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TeeVee
PBS
If you didn't catch former Michael Palin's "Pole to Pole"
on PBS (in the U.S.), be sure to search out listings for his second
outing, "Full Circle," as the former Python takes on a
50-thousand mile circuit of the Pacific Rim. He begins his adventure
on a tiny island in the middle of the Bering Strait. Palin does
all the panting for you. Good fun and informative, too.
National Geographic Anything
Although they are a bit theatrical and contrived at times, this
venerable American institution puts its usual high quality into
all its broadcast productions.
Animal Planet
All animals, all the time on this new U.S. cable venture. Lions
and tigers and meerkats, oh my!
CD-ROAM
Material World
A world tour and human textbook, Material World is a deeply affecting
and fascinating look at the household possessions of typical families
around the globe. The pictures, the profiles and variety of searchable
details and facts make this our #1 favorite CD-ROM title. There
is a companion book which can be purchased separately or bundled
with the CD. The perfect holiday or birthday gift for the thoughtful
travelers on your list.
Discovery Channel MultiMedia
Among their excellent titles, "Nile Passage to Egypt"
and "In the Company of Whales."
Film
More often than not, a feature film will capture the character of
a place much better than a boring travelogue. Here are some of our
favorite films which capture a sense of their setting.
Doņa Flor
& Her Two Husbands (Brazil)
Captures the soul of Brazil as do any of the novels of Bahia da
Salvador's Jorge Amado.
Out of Africa
A broad, lush, romantic pictorial of colonial Africa where the John
Barry music score drowns out the buzz of the flies.
Vertigo
(San Francisco)
Hitchcock's dizzying San Francisco thriller filmed in the days before
the high-rises when a gentleman would not venture into the street
without a suitcoat.
Sound
of Music (Austria)
Yodell odle odle odle aye hee hee. A tasty torte filmed in the Alps.
The
Third Man (Vienna)
Orson Welles lectures Joseph Cotton about European political science
on a ferris wheel.
Manhattan or almost any Woody Allen work (New York, of course)
Crocodile Dundee (Queensland, Australia)
Watch out for fallen logs.
The Piano
(New Zealand)
Walk on the wild side of this isle down-under's varied and dramatic
topography.
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