USA

As everyone knows, some of the best moments to take a photo come in the middle of the work day when you aren't planning to take any photos and don't have your camera with you. Though much maligned, cell phone cameras can be a great facility at these times. Even if the pixel rates are nowhere near as good, you can still take some passable photos, or at least something that doesn't look like a blurry representation of reality made of Lego bricks, like all camera phones did at first. Until next time, dear readers, enjoy this brief set of shots taken with my Sony Ericcsson W810i, the finest midrange phone a small amount of money could buy in 2007...

A busy morning in the Silver Avenue Historical District.

A street in the Nob Hill area, Albuquerque's student-y dining and nightlife area, is closed off for filming of a scene from the USA network's TV crime drama, In Plain Sight. Unlike a lot of things filmed in New Mexico, this show is actually set in Albuquerque as well.

Flamenco dancing in the middle of UNM Campus for Cinco de Mayo, a festival popular with Mexican-Americans.

To be fair, Albuquerque is a great city for spelling, especially given its semi-bilingual status. This one though, is worse than a bad toothache.

Last but not least, a roadrunner who really lives up to his name. Seeing one is believed to be good luck, and this was my fourth!

Given that I've been doing a lot of travel writing lately, I've had the pleasure and displeasure of seeing a lot of the travel websites that are out there. And there are a lot. So many so in fact, a site can succeed or fail based purely on its name, although the guys below evidently weren't aware of this. Look and laugh, dear readers! (No malice intended toward the authors/site owners mentioned, who are not linked in this post....)

6. Nu Nomad

Generation Y may be all the rage, but even these youngsters have their limits when it comes to butchering their native language. At best, this name deserves to have been raised in a brainstorming session before being quickly tossed in the ideas bin. And yet, here it is:

5. EuroCheapo

Again, this comes off like a trashy idea that just doesn't quite work. The full frontal nude statue fails to add class to this very tacky outfit :-)

4. Sloshspot

This site is intended to provide bar and club listings for cities all over the US. Generally when most people go traveling, their aim is to avoid anything that could be characterized as a sloshspot. Someone should tell these guys!

3. DeluxZilla

Apparently detailing the adventures of an American in China, this blog admirably avoids words like 'laowai', 'mandarin', 'middle kingdom' and so on that many people overuse for their China travel blogs. However, his name appears to make no sense. The legend of Godzilla, for starters, is Japanese...

2. Trav-l-world

In this internet-enabled world, many of the best URLs out there have already been taken or are on sale for crazy prices. The best thing to do is to take it like a man and opt for a second choice that is available. These guys just wouldn't take no for an answer!

1. Travpresso

The standout winner by a clear mile, and the inspiration for this whole entry. I didn't realize until today that they had such a non-design to match their intellectually diseased moniker. While I may enjoy the odd 'presso when I trav, especially in southern Europe, I'm not going to book my next trip with this wrong-headed mess! Until next time, dear readers, feel free to add your own comments or suggestions to this rogues gallery :-)

Myself and Megan spent a beautifully sunny Spring New Mexico day at the site of the Albuquerque Botanic Gardens, Heritage Farm and Aquarium. With the possible exception of the quite unexpected Gaudi replica at the end of the garden, most of these photos speak for themselves. So, dear readers, without further ado or unnecessary captions, please enjoy these dozen or so photos of nature, New Mexico style.