Matador Network's Blog, page 2160
January 15, 2015
How to piss off folks from Wisconsin
Photo: Scott Le Duc
Confuse us with the FIBs
You might know this delightful little acronym if you’re from our neighbor to the south. Illinoisans like to invade our space. They come up north, eat our cheese, drink our only-available-in-Wisconsin beer, then go back home like they think it’s better down there. And the whole time, they drive terribly. So they’ve earned the nickname “Fucking Illinois Bastards.” The FIBs. So whatever you do, don’t confuse us with someone from Illinois. Or Minnesota. Or Michigan.
Diss the Green and Gold
Wisconsin is Packers country. Don’t get all up in our state wearing your Minnesota Vikings shirts and Chicago Bears hoodies. We’ll tolerate you if you do, but if you try to tell us that any team is better than the Pack (or the Brewers for that matter), that’s when the fangs come out. Oh, and no matter what, don’t mention Brett Favre. We’re still on the fence about him.
Think Wisconsin is in Minnesota
No joke, I was at a bar in New Orleans and told the woman next to me I was from Milwaukee. She’s a teacher. Her response: “Oh, I love Minnesota!” Well that’s nice. Good to know you’re educating our country’s children. So let me reiterate: Wisconsin is its own state. It is not in Minnesota, nor is it part of the Twin Cities. When we tell you our town name, don’t pretend you know where it is. And, while we’re on the topic of Minnesota, their license plates may lead you to believe it’s the land of 1,000 lakes, but I’m here to tell you: Wisconsin has more. And we have great glacial landscapes, cliffs, rolling hills…we’re not all farmland and country bumpkins.
Insist happy cows come from California
Those stupid commercials from the early 2000s have created a huge misconception. Happy cows do not come from California. They come from Wisconsin. You know, America’s Dairyland? And speaking of dairy, don’t even think of telling us your state has the best cheese. We’re called Cheeseheads for a reason. Which, by the way, is not the huge insult you think it is. We wear that badge with pride.
Refuse to drive to Milwaukee from Chicago
This one’s for my southern Wisco pals. Chicagoans, don’t tell us you can’t drive to Milwaukee because it’s SO far. We’re not stupid. We know exactly where Chicago is — and it’s about an hour and a half away. I get it: your world in the “big city” is like an all-inclusive enclave that you’re too good to leave. We don’t want your snobbery anyway. But believe it or not, we CAN determine distance.
Neglect the Friday fish fries
In Wisconsin, fish fries are a religion. We go every Friday. It’s how we celebrate our heritage and the end of the work week. If you don’t come with when you’re invited, you’re going to hurt our feelings. It’s like you’re dissing the entire state.
Correct our northerly grammar
We enjoy our little verbal tics. We will always ask if you want to “come with.” We will always ask you to do something “real quick” or “right quick.” We’ll always give you both options when asking a yes or no question (“Did you go to the store or no?”). If you have a problem with that, keep it to yourself — because we think YOU’RE the one that sounds funny. Oh, and we don’t sound like the characters in Fargo. We sound better.
Ask what a bubbler is
If you don’t know, we won’t let you use one.
Talk down New Glarus, or call us alcoholics
Trust me when I tell you this: no beer is better than New Glarus’ Spotted Cow. There’s a reason it’s only for sale in Wisconsin, and that’s because we don’t want you to have it. We’ve also been home to many of your other favorite beers: Miller, Pabst, Schlitz, and Leinies, for starters. But don’t think that makes us alcoholics. Sure, we like to drink (and can hold our liquor better than you) and we like to bring our kids to taverns (the perfect fish fry venue). But that doesn’t mean we’re always drunk!
Complain about your “arctic” 40 degrees
Hey, friends south of the Mason-Dixon. What’s that? It got so freezing cold today? Forty degrees? How terrible for you! Did you know that just yesterday, our wind chill was -50? Yeah, it was -10 without the wind chill. Frostbite occurs in about 15 minutes at those temperatures. AND WE WERE OUT IN SHORTS. It sounds to me like you southerners need to man up. Put on a coat and quit whining. You have no idea what cold is. 
10 places to see art in New Mexico
Photo: Christopher Michel
In 1898, the painters Bert Phillips and Ernest L. Blumenschein were crossing New Mexico when, on a remote road, they lost a wagon wheel and walked into a tiny mountain village for help. They never left.
