A 2nd Century space opera

The above video discusses the satirist Lucian of Samosata's work A True Story. In it, his protagonists get caught up in a whirlwind and get carried to the moon, where they get involved in a war between the Moon and the Sun over Venus. 

Because it takes place in outer space, a lot of people call it the first science fiction story. I don't think that is accurate. I think he is actually lampooning old-timey travel books which had a tendency to add all sort of fanciful nonsense to the tales to boost interest and sales.    

He also threw barbs at his contemporaries. One of his lines is "Plato was not there. It is said that he was living in an imaginary city under the constitution and laws that he himself wrote." So, it fits much more under the label of travel-writing satire and general lampoonery than science fiction. Still, it is interesting.

By the way, there are no women on the moon, so maybe it is actually a tragedy.

 

Trails in paint

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Roads are designed. Their routes are chosen and surveyed, their beds prepared and paved. Paths have a different genesis. They are merely a convenient path between two locations, in fact a path may start as a game trail. As the phrase 'the beaten path' suggests, they are formed by people repeatedly walking along them. They develop slowly and exist only as long as they are used. They are 'form follows function' in its most primordial sense.      

Old airline ads

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These are a collection of mid 20th century airline ads. They are from an era when air travel was more exotic than it is today. It would be slightly gauche to not wear a suit or dress. They started by emphasizing the reach of airplanes, but eventually moved on to targeting other groups of travelers than the early adopters: older people, single woman, families, businessmen and so forth.

They are taken from the Duke Library's Transportation Archive. 

Greyhound Bus ads

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These are color advertisements for Greyhound Bus from the mid 1940s to the mid 1950s. The early ads focus on soldiers returning home and later they focus on travelling to see different parts of America.

In his Civil War: a Narrative Shelby Foote talked about the long campaigns meant that the primarily rural soldiers traveled far and developed a different sense of the nation. Similarly, in WWII many of the young men had traveled to Europe, Africa or Asia. In the years after, and before the wide spread of the car culture or cheap airfare, these young men and their families wanted to see distant places in the States. Greyhound buses provided them with a means to travel long distances.

These ads, and those after the jump, are from the Ad Access section of Duke University's digital repository. 

A visit to Moldova

Above a fellow tours Kishinev, the capital city of Moldavia. Apparently Moldavia is the least visited country in Europe, and after his tour I can see why. It is a pretty run-down and depressing looking place.

Below he takes a Moldovan road trip to a dot on the map in the countryside called Ratus. On the trip he listens to Moldavan pop music on the radio, rides in an old Lada as well as a horse drawn cart and muses at an abandoned Soviet bus stop. Ratus ends up being a sleepy little village, but the Moldovans met along the way are friendly and much more cheerful seeming than those in Kishinev.

I'm also pretty sure, but not certain, that Bald and Bankrupt -- the fellow who made the videos -- was the traveling companion of the guy who showed us the roadside cafe on the way to Jaipur.

Finally, inspired by the pop music on the radio I bring you a video of Moldova's Dan Balan's Chica Boom in which a stylish pop star, I assume he's Dan Balan, sings 'chica boom' over and over while a young lady undulates around and sings her lyrics in English while pouring water over herself and so-forth. Uh... it may be slightly NSFW.

Havana tour guide vs a skeptical Ukrainian

Above is a pretty entertaining video of a Ukrainian lady who is not buying a Havana tour guide's spiel about the wonders of Cuba. You can tell she's having great fun calling BS on what he has to say.

The video is by a fellow called Brandon Ferdig who has a lot more videos, although many of them are quite short, at his YouTube channel. As well as Cuba, he's traveled through China, Thailand, Cambodia, East Africa and the United States.

One of his primary interests is poverty and homelessness. I actually first stumbled across him through the below video where he talks to a southern redneck.

Old Caribbean travel posters

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My recent trip to escape the polar vortex cold of Florida was to the Dominican Republic. I quite enjoyed my stay there. The people, the food, the beaches, the poolside and just wandering the streets were all pleasant and relaxing, although the touts could get annoying at times.

If you're ever in Bayahibe stop by the Blu Café. Easily the best restaurant on my trip.

