ship fever

oh, the places you'll go!

2009-06-27T09:42:00.004-04:00

I haven't deciphered whether it's envy or enamorment, but I visit The Vacationist once a week- atleast.

Adam Sachs, world traveler, writer and foodie has a colorful little blog in which he shares witticisms and photos from his latest travels.

....

Ok, it's envy.

pirate news!

2009-06-27T08:59:00.007-04:00

Interested in partaking in the "Ultimate Adventure Cruise?" Well, some very creative minds from Russia have a vacation like none other planned for you; though, it's best if you have moderate blood thirst and a penchant for moral oblivity.

Austrian business paper Wirtschaftsblatt reports that a handful of Russian luxury ocean liners are offering pirate hunting cruises aboard armed private yachts off the Somali coast. Annova and Maggiesfarm have the deets- in english.

"Wealthy hunters pay £3,500 per day to patrol the most dangerous waters in the world hoping to be attacked by raiders.

When attacked, they retaliate with grenade launchers, machine guns and rocket launchers, reports Wirtschaftsblatt.

Passengers, who can pay an extra £5 a day for an AK-47 machine gun and £7 for 100 rounds of ammo, are also protected by a squad of ex special forces troops.

The yachts travel from Djibouti in Somalia to Mombasa in Kenya.

The ships deliberately cruise close to the coast at a speed of just five nautical miles in an attempt to attract the interest of pirates.

"They are worse than the pirates," said Russian yachtsman Vladimir Mironov. "At least the pirates have the decency to take hostages, these people are just paying to commit murder," he continued."

-Wirtschaftsblatt

reminders

2009-06-07T11:40:00.005-04:00

65 years ago today on the beaches of Normandy. By the way, have you heard the debate over the Capa photos? You can check them out here.

"If I had a boat..."

2009-03-03T13:01:00.003-05:00

The abandoned Kawaminami Shipyard building is located in Imari harbor in the Saga prefecture of Japan. Originally a glass factory processing raw materials imported from the Middle East, it became the Kawaminami industrial Corporation around the time of the Japan/ China war and began to produce boats and, later, ammunition.

eye candy

2009-01-04T20:48:00.003-05:00

Russian artists Leonid Tishkov and Boris Bendikov designed their very own "Private Moon" and used it to make my very own favorite photo of the moment. Courtesy of Toxel.com

map quest IV

2008-11-14T09:34:00.005-05:00

This interactive world map by SHOW is top of the line. The countries morph in size to represent their data on a various subjects ranging from aging population mass to alcohol use per capita to the number of journalist killed while on story. Their data providers are an impressive bunch, too; i.e. Unicef, Amnesty International and The World Bank, to name a few.

smashing

2008-11-14T09:13:00.002-05:00

Here's a neat time lapse video filmed on deck of a ship traveling through the Panama Canal via Mental Floss.

oh, the places you'll go!

2008-11-14T09:06:00.000-05:00

10 most amazing ghost towns from around the world.

oh, the places you'll go!

2008-11-14T08:57:00.002-05:00

Holi is a popular Hindu spring festival in India, Guyana and Nepal. Also known as the Festival of Colours, on the second day, known as Dhulhendi, partakers celebrate by throwing colored powders and water at one another. Oddee has more on this and other 'odd' festivals from around the world.

oh, the places you'll go!

2008-11-14T08:29:00.002-05:00

Oddee documents of the sights and sounds of a Bolivian witches market.

travelers

2008-11-10T13:52:00.002-05:00

Earhart and the lockheed electra, circa 1928.

fever pitch!

2008-11-10T13:30:00.002-05:00

if this collection of photographs doesn't get you scratching at the pavement, I don't know what will.

smashing

2008-11-10T13:18:00.001-05:00

thank you, Terry McCormick.

smashing

2008-11-10T13:14:00.001-05:00

this collection of 45 motion blur photographs "feel" like a good trip.

take the a train

2008-11-03T12:45:00.001-05:00

map quest III

2008-10-01T11:35:00.003-04:00

The Atlas of the Real World created by Daniel Dorling, Mark Newman and Anna Barford uses software to depict the nations of the world, not by their physical size, but by their demographic importance on a range of subjects; from tracking wealth in the year 1 A.D. to the modern day use of mopeds per ca pita. Above is their map of Nuclear Weapon technology & development.

Notice the big blue blob.

23

2008-09-22T22:14:00.002-04:00

23 uses for tea.

wish you were here

2008-09-12T21:45:00.006-04:00

Adam Golfer is the photographer behind this image titled 'one foot in front of the other'; as found on iheartphotograph.com

something to wine about

2008-09-12T21:13:00.005-04:00

"Dear Senator McCain,

Here is Gov Palin's earmark request from Feburary 2008.

Will you please stop telling the American people she never asked for or recieved any pork barrel projects?

Respectfully,

Jake [Trapper]"

ABC news senior national correspondent of the networks washington bureau on his blog, political punch.

oh, the places you'll go!

2008-09-12T20:51:00.005-04:00

City of Memory.org has to be my favorite map, ever! Though, it's not really a map so much as a geographically organized composite of personal narratives and neighborhoods- say that fast three times.

They describe themselves as "an interactive story map".

I'd just call them brilliant.

Check it.

something to wine about

2008-08-31T13:59:00.005-04:00

Want to avoid a mess like the one Liquorking manager Ally Dykes found in his wine cellar following a powerful earthquake in Gisborne, New Zealand in late December of 2007?

