The Shells of Hotels

I cannot begin to tell you how I long to go visit some of these sites.

This image, and many more like it, are being hosted by Vienna's Architekturzentrum in an exhibit titled, Sinai Hotels.

The exhibit opened on 24 April and features the photographs of Sabine Haubitz and Stefanie Zoche of Haubitz+Zoche.

I think it goes without saying; if you are in this part of the Sinai, go to the sites. If you are in Vienna, go to the exhibit. Otherwise, go to BLDN|BLOG and view some more of these extraordinary images.

[via BLDN|BLOG via Woot!]

Kilimanjaro Summit, from offyonder.com

Saturday is "search for other people sharing their adventures" day at DS2, and this week we found some wonderful videos from Cameron Martindell, freelance adventure and expedition photographer and writer who is "Off Yonder: Seeing the world for what it is."

We don't know Cameron personally, but it looks like he is living the type of life we like to highlight here at DS2. Check out his full site at offyonder.com for more great videos, beautiful photography, and thoughtful commentary.

Primary Concerns.

It's not the photograph you take, it's what you get to see.

The created object allows other people to share in what you did, but you did it.

You can extrapolate the 'photograph' into any other art form, and the 'seeing' into any other type of personal experience, but the point remains the same. The object can be a wonderful, meaningful, important part of the process, but the experience itself is the prize.

Pirates Arrested off Somalia

During a recent conversation about Grace O'Malley my younger daughter was surprised to learn that pirates still swashbuckle their way across the high seas. Of course, without the special filters of romance (in the literary sense) and nostalgia it's probably easier to think of them as thieves and killers in boats, but where's the "Yarrrr" in that.

National Geographic News reports that Somali forces have arrested seven alleged pirates during a rescue operation of a hijacked ship off the Somali coast. [video here]. The waters off Somalia and Yemen are reported to be especially pirate-ridden these days, so plan accordingly.

IRT - One for the Road.

So, we come to the end of the Impromptu Road Trip. Great fun, no casualties; what more could you ask for.

We had a little extra footage that we weren't able to post while we were on the road, so here's one to round it out. On Day 2, after the great time we had at the Hunter Museum of American Art, we sauntered just a little way up the hill to a beautiful enclave of trendy restaurants and quaint boutiques. The only things that saves this area from being terminally cute is the fact that the restaurants are excellent and the buildings and grounds are genuinely beautiful.

We ate at Tony's Pasta Shop & Trattoria (you may remember it as the first place we were able to get a good cup of coffee during the trip) and the meal was both tasty and reasonably priced. I can personally vouch for the D-I-Y pizza (pepperoni, sausage, red pepper) and fried ravioli. Everyone else seemed pretty happy with their grub too.

Find more videos like this on DS2net

That's it for the road trip. Now it's back to our regularly scheduled look at making our lives more fun.

Road Trip Days 5 to 7 - Whirlwind Fun & Retrograde Movement

[That's what we used to call it in the Army, anyway.]

Carved out just enough time to get up into the mountains for a short jaunt before having to return to spend time with the near and dear. We would have liked to spend A LOT more time up at the Cove and vicinity, but at least we were able to do a good recon of some likely spots to stay during our next planned trip up here. If you are planning to visit the Smokies, take heed of Emoreth's quick and dirty tips, as posted in a comment in the previous DS2 entry:

"...You're not planning on breakfast at Pancake Pantry, are you? Cause if you're not, there needs to be a change in plans right now!

Same goes for visiting the Smoky Mountain Farms Jelly House. You simply must try the moonshine jelly -- and the walnut conserve, and the scuppernong jelly, and the huckleberry preserves and the sourwood honey . . . I could go on for about half a page.

Oh, and check out the abandoned houses behind the Elkmont campground if you get a chance..."

Hopefully, she will give a more comprehensive overview to add to the archives.

After that it was back through Chattanooga for the first leg of the trip home. I am not at all ashamed to say that we stopped at Bea's once again to stock up on (since it was Saturday) chicken & dumplings, fried okra, and cherry cobbler. Maybe that'll last us till next time. Probably not.

Also ran by what was once the best used book store in the South, and which is now (I'm sorry to say) simply a very good used book store with a very good video game and DVD selection; McKay Used Books [map]. The paperback prices are still very good and the selection in certain genres is still far above average, but the non-fiction prices continue to rise and the selection of classics seems to be falling off. They are still able to tell you with a high degree of accuracy what they have in stock, though, and THAT in my experience is exceptional for any used book store. Still well worth a visit.

