Less of the loathing Laos….. – Luang Prabang, Louangphabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Jump to the full entry & travel map Luang Prabang, Louangphabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep The whole bus thing is getting a tiny bit tiring now…… Yet another mammoth journey in yet another cramped up minibus. This time it was 6 1/2 hours instead of the supposed 5 and it was all mountain roads so crazy twists and turns and buses on the wrong side and near misses at every turn – same old same old really! Got to Luang Prabang about 8pm and had to traipse through the nightmarket with our huge backpacks seemingly forever before we found somewhere to stay. The next day we wandered around to find a trek as its supposed to be really good around here and we ended up booking a 2 day with a homestay in the village, trekking the first day and kayaking and elephant riding the second. After all that hard work making decisions we figured we needed a drink so headed out in search of a bar – hmmm. Where ARE the bars. It felt like the town was dry until we discovered there are actually 3 bars! Yes, 3 whole drinking establishments! Settled ourselves in one only to find it closes at 11pm. And there are no clubs. So what do you do if you want a drink? You go bowling of course! Open until 3am, the bowling centre is the place to go – full of drunken backpackers and tuk tuk drivers offering all kinds of wares………. Miraculously not in too bad a state the next morning which was lucky considering we had to be up at 7am to start the trek. Met another girl who had done it the day before and she said it was seriously tough which unnerved us slightly – but nevermind, we thought we’d still give it a go. Oh. My. God. Why did we not just turn away right at that point????? All starts off well with a really sweet tour guide and just us so we can go at our own pace. And then the mud starts. Bearing in mind its been raining seemingly forever we kind of expected a bit of mud. But this. Wow. We abandoned the trainers in favour of flip flops as we had to go through rivers up to our knees and stuff and this worked until we got out the other side. Ever tried walking through 6 inches of mud, uphill for 10 minutes in flip flops? Wouldnt recommend it. Bye bye my last remaining pair of Havaianas! So barefeet it was. Must have looked hilarious to the locals who occasionally passed us – 2 falang, barefoot, sweating, covered in mud, trying to get up this seemingly impossible muddy hill. Seriously, it should have been a slide or something. So many near slips brought Sanne and I to tears with laughter and we had to stop knee deep in mud for 5 minutes as we were laughing too much. And then the rice fields. Even deeper mud and the fear of leeches. Not fun. After that Im like, cool, the worst is over. But oh no. We’ve made it through the valley – 2 hours – now we have to make it up the mountain. Seriously. It was like the steepest slope you can imagine and we literally had to scramble up it – for an hour!!!!! Somehow we made it up and stopped for a break – only to be told we were about 2/3 of the way – there was still more. The last part was up a dirt track road and I so so nearly cracked. Heat of the day. No shade. 4 hours of trekking already. But we got there in the end. Walked round 2 of the villages which was quite interesting and then started the descent. The same dirt road and the same lack of shade but at least it was downhill. Not so bad until the tour guide points to yet another rice field and says ‘we go through here’. Errr? No! No bloody way am I doing that again! But unless I wanted to sleep where I was i didnt really have a choice. And that is when I broke. Got through 3 rice fields and 2 rivers – all in barefeet with cuts from rocks and scrapes from god knows what – but the third river pushed me over the edge. Ripped some chunks out of my ankles, slipped and bashed my knee and we’d run out of water. Not remotely happy. I still dont quite know how we got back to the homestay but somehow we did and met 2 Dutch girls who were also staying there. It was so strange as theyd just started out travelling and were amazed and bewildered by everything – ads for whitening cream (obviously nivea only does whitening products!), ants in baguettes (flick them out!) and as for lao lao, well! Vile tasting local whiskey but if you get offered a shot you have to drink it out of politeness – so this goes round the table and everyone politely knocks it back and pretends it was remotely drinkable until it gets to one of them who sniffs it, touches it to her lips and then declares it absolutely vile and that there is no way she is drinking it. Even after being told twice by the guide and all of us at table that its rude to decline she keeps pulling faces and refuses leaving the little old lao lady utterly bewildered. For god sake! Just drink it! I obviously sacrificed myself to avoid offending her anymore – plus it would be a waste of good alcohol. Got stuck playing some random dice game with them later so numbed the pain with yet more lao lao. The Moaner went to bed about 9.30 and twice came down complaining she couldnt sleep because of our talking – the second time in tears! Seriously. I think its time for you to go home love! Asia is not for you. The next day was kayaking which was so much fun. Kayaked for about 1 1/2 hours down to see some elephants and go for an elephant ride. Those guys are seriously big! And going downhill on them was a bit scary perched 3m up on a garden bench. Had an amazing lunch of sticky rice and fish that our guide and cooked and barbecued then back on the kayaks to go across to the cave of a thousand buddhas. Or that was the plan. The current was so so strong that we all got swept miles downstream – even paddling hard constantly we didnt move and then the minute we stopped we were gone. Kind of scary but at least we got to the whiskey village a bit quicker……..
