Tag: travel

art

Museum Madness

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On a semi-recent flight to Las Vegas, I read an article in Delta’s Sky Mag that talked about the world’s must-visit museums (note this is not “the best” but “must-see” – a subtle difference but an important one none the less). To quote the article:
“The Ancient Greeks brought us the word museum; a place dedicated to the muses. Today, museums exist in countless interpretations in all corners of the world. They celebrate a single artist or pay tribute to a single topic. Museums as showcases for modern architecture has rewritten the global skyline and grabbed the world’s attention. But perhaps it is the looming world-class repositories of stunning collections we most associate with the classic idea of a museum: The Prados, Louvres and Mets of the world.
You could spend many lifetimes seeing just a fraction of the museums, great and humble, the world offers.”
Because their mag exists online only in some dumb ass virtual magazine form, where you need a special reader to “turn” the pages, I’ve taken the time to type out Delta’s list. The ones that have been italicized are ones to which I’ve been.



  1. Musee du quai Branly, Paris
  2. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
  3. de Young Museum, San Francisco
  4. La Fondation Maeght, Sanit-Paul-de Vence, France
  5. National Archaeological Museum, Naples
  6. The City Museum, St. Louis
  7. The Field Museum, Chicago
  8. The International Spy Museum, Washington, D.C.
  9. Kariye Museum, Istanbul
  10. The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
  11. Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao
  12. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
  13. The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia
  14. The Frederick Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids, Michigan
  15. National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City
  16. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, Illinois
  17. National Palace Museum, Taipei
  18. The Getty Center, Los Angeles
  19. The Uffizi Gallery, Florance
  20. Museum of Modern Art, New York City
  21. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
  22. High Museum of Art, Atlanta
  23. American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore
  24. British Museum, London
  25. Edo-Tokyo Museum, Tokyo
  26. Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, Cairo
  27. Vatican Museums, Rome
  28. Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon
  29. Museum of Latin American Art, Buenos Aires
  30. Botero Museum, Bogota
ramblings

Helpful Travel Info

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Maybe its because I have to go to Atlanta for the day (!) on Thursday but I am finally posting this helpful travel info that I found while on the island of Lanai in Hawaii. I don’t think enough people to read this blog (yet) to blow these “secrets” – I’m sure more people read the magazine where I found this info anyway…
If you want to know which airline offers the best itinerary for the lowest price, you can use either ItaSoftware, Which Budget or WeGoLo.
Seat Guru tells you which seats are the best per aircraft.
Last, if you use Priceline in conjunction with Bidding For Travel, you can know how much to bid because you know what bids PL has accepted recently for properties matching your criteria.

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Summer Camp: 2006 Edition

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This past weekend I headed up to the Berkshires in the lovely state of Connecticut (highest per capita income in the Union baby!) to see what it was like to go to camp as an adult. My wife and I, along with another couple that we are really good friends with, grabbed a 4 bed cabin and the biggest take away is that going to camp as an adult leaves you sore as all bloody hell but smiling none the less.
Over 2 days, I enjoyed:

  • getting stuck on the side of an Upstate NY road for 2.5 hrs when the bus to camp broke down
  • almost getting an open container ticket by the NYS Highway Patrol who came to see why a big bus was in a no-standing zone and found about 50 people drinking heavily (there was a huge supermarket right where we were stuck thankfully)
  • seeing lots of stars (the night kind)
  • okay-to-bad food with plenty of bug juice
  • rock climbing
  • hiking and rock scrambling
  • archery
  • lake swimming (technically a pond according to Google Maps)
  • very loud people from Staten Island
  • softball along with a keg
  • drunken Uno
  • not writing any letters home
  • riding a mechanical bull
  • mountain biking
  • more swimming
  • an all-out dodgeball war where I happened to win one match by nailing a dead ringer for Jean Gerrard (character in Talladega Nights) in the leg right as he was going to peg me
  • winning the Bonnie and Clyde award for best married couple at the awards lunch (okay, there weren’t that many married people there but still…).
arrows_I_shot.jpg
Now, just about two days later, my body keeps getting more and more sore. It hurts to walk, hurts to bend and I love it! I’m inspired to take up climbing again too, and since there is a sweet vert wall in NYC in the UWS called the Atrium and because my sis goes to New Paltz, which is smack dab in the heart of great climbing country, I am really psyched! Overall, the weekend was a bit dorky and a bit cheesy but a ton of fun and I would do it again, as long as I brought a posse back with me the next time. I mean, where else but camp are you going to jam all of those activities above into 2 days!
ramblings

