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Charles Apple: The Visual Side of Journalism

 

‘Travelogue’ archive

Number of comments in parentheses

Feb. 27: The Great Apple Transcontinental Migration, part two (5)

Some of you have been following along via social media during my drive from Virginia Beach to Southern California. For those of you who haven’t and would like to read a good soap opera: Find Part One — which covered Friday, Saturday and Sunday — here. When we ended that installment, Sharon and I were holed up in a Hampton [...]

Feb. 25: Highlights of the Great Apple Transcontinental Migration — so far (2)

Perhaps you’ve been following the comically soap opera epic tale of perseverance of our trip this weekend from Virginia Beach to Southern California. I’ve been posting regular updates via Facebook and Twitter (hashtag #applemigration). If not, then lucky. You. This should catch you up… — THURSDAY Thursday afternoon, I picked up a 16-foot moving truck from Penske. Both Jim McBee [...]

Sept. 23, 2012: A Saturday tour of NASA’s Langley Research Center (3)

Saturday, my 19-year-old daughter and I drove over to Hampton, Va., to NASA’s Langley Research Center for an open house. This was the first open house in five years Langley has held. I’ve always wanted to see the place, having read so much about it and being such a NASA fan myself. Langley is one of 12 NASA centers around [...]

Aug. 12, 2012: A hearty hello from Boston’s Logan airport

As you know, I’m on my way home from three weeks of visual journalism consulting and instruction in Nairobi, Kenya; Johannesburg and Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Saturday afternoon, I flew from Joburg back to Nairobi. Overnight, I flew from Nairobi to Amsterdam, from which I blogged earlier today (or late last night U.S. time). At this very moment, I’m kicked back [...]

Aug. 12, 2012: I’ve made it as far as Amsterdam (4)

At my age — and as lucky as I’ve been to be able to travel extensively, teaching visual journalism — I don’t have a lot of things left on my “bucket list.” But one that remains is: I’d like to visit Amsterdam. It’s a gorgeous city. I love what I’ve seen, via pictures and books, of the architecture of Amsterdam. [...]

Aug. 11, 2012: A whirlwind news design expedition to Pietermaritzburg, South Africa (3)

After two weeks of visual journalism teaching in Kenya and three more days of teaching and consulting here in Johannesburg, South Africa, my clients here — Media24 — sent me to Pietermaritzburg for two half-days. I rose bright and early Thursday, checked out of my hotel and drove over to the nearby suburb of Melville. Where I had to pull [...]

Aug. 8, 2012: There’s no front pages like snow front pages

I wrote about the rare snow the folks here in Johannesburg enjoyed Tuesday. In fact, we had a few more flakes again late that night. It was so damned cold, however, that no one really wanted to go outside and enjoy it. Naturally, South African newspapers played up the snow as if it were the second coming. This is Beeld, [...]

Aug. 7, 2012: My week — so far — consulting in Johannesburg, South Africa (2)

After two weeks of teaching and consulting in Nairobi, Kenya, I’m now in Johannesburg, South Africa. Where I’m also doing a bit of consulting work for my longtime clients at Media24, the country’s largest media company. I’m staying at the Garden Court hotel in the Auckland Park suburb in northwest Johannesburg. Here in the hotel with me are two — [...]

Aug. 6, 2012: My weekend in Johannesburg, South Africa (1)

My work at the Nation News Group of Nairobi, Kenya, wound up mid-afternoon Friday. It was time to get to the airport. My bags were already packed and waiting for me at the concierge station in the lobby of the Stanley Hotel, where I had stayed the previous 13 nights. I waited about an hour for my driver… Until I [...]

Aug. 2, 2012: Here, ‘KFC’ stands for Kenyan Fried Chicken. I think. (2)

Last week, I ate a couple of lunches in a place down the street from the newspaper headquarters that sells wonderful gyro-like wraps. Luckily for me, they were only too happy to serve the wraps to me the way I like them — just meat, lettuce and bread. This week, I’ve been on my own for lunch. Since I’ve been [...]

Aug. 1, 2012: Good day, Sunshine

After eleven consecutive mornings in which I woke up to find a dull, grey cloud enveloping the city, today — finally — I was treated to the Nairobi skyline at its finest. Not a cloud in the Kenyan sky. At breakfast, down in the famous Thorn Tree Cafe, sunlight poured through the skylight section of the roof… …and smiled upon [...]

July 30, 2012: Life as a traveling infographics instructor and evangelist in Kenya

I’m in Nairobi, Kenya, for a second week of teaching infographics at the daily and weekly newspapers that make up the Nation Media Group. As I wrote yesterday, I get up every morning and eat breakfast at the Thorn Tree Cafe, located on the first floor of my home away from home, the 110-year old Stanley Hotel. Although we’re only [...]

July 29, 2012: The Exchange Bar here in the Stanley Hotel has a new fan

So, when I first arrived here at the Stanley Hotel in downtown Nairobi, I spent much of my time at the Poolside bar and restaurant. It’s really nice there in the open air of the fifth floor. And the food was terrific. After a few days, however — in search of a more varied menu — I got up the [...]

July 29, 2012: A Saturday spent at the famous Thorn Tree Cafe

Greetings from the famous Thorn Tree Cafe, on the first floor of the Stanley Hotel here in Nairobi, Kenya. I’ve been taking most of my meals here in the Thorn Tree. I spent nearly all day Saturday, working here on my laptop. And I’m spending a few hours this morning (Sunday) here as well before I venture out into the [...]

July 23, 2012: A Sunday stroll around downtown Nairobi (5)

With the internet being down in the hotel Sunday, I wasn’t able to check the Newseum or even read the latest developments in the Aurora shooting. As I wrote earlier, I had brunch with the design director who was responsible for inviting me here to Nairobi, Kathy Bogan. She took me for a brief walk around the downtown area. I [...]

July 22, 2012: The last leg of my trip to Nairobi

Saturday turned out to be a long day from hell for me and my journey to Kenya. When I last spoke with you, I was sitting at the gate of the airport in Paris, where our plane was very late leaving for Kenya. We finally got off about two hours after schedule. We were already scheduled to get to Nairobi [...]

July 21, 2012: Hello from Paris

Greetings from Charles de Gaulle airport on the outskirts of Paris. As I write this sentence, it’s 10:40 a.m. — nearly time for my flight to Nairobi to depart. But that ain’t happening yet. We’ve been delayed at least an hour and perhaps longer. This makes three out of three flights this trip that have had delays. At least I’m [...]

July 20, 2012: Leaving today for my next consulting assignment: Kenya (2)

I leave shortly for my next teaching and consulting assignment: Nairobi, Kenya, where I’ll spend the next two weeks teaching infographics at the Nation media group. This is my sixth trip to the continent of Africa. I spent two weeks at the Leadership newspaper group in Abuja, Nigeria, in March. And, as you know, I’ve done quite a bit of [...]

June 7, 2012: WSJ graphic shows how an airline makes — or doesn’t make — its profit

Every time I climb aboard an airplane and squeeze myself into a seat designed for someone three inches shorter and 100 lbs lighter, I wonder: Just how much money does an airline make by treating me like a head of cattle? The answer: Not much. According to a report in today’s Wall Street Journal, US Airways typically makes a profit [...]

March 30, 2012: Hello again from Frankfurt, Germany

Once again, I find myself in Frankfurt Germany — a place of beauty, a place of history but most of all, a place where I’m pretty much trapped in the airport for several hours, away from all that beauty and history. The airport sure ain’t historic or beautiful. No offense intended. I feared the worst for the first leg of [...]

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