All the world’s in San Diego for Comic-Con 2008, and its utter chaos at the Convention center. San Diego hotels are overflowing, there’s no parking space, and the streets around the Convention Center and the Ballpark look like one big party zone.

Comic-Con started on Thursday and continues on until late night Sunday. You still have time to get in on the main events, cause the real action swings in on the weekend. Photo by Bonnie Burton (official star wars blog) via flickr (creative commons).

Where: San Diego Convention Center - 111 W. Harbor Drive San Diego CA 92101

What: See day by day programming list. And Sunday is Kids’ Day, with the San Diego International Children’s Film Festival being held at Comic-Con on Sunday July 27th, from 10.15 am to 4.45 pm., will feature short films made for children, including animation, live action, and documentary - in Room 10 on the upper level of the Convention Center. Details about the screenings here.

The Los Angeles Times has a photo feature suggesting 10 things to watch for at 2008 Comic-Con.

Posted on July 25th, 2008 by Thomas
Filed under: san diego | No Comments »

Florida may have the best beach in the nation in Caladesi Island, and it has South Beach and Disney World and and all sorts of enticements for visitors, residents and tourists alike. Miami vacations are selling like hot cakes. Orlando hotels are packed to the rafters with family travelers. But the one things Florida apparently does not have is ‘walkable streets’.

At least, that’s what comes out taking a look at the WalkScore listing of the top 138 Walkers’ Paradises in the largest 40 U.S. cities, which has no place for Florida. The top 10 places on the list are mostly shared by neighbourhoods in New York and San Francisco, with Old Westport, Kansas City being the lone exception in 10th place. Photo by PhillipC via flickr (creative commons).

Tribeca, Little Italy, Soho and the Garment District in New York take the first four spots, followed by San Francisco’s Chinatown.

Murray Hill and Chinatown in New York take the 6th and 7th spots, while the Financial Districts of San Francisco and New York take up 8th and 9th place respectively.

Click here to see the full list and understand how Walk Score ranks each neighbourhood.

As far as the walkability of entire cities is concerned, San Francisco tops the list of most walkable cities, followed by New York City and Boston.

Posted on July 23rd, 2008 by Thomas
Filed under: USA | No Comments »

Museums are supposed to be old, in every sense. I mean, most Museums you can name have been around since before you were born, and the stuff inside most Museums is likely older than my great, great grandpa (Yeah, he was a great guy..). Which is why its kind of a big deal when more than one major new Museum springs up at around the same time.

For starters, the Museum of the American Cocktail (Motac for short) returns to New Orleans, located in the Southern Food & Beverage Museum at Riverwalk Marketplace.

According to the Museum website, the exhibit designed by Curator, Ted “Dr. Cocktail” Haigh features two hundred years of cocktail history - vintage cocktail shakers, Prohibition-era literature, music, bar tools, and exciting cocktail memorabilia from the collections of the Museum’s friends and founders. Also tells you fun stuff, like the origin of the word ‘cock-tail’.  Photo credit & copyrights - Jill DeGroff/SaloonArtist.com/Motac

The ribbon cutting ceremony for Motac was on Monday July 21st 2008 , and attendees were served with (Yep, that’s right) cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Oh, and in case you’re planning New York vacations, Motac has a branch in the Big Apple too. 

Moving from New Orleans to Milawaukee, Wisconsin, we have the Harley-Davidson Museum, which opened on July 12th 2008. Exhibits include a collection of Harley-Davidson ads over the decades, and a racing exhibit, not to mention the 400 bikes on display. The Museum bares Harley-Davidson’s 105 year old history, which is inextracably intertwined with the evolution of bikes and racing in the U.S. More details here.

They’re expecting over half a million annual visitors. Oh, and if you’re looking for Milwaukee hotels suitable to accomodate Museum visitors, then don’t. A new hotel called the Iron Horse, located across the bridge from the Museum, caters specifically to motocycle enthusiasts. Its slated to open soon, probably in September.

