Destination: New York
Further Thoughts on Continental Connect Flight 3407
by Rob Verger | 04.07.09 | 3:16 PM ET
It’s been nearly two months since Continental Connect Flight 3407 crashed in Clarence Center, New York, while on its approach to Buffalo-Niagara International Airport. Over at Ask the Pilot, Patrick Smith analyzes the most recent news, which he describes as “fascinating and disturbing.” While initially ice had been a prime suspect, Smith writes, “Investigators are focused instead on what appears to be an egregious case of pilot error.”
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Yahoo! BuzzManga Madness
by Julia Ross | 04.02.09 | 1:14 PM ET
For all you manga fans out there, here’s a round-up of breaking news from both coasts. A San Francisco-based publisher recently released seven translated volumes of the classic Oishinbo series, which follows the adventures of a young food journalist as he searches for the “ultimate menu.” (Tintin meets sashimi?) The New York-based Japan Society is running an exhibit called “Krazy! The Delirious World of Anime + Manga + Video Games” through June 14. And in Washington, D.C., the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery is showing “The Tale of Shuten Doji,” an exhibit of scrolls and screens depicting the popular Japanese folk tale as action thriller—an Edo period art form considered a forerunner to manga.
Filmed Here: ‘Men in Black’
by Eva Holland | 04.02.09 | 12:15 PM ET
Photo by Eva Holland I celebrated the spring weather this week by heading out to Flushing Meadows Corona Park, aka “the Central Park of Queens,” for a wander in the sun. I didn’t know much about the park, beyond the name of the nearest subway station—so imagine my surprise when I walked through the gates and saw ... an extra-terrestrial spacecraft?
More precisely: what I saw was the observation tower of the now-abandoned New York State Pavilion (a relic from the World’s Fair), which served as a murderous alien’s would-be get-away vehicle in the climactic scene of the 1997 Will Smith flick, Men in Black. I’d seen the movie before, of course, but had never known where that final battle was set. Coming across the “space ship,” and the nearby Unisphere (which also plays a role in the battle), got me thinking about action movies and the major landmarks they use as props.
Air Travel Now, in Numbers
by Rob Verger | 04.01.09 | 1:51 PM ET
- Percentage of fewer passengers who will fly domestically on U.S. airlines in 2009, according to an FAA prediction: 8.8. (The Middle Seat Terminal reacts to the prediction.)
- Average recent cost of a domestic round-trip ticket over Memorial Day weekend, according to Travelocity and USA Today: $295.
- Percentage decrease of the cost of that Memorial Day weekend ticket from last year: About 10.
- Amount the International Air Transport Association predicted the world’s airlines could lose in 2009: $4.7 billion.
- Amount the world’s airlines lost after September 11, 2001: $23 billion.
- Number of planes American Airlines announced it would make Wi-Fi available on: more than 300.
- Number of miles a JetBlue employee traveled while in the cargo hold of an Embraer 190 after reportedly falling “asleep in a cargo bin” and accidentally traveling from New York to Boston: 200. (Reuters reports that he was “unharmed and not charged with any crime.”)
Tangled Up In Blue
by Rob Verger | 03.31.09 | 12:19 PM ET
Two weekends ago, when I flew from New York City to Portland, Maine, on JetBlue, my plane, interestingly, had a name: “Blue Complete Me.” On the return trip, the plane, an Embraer E190, was named “Luiz F. Kahl.”
All JetBlue aircraft have names, and all but two of them have the word “blue” in it (although sometimes “blue” is written in another language). Some of them are pretty funny. The plane with tail number N599JB is called, “If The Blue Fits,” number N542JB is “Deja Blue” and N612JB is “Blue Look Maahvelous.” There’s even a humorous thread on FlyerTalk.com in which people play the JetBlue “name game,” listing the names of the JetBlue planes they have flown. Weird, right? (Among U.S. airlines, Virgin America also names its planes. One is called, “My Other Ride’s a Spaceship.”)
It’s definitely all part of JetBlue’s quirky branding strategy, but still, I find these names amusing. Names like “Hasta bluego” and “Parlez-blue?” make me smile and roll my eyes.
The Great New York Nacho Fail
by David Farley | 03.25.09 | 10:58 AM ET
These aren’t nachos, I thought to myself as I stared at a plate rimmed with neatly placed tortilla chips, each one gently topped with chicken, blanketed in cheese, and, for good measure, crowned by one single jalapeño slice. I might expect something like this if Jean-George Vongerichten put nachos on the menu at this eponymous eatery on Columbus Circle. But I was at a hole-in-the-wall eatery in Brooklyn bedecked with all the trappings of a salt-of-the-earth Mexican restaurant. Dressing up each chip as it were a microcosm of the usual mountain of nachos seemed unnecessary. And just plain wrong.
