Tales from here and there about this and that.

Oberammergau Video

2009-06-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

A nice video clip from tvboy61 featuring the Bavarian town of Oberammergau and showing the beautiful murals which are painted on most of the buildings in the center of town

Oberammergau has much to offer besides the Passion Play, including a testing bike park.

Oberammergau Passion Play

2009-06-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

Every ten years since 1634, a remarkable event occurs in the Alpine town of Oberammergau, Germany; the whole community is involved in staging a six hour long passion play. So long is the play that a meal is served during its intermission.

Thousands of visitors flock to Oberammergau, to attend one of the performances during the summer months and hotel - ticket packages are available. Next year's play runs from May 15 until October 3, 2010, after which the play will not be staged again until May 2020.

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Cluster Ballooning

2009-06-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

The Activity Holidays Guide lists a number of holiday providers who offer Hot Air Balloon flights and training, indeed, it is considered by many to be the ideal way to view South African wildlife, but with the new extreme sport of Cluster Ballooning, your on your own; more often than not, quite literally on your own.

Cluster Ballooning, involves becoming airborne with the aid of a large number of helium balloons. Typically, 165 large helium balloons will provide about 91 kg of lift. A concept which is taken to outrageous extremes in Pixar's new feature film UP.

This video clip posted by smartzmike, shows pioneering Cluster Balloonist, Kent Couch making a 193 miles flight in Oregon, USA, back in 2007. Last year, he covered covered about 235 miles in nine and a half hours.

African Safari

2009-06-04T12:50:00.000-07:00

This week, I thought we should take a look at the sights captured by Dustin (cdmar33) while on a safari in South Africa.

As he says, it's one thing to see these animals on television but quite a different experience to see them in the wild. Holiday provider Kuoni Travel is currently running a massive summer sale, get details through the Activity Holidays Guide.

Valle de Tena

2009-05-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

While browsing the web in relation to our new web site Walking Holidays Special. I came across this delightful video gallery from independent Spanish walking holiday specialists, Hike Pyrenees, comprising of some stunning views from their favourite walks in the Valle de Tena, Spanish Pyrenees.

Dordogne Holidays

2009-05-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

On the edge of the fascinating Dordogne region of France, where the Dordogne river makes its escape from deep gorges and flows through an enchanting valley bordered by wooded hills, there lies the medieval town of Argentat. Nearby is Chateau de Cautine, set in 34 acres of fields and woods, complete with its own stream and a 15-metre salt-water pool. But this is not just any Chateau, it is a Chateau with a reputation for adventure.

Chateau de Cautine offer a whole range of Activity Holidays and currently they are running some great discount deals. The Chateau is a good base for walking, enjoying the area's natural world or of course fishing in one of the best fishing regions in France.

Those looking for an adrenaline buzz are spoilt for choice with activities like horse riding, cycling, kayaking, canoeing, hiking, rock climbing, abseiling, hang gliding; time for a deep breath, archery, tree climbing, orienteering, hiking, mountain-bike riding, bungy-trampolining and orienteering. Oh and did I mention the proximity to the nearby Massif Central mountains, for skiing and snowboarding?

The region is well known for aero-sports and an old aerodrome has been restored as a center entirely devoted to sporting activities in the air. Qualified flight instructors are on-hand for activities such as hang gliding, paragliding, microlite flying and towed flights.

Jim Hilgendorf who leads small customised group tours to this fabulous corner of France has also posted a short video which does a good job of conveying the beauty and fascination of the enchanting Dordogne valley.

Tango

2009-05-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

The choice of today's end of week video is clearly influenced by my post about the "Come Dancing" Tango workshop. It has been made available by CosioJ and is a breathtaking piece of art; a timely reminder that the Tango is not just about dance, there are some great musicians involved in this video.

Snow NSW

2009-05-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

Just as snow lovers in Europe are packing away their skis at the end of another season, the Australian, NSW Southern Alps resorts are reporting blanket cover. Even in the absence of snow falls. their ski resorts are able to maximize top-to-bottom cover on runs throughout the season, thanks to extensive snow-making capacity.

