Here is an interesting video for the end of the week, brought to us from Off The Map Tours. They also do motorcycle, train, horseriding, camel and walking tours, together with many cultural tours. The soundtrack is hypnotic.
Rebecca Campbell has taken off from London's Heathrow for Singapore, at the start of the Skype Nomad challenge to travel non-stop around the World.
And by non-stop, they mean non-stop, continually moving for over 33 days; eating and sleeping while on the move. The additional twist is to use as many different forms of transport as possible, from jumbo jets to dog sleds, canoes to camels and in James Bond style, to include sky diving and revolving restaurants.
Take a look at the proposed route in this short video.
The project will demonstrate how easy it is to keep in touch using the Skype range of products, even when on the move, and is also taking the opportunity to raise awareness for the charity called Motivation, who help disabled people in poor countries to get mobile.
Further to Monday's post about European Cultural Routes, here is a nice slide show of the botanical garden of Villa Hanbury in Ventimiglia, Liguria, Italy, posted by fraste2. The garden was created by Sir Thomas Hanbury, who later donated land that was to become Wisley Gardens, the showpiece of the UK's Royal Horticultural Society.
Liguria is a great, unspoilt, region of Italy, check out Walking Liguria featured in our guide.
Here's a short video, showing some of the more spectacular kites at last years kite festival in Berck sur Mer. Thanks to Erich Schlaikjer, who captured this footage while camping around France with his family during the 2007 Easter weekend.
Found this video on YouTube. It documents a scuba diving expedition off the south west coast of England by Guildford Sub-Aqua Club, aboard Furious out of Plymouth, Devon. Thanks to Uncie for posting this one.
A short tour of Budapest provided by Gabrilu (gabrilu06)to a Brahms soundtrack. It includes shots of the Great Synagogue, Elizabeth bridge, Heroes Square and the Museum of Applied Arts.
The Cornish are a fiecely patriotic people and they certainly do not consider themselves to be English. With Celtic blood running through their veins, they keep alive many pagan traditions.
Every year on the 8 May, the small town of Helston, Cornwall, UK, celebrates one such traddition, welcoming the return of spring. For hundeds of years, revellers dance from dawn to dusk, in what is known as the Furry Dance, Probably better known to people outside Cornwall as the Cornish Floral Dance.
Zooidpix, who posted this video, informs us that "Throughout the Flora Day, the population perform the Furry (or Faddy) Dance in long procession through the banks, shops, houses and streets, all decorated with greenery and flowers, following the town silver and brass band as they endlessly repeat their unique, mesmerising tune from 7am to about 7pm when the final dance ends."
To get you in the mood for next week's sessions, here is a great jam of that tradional standard, Irish Rover, performed 21 years ago by The Dubliners and The Pogues. I am sure that on the 17th, you will hear this tall tale sung several times from every Irish bar in the world; in case you don't know the words, they are reproduced below but after a glass or two of the black stuff, no one will be too concerned about what order they are sung in!
On the Fourth of July, 1806 We set sail from the sweet Cobh of Cork We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks For the Grand City Hall in New York 'Twas a wonderful craft She was rigged fore and aft And oh, how the wild wind drove her She stood several blasts She had twenty seven masts And they called her The Irish Rover
We had one million bags of the best Sligo rags We had two million barrels of bones We had three million sides of old blind horses' hides We had four million barrels of stones We had five million hogs And six million dogs Seven million barrels of porter We had eight million bales of old nanny goats' tails In the hold of the Irish Rover
There was awl Mickey Coote Who played hard on his flute And the ladies lined up for a set He would tootle with skill For each sparkling quadrille Though the dancers were fluther'd and bet With his smart witty talk He was cock of the walk As he rolled the dames under and over They all knew at a glance When he took up his stance That he sailed in The Irish Rover
There was Barney McGee From the banks of the Lee There was Hogan from County Tyrone There was Johnny McGurk Who was scared stiff of work And a man from Westmeath called Malone There was Slugger O'Toole Who was drunk as a rule And Fighting Bill Tracy from Dover And your man, Mick McCann From the banks of the Bann Was the skipper of the Irish Rover
For a sailor its' always a bother in life It's so lonesome by night and by day That he longs for the shore and a charming young whore Who will melt all his troubles away Oh, the noise and the rout Swillin' poiteen and stout For him soon the torment's over Of the love of a maid he is never afraid An old salt from the Irish Rover
We had sailed seven years When the measles broke out And the ship lost its way in the fog And that whale of a crew Was reduced down to two Just myself and the Captain's old dog Then the ship struck a rock Oh Lord! what a shock The bulkhead was turned right over Turned nine times around And the poor old dog was drowned (1,2,3!) I'm the last of The Irish Rover.