My Friend The Travel Goon

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I met my good friend Brian for drinks last week to say goodbye and good luck to him before he left NYC (which he did today). As he puts it on his new blog Travel Goon, “Me and 2 of my friends quit our jobs and are going on a world trek. Jobs are overrated anyway.” I couldn’t agree more, though I do kind of need to keep working right now and for the foreseeable future.

He has a simple plan. He bought a one-way ticket to Fiji, is staying at the Fiji Beach House and will return to the good ol’ U S of A when, um, I don’t know. Maybe when he’s ready. Maybe when the money runs out. No one knows, especially him. As Lao Tzu said, “A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” I’m just hoping that he stays in one place long enough so that I can fly out to meet him there. I’m also looking forward to reading all about the adventures he has as he gallavants around the globe.

Godspeed Brian.

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Alaska: B4UDIE

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Below is a photo of the great state of Alaska’s new advertising campaign:

You read it correctly. Its theme is “Get here before you die. Because if you don’t, you’re going to kick yourself. Except you won’t be able to, because you’re dead. But you know what we mean.” The site is alaskab4udie.com. I guess when you have a small ad budget, you’ve got to break through the clutter.
space

Space News

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I had a fitful night’s rest last night, woke up twice early this morning and each time turned on the tele to see if Discovery made it back okay. Due to bad weather, we’ll all have to wait until tomorrow to see. My friend Phyllis asked, “I wonder if the wee hours were on purpose, or just orbit-related” and you know what? I’m wondering the same thing…

In other space news, I found on Chris’s site an excellent analysis of the shuttle program, it’s limited success, and its multiple shortcomings written by one Maciej Ceglowski. If you are at all interested in space, its a fascinating read.

Phyll sent me to a Smoking Gun post about a memo William Safire wrote in 1969 which provided a speech for President Nixon to read in case Armstrong and Aldren were stranded on the moon. Just like the SG, I find the “widows-to-be” part morbidly amusing.

space

Back In Orbit (For Now)

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As NASA’s foam problems continue (meaning that future shuttle launches are scratched after Discovery gets back), you may want to check out video of Tuesday’s shuttle launch courtesey of AOL (click on the “watch the launch” tab) because it took 2.5 years to get a shuttle back into space after the Columbia disaster and who knows how long we’ll have to wait again. First Live 8, now the shuttle launch; they really are on a roll over at Columbus Circle. I hope this trend continues as AOL transforms itself into more of a media delivery company. The cool part is that you can choose from multiple camera angles: I’m a fan of the launch pad and beach tracker ones myself.

ramblings

Hobo Signs

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When I have rough days, the idea of dropping out of society, riding the rails cross country, eating can after can of beans, taking a swig of hooch from a paper bag, you know, real hobo type stuff, is sort of intriguing. In case you didn’t know, the classic American hobo of early this century communicated through a basic system of marks–a code through which they gave information and warnings to their fellow Knights of the Road. Here is a neat list of hobo signs and symbols that my co-worker sent me today. I hope he’s not going to become a hobo – I don’t want to handle Client status meetings solo.

Enjoy and happy friday!

Thanks eNos

ramblings

Lack of Posts

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March was an incredibly busy month for me, I closed on my first apartment and spent a week in the UK (in essence celebrating), so my apologies for not posting in a while. I actually just noticed that it has been over 1 month since I last posted which I find completely galling.

So, this is to let you know that I’m back, I’m recharged, and there will be a slew coming shortly. Hold tight…