Blumenschein would later say he’d never seen a place more beautiful than Taos. In the 1920s, benefactress Mabel Dodge Luhan used her wealth to bring painters, writers, photographers, and musicians to settle here. From then on, the artists just kept coming. Today, names like Nicolai Fechin, E. Irving Couse, Ansel Adams, Georgia O’Keeffe, D. H. Lawrence, Agnes Martin, and R. C. Gorman, among many others, are indelibly linked to the town, and its streets are home to dozens of galleries and museums, including the Harwood Museum of Art, Millicent Rogers Museum, and Taos Art Museum.
Good to know: Read more about Taos and see listings of galleries, exhibition openings, and museum hours.
2. Zuni Pueblo
Out among the mesas and buttes of western New Mexico lies Zuni, the largest of the state’s 19 Native American pueblos. The tribal government estimates that 80% of the Zuni people make their living in the arts, and aside from their world-famous inlay silverwork, the Zuni are also known for their incredible beadwork belts and clothing, stone fetish carvings, pottery work, and wood statues of traditional kachina dancers.
The Zuni Main Street Festival takes place every May, and the Zuni Arts and Cultural Expo typically falls in mid summer. The Ancient Way Fall Festival and Arts Market is held in October, and then the Holiday Arts Market kicks off on Thanksgiving weekend — lots to choose from!
Good to know: Visitors are requested to respect the religious and cultural privacy of the Zuni people while on the reservation. Check out Zuni Tourism for more info.
3. Canyon Road, Santa Fe
Photo: Larry Lamsa
With more than 100 galleries running along its three-quarter-mile stretch, Canyon Road is the hub of the Santa Fe arts scene. The Michael Henington Fine Art Gallery shows established painters like S. J. Shaffer and David DeVary, and the excellent Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art Gallery specializes in abstract art by Native American, Australian Aboriginal, and American Southwestern artists.
The galleries, cafes, and restaurants along Canyon Road are generally open every day, and the price of artwork varies from extremely accessible to out of reach to anyone but the top collectors.
Good to know: Friday evenings from 5-7pm are when most Canyon Road galleries host openings and special exhibits. Pick up the “Pasatiempo” section in Friday’s Santa Fe New Mexican to find out what’s on during your visit, or check Canyon Road Arts.
4. Las Cruces Arts Fair
Las Cruces is one of New Mexico’s fastest growing cities, and along with that boom has come a blossoming local arts scene. In particular, the Doña Ana Arts Council supports the Rio Grande Theatre, which regularly hosts free music performances; the Renaissance ArtsFaire; White Sands International Film Festival; and the Las Cruces Arts Fair, where over 70 North American artists show handwoven clothing and vintage kimonos, hand-painted silk accessories, sculpture, photography, and wildlife art.
Good to know: Visit DAARTS for the most up-to-date information as well as a list of participating artists at the Las Cruces Arts Fair, held in mid March.
5. Museum Hill, Santa Fe
Visitors to Santa Fe may be tempted to spend all their time around the historic plaza and its legitimately awesome art galleries, museums, and colonial architecture. But in so doing they’d be missing out on one of the city’s most significant art attractions. Just two miles south of downtown, set right up against the Sangre de Cristo foothills, Museum Hill is home to the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, and the Museum of International Folk Art. Together, these institutions make up some of the most important collections of Native American and folk art in the US, and you won’t find a better representation of the artistic heritage of New Mexico anywhere.
Good to know: With the exception of the Wheelwright, these museums are closed on Mondays outside the summer season. The presence of the Museum Hill Cafe means you can easily spend a whole day on the hill.
6. Albuquerque
Exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum. Photo: City of Albuquerque
A great diversity of festivals, over a dozen museums and theaters, and more than 100 art galleries make Albuquerque one of the top arts destinations in the country. On Central Avenue, the 516 ARTS nonprofit anchors eclectic and experimental venues including Symphony 505, the Richard Levy Gallery, and KiMo Theatre. And just a few streets over are the alternative spaces Factory on 5th and SCA Contemporary Art Gallery.
Every October, over 300 artists show their work at a Rio Grande Arts and Crafts Festival that coincides with the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. A month later the Rio Grande Holiday Show kicks off, followed by the Spring Show in March, when around 200 artists from across the country show indoors at the Manuel Lujan Exhibit Complex.
Good to know: Visit Rio Grande Festivals for more info on the three events mentioned above.
7. Santa Fe Spanish Market
Every July, more than 350 of New Mexico’s best artists show their work at the Santa Fe Spanish Market — the oldest and largest of its kind in the country. Held in the Santa Fe Plaza, here you’ll find traditional handmade art and enjoy music and food from throughout the state. This is where to meet the likes of furniture maker Andrew Garcia, musicians Trio Los Primos, and metalwork artist Felipe Rivera. Also worth a visit are the excellent New Mexico Museum of Art and Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, just off the plaza.
