Tim Leffel of Tim’s Cheap Travel Guide has an excellent analysis of the hypocrisies and conflicts associated with “Green Travel.”  He referenced my October “Blog Action Day” post in which I concluded that your overall COLLECTIVE decisions are what make you green.  Not feel good slick marketed reactions like carbon offsets.

He explores the nonsense of carbon offsets and why magazines even bother publishing puff “green issues” when most of their sponsors are luxury waste emitting products.

TSA Wants More of You.   Great.   Do they need to know my favorite sexual positions too?

WASHINGTON — A government proposal to start collecting birth dates and genders of people reserving airline flights is drawing protests from major airlines and travel agencies that say it would be invasive, confusing and “useless.”
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) wants passengers to give the additional personal information — as well as their full names — so it can do more precise background checks that it says will result in fewer travelers being mistaken for terrorists. Travelers currently must provide only a last name and a first initial.

Over Thanksgiving weekend I discovered Patrick Smith’s Salon column “Ask a Pilot.”  This guy hates the A380, and is neurotic, nit-picking freak  - and I love it.  He takes on the media and society stereotypes of pilots, flying, and the internal logistics of air travel.

His travel journals are interwoven in many posts.   He also tells stories of pilot training, getting laid off after 9/11, and the life of an airline pilot.  Over a few days I read every single article and as a low time private pilot myself was completely captured by it.  His archives are at Salon.com

James Van Dellen

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I posted my comments on Rick Seaney’s Fare Compare blog after reading his “Top Ten Insider Secrets” linked from The Consumerist.   I didn’t find this basic list of rehashed (but good) ideas worth the trumped up label of profound and enlightening.   Furthermore, a couple of points I flat out disagreed with, such as his advice on bereavement fares.

Aside from my annoyance at number 10 - “only use Farecompare.com”   (yes I understand his blog is an extension of his company, but it’s a disservice to say you ONLY need one search site,)  I was also surprised that Rick was bamboozled by the “highway express lanes,”  and enthusiastically prompted GW to keep these nonsensical “lanes” always open.  Fortunately some air traffic controllers posted the same immediate response I had:   That this is just a snow job resulting in nothing.

Anyway I won’t keep bagging on Rick Seaney.  His site is popular, he certainly is an expert on price, however I find his other posts to be unoriginal, simplistic, and reactionary.  Agree to disagree.

His 2nd “Top Ten Secrets” point got me thinking about price.  I post random travel articles that interest me, but I only briefly mention or dwell on price.  Why?  Because unless a really killer deal comes along the price doesn’t matter.  It’s always subjective.  We all like to save money - but we all have different income levels and criteria of what we’re willing to spend.  What’s inexpensive for me may not be for you.  The majority of internet savvy people already know how to search kayak.com or farecompare.com    They know the best days to fly, or which airports are fortress hubs and which small markets have a low cost carrier.   Even the most web illiterate person can search out criteria netting them a cheap fare.  

That’s the problem though:  Cheap Fares.  When purchasing airfares the public descends on low fares like Target on Black Friday.   The fact is people insist on scraping up the absolute cheapest fares - then complain when the inevitable consequences arise.   Cheap fares OFTEN result in bad service and a low priority level.   And when people have a bad experience flying they complain, whine, and write letters about airline service - but when it comes time to purchase a ticket they’ll still acquiesce and fly whichever airline or fare is cheapest.

If you’re hiring someone to re-roof your house or drywall your basement should you take the lowest bid?  Probably not.  Would you pay bottom of the barrel rates for car insurance?  Not a good idea.   Then why pay it for transportation?   Reducing the fraction:  I can take the bus from my home downtown to my suburban office park for $1.50, which entails a transfer and an hour plus jaunt snaking down congested busy streets.  Or I can pay $1.25 more and take the train -  making my commute a quick 40 minutes trip.

