Tag: Tres Loco

Fish Rock in Japan

Fish rock is music aimed at promoting greater fish consumption in Japan, where it’s on the decline. Public radio’s The World explains.

Here’s a, uh, taste.

 


The International Banana Museum: Meet its Saviors

Here’s an odd one: Gawker has an exclusive interview with Virginia and Fred Garbutt, the mother-son duo who recently purchased the entire contents of the International Banana Museum on eBay after collector-curator Ken Bannister was forced to sell. The new incarnation of the museum will reopen in North Shore, California, in January 2011.


Helper Monkeys: TSA Has ’em Covered

Boing Boing has unearthed a set of TSA guidelines for the screening of service monkeys. See the comments for your fix of monkey-touching and poop-flinging jokes.


Tijuana Embraces its Touristy ‘Zonkeys’

Photo: Roebot via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo: Roebot via Flickr (Creative Commons)

Behold the zonkey. This poor donkey and others like it, painted with stripes to resemble zebras, have been a kitschy mainstay on Tijuana’s Avenida Revolución for years. Before drug-related crime frightened most tourists away—visits from the U.S. have dropped off 80 percent since 2001—many would pay a few bucks to don sombreros and pose for photos with the animals. It’s a ridiculous tradition that somehow endures.

And now, a new Tijuana basketball team playing in a regional Mexican league has embraced the painted zebras, calling themselves the Tijuana Zonkeys. They have striped jerseys and, yes, even cheering “Zonkeys girls.”

The team’s president told the San Diego Union-Tribune: “It’s a crazy, cartoonish figure, and in a way, that’s what the city’s all about. It’s a crazy, cartoonish city where everything is possible.”

He’s right about that.

Go Zonkeys.


Even Astronauts Want to be Travel Writers

At least one well-known astronaut does: The one who happened to be stuck in the middle of the drive-non-stop-from-Houston-to-Orlando-allegedly-in-diapers love triangle. In reporting on the case, Florida Today notes that former astronaut William Oefelein and former Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman—she was the victim of a pepper spray attack by her rival—are currently running this travel writing website.

Welcome to the travelsphere, William and Colleen! Please note, however, that someone is already on the disposable underwear beat.


Michael Bay for TSA Chief?

As the hunt for a new agency head continues, Jeffrey Goldberg tosses the “Transformers” director’s name into the ring, noting that Bay “would fully embrace the fantastical, security theater aspect of TSA’s mission.” Cue the Megan Fox/full-body scanner jokes.


What’s That Smell?

iStockPhoto

Paul Lynch explores the intersection of travel and the nose

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‘The FedEx Meal Plan’

Brett Martin’s “obnoxious” scheme: To have food from around the world sent overnight to him at his home in Brooklyn. He writes about his efforts in GQ:

The idea came to me in the midst of one of those morose funks that occur after coming home from a long trip. In this case, I had just returned from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I was moping about the house, dreaming of days spent stuffing myself with a mix of Chinese, Indian, and Malay delicacies unavailable anywhere else in the world.

Or were they? I suddenly thought, snapping awake. Unavailable? What did that even mean in these modern times? After all, there is a network of couriers crisscrossing the globe twenty-four hours a day and promising that anything can be anywhere within a matter of hours. So if I craved a bowl of pork noodles of the sort sold on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, why would I need to do something as old-fashioned as actually visiting Kuala Lumpur? International shipping may be pricey, but as a way to stay connected to the tastes of the planet during lean times, it seems downright affordable.


Travel Predictions for 2010

This just in: The Jersey shore will become the new Hamptons!

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Milking the Mint for Frequent Flier Miles

The things some people will do for miles. The Wall Street Journal has the convoluted story of how some die-hard points collectors bought up more than $1 million in dollar coins from the U.S. Mint, taking advantage of a free shipping program in order to rack up miles on their credit cards. Said a government spokesman: “Is this illegal? No. Is it the right thing to do? No, it’s not what the program is intended to do.”


Iowa’s New Tourism Campaign: ‘Arrest a Traveler’

Promotional campaigns just keep getting weirder. The latest: A small town in Iowa that had its sheriffs “arrest” a pair of motorists with out-of-state plates and offer them a free night’s stay. Predictably, accusations of abuse of police power have been flying—though not from the “arrested” couple, who noted that the town is “darling.” Mission accomplished? (Via @BudTravel)


‘United Breaks Guitars’—And Loses Baggage

Dave Carroll, the musician behind the “United Breaks Guitars” protest songs, has been burned by United again. He wound up flying with the carrier from Regina to Denver last week—and, sure enough, he landed in Colorado without his bags. Fool me once ... (Via This Just In)


V.S. Naipaul Mistakenly ‘Killed Off’ in FBI Footnote

The travel writer and novelist was mentioned in passing in an FBI court filing as “the late Lord V.S. Naipaul.” This is one detail that I’m glad to hear the Feds got wrong. (Via The Book Bench)


Don’t Bring Your Minivan to Yosemite

Why not? Because the park’s resident bear population prefers breaking into the vehicles over other models. Seriously.


Introducing ‘The Adulterer’s Concierge’

From the Daily Beast: “Because when you’re paying top-dollar for a penthouse hotel room or a corner banquette at a luxury restaurant, the establishment’s staff should know enough not to call your wife by your mistresses’ name.”


My Next Travel Book

Contemplating and celebrating the world of travel

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Capt. Sully: Mustached American of the Year?

REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

More accolades could be on the way for the pilot whose heroic landing of a passenger jet on the Hudson made him a celebrity early this year. Yep, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger is among the finalists for the Robert Goulet Memorial Mustached American of the Year award, courtesy of the American Mustache Institute.


Has the World’s First Novelty Restaurant Been Discovered?

Looks like it. Archaeologists in Rome claim to have unearthed a circular rotating dining room used by Emperor Nero, proving, as Felicity Cloake writes in the Guardian, that “when it comes to naff eateries, anything we can do, the toga wearers did first.”

The AP has a proper news report on the discovery:


Congratulations, First Clown in Space!

Space tourist and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté blasted off for the international space station yesterday, red clown nose and all. Now that’s a milestone to remember.


Body Cavities and the TSA

Over at Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow has a colorful rant speculating about the TSA’s response to the attempted assassination of a Saudi prince last month—by a terrorist dubbed the ass bomber.
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