The snowfields are easily accessible, with on-snow accommodation and a complete range of snow holiday packages for skiers and snowboarders of all experience levels. Who said Hamilton Island offered the best dream job in the world? They don't have snow.

Come Dancing Bournemouth

2009-05-09T13:54:00.000-07:00

Strictly Come Dancing's Flavia Cacace and Vincent Simone took to the dancefloor of the Hotel Piccadilly in Bournemouth, UK, as instructors on a dancing holiday. The vacation, included Tango workshops and a black tie five-course gala banquet and dance cabaret.

A series of dance holidays are scheduled throughout the year with other Strictly Come Dancing stars.

Naadam Festival Video

2009-05-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

An interesting glimpse of the Mongolian Naadam Festival, brought to us by Kohoochin.

Naadam Festival

2009-05-06T15:11:00.000-07:00

Looking at the route which team "Don't Panic" is proposing to take for this year's Mongol Rally, I was reminded that they set off on their adventure a week after Naadam.

The Naadam Festival is the major Mongolian National Holiday. It runs July 11th - 13th and while festivals are held all over Mongolia, the biggest festival is held in the National Sports Stadium at the capital Ulaanbaatar.

The festival focuses on the "three games of men" Mongolian wrestling, horse racing and archery but includes plenty of food, music, crafts and midsummer fun. More

WOMAD Abu Dhabi

2009-04-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

Two atmospheric videos from the recent WOMAD festival in Abu Dhabi, courtesy Arasan822 who has posted a delightful clip of the Robert Plant guest appearance, and Oumick who has brought us a great video, displaying the dancing skills of Youssou N'Dour.

First, Robert Plant with Uldeh Camara, Justin Adams and other musicians:

and now, strictly come dancing! With the great Senegalese Musician turned world superstar, Youssou N'Dour.

Mongol Rally 09

2009-04-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

Also in my mailbox last week was a note from Ed Thompson. Ed and a couple of friends have entered this summer's Mongol Rally under the team name Don't Panic; I sense from their team name that the enormity of the adventure is beginning to dawn on them. Imagine driving (perhaps pushing) an old (1 litre) Fiat from London to Ulaanbaatar, capital of Mongolia. They are desperately looking for sponsors of any type - equipment, car parts, finance or even good advice, so if you can offer any of the above, helping them to raise shed loads of money for charity, contact them through the link above.

The organizers don't believe in telling teams what to do or where to go, figuring that this is supposed to be an adventure not a cosy guided driving tour. However, last year the rally attracted 251 entrants, of which an incredible 198 made it to the finish line. Some teams starting from Madrid and Milan. This year's London start is from Hyde Park on 18th July 2009.

Harley Tour of Melbourne

2009-04-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

Fancy a Harley Davidson motorbike sightseeing joyride around Melbourne? Enjoy this sampler video sent to me by John (jdkarmch) from HD Chauffeur Rides.

Earth Day 2009

2009-04-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Earth Day, Wednesday 22 April, when over a billion people in 180 nations around the world, will be focusing on taking action to protect our environment.
Organizers are looking for a billion commitments to do something green, actually doing something rather than just thinking about the problem. The Earth Day commitments form part of a year long initiative tagged "The Green Generation", which leads up to the 40th anniversary of Earth Day in 2010.

Read more about the Green Generation on the Earth Day blog.

2009 Festival of Speed

2009-04-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

The 2009 Festival of Speed, will be held at Goodwood House, situated just outside Chichester, (PO18 0PX) on 3, 4 and 5 July. The promotional video is worth a look; fast, hot and very classy.

Lewis Hamilton's charity, the Lewis Hamilton Foundation (LHF) is the official charity for this year's Festival. LHF is a not for profit organization, focused on improving the lives and opportunities of children and young people, who despite living in ill health or poverty around the world, have a dream.

Eggsplosive Easter

2009-04-09T15:12:00.000-07:00

Every year on the Greek island of Chios, shortly past midnight on the Saturday before Easter Sunday, there takes place a most extra-ordinary event.

