Ischgl (1377m) is a small village (population: 1489 in 2001) in the Paznaun Valley in Tyrol (Austria). Its ski resort Silvretta Arena Ischgl-Samnaun is connected with the ski resort of Samnaun across the border in Switzerland. Together this ski area belongs to the largest skiing resorts in the Alps. Its 200km of groomed pistes are served by over 40 mechanical lifts including cable cars, gondolas, detachable chair lifts and some T-bars. Ischgl is well-known (and sometimes criticized) for its lively après-ski parties and roistering nightlife. The resort became famous when it began regularly hosting pop concerts celebrating the end of the annual ski season (Top of the Mountain Concert) at the Idalp (2300m). Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, and Elton John are among the international stars who have performed at these concerts. In April, 2002 Bill Clinton gave a Message from the Mountains at Ischgl and made this tiny mountain village a worldly media event.
Jawohl, here we go! Open up the pearly lift gates and let us in! To kick off the residence in Austria we’re heading towards Ischgl. It was incredibly difficult to book accommodation, but finally I got lucky with a guest house that was just being built. I guess that’s why it wasn’t fully booked yet. There was a small dump of fresh snow earlier this week so the slopes shouldn’t be all that bad.
I’ve never personally been all that excited about the “after ski” business, but a Pacha in the middle of mountains is a sight surely not to be missed. Paris Hilton celebrates her birthday over there tonight. She is currently in Austria to promote a canned sparkling wine called “Rich”.
We’ve settled quite well in our new, cozy home on Favoritenstrasse in the Wieden district of Vienna. The Internet is working, there is hot water in the shower and a delicious smell of fresh bread reaches our apartment every morning. After a little scouting a few other essential services were found: an organic supermarket, an affordable gym and a whole bunch of nice little restaurants in the immediate surroundings.
The austrians are highly civilized and surprisingly friendly. The city is just oozing with layers of history and generations of royalty. They obviously value all kinds of cultural things including contemporary art, classical music, cuisine, viniculture etc.
One thing they can’t do all that well is writing pop music. Their only real hope, Falco (of “Rock me Amadeus” fame) perished in a car crash in 1998.
One thing I’ve noticed that there is definitively some sort of kinky undertone in their relationship with human body. The picture on the right is of a model in the Chanel store on the ultra-luxurious shopping street, Kohlmarkt. There is a Ball Season right now and that is also complimented with a flamboyant thing called Rosenball which is a disco version of a traditional Opera Ball. After checking out the background on Prince Eugene I realize that this is nothing new.
I just created a preliminary Wien album in the travelogue section of the gallery.
Young Lebanese drive through devastated neighborhood of South Beirut, 15 August
The inter-relations between the people and the world that is surrounding them is captured with painful precision in the fleeting moment while the shutter of Spencer Platt’s camera opened for a fraction of a second. A multitude of questions immediately spring to mind while watching this picture.
Sometimes great photography is more about great timing than anything else.
This music video was directed by Lauri Warsta and Jouni Karttunen of the Las Palmas collective. They are masterfully utilizing the modern tools of motion graphic artists and animators to complement the mood of the song. In a music genre like this the title of the song is often the only clue about the “message” of the song and the animators have done an amazing job in animating and rotoscoping (with water colours on paper perhaps?) the war related footage and 3D models.
The video is for a band called Magyar Posse and it deservedly won the “Best music video of the year” at the Oulu Music Video festival as well as the People’s Choice award.
Las Palmas has a higher quality version of the video in the music video section of their website. Their other animation work is of superb quality as well. It is well worth checking out.
Tick-borne encephalitis, or TBE, is a human viral infectious disease involving the central nervous system. The disease is most often manifest as meningitis (inflammation of the membrane that surrounds the brain and spinal cord), encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), or meningoencephalitis (inflammation of both the brain and meninges). Although TBE is most commonly recognized as a neurologic disease, mild febrile illnesses can also occur. Long-lasting or permanent neuropsychiatric sequelae are observed in 10-20% of infected patients.
Check out the map of the endemic areas. Yup, it’s Austria right there in the center of it. I got my second shot of TBE vaccination today. It’s about 45 euros a pop and I highly recommend it to anyone who plans to spend extended periods of time in any outdoor environment in Central Europe. A friend of mine who works at a health centre that specializes in tropical diseases told me a graphic story about an aeroplane pilot who had caught the disease. He was just shaking all over. TBE can cause all kinds of neurological symptoms and it can be difficult to diagnose because it can mimic several other diseases.
Austria is the only country where the number of cases is dropping yearly. I think that they have adopted a rigorous vaccination program and practically everyone is vaccinated at 6 years of age. The vaccine also happens to be austrian.
I’m not sure if I’m a bit over-cautious here, but in my opinion it’s not a big price to pay for some extra peace of mind. Then again, pharmaceutics must be one of the most profitable industries in the world. It thrives on pathophobia - the fear of diseases.
The Macallan Elegancia is selected from a unique combination of sherry casks, which have previously contained both fino and Oloroso sherries.
This expression is an exclusive release through Duty free and travel retail stores round the world.
Colour:
Bright Gold.
Nose:
Light citrus with vanilla, sweet toffee, spice and oak.
Palate:
Spice and citrus, balanced with a nutty maltiness.
Finish:
Sweet toffee, with spice and light oak.
I’m almost pathologically jealous of my friend Philipp for many, many things: he speaks several languages fluently, he is a doctor of philosophy, he can play drums quite well, his wife looks a bit like Claudia Schiffer, he has a family signet ring and he has a great collection of 80’s heavy metal albums.
He also has a formidable collection of single malt whiskies. It was his birthday yesterday and, as always, a treasure chest of these rare liquid treats was opened around midnight. After tasting a couple them (including the hard to find Redbreast) I still thought that the sherry oak Macallan Elegancia was simply supreme. It was rather light and delicate, but it had a citric kick that made it just perfect. I’m not really even a whisky aficionado, but I plan to get a bottle as soon as I see one for sale.
The amazing one-piece multi-function Dreamhelmet, like the Swiss Army Knife before it, is a traveler’s dream come true!
As an added bonus, the Dreamhelmet sleep mask can be used two different ways as a muff (hand warmer), or you can tuck the eye mask and chin strap inside the cover and make a simple pillow to sit on cold surfaces or for back support while driving. Among the many benefits of the Dreamhelmet is that sleeping in a sleeping bag can now be a much nicer experience; your pillow is attached to your head - not all over the ground, your ears stay warm, and the large eye mask and pillow protect most of your head from voracious insects. Camping can actually be fun! You will have the energy to enjoy nature because you got a good night’s sleep.
Most ordinary sleep masks fit tightly around the head, in an attempt to block all the light. This causes irritation, perspiration, and makes your hair look funny. the Dreamhelmet sleep mask is designed with a large eye mask which is meant to be worn loosely, and only soft 100% cotton touches the user’s face. A loose-fitting chin strap keeps the Dreamhelmet sleep mask from sliding off the face while sleeping, eliminating another problem of ordinary sleep masks. The Dreamhelmet sleep mask pillow eliminates the problem of the irritation and hair tangle problems caused by sleep masks with thin straps and Velcro around the back of the head.
There was a rather similar sensory deprivation device in an episode of a business reality tv series: Inside the Dragon’s Den. For some reason the investors didn’t quite believe in the commercial potential of this marvelous invention.
I found this by accident while we were discussing a friend’s friend who reportedly wears cup style hearing protectors every single night. She has four dogs.