And there’s one more unique thing about the Iron Horse. Entire walls inside each of the hotel’s 102 guest rooms are covered from floor to ceiling with original mixed-media murals featuring Milwaukee women (local women, amateur models, etc.) in sexy yet artsy poses. The murals are the work of Milwaukee native and artist Charles J. Dwyer.

Also, the Iron Horse Hotel commissioned Milwaukee sculptor Amber Van Galder to create unique works of art out of recycled aluminum. The original pieces are displayed above beds in the concept hotel’s guest rooms. Photo copyrights - The Iron Horse Hotel;

Info: 500 West Florida Street Milwaukee Wisconsin 53204; (888) 543-4766; www.theironhorsehotel.com/

Posted on July 22nd, 2008 by Thomas
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Bored of the usual San Francisco vacations and beaches and stuff? Don your tinfoil hats and bring out your unsolved mystery guidebooks, because we are about to embark on a journey to discover the presence of Bigfoot in California. California, it seems, is No. 2 on the list of Bigfoot sightings, behind Washington. But before that, like any good tourist, we must prepare and do some trip planning.

One of the foremost experts on the subject, Bigfootencounters.com, has a psychological profile of California’s Bigfoot. Unlike the Eastern reports, the California Bigfoot is extremely shy, illusive and while he seems curious, he is rarely aggressive when confronted by humans. Bigfoot is a good swimmer and are often seen near and around bodies of fresh water; streams, lakes and rivers.

And where exactly would we find him? The consensus of opinion among all the experts seems to point towards Humboldt County and Mount Shasta, and Willow Creek in North California. If you’re on a Bigfoot hunt, then goes without saying that you need to hook up with like-minded fruitcakes, so you can sare notes and get some leads, and maybe join a group hunt for Bigfoot.

You’ll find kindred spirits at the Bigfoot Museum in Felton, just off Santa Cruz, near the main entrance to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Photo  copyrights - Bigfoot Discovery Project

Exhibits include actual evidence in the form of plaster foot and hand prints, a nocturnal diorama featuring bigfoot and an audio-video outside “cafe” area where you can see bigfoot documentaries of your choosing.

If you liked that, then you’ll certainly like The Willow Creek China Flat Museum in Humboldt County, an hour from the coast of Arcata on Highway 299. The wing houses displays of critical bigfoot evidence, a variety of footprint casts, a collection of bigfoot related pop-culture toys, and collectables, as well as a growing archive of information that may become the heart of a research center for California bigfoot activity.

And then there’s Happy Camp, a small town in the Klamath National Forest, about a 100 miles northeast of Willow Creek. The town holds an annual Bigfoot Jamboree (August 29 - 31 2008, call 530-493-5106). They even have a ‘Bigfoot Scenic Byway’ and a Bigfoot RV Park.  

On top of all the Bigfoot stuff, Happy Camp a great place to enjoy the outdoors, with nice spots for steelhead fishing, rafting and kayaking, hiking and cycling, camping, boating, and even recreational gold mining (with training and instructions for gold panning and dredging). So stow the Blackberry and iPhone and let’s go Bigfoot hunting.

Posted on July 21st, 2008 by Thomas
Filed under: California | No Comments »

As the ‘Glow’ at the Santa Monica Pier fades (along with the hangover …), I thought it might be a good idea to list out some of the other major festivals and fairs across California, so you can do your trip planning around the festivals.

For instance, if let’s say you have a soft spot for Sacramento vacations, you can plan your holiday in time for the California State Fair (August 15 - September 1). This 155 year old extravaganza brings alive sleepy old Sacramento and the Cal Expo fairgrounds becomes a veritable mini-city all by itself, with over a million visitors. Photo copyrights - California Exposition & State Fair. 

Concert performers include Natasha Bedingfield (Aug 20th) and Jessica Simpson (August 25th). This year, there’s also a new ‘Going Hollywood’ exhibit, which lets you be the star - Walk the red carpet, go to a casting call, and poke around the Hollywood style backlot.