Good to know: The main Spanish Market takes place in July, but there’s also a smaller winter market in late November in Albuquerque.
8. Silver City
Photo: A Space Gallery
Set in the mountains of southwestern New Mexico, Silver City is a historic mining town of 10,000 that’s known for its Arts and Culture District, with performing arts spaces and gallery studios along with restaurants and cafes. Established in 2007, the SCACD is a collaboration between local artists and business owners that covers downtown and extends up to the Western New Mexico University campus.
On West 7th Street, A Space Gallery doubles as a venue for performance artists and shows contemporary works from local artists including Ben Balas and Carol Young, while the Chamomile Connection studio highlights the fiber arts traditions of the region, providing materials for weavers, spinners, felters, and soap makers.
Good to know: Visit Silver City Tourism for a complete listing of the local arts scene, including dates of the Silver City Clay Festival.
9. Dixon Studio Tour
Every year, more than 30 local artists in this small community between Santa Fe and Taos open their homes and studios to the public for the Dixon Studio Tour. A highlight on the New Mexico arts scene since 1982, the cooperatively run event kicks off with an evening reception at the Toolshed performance space. The next morning, the village conducts organized tours of the studios and runs workshops in stone carving, poetry, winemaking, blacksmithing, and photography.
Over the weekend, the Dixon Elementary School hosts the Mercado, where you can buy locally grown and homemade products. It’s also worth visiting the Collected Works show to see notable pieces by artists including ceramicist and lamp-maker Judy Pearson, photographer Atom Crawford, and plein-air painter Clarence Medina.
Good to know: The Dixon Studio Tour takes place on the first weekend of November. Get the most recent updates at Dixon Arts.
10. SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market
Fashion show at the Santa Fe Indian Market. Photo: Larry Lamsa
More than 1,200 artists from 220 tribes compete in a rigorous process to show at the SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market, held every August in the Santa Fe Plaza. Art ranges from pottery and jewelry to textile weavings, paintings, beadwork, and basketry by well-known artists like Comanche painter Nocona Burgess.
Graffiti artists Jaque Fragua, El Mac, Yatika Starr Fields, and Hoka Skenandore were launched onto the national stage through their showings at the event in 2013, and the market has increasingly sought to include a variety of creative forms in the weeklong celebration. Where beadwork and ceramic works once dominated the entire show, book signings, fashion, performance art, theater, photography, and music are increasingly finding a home in the market’s diverse mix.
Good to know: The market takes place the first or second week of August each year.
This post is proudly produced in partnership with the New Mexico Tourism Department. Visit their site for a robust listing of studio tours, galleries, and museums.
9 signs you're culturally Filipino
Photo: generale
1. You live for the day when you find a Happy Horse.
Beer is your poison of choice in the Philippines. Whilst sometimes you might be forced to opt for a San Miguel light, to which you instantly add a little grenadine to make it more palatable, chances are you moved on to the harder stuff. Red Horse, potent, laced with gin — although chances are you found this out too late. Now only one thought occupies your mind when ordering, will today be the day you find a Happy Horse?
2. You bring your rice cooker everywhere.
At first, they seemed to produce an insane amount of fluffy grains that surely no family could conceivably consume. A bulky piece of kit, you wonder what could be wrong with just using a saucepan?! You watched perplexed as everyone carried their cooker everywhere — on boats, strapped on the back of a moped, and even on domestic flights. Now you swear that rice from a rice cooker just tastes better somehow. Your thoughts have done a 180 and you feel like you’ve been let in on the secret.
3. You’ve come to grips with jeepney etiquette.
Tightly packed, with no real timetable or obvious stops, at first you had no idea how to ride a jeepney. You seemed to be stepping into a myriad of cultural misunderstanding. Before long you were passing other peoples’ fares and heatedly negotiating their change whilst random strangers placed their kids on your lap. You also learnt it is perfectly acceptable to sit by the door and let the entire crowd behind shuffle past.
More like this How to piss of Filipinos
4. You connect going to the supermarket with explicit rap music.
You popped down to the shop to buy some chocolate milk and a hot dog, and your ears honed in on the unusual background music — chart hits played at half speed or at two octaves lower than their original. You’ve embraced the non-family-friendly playlist and appreciate the opportunity to rap along to Ice Cube’s “Go to Church” with the checkout lady.
5. You’ve overcome your deeply rooted fear of karaoke.
It’s midday, it’s 35 degrees and you pull over to fill up with petrol. As you wait on the dusty roadside you hear the opening chords of a Bryan Adams song, initially you might have been too shy or have strictly reserved your karaoke skills for post 2am slots, but now you think nothing of busting out a tune at the drop of a hat.
