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The Cool Tricks and Trinkets Newsletter #314 9/2/4 |
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Welcome to the 314th issue of the Cool Tricks and Trinkets Newsletter offering weekly insights into new, cool, useful, fun, unusual and interesting sites on the Internet.
- Living
Edens: Costa Rica ~~~ Cool Tricks and Trinkets is made possible by A1 Discount Hotel~~~
A1 Discount Hotels (an affiliate of Hotels.com), offers discount rooms in over 40,000 hotels worldwide with choices from budget to 5 star hotels. http://www.a1-discount-hotels.com
Nestled in the heart of Central America, Costa Rica is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The nation is so naturally diverse in wildlife, that over ten percent of its territory has been designated, national parkland. Such efforts in preservation have allowed Costa Rica to continue to thrive, and many consider it to be the closest thing to a real life 'Eden' on earth. 'Living Edens: Costa Rica' is a PBS series that takes a deeper look into this pristine and diverse land. The website contains information about the series, including fascinating subjects ranging from two thousand pound turtles to active volcanoes. Read all about Olive Ridley and other intriguing marine species that inhabit the shorelines of Costa Rica. Users will also find useful travel information as well as a television schedule of when the program airs. <Note>
I lived in Costa Rica for a year in the 1970's and found it to be http://www.pbs.org/edens/costarica/ The American Highway Project Americans adore their automobiles, creating a lifestyle of mobility and independence. At The American Highway Project, vanishing Americana - the motels, billboards, service stations, signs, tourist attractions, drive-in theatres and diners - is being documented and preserved. Founder Edgar Praus, a photographer with a love of the American landscape, travels the backroads snapping the quaint roadside attractions before they disappear entirely beneath the Target/Home Depot/Wal-Mart strip malls that are fast taking over. Besides photos, the site brings news of current American Highway projects, a web journal along Route 66, a bookstore and resources for those inspired to trip backward through time. http://www.highwayproject.org/ Edible Journey Through China What does the phrase "Chinese cleaver" sound like in Mandarin? You can hear that and other cooking terms spoken aloud on this charming site that has a homemade feel but is masterful at covering the surface of Chinese food preparation. You won't get much detail or depth here: no step-by-step Chinese cooking instructions, for example. But you can discover the traditions behind different dining customs, learn about regional cooking and dining styles, choose a traditional Chinese festival to celebrate at home, or visit Food Avenue and "sample" the fare in Chinese food stalls. http://library.thinkquest.org/C004204/frame.html SHORT TAKES: Weird Road Signs "It was the best of signs, it was the worst of signs" is the apt theme for this personal web site that collects and displays dozens of photos of odd, amusing and just bizarre road signs. Take a look, and buy a magnet to remember the best - or worst - of signs.
When long security lines or holiday traffic leave you stranded in the airport, travelers with low budgets and low energy who eye the chairs, floors and luggage carrels can find help at Sleeping in Airports, where the best and worst airports for sleepers are recommended, along with tips on sleeping safe and comfy when you're grounded. http://www.sleepinginairports.net/
Ever wonder just how clean the beaches we love to surf and swim in are? Surfrider.org has done extensive research into the topic, using a Geographical Information System to create maps of local beaches across the country. People who spend a lot of time in the water (surfers, divers, beach bums) will appreciate the ongoing effort to update our knowledge about the state of our beaches. Search by state to find out everything from water quality to beach erosion to designated surfing areas. http://www.surfrider.org/stateofthebeach Enjoy
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PBS, always a source of learning about our world in the most beautiful ways, has gathered outdoor programming content from 30 stations across the country to create American Field Guide, with the invitation to "Immerse yourself in the great outdoors without ever leaving your desk." Wilderness is about sight and sound, and the content here relies on video and audio to let city dwellers coast-to-coast experience the nation's animals, ecosystems, plants and more. With over 1,200 videos of America's wilderness, armchair adventurers can escape for a moment into the woods of Northern Maine with a naturalist or into the skies over Arizona with an aerial photographer. http://www.pbs.org/americanfieldguide/ An American's Guide to Canada Americans tend to be a bit smug about the Great White North, viewing it as a vast wasteland of hockey players, beer drinkers and people who go "eh?" At An American's Guide to Canada, an American emigrant shares her view of the country as an endearing, civilized and charming place. An entire section is devoted to Really Big Roadside Attractions like great big pineapples, bison and fish you'll see plunked into the middle of otherwise normal towns. How To Tell You're In Canada tells you milk comes in plastic bags and What Every Canadian Knows describes purple Thrill Gum that tastes like soap. Topics like Canadianisms, How To Immigrate, True Facts and Academia round out the lesson plan. Weird New Jersey Finally! Someone has had the good sense to realize that there just aren't enough online travelogues that show vacationers the real New Jersey. At Weird New Jersey, our dreams - and a few nightmares -are realized as two New Jerseyans deliver a travel guide to the weird, odd and unique back roads of the Garden State to unearth its historical and modern lore. With interviews of people met along the road and stories sent by subscribers telling their own weird Jersey experiences, visitors explore underground tunnels, sewer drains, abandoned property, graveyards, Bigfoot sightings - even a lawn covered with bowling balls - all compliments of the guys at the local diner. Forget Cancun, and book a room in Midgetville, New Jersey. http://www.weirdnj.com/home/index.html
Cool Color Business and Post Cards These cards will make you proud to have a business. Create, personalize, edit, print and order a unique one of a kind business card. http://www.ebusiness-cards.com
Is it getting hotter in here? Definitely, and at Mercury Rising visitors can join a 10-day photo-documentary trip with an eco-photographer and a journalist as they explore the Monteverde Cloud Forest of Costa Rica to discover what global warming is doing to plants and animals. Field dispatches weave sounds and images from the trip as it unrolls, and the Eco-Gallery bears photographic witness to the effects of global warming, from tiny adaptations to great big shifts, like the appearance of a lake that used to be a glacier. With lessons and activities for students, the site is a teacher's paradise lost, if we ignore the signs. http://www.OneWorldJourneys.com/climate/ Postcard Tour Today we carry PDFs and cell phones, but whether on a road trip upstate or a world tour, what traveler can resist buying a handful of postcards to send to the folks back home? America As It Was: A Tour of the USA in Vintage Postcards captures such old-time vistas as Hollywood Boulevard in the 20s, Colorado's Pikes Peak Highway in 1939, and 1908 Baton Rouge. Like an early 20th century cross-country road trip, the collections from genealogical societies, universities, libraries and private collectors invite you to click on a state and city, from Birmingham, Alabama to Laramie, Wyoming, to view postcards as if you'd saved every "Wish you were here" card you and your family had ever received. http://patsabin.com/VintagePostcards/ SUBSCRIBERS' SITES - Many of our subscribers have fascinating on-line projects. This weekly section will introduce you to some of these sites. Please let me know about your project so that I might mention it in this section. Write me at info@tricksandtrinkets.com ~ John's Messages: Sermons and Articles ~ The Great Illusion - One of the most beautiful sites online. ~ Seva Organization - Celebrate twenty-five years of compassionate service
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