Madera Canyon, AZ
Madera Canyon, AZ
Word on the Street
Last year we talked about artist Ken Brown in a genre specific post. Not only is he a collector of all things vintage he has a keen eye for the quirky juxtapositions that occur in everyday urban life. It makes perfect sense that he would have his ear to the ground about Bansky’s New York arrival.
International street art eminence, Banksy, arrived in NYC and word had it that he would do a piece somewhere in the city each day, for one month. A friend tipped me on a location for the third day Continue reading
Flavour Of Kerala – Ada Pradhaman (Payasam )
Photo credits : Nobi Pauls
Similar to many other cultures, a traditional meal in Kerala ends with maduram, something sweet. Payasam is the classic Kerala dessert. There are many varieties of payasam; Paal Pyasam, Paruppu Payasam, Semiya Payasam and Ada Pradhaman. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: American Flamingos (Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, Mexico)
Tourism Event in Thekkady
Entrance to the Tourism Event
This past weekend Cardamom County was the venue for a Thekkady Destination Promotion Council (TDPC) event to promote the activities available in Thekkady and Kumily. At first I thought it was just going to be like other conference events I had witnessed in my 3 months here, but I soon realized I was wrong. The first evidence of my misconception came when someone asked me if I was coming early to see the elephants before the guests arrived. I was completely surprised by the question but of course I responded, “yes!” quite aware that this event was becoming a lot more interesting than I had previously thought. Continue reading
Note To Self: Explore
Thanks to the team at exp,lore.com, and hopefully by clicking the image above you will always be able to find the series of handwritten texts described here:
The seasonal trope of the commencement address is upon us as wisdom on life is being dispensed from graduation podiums around the world. After Greil Marcus’s meditation on the essence of art and Neil Gaiman’s counsel on the creative life, here comes a heartening speech by artist, strategist, and interviewer extraordinaire Debbie Millman, delivered to the graduating class at San Jose State University. Continue reading
Toddy Shop
Photo credits: Tintu
Toddy shops are not just about toddy. They are also known for the food they serve, mainly the spicy variety. The particular dishes vary from the region to region. The eastern part of the state favours dry food while in the central and southern districts seafood is preferred. Continue reading
Camera Traps Of 2013 Updating 1872’s “Last” Sighting
Spotted: the surprise sighting of the tiger quoll in the Grampians national park. Photograph: Parks Victoria
We have recently become fans of modern technology‘s ability to leverage charismatic images for conservation’s purposes with creatures large and small. It is not as simple as the scientific “seeing is believing;” more “seeing is caring.” In this case, if we did not have the title and subtitle of the article, we would have little clue what we were looking at:
Tiger quoll seen in Grampians – in first sighting in wilderness area since 1872
Remote camera set up to spy on wallabies sends back images of endangered marsupial Continue reading
If You Happen To Be In New York City
New York University’s Institute For The Study Of The Ancient World is hosting an exhibition that speaks to those of us who love maps and the ideas they represent in historic as well modernistic terms. (GPS-guided navigation systems, we love you, but this is about your ancestors). Those ideas can be as simple as “Getting From Here To There, In Hindsight,” which might have been a subtitle to this exhibition:
Measuring and Mapping Space will explore the ways in which ancient Greek and Roman societies understood, perceived, and visualized both the known and the unknown areas of their world. It brings together more than forty objects, combining ancient artifacts with Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts and printed books that draw upon ancient geographic treatises. Together, they provide a fascinating overview of Greco-Roman theories of the shape and size of the Earth, ancient methods of surveying and measuring land, and the ways in which geography was used in Roman political propaganda. A specially designed multimedia display examines the increasing importance of modern technologies in mapping the ancient world. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Indian Silverbill (Tadoba Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra)
Padmanabhapuram Palace – Trivandram
Photo credits: Nujum Myannad
Padmanabhapuram Palace was the capital seat of the Travancore State until 1792, when it was shifted to Trivandrum. This magnificent home of the Travancore rulers was not a single unit, but a complex of 14 palaces spread across six and a half acres. Continue reading
Arachnophotography
Photograph by the author at Morgan’s Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge, Nicaragua.