6. You’ve developed an immunity to slushy love songs.
Not for the recently broken hearted, the romantic pop classics never stop in the Philippines. In restaurants, bars, and even in taxis — it is relentless. When you start wailing Aerosmith and are genuinely shocked the day any other genre of music hits the radio — you know you’re fitting in.
7. You’re constantly chowing down on chicken and spaghetti.
Crispy fried chicken with spaghetti, in a congealed lumpy tomato sauce — at first this wouldn’t have been your order of choice, but now it’s your hangover staple. You know you are swiftly becoming a local when this becomes your regular breakfast.
8. You’ve become a complete beach snob.
With over 7,000 islands making up the Philippines, you enjoy being a stone’s throw from the beach wherever you are. The minute you venture to new pastures you will have the sudden realization that the endless idyllic powder-white sands and impossibly clear waters have turned you into a savage beach snob.
9. You can slam dunk without looking.
The Philippines is crazy about basketball and you’re no Michael Jordan. Everybody slam dunks, everywhere — on the dance floor, at the arcade, at the office. So you’ve honed your skills, and now you feel confident in your ability to lob a piece of paper into the trash bin from across the room.
12 idioms only the Irish understand
Photo: Darrell Miller
1- You could skin a cat out there
Cats from Kerry to Donegal live in a constant fear of being skinned alive when the RTE weather announces temperatures dipping to -5 during the night.
The utterance of “Well, you could skin a cat out there, it’s frightfully cold!” from their middle-aged female owners sends a shiver down their spine and serves as a gentle reminder to be thankful they didn’t start out life like a Sphynx cat.
The good news for our feline friends is that 99% of Met Eireann’s weather reports are a crock of shite, so they probably won’t look like those inside-out looking creatures for a while to come.
2- Get the finger out
Spending more than a matter of minutes with an older Irish person has only one guaranteed outcome – they will call you and your generation lazy and useless. You’ll get the “When I was your age I was already…” spiel you’ve heard countless times before.
On top of that you’ve also been told to “get the finger out!” Out of where? You can clearly see my arms are folded as I lean awkwardly on my hurl at the full forward line. Now, what were my opponent and I talking about before we were so rudely interrupted!
3- It cost me an arm and a leg
Irish people love to tell you when they’ve forked out some of their hard-earned Euros. What they fail to tell you is how much it physically pained them to pry open their wallet to do so. At times I feel some of my family would rather pay with a limb than key in their PIN at the debit machine. I’m still waiting for the day my girlfriend gets wheelbarrowed to the door with a pair of designer jeans in tow!
4- Take your point, the goals will come
In terms of the game played, this phrase makes total sense: you should choose to go for the score which offers the easier path. On the larger scale of life I suppose it means to take the easy option every time and never aspire to aim for anything that may be blocked by some sort of obstacle. GAA idioms should really stick to the field of play!
5- You’re taking the piss
Now, we don’t go around stealing urine samples from clinics before you jump to conclusions! Taking the piss is a figurative way of saying you’re joking with someone. Americans are “kidding”, Irish people are “taking the piss”, note the difference!
6- As happy as Larry
The happiest guy in all of Ireland is, and forever will be, some lad named Larry. No one knows the reasoning behind his permanent state of happiness but fair play to him for remaining so optimistic throughout the recent hard times which have hit the country. He must have found a nice market being the only upbeat person in the country since 2008!
7- Away with the fairies
An Irish person’s way of saying another one is a bit mad. The phrase essentially means you’re living in your own land where common sense and rules are figments of the imagination. “Ah don’t mind that lad, sure he’s away with the fairies!” a common rebuttal to the opinion of that lad in your group of friends.
8- On their way out
Only in Ireland would you talk about a person approaching death as you would a person leaving a bar. “How’s Tom doing up at the hospital?” I ask my Dad. “Ah not too well, he’s on his way out!” he responds. The news sinks my heart, although this time no one will be rushing after him to pay his bill at the pub!
9- Running around like a headless chicken
Back to animal brutality we go! One day you’re graduating from Maynooth with a degree in Theology and the next you’re struggling to find a job in Supermac’s. They said the skills I learned would be transferable! A decapitated chicken’s desperate attempt to cling on to its final moments of life encapsulate your struggle finding a job perfectly, no?
10- Nearly never bulled a cow
It’s as close to getting “close, but no cigar” you’re going to get in the Irish countryside. I’m no expert on breeding animals and the terminology associated with it, but this one seems pretty obvious! I guess the further you live from the countryside, the less likely it is that you will ever hear this idiom… but you can’t get that image out of your head can you? So, the next time you nearly do something, try to just do it to save an elderly Irish man using this expression and creeping you out!