And not to be left off any itinerary that includes a visit to Chattanooga, TN; the Carousel at Coolidge Park. Check the link for a good overview of this wonderful ride. The surrounding park, and touristy shopping district, can easily occupy a half day or more. If you go there in autumn, prepare yourself appropriately. Here's a very rough bit of video of the Carousel:

Find more videos like this on DS2net

Today was a long bit of driving back toward home. Made it to Tifton, GA where we had to stop to fill up on that wonderful Cumberland Island coffee. ;-)

Road Trip Day 4 - Quiet Day. Finally.

Day 4 was all about getting from there to here. Not much more to it than that. 'Here' is Maryville, TN and its immediate environs. Or thereabouts.

As you can see we are very close to a fantastic part of the Great Smoky Mountains. We are also very close to Dollywood. See if you can guess where we are hoping to go tomorrow.

Road Trip Day 3 - Pigeon Mountian

Day 3 of the IRT (Impromptu Road Trip, if you haven't been keeping tabs) was so full of beautiful stuff we were too overwhelmed to do it justice. Still are, apparently.

Simply put, we picnicked, hiked, then did a little climbing at Crockford Pigeon Mountain Wildlife Management Area - Armuchee, GA. [Terrain View] This is a fairly large park that offers just about every park-related activity you can think of. The section of park we were in is called the Pocket Loop and it is perfect for a partial day's outing. The wildflowers were in full bloom and the falls had enough volume (even with the ongoing drought) to give us a spectacular view. The trails range from easy to intermediate, and the two main trails in this area of the park end either below or above the falls, depending one which one you take.


Find more videos like this on DS2net

After all that back woods excitement we hauled ourselves back to Chattanooga to eat at Bea's, home of THE BEST (and there really is no disputing this) fried chicken in the South. It's just one of those things you have to experience for yourself, then once you do you will agree that we are correct. Bea's is a family style restaurant with a big lazy susan in the middle of every 8-person table. The waitresses bring out the food as fast as you can eat it, then you spin it around until you are stuffed. At about US$8.00 a head, it's close to unbeatable. [Map to Bea's]

Road Trip Day 2 - The Hunter Museum

If you are playing along at home and following all the cunningly hidden clues, you've probably figured out that the first leg of our impromptu tour of the southeast has taken us to Chattanooga, Tennessee. And when one is in Chattanooga there are several things that one had better try very hard to do.

Near the top of that list is visiting the Hunter Museum of American Art. It has always been one of our favourite museums (anywhere), and since our last visit a couple years ago the museum has added an entire wing.

The Hunter's grounds and architecture are breathtaking, perched as it is on the edge of an 80-foot bluff overlooking the Tennessee River. The permanent collection is diverse and representative of most major movements in American art, and its exhibitions are usually first rate.


Find more videos like this on DS2net

Among those artists we were not allowed to capture on tape were Charles Burchfield and Walter Anderson (both in the current exhibition) along with Albert Bierstadt, Mary Cassatt, Edward Hopper and Andy Warhol (and many, many more). Not bad.

But that's not all we did on Day 2...

More soon.

Road Trip Day 1 - On The Road Again. Again.

140408 - 09:34

First day out was uneventful; got all the gear loaded, attended two separate birthday parties (both in the opposite direction of where the road trip would be taking us) got on the road around 20:00 and actually got about 3 hours in before we had to look for a hotel, which we hadn't bothered to do beforehand (a minor adventure in itself, although, admittedly, and very minor one since it was Sunday night and the city we were stopping in wasn't likely to be hosting any major conventions).

Ended up at a Courtyard which boasted Free Low Speed WiFi (and it was about the lowest speed connection I've used since 1998 - which is why I didn't post anything last evening). Uneventful overnight stay, except for one very confused drunk guy.

Currently on I75 heading north. We just passed Lake City, Florida. Lots of purple wildflowers already in bloom.

More soon.

140408 - 22:04

The rest of the day was just about as uneventful as the initial part; no craziness, no big delays, nothing too far out of the ordinary (although we did see a pretty large fire southeast of Atlanta). The crew stayed happy, traffic was good (lots of road work all along I75, kept us around 55 for far more of the trip than we would have liked), the weather was not extreme; all in all very manageable for the 'long haul' portion of the trip.

