Cafe Novo

Free Speech? Not if we don't like what you have to say

cn | 23 April, 2007 14:20

Why is it that so many people believe that a statement they don't like must be silenced rather than listened to and evaluated? It seems a religious group recently interrupted a comedian's show because they didn't like something about what he was saying...so they poured water all over his handwritten notes:

I am performing the show to a packed house, when suddenly the lights start coming up in the house as a flood of people start walking down the aisles -- they looked like a flock of birds who'd been startled, the way they all moved so quickly, and at the same moment... it was shocking, to see them surging down the aisles. The show halted as they fled, and at this moment a member of their group strode up to the table, stood looking down on me and poured water all over the outline, drenching everything in a kind of anti-baptism.

There's a video of the event at the site, here. My guess is that the perpetrators of the act live in great fear of the lord that they claim to be 'benevolent' and thus don't understand why the rest of us (comedian included) don't have such fear, and since we don't, they decide it's their purpose to create the fear themselves. But that's just a guess...

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Quote of the Day

cn | 22 April, 2007 13:34

There is no security in this life. There is only opportunity.
- Douglas MacAurthur

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Great Tips for Road-Tripping on the Cheap

cn | 20 April, 2007 15:19

Roadtrip America has a nice, concise article about ways to save bucks when you're on a road trip. The article is geared towards the spring-breakers but the recommendations are applicable to all. The list in short consists of these tips along with a few others:

Save on food...
Sleep in the car at truck stops...
Think about personal connections...
Drive at a reasonable rate of speed...
Make sure your car is roadworthy...
Take advantage of welcome centers...

A good friend of mine and I actually went on an amazing road trip during spring break of our senior year of college. We did it super-cheap and essentially lived by the ethics described in the article, except perhaps for #4, which wouldn't have fit into our schedule of putting 8,000 miles behind us in 14 days...

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Quote of the Day

cn | 20 April, 2007 13:41

To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions.
- Sam Keen

source: http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_travel.html

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Quote of the Day

cn | 19 April, 2007 15:37

This might be my new favorite quote...

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
- Mark Twain

source: http://www.parrotsmeow.com/IQ/

Posted in Excellence, Philosophy, World Culture/Travel, Facts, Quotes, and Whatnot . Comment: (0). Trackbacks:(0). Permalink

Blog Follows 29-day 11,626 Mile Road Trip

cn | 19 April, 2007 15:00

Joe's Cross Country Journal is a great travel blog. It follows Joe on his road trip around America (the trip is over and the blog doesn't seem to be updated any more...). There are some great pictures and long accounts of the trip. It's one of the better trip-specific travel blogs I've read and the only unfortunate part is the trip's over....

Check out the site here.

Originally found via roadtripamerica.com.

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World's oldest business - 1,428 years old - closes!

cn | 18 April, 2007 13:18

There's a really interesting article at BusinessWeek.com. Apparently the world's oldest business - a family temple-building company - closed this past year:

The world's oldest continuously operating family business ended its impressive run last year. Japanese temple builder Kongo Gumi, in operation under the founders' descendants since 578, succumbed to excess debt and an unfavorable business climate in 2006.

The article is pretty good and walks through how the company did so well for so long, finishing with a good point:

These lessons are somewhat contradictory and paradoxical, to be sure. But if sustained success came easy, then all family businesses would have a 1,428-year run.

Posted in Business/Finance, World Culture/Travel . Comment: (0). Trackbacks:(0). Permalink

Quote of the Day

cn | 18 April, 2007 11:37

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears.
- Glenn Clark

source: http://quotations.home.worldnet.att.net/travel.html

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Fitness Travel Gear - a great site

cn | 16 April, 2007 16:47

This is a great site if you are into any of the topics mentioned in the title to this post - Fitness, Travel, Gear - or any combination of them! Categories of the site include links, organic apparel, shopping, and more. Pretty good stuff for any type of traveler!

http://www.fitnesstravelgear.com/

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Three Great Articles on Travel Writing

cn | 16 April, 2007 16:21

I just ran across three good articles at the BoosnAll website about travel writing, two of which offer guidelines while the third is more of a comment on the state of current travel writing. This from the latter article:

With the proliferation of travel blogs and instant updates accessible from around the world, the craft has become more Mac-Nuggeted by virtue of its immediate nature. It's often superficial navel gazing for the marketing appeal of it all than a thoughtful reflection back into a time and place. Instead of running with the bulls in Pamplona the new breed travel writer is more likely to write of dashing to the loo with the runs after drinking too many Red Bulls.

Find all three here.

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Quote of the Day

cn | 16 April, 2007 16:16

Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey.
- Fitzhugh Mullan

source: http://honeymoons.about.com/cs/wordsofwisdom/a/TravelQuotes.htm

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Cool Video Use of Google Earth

cn | 15 April, 2007 17:33

I just came across a cool video compilation of some of the stranget places on Earth, as seen through the eyes of GoogleEarth. There's not a ton of detail on the video, but it's a pretty cool use of the GoogleEarth tech. They created a motion video that flies around the globe and zooms in on a bunch of interesting places including the Montana Stonehenge, a hill in Washington state with the town's zip code painted onto the hillside. Check it out here.

Posted in Computers/Technology, World Culture/Travel . Comment: (0). Trackbacks:(0). Permalink

Quote of the Day for Sunday

cn | 15 April, 2007 12:40

We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.
- John Hope Franklin quotes

source: http://thinkexist.com/quotations/travel/2.html

Posted in Philosophy, World Culture/Travel, Facts, Quotes, and Whatnot . Comment: (0). Trackbacks:(0). Permalink