http://www.connectedtraveler.com/blog/ News, opinion, podcasts and video on travel, world culture, media, science and technology. en-us Copyright 2006 The Connected Traveler Thu, 02 Mar 2006 22:31:57 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss Radio UserLand v8.0.8 radio@connectedtraveler.com radio@connectedtraveler.com rssUpdates 60 NoStories about world culture and travel, music, opinion, technology and science from writer/broadcaster Russell Johnson.Stories about world culture and travel, music, opinion, technology and science from writer/broadcaster Russell Johnson.Russell Johnsonradio@connectedtraveler.comRussell Johnsontravel, sustainable tourism, adventure, world culture, world music, humor, cuisine, technology, science http://www.connectedtraveler.com/ Thu, 17 May 2006 13:14:00 PST http://www.connectedtraveler.com/Media/plungerhead.mp3 Russell Johnson A good, simple Sonoma County Zinfandel Sonoma County, California, wine, zinfandel, Sebastiani, Plungerhead 00:01:35 Memories of the old family wineries in Sonoma County, California and a good Zinfandel in that tradition No No http://www.connectedtraveler.com/ Thu, 10 May 2006 13:25:00 PST http://www.connectedtraveler.com/Media/GoodKingBadKing.mp3 Russell Johnson The King of Thailand, the King of Nepal and George the Inarticulate Thailand, Nepal, George W. Bush, King of Thailand, Steven Colbert 00:04:17 Ruminatons over a snifter at a jazz club in Bangkok about the world's good, bad and wannabe kings. No No http://www.connectedtraveler.com/ Thu, 20 Apr 2006 23:05:00 PST http://www.connectedtraveler.com/Media/7Seas-EarthquakeDay.mp3 Russell Johnson The Morphing of a Cruise Ship on Earthquake Eve Cruise Line, Regent, Seven Seas, Radisson, luxury travel 00:04:46 We visit a luxury cruise liner docked on the San Francisco waterfront on the even of the anniversary of the 1906 earthquake,"The Big One". No No http://www.connectedtraveler.com/ Fri, 04 Apr 2006 15:05:00 PST http://www.connectedtraveler.com/Media/Mt.Shasta-Jerusalem-for-the-Weird.mp3 Russell Johnson Jerusalem for the Weird Mt. Shasta, California, New Age, railroads, SETI, travel 00:06:27 Why do the gods always live on mountains while the trolls, barrators, falsifiers and other pointy-tailed deadbeats dwell in the muck beneath the bridges? (As an occasional glutton, I stand just a foul breath's distance from the status of troll in Dante's scheme.) Why do the ordinary people scramble in chaos around the friezes at the bottoms of temples while the enlightened ones quietly meditate at the top? (May have something to do with money). High places have always been magnets for seekers, scientists, lunatics and people like me (a bit of all of the above), who are intrigued by their unseen possibilities and awed by their beauty. Mt. Shasta is such a place. No No http://www.connectedtraveler.com/blog Fri, 27 Mar 2006 17:45:35 PST http://www.connectedtraveler.com/Media/Joe-Sutter-Father-of-the-747.mp3 Russell Johnson Giving Wings to Grandma Joe Sutter, Joseph Sutter, Boeing 747, aviation, travel, invention, inventor 00:19:53 Airlines come and go, but one airplane, the Boeing 747 is still flying and like Swiss Cheese still looks the same. We interviewed Joe Sutter, known as the "father of the 747." No No http://www.connectedtraveler.com/blog Fri, 20 Mar 2006 15:25:35 PST http://www.connectedtraveler.com/Media/Yunnan%20China,%20AvWedding.mp3 Russell Johnson Not your typical Chinese wedding Yunnan, China, Wedding, Travel, Dali, Lake Erhai 00:05:14 We followed a truck full of brightly-costumed women and ended up being invited to a wedding. No No http://www.connectedtraveler.com/blog Fri, 17 Mar 2006 20:01:35 GMT http://www.connectedtraveler.com/Media/Boontling,%20An%20American%20Folk%20Language.mp3 Russell Johnson Boontling, An American Folk Language Northern California, Boonville, Boontling, Anderson Valley, folk language 00:04:55 A visit to Boonville, in Northern California's Anderson Valley where a few old geezes still speak Boontling, one of America's few remaining folk languages. No No http://www.connectedtraveler.com/blog Thu, 16 Mar 2006 21:27:35 GMT http://www.connectedtraveler.com/Media/Old%20Las%20Vegas%20with%20Freddie%20G.mp3 Russell Johnson Las Vegas from a man who has seen it all. Las Vegas, strip, mob, restaurant, celebrities, Sinatra, Mo Dalitz 00:05:57 Restaurateur Fred Glusman, who taught Don Rickles how to water ski, tells stories of old Las Vegas. No No An audio tour of the Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica. Tue, 14 Feb 2006 02:15:37 GMT http://www.connectedtraveler.com/blog http://www.connectedtraveler.com/Media/Monteverde.mp3 Russell Johnson CSI Costa Rica, The Case of the Golden Toad Costa Rica, Monteverde Cloud Forest, global warming, science 00:07:02 An