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Less of the loathing Laos….. – Luang Prabang, Louangphabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Jump to the full entry & travel map Balwyn, Victoria, Australia G’day mates! Sorry for the infrequent updates, but it has been an incredibly busy start to our adventure here in Oz. It is amazing what you miss when you leave all your rubbish behind and start over in a new land, all those little things that you have at your finger tips during the day to get things done. When you land with only a few suitcases it is a pretty daunting task to rebuild a home from scratch! And the thing we missed the most was convenient internet access! We spent a lot of time in internet cafes doing research on houses, transport, schools, cars, etc… In retrospect probably should have purchased a 3G mobile internet from the start, but we didn’t realize how long it would take to find a place. So most of our time here has been trying to get established. The good thing is during our search for a home we saw a great many different areas of Melbourne. It is amazingly diverse, with large ethnic neighborhoods, the major ones being Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian and Greek, but also smaller pockets of German, Russian, and other European/Asian cultures. And the food is fantastic! The only thing we miss is good American BBQ and Mexican. The Victorian Market is simply brilliant, you can buy just about anything there from all over the world. It is huge! And of course there is a huge British influence here. What’s interesting is that most Aussies no longer swear allegiance to the queen, but the English monarchy is still has a ceremonial representation here and the queen is still represented on the currency and the Aussie flag has the Union Jack. And because of this influence, it is very hard at times to remember we are not in the UK! Melbourne has the look and feel of the UK, from the plants and trees that were brought over in the last couple of centuries, to the quaint cottage homes and old churches, to the turn of the century shopping areas with plentiful bakeries, cafes, milk bars and shops. What is really interesting is the low number of Yanks here. We have yet to run into any! And the locals know immediately that we are from North America, but are polite to ask if US or Canada, because I guess the Canadians get offended when it is assumed that they are Americans! But they all know where Colorado is and most really want to come for a visit some day. But the people here have been very friendly and truly are proud of their country and hope that we enjoy our time here. We befriended an Aussie family (Adam and Deb) during our boat trip in Fiji and they have been absolutely fantastic in helping us get grounded here. They invited us over for lunch, let us use their computer to do research, drove us to see rentals, and provided incredible insight into the Aussie way of life So after many travels and much debate we decided on a rental house in the quaint community of Balwyn which is about 10 km (about 6 miles, everything in metric here so constantly doing the math :) ). We chose Balwyn because of location, great schools, our new Aussie friends live here and just loved the feel of the area. The tram that we will take into Melbourne is about a 10 min walk away, there is large aquatic facility one block away for the kids to swim at, and a little shopping strip for a morning walk for a latte and a scone. The house is actually larger than we expected to get, especially in this area. Large bedrooms, updated bathrooms, hardwood floors, an old shed for stuff and a great covered back deck for introducing our Aussie friends to American BBQ. Also a old laundry off the back deck where I can start to home brew some Coopers beer! So plenty of room for you when you come over to visit! And for the scary part…driving! We relied on trams and trains and friends to get around for the first 2 weeks, but knew eventually we would need to get over it and try driving. For those who didn’t know, Aussies drive on the opposite side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. So this week we rented a car and gave it a go. It was a little nerve wracking at first, but we adjusted fine and have had only a few occurances of trying to get in on the wrong side of the car or starting to head down the wrong way on a divided road. And only one or two honks and evil looks from other drivers! 
As far as rebuilding the house, we spent many hours in IKEA buying stuff and then many more hours assembling furniture and getting organized. Internet finally arrived on Thursday, so now we are no longer incommunicado. And we have phone service and cell phones. On Friday we bought a cheap little runabout car, and 1990 Nissan Pulsar for about US $1500. Has only 65,000 miles on it, very clean and runs fine, good enough for trips to the store or to get us to the train.
