there is any evidence to support her claims (If you’re interested in finding out what she calls your “love type,” you can take the test at: http://www2.oprah.com/omagazine/200706/omag_200706_lovequiz_form.jhtml )
Music and Ideas
While listening to some downloaded songs on my iPod that I chose based on a performance by Blake Lewis, “Time of the Season” on American Idol (“She’s Not There,” “For Your Love by” the Yardbirds, “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” by Edison Lighthouse), I realized what an enabler technology has become for anyone slightly obsessed. TV leads me to Itunes and Itunes then reveals to me a whole slew of songs in the same category. Those songs can then be entered into www.pandora.com which creates a “radio” channel based on common musical qualities (i.e., mild rhythmic syncopation, minor key tonality, prominent organ). The channel, in turn, supplies me with more songs and the fire of my obsession is fed.
Conveniently, my intuition about the enabling power of technology was confirmed by Chris Anderson (http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail) who I read about in Time’s “100 Most Influential People” issue. He’s an editor of Wired, who published a book last year called The Longest Tail in which he explains just how technology has enabled obsessives or as he calls them, “niche markets.” In his words, it’s about, “the big-picture consequence of this: how our economy and culture is shifting from mass markets to millions of niches. It chronicles the effect of the technologies that have made it easier for consumers to find and buy niche products, thanks to the “infinite shelf-space effect” –the new distribution from digital downloading to peer to peer markets, that break through the bottlenecks of broadcast and traditional bricks and mortar retail.
The issue of Time in which I found Anderson also directed me to three thinkers whose work sounds very interesting. Craig Vector, one of the people behind the genome mapping project, is now mapping the microbes and proteins found in the ocean. In The God Delusion, Stephen Dawkins argues that religion is a virus of the mind, an artifact of cultural evolution. Working with his research on primates in Primates and Philosophers, Frans de Waal pursues the thesis that morality is not a higher trait we acquire late in our development but is something that etched into our institutions.
Technology and Media
It looks as if we’ll be able to watch movies at home on the day they preview in the movie theaters in the not so distant future. In spite of opposition by movie theater owners, Comcast has already tested the technology with 5 out of the 6 major studios.
Wellness
If you’re interested in mapping a biking, walking or running route anywhere in the world, check out http://www.mapmyrun.com/. I haven’t used it yet, but I thought it looked nifty.
Words of the Week (from the NYT Travel Magazine Supplement)
Volcanic: superhot. Buzzword for destinations that have rapidly and unmistabkalby become the must-tops of the moment as in, “What do you mean you haven’t been to Caragena? That city is volcanic.”
Ethnosphere: coigage by the anthropologist Wade Davis to describe the “cultural web” of unique attributes and customs around the world, from language to music to food to handicrafts. Increasingly a key focus in travel e.g. “Just when you think you know what the ethnospehere’s got to offer, you discover deep-fried eel spines in Japan.”
Television
Have you read about the latest in the long line of excruciatingly painful dating shows? Age of Love premieres in the middle of June on NBC with 31 year-old tennis player Mark Philippoussis as the bachelor looking for love. The twist is that he will be choosing between “cougars” (40-somethings) and “kittens” (20-somethings). Just thinking of the potential for embarrassment makes my stomach turn.
I must admit that part of me was looking forward to the season/series finales of “American Idol,” “The Sopranos,” “House” and “Lost.” Without those shows tempting me into a vegetative state, I thought that I could boast to be something more than a couch potato. Alas, Fox brings us “So You Think You Can Dance” along with “On the Lot.” I am not strong enough to resist reality competitions centering on dance and movies.
Books
In The Ghost Map, Stephen Johnson gives a very interesting account of one of the last London cholera epidemics in 1854. He describes the events which led to the contamination of a public drinking well in a Soho neighborhood, the deadly consequences and finally the medical investigations of a local doctor as well as a minister. Peering over the shoulders of 19th century detectives while they hunt for clues is always fun if you have a weakness for Caleb Carr, but what impressed me most about The Ghost Map was the discussion of the reasons behind people’s resistance to notion that it was contaminated water and not miasma (noxious gases) which sickened and killed people. Nudged by Johnson, I found it fairly easy to draw a parallel between the 19th century skeptics he describes and the global warming naysayers in the 21st century.