Sometimes it’s better to pay MORE for your airfare for reasons of convenience and better treatment.  If I’m visiting a city in Europe for less than seven or eight days you can bet I’ll pay $100 more to fly non-stop and avoid an east coast or Chicago connection, where I could potentially lose an entire day if delayed.   If I’m flying to southern California I might pay $45 more and fly to Burbank rather than LAX.   If I have contingencies in my schedule I might pay MORE to fly a carrier with six flights a day to my destination city, rather than one - allowing me to grab an earlier or later flight.   (Yeah they’ll probably be sold out anyway.)

Users of Priceline.com get low prices, but they’re relegated to a level lower than plankton when it comes to rescheduling cancellations and aircraft changes.   For $35 more I might buy my ticket through the airline’s web site, plug in my miles number and move up a few notches - even flying economy.

The example of all examples comes from Columbus based Skybus:  The Columbus Dispatch  tells the story of Don Dennis and friends, who paid LESS THAN $50 dollars for their round trip tickets to Bellingham, Washington.   They planned a ski trip, rented a car, were booking a condo, then Skybus announced they’re pulling out of the Bellingham market as of January.   Poof. Vacation evaporates.

Needless to say they’re pissed.   But wait a minute:  Their outbound flight was TEN DOLLARS.  That’s cheaper than Arby’s en route TO the airport.  You SHOULD expect the same service and standard regardless of price - but the reality is it doesn’t happen. Boycott-skybus.com contains more tales of angry would be passengers. 

I might consider flying Skybus or any Barely-Air airline to go visit friends some weekend.  But I would never rely on them to attend a job interview or wedding.  Or a ski trip with friends.

Granted most of my trips or solo or with one other person, so I realize a higher (more convenient,)  airfare can be cost prohibitive to larger families.  Yet I think everyone should examine their options in detail before snatching up the price grabber specials.  You wouldn’t buy the cheapest car or TV available.  Treat airfare purchases like any other consumer product.  Cheap has it’s consequences.

Now.  How to I get to L.A. in a few weeks for under $150?  Rick I’m back on farecompare.

Skybus photo from Airlines.net   by James Van Dellen and Caleb Cross

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Featured on the Consumerist, SF Gate’s Mark Morford dreams about a world where these people might one-day might wake from their zombie like comas.  Perhaps Mark is THE ONE.  SF Gate Article.

I don’t even know what Kohl’s is. I’m guessing some sort of mass-crap superstore, like Best Buy or Target or T.J. Maxx or a weird amalgam of all of those and it doesn’t really matter because last Friday they opened at 4 a.m. for the mad rush of Black Friday shoppers, because if there’s one thing you want to do when your body is groggy and sleep tugs at your heart and your dreams have turned vacant and sad, it’s grope cheap waffle makers before sunrise.

CNN Explores “Eco Travel Lies” and whether “Green Travel” really is green.

Antarctica’s most detailed map ever thanks to satellite Landsat 7.  Check out the stunning video.

I’ve been reading the blog of Lindsay Beyerstein - a freelance journalist based in New York.   She’s astute, keen views, and has an interesting photostream.   I hope I run into her having coffee in N.Y. someday.

Blame the Chef for oversize portions?  No way.

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I read this KUSA article about local hooligans that slashed some inflatable Christmas flair and beat some plastic reindeer senseless.

Hammering the crap out of reindeer?  That’s not cool.   But here’s the stumper:   Is it really considered Scrooge like vandalism when someone deflates these hideous Christmas inflatables that laze around the front yards of mcmansions and bungalows alike?  Or is it more of a “community service” in making your neighborhood look somewhat attractive and presentable.

I comment frequently on our strange desire to buy and consume cheap plastic crap.  These things are above and beyond crap.  They’re just garbage.  And eight feel tall?  Why, why, why?   Shorter, but equally as crass is Santa lounging at the beach.

Jesus Christ.  Literally.  These aren’t pretty.  They aren’t interesting.  Why would you want your yard to look like a radio station promotion at a used car lot?

