A Day in California from Ryan Killackey on Vimeo. Beautiful. The backstory from the video’s creator: “I worked on this project on and off for over a year and a half. It is composed of over 10,000 photos shot in California by my wife and I.” I love the tilt-shift sequences, among others. Be sure [...]

My summer kicked off with a great weekend at the TBEX travel blogging conference in Vancouver. In addition to hanging out with a fun group of writers and sampling a surprisingly tasty seaweed-topped hot dog (thanks, Japadog), I taught narrative travel writing with San Francisco Chronicle Travel Editor Spud Hilton and New York Times contributor [...]

Aurelio is a Honduran musician and member of the Garifuna community. This song is from his new album, Laru Beya. It makes me happy. Mayahuaba by subpop

London Independent columnist Johann Hari makes the case for books and reading in the digital age — a nice counter-balance, of sorts, to the post just below this about the appeal of short stories: That’s why we need books, and why I believe they will survive. Because most humans have a desire to engage in [...]

Novelist and short story writer Jim Shephard was just featured in a half-hour interview on NPR’s Fresh Air. I liked what he said about the appeal of writing short stories. I’m getting more and more impatient with what I call the ‘furniture moving’ involved novels, you know, that sense you have, when you’re reading early [...]

I’m happy to report that the online travel magazine I co-founded in 2001 is back firing on all cylinders after several months of light posting. This post explains it all.

The Underwater Project from Mark Tipple on Vimeo. I’ve spent a fair amount of time diving under waves, and the view from below can be beautiful. But you rarely see it captured in photographs as stunning as these. Be sure to click on the little arrows to blow the video up to full screen. (Via [...]

From Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel White Noise, as relevant today as ever: Several days later Murray asked me about a tourist attraction known as the most photographed barn in America. We drove 22 miles into the country around Farmington. There were meadows and apple orchards. White fences trailed through the rolling fields. Soon the signs [...]

This crate held an awful lot of promise. I snapped this at the Convention Center while getting a preview of the Los Angeles Times Travel & Adventure Show.

Ukulele phenom Jake Shimabukuro covers The Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” working his way into a pretty killer ukulele crescendo.