For today I can easily recommend Buck's BBQ and Catfish, both the BBQ and the catfish (since I had enough of both to know that they are excellent). The food's great, the prices are reasonable, and the people are friendly; what else do you want.

Tomorrow we will be out and about and hopefully we'll get some photos and video of things other than sad billboards and bad coffee.

(Thinking seriously of a new segment called 'Bad Coffee Journal'. I would never run out of topics. ;-) ) Here's the rough cut video from today:


Find more videos like this on DS2net


More soon.

Impromptu Road Trip

We'll be embarking on a little DS2 road trip tomorrow, hitting some of our favourite spots in the southeastern US. This was a spur of the moment idea, so...well, we'll see what happens.

We're going to be grabbing as much footage as possible for future episodes of the show, but, in the spirit of DS2net, I'm also going to try to post as many short, impromptu video journal entries as I can here on this site. I'll be checking in here as much as possible, so let me know if you want more info on anything we cover.

Hopefully, I'll be able to highlight (among other things) the best used bookstore in the South, a nice little trail that no one in the world (except for me and several hundred other folks) knows about, fried chicken that will make you buy a first class ticket to Chattanooga just to get some (if you don't eat chicken their collard greens are also the best), and other stuff mundane and beautiful.

I think I'll also add that Loki widget to my DS2net page, so if I get within driving distance of you give a shout.

More soon,
Jade

Photography and Your Rights

It's one thing to get there (wherever there may be), it's another to get an image (and bring it back to show to the rest of us).

The folks over at Photojojo have compiled a handy reference of your basic rights (or lack of) when it comes to taking photographs wherever you may find yourself.

Photography and the Law, @ Photojojo

[via Lifehacker]

This Week's Essence of DS2...

...(or at least the part of the essence that deals with exploring the wilds that exist right around the corner, and then taking marvelous photographs of what you discover).

[Note: For those of you who don't know me very well, this entry illustrates a strange, recurrent aspect of my life. I am not what you would call a believer in the paranormal, but I must admit that I have a spooky affinity for coincidence.]

If there is anything that I have seen over the past few weeks that clearly illustrates a big part of what DS2 is all about, it is this series of photographs [link] of an abandoned amusement park at Chippewa Lake, Ohio by el rebelde on flickr. Here's a sample:

You really have to see the entire series to fully appreciate the sense of mystery and discovery that el rebelde captures with his camera. And the rest of his gallery shows that he has a love for the wilds and the city, seeking out the same haunting, silent places in both.

The weird coincidence part:

I first saw this reference to el rebelde's work on boingboing last Saturday night. Since it was very late and I had already posted for the evening, I slotted these images to be posted tonight (Monday, 040708).

When I got back to my office after eating dinner with my family tonight I quickly checked my account at deviantART, an online community of artists (which, contrary to its name, is nearly devoid of deviants) and found that a dear friend (who doesn't post all that often) had updated her journal. I clicked over, read through, and as I was leaving her site noticed an image from another artist that she was highlighting. It was an intriguing image, so I followed the link to the online gallery of aeiryn. Imagine my surprise:


Same place, and yet another beautiful - completely different - series of photographs by aeiryn.

Having stumbled upon this place twice in three days, I only hope it stays around long enough for me to go there and see it in person.

DS2 - In the Field for Episode 3

We asked for your input on the production of episode 3 of the show and if we didn't know better we might mistake your enthusiasm for an unhealthy desire to see Jade:

A) Get wet or dirty or stinky or (more likely) all of these at once.

B) Get into trouble.

C) Get lost and look silly in front of a whole bunch of people.

D) All of the above.

The response has been great, and the points that you have selected show imagination and a certain mild sadism. It's not going to be easy to select just one point (so maybe we won't), but luckily this is going to be a recurring bit on DS2 - therefore any points not selected for this episode will be in the running for next time.

Since the response has been so good, we thought we'd extend the deadline by one day to midnight (your local time) on Monday, April 7. Click on the image below to go to the Google Map, then click on the green boundary line for information on what we're up to.

[If you are not already a user of Google Maps you can sign up. If you don't wish to sign up, you can also send me the lat/long coordinates for the point you pick and I'll add your point for you. If you don't know how to find the lat/long of a point on the Earth, then that's part of what DS2 is all about - learning new stuff.]