Growing up in Michigan a nearby neighborhood featured a “Christmas Card Lane.”  Every house used plywood, paint, and some lights to make a REASONABLE sized card in their front yard with a Christmas message.  Every year we’d pick up hot chocolate and slowly drive around their blocks.  Why made that special but inflatables crass?  The families on that block who created these displays worked together and actually put in family time and labor to make their creations.   They didn’t haul a monstrosity home from Wal-Mart, plug in the air pump and go watch TV.

Here’s an article from Gather.com about how to decorate without being over the top obscene.

James Van Dellen

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I didn’t realize this when writing my now annual bitch post about phone books, but the folks over at The Stranger, Seattle’s Weekly, were just as frustrated as myself a few months back when receiving their dollop of yellow bricks.  From writer Dan Savage:

The bang was so loud I nearly crapped my pants. More than a foot thick and tucked in a bag destined to live forever in a landfill, our new Dex phone books—all three of them!—landed on our porch shortly before dawn on a sunny summer morning.

It had been ages since I cracked open a phone book. Why would anyone use a phone book when Google can locate any number you need in .28 seconds or less?

This review prompted the same boilerplate response by Ken Clark as he posted yesterday morning on my site.  

Their solution to the phone book annoyance?  Return them.  As pictured left Dan Savage’s crew heaved pound upon pound of unwanted Dex phone books at their company doorstep. 

Now that we have our truckload here in Denver let’s do the same.  I’m ready.

Also - I never got an answer from Ken Clark on whether or not the “immediate disposal” factor is taken into consideration when hyping circulation numbers.   How can you honestly say you have “X” number of circulation - when as shown by Dan Savage, myself, and probably countless others who don’t waste time blogging about it -  that a substantial percentage of these books make a beeline for the dumpster without one page being opened.

If phone books were actually useful and relevant we would have “One Phone Book per Child,”  and not “One Laptop per Child.”

Meanwhile if you are interested in how phone book publishers, sellers, and marketers are desperately attempting to put food on their family visit YPtalk.com  The “voice” of the yellow pages industry, (ironically on the web,)  where you can read for yourself the obvious hilarity in such matters such as:

Why do customers cancel their advertising??? As sales people, we are competing with everyone who comes into that business selling something. We all know the advantages of Yellow Pages advertising. How can some customers not see the value of the product and want to cancel ads or even their whole program?

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First, I recognize the irony or offensiveness of highlighting a vegetarian restaurant following a post picturing a giant ham. But lovers of ham, steaks and meats can appreciate good vegan cooking right?

Saving the leftover ham for this week’s lunches we dined at Watercourse Foods Friday. Watercourse is one of the few vegetarian restaurants in Denver. Their original location on 13th Avenue still houses the Watercourse Bakery and the adjacent “City O’ City” coffee shop, but their location on 17th Street is an impressive and so far successful venture as a large, modern and happening, well-known establishment.

I’ve seen Watercourse and the multiple bikes out front when visiting JR’s or the gourmet food shop Marzyck’s - all located at 17th and Clarkson, but Friday was my first time inside. The Black Friday sales and fistfights must have been winding down early because at 11am I was surprised to find the place packed. We waited about 15 minutes and were soon seated.

Entering you find a coffee bar for folks who just want coffee, tea, muffins, or desserts. The large “L” shaped dining area is a brightly light and cheerful space colored in yellows, blues, and earth toned paintings. The interior was far larger than I expected.

Caleb had the Po Boy - a portobello mushroom sandwich with chipotle and coleslaw, and I had “The Dickens” - a romaine and leaf lettuce salad with seitan, onion rings, butternut squash, in maple dijon dressing. There’s a large selection of pasta dishes, and a full beer and wine menu.

The atmosphere was festive even on this overcast day. Although busy the staff was happy, cheerful, and gave us individual attention.  And even during the rush the owner Dan stopped by our table to chat and hear our opinions as first timers. If you’re in Denver and searching for a lively centrally located restaurant with good healthy food check them out. Like myself you don’t have to be a vegetarian to appreciate their fine offerings.

Menu and location at watercoursefoods.com

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As usual being days behind any event or blog post, a belated Happy Thanksgiving from the Futuregringo.com staff - meaning Caleb and I.

