The Connected Traveler - with podcast

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DATE : Fri, 19 Nov 2004 22:00:52 GMT
Entered in Database : 2004-11-19 17:00:52
length : 5247478
Link to the Show / Show Notes

Exotic Eats in SanFrancisco
Afriend turned me on to a neighborhood place in the Mission Districtcalled Bissap Baobab. It is Senegalese. The usual vehicles -- chicken,fish and lamb -- are adorned with cumin, chiles, ginger and served oncouscous or rice with fried plantain. Yum! If you fancy martinis, trya not-so-traditional melange of gin, ginger and grapefruit. The placeis crowded and noisy but fun. Worth a trip to San Francisco’s MissionDistrict which, after a pause following the dot com crash, is inchingupscale again.

Move Over BillGates
Hey, first it was Bill Gates going to UNESCO, next week it is us. We’llbe in Paris to show ourWorldVibrations Radio Stationto UNESCO, which as written us up in its guide to communitybroadcasting. We've rigged our little"Radio Station in a Box"torecord a podcast while you are doing a live broadcast.

Unlike Bill Gates, Jacques Chirac didn’t invite us to lunch,Thanksgivingdindonor anything else. We’ll probably haveto settle forcroquemadamsgiven the exchange rates. Dubya may swagger, butthe dollar minces these days.

A Party WithoutEnd
December is the start of Carnival Season inSalvador doBahia, Brazil.From December 8th throughMarch, Bahia hosts one raucous festivalafter another, almost every weekend in fact. They are smaller than thebig Carnival in Rio but just as wild: hardcore, crawl-on-your-kneesCatholocism mixed with Candomble (voodoo to you).

...notto slight the Tarantula Awareness Festival in Coarsegold, Californiathis month. It is mating season for the hairy buggersfolks, a violent clash of legs and fangs that often ends up with thefemale slaying her partner. There's a metaphor in there somewhere.

Those CrazyBrits
You’veheard of fair trade coffee beans, how about politically-correct beer?.The British supermarket chain Sainsbury is selling“Coffee Beer” thiswinter after some success with their Strawberry Beer in the summer.Coffee beer is not a natural substance.

Yesterday the Brits outlawed fox hunting. Fox hunters are protesting:“ True civil disobedience is now on the horizon,"tooted one.

Pass the Pistachios But Hold thePillow
Firstthey took the food off the airlines, now say goodbye to pillows.American Airlines is removing them from their MD80 jets.“Since crewswon't be spending time picking up pillows, they should be able to makecabins cleaner,” said a flack for American in a deft demonstration ofPR logic.

One of life’s greatest annoyances, getting a pistachio nut open, hasbeen conquered. According toNewScientist, nut people have invented a machine that distinguishes the pings madeby open and closed nuts when they bounce, allowing nutpackers to separate tough nuts from those more amenable to munching.

Someone left the cake out in therain
Mt.Everest Park is melting in the dark. Friends of the Earth ispetitioning UNESCO to place the world's highest peak on its WorldHeritage Endangered List. Why? Global warming is filling up mountainlakes that could overflow and possibly wash away villages. Haven’tthere been a lot of similar stories lately? Anybody listening?

Russia has formally ratified the Kyoto Protocol. It will go in effect for those who signed it, in 90 days. The US is not one ofthose.

Ofcourse, it helps to believe in science.The New York Times has reportedthat six stores in Grand Canyon National Park are selling a bookentitled"Grand Canyon: A Different View.” God, argues the author,created the Grand Canyon in Noah's flood and the flood was intended todestroy"the wickedness of man."

The StepfordElves
Speakingof belief, or“suspension of disbelief”, you WILL believe in SantaClaus after watching"The Polar Express"in 3D IMAX. Best 3D I haveever seen. Animated characters spookily real and a runaway train scenethat could challenge the complete digestion of your last meal. But noteto Santa: feed your elves! They’re too damn skinny, they look ready togo postal.

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