Warning: This post is guaranteed to suck your time into a black hole – but it’ll be a fun ride.

Music and dance are part of a universal language that brings us together as human beings across the globe.

From some recent surfing of world music videos on YouTube, it looks like really bad music videos are also a universal language across the globe.

Just for fun, I wanted to share with you my list of Top 10 Worst World Music Videos of all time.  I guarantee they will bring a smile to your face if not an outright scraping of your chin on the floor in disbelief when you see them!

1.  First off we have La Tigresa from Peru along with El Delfin and Wendy Sulca singing about the beauty of Israel.

2. Next, The Rabbit Conquistadors also from Peru. Enjoy!

3. Crossing the globe to India we are entertained by some pretty fierce dance moves. Sorry, I don’t know the name of the group or song on this one. The English is not a translation, by the way.

4. From Sweden. I don’t even know where to start commenting about this one. It has to win the prize for worst choreography of all time, not to mention worst lyric rhyming. “You want to love me tender. How can I be sure you’re not pretender”.

5. This guy is supposedly making fun of the Balkan mafia. I’m just speechless.

6. This video from Turkey will strike fear into any parent of a teenage girl.

7. And now, from Vietnam. This kid has some moves a la Michael Jackson. The voice doesn’t quite stack up – but hey – he’s got the girls. By the way, he’s singing in English.

8. Now, lest we not think that it’s always the guys going after the girls in music videos, here we have Las Seductoras Muchachitas del Amor, again from Peru.

9. Flor de Romero wins the prize for how to create an entire music video using only two dance moves and someone else’s music. If you are not completely energized by the performance, surely the final text appearance will get you out of your seat. Translation: “Full video coming soon, this was just a test”

10. And no, we are not immune to having produced our own music video gems in the U.S.. Here’s a little time travel for you to the days of the Captain and Tenille. If you’ve never seen this video, you won’t believe it really happened! This song was actually popular on the radio in those years. Having been about 10 at the time, I can sing along! Be sure to see the muskrats dancing.

BONUS If you still want more – even the greats had their low moments. For a bonus, from the UK, I present to you the Rolling Stones. Hint: skip to about 75% of the way through the video to see Mick’s look of panic. Sorry, youtube doesn’t allow embeds with this one so you’ll have to click over.

Photo by: jima

This morning I received and e-mail from one of our NuNomad buddies, Milosh Zorica.  Milosh has been a part of our blog since we interviewed him in November of 2008 (click here for Milosh Zorica – Graphic Designer on the Move) and I again used some of Milosh’s thoughts on crossing borders in Bordering on Madness.

Milosh is a hard-core nomad who occasionally emails me from many different parts of the world.  He works as a graphic designer.  If you’d like to see his stuff, check it out at Coroflot.

Today Milosh sent this fun list on how to know you’re a Third Culture Kid and I thought many of you nomads might resonate with it!  Thanks Milosh!

You know you’re a TCK (Third Culture Kid) when:

1) You struggle to answer the question “where are you from?”
2) You speak two (or more) languages but can’t spell in them.
3) You are asked, “Where are you from?” has more than one reasonable answer
4) You feel odd being in the ethnic majority
5) You look like everyone else around you but still don’t fit in
6) You have the urge to move to a new place every couple of years
7) You go into culture shock upon returning to your “home” country
You have a passport, but no driver’s license
9) You don’t know where home is (besides saying, “planet earth”, which is usually not accepted)
10) Your life story uses the phrase “Then we moved to…” three (or four, or five…) times.
11) You think VISA is a document that’s stamped in your passport, not a plastic card you carry in your wallet.
12) You sort your friends by continent not color or religion.
13) You believe vehemently that football is played with a round, spotted ball.
14) You feel that multiple passports would be appropriate.
15) Half of your phone calls are unintelligible to those around you.
16) You know the geography of the rest of the world, but you don’t know the geography of your “own” country.
17) You’ve gotten out of school because of monsoons, bomb threats, and/or popular demonstrations.
18) You often speak of your “home” country in the third person as if it were not yours.
19) You constantly get labeled being from another country than “yours”. (Usually one you lived in at one point.)
20) You have friends from more than 30 different countries.
21) You realize it really is a small world, after all.

Feel free to add.

You can connect with Milosh at any of the following places:

Linked In

http://www.linkedin.com/in/miloshzorica

Coroflot

Milosh is a Co-Founder of Loana Technology, a media streaming and digital assets protection startup

Photo by: Loungerie

Be a part of the conversation!

We are very excited to be hosting the March Digital Nomad Blog Carnival (March 17 to be exact).  We will be choosing a handful of the best submissions on the topic of digital nomading, NuNomading, technomading, lifestyle design, location independence or whatever you want to call it.

Please go to BlogCarnival and send us a suggestion for some of your best writing (preferably recent) because I’m getting a bit bummed from receiving a lot of spam suggestions and I know you’ve got some great stuff out there.

I look forward to receiving your submissions!

Photo by: Tnarik

Many thanks to our friend Tino Hautum for the photo (and no, he’s not an asshole)

In this year of travel I have had several experiences of idiot travelers that have amazed me to the point that I am moved to write on the subject.  In fact, these people seem to be common enough that I am convinced there must be an “Association of Asshole Travelers” that I am not privy to but that has a huge membership.  Since I don’t like secret societies I have compiled here a list of their behaviors.  Perhaps by taking on these behaviors ourselves we can one day be allowed into the association.  If you would like to be considered for the AAT, I recommend becoming adept in as many of these as possible.

