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Friday, January 19, 2007
Toasty Technology
Oregon Mountain Community
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Western Mountaineering Ultralite Sleeping Bag - Try to beat this weight-to-warmth ratio – it's not easy. The Western Mountaineering Ultralite sleeping bag weighs in at under two pounds and is rated down to 25° F. This is a super bag for the warmer sleeping three-season traveler who wants to pare weight down to a minimum. Remember that this bag uses ExtremeLite fabric so extra care is required with the shell. The Ultralite is a very slim, thermally efficient cut, so some folks find it restrictive. The Western Mountaineering sleeping bags are Made in America. 20° F | |||||||||||||
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Ten travel trends to watch in 2007
January 18, 2007 by Peter Yesawich
As we enter 2007 our thoughts turn to what we can expect from the cautiously optimistic, yet still volatile, market environment in which we now operate. So here are our predictions:
1. Demand for leisure travel services will continue to outpace that for business travel services, as more business travelers attempt to use the latest technology as a surrogate for business travel whenever possible and appropriate (and to manage the escalating cost of air transportation and lodging);
2. Family travel (adults with children) will continue to grow at a faster rate than all other forms of leisure travel, as both parents and grandparents continue to look at travel as one way in which to "reunite" families in a contemporary world that is increasingly dominated by the demands of work…even if only for a few days;
3. Practically all travel suppliers will attempt to raise fares and/or rates, as demand for travel services continues to grow, capacity becomes more strained, and operating costs escalate (on both airlines and in lodging accommodations, particularly in popular destinations like New York);
4. The role of the Internet will continue to dominate the travel-planning/booking headlines, yet the incidence of Internet usage by both business and leisure travelers to plan some aspect of travel will remain flat, while the incidence of its usage to actually book reservations will continue to grow but at a significantly lower rate than we have observed during the past three years;
5. Comparison shopping of suppliers' fares and rates (and the corresponding "price transparency") will become more commonplace as consumers discover the power (and intrigue) of the nascent meta search engines such as kayak.com, qixo.com and the like;
6. The new "lifestyle" hotel brands such as NYLO, ALOFT, etc. will continue to gain both exposure and popularity among the next generation of travelers (the Millennials), as well as more mature travelers who wish to look, act and feel like Millennials;
7. The concept of "inclusive pricing" (one price for a bundle of basic services) will grow in popularity beyond destination resorts to include commercial hotels seeking to provide road warriors with good value for "just the basics" (a comfortable bed, a good working desk, breakfast, High Speed Internet access, and reward points);
8. Interest in spa-going will continue to grow as more consumers seek ways to manage the mounting stress in their lives (thereby igniting the next generation of spa development in commercial hotels);
9. The cruise industry will continue to enjoy remarkable growth (precipitated by the arrival of exciting new ships, an aging population, and general marketing prowess), thereby becoming an even more formidable competitor of destination (land-based) hotels and resorts;
10. The new .travel Internet domain will continue to grow in popularity as suppliers seek to market their products and services in a more refined online environment, and consumers seek refuge from the contamination and frustration that accompanies searches in the .com domain.
Most importantly, barring the impact of any catastrophic political, economic, social or terrorist event in the months ahead, 2007 should be another year for the record books.
Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell is a marketing, advertising and public relations agency
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Apocalyptic vision of Europe
06.42 Thu Jan 11 2007
A European Commission report has predicted that large parts of southern Europe could be turned into desert by global warming.
The report said severe droughts could kill tens of thousands
The report also said severe droughts could kill tens of thousands.
The Commission has said it wants to keep a lid on climate change and has set a target to limit the increase in temperatures to 2C.
To achieve that, EU countries need to cut their carbon dioxide emissions to 30 per cent below what they were 20 years ago.
But environmental groups say even that may not be enough to stop Europe's worst climate nightmares becoming reality.
VIDClimate fearsBehind war films' bloodshed
From 'All Quiet' to 'Ryan,' a soldier's conscience seeks out humanity in times of war
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But the little, dirty wars now consume us. And we know that some silly local accident could carry us all away. Like film, war is there all the time now.
Perhaps they are brothers. For it is so easy to make war look good or attractive.
Here are 10 war films, in no particular order, that have stayed with me for years, if not decades:
1. In 1925, the new company MGM had its first great hit with World War I tale "The Big Parade," directed by King Vidor, with John Gilbert meeting a girl in France, and love being as big and moving as war. The audience was stunned to see massive troop movements and the power of artillery. Never again, they said. But Gilbert, in uniform, became a star.
2. "All Quiet on the Western Front" showed a changed attitude that our boy, Lew Ayres, was playing a young German soldier overwhelmed by the size and damage of war. The First War had destroyed old Europe; the continent would now be a fresh battleground for communism, fascism and democracy. All over Europe, cities and villages have monuments to the dead in that war. They do not add this: that hope and humanism died, too. Pragmatism took over.
3. In 1937, Jean Renoir made what people said was the greatest antiwar film ever made. "The Grand Illusion" was about the brotherhood of man, with French prisoners (Jean Gabin, Pierre Fresnay) in a German prison camp led by a wounded Erich von Stroheim. It moved people so much, it earned an Oscar nomination for best picture. Two years later, the next war began.
4. "Rome, Open City" by Roberto Rossellini was about the messy war, when partisans and resistance fighters compete with an occupying army (the Germans). It showed new levels of war -- the torture, informants, execution of prisoners. It was called neorealism, though, in its way, it was as clever and contrived as any movie. But we were learning to see what the mess looked like.