11- Not the full shilling
Big deal, we don’t use the old money anymore! We never switched to “not the full Euro” for fear of the currency going the way of Brian Cowen’s reign as Taoiseach! Not the full shilling is used to describe that lad who you think has a few screws loose in their noggin. Your evidence is based solely on hearsay and that never-ending look on his face that screams “psychopathic serial killer”.
12- Throwing a sausage down O’Connell Street
Every town in Ireland has that one girl who has hooked up with more than her fair share of townsmen. On top of that, each town in Ireland also has enough gossipers to colonise a newly-discovered island. Add the two together and you come out with a hideous way of describing the fact that she may have taken one too many Denny’s sausages in her time.
January 14, 2015
Freedom of speech in the West
Photo: Keno Photography – Kenan Šabanović
The attacks against French newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris last week have sparked a worldwide conversation about free speech.
Now the satirical paper is going to print again with its first post-attack edition, and the freedom of expression debate is raging on.
What’s on the cover? You guessed it — a new cartoon of Prophet Muhammad. That’s forbidden in Islam, but Charlie Hebdo and its fast-growing fan base insist the paper has the right to print it.
Some are wondering what that right is all about. Americans know something about their First Amendment. International law also protects freedom of expression and opinion — it’s in the second sentence of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. In practice, it varies considerably by country, even within Europe.
Here’s a brief explainer on the different legal interpretations of free speech in the United States, Britain and France.
The US has the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” What First Amendment protections exist in say France or Britain?
None. The Bill of Rights applies only in the US.
That’s irritating.
Sorry. But both France and Britain are signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which spell out countries’ obligation to protect citizens’ rights to free expression, even of controversial or inflammatory opinions. (The US has signed on to the ICCPR as well.) They have national laws protecting free speech as well.
And citizens here are serious about that freedom. When marchers mobbed the streets across France this weekend, many raising pens toward the sky, they were showing solidarity with the slain staff of Charlie Hebdo. But demonstrators were also taking a stand for the newspaper’s right to express itself through controversial cartoons.
That said, there is a key difference in the laws’ wording. The First Amendment expressly prohibits laws limiting free speech. Britain and France’s laws essentially say that citizens have free speech unless the government legislates otherwise, leaving those countries more room to bar certain types of speech explicitly.
So I can say whatever I want in the US? Great! I am off to leak these documents, then libel some folks, and joke about violence on Twitter.
Hold on. The high bar set by the First Amendment doesn’t mean anything goes. It just means that challengers — including the government — have to work a lot harder to legally restrict speech.
Court cases have identified specific examples when US law supersedes an individual’s right to free expression. The First Amendment does not protect an individual who has shared secrets that could harm national security, for example, or who has falsely defamed another person.
And my Twitter joke?
Just don’t. Here’s an example. In 2010, a disgruntled 28-year-old British passenger in Yorkshire grumbled on Twitter about blowing the airport “sky high” after his flight was canceled. He was arrested by UK anti-terror police and charged with making comments “grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character” under the Communications Act. His conviction was later overturned, but not before he lost his job.
Under British law, the words themselves were a crime. But in the US, authorities have to link the words to punishable offenses to take action, such as those barred under the Homeland Security Act.
Two British twentysomethings found this out in 2012 when they joked on Twitter about being off to “destroy America” before boarding a flight for a US vacation. “Destroy” is British slang for “get really drunk in.” Upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport they were detained, questioned, and sent back to London immediately as “inadmissible to the United States.”
Moral of the story: No jokes about air travel, anywhere.
What about hate speech?
This issue has come up around Charlie Hebdo as well, a publication whose satiric cartoons took aim at just about every religious figure — particularly the Prophet Muhammad.
The US has no blanket law against hate or racially offensive speech. The target of such speech can pursue redress in a civil or criminal court by claiming its harassment, for example, but the speech itself is usually protected.
In France and Britain, defaming a person’s race, religion or sexual orientation can be a criminal offense resulting in fines or jail time. Often, it’s left to the courts to decide where the line between racism and free expression lies.
In fact, several French Muslim groups sued Charlie Hebdo in 2007, charging that the magazine’s cartoons were racist. French luminaries including then-future presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande wrote to the court to defend the magazine and France’s tradition of free expression. Then-editor Philippe Val was acquitted, with the courts ruling that the cartoons mocked terrorism and fundamentalism, not Muslims themselves.
I have been libeled and I demand justice! Where should I sue?