Anyway, for graphics, since I couldn't find any old Dominican Republic travel posters I branched out a bit and went for a small sampling of Caribbean themed posters instead.

Travel Magazine

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These are covers from a magazine called Travel. It was published in the early part of the 20th century. The covers are quite striking. They are uncluttered, have fairly simple graphics and feature an extremely vibrant color palette.

More can be seen after the jump, and more at Magazine Art, a favorite site of mine, where I found these samples. Enjoy.

Airplane food

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Ah, the joys of airplane food. How we look forward to it. It isn't served much anymore, except on long flights. Some is good, some is bad, most is just a break from the monotony of sitting on a plane for hours on end.

These were inspired by the Flikr gallery airplane food, although most were gathered from elsewhere on the web. There are more examples after the jump.

Mongolia's statue of Genghis Khan

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Mongolia has built a huge statue of Genghis Khan. It stands about 30 miles outside of the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator. It is inteneded to be the center piece of a planned tourist park which will feature historical and cultural areas, camping in yurts, a swimming pool, theater and a golf course. When this is all done they plan on plating the statue with gold.

Regular readers will know I've frequently made fun of Turkmenistan's ridiculous building schemes. Granted, a giant gold-plated statue of Genghis Khan appears like something similar, however the Mongolians seem to have a much more rational grip on their tourism planning. They're basing it around their history, culture and landscape, which is a saner approach. They're also making efforts at upgrading their hotel situation which currently sounds pretty dodgy.

Mongolia is a parliamentary republic which sits landlocked between Russia and China. In spite of that, or perhaps because of it, Mongolia has very good relations with the United States. They've provided small contingents of troops to both Iraq and Afghanistan in support of American policy. Travellers from the U.S., EU and Japan can apparently get visas at the airport upon entering the country.

If you're interested in seeing a giant statue of Genghis Khan, or touring a remarkable and isolated country, you can start by visiting their tourist site or reading reviews of other people's travels there. Sadly, no mention of Mongolian Death Worms at either place.

Budget Vacations - Museum of Broken Relationships

As a public service in these tough economic times I suggest various cheap, educational, inspiring and uplifting vacation destinations you can take your family to visit. Today I would like to recommend the Museum of Broken Relationships.

The museum displays items, with a brief explanation of their significance, sent to them by people whose relationships have gone sour. As Rick Poyner explains in his post Museum of Broken Relationships:

The premise is very simple. Disappointed lovers donate an object that held meaning for them in a relationship. They provide basic details about location and how long their relationship lasted, and write a little story to explain what happened. These anonymous narratives can be terse in the extreme. The can of love incense from someone in Bloomington, Indiana is accompanied by just two words: “Doesn’t work.” Most go into a little more detail and many are very affecting. After 13 years of marriage a man from Berlin decided to leave his wife because he felt their love had cooled. The woman returned to her own country, taking their little dog with her. She was brokenhearted and sent him a package of things that included a flashing dog collar light — she had bought one for the dog so it couldn’t get lost when it ran away in the dark. The man carried it everywhere. About a year after the split, the woman took her life in a hotel room. In the museum, the red collar light flashes forlornly on an illuminated shelf. The man clearly found it unbearable to own. He says it reminds him of a heartbeat.

The museum is located in Zagreb, Croatia so you may need a plane ticket to get there. And I don't want to hear the usual complaints from you ingrates that a plane ticket prices it out of the range of a budget vacation. Did you not read the excerpt above? It has meaningful blinking dog collars and cans of love incense. Who can put a price on that?

Below are some more pictures from their exhibits:

Budget Vacations - Shangri-La

From pet_rock's Shangri-La Flikr photo set.

Sure, your summer vacation is months away, but that's no reason you can't start your planning now. During these hard economic times I've been suggesting cheap travel destinations that are educational, uplifting and just plain awe inspiring. With that criteria in mind, today I suggest you consider the miniature road side village of Shangri-La located outside of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

In 1968, Henry L. Warren decided to build a little town on the side of the road. He began dynamiting quartz located on his property and used that, along with some bricks and a lot of concrete, to lovingly build his dream.