I have made several posts recently about whales, turtles and Hawaii, so my attention was caught by a report in TimesOnline. It tells of two kayakers who got more than they bargained for on a trip to spot sea turtles off the Hawaiian island of Maui, apparantly they inadvertently disturbed an anxious female humpback whale, who breached out of the water to warn them off and protect her young.
The report has some good information about the humpback whale breeding grounds between the Hawaiian islands and some nice pictures of the close encounter between the kayakers and the whale. It reminded me of a short video that I posted a couple of years ago, Interesting Kayaking Experience.
At a National Geographic Live Speakers Series event, to be held on Thursday at the State Theatre in Minneapolis, USA, Greg Marshall is to talk about the small video cameras that he has spent the past 20 years attaching to animals. The animals range from whales, dolphins and penguins, to wild lions and domestic house cats. The video cameras have been nicknamed Crittercams and they have provided tremendous insight into the hidden life of numerous animals, providing scientists with unique footage of what the animals see as they go about their lives.
Read More about Crittercams and Greg Marshall, including some nice pictures, in an article by Richard Chin, Pioneer Press.
This delightful video of green sea turtles, with which we can wind down at the end of the week, has been provided by Jason (wreathian) who shot it while scuba diving off the eastern coast of Oahu, Hawaii. The area is known to the locals as Hawaii Kai and Jason says that although it is not a particularly great area for diving, it boasts several 'cleaning stations' where green sea turtles come to have their shells tidied up by shrimp and other small fish.
No soundtrack but wonderfully relaxing to watch these beautiful creatures in their own environment.
Take a look at this interesting video clip, posted by bennihana79, showing the centuries old sport of camel racing in Abu Dhabi.
Since 2005, the sport has a modern twist and uses small radio-controlled robot jockeys. The robots have replaced the small children who traditionally rode the camels as they raced at up to 30km/h; that's a long way down at that speed and has to rate as an extreme sport! I like the 4x4s racing around the track to keep up with the camels. And what's the deal with the two guys who decided to give their camel a head start?
I came across this video taken last year by Judith Porter, on a short trip to Timbuktu. It was posted by Jerry (imgip) on YouTube and he has several other videos shot in the region.
It's going to be a busy weekend with all the Mardi Gras festivals getting underway, so here is an early posting of the end of week video; to add to the fun, I might even post a festival video later.
The video is a nice taster of life aboard the tall ships, posted by Tory Salvia, who is President/Founder of TheSailingChannel.tv and features crew-members of the Tall Ship Prince William, which is operated by the Tall Ships Youth Trust.
The UK's Big Garden Birdwatch Saturday 26 or Sunday 27 January 2008 and is the world's biggest bird survey, so when looking for a suitable end of week video theme, there really wasn't any competition for this weekend.
Thanks to Frank of the TheZanyFilmCompany for providing this week's wonderful video photo-gallery showing 25 of the birds that Brits might expect to see in their gardens (yards) and parks. Last year a staggering 400,000 people took part in the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch by counting 6 million birds in 236,000 gardens. This year it is thought that there might be over half a million participants. Frank's video is accompanied by the relaxing concerto for pinaforte & orchestra KV466 Allegro by W.A.Mozart; conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler, Yvonne Lefebure piano.
Taking part in the Big Garden Birdwatch is simple. All that participants need to do is to watch their garden or local park for just one hour, at any time on either Saturday 26 or Sunday 27 January 2008, recording the highest number of each species seen (not counting those flying over) at any one time. Only the maximum number of each species seen at any one time, is recorded, because then the same bird cannot be counted more than once.
The RSPB counting sheet can be used to help keep track of how many birds have been seen. The sheet has pictures of the most common birds seen in British gardens and spaces to tick off how many of each species are seen together. Don't send the counting sheet back to the RSPB, it is just to help participants record their counts, from 26 January 2008 enter the counts online, using a simple results form.
To download the recording sheet, you need Adobe Reader version 4 or higher. This software is safe, easy to instal and available free from the Adobe website so, if you don't have it on your computer already, just download a copy now.
