If, like me, you don’t really get the whole credit crunch thing and why it’s having such a massive impact on everything we do, an Australian bank has produced some videos that explain the whole thing. Thank you Australian Bank.
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I do love a good Wispa, I was very pleased when they were brought back. But on another note Cadbury have been at the drugs again with this advert. Filmed of course in the Great Hall at Alexandra Palace.
Those of you that know me well, know I love a bit of an adventure. If I’m not actually riding my bike to Russia or Morocco I’m probably planning what the next trip will be (at the moment that’s probably going to be a short run up to Uluru on the possibly new XT660x.)
Anyway, one of the places that most conjures up dreams of adventure has to be Timbuktu – and I’d not really clicked it was quite as close to the UK as it is – well applying Australian values to distance rather than British. But it appears that it’s so close in fact, that you can fly there. And drive. And glide. Or to be more specific, you can drive, then fly over the water, glide back to earth, drive a little more then take-off again to avoid a natty little mountain range.
The gentleman responsible for this trip is an ex-SAS chap called Neil Laughton. He’s the classic British gent off on an adventure. He says, “Sadly the political situation in some areas on our route is not good and there are some unsavoury people about so we must be careful.” – I just love it.
The BBC have a good video complete with more details over on the News site, or you can read more about the trip on the expeditions own website.
I love working in R&D, I love the fact that when you tell people what you do they get excited and all of a sudden they’re full of ideas that you just have to try out. I love the energy and the simple creative buzz you get off just playing with new things and new ideas. But every now and again, R&D goes bad, or rather the videos created by R&D departments go bad.
I give you, Songsmith from Microsoft Research.
It’s that time again when we look back over the last 12 months and take stock of what we’ve done, and importantly, take a moment to think about what’s to come.
For my part, it’s been a massive year of change. Leaving the BBC, joining Lonely Planet, and moving half way around the globe to live in Melbourne. Last year’s New Years Eve saw Catherine and I on the Thames watching the fireworks in Central London. This year we’ll be at home in South Wales surrounded by family as we prepare to move our whole lives to Australia permanently.
It’s been a stunning 2008 – highlights include Mashed08 at Alexandra Palace, getting to St Petersburg on my motorbike with Patrick and Stace, and running the BBC Innovation Labs to great success.
2009 will be a brilliant year I have no doubt. Catherine will join me in Oz, I get to run a new event (Lonely Travel Bloggers Awards) in San Francisco, and with any luck I’ll get out to Alice Springs on a new motorbike.
Finally and most importantly. Happy New Year to you all. Thank you for your support, however offered, over 2008 and I look forward to spending more time with you all in 2009. Keep in touch 🙂
Just stunning, stunning shot from HORIZON over on flickr of part of his 3000km trip to the central desert of Iran.
I find myself hankering after the desert again after my slightly ‘not quite there’ visit to Morocco last year. There’s something pure about the lines of the dunes, and the clean, simple peace that the desert brings you.
I could do with some of that peace right now, and I’ve found myself lost in the collections of photos from Iran that Horizon has published. At the moment my favourite is his set of Iran Workers – the faces are so expressive and detailed, an openness that you just don’t see anywhere else.
With any luck, in a few years, I’ll be doing the return leg to the UK overland from Australia, and if I’m lucky I’ll be coming through Iran after passing through India and Pakistan – it’s one of the highlights of my trip – and right now – I’ll just have to satisfy myself with these wonderful photographs.
Yes okay so I’ve only been out of the organising events thing for a matter of months – but I couldn’t resist – how cool to run an LP Travel Bloggers Awards?!
I’ve finally got permission and kinda worked out a few things… so here’s the announcement via the lplabs.com blog:
With all this work going on for blogsherpa, it occurred to us that as well as paying people for their travel related blog posts, we should also do some awards for Travel Bloggers.
We thought that, being LP, we could probably come up with some pretty cool prizes, in a pretty cool place, and perhaps – if we push the boat out – some kind of trophy type thing. Maybe.
So, rather quietly (because I’ve not sorted the details yet) I’m announcing The Lonely Planet 2009 Travel Bloggers Awards – or the TLPTBAs – may have to work on that.
The idea, is to open nominations first thing in Jan in a few categories (suggestions? comment below), close them at the end of Feb – then set up a panel of rather cool people made up of brilliant bloggers, some of our authors and commissioning editors and let them vote BUT… their vote would only make up 50% of the overall socre – the other 50% would come from the public via online voting.
The winners would then be announced with rather grand fanfare in San Francisco in March 2009, at a party of some sort.
That’s it really – I’ll create a new tag (lpawards) here for the awards and as they develop I’ll update more here. Ideas, suggestions and thoughts most welcome.
You have got to be kidding me. Okay I’m coming a little late to this argument, but given it’s just appeared in my twitter stream, I’m going to comment.
The TUC (Trades Union Congress) have called for the Lonely Planet Burma guide to be removed from the shelves. The theory being, that the guide encourages travel to Burma, and therefore, gives foreign currency to the Junta.
Let me get this straight. By constricting information about an entire nation and how to travel there, Lonely Planet supports the Junta?
The TUC has this to say
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: ‘The very existence of a travel guide to Burma encourages people to visit a country they might not otherwise consider. We want to see the travel industry drop Burma from their list of destinations and taking the Lonely Planet guidebook off the shelves would help enormously. If enough people sign our petition and stop buying Lonely Planet guides, we hope we can encourage the BBC to think again.’
I couldn’t disagree more. Holly Cow are they actually serious? Well looking at the petition (which has been running since Feb 2008) it appears not – 454 people have signed it.
Travel, fundamentally changes the way you view the world. Through travel you gain an understanding of a people, a country, that you simply can not achieve in any other way. By visiting a country, by talking with people in that country, by traveling through that country you gain an empathy, a deeper connection, an understanding, that can’t be built by proxy. By talking to each other, we make the world a smaller place.
Travel, fundamentally changes the world around us.
The ethically corrupt argument of censorship of information about a country and how to travel to that country and around that country, is totally absurd.
Gadling has some good comments on this story that I think pretty much show how most people feel.
Here’s the first update from Oz
If you just want to subscribe to the updates head over to my YouTube channel.
Sod all to do with me, but let’s be honest, when has that ever stopped anyone commenting?
It’s turning into a week of videos, but this one is good, puts things into perspective a little.
Let’s share the love people.
See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die
What is God calling you to do?
Listen to my Thought for The Week on BBC Hereford on Worcester about vocation and what God may be calling you to be or do