Not caring to gut and babysit a turkey all week long we made a honeyglazed ham for us and some friends - and enjoyed it with garlic mashed potatoes,  (don’t forget the dill,)  creamed spinach, carrots, Chilean red wine, and a decadent southern coconut chocolate peanut butter dessert made by Michael. (Who is from Alabama and an expert at southern desserts.)

Cheers to you and yours…

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Dear Dex Media, publisher of the “Yellow Book,”

Why are you still around? I considered this question last year when you left this dinosaur at my doorstop. I haven’t used a phone book since the 90s, and suspect many have dismissed them as well. Who would choose to page through this inky yellow mess when you can find a phone number, address, or business in seconds using Google or any other search variant - national or local. On the road? There’s Google Text, Google 411, and many others.

Point being anywhere a phone exists there’s most likely internet access or WiFi, making your product obsolete. Even in my office at work I don’t see phone books in cubicles or workstations anymore. They’re as useful and as relevant as cassette tape answering machines, VCRs, and Blockbuster Video.

Stop publishing these. It’s a waste of paper, and a waste of the plastic used to wrap them in. (Actually those make decent dog poop bags.) Also the only revenue these bring in - which is advertising, is sold under false pretenses. Just like magazines, phone book publishers base ad rates on circulation. So my handling of this book for five seconds between lifting it up, walking it to and heaving it into the recycle bin counts as an impression and/or user. Yeah right.

As with 90% of everything else I comment on I’m certainly no expert. So if you work for Dex, sell phone book ad space, or sell any other product that nobody uses - please comment and let me know how you’re able to put food on your family. I’m honestly curious.

Meanwhile if you’re not building a time capsule here is where to recycle your phone book. James Van Dellen

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I found these photos compelling in a sad way. One of my dreams in life is to one day take a cruise down the Antarctic Peninsula, and view up close the immense glaciers, wildlife (penguins of course,) and magnificent landscapes of the seventh continent.

These cruises depart from Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Argentina, and navigate the Drake Passage to the South Shetland Islands before paralleling the Antarctic Peninsula. Unlike regular “cruise” cruises these ships are smaller and you only travel with about 200 other people. Onboard these renovated Russian “Explorer” ships are scientists, wildlife experts, and those experienced in the region providing lectures and first hand information. Plus fine cooks and first class service.

Now there’s one less boat. This week the G.A.P. Adventure owned “Explorer” hit an iceberg and sank. Fortunately all 154 people transferred to a nearby vessel as this rusty looking but beautiful ship made it’s way to the sea floor. Even though the ship sank slowly, the images of people packing lifeboats in the frigid Drake Passage are stunning. Now they can truly say they are “Adventure Travelers,” and I’ll bet there’s one lady on board they named Molly Brown.

Perilous voyages aside this is still my dream trip - however it’s a bit above my level of budget travel. Every so often I do visit Abercrombie and Kent to check prices, read journals, and live the adventure, even if only for five minutes at work.

Images from The Sun. Check out the slideshow as well.

p.s. If anyone loves my blog enough to fund this trip - my Paypal account is currently accepting deposits. I think cyberbegging certainly would be more fiscally responsible than cashing out my 401k.

p.p.s I just read this after posting. If you’re looking for a great pun to make your friends groan the Sidney Morning Herald headlines “Chile Rescue After Tourists’ Ice Collision.“

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It’s no secret that I despise the culture of materialism, overconsumption, and wastefulness. So once again I shake my head at grown adults electing to spend their morning on the frigid side of an automatic door eagerly waiting as if Jesus himself might step out of Best Buy come 6am.

I took this photo last year when I did pop into Cherry Creek Mall on Black Friday. It just baffles me how much cheap plastic shit exists, and how people just lap it up. Rarely do I see quality merchandise available at a mall. It might be Norman Rockwellian to think of a grandfather hand carving a puzzle or game for his grandson 40 years ago, but I have that mental image when I see the amount of complete crap that’s available for purchase. Are you actually going to USE this “Shape Up” thing or whatever is pictured here? Why buy something for someone if you KNOW it will get five months of use, spend four years in the garage, and then be sold at a yard sale. Buy quality stuff, and you’ll buy it fewer times.