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Finally An Address To Call Our Own! – Balwyn, Victoria, Australia
Jump to the full entry & travel map Rome, Lazio, Italy WEDNESDAY, JULY 8 I love Roma! My dad, brother, and I came to the consensus that the airport in Paris isn’t our favorite; it was pretty weird for us to get to the check-in counter only to wait since they were all always on break! Our flight was delayed but we made it to Roma and took a shuttle to our hotel that was located near the top of the Spanish Steps. After freshening up we got some pizza at a nearby restaurant and then walked around the city in search of an obelisk that David’s teacher had mentioned to him and we saw on the way into the city. We didn’t find it but got some gelato at one of the many gelato stores that we passed. At 7 we met up with our Through Eternity tour group at the bottom of the Spanish Steps and there were about 15 of us. When we had all gathered we sat down on the steps to listen to our tour guide, Gracelyn, talk about the history of Rome and the area in particular. Towards the end of her mini history lesson I had a very pleasant surprise when my sorority sister Allie happened to be walking up the steps! It was so random to run into her in Rome but it was great to see her and catch up a little before regrouping with the tour. Our tour took us all over Rome and included the Trevi Fountain, The Pantheon, and more. The city was so gorgeous at twilight and I took many mental pictures since I was having issues with my camera lighting. At the Trevi Fountain we threw in coins with hopes to return to Rome (hopefully Danish kroner are just as effective as Euros!). Gracelyn was really animated and the tour was informative and fun. It was also interrupted by all of the police helicopters circling the city because of the G8 Summit. It was pretty crazy because at one point there was a group of about 8 cars racing through the narrow winding streets – just like you’d seen in an action movie – and one car hit another but they just kept going! There was also a point when we were walking down the street and a big mob of people came barreling through and filming someone in the middle of the group as well as more cameras filming the people on the sides as they walked by. One guy in our group thought it was Moammar Kadafi and my dad thought that they were filming the crowd in case anything should happen they’d have our faces on tape. After the tour finished around 10 we had spaghetti and pizza at Navona Notte, by Gracelyn’s recommendation, and it was delicious! There was something about the sauce that was different from American spaghetti and added a little extra umph. After dinner we got a little lost getting back to the hotel but managed to find our way – it was nice getting to see more of the city, though. THURSDAY JULY 9 On Thursday we had breakfast at the hotel on this cute little pavilion and then headed out on the Metro to meet our tour group at the Vatican. Unfortunately, David wasn’t feeling well so he stayed in for the morning. Our tour began at 9 and we had a group of about 17 people from South Africa, Australia, Los Angeles and more. Our guide was fun and really good with the three kids in our group. I enjoyed the tour but it was so crowded!! It was also really great to see some of the artwork that I had studied in History of Art last semester! I know that it’s often said that art is better in person and I found that to be very true. My favorite part of the tour was going through the Sistine Chapel – the ceiling was amazing and I was surprised how big everything was since the figures are always so small in pictures. After we left the chapel everyone was ushered out so that some ambassador could come through. We went down the stairs that dignitaries use to go to the chapel and according to our guide the Obamas would be going up those steps on their visit to the Vatican the next day! After the tour we met up with David and had lunch near the Colosseum where our next tour was scheduled to take place. On that tour we went all through the runes of the Forum; it was really amazing to see the runes and I’m so impressed by all of the parts of buildings that are left standing. We also got to go into an old senate building and could see the differences in the ground level of ancient Rome and today. We were also fortunate enough to go into an old apartment underground (we weren’t allowed to take pictures) and saw some amazingly colorful frescos on the walls. After a couple of hours in the forum with the runes we headed into the colosseum. The Colosseum was so huge and David informed me that Harvard’s football stadium was modeled after the Colosseum! It was also really neat to see the exhibits that explained some of the technicalities of the area; the ancient Romans were so intelligent and clever. Being there really made me want to watch Gladiator again. It was sad to hear about all of the people who died there since many of them were slaves forced into battle entertainment. After our tour was complete we had our last Italian dinner (I had some delicious ravioli) and gelato and then got ready to wake up early and head to Scotland to meet up with my mom and begin our HP adventures! It’s crazy how fast the summer is going by! The summer is basically divided up into sections: 1) Florida, 2) Tennessee/Nashville w/ Olivia, 3) Indiana, 4) DIS Sessions 1 & 2, 5) Paris and Rome, 6) Harry Potter Tour, 7) Home in Hawaii, & then back to Vandy!! I’m now 5/7 done with the summer!
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That’s Amore – Rome – Rome, Lazio, Italy
Bernhard Pankok Walnut and spruce cupboard 1899 Bernhard Pankok trained as an artist and illustrator in Dusseldorf and Berlin, but it was as a furniture designer that he produced some of his most interesting work. It was while he was freelancing in the early 1890s as a graphic artist and illustrator in Munich, that he became interested in the English Arts & Crafts movement
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Bernhard Pankok and Art Nouveau
Jump to the full entry & travel map Helsinki, Southern Finland, Finland I spent most of yesterday evening and this morning in a bit of a daze, completely culture shocked. A month in Russia and two weeks before that in China and Mongolia has got me accustomed to a different way of life, and coming to Europe was actually a little scary. Everything here is so clean and orderly, and, well, it’s pretty Scandinavian. The train from St Petersburg was a Finnish train, and all the staff were Finnish. Helpfully enough, none of the wagons had a number in the window, and so I had to ask a provodnik where my wagon was. At first glance, I couldn’t tell if he was a Finn or a Russian, and seeing as we were in St.