Music
I’ve been resisting Amy Winehouse because a young, wild, buzzworthy Brit with a passion for 60s girl groups and vodka just didn’t appeal to me, but I have to admit to downloading “Rehab.” It’s a great song.
Ideas
In the latest issue of O Magazine, Helen Fisher observes that as far back as Plato (and no doubt even before then), students of the human condition have tended to place people into four categories. The names of the categories may vary but the qualities associated with each remain consistent (e.g. Artisan, Guardian, Idealist, Rational). Fisher suggests that there is a correlation between those four categories and a combination of genetic clusters, personality traits and brain chemistry. She goes on to argue that people are biologically driven towards others with different personality traits in order to ensure genetic variety and a working family unit. Fisher doesn’t supply any science to support her claim, but it’s something that is intuitively appealing and I’d like to see if there is any evidence to support her claims (If you’re interested in finding out what she calls your “love type,” you can take the test at: http://www2.oprah.com/omagazine/200706/omag_200706_lovequiz_form.jhtml )
Music and Ideas
While listening to some downloaded songs on my iPod that I chose based on a performance by Blake Lewis, “Time of the Season” on American Idol (“She’s Not There,” “For Your Love by” the Yardbirds, “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” by Edison Lighthouse), I realized what an enabler technology has become for anyone slightly obsessed. TV leads me to Itunes and Itunes then reveals to me a whole slew of songs in the same category. Those songs can then be entered into www.pandora.com which creates a “radio” channel based on common musical qualities (i.e., mild rhythmic syncopation, minor key tonality, prominent organ). The channel, in turn, supplies me with more songs and the fire of my obsession is fed.
Conveniently, my intuition about the enabling power of technology was confirmed by Chris Anderson (http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail) who I read about in Time’s “100 Most Influential People” issue. He’s an editor of Wired, who published a book last year called The Longest Tail in which he explains just how technology has enabled obsessives or as he calls them, “niche markets.” In his words, it’s about, “the big-picture consequence of this: how our economy and culture is shifting from mass markets to millions of niches. It chronicles the effect of the technologies that have made it easier for consumers to find and buy niche products, thanks to the “infinite shelf-space effect” –the new distribution from digital downloading to peer to peer markets, that break through the bottlenecks of broadcast and traditional bricks and mortar retail.
The issue of Time in which I found Anderson also directed me to three thinkers whose work sounds very interesting. Craig Vector, one of the people behind the genome mapping project, is now mapping the microbes and proteins found in the ocean. In The God Delusion, Stephen Dawkins argues that religion is a virus of the mind, an artifact of cultural evolution. Working with his research on primates in Primates and Philosophers, Frans de Waal pursues the thesis that morality is not a higher trait we acquire late in our development but is something that etched into our institutions.
Technology and Media
It looks as if we’ll be able to watch movies at home on the day they preview in the movie theaters in the not so distant future. In spite of opposition by movie theater owners, Comcast has already tested the technology with 5 out of the 6 major studios.
Wellness
If you’re interested in mapping a biking, walking or running route anywhere in the world, check out http://www.mapmyrun.com/. I haven’t used it yet, but I thought it looked nifty.
Words of the Week (from the NYT Travel Magazine Supplement)
Volcanic: superhot. Buzzword for destinations that have rapidly and unmistabkalby become the must-tops of the moment as in, “What do you mean you haven’t been to Caragena? That city is volcanic.”
Ethnosphere: coigage by the anthropologist Wade Davis to describe the “cultural web” of unique attributes and customs around the world, from language to music to food to handicrafts. Increasingly a key focus in travel e.g. “Just when you think you know what the ethnospehere’s got to offer, you discover deep-fried eel spines in Japan.”
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