In this video clip posted by therion616, an advanced Qigong master in China projects his chi energy through people.
If you think that was awesome but wonder how genuine it is, take a look at this second video of the same master, which appears to have been taken some years earlier.
Further to Tuesday's post about Sunway Lagoon, this video clip from a coup;e of years ago, gives the flavour of the Quiksilver Surf Beach Party at Sunway Lagoon Resort.
Speed skating with a few bumps, twists and hairpin turns at the bottom of steep inclines. A measured cocktail to make sure participants are shaken and not a little stirred by the time they reach the end of the track. Enjoy this video clip, posted by rouizz, of last year's Red Bull Crashed Ice event in Quebec City.
Thanks to Rick & Dolly for making this atmospheric video available of the New Year celebrations at Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Jump seven waves and make seven wishes. Happy New Year to you all.
I want to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, so I thought that a seasonal end of week video would be a good idea. There are many Christmas songs, some have a message, some make you think, this song from Slade just makes you want to party.
Merry Xmas everyone and thanks to Maribel for taking the trouble to post the video. Have fun.
Today's end of week videos feature one of the most arduous, fun-packed adventure races on the planet. The Drambuie Pursuit is inspired by the legendary chase of an escaping Scottish prince across Scotland but brought into the 21st century with powerboats, Zapcats, Rage buggies, mountain bikes, archery, rock climbing and abseiling.
That first cool video was from racer dadhemar and this second video is a promo from drambuiepursuit.
Think you could cope with the challenge of this not-for-the-squeamish cross country dash? If you're interested in entering, you're over 18 years of age and have what it takes to impress, they invite you to visit the official pursuit site for registration forms and full details.
I came across this incredible video of whales, dolphins and other marine creatures, such as sea horses. The footage was taken by Dieter Paulmann who was inspired by a chance encounter with a huge white whale, which seemed to be Moby Dick; the encounter left him impressed and deeply touched.
You can see the result when you view the video on whalefootage.org. I am sure that it will also leave you feeling impressed and deeply touched, and with a strong desire to protect the environment, the sea and the whales.
With Malaysia celebrating 50 years of nationhood in 2007, their ministry of tourism came up with a great promotional video to promote Malaysia to the world. Not convinced that the backing track will get many plays but Malaysia has a wonderful Asian culture and history, well worthy of a visit.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is again sailing to the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary to save Humpback, Fin and Minke whales from Japanese whalers.
It appears that some of the recent media coverage has been misleading. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society reports that it does not use violence and never has used violence and is not threatening violence. Apparently, in a ramming incident last year, it was a Japanese whaling ship that rammed the Sea Shepherd ship.
The Japanese will only be stopped by economic and social pressure. Copy this post and send it to a few friends, telling them what you think of the Japanese whalers. Let's use the power of bloggers to let the Japanese know what the world thinks about a country that allows its countrymen to engage in whaling.
Worldiki is reckoned to be the first travelog in the world to chronicle the round-the-world adventures of two geeks who intend to keep up their careers while going anywhere they want. Showing how it is to be working on their businesses from anywhere in the world.
Pedro Pla and Grace Cheng aim to screen a short video clip as frequently as possible, featuring the different places, experiences, and people that they meet along the way. Making life a holiday and documenting it.
I was thinking about the upcoming Christkindlmarkt season in Europe, when I happened upon a short video from Alfredo (Aiellici) of the annual Christkindlmarkt in Bolzano, Italy; just a few weeks away now.
The Bolzano Christkindlmarkt takes place every year from the last Friday of November to 23rd December in Bolzano's Walther Square. There is a smaller Christmas market called 'Winterwald' (Winter wood), which takes place near Walther square in Palais Campofranco's yard and the 'Handwerksmarkt' in the Municipal square and the Christmas market of solidarity in some streets of the historical centre, creating a very Alpine atmosphere.
This video has been posted by Jampa, a Dutch Buddhist in the Tibetan tradition, who suggests that inner peace is the most solid foundation for world peace. His blog contains a thought provoking and interesting article by Claudia Sobrevila on Environmental Healing and World Peace.
Here's a video to give you a taste of what to expect on Saturday, when the world record attempt for simultaneous dancing occurs.
It shows 1,500 plus CPDRC inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines at practice! Byronfgarcia, who posted the video, comments that this is not the final routine, and definitely not a punishment! just a teaser.
