Travel, Technology and Reviews

A Sceptic Search Engine

It's interesting, the world of scepticism - more properly I would call it rational thinking. There are many areas where there is a war or words, fact slinging and debunking on topics such as evolution, vaccines, UFO's and medicine. I present you a search and comparison engine to see what the sceptics say compared with the believers.

TRAVEL

Paddy & Seamus get lost in Peru

Delayed flights, crazy cabs, Yunza festivals, extreme treking and lots and lots of alcohol. Follow Seamus and Paddys' first adventure as we strapped on our backpacks and tried (but failed) not to get too lost in Peru.

The Gateway Arch, St Louis

This 630ft high monument, the Gateway to the West, is just mad. It's the tallest monument in the USA and this stainless steel construction is really a sight to behold.

An Easter Island primer

"In the middle of the Great Ocean, in a region where no one ever passes, there is a mysterious and isolated island..." Pierre Loti, L'Ile de Paques, 1872

Let me take you on an adventure to the remotest inhabited island, in the world. This is an extensive APJ microsite, designed to be the ideal primer for anybody interested in Easter Island.

India

Hot, absolutely totally unbelievably hot. Oh, and humid, did I mention that? No exaggeration, leave the air-conditioning of the airport, you walk through the door and WHAM! It's like hitting a brick wall and walking into a sauna at the same time.

Hungary

Our intrepid elderly travelers, Berol and Biro, take a trip to Hungary and discover the ins and outs of arriving in the historic city Budapest.

In search of Vlad the Impaler

One night at the pub, Yvette mentioned she was really into Vampires and had always wanted to visit the castle of Dracula (Vlad the Impaler) in Romania. Two weeks later, a small band of friends were on their way to Romania...

Tikal

It is impossible to take the quarter of a mile walk through the lowland tropical rainforest that spills you into the middle of the Central Plaza of Tikal without being in awe of the mute imperial glory of the temples.

Travels in Peru

Until you stop travelling, you can never really say that you have been travelling, writes Ian Barfield on his first major trip abroad.

China: 3 weeks in the cold

The trick to travelling is not to get too worked up about it. Its Friday night, we leave for China in the morning. Rick, wanted to go pack, unpack, repack and stuff more stuff in. I wanted to go down the pub, even though we have a morning flight to China...

COMMENTARY & TRIVIA

The perfect gift?

Every year it is a pain to find a present for my parents wedding anniversary, but this year I struck gold. My parents love gardening and have been talking about a makeover for the garden, so I decided to give them a helping hand, not with blood sweat and tears (I know nothing about gardening), but with a garden design gift package from directgardendesign.co.uk.

Learn to dance

I've been a dance teacher at Jive Nation for over a year now and I haven't even mentioned it. If you live in the London area, then why not come along to one of our dance classes (Monday-Wednesday) or one of our weekend parties, where you can learn Modern Jive partner dancing. It's fun, you get a lot of exercise and all for only £8. Bargin ;-)

TECHNOLOGY

Retro: The Sinclair ZX81

Just as we get used to more computing power for the same money, along comes Clive Sinclair offering much more for much less! Article from the June 1981 edition of Personal Computer World, originally written by David Tebbutt.

Video on the move

When APJ was first conceived, cameras were heavier, less versatile and lower quality than today. With an array of modern Digital video cameras on the market, APJ tested the fesability of traveling with this high tech. kit.

REVIEWS

Watchman

For the fanboys, the Watchman movie has been a long time coming, for sci-fi fans, it looks like a spectacular effects driven event. Does it satisfy? Yes, both as a movie and as a faithfull conversion of comic book to screen.

Mamma Mia - The Movie

I think I am in a minority of one. This Pop Group to Stage to Film phenomenon has taken the world by storm, but left me wanting both my money and hours of my life back. Yes, this film has broken box office and DVD records world wide, yes, it was up for Oscars, but I hated it.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

We all love Indiana Jones and the wait for the fourth installment has been years. Is it any good? In a word yes. Is it the best? Probably not, but it has merit and is a fine addition to the tome.

Eragon

I laughed for nearly five minutes at the end of this movie. My sides were splitting and tears were rolling down my face. Unfortunatley, this film isn't supposed to be a comedy.

The Wendell Baker Story

I left the 49th The Times bfi London Film Festival showing of The Wendell Baker Story with a big feel-good factor. It's not going to take the world by storm, but it is a charming, lovely, funny, touching and unusual movie.

ARCHIVES

Electrocution for fun?

You can't pick your enemies, but when you have friends like these, who electrocute themselves for fun, you begin to think that a life re-evaluation might be in order...

The Missouri Marmite Museum

St Louis, MO, USA is the current home of the Missouri Marmite Museum so when I was passing through, I contacted Doug Schnider, the curator and part time "Doctor Marmite", to arrange a visit to his collection of Marmite memorabilia.

The pitfalls of debt relief

Getting into debt is far easier then hauling yourself out. We are bombarded with commercials to help us out of debt, with offers appearing too good to be true. Is there a catch?