“Since it’s Christmas, we decided to invite Coldplay to the Maida Vale studios to perform in front of a specially invited audience.” – This BBC streaming video of an intimate Coldplay performance is a bit low quality for my taste (I imagine because of the demand for this they needed to keep it low bandwidth), but I thought I’d link it up anyway:

Watch Coldplay live (Windows Media Required)

Also, Watch the video of the new Coldplay single ‘Talk’ :

Real Player – High | Low

Windows Media – High | Low

Smuggled through Mexico in the transport tank of a fuel truck. Not just tourists, tourists who care in Sierre Leone. Soldiers in Iraq who are writing about their experiences online. Someone once said, “if you’re not willing to be changed by a place, there’s no point in going.” From ‘This American Life’ on NPR, stories about what happens when you land in a whole new world:

Listen to Strangers in a Strange Land

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen counts down listener picks for the 10 best CDs of 2005 including Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, My Morning Jacket, The White Stripes, Death Cab for Cutie, and more.

Listen to All Songs Considered best of 2005 (Real Player)

Ecotourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of the travel industry.

But critics say many vacations promoted as ecofriendly or sustainable do nothing to protect the environment and provide little by way of benefits to local communities.

Richard Hollingham reports on whether this form of tourism really lives up to its green credentials on One Planet from the BBC.

Listen to Oneplanet: Ecotourism (Windows Media)

David Lynch, the critically-acclaimed director behind such films as Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive, spoke at the University of Oregon on Tuesday, November 8th, 2005. The Lecture is entitled “Consciousness, Creativity and the Brain.” Lynch was accompanied by Drs. John Hagelin, Ph.D., and Fred Travis, Ph.D.

Choose your streaming media format:

Windows Media 1000kbps (extremely high speed)
Windows Media 300kbps
Quicktime Broadband
Real Player Broadband
mp3 Dialup

“Ever get the notion that 60’s protest songs are about the world around us today? Yah, me too. So I put a lot of them together and mixed them in with some contemporary anti- establishment. Maybe one day we will learn from our mistakes if we just start listening to those around us.” – DJ Thomas Schmid

Snap your fingers and set sail on this stone cold audio groove by acclaimed DJ Thomas Schmid, via Ropeadope Records:

A groovy remix of 1960’s protest songs for your listenting pleasure (Real Player Required)