Following on from Tuesday's post, today's end of week video just has to be this clip from Jobunltd about Nuna 3, the 2005 winner of the World Solar Challenge from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. This team also won the 2001 and 2003 events, so there was quite a bit of enthusiastic celebration at the finish and I guess that you should be warned that this includes a group mooning; I thought that mooning was quite an amusing thing to do at a solar event, kind of eclipsed everything else.
Today we take a look at the charms of Nova Scotia, or more specifically Yarmouth, courtesy of the Yarmouth Marketing Group with a video created by Sue Hutchins of Chebogue Point Productions.
The Green Race Movie tells the story of an annual world-class whitewater race that takes place near Saluda, North Carolina. It captures the grace and excitement of class V+ kayaking and the unique character of the Green Race, which draws kayaking's top athletes from around the world.
This extreme downriver race, is held on the first Saturday in November, on the Class V rapids of the Green River; regarded in kayaking circles to be the most extreme of extreme downriver races in the world. More.
Following yesterday's post about the Floriade in Canberra, I was looking for an end of week video full of Australian sunshine but then I stumbled upon this great time-lapse footage of the Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights photographed and edited by Anthony (Antz) Powell.
The Southern Lights are the Southern Hemisphere equivalent of the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights and they were filmed during the Antarctic winter in the general vicinity of McMurdo Station and Scott Base, where the sun is below the horizon for 4 months of the year; that's one long night. To give you an idea of how much the light shows were moving in real time, most of the shots were taken over about a 10 minute period.
Antz has spent many years compiling fantastic time-lapse video in Antarctica and is producing a film 'Antarctica Time Lapse: A Year on Ice' about this incredible landscape.
Steve, aka Wildmofo1969, has posted this smattering of bikes and ongoings at Biketoberfest, Daytona Beach, Florida, last year. Very atmospheric, it comes complete with a background soundtrack of throbbing V-twins.
A video from Charliechicpea (part 3 in a series) of this summer's Velocette Motorcycle Owners Club Rally at Stanford Hall, Lutterworth, Leicestershire, England. Velocette has been described as one of the most beautiful hand built motorcycles ever made and a 350cc MkVIII Velocette was the machine rode by Bob Foster in 1950, when he was crowned world champion.
The Dorset branch of the UK Velocette Owners Club, will be holding its annual charity bike run, the Bob Foster Run on 7 October, 2007.
Today's end of week video has been especially chosen for all you rail and steam enthusiasts. It is a rail journey on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, posted by David and it even features a cameo appearance by Thomas the Tank Engine. The North Yorkshire Moors Heritage Railway runs through the heart of England's North Yorkshire Moors National Park, between Pickering, a busy market town and Grosmont, a genuine 1950s railway junction where you can take a break in the station cafe, visit the engine sheds and view steam locomotives under restoration. On route, trains call at Goathland village, which is the setting for the television series, Heartbeat and Levisham, which is known for a beautiful forest drive and walking trails.
Different timetables operate throughout the year but on many days it is possible to get a connection to the historic port of Whitby. there is a full autumn program in place and they are already taking bookings for 'Santa Specials'. Enthusiast may be interested to know that the North Yorkshire Moors Railway Heritage Society also run various 'Footplate Courses'.
This video runs for nearly eight minutes, so on a slow connection you may need to click play and then leave it to download for ten minutes before clicking replay, in order to obtain uninterrupted viewing.
Warning: make sure your exit is clear before viewing this end of week video because it is sure to make you Wetassers want to pack up work early on Friday. Thanks to Derek (derekpaddlers) for providing a video of the 17km Simon's Town Sea Kayak club trip from Buffels Bay near Cape Point to Simon's Town, South Africa.
The National Geographic World Championship is an international student competition held every two years and this year, the event, which was held at SeaWorld San Diego, has been won by Mexico who defeated defending champions USA. Canada took third place, finishing ahead of the other teams from Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Chinese Taipei, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore and United Kingdom.
The winning question was: "What historic site was carved from sandstone in about 1200 B.C.? This site includes two huge temples and statues of an ancient ruler." Mexico correctly answered, "Abu Simbel."
Here is a video clip of Mexico answering the winning question, courtesy of National Geographic, who organized the competition that was sponsored by SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Adventure Parks.