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Culture Shock! "Don’t Smile Back – Be Russian" – Helsinki, Southern Finland, Finland
Ashley Flynn’s free-for-all installation of paintings and drawings and murals at Knapp Gallery all flow into into each other, art without borders. The painting in Flynn’s first exhibit, Forgiven (it’s not their fault), is free, exuberant and sure of itself. Flynn is one of those artists whose impulse to make marks comes straight out of her fingertips and her soul and touches everything in sight
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Art without borders–Ashley Flynn at Knapp
While imaging numerals is important to mathematical computation, another aspect of imagery is equally important: concept imagery. Understanding, problem solving and computing in mathematics require another form of imagery–the ability to process the gestalt (the whole). Sometimes children or adults can visualize the numerals, the parts, but cannot bring those parts to a whole, just as they can sometimes visualize individual words but cannot bring those words to a whole to form concepts. Read Full Article Here: http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/help-for-autistic-children-high-functioning-autism-how-to-teach-reading-language-processing-1027449.html
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Help For Autistic Children, High Functioning Autism, How To Teach Reading, Language Processing
Full title of an article just published in Russian: Russia and the next long wave, and why its agricultural villages are important By Michel Bauwens, http://p2pfoundation.net, May 25, 2009 Introduction Here is a text I just wrote with the assistance of Franz Nahrada and Gleb Tyurin, a later version of which has been translated into Russian where it is part of a debate about the renewal of policies after the meltdown, see the Regnum version just below. This essay consists in two parts. The first part is a general presentation of the nature of the present crisis, and how we can realistically expect a renewed period of growth.
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Russia and the next long wave
• If you missed the last moonwalk of the king of pop, catch up with it again with ACTs ‘almost no buffering ’ YouTube feature • Record the entire memorial and replay Mariah Carey or Brooke Shield’s heartfelt homage to MJ • Don’t miss the moment when Paris Jackson – Michael’s daughter gave the most heart-wrenching tribute to her father The ACT Interactive TV service (IPTV) promises all Michael Jackson fans who mourn his sudden death, the opportunity to have that last glance of the superstar to their hearts content! If you missed Mariah Carrey sing “I’ll be there for you” or Brooke Shields fondly reminisce about her dear friend, there is nothing better to do than go to YouTube and witness MJs fitting tribute by friends and family. But, how long will you preen in front of your computer to get that last glimpse?
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ACT TV allows you to pay your tribute to Michael Jackson
Academy Award?winning visual effects house Industrial, Light & Magic (ILM) relied on Autodesk, Inc.’s (NASDAQ: ADSK) digital entertainment software to create thousands of visual effects shots for this summer’s hottest movies, including “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” “Terminator Salvation” and “Star Trek.” ILM created stunning visual effects using Autodesk visual effects software, including Autodesk Maya and the Autodesk Inferno software that is part of ILM’s proprietary SABRE high-speed compositing system. “Every year the quantity and quality of visual effects?driven movies rises. ILM continues to push the technological and creative envelope by creating stunning visual effects that thrill audiences worldwide,” said Stig Gruman, VP of digital entertainment, Autodesk Media & Entertainment
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“Transformers,” “Star Trek,” “Terminator” and “Harry Potter”: ILM Delivers Visual Effects Magic with Autodesk Software
What seems like not that long ago, a scrappy breed of art space rose up in defiance to the staid institutional culture of its day. They were called a number of things — parallel galleries being the one that always made the most sense to me — but over time the label “artist-run centre” stuck, if only for purely pragmatic reasons: These were spaces — I hesitate to call them “institutions,” as would they, I think — free of the stodgy institutional politics that plagued the big museums, and unconcerned with market forces that dictated what kind of art should be made
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Trust No-one Under 30: Mercer Union’s birthday party
Jump to the full entry & travel map San Francisco, California, United States For those of you who are non-Washingtonians, Foggy Bottom is a DC neighborhood that gets a lot of fog due to its low elevation. Of course, San Francisco is foggy for an entirely different reason….and true to form it was foggy for most of the time during my visit. I had almost moved to the Bay Area after business school, but Charm City lured me away (huh?!). From an aesthetic perspective, there really is no competition between the two. I really like the East Coast and Annapolis, but could certainly see myself relocating here if the opportunity arose. The four days I spent in the Bay Area were spent primarily catching up with friends, sightseeing and going to clubs until dawn. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone to sleep after 2 am…and my body kept reminding me of this fact throughout the weekend. The Z Congress, and especially Fremont, were forgettable. The topics were primarily aimed at a younger crowd, and except for a few friends and the final dinner, attendance was light. The hot red Chevy Aveo I rented was fuel efficient, but struggled to go more than 60 mph. Not exactly a speed mobile or a chick magnet.