5. At the end of the "just" war came "The Best Years of Our Lives," about ordinary guys who had been soldiers once. It was a celebration of family reunion -- and it was a huge hit in the last great wave of mass filmgoing. It never showed the enemy, or fighting. But it began to let us see that if you have been to war, then its ghosts walk with you forever. It whispered a very dangerous thing: that wars are political decisions, and so political process might control them.
6. Korea. An American patrol is lost. They have a decent officer (Robert Ryan) and a killer sergeant (Aldo Ray). As they proceed to safety, the unseen enemy picks them off. In the end, they must use ultimate force. "Men in War" (1957) by Anthony Mann -- the best film on combat, its skills and futility.
7. "Paths of Glory" was about France -- and the French banned it for years. Stanley Kubrick showed a frontal assault on prepared trenches. The tracking shots were glorious, but the attack foundered. Scapegoats have to be found. Kirk Douglas is their defending officer at trials that are a foregone conclusion. The first great expose of the natural corruption in military power.
8. Nothing was bigger in war than Hiroshima. Yet Alain Resnais made "Hiroshima mon amour," a film about peace, and a French actress in love with a Japanese man, while she's reminded of the German soldier she loved once. All wars are part of the same beast.
9. "This is not Vietnam" cried the experts about "The Deer Hunter," but America never bothered to know Vietnam so who could tell? Still, had any film got the terror so well? And did any film ask the American public to consider how far war and its readiness had to do with our great cult of shooting, of arms and of "one shot"? War appeals to something profound in us. That is the ultimate horror. Perhaps we like it.
10. "Saving Private Ryan." Set in 1944 but, to date, the most vivid, plausible view of extreme combat, with men searching for their own lost hands in the carnage. Yet the film clings to the old idea that it was a duty and that we have to deserve our victories. Whereas the same Steven Spielberg makes desperate fantasies in which there is survival and nothing else.
11. To come: the first serious examination of torture in warfare ...
(David Thomson is the author of "The Whole Equation: The History of Hollywood" (Knopf) and the recent biography "Nicole Kidman" (Knopf).)
Dracula's Castle Goes Up for Sale
New York Architect Selling the Spooky Mountaintop Castle for $78M
Bran Castle is being offered for sale to the Brasov County Council by the U.S.-based owner, Dominic von Habsburg who is a descendant of the Romanian royal family June 23, 2005 in Brasov, Romania. The castle built by the Teutonic knights in 1212 was used briefly by Romanian ruler Vlad the Impaler who was partly the inspiration for Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. Passed through royal hands for many generations the castle was the principal home of Queen Marie whose grandson Dominic von Habsburg had the castle returned only in May of 2006 by the Romanian governmen. In preparation for Romania joining to the European Union the government has been handing back assets seized during communist rule. The castle is reported to be worth $25-million (USD) (Wojtek Laski/Getty Images)
By BARBARA PINTO
Jan. 9, 2007 —
The imposing Transylvanian castle, where, legend has it, the model for Dracula once lived and was imprisoned, is about to go up for sale. But it's probably already too late for you to get your bid in.Dominic Habsburg, 69, an architect from Westchester County, N.Y., and the son of Romanian Princess Ileana, said his family hopes to finalize the $78 million deal with the government of Brasov County later this month.
Habsburg and his two sisters, Maria-Magdalena Holzhousen and Elisabeth Sandhofen, who are direct descendants of the Romanian royal family, grew up in the castle — which is known as Bran Castle — until Romania's communist government seized it in 1948.
"The government took it away from us overnight. They took everything," said Habsburg, who at the age of 12 was forced to leave the country with the rest of his family.
The Habsburgs' search for a new home was a long one. They first went to Switzerland, but they were unable to gain asylum there. They then fled to Argentina, before finally settling in the United States.
That is where Habsburg learned of the legend that links his family's home to Prince Vlad "The Impaler" — who punished adversaries by impaling them on stakes. Vlad's cruelty was the inspiration for Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula."
Despite the link between the novel and his family home, Habsburg said he has never read the book.
"No. It's not my kind of literature," he said.
Still, the link to the Dracula story has turned the Gothic fortress, perched on a rock and surrounded by mountains, into a popular tourist destination.
Nearly half a million Dracula enthusiasts visit the castle every year.
The local economy, with its Dracula-related souvenir stands and bed and breakfasts, all depend on the visitors.
The Romanian government returned the castle to the Hapsburgs in May 2006, as part of its recent efforts to make restitution for the former communist regime.
The family waited 60 years and engaged in a six-year legal battle to get the castle back.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Don't play with maps
Mapping a Mideast peace II
Published: January 9, 2007
E-Mail Article
Listen to Article
WASHINGTON: I became embroiled in a controversy with former President Jimmy Carter over the use of two maps in his recent book, "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid." While some criticized what appeared to be the misappropriation of maps I had commissioned for my book, "The Missing Peace," my concern was different.
I was concerned more with how the maps were labeled.
To my mind, Carter's presentation badly misrepresents the Middle East proposals advanced by President Bill Clinton in 2000, and in so doing undermines, in a small but important way, efforts to bring peace to the region.
In his book, Carter juxtaposes two maps labeled the "Palestinian Interpretation of Clinton's Proposal 2000" and "Israeli Interpretation of Clinton's Proposal 2000."
The problem is that the "Palestinian interpretation" is actually taken from an Israeli map presented during the Camp David summit meeting in July 2000, while the "Israeli interpretation" is an approximation of what President Clinton subsequently proposed in December of that year.
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