You can read up on the nonsense in the Rocky Mountain New’s Black Friday Blog. For today I’ll be participating in Buy Nothing Day, if only for my own convenience.

Speaking of newspaper blogs: Some of them are getting absurd. Each day the Rocky Mountain News features a list of stories where readers can discuss and comment on various articles (usually deteriorating into obscenities about immigration.) This is fine, I’ve like Mark Wolf’s list of selected articles, but as of late the daily blogs are becoming stuffed with mundane issues such as deals at various retailers and “how’s the weather today.” Basically back yard fence conversations having nothing to do with news. In a NEWSpaper. Unfortunately when you blog about nothing, it only turns into an exercise in the mundane wasting space and taking away from the real news that a NEWSpaper is supposed to offer. The Denver Post is doing the same. Wednesday’s front page blog was about going to the airport.

Yes, a diary of people going to the airport. Look - it’s Thanksgiving weekend. A lot of people are headed to the airport. It’s snowing lightly. This does not merit the coverage that a major snowstorm or massive freeway pile up would. Writing filler material like “no line getting coffee and muffins,” or “made it to gate A35 with a half hour to spare,” should remain in the blogosphere where titter users, photo bloggers, and the masses of bloggers like myself can write and read each others ramblings. They should NOT be front page of the city’s two largest newspapers.

Also the Denver Post features a “neighbors” section where people just like myself can post articles about all things important to them. Some of these article headlines are directly on the front page and until I actually open the article and read it there’s no way of knowing if “Pothole Patrol” is written by a pissed off curmudgeon or by an actual staff writer .

Being a local blogger I should think that’s great, but I don’t. I’m not a professional writer. I post commentary and biased opinion on subjects important to me and my interests. When I open a newspaper I expect to read stories written by journalistic professionals experienced in exploring all sides of an issue. Or editorials written by the roudtable of which political leanings and opinions I know.

I don’t think a newspaper should out-source their journalism to Dottie from Aurora, or James in Congress Park for that matter. It’s great to allow reader comments on stories, and provide space for reader discussion - but STOP incorporating it into the front page list of articles, and stop treating mundane activities in daily life as “news.” THAT’s what the blogosphere is for. Let’s keep them separate no?

James Van Dellen

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I read this article in Time Magazine, originally from the Economist. Sun, sex and Stalinism details the logistics of travels and journeys to North Korea, where you can explore one of the most tightly controlled countries in the world. On a short leash of course. Hotels are sequestered, an escort is arranged at all times, and propaganda is always staring you in the face.

Yes those are North Korean kids dressed up as eggs.

GLOBAL capitalism has worked many wonders, but where in the free world can one see 10,000 children dancing in synchronisation, dressed as eggs?

Many travellers harp on the propaganda: blocks of flats are topped with neon exhortations to “turn a corner in the economy” and suchlike, and murals depict hearty workers striding forward, perhaps trampling a star-spangled banner or two as they go. At Pyongyang’s “Kaeson Youth Funfair”—home of the world’s most genuinely frightening rollercoaster—the crossbow stall’s painted targets are of big-nosed American soldiers and glowering Japanese. It seems that the tourist board realises the ironic appeal of such things: painted replicas of some of the most over-the-top bits of propaganda are for sale, and a post office does a roaring trade in stamps depicting mighty fists crushing Western imperialist aggressors. (Oddly, there is also a Princess Diana commemoration set.)