1.  Do not attempt to speak the local language – Remember, no matter where you may be traveling, YOUR language (we’ll assume it’s English here since you’re reading this)  is dominant and all locals should speak it fluently in order to serve you well.  If you find yourself not being understood you have a few options:

• Speak your language more loudly – ideally, raise your voice to the point of a near yell.  When you are speaking English loudly, non-English speakers will surely begin to understand you.
• Continue to speak English but take on an attitude – the attitude here should derive from the idea that “these people are here to serve me, how dare they not be fluent in English”.  The new tone of your voice will surely create English fluency in the local person, accelerate the rate at which they may hate you and maybe even endanger you (it’s a 3 for 1)!

2. If you attempt to speak the language, do it poorly and with attitude – you may be driven to the point that you must attempt a couple of words in the local language. Attempt as few as possible and make no attempt to mimic a correct accent.  If you are not understood you may revert to the choices below #1. (speak it more loudly and take on an attitude).  Here the attitude derives from the thought, “Damn it, I’ve said a word in your language and now you should understand me – why the hell don’t you speak English anyway?!”.

3.  Ignore societal norms and do whatever you please – there are a myriad variations with which you could achieve this. I will recount real life examples I have seen that you could mimic or you may create your own.

• Example A – when boarding a public bus as a group of traveling friends, you and your friends should each take up two seats, splaying your bodies across both.  Seated in this sideways manner you will be free to talk with your 7 other friends if you yell loudly enough.  When local people board the bus, no matter how crowded it becomes, continue to take up two seats each.  No matter if they are coming home from hard days of work or school while you’re on your way from the beach to nightlife.  I mean, you’re spending money in their country, right? For extra AAT credit, you can speak loudly about the people on the bus, assuming that no one else will understand your English.
• Example B – pay no attention to local dress norms on the beach.  It does not matter if everyone is wearing swimwear.  You should be able to sunbathe in the nude if you so choose.  Ignore the norms and show your full glory.  How dare that life guard slap you with a life preserver and tell you otherwise?!
• Example C – assume that local people should want to learn about your culture.  When in a group of local people who are having to work for you (in this case drivers and tour guides) open a discussion about your own culture and teach the locals all about it whether they appear interested or not.  In the example I witnessed, the local people were given a thorough explanation of American football, the teams, players, how to play, the times of the Super Bowl, etc.  Despite the locals’ outwardly smiling faces I could see that this guy was directly on his way to AAT membership.

4. Speak openly and in public about your illegal activities – This example was taken from our group of 8 friends on the bus.  Yes, believe it or not, they were having a grand time talking about how and where they were going to smoke weed that night.  I was so amazed that I thought this strategy deserved its own category.  By speaking openly and in public about your illegal activities you can ensure self danger.  You might even end up in jail.  Surely, there is a special AAT honor if you achieve this.

5.  Do not bother to understand the local money – When buying anything, at the point of payment, simply produce a large pile of cash in your hands and let the vendor or cashier sort it out for you.  Why should you bother to learn how to count this funny looking money?  That’s the locals’ job.  This strategy is not as strong as some others since while it may endanger your pocketbook, it may result in love from some locals.

6.  Assume that everyone you meet is ready to cheat or rob you – be sure to engage locals in lengthy discussions and explanations about why they are charging you any sum for any good or service.  They are most likely trying to cheat you – so be sure you make them PROVE why the rug they spent 60 hours making should cost you more than $7 U.S.  It doesn’t matter if you can’t really have this discussion because of language barriers.  In fact, if they can’t speak fluent English they should probably take a hit on the price.

7.  Assume that all local food is suspect and will probably make you ill – Here it would be best to insist on eating only in chain restaurants that originated in your home country.  I mean, a Mexican made McDonald’s hamburger must be better food than any local cuisine that is surely full of bacteria and other suspect ingredients like local vegetables and/or spices you may not have heard of.  No matter what anyone else wants to eat – you must not touch your lips to foreign germs!

8.  Drink to the point of oblivion and trust that others will care for you – One of my favorite mornings in Brazil began by spending 2 hours trying to revive a tourist from the sidewalk where he was passed out.  Unable to tell me his name or where he was staying I was finally able to get him into our apartment where he passed out on the bed but at least I knew he was safe.  From his accent I could tell he was from the U.K.  The one bit of information he was able to get across was that he was scheduled to depart Brazil later that morning.  He did not have any id or a wallet.  After passing out on the bed he later began screaming the name “Maverick!”.  That was a clue.  So I walked to three local hostels and finally found the real Maverick (hostel manager) who came with a helper and got this guy out of my care.  I never heard if he made it home that day.  At any rate, I am sure that he has climbed to the top of the AAT and may even be an officer by now.

9.  At any point that you are disappointed in service, throw a temper tantrum – Last but not least, having a temper fit is sure to qualify you for the Association of Asshole Travelers.  No description that I could give would be better than simply providing you with a video example.  Make careful note of how this woman falls to the floor kicking and screaming.  (and for those of you worried that this woman is actually in a desperate situation and should not be used for this example, the translator of the video did not believe this was the case)

Of course, my examples are limited by my own experience.  I imagine you may have some of your own.  I’d love to hear them!