Americas
« Previous EntriesMardi Gras all year round
By rocky | July 18, 2008
Every year around February tens of thousands flock to New Orleans to let their hair down and party at the annual Mardi Gras celebrations. People come to watch the parades which feature amazing floats which are the centrepiece of the carnival. Although you need to be in the Crescent City during the Mardi Gra to soak up the unbelievable atmosphere, visitors can see some of these beautiful floats all year round. Just over the mighty Mississippi from the city in Algiers is The Blaine Kern Mardi Gras world. Here dozens of the amazing floats and costumes are on display in all their glory. Some are huge there’s the 140 foot long sea monster Levithan and an even bigger 240 odd foot long Captain Eddies SS Endymion which includes tens of thousands of tiny fibre optic lights. Blaine Kern has been making parade floats for over 60 years, and the company even makes floats for some other cities and even Universal Studios where they are used in their Florida theme park’s street parades. Visitors to Mardi Gras world will see how these magnificent sculpture and figures are produced by very talented artists and trades people. Mardi Gras world is a must for anyone visiting beautiful New Orleans Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Americas, Festivals / Events | No Comments »
The mascots come out to play
By rocky | July 12, 2008
The Celebrity Mascot Games is on again 24-26th of July and this year promises to be funnier than ever. Held for New Hope for Kids charity the first games were held in 1992 and have been a hit ever since. This year the day will feature over 30 mascots featuring some pretty cool guys from Major League Baseball, NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA and Arena Football League. There are 3 days of action the 24th it will be held at Stetson university, while the 25th and 26th of July Amway Arena will be the venue for the best day out in Orlando this year and it is helping make wishes come true for a lot of sick kids. Some of the competitors to this years event include Stanley C Panther from the Florida Panthers, Kid Coyote from the Dallas Desperados, Hairy Dawg from the University of Georgia, Junction Jack all the way from the Houston Astros and Carlton the Bear from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Topics: Americas, Festivals / Events, Must see | No Comments »
New York’s grand old lady
By rocky | July 4, 2008
Well it’s the 4th of July so we are off to the United States of America today and we play tribute to the grand old lady of New York - the Statue of Liberty.Just about everyone is familiar with the statue so we thought we would feature some interesting trivia about America’s much loved monument. Did you know that she is probably America’s biggest lady with a waistline of 35 feet, she has a face 8 feet tall and from the tip of her torch to the ground is 305 feet. The seven huge rays on her crown measure in at 9 feet long and weigh up to 150 pounds each. The torch has been replaced several times and each time it has been in a different style, the current one was installed in 1986 and is covered in sheets of 24 k gold. You might think being such a huge statue the copper outer is thick, no it is actually only about 3/32 of an inch think which is less than the thickness of two pennies. After being closed for several years after the 2001 terrorist attacks the Statue of Liberty is now open for visitors, where people can once again walk onto the observation deck for spectacular views of New York City and the harbor. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Americas, USA | No Comments »
Jesus dines on Guinea Pigs
By rocky | June 26, 2008
We did a story a few weeks ago on a restaurant in Dublin called the Guinea Pig Restaurant. We got quiet a bit of feedback from our visitors, but most of them read the story wrong, the Guinea Pig doesn’t serve the fury critters, they are a fish restaurant. But to the horror of those who left us a comment, we thought we would do a story about Peru today where they just love sinking their teeth into a succulent piece of roast guinea pig, infact it is estimated that over 56 million of them are roasted every year. Guinea pigs are the perfect meal in Peru, they are easy to breed, very easy to raise and don’t require much space and they are pretty damm tasty too, being high in protein and low in cholesterol. The little rodent like creature has been on the menu for thousands of years. Today’s photo is a Spanish version of the Last Supper which was painted by Marcos Zapata, it shows Christ and his apostles ready to eat a guinea pig. The painting hangs in the Capilla del Triunfo Cathedral of Cuso Peru which was built in 1539.