FrankandNicole posted this short but explosive video of two rival church parishes battling it out with a most amazing (home made) fireworks competition

Strictly illegal, but I think that the police would not get far if they tried to shut down this very old, traditional Easter custom.

US Paragliding Nationals 2009

2009-04-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

The 2009 US Paragliding Nationals begins with the first of two events at Dunlap, California, from 27 April - 2 May, 2009 and round two then takes place from 16 - 22 August, 2009 at Salt Lake City, Utah.

Get more information here for the Dunlap round and here for the Salt Lake City round.

Padstow Obby Oss

2009-04-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

With Mayday fast approaching, I thought that we might take a peep at the residents of Padstow, a fishing village on the north coast of Cornwall, England, now best known for its resident chef Rick Stein, as they celebrate May Day.

They prefer to call it Obby Oss (Hobby Horse) day and their festival involves an ancient ritual of parading the Obby Oss through the streets, calling at houses owned by eminent people in the town for suitable refreshment. In return, they ward of evil spirits and ensure good luck for the following year.

This atmospheric video was shot by Reg Vernon (regvernon). At about 3.15 and 8.10 minutes in, you get good shots of the inborn rhythm displayed by the Padstow folk, forget the Sambadrome Samba get behind the Padstow Plod.

Talking to Plants

2009-03-31T15:26:00.000-07:00

The Royal Horticultural Society in the UK, is conducting research into whether the human voice affects tomato plants. According to the Times Online, open auditions are being held tomorrow at the RHS garden, Wisley, Surrey, to find voices which can make recordings. It is proposed that the recordings will be played 24/7, via headphones attached to plant pots, for ten plants in the study.

Clearly, results will be dependant on the acoustic properties of the pot and I believe that various species may show marked differences in their preferences for the rhythmic nature of the sound being broadcast. In previously unpublished research, it has been observed by an unreliable but otherwise amiable source, that the genetically modified tomato, TOMASH, responds vigorously to Reggae.

Twitchhiker Arrives

2009-03-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

I learned about Paul Smith, known as the Twitchhiker, who has made an impressive 11,000-mile trip from Newcastle in the North-East of England to New Zealand, using only donations from people who use the social networking site Twitter; completing the journey in just under a month.

Paul hopes his adventure will raise thousands of pounds for charity. Read more about Paul and his journey.

Here Comes Summer

2009-03-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that at 1 am tomorrow, Sunday 29 March, 2009, European Union countries, and that does include the UK, spring the clocks forward one hour to Summer Time.

Pavarotti Requiem Mass

2009-03-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

The end of week videos about Verona, led me to this video posted by MultigramClassical of what they describe as the greatest mass in history, Verdi's Requiem Mass. It is sung at the Arena di Verona by Luciano Pavarotti and 3.000 members of the World Festival Choir accompanied by the Moscow Philarmonic Orchestra, conducted by Lorin Maazel, on the 45th Anniversary (August 1990) of the explosion of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

The recording is © 2003 Multigram Srl, Italy and available in DVD as part of the Arena di Verona Collection Box Set. Record Label: Domovideo. You don't get to see much of Verona but it's a good excuse to hear Pavarotti.

Verona Italy

2009-03-26T15:27:00.000-07:00

This week's video theme is Verona in Italy and we begin with a short clip from AltodiGamma of the celebrated Romeo & Juliet balcony, together with the wall posted with love letters.

Next, a more extensive view of the sights and sounds of Verona from hjdnad.

Volcano Erupts

2009-03-24T15:11:00.000-07:00

Mount Redoubt Alaska has finally blown its top and as of today, it has erupted six times with an explosive force that sent ash 9.5 miles high.

The first eruption occurred at 10:38 p.m. on March 22, 2009 and follows
a volcanic eruption close to the South Pacific nation of Tonga a few days earlier.

The Tonga eruption has totally destroyed rich bird life and vegetation, leaving a wasteland of black ash and tree stumps. So vast is the volume of emitted rock and ash, that it has completely filled the gap between the undersea volcano's offshore vent and the island of Hunga Ha'apai, increasing the island's land mass by hundreds of square feet. Hunga Ha'apai was uninhabited and lies 39 miles northwest of the Tongan capital.