Growing up in Costa Rica prepared me for most encounters with the eight-legged kind I’ve had later in life, so that I have to hide a smile as my housemates here in Ithaca rave about the size of our household spiders in all their sweet innocence. A few years ago when I was working in Nicaragua I made an effort to photograph many of the arachnids I came across, and I’ve included a gallery of some of those shots below. But just a couple weeks ago while browsing the great blog Colossal I found this and was stunned, not by the size of the spiders because most of them are really quite tiny, but by the incredible diversity and beauty that Nicky Bay was able to capture in the spiders of Singapore. If you have some free time and no problem with close-ups of creepers, crawlers, weavers, and stalkers, I’d highly recommend browsing Bay’s macrophotography galleries for an hour or three.
If You Happen To Be In Austin
An expected 3,000 attendees are gathering in Austin, Texas, for SXSW Eco next week. Photograph: Austin CVB
We normally think of technology or music when we think of Austin, or SXSW. This even provides more to think about with regard to either of them. Thanks to the Guardian for letting us know about it:
Activists and industrialists might be like oil and water, but 3,000 of these strange bedfellows are gathering together in Austin, Texas, to discuss oil and water at SXSW Eco 2013 next week. Now in its third year, the annual conference aims to encourage cross-sector collaboration between professionals in business, government, academia and nonprofits on topics ranging from policy to consumer engagement. Continue reading
In Praise of Slowness
Slow Food, Slow Cities, Slow Travel…the element of time and how we either squander it or savor it has become a meme for the movement toward the local, the artisanal, the responsible. The idea that doing something slowly and carefully and taking the time to enjoy it can be almost universally applied.
There’s enough evidence that the stress of fast-paced, over-programed lives take a toll on our health and happiness, no matter what our age. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Black Catbird – Endemic (El Cuyo, Mexico)
Pooram Padayani – Neelamperoor, Alappuzha
Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor
Dedicated to the Goddess Kali, Neelamperoor Pooram Padayani is celebrated at the Bhagavathi Temple near Alappuzha. Padayani is a ritualistic dance popular in the central Kerala region but it differs from other Padayani performances as it features a swan motif called “Annan Kettu”. Continue reading
Capturing Behavior
One of the important points to keep in mind during wildlife photography is to observe the behavioral aspects of your subjects and capture it.
When you spend time with your subject and when they get used to you, they continue their normal behavior and that’s when you need to be alert and keep your eyes open to capture any of the behavior they exhibit.
In this image what I have captured is one of the most common means of communication between elephants: Continue reading
If You Happen To Be In Scotland
The 20th annual World Porridge Making Championships will take place in the Scottish Highland village of Carrbridge on Saturday 5th October 2013.
We should have known such an event existed. Now that we do, but being stuck in south India with no time to witness it first hand today, we will watch it from afar; but we have marked the calendar for next year’s championships. Meanwhile, you might find interesting how we came to know about this event.
Bird of the Day: Clark’s Nutcracker (Rocky Mountain National Park, CO)
First Impressions of India
A hazy Kochi view
Thirty hours of rigorous travel and claustrophobic flights could not prepare me for an equally strenuous culture adjustment; however, that is the appeal of being a Western foreigner today — the luxury of being able to experience contrastingly different ways of life should not be squandered, rather embraced positively — here is a chance to engage in a learning experience unparalleled by classrooms in a university.
It is always amusing to me that even before arriving in a particular foreign destination, airlines attempt to mediate “culture adjustment” by serving airplane-food versions of that culture’s culinary specialty; I actually regret not taking a picture of said “food,” but I am sure it is not hard to imagine the quality.
Organikos 