And here’s a list of Sacramento hotels, one of which you better book into quick, because there won’t be much left a few days before the State Fair gets going. And while you’re there, check out the things to do in Sacramento, including the Railroad Museum, the quiant shops, restaurants and historic buildings of Old Sacramento. And don’t forget dinner and a show aboard the Delta King.

Oh, and if you like Jazz, then Sacramento probably ranks among the top three or four cities, along with Chicago, New Orleans and Las Vegas. Check out what’s new in the Sacramento jazz scene at the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society.

Another festival scheduled around the same time is the 13th Annual Mammoth Festival of Beers and Bluesapalooza (August 1-2, 2008), which showcases over 50 microbreweries and a variety of blues performers from around the country.

Bluesapalooza features a variety of nationally known blues artists with a mix of styles including acoustic harmonica blues, soul/funk, Chicago R&B, soulful southern rock, boogie-woogie, and jazz tinged blues. More details, directions and ticket information here.

Posted on July 20th, 2008 by Thomas
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Saturday July 19, you won’t have to poke around searching for things to do in Los Angeles, because the Santa Monica Pier will Glow dusk-to-dawn with live performances, spectacular sights and video presentations and neat exhibitions at the Glow Festival (www.smgov.net/smarts/glow/). Not to mention food, fun and a heck of a lot of people. And its free. Photo credit - City of Santa Monica/Santa Monica Arts Foundation

When:  7 pm to 7 am, Saturday July 19, 2008

Where: Glow is taking place on the Santa Monica Pier, on the beach north and south of the Pier and in Palisades Park, in the two blocks between Colorado and Santa Monica Boulevards.

Scheduled events include ‘Skyglow’ by Jeff Cain, an immersive video installation which will project aerial footage of the Los Angeles landscape onto the ceiling and give you the impression of looking at the stars, if you lie down. Shine, an all female drumming and dance group, will start the Glow night with a performance in Palisades Park at the entrance of the Pier. Here’s a full list of all the scheduled events.

Posted on July 19th, 2008 by Thomas
Filed under: Los Angeles | No Comments »

The world’s largest Tattoo & Body Art Expo (www.bodyartexpo.com/) is doing the rounds in California, starting from the Fairplex Ponoma (July 18 to 20, 2008), and moving on to the Cow Palace, San Francisco (August 22 to 24), and then to the Los Angeles Convention Center (September 26 to 28) and wrapping up 2008 at the Ventura County Fairgrounds (November 7 to 9). Photo by ste3ve via flickr (creative commons).

Scheduled events and highlights of the Expo include 300+ famous artists and 18 tattoo contests with celebrity judges, including a ‘nice ass’ contest, along with hot stud, hot babe, and a ‘win a tatoo’ contest. There’s a fashion show and a ’Show off Your Body Art’.

There’s also live bands or live DJ, live side shows, tattooing and body piercing on-site, along with body ‘augmentation’, erotic apparel, accessories & jewelry, beer & food, and a tattoo party. The main sponsor for the show is Baba.

If you’re planning to attend the Body Art Expo at the Cow Palace, and you need a place to stay, no need to start researching San Francisco hotels. The Expo has selected the Embassy Suites Hotel as its official host hotel, which is offering rooms to expo visitors at $119 per night with free breakfast. Info: 250 Gateway Blvd South San Francisco CA  94080; (650) 589-3400; www.embassysuitesssf.com

Posted on July 18th, 2008 by Thomas
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The Brooklyn Museum got taken with its collection of 30 Coptic sculptures, a third of which have been determined to be fake. So what do they do? Instead of warehousing the sculptures, they’re holding a ‘fake exhibition’, as in they’re inviting the public to see the fakes.

The New York Times reports that by showing the fakes along with the real works, the museum hopes visitors will gain an understanding into how museums authenticate their collections and gain a better appreciation of the real Coptic art.

Question time: What the heck is Coptic Art? If you don’t know what it is, how are you going to spot a real from a fake? Well, FYI, wikipedia has a neat primer on Coptic Art. Seems it has something to do with Egypt and ‘Coptic Christians’. And in answer to your next question, Coptic Christians are native Egyptian Christians.