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Foggy Bottom…..of the West Coast – San Francisco, California, United States
Our summer Artventure for kids has openings in these classes next week: In the morning, Fun with Printmaking for ages 6–8; Clay Handbuilding for ages 8–10; and Watercolor Painting , Weaving , and Cartooning for ages 9–12. In the afternoon, Black & White Photography and Creative Artist Books for ages 9–12; Drawing & Painting Animals for ages 10–13; Artist Journals for ages 11–14; and Design & Create a Bag , and Video Filmmaking for ages 12 an Read more: Check out Artventure Week 4!
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Check out Artventure Week 4!
Sloppy Joes are an American recipe, enjoyed by both old and young alike. They are very popular throughout the country, although they are known by are number of other names in some parts of the United States – "wimpies" in the Northeast, "yip yips" in parts of Illinois, "slushburgers" in parts of the mid West and so forth. However, unlike some other kinds of American sandwiches (hamburgers, cheeseburgers, club sandwiches, etc.), sloppy Joes are not widely known or eaten outside the United States.
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Sloppy Joes
Another post on Roman heritage in Croatia! This weekend, running away from the crowds, I took my family and headed straight to my private refuge – Bukovica. One of the most unique landscapes in Croatia! A mixture of picturesque patches of green meadows and rugged, rocky planes… It is here that we have discovered, on our numerous walks, a lovely stretch of genuine Roman road! Clear view of the border stones…
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Roman roads in Croatia
Are you on a budget these days, but just can’t live without your latest handbag? Or five… Baghaus is the solution for you! They’ve got some great trendy handbags, without the “trendy” price tag. And to make it even better – their entire site is on sale right now. You can save anywhere from 15% to 75% off their purses. Here are a few of my favorite picks: The woven “ Big Buddha ” bag comes in a black, beige, mustard, olive as well as this great turquoise
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Baghaus Bags On Sale!
Turner Prize winner (2007) Mark Wallinger has a video on exhibit at the Morris Gallery at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts . Threshold to the Kingdom, made in 2002, the final video in the series of six videos that have been screening at the Morris Gallery, is moving and beautiful, even though its tactic of using extreme slow motion to elevate an ordinary event is so similar to that in Bill Viola’s The Greeting. Mark Wallinger, Threshold to the Kingdom, 2000, projected video installation, 11 mins, 20 secs copyright of the artist courtesy anthony reynolds gallery, London; all images in post, same source The narrative is simple–passengers arriving at London’s International Arrivals terminal come through the double doors toward a static camera.
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Threshold to the Kingdom–Mark Wallinger at PAFA
Judith Ripka has teamed up with Essie nail polish to create a new limited edition collection called “Essie Love Diamonds by Judith Ripka.” Though the nail polish is affordable ($15), there are just 30,000 bottles available in the whole world. Image: Essie / Judith Ripka Since diamonds are a girl’s best friend, the collaboration of diamonds with cosmetics is a no brainer. The collection will include three fabulous colors: Put a Ripka Ring on It (Blush Pink) Heart My JR Jewels (Dark) Queen of Hearts (Red) The polish will be in nail salons in August 2009
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Essie Love Diamonds by Judith Ripka
Focal Press have given us permission to reprint a few lessons from their great new book, Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes, Volume 1: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures . So here’s the first one on Perspective Drawing. More to come… (Download the full PDF for the Perspective Drawing chapter here.) Walt Stanchfield: You may recall me mentioning a tendency to straighten everything up in a drawing
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Tips on Perspective Drawing from Disney’s Walt Stanchfield
“Hey Dad, do you still have that old mower in the garage?” The slightly guarded reply over the phone that followed was looking for more information. “Which mower do you mean?” Action Girl and I had recently moved into our first house together after several years of apartment dwelling and suddenly I was confronted with the need to own things that I had not considered before. It was a simple and elderly house in an old neighborhood and came with its own foolishly small bit of grassy lawn.
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Slow and Steady Mows the Lawn