As Dean Pickles explains in his post A Tiny Roadside Village, Made From Quartz at Asia Obscura:

Each building has character and purpose. As a true obsessive, he even gave each a name. There’s the Dew Drop Inn, the Shangri Hi School, and the Little Brown Church in the Dell. The White Rock Motel has it’s own tiny swimming pool. There’s a jailhouse, and a hospital too. 

Dean's post is where I found out about this little town and found the photographs posted here and after the jump (except for the two photos captioned otherwise). He has more pictures, as well as a map to Shangi-La, at his post.

Budget Vacations - the Big Avocado

As a public service, during these hard economic times I've been suggesting cheap, yet culturally enriching, tourist traps travel destinations. Today I suggest the Big Avocado located at Tropical Fruit World in Duranbah, Australia.  

Aside from the fruit orchard tour, train ride, boat tours, petting zoo, tropical fruit smoothies, etc., the main attraction -- at least as far as this series of articles is concerned -- is the statue of the Big Avocado. 

Tickets are a bit pricey compared to some of the other destinations I've suggested: $94.28 (US dollars) for a family of two adults and two children using the latest exchange rate. Also, some might argue that the plane fare to Australia knocks it out of the Budget Vacation altogether (some people are just born Negative Nellies).

Reviews of the place are very good. So, if you happen to be near Duranbah in Australia, or you're the type who thinks a couple of thousand dollars to buy a plane ticket to see a giant avocado statue is a bargain, I recommend you drop by Tropical Fruit World and check it out. 

When you flew in suits

An old news reel about the China Clipper. Ladies -- please try to control yourselves when you see the stud muffins that refuel the plane at Wake Island.
 

Budget Vacations - 43rd Annual Hollerin' Contest

Thus far my travel tips for Recovery Summer - the Sequel have taken us to such sights as atomic cannons, giant weather vanes and quack medical devices. In keeping with my promise to always recommend the finest educational, inspiring and culturally enriching travel destinations, in this post I suggest a visit to an event --  the 43rd Annual Hollerin' Contest held in Spivey's Corner, North Carolina.

They're holding it on June 18th, so you have plenty of time to pack your picnic lunch and get there early for a good spot. I suggest setting up your lawn chairs right next to one of the amplifiers so's you can fully bask in the Hollerin' Contest experience.

As the link above mentions, along with the contest there is an antique farm equipment exhibit, classic car show, corn hole tournament, concerts and naturally food vendors. I'm guessing the food alone would make the trip worth it.
  
Visit their  43rd Annual Hollerin' Contest webpage for driving directions to the contest.

Budget Vacations - Questionable Medical Devices Collection

Phrenology machine

As a public service, during these cash strapped times, I've been suggesting budget vacation destinations. Of course, I always strive to provide attractions that are of great historical or educational value. 

For that reason, today's recommendation is the  "Questionable Medical Device" collection of the Science Museum of Minnesota. It is a comprehensive overview of medical quackery and mechanisms of dubious therapeutic value. 

It includes phrenology machines, curative devices that squirted out cancer-causing doses of radiation, various contraptions that futilely harnessed the wondrous powers of magnetism, foot powered breast enlarging pumps and more. 

The exhibit originally assembled by Bob McCoy who started the collection when he bought a few phrenology machines and for a small fee demonstrated them in a shop in Minnesota. Soon he began to acquire other devices 

For a while he moved his collection to its own museum, but it was eventually donated to the Science Museum of Minnesota where it now resides. So, if you're in the area drop by and check it out and, as always, pack yourself a picnic lunch. 
 

Budget Vacations - giant weathervanes

A puny Michigan weathervane

This is another of my public service posts suggesting budget vacation destinations for summer travel. 

When going on vacation a person generally wants to see something unique and awe inspiring if possible. So, with that criteria in mind, my thoughts naturally turned towards wondering where the world's largest weathervane was located. 

A quick Google search reveals that Montague, Michigan claims to have the world's largest weathervane. They even have the WLRA Weathervane webpage dedicated to it.  On the top of it is a replica of a lumber schooner and, at 48ft tall, with a length of 14ft and weighing 4,300lbs, it would seem to be a solid contender.

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news to the good citizens of Montague, but...

