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How do we know that such Italian art is so powerful? The same way we know whether or not anything is powerful: by seeing if it can hurt us. It turns out that the simple observation of such art actually can hurt you. People have been feeling dizzy and fainting around this art since at least the 1800s. As a testament to either labeling or observation this art-reaction even has a name: Stendhal’s Syndrome.

2 – Some Piece of Incredible, and Possibly Famous, Art

Creative Commons picture by Dimitry B.

A piece of art can cause a very personal connection across time. The artist expressed something, a feeling, a viewpoint, and you feel it also. Yet, you two may have lived hundreds of years apart. When you find such a piece of art you experience an impressively deep connection with a person that you will never meet.

Through the austere power of an Egyptian obelisk or the delicate sensuality of the Sant’Andrea della Valle ceiling you may find a close friend from another time.

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Rome is a place of beauty and history. It cradles towering ancient architecture and meltingly good cuisine. It is a place with a great depth of time. A place where the layers of art, perspectives on life, and human expression have piled high.

But, no matter how much the art of the pantheon may touch your soul, the Italians will try to prevent you from taking it home. To save you the trouble of having to pull a “National Treasure: Really Cool Roman Building” style heist, here is a list of four photographic archetypes that can help you easily bring the feeling of Rome with you.

1 – The Roman Colosseum

Creative Commons picture by Sebastian Bergmann.

This building is a monument to love. Not the normal “you should feel guilty for not building something this cool for your spouse” sort of thing. Instead this shows that around 70 AD people liked their sports THAT much. Instead of a giant temple or statue of a god or leader they built a humongous monument to their sports. Read the rest of this entry »

Creative Commons picture by Arkie Lad.
*Image not of actual hotel.
I have always been attracted to the allure of sleeping in a drain pipe. I don’t really know why. Perhaps it is based in a deep jealously of squirrels. On the other hand it could just be the romance of the idea.

It is now possible for my drain dream to be a reality (without the normal really-bad-smell or shrinking machine requirement). All I have to do is make reservations at that dasparkhotel and get to Linz, Austria.

Each room at the DasParkHotel is made from a section of really big cement tube (which they call “sleep-pipes” on their website). For comfort, a bed and side table are built into each tube. Additionally, the tube-room features electricity, a light, blankets, and cotton sleeping sacs. The round shape of the room also allows ample room to store stuff under the bed.

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New Zealand’s southern island is know for being an area of intense rugged natural beauty that is inhabited by actually penguins and fictional hobbits. While it is obvious how one should deal with fictional hobbits (make a movie) it is sometimes difficult to figure out how to deal with rugged natural beauty. Here is a quick look at some of the approaches made by the people of Dunedin in recent history.

Keep it & Build an Awesome Utopia

Some time around 1848 the Free Church of Scotland became overwhelmed by the feeling that Edinburgh, Scotland was WAY too cool of a place not to have a more utopia version in New Zealand. So, they founded Dunedin.

They chose a site of exquisite rugged natural beauty that was close to a good natural harbor and a peninsula inhabited by penguins It seemed almost impossible for such a wonderful place not to be a utopia. Hell, they even showed their great respect for Edinburgh by basing the name of the town on the Gaelic word for Edinburgh, Dùn ÈidÈideann.

Dig up and Sell the Shinny parts (aka “you sat on my utopia!”)

Not everyone agreed that the rugged natural beauty of the area was best utilized as a backdrop for a utopia that really liked Edinburgh. Read the rest of this entry »

1) Cutlasses were used here

This town has a rich history of pirate-era weaponry use. Mostly because it was an important Spanish treasure port during the pirate-era. In fact, that is really what put Portobelo on the map.

Every once and a while a bunch of Spanish would get together in the town, load an incredible amount of sliver on a bunch of boats, and decided to make a booze run to Spain.

2) Henry Morgan & A Can of Atrocity

Pissed that the Spanish were not buying his preferred brand of rum, Captain Henry Morgan attacked the town in 1668. He lead a band of 450 “defenders of rum’s honor” against the heavily fortified settlement. The dude actually pulled in off. He then spent 14 days committing atrocities.

Henry Morgan’s raid went down in history as one of the most successful and “I’m soooo glad I wasn’t there” pirate raids. The legend of Henry Morgan’s conquest was later heightened when Morgan scandalized the pirate world by admitting that he had plundered while drunk.
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Creative Commons picture by m.bjerke.

Despite the fact that it is a “neat” place where women have had the right to vote 27 years longer than they have in the United States, New Zealand was not noticed by many people until recently. After all, it is really far away.

The discovery of New Zealand’s rich natural deposits of extreme sports videos and fuzzy fruit have changed all that. Now they are the source of about a quarter of the world’s supply of kiwi fruit. This fruit has become so important to the United States that there are rumors the US government may try to liberate the country from its cruel oppressors in order to stabilize the fuzzy fruit market.
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