The Week That Was #13

~ Welcome to my weekly collection of the Odd, the Useful, and the often Bizarre – although the first item (see image) could safely fit into all three categories.

The Odd: Complete Swiss Army Knife: If you’re in the market for a multifunction tool that just can’t be beat, have a look at this Guinness World Record holding collection of tools.

Called the Only Complete Swiss Army Knife, it features 87 precision-engineered tools which span 112 different functions - including (takes a deep breath) seven blades, three types of pliers, three golf tools, 25 Phillips and Flat headed screwdrivers, plus saws, wrenches, a signal whistle, combination fish scaler, hook disgorger, line gauge tool, chain rivet setter, shotgun choke tube tool, cigar-cutting scissors, tire-tread gauge, tweezers, toothpick and for a modern twist, a laser pointer.

This Swiss Army Knife to beat all knives is available now from Hammacher Schlemmer for just $1,400. Did I say, Odd? It could just be the most Useful gadget you’ve ever owned – if you can get your fingers around it!

The Useful: Cheap International Calls. Matt Gross, who writes the Frugal Traveler column for the New York Times, recently wrote about various ways to stay in touch with family and friends via cheap international phone carriers such as Skype. It turns out however, there are many other players on the market providing similar services to Skype, and he examines some of these in his article Calling Home for Even Less, which was a follow-up to a previous article, Staying in Touch Internationally on The Cheap. Both articles are worth reading (which is why I mention them here). Make sure you read through the many comments added to Matt’s articles, since these are a good source of additional information about other companies providing cheap international phone services.

The Bizarre: Wi-Fi Detector T-Shirt. This is another one of those items that could be deemed useful or bizarre, depending on your current state of mind. Seriously, those weird and wacky folks over at ThinkGeek are selling a T-Shirt with an attachment which lights up as you walk past wireless hotspots. Now you don’t have to open your laptop just to see if there is any Wi-Fi internet access about – since the glowing bars on the front of the shirt dynamically change as the surrounding Wi-Fi signal strength fluctuates.

Friday Photo #11: The Longing

Click image to view full size

One of my favourite images from my stay on the Greek island of Ikaria, over the summer of 2008. There are no prizes for guessing what this group of teenage girls are looking at, as they prepare to take part in a summer dance festival on Saturday, June 14, 2008, in the Ikarian village of Rahes.

I have uploaded several videos of performances from this festival to YouTube, including the one embedded below in which you catch glimpses of these same girls performing during the evening.

The film is a compilation of many of the dances performed that night. The festival took place on the village basketball court, under lights that attracted hundreds of moths and other airborne insects which fell constantly onto the heads of the audience below. This probably explains why only half the lights were turned on during the performances. Unfortunately, this also made it extremely difficult to get good, well lit footage of the dances.

The music you hear throughout the film is the traditional Ikarian dance known as the Ikariotiko. The music is performed here on a Tsampouna, an instrument made out of goat skin, which has obvious links to the Scottish bagpipe and the gaida. The player is probably Eva Kratsa from the Aegean Island of Mikonos. That’s her in the last frame of the video just before the final credits.

A full, unedited film of the Ikariotiko dance that ended the festival can also be found on YouTube under the name, This Island Life: Rahes Festival Ikariotiko.

Photograph: The Longing, by Jim Lesses

Location: Rahes, Ikaria, June 2008

Solas Travel Writers Awards

~ Here’s a shout-out for all you travel writers, bloggers, and in deed, anyone with a good travel story to relate.

The deadline for this year's Solas Awards for Best Travel Story of the Year is just a few days away (September 21, 2009). To enter this year's competition, go to BestTravelWriting.com and follow the instructions.

As of today, competition is light in the following categories: Animal Encounter, Cruise Story, Doing Good or the Kindness of Strangers, Elder Travel, Love Story, Men's Travel, Travel and Healing, Travel and Shopping, Travel and Sports, and Young Traveler. All entries submitted before midnight, September 21 will be eligible. Entries submitted after that will be entered in next year's competition.

The Solas Awards are an annual competition to find the best writing being done about the world today. The Travelers' Tales editors will choose winners in 21 categories ranging from adventure to humour, from destination to memoir, and everything in between. The grand prize category has cash awards of $1,000, $750, and $500; all other category winners receive a certificate and a copy of the most recent edition of The Best Travel Writing or The Best Women's Travel Writing. Plus, winners may be published in Travelers' Tales books.

I have a number of these collections on my bookshelf that I’m hoping to review for upcoming blog posts, so the thought that someone reading this might end up in a future collection of published tales is very exciting.

Check out BestTravelWriting.com for details of the awards and more.

Travelers’ Tales. Award-winning publisher Travelers’ Tales is the sponsor of The Solas Awards.

Extraordinary stories about travel and the human spirit have been the cornerstones of their books since 1993. With the Solas Awards they say they want to honour writers whose work inspires others to explore. To that end, they are looking for the best stories about travel and the world—funny, illuminating, adventurous, uplifting, scary, inspiring, poignant—stories that reflect the unique alchemy that occurs when you enter unfamiliar territory and begin to see the world differently as a result. Their ultimate hope is that these awards will be a catalyst for those who love to leave home and tell others about it.

Third Annual Solas Awards Winners
Winners of the Third Annual Solas Awards for Best Travel Story of the Year were announced February 28, 2009 by the editors of Travelers’ Tales. Grand Prize winner David Torrey Peters collected $1,000 for “The Bamenda Syndrome,” his compelling story about madness in a Cameroon village. Bruce Berger won the silver award and $750 for “Discalced,” his charming tale of the life of shoes in Spain and Baja California. Kathleen Spivack took the bronze and $500 for “The Empty Rocker,” her poignant memory of a friendship in Paris and Amsterdam. Read these stories on the Great Stories page.

So get to it. If you think you have a compelling story to tell, read through the submission guidelines on the Best Travel Writing website and submit your best travel story.