by James Van Dellen

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and I’ve haven’t posted anything remotely intelligent or interesting since last Thursday’s critique of Dubya informing me that I could now fly like superman from Miami to Newark. Keep in touch though. By this weekend I plan to have a review up of Watercourse Foods, the vegetarian restaurant on 17th Street. I’m also ecstatic about my new insulin pump and constant glucose meter, which I’ve been using for a few days now. That’s right, although I’ve only mentioned it in one post (where I told a kid he shouldn’t get a dog,) I’m a type 1 diabetic and rely on insulin to keep me alive. No it’s not quite as dramatic as the movies. In fact its just a boring part of everyday life so hence rarely gets mention. Plus the ghetto tree is far more fascinating right? Anyway I have an incredibly cool new little gadget which in essence acts as an artificial pancreas! It’s even more impressive than the Roomba. I’ll post on that this weekend. If I may hype my old post related to type 1 diabetes and diabetes management - I honestly feel that this is probably one of my best posts ever. However no matter how experienced you are on a certain topic and how logically you present it - if you tell a little boy he shouldn’t get a dog, nothing else really matters beyond that. You just can’t tell a kid he shouldn’t get a dog.

So until my stunning revelations on those two topics check out:

Farmersonly.com – online dating for farmers

Another Bike Blog with cool photos, editorials, and cycling advocacy

Denver is the nation’s “Drunkest City” — that is if you take frivolous special interest magazines at face value and don’t bother questioning how exactly those results are created. Or perhaps local TV news and newspapers work in cahoots with stupid magazines to write non-issues in order to create a one minute hastily edited non-story.

Meanwhile here’s one of my favorite tracks: Flashdance by Deep Dish. You can watch this video over and over on your iPhone come 6am Friday morning as you get revved up to barrel into JC Penney, Kohl’s, Best Buy, and TJ Maxx for their Black Friday Doorbusters sales. Ugh, I can’t believe “Doorbusters” is actually a word.

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It’s not often you come across intelligent humor writing. It’s less frequent to find a sharp witted blog that makes you laugh out loud. Most bloggers attempting to be funny are simply referencing and pointing out ironic or hypocritical situations in popular culture and the news. But to deconstruct something down to the smallest detail and make it satirical not only takes a humorous eye but intelligence as well.

Joe Mathlete has been writing “Marmaduke Explained” for two years. In his blog he takes Brad Anderson’s banal one panel comic and adds his outlook and take on the usually asinine situation. In addition he notes the constant dated and cultural references which stagnate about eight to 20 years behind. If I may respectfully reprint one post - here’s his take on the above comic:

Marmaduke decided to take a nap on the couch that his owner-man was napping on, and as there is room for only one of them, Owner-Man obviously had to go. Owner-Girl pulls out a pop-culture reference seven years past its prime in an attempt to lighten the mood and lessen her father’s embarrassment at once again being on the receiving end of domestic abuse from a house pet.

His summaries, although brief, are as biting as The Onion. And it goes without saying that his take on Marmaduke is far more hilarious than the actual comic itself. He also sells shirts and bumper stickers declaring: “Marmaduke is an Asshole”

Go read it right now at marmadukeexplained.blogspot.com I can promise it will be an excellent way to spend the next hour of your life.

by James Van Dellen

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This article is currently on the front page of CNN.com: “Military Air Space to be Holiday Express Lane”

Ahead of the holiday travel crunch, President Bush ordered steps Thursday to reduce air traffic congestion and long delays that have left passengers stranded. President Bush, accompanied by acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell, outlined a plan to reduce air traffic congestion on Thursday. The most significant change is that the Pentagon will open unused military airspace from Florida to Maine to create “a Thanksgiving express lane” for commercial airliners. It will be open next week for five days — Wednesday through Sunday — for the busiest days of Thanksgiving travel. Bush said the problems with delayed flights are “clear to anybody who’s been traveling. Airports are very crowded. Travelers are being stranded and flights are delayed, sometimes with a full load of passengers sitting on the runway for hours.

I can confidentally state, even though I’m only a small time private pilot, that this will have absolutely NO bearing on airport congestion whatsoever. The problem isn’t lack of space in the sky or the availability of routes. It all comes down to the airport environment being TOO crowded, and having TOO MANY flights scheduled.