Check out Wired.com's guide to Earthquake proofing your four walled goodie bag.

oh, the places you'll go

2008-08-31T13:34:00.003-04:00

Apparently, anything doesn't 'go' in Amsterdamn, anymore. Time online has more...

2008-08-31T11:01:00.005-04:00

Kevin German's photograph 'Steve the Chicken' takes me to several far away places; either of my late grandfathers farms, the freedoms of girlhood, the songs of Neko Case, or the rural midwest.

9 medieval ships found in Oslo

2008-08-31T10:53:00.004-04:00

The largest collection of antique shipwrecks ever found in Norway has been discovered under mud at the building site for a new highway tunnel in Oslo. Archaeologist Jostein Gundersen said at least nine wooden boats, the largest of which is 17 meters, or 56 feet, long were found well preserved nearly 400 years after they sank at Bjoervika.

The International Herald Tribune has the latest...

comings and goings

2008-08-31T10:23:00.003-04:00

I've been away for quite some time due to a consuming Costuming project. Alas, it is finnished and I am here to give more random tandems of travel and urge culture to, well, whoever might one day accidentally view this sight. I hope you enjoy the colby jack map of Canada!

map quest II

2008-07-03T10:03:00.005-04:00

Map of regional obesity trends in the United States of America care of Trendhunter.

map quest I

2008-07-03T09:45:00.003-04:00

I happened across this map entirely by chance. Bibliodyssey gives a run down of it's unique origin.

meat, meat and more meat

2008-07-03T07:36:00.008-04:00

I love meat. Not just because it's so damned tasty, though. I also love meat for it's connotations and, as of late, i've found those connotations all over some of my favorite literary and design resources.

Meathaus, a comics anthology, is a recent discovery for me. It spotlights the latest work of a talented collection of New York cartoonists and illustrators.

Another must see is MeatPaper: Your Journal of Meat Culture. This print magazine covers a vast playground of topics circulating around art and ideas about meat. Vegetarians, don't be wary, this is no carnivore's little black book. Personal narratives, journalism, prose, poetry, images, and art criticism examine the role of meat in culture as well as in our diet.

1. The flesh o fanimals as used for food

2. The edible part of anything, as a fruit or nut: Crack the walnuts and remove the meats.

3. The essential point or part of an argument, literary work, etc.; gist; crux.

4. Solid food: meat and drink.

5. Solid or substantial content; pith: The article was full of meat, with few wasted words.

6. Favorite occupation, activity, etc.: Chess is his meat.

7. Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. pork, esp. bacon.

8. Slang: vulgar. penis.

9. Archaic. the principal meal: to say grace before meat.

stamps via land or sea

2008-07-03T06:29:00.015-04:00

I can't rave enough about Yellow Owl Workshop. Few things service a traveler as well as good stationary or a journal; and San Francisco's Yellow Owl serves up the preverbial hotplate of homemade delight.

Each of their limited edition stamp sets, seen above, are made from molded natural rubber, mounted onto maple, and even come in a custom birch box that is sanded and waxed by hand.

You can use the five stamps included in the set to mimic the scene pictured above or to create your own land or sea scape.

Further, Yellow Owl's hardbound journals are "handmade from start to finish" and their stationary comes with a personal consultation with the artist and founder, Christine Schmidt, as well as an original drawing.

views from the sea

2008-06-21T15:03:00.004-04:00

Today's solstice marks the astronomical beginning of the northern hemisphere's summer.
Astronomer Anthony Ayiomamitis recorded this image of the solstice Full Moon rising above Cape Sounion, Greece. The twenty-four hundred year old Temple of Poseidon lies in the foreground. In this single exposure, a telescopic lens makes the Moon loom large, but even without optical aid casual skygazers often find the Full Moon looking astonishingly large when seen near the horizon; often referred to as a moon illusion.

the color of money

2008-06-21T14:40:00.009-04:00

All wayfarers can benefit from a lesson in world currency. Colourlovers.com has compiled a list of some of the most colorful and unique bank notes from around the world for your viewing pleasure. I'm particularly fond of the Swiss Franc, seen above.

antics

2008-06-19T20:45:00.005-04:00

I couldn't help myself.

paper birds

2008-06-19T00:31:00.021-04:00

Japanese surgeon Dr. Norihiko Ishikawa demonstrates the precision of the daVinci Surgical System by using its remote-control robotic arms to indulge in a spot of origami. The object he’s making – a crane – is about the size of a penny. While the video's intent is to serve as an example of both the daVinci's and Dr. Ishikawa's precision; though- to me the footage has ship fever written all over it.
I picture Dr. Ishi in a darkened room looming over a workspace clad with scattered PostIt's, most creased with the fold marks of failed attempts. Chopsticks in hand, I imagine him undertaking effort upon effort to form the wading bird's tiny neck. The corpses of discarded baby cranes lay to his left and right, necks broken.
Clearly, my mind tends to wander more than the average bear. Though, I surmise that the greatest aversion to ship fever is quite possibly the imagination. After all, I've spent twice as long dreaming up my ideas about Dr. Ishi as I have watching his video or writing this blurb.

about fever

2008-01-05T17:31:00.001-05:00

This blog is not a homage to Andrea Barrett or her beautifully titled National Book Award winning collection of stories titled 'Ship Fever'; though I do highly recommend any of her works be added to your literary to-do's list.

This is a public record of adventure; mine and others.

Adventure is required of those with ship fever; in small controlled doses, of course. Small enough a dose to keep the man who dreams of ships at night complacent in the day.