TODAY'S SUNDAY OBSERVER GETS five stars in my book as "best Sunday paper in Ireland for June 2008" because several themes inside accurately point to trends that will define the first decade of the 21st century. I made a Qik video about it. Specifically, several writers zero in on the effects high energy pricing will have on the way we live and many advertisements take up the eco perspectives in how brands reposition themselves in a more miserly environment. Many of my friends point to the demise of print media and maybe they have a point. If so, titles like The Observer have it right. Their online presence is solid and their hard copy inserts are sure to appeal to those like myself who will hold onto them for months. I'm keeping The Observer Book of Invention [1] for my fourth year Mass Communications and Culture module and we will retain the 29 June 2008 "Escape" supplement [2] for several trips we plan to make to the States.
Some Inventions Start with Cranks. Ten years ago, British cycling was a joke. Now the Brits have the best track team in the world, thanks in some part to high-tech strategies.
Exciting Things to Do Out West! And elsewhere in the States.
Everyone has their favourite stuff on holiday. Here are things we are bookmarking to enjoy in the USA.
- We're going to see a hanging in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
- We want to walk with the Ramblers Association. It's a 16-day tour that starts in Tucson, goes east to Tombstone, the site of the gunfight at the OK Corral, then crosses the desert to the Grand Canyon.
- We want to ride Amtrak's Downeaster, a particularly enjoyable journey from Boston to Portland, Maine. When you ride Amtrak, you get bombarded with far more than you would witness in a car. At the top end of the journey, we'd catch up with family in New Hampshire, then return to Boston. It's currently priced at $24 one-way.
- We will drive across US50 from California to New Mexico some day again.
Qik video: http://qik.com/video/116995
1. Carl Wilkinson -- The Observer Book of Invention published Observer Books, 2008.
2. The Observer -- "Escape: Go West" in the 29 June 2008 edition of the newspaper.
3. William Fotheringham -- "Velorution!" in the Observer Sport Monthly, July 2008.