Opening up new air traffic routes is as misleading as stating that the lack of direct routes is slowing air travel. The August 29th Time Magazine article stated these ridiculous assumptions, and I addressed it in my rebuttal. I can write these same words about today’s “routing fix” announcement:

Consider the air travel horror stories lately: Eight hours on the ground in New York. Feces rolling down the aisles on Continental. Northwest cancels half their daily flights. Do these anecdotes sound like they have ANYTHING to do with air traffic control? Nobody hates an airline when they’re actually moving through the sky.

We should invest the money in people, resources (such as ground radar,) and improvements in the LOCAL airport environments at our largest hubs. The TOWER is where air traffic controllers are overworked, overtaxed, and because of this have increased chances of errors. Granted I haven’t sat next to him or her, but I’d bet the controller sitting in a dark room in Denver Center or Salt Lake Center watching planes meander over the big square states has a far less stressful position than approach control into Chicago. Why are people being told, or sold, a false worry about the LEAST problematic and least dangerous part of our ATC system?

If airlines and airports still have 25 planes scheduled to arrive at 5pm, cramming them in and stacking them up over the hub won’t LAND them any faster.

As a commenter on the CNN story stated: This is just window dressing.

by James Van Dellen

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Found this on sott.net, or “Sign of the Times,”- a collection of articles and scary rants predicting the end of the world and the human race.  (Good times.)

I do think the poster is interesting for its Orweillian characteristics.  I wonder if “the state is watching you” theme was intentional.  

I don’t support conspiracy theories, especially ones that cartwheel into borderline lunacy.  But I do find police and city monitoring an interesting trend, especially in the discussion of privacy rights versus the surveillance of public spaces.  But to me the realm of discussion terminates there.  Save for the marketing folks at Safeway and Visa I don’t think anyone else, especially a government agency, is tracking my life and examining the most microscopic details.  If anyone has a file on your life it’s companies and corporations trying to market to you, not secret government agencies. 

But should you want to read up on how 9/11, George Bush 1 and 2, Nazis, Freemasons, AA flight 77, Denver airport secret base, Gargamel, Crop circles, George Noory, Area 51, Waco, and Mel Gibson are all interconnected in a global secret society - then sott.net is the place to hang.

Oh and they have a podcast too!  Although I suspect most contributors are the voices inside their heads.   These guys should join forces with raptureready.com   

by James Van Dellen

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The latest blogs, sites, and threads I’ve found interesting and read more than once over the past week…

Retro to Go - Vintage and retro gear, products, and general nostalgia.

This Week in Denver - Denver events blog featuring art, lectures, food, films and much more.  I’ll definitely be suggesting this excellent looking site to travelers looking for Denver info.

Obsessive Consumption - Modern design blog of accomplished artist Kate Bingaman-Burt. Cute drawings, sharp wit, and a keen eye.

The Impulsive Buy - Hawaii resident reviews supermarket food and fast food products. Wit, dry humor, often disgusting (real) photos. And you’re paying to eat that?

Global Voices Online - News, commentary, and discussion from corners of the globe that aren’t always featured on the evening news.

TuneTribe - download obscure and hard to find MP3s. No sign up fee. Nice alternative to Last.fm

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I’ve been listening and rapidly downloading music from The Loose Cannons, an electronica group based in Cannonia, U.K. Headed by DJs Kaiser Saucy and “Lord Fader,” the duo blends irreverent lyrics with thumping bass lines and tight sampled edits. They’ve been compared to Daft Punk, but less sterile, and much more cheeky to use a word found in many reviews.

Their current album “El Fuerte” features bass laden tracks such as “Girls In Hats,” and the funky 70s sounding “Raw.” They’re popularity as soared as of late due to their club hit “Superstar,” which is being played across the UK and on one of my favorite internet stations, the Buenos Aires based beatbox.fm

Their music, photos, and tour dates (mainly in the UK) are at myspace.com/theloosecannonsuk  You can also listen to their Janet Jackson remix of “What Have You Done for me Lately” at urbanamplified.com And should you be visiting the London’s Oxford Street Urban Outfitter This Thursday the 15th you’ll find them playing live at 6pm.

And below - their song “Superstar”

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