Everyone likes swings, right? However, as you might have guessed, Canyon Swings are just a little bit bigger than your average garden swing and now someone plans to build a monster. Big Daddy Adventures Ltd are to build a 200m high and 1000m long Canyon Swing at John Bull Creek, near Tarras, Otago, New Zealand. Currently, the world's highest swing is also in Otago, it is the Shotover Canyon Swing at Queenstown. This swing is only half the height of the proposed John Bull Creek swing, but sitting 109m (360ft) above the Shotover River participant can reach speeds of nearly 150kph (that's about 90mph). Co-owner Hamish Emerson said with a mischievous grin, "The greater the initial terror, the feeling you're going to hit the dirt, the greater the resultant joy when you realise you're going to make it after all!"
Set up a hairdryer to blow your hair, put on some soiled underpants and this end of week video from adamdpage, taken on the Shotover Canyon Swing, should give you a fair idea of what it is like to ride a Canyon Swing.
La Tomatina is a week long festival of music, parades, dancing, cooking and fireworks, held in the town of Buñol, Valencia, Spain, but best known for its famous food fight festival when 30,000 revellers from all over the world hurl more than one hundred metric tons of over-ripe tomatoes at each other.
The food fight usually occurs on the last Wednesday of August and this year the Tomatina is to be celebrated on the 29 of August 2007. Enjoy the flavour of last year's Tomatina with this video posted by DijitalJB.
This, my Blogosphere chums is the 400th posting of "Tales from here and there about this and that". I wrote the first post back in April 2004 but in those days only posted once a week; now, posts are made every day so we will probably be celebrating our 500th in the fall.
Of course the other blogs combine to keep me pretty busy and spending as much time at the desk as I do, my interest was immediately captured recently by an article in Canada.com, from Chris Zdeb of The Edmonton Journal, describing how "In less time than it takes to break for coffee, desk jockeys can relax and relieve stress". He carefully notes that "seeing you prone on your desktop could cause a bit of a flap at the office", advising would be participants to pre-warn the boss of their intentions and goes on to discuss a series of instructional Yoga videos produced by the Alberta Centre for Active Living.
The Yoga instructor on the videos is Marcia Langenberg and you can download the videos for free. Excuse me now, while I go and get creative.
If you want to learn a bit more about Yoga, browse our listings for Yoga Holidays.
I was looking for a video to give a feel for the atmosphere surrounding the Edinburgh Festival and came across this fantastic clip from lurkyblix of Clann an Drumma at last year's festival, giving an open air performance just off Princes Street. Absolutely awesome sound. The video comes complete with a lady who is so engrossed in the music that she parks herself straight in front of the camera, and a nice little shot of a youngster dancing in the street.
Apparently the band split and four of them formed a new group called Albannach, with two new percussionists. They are phenomenal and I will be posting a video of them on The Sessions.
A new video file sharing website for bird-watching enthusiasts has just been launched. BirdCinema.com is dedicated to video clips of birds.
There are videos of Nashville and Tennessee Warblers, bathing in a garden pond during spring migration, videos of Bald Eagles, Cranes and Humming Birds, to name just a few. The site has the ambitious goal, to obtain video footage of every species in the world
If you enjoy bird watching and are interested in finding a Birdwatching Holidays, you will be spoilt for choice with our extensive listings.
Today we have two end of week videos to put you in the mood for the weekend. As reported in our blogs, Beyond Borders and The Beach, the World's top surfers have been playing in the waves at Ex-Isla Alacran, Chile and the first video, posted by ironnnyandnicemaide, shows the many interesting activities and wonderful scenery available in the Pucon region.
Pucon is a small city located on lake Villarrica, at the foot of Mount Villarrica, a live volcano. It is near to two national parks and a large ski resort; quite a playground.
The second video, posted by aguscanal, shows snowmobile (Skidoo) tours in the Pucon Volcanic Caves Park.
Here is an idyllic scene to remove end of week stress. It is a video of a wildflower meadow in Londonthorpe Wood, nr. Grantham, Lincolnshire, U.K., taken just a few days ago and posted by 'VideoPostcards'. Summer came early to the UK this year and poppies are in full bloom.
Londonthorpe Wood is part of the Woodland Trust, which aims to conserve, restore and re-establish UK woodlands. A woodland is an area of land covered by trees and shrubs but generally regarded as smaller than a forest; woods are characterised by more glades and open grassland. At present, The Woodland Trust cares for over 1,000 woods, each with free public access. You can search for woods in a particular area using the Woodland Trust website.
Currently, the world's highest swing is also in Otago, it is the