Topics: Americas, Animals, Food | No Comments »
Hoegh Pet Casket Factory Tour
By rocky | June 12, 2008
We have had some weird attractions on Tripandom, but this one takes the cake. A factory tour of a pet casket manufacturer- how bizarre! Hoegh Pet Casket’s is in Gladstone, Michigan in the good old USA. They have been making coffins for pets since 1966 and now make 8 sizes and 21 styles fit for any dead pet. The caskets are made of a high impact styrene product and sell nearly 35,000 of them a year some even trimmed with lace and pillows. It’s not only dogs and cats who get buried in these beautiful caskets, ducks, pigs, rabbits, lizards you name it - there’s a casket for just about anything. They also sell a huge range of cremation urns and memorials. The Hoegh Pet Casket tours can be arranged Monday to Friday between 8 and 4, here you will not only see how the caskets are produced but visit their model cemetery
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Ontario Place- Toronto’s playground
By rocky | June 11, 2008
Back in the late 1960’s the Toronto waterfront was a run down and under developed area until work began on what is now Ontario Place. Opening in 1971 the five pod futuristic paviolions featured a forum, marina, restaurants and a IMAx plus plenty of family fun. over the years with huge upgrades Ontairo Place has become one of Toronto’s favorite playgrounds. Now the centre has waterslides, simulator rides, sporting facilities for volleyball and the Soak City Waterpark which is loved by kids of all ages. The centre also is home to a huge 16,000 amphitheatre which now attracts some of the world’s most popular performers. In the coming months alone entertainers like Rod Stewart, Judas Priest, The Backstreet Boys, Cheap Trick and ZZ Top will grace the stage.
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Grauman’s Chinese Theatre
By rocky | May 23, 2008
The Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood would have to be the most famous and most recognisable theatre in the world. Opening in 1927 on Hollywood Boulevard the theatre still today is used by many huge blockbuster opening screenings, even it’s first film was a opening screening Cecil B DeMille’s The King of Kings. The theatre has even been a host of 2 Academy Award ceremonies. Many tourists flock to the court in front of the theatre to see the dozens of celebrity cement blocks which have signatures, feet and hand prints of many of Hollywood’s biggest names. Today the theatre is owned by the huge Warner Bros and Paramount Picture companies and recently was restored to its former glory.
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The great American roadtrip in only 4 min
By wattsy | May 21, 2008
If you know your geography you will know that LA and New York are on the opposite ends of the US. So a road trip across the country will take you around 7 days, like it did for the guys in the video above. They have video taped their trip and condensed it into a time lapse video of 4 minutes that is kinda cool. so sit back watch and enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tijuana Donkey - Zebra - Zonkey?
By rocky | May 9, 2008
Going back to the thirties some bright entrepreneur in Tijuana Mexico decided to paint their donkey with black and white stripes to look like a Zebra, the idea was to make the animal look better on black and white photographs. Most of the donkey’s were white or fairly light and photographed badly in the bright Mexican sun. Like any good idea, others followed and decades later the tradition continues. The zonkeys or painted donkey are there for the tourist, it’s amazing how many people will spend the $10 or so to have themselves photographed wearing silly Mexican hats and ponchos with these dopey striped animals. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Americas, Animals, Kitsch Stuff | No Comments »
Wild Water Kingdom
By rocky | April 30, 2008
Toronto’s largest and infact Canada’s largest water park is in Brampton and it’s that huge its a kingdom! The Wild Water Kingdom has 13 body and tube slides, another 7 kids waterslides a huge 6000 square foot swimming pool
and even two mini golf courses and its set on acres and acres of picnic area. The par’s biggest attraction its the Big Tipper, two huge buckets drop 800 gallons of water on the unsuspecting below- it’s great fun. This year the park has a new attraction for the summer months the Misty Blue Zone, here parents can relax under the mist and escape the hot sun while the kids are having fun on the slides. The highlight for us, and I’m sure for a lot of kids is Hugo the Hippo the cuddly purple hippopotamus character who patrols the park- look out for him and give him a big hug for me!
Topics: Americas, fun parks | No Comments »