Pack your bags for the UK. English and Welsh courts (Scotland and Northern Ireland are separate) are globally famous for their plaintiff-friendly rulings in libel and defamation cases. There, the law assumes that any derogatory statement is false, and it’s up to the defendant to prove otherwise. The opposite is true in the US.
By Corinne Purtill, GlobalPost
This article is syndicated from GlobalPost.
5 rad adventures 2 hours from LA
Photo: Fever Dragon
Los Angeles is a metropolis of millions, but it’s also basecamp for multitudes of rad adventures. Here are my five favorite, go-to spots for outdoor exploration close to LA.
[Note: Click on panorama images and move cursor or swipe with your finger to see different perspectives. You can also zoom in and out.]
1. El Matador State Beach
The entrance to El Matador is small and barely marked — you gotta be on the lookout for this fav of locals, photographers, and the young beer-swilling contingency that probably hails from the nearby Pepperdine University. It’s a quick lefthand turn about six miles past Malibu into a gravel lot with a couple portable toilets and a pay station. They take debit cards, score. The short path switches back, descending to the beach and to the jagged coast and megalithic rock outcroppings and ruddy red sea cliffs. Seagull and cormorant shit has stained white the giant salt encrusted rock tower that sits just off the sheer seafront cliffs.
Down on the beach the wandering soul will find little sea caves, empty coves, and a close-swirling surf washing against the sea cliffs that bar escape. The surf can be calm and the sea caves can be scurried through and miles of beach open up. Or the surf can be high and rough and the entrances to the sea caves fill with foaming, crashing Pacific. If the weather is calm and the tide is low you may venture with caution further North through the sea cave at the end of the park.
Bring a good book and a scooby snack and look for passing dolphins and whales.
Hours from LA: 1
Adventures awaiting: surf, beach lounging, cove exploration, photography
2. Topanga State Park
Topanga State Park is an enormous reptile-green swath of peaks and valleys that extends for miles into the Santa Monica Mountains. It’s the rippling, scrub brush expanse that separates the Pacific Palisades and Ensino. Its network of trails and fire roads is the adventurous Los Angelino’s wet dream. You can access the giant park through a network of trails at various park entrances such as popular Trippet Ranch. If I’m on foot I like to park in or near the Temescal Gateway Park and walk the hillside trails to Skull Rock on the Temescal Ridge Trail and beyond.
If I’m on my bike I like to park near Temescal or Will Rogers or in one of the neighborhoods surrounding the park and find the quickest route to a fire road.
Topanga is big. I would advise you to do some scrolling over the trails on Google maps and see how they wind and fork and enter and exit the park. At one place you can actually camp in Topanga, off the highway 27 / Topanga Canyon Road entrance a primitive eight-person campsite can be accessed by hiking in a mile. Camping 20 minutes from LA — amazing!
When I can’t venture too far from LA but crave miles of empty park and gravel fire roads crunching under my mountain bike tires, Topanga State Park is my destination.
Topanga Park info: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=629
Hours from LA: 30 min
Adventures awaiting: hiking, biking, camping, exploring
3. Joshua Tree
Everything worth saying about Joshua Tree has already been said. It is an otherworldly, dramatically beautiful — and in the summer — punishingly hot confluence of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts. Driving toward Palm Springs the Joshua trees begin to appear in the Southern California desert until they fill the hot, empty spaces between peaks and valleys and piles of boulders. The namesake flora look like alien creatures frozen in a strange ritual dance. JTree is an easy two (or so) hour drive from LA — if you time it right to escape the crush of traffic before or after the morning commute.
Joshua Tree National Park is 1,234 sq. miles of dry beauty and desert wilderness famous among outdoor enthusiasts, but positively legendary among climbers. Thousands of routes ascend the dusty inselbergs of 100-million-year-old magma that forms the parks seemingly innumerable vistas. There are nine established campgrounds from which many of the park’s trails start.
The sideways slide of the sun’s light shifts the color spectrum of the landscape from white to brown then orange then red then purple then black. Sunsets at JTree are best taken surrounded by the strangely named, humanoid trees. Their spiky bundles of leaves fall into deep shadow and slice the horizon with their jagged silhouettes. The stars, oh jesus christ you don’t get stars like this in Los Angeles…
Visit the Nat Park website for all the details on driving,hiking, camping, and seasonal warnings: http://www.nps.gov/jotr/index.htm
Hours from LA: approx. 2
Adventures awaiting: hiking, camping, climbing, wildlife viewing, photography
4. Channel Islands
Leaving Los Angeles at 7am, it is a little over an drive hour to the Ventura Marina. Park the rig outside of Island Packers, the cruise operation that ferries folks out to the islands and back, and head down to the Harbor Cove Cafe at the end of the drive for breakfast, a coffee or a cup of clam chowder. There are ZERO food options and only a few spots with water from a spigot on the island of my visit so I don’t want to get on the boat hungry. The breakfast burrito delivers the goods — but expect to wait 10 minutes for your food.
