August 25, 2006

Travel Tales Galore

Filed under: Links, Lists by Sue @ 9:11 am

The Sep 06 issue of National Geographic Traveler has a comprehensive listing of classic travel books. As they say:

A good travel book has wings and the ability to transport us, word by word, tale by tale. It introduces us to the people and places that make travel—and, one could argue, life itself—worthwhile. Good travel stories are, in a word, magic.

The list includes such gems as Amsterdam by Geert Mak, Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer and In Tuscany by Frances Mayes and many many more. Check it out here.

August 24, 2006

After Nike shoes, it’s Van Goghs

Filed under: Links by Sue @ 10:23 am

From “artists” who can make 30 paintings a day to those who can transform a masterpiece to a likeness of your loved one, China is fast claiming to be “The McDonalds of the Art World”:

Some five million oil paintings are produced in Dafen every year. Between 8,000 and 10,000 painters toil in the workshops. The numbers are estimates: No one knows the exact figure, which increases by about 100 new painters every year. But it’s not just professional copy painters who are drawn to Dafen — graduates of China’s most renowned art academy also come here. They complete only a small number of paintings a month and earn as much as €1,000

More at Der Spiegel

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