TripCart - the best place on the web to find things to do in the United States. Presents a religiously updated blog full of advice and tips for trip planning
As a tribute to Michael Jackson, we dug through the web to list some significant Michael Jackson concert venues in the United States. His last concert as part of a world tour in the United States was on January 27, 1989 (20 YEARS AGO!) in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, not far at all from Staples Center.
Summertime is upon us which means that it's time to hit the road while you take advantage of your paltry 12 vacation days a year. Have you ever been on the interstate and wondered what that shiny, new 2007 Ford Mustang would look like after a head-on collision? Well Consumer Reports was kind enough to post their videos of crash tests of tons and tons of cars. Just pick the car manufacturer and model and then sit back and watch it get it totaled.
The video above is a POV from the Millenium Force in Cedar Point, Ohio. This bad boy is over a mile long, over 30-stories high, and hits speeds of over 90 miles per hour. It opened in 2000 and has since had over 12 million butts in its seats. If you like riding the best and you're going to be in the Midwest between May and October, this is definitely worth a stop. For now, you can ride vicariously through Eddie and Sarah.
We're such suckers for time-lapse videos. The one above is artist Tim Biskup throwing up a mural at 616 N. La Brea in Los Angeles. If you're going to be in Los Angeles any time soon, stop by and check it out.
Woody Allen, one of the poster children of New York made a wonderful clip shortly following 9/11 for the "Concert for New York." The clip runs a mere 3 minutes but does a wonderful job of capturing the amazing characters that only exist in New York. Our favorite line: "I got mugged. I was coming home from the opera. They took my gas mask, my flashlight, all my Cipro." Doesn't the anthrax/herpes guy look like the head of the Others on Lost?
Update: It appears the powers that be have removed this video from YouTube.
Holiday shopping was a bit more adventurous than normal last week at the Altamonte Springs mall near Orlando. It might be safer to get your presents from one of the one-story outlet malls that litter the interstates throughout Florida-
Security camera video captured a 19-year-old man crashing his car
through a mall entrance, down a hallway and into a perfume kiosk. But
the driver wasn't done, he then headed toward an escalator. The car
clipped the railing of the escalator then dropped down one level before
landing on its side. None of the workers inside the mall were injured
but it only took seconds for them to emerge from stores and hallways to
the scene of the crashed car. The driver was admitted to a hospital for
treatment of his injuries and for psychiatric evaluation. He told
police responding to the scene that he was trying to commit suicide.
Last month we reported on the best places to catch some early snow - this week we scrounged up a video of the history of snowboarding. Glen Lazzaro put together this great clip of how the sport got its start-
There was a great skit on SNL last week that somehow we missed. The boys take the TSA to task for the completely arbitrary rules in our friendly skies. Our favorite bit-
"We're safe so long as we stick to the 3 [ounces]" "Well, what's to stop two people from each having three ounces and then meeting on the plane to combine them?" "Chris, you want to take this one?" "No."
The video's already been taken off of YouTube (can't Google and NBC sort something out?) but for the time being EvilChili still has it available. Enjoy.
Unfortunately, we found these after Labor Day, but you should definitely put these topless flipflops on your Christmas wishlist. We're not sure exactly how these work but the Topless-Sandals website claims that they will stay attached to your foot for at least a year. They claim that the "sticky" won't leave any residue on your feet but we can't figure out why your foot would stick and sand wouldn't. Check out the video, it's kind of surreal - we would have liked to have seen more of the sandal and less of the guy's face but apparently they think that's what sells shoes-
TripCart's been hanging around the distilleries of Bourbon Country in Kentucky and it turns out that bottle Larry Hagman found on the beach in the classic TV show "I Dream of Jeannie" actually housed two spirits: Jim Beam and Barbara Eden. The 1964 decanter of Beam's Choice was used after the bottle had been painted with gold leaf to look more antiquated. There's a bit of controversey over who first decided to use the bottle but most evidence points to first season director Gene Nelson. Over the years the props department used several different bottles adding more ornate decoration after the show began to air in color. Appparently several bottles were used during the pilot episode's opening beach sequence.
This is a video collaboration between Michael and Olivier Gondry with the music of Lacquer in the background. Michael Gondry has directed videos for Beck, Radiohead, The White Stripes, and lots of others, he also directed movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Here he is on his way from LA to NYC in a convertible - simply stunning.
