how globes are made

I love globes. I've even given a fancy globe plus 101 Most Romantic Places in the World as a wedding gift. (This was back when I was just out of college, and I think I secretly wanted that almost-$100 globe and book for myself...)

Anyway, this video showing how globes are made is pretty awesome. If you like to know how things work, then you'll be as tickled by the process as I was.

Enjoy!

buenos aires ii

Buenos Aires has both the most beautiful bookstore (converted from an old theater) and the most beautiful zoo I've ever seen. It doesn't even look like a zoo, and the animals seemed more like accessories for the beautiful buildings.

Architecture and art that would look ridiculous in other places seemed to fit in perfectly here. Including their Venus de Milo.

The Argentines are known for their meat-grilling prowess, and the construction workers outside of the zoo were no exception:

La Recoleta, B.A.'s famous cemetery where Eva (Evita) Perron is buried, is also the most beautiful cemetery I've seen (showing up even Paris' celebrated Père Lachaise Cemetery, home to the likes of Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde).

Even your shopping experience is amplified in Buenos Aires. When trendy women's clothing is sold in stores that look like this:

And mall food courts look like this:

You just can't help but feel the style and everyday luxury that seemed to come so naturally to the creators of Buenos Aires.

Their answer to the American White House is la Casa Rosada (the pink house).

And if you ask nicely, you can take pictures with the guards in their fancy hats and uniforms.

When you walk around, you see beauty everywhere.

The grave of José Francisco de San Martín, an Argentine general honored as the liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru, has a huge Argentine flag cascading down perfectly (yet oh-so-casually).

And no visit to Buenos Aires is complete without seeing live tango, and we were lucky enough to be treated to one of the best dinner shows in town. The place had an old Hollywood feel, the dancers looked like they were enjoying themselves (always a plus), and our steaks were actually pretty good, too.

And for those of you who like street art, B.A. has something for you, too.

I'm sure it isn't true, but it seems like, during the day, everyone shops, and at night, everyone eats out.

Speaking of food, there was a lot of good food to be had. Dulce de leche desserts, for starters, graced every bakery shelf.

I'm not sure if I've had fresh homemade pasta before, but what we had in Buenos Aires was fresh and handmade and amazing. It wasn't cheap, but you don't need much of it.

As a lover of fine penmanship, I also fell in love with the Argentine signs and the flourishes they used.

So, I could go on and on about Buenos Aires (already did), but I'll wrap it up. The quick version: it's vibrant, beauty is crammed into every nook and cranny, and I'd go back for the gelato alone (Volta is the best).

buenos aires

Buenos Aires is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It's like Paris fell into a rainbow of bright colors and decided to let loose.

The architecture that reminded me of Paris...

But B.A. has its own colorful South American flavor, with its iconic La Boca and San Telmo districts.

La Boca's colorful buildings were originally built with pieces of shipping containers, and the locals have continued the vibrant and artistic tradition.

It's a small area, teeming with tourists, art, sidewalk cafés and tango performances, but it's still worth a stroll-through. And sometimes you get lucky and get a little corner to yourself.

One thing I love about Buenos Aires is the abundance of great places to walk around, and San Telmo is my favorite.

The street musicians are really good, and the markets have such artful displays, it doesn't matter if you're interested in what the vendors are selling. You can just enjoy how beautifully they've showcased their wares.

stop-motion wedding sequence

Stop-motion sequences are often awesome, and this Australian wedding one is great fun. Enjoy!

And if you like the wedding idea but don't have or don't want a partner, you can go it alone, like this Taiwanese woman who is marrying herself. Seriously. And while I like to push the envelope as much as the next person, I must admit I'm pretty blown away by her decision. It takes cojones!

lottery ticket art and bus art

Artists are great at using nontraditional media for their art, and I thought this was especially provocative. Lauren Was and Adam Eckstrom started collecting discarded lottery tickets and wanted to tap into the losing tickets' representation of lost dreams. They explain their lottery art sculptures:

We started to collect tons and tons and talk about what people dream about when they play the lottery. Then we did some serious research to find out what people buy when they do win the lottery. Through our research we found that most people, after they win the lottery, the first thing they do is buy a car.

The artists tried to match the lottery ticket dollar value to the dollar value of the item depicted, so the Hummer used $39,000 worth of discarded tickets, and this "Dream Home" used $70,000 of losing tickets.

It's sad that so many people spent the money on those tickets, but what a fantastic recycling job-- and one that might provide a visual financial lesson.

When I first saw this article on treehugger, I thought it was really cool.

But then I saw the comments and realized it would actually use more fuel to drag all of that around (not so green, after all) and that the photo wasn't even real. And one of the commenters posted the original photo, which is pretty convincing.

Oh, well. At least people are trying to do something good. (And the Photoshop artist did a pretty good job.)