When adventuring to the Channel Islands bring a picnic and plenty of water. If you meander the amazing trails, which that is pretty much all there is to do, you will be exposed to the sun much of the time and will need snacks and drink. There is also camping on all five islands on Channel Islands National Park.
Island Packers offers roundtrip excursions, cruises, and whale watching tours to several islands of the Channel Islands. It’s an hour by boat to Santa Cruz Island. Leaving the Ventura Marina, me and my 99 fellow day trippers motor past sea lounging lions on a bobbing red buoy and pods of cresting dolphins and out into the Pacific — to the seemingly remote but extremely accessible islands 20 miles distant.
Arriving at Santa Cruz, we dock at Scorpion Anchorage where several trails converge. Immediately to the left a little cove enjoys a steadily lapping turquoise surf. The rhythmic million-voiced chuckle of pebbles being turned over is irresistible. A squadron of kids belonging to lounging kayakers and spent hikers rollick and splash in the chilly water.
Santa Cruz is barren on the knolls and folds of the hills and shaded and bird-cluttered in the valleys. The big views from the 3.5-mile trail to Smugglers Cove commanded the 96sq miles of the island and the surrounding ocean and the surrounding islands. Far below the last red and yellow oblong slivers of a group of kayakers slips behind a rock outcropping and disappears from view.
Island Packers: http://www.islandpackers.com/index.html
Channel Islands camping: http://www.nps.gov/chis/planyourvisit/camping.htm
Hours from LA: approx. 2
Adventures awaiting: hiking, camping, kayaking, whale watching, photography
5. Griffith Park
One of the biggest metropolitan parks in America, Griffith is the home to the famous HOLLYWOOD sign, many miles of hiking, biking and equestrian trails, a gorgeous art deco observatory, several mountain peaks, at least one wild mountain lion, and a zoo. It is a public space par excellence; in my opinion, the best Los Angeles has to offer.
Griffith can be accessed through numerous parking areas and trails and envelopes mountainous landscapes that separate Hollywood, Glendale and Burbank so depending on where you are coming from Griffith offers different options for adventure. I approach the park from the Hollywood side, the southern side, from the beneath the gleaming edifice of Griffith Observatory that overlooks the city.
My favorite Griffith adventure is an epic mountain bike ride from the Western Ave entrance up past the Observatory and up Mount Hollywood Rd (closed to traffic) over the mountains down into the Glendale area. The main biking route is a restricted access fire road, meaning you will only occasionally see the random maintenance vehicle. Offshoot trails range from wide, well-packed paths to hard-going coyote trails.
Speaking of coyotes, if you manage not to crash around like a baboon in heat you will probably see a few of these tawny grey, sneaky citizens of the Santa Monica mountains. At sunset as the park descends into darkness, the yips and cries of the too-near coyotes echo through the park and tickle the tender wee hairs on the back of hiker’s necks. Beside coyotes, I routinely see by the dozens pinwheeling in the thermals and red tail hawks soaring higher still. Barn owls do their best to seldom be seen as do the shy deer that pick their way cautiously on the scrubby slopes.
Aside from the galvanizing effect of nature in such a densely populated urban area and the abundance of empty trails and warm breezes, the view of Los Angeles cannot be beat. At night the cityscape shifts in a mesmeric shimmer of electricity and glass. On the 4th of July there is no better place to view the light show.
For the most expansive view, but not the least crowded, walk from the Observatory to the top of Mount Hollywood and take in the panorama that includes the Angeles National Forest, the Pacific Ocean and everything.
Hours from LA: n/a
Adventures awaiting: hiking, biking, Griffith Observatory, horseback riding, wildlife viewing, Hollywood sign
What Burners carry with them [vid]
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WE (the What Took You So Long? film team) headed to Black Rock City late September last year as “Burner Virgins” to attend one of the most famous annual events of our lifetimes in the desert of Nevada. Burning Man is a temporary pop-up city that has grown into 70,000 people living on participation and giving, creating a unique culture and a whole new world.
One of the most pressing questions on the playa is: What are you carrying with you when…
you need to survive in the desert
you’re creating your own adventure
you don’t know when you will go back home to your camp
We linked up with the Profiles in Dust team to collaborate on video documentation, which led us to think of this filming idea while out on the playa.
Pre-sale registration for this year’s event kicks off Jan 14, 2015. Individual sale registration starts Feb 18. More details here.
