The Boston.com segment "The Big Picture" has an overview of some fantastic photos of London "from above, at night". They are the work of aerial photographer Jason Hawkes and are the most beautiful aerial photos I have ever seen.

The photos were taken from a helicopter, using a digital camera mounted on a gyroscopic mount and the article has photos of most major London attractions, including the London Eye, Tower Bridge and Big Ben. If you love London (who doesn't?) then I highly suggest checking out these photos, as well as some of the other work of Jason Hawkes.

(Photo from jasonhawkes.com/Boston.com)

China's blend of art traditions, mixing the modern with the traditional, and the secular with the religious, is quite evident in the production of "Zen Shaolin" that is being shown at an outdoor theater in Henan Province.

From what I read in the New York Times article about the production, for anyone heading to China, or who is in China now, I'd take this in if I had the chance. Earlier today, I posted a video of the production of Swan Lake by the Guangdong Acrobatics Troupe of China. Multiply that several times, and you might come close to what I imagine "Zen Shaolin" must be like.

"Zen Shaolin" has a cast of 500 people, for example, and was created by Tan Dun, the guy who composed the music to "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon."

How big is the backstage, I wonder? Along with the cast of hundreds, the backdrop is a valley in the mountains near Shaolin Temple. How cool is that?

The set is elaborate as to not be dwarfed by the surroundings, and from the description of the storyline, the production blends ancient Chinese tales, martial arts, Zen Buddhism and modern day sensibilities.

One of the reasons for the creation of this outdoor theater production is to bring tourists to the area. There have been 300,000 who have come so far. Just another version of the story "If you build it they will come." That is if you have a good idea and the timing is right.

In the case of "Zen Shaolin," I'd say it sounds like pay dirt. (For more photos, check out the NY Times slide show)

Today is the first day of school for my children. My daughter waltzed out the door at 7 a.m. this morning after showing me the piece of cheese she was eating--(she plays soccer and I'm adamant that she eat some sort of protein), to catch her ride. She's a 10th grader.

For my son, who is now a first grader, the anticipation build-up of last year is much less. We know our routine. Kindergarten left a lump in my throat. First grade is old hat, but he still wants me to drive him and walk him in for the first day. After today, he heads out on the bus.

This first day of school got me thinking about schools around the world and what a gift having a school to go to is. When I was in the Peace Corps, I worked with my village primary school on certain days to do health education. In The Gambia, at the time, most kids did not go to school. The primary school in my village was the only one for miles around.

Mallorca. This island situated some 250km of the southern coast of Spain is the largest of the Balearic Islands and home to some of the most beautiful beaches in Europe. You may have heard of the Mediterranean party capital Ibiza? This is right next door.

I've been tossing around the idea of crashing in Palma, the capital of the Mallorca (and of the entire archipelago)
for Thanksgiving this year and believe that this photo taken by jonrawlinson may have finally helped me commit. Now, if only I could find good plane tickets.

Have any cool photos you'd like to share with the world? Add them to the Gadling Pool on Flickr, and it might be chosen as our Photo of the Day.

I've seen a lot of photos of this years Beijing Olympics, but none of them impressed me as much as this massive panoramic photo made by Finnish photographer Kari Kuukka.

You'll need to be patient when the photo loads, on my fast connection it still took almost a minute. Once the counter reaches 100%, use your mouse to drag the picture around, for a 360 degree image of the men's 100 meter finals.

If you see something in the image you'd like to get a closer look at, use your SHIFT and CTRL buttons to zoom in or out. If you turn the image around, you'll get up close and personal with some comedic photo journalists making funny faces, and if you look "down", you'll see the dome of the panoramic camera used to make this amazing photo.

(Image source: Kari Kuukka)

Since its launch in May of 2007, Google Street View has been a source of controversy. The Google feature offers web surfers 360° street-level views around hundreds of cities worldwide. Some of the photos, taken by a car-mounted video camera, have captured some personal moments, like people entering adult book stores, leaving strip clubs, picking their noses, and entering buildings with questionable methods.

Critics claim that posting photos of these things on the internet is a privacy violation. But Google's not breaking any laws. All the photos are taken in public places, and the company has even taken steps to decrease its questionable content, from blurring faces to allowing users to flag photos that may be inappropriate.

The latest Street View gem comes from the new Australian Street View. There, cameras caught a young man passed out drunk on his front lawn. The man claims he'd been drinking all weekend after the death of his best mate. While he knows what he did was dumb, he wasn't pleased when the photo was posted for the whole world to see. Amid the controversy, Google removed the image from its Street View page.

Remember -- just because there's not a crowd around you, that doesn't mean you have privacy when you're out in the open. You may laugh now, but just wait until Google's cameras come to your town...

The flower section at Pike Place Market in Seattle is almost reason enough to go there. Gorgeous, lush, spectacular, stupendous--these words don't come close. Theodore Scott's shot brought me back to my own experience here last summer.

Last summer, when I picked up a bunch, I was surprised at how inexpensive they are. If you go to the market, leave yourself enough time for wandering. The bounty of other goods is endless. Pike Place Market is a visual and olfactory feast like no others.

If you have your own shot to share, send it our way at Gadling's Flickr photo pool to be considered for a Photo of the Day.

Let's assume for a minute that you own a restaurant in China. Then we'll assume you don't speak a word of English, but you don't care because you have Internet access, and have found a great online translation site.

The Olympics are coming, along with millions of hungry tourists who'll want to try your food, so you do the right thing and pop your restaurant name into the translation site, and have someone print your new English name on a massive sign.

You can probably tell where this is heading. It's one thing when translation sites like Babelfish or Google Translate manage to create humorous translations, it's another when the site doesn't work and you simply cut and paste the error message, assuming it translates to "Wong's tasty Kung Pao chicken".

For some more funny signs, check out this mysterious warning sign, or this collection of hilarious signs from around the world.

Source, via Adweek.

In celebration of the new season of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations on the travel channel, Gadling is giving away a free, autographed poster of Mr. Bourdain to one lucky winner.

Have you been following along this year? We're now three episodes deep into the season and blogger Jeremy has been following the unfolding debauchery closely. Take a look at his recaps if you'd like to catch up.

Think that poster would go great above your headboard? Just leave an entry telling us where you would like to see Tony travel next in the comments below and we'll draw a lucky winner by this Friday, July 25th.

Good luck!

• To enter, simply leave a comment below telling us where you think Anthony Bourdain should travel next.
  
• The comment must be left before Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 5PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
• One Grand Prize Winner will receive a free, original autographed poster of Anthony Bourdain
  
• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
• Poster is valued at $20.
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.