Drive Through Church

Orlando, Flordia

Daytona Beach Disciples of Christ
3140 South Atlantic Avenue, Daytona Beach Shores, FL 32118 MAP

At the Daytona Drive in Church, in Florida, Christians don't even have to get out of the car. Reverend Larry G. Deitch delivers a sermon from a balcony to the church goers at the parking lot.

This drive-in Christian Church is a converted drive-in movie theatre in Daytona Beach. The minister delivers his message from a high balcony just below where the movie screen once hung.
According to National Catholic Reporter, the congregation attracts an average of 700 people every week. To hear the service, worshipers must tune 88.5 FM.

Covered Bridges

China

Chengyang Bridge (Wind and Rain Bridge)
The wind and rain bridges were a type of bridge built by the Dong people (a minority ethnic group) in China. Because they live in the lowlands and the valleys with many rivers, the Dong people are excellent bridge builders. They are called "wind and rain" bridges because the covered bridges not only let people cross the river, but also protect them from the elements.
The Dong people don’t use nails or rivets to build these bridges - instead, they dovetail all of the wood. The largest and most magnificent is the Chenyang Bridge, spanning the Linxi River near the Dong village of Maan. The bridge is about 100 years old, and like all wind and rain bridges, it was built without a single nail.

Chengyang Wind and Rain Bridge, also called Yongji Bridge or Panlong Bridge, spans the Linxi River of Sanjiang County. Built in 1916, it is 64.4 meters (73.43 yards) long, 3.4 metes (3.72 yards) wide and 10.6 meters (34.78 feet) high. Constructed with wood and stones, the surface of the bridge is paved with wooden boards and both sides are inlayed with railings. On the bridge itself, there are five tower-like kiosks with 'horns' and eaves which resemble the flapping wings of birds.

Walking out onto the bridge, you can sit on the bench and appreciate the picturesque scenery. Looking far ahead, you will be intoxicated with what you see: the Linxi River meandering from the horizon; tea trees growing on the hills; local peasants working hard in the fields; and waterwheels turning, sending water cascading down the river.

Dong stockade village near Chengyang Wind and Rain BridgeMany visitors like to spend time here enjoying the perfect pastoral life and to experience the customs of the Dong people. There are eight famous stockade villages here that offer a peek into the Dong's life and customs. They are Ma'an, Pingzhai, Yanzhai, Chengyang-Dazhai, Pingpu, Pingtan, Jichang and Guandong.

Accommodation: Near the bridge, there are several hostels. If you want to have a spectacular view of the charming scenery, you may want to stay in the Drum Tower Folk Hostel built on the hill.

Badminton Meals

Los Angeles, CA

Bebe’s Cafe
Olympic Training Town, 1432 N Main St, Orange, CA MAP
(714) 639-5400



The sport may be understated, but badminton has a heck of a following in this town. The sport's Olympians train at the Orange County Badminton Club, a 77,000-square-foot building that manages to combine Thai food, lobster tails, state-of-the-art facilities and a catalog-printing center.


If you've ever wanted to know who won the 1982 Orange County Open, here is your chance to peruse. Also, if a tourney is going on, connecting windows allow you to "eat and watch." While the Thai Fusion menu is limited and taste/quality isn’t great, it’s said to be good, and with good atmosphere… especially if there’s a tournament.

Murphy Mail

Say you’re on travel and you forgot to bring along your critical file. What to do? You have several options (virtual desktop, remote desktop, call someone, etc). Now we have another option. Murphy Mail!

With Murphy Mail you just email your home computer the path and filename to what you want, and it will generate a respond email with the attached file. Wahoo! Granted it needs your home computer to be on… or periodically unsleep itself to run a few rule macros, but it's a quite fascinating option.

Murphy Mail requires use of Mail.app and works only with Macs email client.

However, Windows users can use Shantz Macro for outlook to accomplish the same thing.

Geeky Applications:

• Great way for remote desktop access from anything Internet enabled
• Easily configurable to plant on a friends computer to send pre-form emails at your will, or even execute programs
  

Pros:

• Never really have to remember to bring files along

Cons:

• Requires computer to be on and you to remember paths and filenames
• Very limited functionality when compared to other full featured remote-desktop options
  

I believe both of these could be made much cooler if they exploited the "wake on LAN" feature through a ping to the IP address. And then allowed you to get some DOS-esque directory search features because who actually remembers directory/filename info?

Living on the edge

Victoria Falls
Livinstone (Maramba), Zambia

General Overview
Nature is particularly boring, but danger is not. Victoria Falls sits between Zambia and Zimbabwe, which makes it quite adventures to get to in the first place. But once you’re there, you can be immerse yourself in a amazing sight, twice as tall as Niagara Falls and several times longer.

But sheer size and volume of rushing water isn’t enough to draw attention, no. Between September and December (low water levels) you can swim to the edge of the world, and wade about in Devils Pool, a reasonably current free natural pool close enough to the edge to hang yourself over. Surprisingly dangerous yet safe enough kids regularly wade through.

My Opinion:
I hear touring Africa only costs about $10/day. If I could get myself to the continent, I’d certainly mock death.

Readers Opinons:

I really haz can cheezburger

I’m not sure how to classify this. Is it a travel gadget or a travel tool or a tip? Whatever it is, yes, it really is a cheeseburger in a can! It defies categorization. And I am simply stunned at how good that burger looks when it comes straight out of a can.

I can’t figure out how I’m supposed to feel about this thing: Are we witnessing the downfall of humanity or its crowning achievement? I do believe it indicates that we are in the future.

Now 4 Euro does seem an awful lot to pay for a burger, but that’s only because of an unfavorable exchange rate. That said, the cheeseburger-in-a-can comes from Trekking-Mahlzeiten, a an 80 year old company that, ironically, provides food to Special Ops, extreme adventure athletes, and international relief organizations.

In any case, a guy online bought one and ate it to appease mass curiosity. His verdict:
“I'm not sick and I say I would eat this thing again if it weren't so expensive.
And I really must say that this probably is faaaar better when you're many kilometers away from civilization on top of some mountain and you can whip out a cheeseburger with nearly the same quality as a McDonald's cheeseburger while your friend eats dry bread or power bars.”

Keep in mind you're not supposed to look inside a McDonald's burger either

Overall the opinion was that the bottom bun was a little soggy, probably due to a cooking error, and that the overall taste was a little bland. He cooked it in a boiling pot of water for about 10 minutes, popped the top and munched away. Pretty straight forward instructions… and you could add a little class and celebration by reconstituting some dehydrated red wine!



The future ROCKS!

Treehouse

San Francisco, CA

Blackthorne Inn
266 Vallejo Avenue, Inverness, California 94937 MAP
(415) 663-8621

General Overview:
From what I gather, Blackthorne Inn is probably the closest thing to being in Myst I’ll probably get to experience. While there are several themed rooms available, the one I’m focused on here is the Eagles Nest.


Blackthorne itself is a rustic bed and breakfast, designed much like a giant elegant treehouse. I don’t have much specific to say other than that. The Eagles Nest is a quaint octagonal room, accessible by catwalk, with a private hot tub, nestled at treetop height for unobstructed views of the trees, the moon, and other things nature. It strikes me as being very surreal in the proper weather and company.


My opinion:
It seems more a novelty, but I don't have California money or expectations.

Readers Opinions: