Winter Tidying

Sometimes when a journey ends, you get a fever. I think that’s what I have. So not too many words today, but mostly recommendations. Oh and before I recommend other media, I should point out that I’ve resorted my blogroll which you can see on your left. Still organized in a bizarre way, but oh well, I have a strange thought process. Also, on the right hand frame, beneath my tip jar which always welcomes a few dollars, there’s a handy little google calender tool where you can see where I am or where I’m travelling to in the coming month. Not that I need the whole world to know everything, but it allows people like my moma in Jersey or my friend badhareday in Lisbon to know where I am just by checking the blog.

On to the important stuff. It is saturday, and as such, you should sit back and enjoy some very creative and entertaining media… like the latest episode of Bonjour America. Season two just began and Vinvin is actually naked in this episode, maybe that’s tempting for you.

My other recommendation is a text blog of a friend I haven’t spoken to in ages. But she is the very person who helped me get my most prized possesion and it doesn’t hurt that she is an insane writer. Insane in a good way.. go read Present Imperfect.

I have a post coming up on Sean Bell, he who was shot 50 times in NYC recently. It involves a personal memory as a journalist wandering the bronx several years ago… more will come later so maybe hold the comments on this topic.

bm170 Venice and the Crusades

The idea behind this podcast begins in the alleyways of Venice, only a few days ago. When observing the buildings and reading the history, one particular period stood out for me as significant to everything happening today. Listen to my amateur-armchair history summary and hear the shocking list of parallels between the Venice of 1200 and the Venices of today.

Links:
Univ of Wisconsin archive on the Crusades
Wikipedia, if you can stand it

bmtv30 Final Slovenia Vlogging (p2)


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Part 2 of my vlogging in Slovenia. This time from high above Ljubljana as well as lost somewhere in the south of the country. Folk music as always. And this is my goodbye to a country that I hereby love.

Sleepy Low Budget Return

Just because a plane flies to and from it, and you have a metal detector.. does not mean it is an airport.

Or maybe it does.

Either way Treviso “airport”, also known as a hotdog stand, had me laughing all the way to the gate.. err.. back door number 1.

I’ll spare you the details and instead provide you with a photo.. which may no longer be worth the 1,000 words like they used to be, but at least it is worth a post.

Tomorrow.. audio.. and other fun.

Today I recommend you listen to this amazing Open Source Episode. I’m ashamed to say I had never heard of this Daniel Barenboim, but his manner of speaking and expressing himself represents much of the type of person I aim to be. Too bad I suck as a conductor.

Venice the Menace

Imagine a world with no cars, buses, metro’s, scooters, or even BIKES.

Now throw in water everywhere, buildings dating back to 1000 something, and a couple of hundred thousand tourists.

Doesn’t it sound appealing?

Strangely enough, I kid Venice, but I like Venice. I often thoughtlessly refer to it as a tourist trap, but it is really much more than that. – It’s a sinking tourist trap with overly expensive food. HIYOO.

But seriously folks, despite all the useless and neverending trinkets Venetians are trying to push on everyone. Even though certain canals stink like a pile of wet garbage. While it may feel more like disneyland than italy sometimes, complete with stereotypical loud talking American tourists. Despite all these factors that a unemployed snob like myself might never enjoy.. the truth is.. I like it.

YES thats right. I admit to liking Venice. There is this feeling in the air… like the Venetian republic is still alive and they still rule the adriatic sea. You can put away the tourist map and just walk and follow your instincts… to find something unexpected and wonderful. No matter how crowded it seems, you pick a path and end up completely alone with your thoughts and the deep history that pours out of the walls here.

And while it may soon be lost to sea – probably in my lifetime – it still seems like a place where people are making the most of the present. And setting up beautiful lowcost hotels with feewifi, breakfastl and reasonable staff . Yes Venice is good for the soul.. I’ve made up my mind.

bmtv29 On to Slovenia, Part 1


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To further tempt all ye who have been emailing and commenting (thanks by the way) here is part one of my slovenia vlog. Enjoy the folk music.. as you know, I love it.