The map currently looks like this:


(click the map image to go to the real thing)


Stay tuned here or at DS2net to follow the production of Episode 3.

Thanks for all the participation, it makes the whole thing very fun.

London's Bollards from Monumental Adventure

Londons Bollards from Monumental Adventure on Vimeo

Saturday is 'Highlight Other People's Video' night at DS2; specifically videos that fit nicely with the DS2 philosophy.

Tonight we present one of the excellent videos from a project called Monumental Adventure; a well-produced short format show (and web site) that features monuments, museums, and other sites of interest from around London. This episode talks about the origin of many of London's bollards. [For those of us who may not be familiar with the term as it's used in this context, a bollard is one of a series of short posts that is used for diverting or excluding motor vehicles from a road.]

We especially like that Monumental Adventure encourages its viewers to have their own adventures, and offers to host videos that their audience sends in.

The video above is hosted by Vimeo, but be sure to check out the Monumental Adventure site, as the site well-designed and the videos are of much better quality. Good stuff.

Tim Ferriss on Flying Without ID

World-travelling author (of The 4-Hour Workweek) and #1 self-promoter in the world (according to wired.com) Tim Ferriss posted a blog entry recently chronicling his experience of travelling without his ID; a prospect that strikes fear in the hearts of many and that would cause the rest of us to wait it out in the airport lounge until the embassy FedEx'ed us new papers.

In the particular instance he write about, Tim's wallet had been stolen at ETech in San Diego 3 hours before his flight was scheduled to depart. The ensuing events were interesting enough that he says he plans to conduct further experiments in 'ID-less' travel. From his post;

"...Told them very casually “Oh, by the way, I’m flying without ID today because my wallet was stolen.” They gave their condolences and marked my boarding pass for additional screening with “SSS” in bright red block letters. I checked one bag and never had to show the TSA letter..."

[read Tim's entire post here]

Tim is a hugely entertaining, and interesting, guy with a great perspective on what it means to live a good life in this early part of the 21st century. He talks (and writes) about experimenting with 'Lifestyle Design'; getting the absolute most of what's important to you out of your life.

Better still, he puts his money where is mouth is.

DS2 - 1 - Getting Started

A brief introduction to the general ideas behind DS2. Learn why we go on about 1440 (no, it's not because we dig the Prussion Confederation), follow the link to our online community, and get a sneak peek at the gear we'll be reviewing on the next show.

==============

DS2 is all about the interesting (and sometimes edgy) things that people do for fun in the real world. From urban climbing to unconventional exploration to impromptu travel to the creativity that is inspired by all these things; DS2's aim is to bring you news and information (and some entertainment) that you can use to 'Do Something New'.

(click for QT version)

(click for iPod version)

The Aquatic Climbing Wall

As reader Sarah sagely points out, the recently featured Mobius® Climber is a personal injury lawyer's summer home just waiting to happen. [We still say it's never too early to start training, aside from being a good way to toughen the little moppets up.]

So with Summer approaching (and a healthy concern for potential litigation), we point to the The Aquatic Climbing Wall, as featured in that staple of overpriced fun, the Hammacher Schlemmer catalog.

These have been around for some time at your better-appointed water parks, but now you can have one at your personal watering hole for the modest price of US $8,ooo (for the basic model).

As if falling into a pool of water isn't safe enough, the specs point out that;

"...the wall is angled 10° over the pool to ensure climbers fall feet first into the water and away from pool wa lls, it has protective padding along the sides and base, and the top panels are slanted inward to discourage climbing over the wall..."

Not practical, of course, but probably a lot of fun. Send the link to the rich kid down the block.

[via uncrate]

Blade Resistent T-shirt

The DS2 demographic plots along a pretty broad spectrum, and I know several of you (at least) have a legitimate need to keep up on new product developments such as this one from Nihon Uni out of Osaka Japan.

Designed for protection against knife attacks (slashes, specifically; it's not built to be as effective against stabs), this lightweight shirt is machine-washable and its fabric weave is purported to have a molecular weight similar to aramid fibre (looked for facts to back this up, but couldn't find any).

Slated for release in June (looks like it will only be available in Japan initially), these T's will go for between US$200 - 500 depending on sleeve length.

[via fareastgizmos]