Swiss one-upmanship

 On the shore of Lake Geneva, in Ouchy, Switzerland there is a weathervane that is also quite large. It appears to be larger than the one in Michigan. I don't have the actual dimensions for it, but from looking at several pictures of it from numerous angles (obviously, a highly objective method of weathervane size detection), it appears to be taller and wider. 

It also has four pillars around it, with a hemispherical notch cut into each pillar. When you line up the pillar's notch with the curve of the weathervane and get an 'O' you can tell the direction the wind is coming from. 

Boaters report that not only is it useful for gauging the direction of the wind, it is also helpful, since it sits on a breakwater, in locating the entrance to the harbor. 

It's a fine contender as the world's largest weathevane, but could there be one even larger?

Now, this is a weathervane worthy of the World's Largest title

Why, yes there is a larger weathervane. In Whitehorse, Canada there is a DC3 mounted on a pivot which is billed as a weathervane. A 15mph breeze is strong enough to swing it into the wind. The plane is an old Canadian Pacific Airlines 'Gooney Bird' that flew her last flight in 1970.

So there you have it -- if you're near Switzerland or Michigan you can pack up a picnic lunch and view the also-rans, otherwise you can trek up to Whitehorse to see the real Champion of Giant Weathervanes.

Budget Vacations - Atomic Annie

280MM Atomic Cannon in Junction City, Kansas

With the price of gas being so high, I imagine a lot of us are planning scaled back vacations this summer. As a public service I've decided to suggest off-beat, yet interesting, vacation destinations for the budget minded. To start I've selected the Atomic Annie located in Junction City Kansas. To get there take I-70 west from Kansas City.

The Atomic Annies were A-Bomb chucking field artillery developed in the 1950s. They had a bore of 280MM and could fire their Mark 9 nuclear artillery shells several miles down range. The Mark 9 was a 15 kiloton tactical nuclear warhead. 

It was test fired once, on May 25th, 1953. You can watch a video of that test below.

Eventually 20 of the Atomic Annies were built and some were deployed to the Far East and Europe. They were taken out of commission in the 1960s. Eight of the twenty remain. Here are the locations of all of them if Junction City is too far for cheap travel:

-Army Ordnance Museum, Aberdeen, Maryland (still has the two large "prime movers" attached)
-Atomic Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico
-Fort Sill Museum, Oklahoma (the one that was test fired)
-Freedom Park, Junction City, Kansas
-Rock Island Arsenal, Memorial Field, Rock Island, Illinois
-Virginia War Memorial Museum, Newport News, Virginia
-Watervliet Arsenal, Watervliet, NY -- where they were all manufactured.
-Yuma Proving Ground, Yuma, Arizona

If you're near any of them, pack yourself a picnic lunch and take a day trip, or a long weekend, and visit a relic of the Cold War.
 

Gone fishing...

I'm on vacation at the moment so posting will be erratic. Then again, my posting is always erratic so likely nobody would have noticed.. The wife and I flew to Manuas in Brazil. Odd airport. The runway was, outside of a dirt strip in Masawa, the roughest I've ever landed on. The plane bounced and rattle during it's entire roll out. To reduce a traveller's confidence even more, pushed onto the grass were three or four completely filthy cargo jets.  The whole place had a slap-dash feel to it.

We stayed in Manaus for only one day, and then headed for a place called Juma Lodge in jungle. The a picture is of one of their cabins. I didn't take it, I swiped it off of the internet. perhaps when I get back I'll post a photo or two of my own.

I must say the rain forest was not at all what I expected. Many more people were living in it than I expected (the place I stayed is only about 4-5 hours south of Manaus -- I imagine human habitation thins out considerably the farther upriver one goes). I expected to be swatting bugs endlessly, but they really weren't a problem at all. The heat was oppressive during the day, but at night there were nice breezes that were refreshing.

The jungle was very peaceful. Above all, it is very nice to be out of the news loop for a bit and just laze in the hammock.At any rate, 'll be off the blog for a bit, so the Chinese spambots will have a field day.

Occasional Links

Bad stuff coming out of China.

Google's delusional arrogance.

Chinese jets for Chavez.

Travel like a human.

Grant redux.

Why surprises blind us.

Is China spoiling for a fight?

Your mind and your money.

Incentives rule the world.

Once bitten....