audio tour of the Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica with writer-broadcaster Russell Johnson. No No Cancun. Nothing green or sustainable about this place, folks. It is beach chair, drink 'til you drop tourism for the sake of tourism. The only wildlife near the hotels are the fat, lazy iguanas that lie on the rocks around the pool. There is (or maybe is) something to be said about music with beat but no message and gobs of artery-busting cheese washed down by a wiccan's cauldron of mind numbing liquids. Maybe it is the kind of angst that induces other males of my age to get nose rings and buy bright yellow roadsters, but I have decided that what I have been missing out on, and what I found here, was good, dumb, non-critical fun. Tue, 14 Feb 2006 02:15:37 GMT http://www.connectedtraveler.com/blog http://www.connectedtraveler.com/Media/Cancun.mp3 Russell Johnson Night of the Flaming Iguana - Cancun Cancun, Mexico 00:07:02 Cancun. Nothing green or sustainable about this place, folks. It is beach chair, drink 'til you drop tourism for the sake of tourism. The only wildlife near the hotels are the fat, lazy iguanas that lie on the rocks around the pool. There is (or maybe is) something to be said about music with beat but no message and gobs of artery-busting cheese washed down by a wiccan's cauldron of mind numbing liquids. Maybe it is the kind of angst that induces other males of my age to get nose rings and buy bright yellow roadsters, but I have decided that what I have been missing out on, and what I found here, was good, dumb, non-critical fun. No No Where are the poets of yesteryear, the bards of epic verse, the drunkards and the rakes whose words spurred torrid love and sent armies off to battle? Unless you live in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch (a town in northern Wales), become adopted as a poet laureate, occupy a tenured position or change your name to Ice T, your financial life stands little chance of becoming rosy as a result of your poesy. In history, however, poets had clout and lived in really cool places, like on the shores of Italy's Lake Garda. http://www.connectedtraveler.com/blog http://www.connectedtraveler.com/Media/Italy-LakeGarda.mp3 Russell Johnson The Mad Poets Society - Lake Garda Lake Garda, Italy, Verona 00:05:53 Where are the poets of yesteryear, the bards of epic verse, the drunkards and the rakes whose words spurred torrid love and sent armies off to battle? Unless you live in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch (a town in northern Wales), become adopted as a poet laureate, occupy a tenured position or change your name to Ice T, your financial life stands little chance of becoming rosy as a result of your poesy. In history, however, poets had clout and lived in really cool places, like on the shores of Italy's Lake Garda. No No God tipped over the snowglobe and fresh flakes fall, frosting the Canadian Rockies as we romp in the snow among majestic peaks and amorous elk. http://www.connectedtraveler.com/blog http://www.connectedtraveler.com/Media/Banff.mp3 Russell Johnson Banff - Lake Louise Banff, Canada, Rockies, Lake Louise 00:04:35 God tipped over the snowglobe and fresh flakes fall, frosting the Canadian Rockies as we romp in the snow among majestic peaks and amorous elk. No No I am a river rat. Not a rafter, but a lollygaging Huck Finn kinda swamp rodent who likes to flow with the current and poke around the slough. Lord Buddha describes The Dharma as a raft that floats one to Nirvana. A few days on a river and I find myself paddling pretty close to a perfect state of bliss. http://www.connectedtraveler.com/blog http://www.connectedtraveler.com/Media/Cruise-on-the-River-Kwai.mp3 Russell Johnson A Cruise on the River Kwai - Nirvana Tonic travel, Thailand, River Kwai 00:05:06 I am a river rat. Not a rafter, but a lollygaging Huck Finn kinda swamp rodent who likes to flow with the current and poke around the slough. Lord Buddha describes The Dharma as a raft that floats one to Nirvana. A few days on a river and I find myself paddling pretty close to a perfect state of bliss. No No Environmentalist and broadcaster Dr. David Suzuki speaks to Russ Johnson about environmental economics (there ain't any), "peak oil", cool companies and why asthma, a fairly rare disease years ago, is now epidemic. Mon, 13 Feb 2006 02:08:12 GMT http://www.connectedtraveler.com/blog http://www.connectedtraveler.com/Media/SuzukiInt.mp3 Russell Johnson An Interview with Dr. David Suzuki science, environment, asthma 00:19:08 Environmentalist and broadcaster Dr. David Suzuki speaks to Russ Johnson about environmental economics (there ain't any), "peak oil", cool companies and why asthma, a fairly rare disease years ago, is now epidemic. No No