January 13, 2015
Why so many people travel solo
Photo: SkyDivedParcel
“Happiness is only real when shared,” was found carved into the bus in Alaska where Christopher McCandless spent his final days. After he graduated from college, he rid himself of his belongings, burned his money, and set off, alone, to discover the world. After many great adventures and sullen disappointments, McCandless’s moment of lucidity comes, ironically, as he is about to die. The same thing he had been running from was exactly what would have brought him happiness: the company of others.
Many would agree with the moral of Into the Wild’s story. What is a magical sunset without your significant other? What is the point of scaling a mountain when you have no one to turn to at the top in victory? Why would you visit exotic lands if no one you knew could share your happiness and excitement?
Despite humans’ strong inclination to stick by their family and friends, more and more people are traveling alone nowadays. It has many benefits that bring a deeper meaning to travel, and to life itself. A good majority of travel bloggers and writers I know prefer to go it alone; it is no longer taboo. Why is this?
Do what you want
The first, and most obvious, reason to travel alone is that you can do whatever you want. Maybe this seems selfish, but sacrificing where you want to go and what you want to see while abroad is travel blasphemy. You are on your own schedule, can stay at certain locations for whatever time period you desire, and do whatever activities strike your fancy. Not going to a museum because two of the four people you are traveling with don’t want to go? You’ll have none of this while traveling alone. You are in control of your itinerary and have no one to report to.
Be yourself…or not
Similarly, while you are traveling alone, you can be yourself. Or, you can be your alter-ego; it’s up to you. In the book The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz discusses how all of us are conditioned by society and culture to behave, think, and be a certain way. When we travel alone, there is no one there who knows you and therefore insists you be who you are “supposed” to be.
You can remove yourself from all expectations, live in the moment, discover new lands, and possibly find out more about yourself than you thought existed. Solo travel tests your limits, puts you in situations that you ordinarily wouldn’t encounter, and pushes you to realize your potential in many ways.
Photos clockwise from bottom left: Giuseppe Milo, Christina Leigh Morgan, M Trombone, Samuel Tristán
Solo travel is beautiful journey of conquering your fears, exploring a different country, learning to accept solitude, and quite possibly getting to know the truest version of yourself to date. While on the road on my own, I find that I gain a clarity of mind that is almost impossible to obtain while leading a mundane life of routine. You learn to appreciate your surroundings, adapt to differing elements, interact with others, and focus on what is important in that moment. You are allowed to meditate on life and remove yourself from pointless chatter.
Deep immersion
When traveling alone, the opportunity to really immerse yourself in most cultures is greater than when you travel with others. This is for two reasons: One, people are more likely to reach out to you when you are on your own. You are less intimidating when by yourself, and people quite possibly feel sorry for you, thereby opening up to you.
I firmly believe in the kindness of strangers — that people want to help, that no one wants to see another human struggling. This is not to say that you’ll immerse yourself in another culture by means of pity. It simply means that many locals will be eager to give you directions, practice their English with you, feed you, and even open their homes to you. More often than not, locals are just as curious about you as you are about them.
The second reason why you can more successfully immerse yourself in a culture while traveling alone is that you are able to put everything you consider normal aside. Reminders of your home and culture, which are inevitable when traveling with family or friends, vanish. You are able to dive into a new way of life with a completely open mind, allowing you to soak in the food, language, customs, and behavior on a profound level. There is nothing holding you back from learning about this new culture and beginning to understand it from a local’s point of view.
You are not alone, actually
Lastly, traveling alone will make you discover that, ultimately, you are never alone. You are not the only person in the world who is brave enough to hop on a plane to discover another country that your inner circle may not even have heard of. There are many people from all over the world who are expats, relentless travelers, and world citizens.
As Pico Iyer mentioned in his TED Talk, “Where is Home?” there is a “nomadic nation” growing within the world. People no longer feel compelled to be “from” just one place; many consider the road their home. And therefore, solo travel exposes you to a wealth of people coming from one place and heading to another. They are seemingly neither here nor there, and the conversations you will have these international people will certainly broaden your perspective. Some may be forgettable, but others you will immediately bond with, potentially creating lasting friendships.
These are the many reasons why so many people opt to travel solo nowadays. This is not to say that there are no dangers involved, but rewards don’t come without risk. Traveling alone has greatly changed the person I am, and it was one of the best uncertainties I’ve ever embraced. And so, while I greatly identified with Chris McCandless, and I do believe in the comfort of others, there is a different sort of happiness that you discover when you travel alone. It is a happiness filled with confidence, acceptance, and knowing that, no matter what and no matter where, you can rely on yourself.
This article originally appeared on Travel Pulse and is republished here with permission.
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