And if you think all this stuff is dull and boring, well, there’s a lot more that happens  inside New York Museums, other than exhibitions and artsy stuff. You just need to be there ‘after’ the sun goes down, as this article will tell you. And no, the mummies don’t come alive… That only happens at the British Museum.

Speaking of which, insect experts at the Natural History Museum in London have been unable to identify an insect found in their grounds, despite the museum holding 28 million specimens in its collection. Absolutely shameful.

Posted on July 17th, 2008 by Thomas
Filed under: NYC | No Comments »

I’ve been ‘assigned’ to rant on this blog, so I thought maybe I should start with a proper introduction.

First, who am I? I’m Ling, a hack writer, and I scribble stuff  for Uptake (formerly Kango). I also run another travel blog (Triphow.com) in addition to posting on the Uptake blog. For the record, both ScoutAbout and Triphow are part of the Uptake network.

Secondly, what am I doing here? To be honest, I’m a serial blogger, and as such, I can’t sleep or eat unless I have released some (ok.. a lot) of the pent-up blogging energy. I called in sick and my editor says I have blog addiction, and the choice was between getting another blog or joining Blogaholics Anonymous.

Taking inspiration from Microsoft’s attempted and ill-advised takeover of Yahoo, I thought it might be cool if I got my hands on an already existing blog, rather than going through the hassle of building a blog from scratch. So anyway, to make a long story short, my predecessor was short of time (as in she has a real life while I live on the internets …), so we kinda mutually agreed that I should be the one left saddled with this space. So it ended up as a ‘friendly takeover’.

I won’t yak about my blogging superpowers, but I do promise at least one post per day. Best of all, I promise to have fun myself while writing stuff here on ScoutAbout, which likely means that you will have fun reading and getting to know me and other visitors.

Posted on July 16th, 2008 by Thomas
Filed under: Introduction | 1 Comment »

When I lived in Boston, I was enthralled by their Fourth of July celebration at the Esplanade. Sadly, I won’t be there to enjoy this year’s 35th anniversary celebration, but I thought in order to get into the holiday spirit, I’d spend some time finding out what some other cities have planned for 2008’s Independence Day.

Sacramento

If you live in the Sacramento area, there are several options for holiday festivities: Check out the largest-scale pyrotechnics display in the Sacramento area’s history at the Cal Expo State Fair; the Elk Grove Regional Park will host a Salute to Red, White, and Blue; and the La Sierra Community Center will have fireworks at Carmichael Park.

San Francisco

The Bay Area offers plenty to do on July 4th this year. There are so many choices, as a matter of fact, that I found an excellent site that lists the events and their details so that you can pinpoint your area if interest and decide where to head: July 4th in San Francisco web site.

Los Angeles

Those who live in LA won’t have any problems finding ways to celebrate Independence Day: Choose from Americafest 2008 at the Rose Bowl; the Palisades Americanism Parade; the Fireworks Extravaganza at Marina Del Rey; or the Jazz and Blues Festival in Leimert Park.

Miami

Miami resident have many choices for this year’s celebration: The City of Miami Beach’s Fourth of July Celebration; Old Fashioned July Fourth at the Barnacle; Key Biscayne’s Fourth of July Parade; America’s Birthday Bash at Bayfront Park; and the City of Homestead’s Concert and Fireworks.

Honolulu

Residents of Oahu can enjoy fireworks in Hawaii Kai as part of a Fourth of July bash in the city’s first major Independence Day event; participate in annual fund raiser for the Wild Dolphin Foundation on sunset cruise; enjoy a parade in Kailua; take part in an old fashioned 4th of July celebration at Turtle Bay Resort; or be a part of Ohana Day at Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park.

Chicago

Enjoy family fun with cuisine from over 65 restaurants as well as live entertainment at this year’s Taste of Chicago festival. Then participate in this year’s July 4th celebration by joining the rest of the city for Navy Pier’s fireworks display, which begins at 9:30.

Posted on June 27th, 2008 by Thomas
Filed under: Chicago, Oahu, San Francisco, Vacation | No Comments »