Whale Wars: Eco-terrorism meets reality TV?

Greenpeace co-founder Paul Watson established the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in an effort to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans. Each winter the Sea Shepherd team and a group of volunteers head out to sea to protect these animals. Through innovative direct-action tactics, Watson and his fellow conservationists expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas. Their most recent campaign focused on protecting the illegally hunted whales of the Antarctic. However, this time Discovery Channel was on board to capture it all in an action-packed seven part series called Whale Wars.

From stink bombs to flash grenades and hostages to capsized boats, Whale Wars captures the battles and the controversy surrounding not only the whaling industry but the Sea Shepherd’s “no holds barred” strategy. International whaling laws are interpreted by various countries and organizations in different ways. Over 20 years ago, Japan withdrew its opposition to the International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling. Just one year later, the Japanese announced a large-scale scientific whaling program designed to “assess” whale stocks.

Many conservationists like Watson don’t buy it and question the scientific validity of Japan’s research program. Is it nothing more than a front for whaling? Activist groups like Watson’s Sea Shepherd Conservation Society claim that Japan’s whaling practices violate international law. On the other hand, Japan claims the direct-action tactics of Sea Shepherd are illegal, in essence a form of eco-terrorism.

So who’s more in the wrong and less in the right? The Japanese or the “radical” Sea Shepherds? You be the judge. Tune-in to Animal Planet Friday nights at 9PM ET or head over to iTunes and watch the first episode for free. Warning: this show is addicting!

Zurich’s Song

Zurich, the Cultural Capital of Switzerland and the city with the best quality of life in the world, has its own song. Zurich Tourism created a video that shows the nicest places in and around the city underlined by a pop song. I like the song, but what bothers me is that the lyrics are in German language instead of Swiss German dialect.

Don’t get me wrong, I like German lyrics, but here we’re talking about a song that is representing the most popular city in Switzerland. Since the main language spoken in Zurich is Swiss German, I think it is more than obvious that the song should be sung in Swiss German too. It is the same like having a song representing the City of Houston, Texas, where the singer sings with a very thick Scottish accent. Well, I like the song. Nonetheless, I’d rather have Plüsch, Florian Ast, or even Gölä singing and representing Switzerland.

INTO THE FATHERLAND: A Company’s Beginnings… Reflections from Warsaw

Editor’s Note: On Friday October 4th 2008, Taylor Graham and her new theater company, ATLAS Stage Productions Canada, embarked on their first Poland/Austria tour of George F. Walker’s “Theatre of the Film Noir.” Their goal? To administrate/tech a European tour having hardly seen a map of Poland. Oh, and let’s not forget… Two out of three coordinators know absolutely NOTHING about lighting, set or costume design! Join the gang right here on RoneBreak as they perform, drink and stumble their way around Europe. Ladies and gentleman, meet your new favorite blog-series: Into the Fatherland…

There’s something innately inspirational in the air. Feeling slightly off balance, yet reassured is becoming quite common place here. It’s that sort of the feeling, that innocent feeling you assume lost shortly after turning twelve, but here I sense it. I sense a charisma, a magic, a beginning, a lurking. Warsaw. There is such a spirituality to the atmosphere and not just in the shape of gigantic churches covered with gaudy fantastic Catholic idols and symbols. It’s in the people as they walk by. There’s a knowledge mockingly unknown to me here. Unknown to me, yet somehow available to me if I just learn how to play the game. Warsaw. [Read more]

Homeland Security Reading Your Mind??

Yet another thing we need to worry about while at the airport.

Word has it that Homeland Security is now testing the next generation of scanners to screen you while at the airport- a body scanner that apparently can read your mind.

A new system called MALINTENT is a machine that searches you body for non-verbal cues that would predict whether or not you mean to harm your fellow passengers. How does it work? [Read more]

Please don’t climb into this locker

RoneBreak contributor Sebastiano Mereu checks in from his trip to Japan…

After arriving in Osaka from Tokyo, I deposited my bags in a locker at Umeda Station. When I opened the locker, I saw a sticker on the inside saying something like ‘please don’t climb into this locker,’ in Japanese. I was surprised. Who would ever climb into a locker? Well, apparently there have been cases where people locked their children or pets into a locker. Scary thought. Still, I’m not quite sure a sticker will keep people from doing that.

Misunderstanding Hiragana

Coming back from Iojima, a very nice island off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan, I saw a sign written in Hiragana stating a ship’s name: ‘biggu a—su.’ I immediately turned to my fiancée Aya—she is Japanese—asking her why anyone would name his or her ship Big Ass. Aya laughed and said that the ship’s name is Big Earth, not Big Ass. My Japanese is not that good but I can read Hiragana and understand some Japanese. My next question was, “If ‘biggu a—su’ is Big Earth, how do you write Big Ass in Hiragana or Katakana?” Aya thought about it for a while and said, ‘biggu a—su.’ So, it’s the same. Intriguing but funny, I thought.

Bike Rollercoaster by Lagombra

Check out this Bike rollercoaster outside an art center as part of Designhuis’ Bicycle exhibition in Eindhoven, Netherlands. This 2 meter peaking thrill ride was created by artist Anders Jakobsen, aka Lagombra, with the use of a chainsaw and scaffolding. So far only one brave bicyclist has been able to complete one full run. If you’re lucky enough to be in the area stop by and give it a shot.

More pictures after the jizzump.

(via iconeye)

[Read more]

For touring bands… Anything is better than the van… Right?

I’ve played in bands since I was in 6th grade. My first “tour” was done in a Ford Explorer hitched to a rented U-Haul trailer. We got kicked out of our hotel in Gary, Indiana for launching fireworks out our window, drinking underage and having a stripper in our room from the strip club next door. That night the five of us ended up sleeping in the good ol’ Ford Explorer at a truck stop in what was then the murder capital of the United States.

BetterThanTheVan.com… Why couldn’t you have been around then? With this new site, touring bands can search, find and connect with gracious, welcoming and warm hearted people willing to house them for free. BetterThanTheVan is currently available in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France and Germany. What a great idea. Really. Sometimes the internet disgusts me, but it’s sites like this that make me all warm inside.

betterthanthevan.com

New additions to the World Heritage List

Eight (8) natural and nineteen (19) cultural sites have been added to the UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The World Heritage List includes 878 properties considered to be of “outstanding universal value.” The newest members of the gang can be found below…

New Natural properties:

• Joggins Fossil Cliffs (Canada)
• Mount Sanqingshan National Park (China)
• Lagoons of New Caledonia: Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems (France)
• Surtsey (Iceland)
• Saryarka - Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan)
• Monarch Butterfly biosphere Reserve (Mexico)
• Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona (Switzerland)
• Socotra Archipelago (Yemen)

Click below for the newest cultural sites recently added…

[Read more]