Five Great Pod Hotels
by Jennifer Plum Auvil | 03.23.09 | 8:19 AM ET
Photo courtesy of The Pod Hotel Travelers can save big bucks at pocket-sized pod hotels. Jennifer Plum Auvil offers her top picks.
Big Plane, Small Plane
by Rob Verger | 03.20.09 | 11:28 AM ET
As of June 1, Emirates will cease using its A380s—the biggest commercial plane in the skies—between Dubai and New York City. The airline will be replacing it with Boeing 777s, citing the poor economy as the reason to use the comparatively smaller plane, which has fewer seats to fill.
At the other end of the size spectrum, a company in Massachusetts called Terrafugia has celebrated the first flight of a flying car they have engineered called the Transition. As the Middle Seat Terminal points out, “While most people would look at the gizmo and call it a flying car, Terrafugia—founded by five pilots, all MIT graduates—prefers to call the beast a ‘Roadable Aircraft.’” According to the company’s website, each plane is anticipated to cost $194,000.
How many of these tiny flying cars do you think would fit inside an A380?
Rats! The DOH Are Here!
by David Farley | 03.19.09 | 11:58 AM ET
The guys at the sushi restaurant across the street from my apartment in New York’s West Village were always friendly. Except for one time about a year ago when I stopped in at lunch to pick up a take-out order. There was only one other person in the restaurant—a guy typing away at a small laptop—but the two employees were short with me, acting as though the place was packed. As I tossed out requests—extra wasabi, for example—the sushi chef nervously nodded back in that officious anything-you-want manner as if I had been pointing a semi-automatic at his family. Then I noticed what was printed on the back of the jacket of the other customer: Department of Health (DOH).
Morning Links: Bible Park, Pizza Vending Machines and More
by Eva Holland | 03.16.09 | 9:03 AM ET
- The Wall Street Journal goes way beyond Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
- Planning for Lebanon, Tennessee’s Bible-themed amusement park, has been suspended indefinitely due to “political differences”; the park’s developers are eyeing Kentucky instead. (Via The Book Bench)
- Coney Island’s famed Totonno’s pizzeria has been devastated by a fire.
- The San Francisco Chronicle has the little-known story of Iceland’s pizza pioneer.
- And in more pie-related news, the New York Times dishes on Northern Italy’s pizza vending machines.
- World Hum contributor Jenna Schnuer gets the local scoop on Houston’s finest cuisine, culture and more.
- New York City’s High Line may not be quite ready for visitors, but it is in bloom.
- Audrey and Daniel from Uncornered Market have just headed out on the road again; they reflect on five things they’ll miss about America.
- In the Huffington Post, Alison Stein Wellner goes looking for Jewish Barbados.
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Morning Links: The Zion Curtain, Pynchon and Baedeker, and more
by Michael Yessis | 03.12.09 | 10:00 AM ET
- Utah may tear down the “Zion Curtain” and make it easier to get into bars. Will that boost the state’s tourism?
- See Europe ... in New York City.
- Kurt Andersen in Nicaragua: “[T]he country has become one of those Places on the Verge, discovered by cognoscenti but not yet overrun.”
- Yes, Los Angeles has a bike culture. Matthew Segal immerses himself.
- MetaFilter celebrates Baedeker travel guides—“the de facto travel guide for international men of leisure”—and how they served as a research tool for Thomas Pynchon.
- Man sues US Airways for $1 million after it allegedly lost his Xbox and gave him “an unconscionable runaround.”
- Man jumps into Niagara Falls and survives, only the third person ever to do so.
- Welcome, Big World Magazine.
- Finally, another U.S. Senator, another embarrassing airport incident. If only someone had caught Sen. David Vitter’s alleged outburst on video like Cathay Pacific caught the Airport Auntie.
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From ‘CSI’ to ‘Castle’: Traveling the World, One Crime Show at a Time
by Eva Holland | 03.11.09 | 3:46 PM ET
We’ve written before about crime novels being a prime source for vivid place-based writing. But how about traveling vicariously through the now-ubiquitous crime show? I’d argue that television travel can be just as effective and enjoyable.
Of course, a forty-four minute episode doesn’t allow for the same richness and depth of detail as you’d find in a book, but you can pack a lot of local color—both sights and sounds—into even the briefest street scene. Think of the all-powerful CSI franchise: from the juicy opening shots of the Las Vegas strip or the Manhattan skyline—sorry Miami, I just can’t handle Horatio—to the plot lines often derived from existing local traditions, quirks or trends (think the original CSI’s frequent tributes to Vegas’ wild mob-ruled past), each of the shows is deeply rooted in its host city. And while the main story lines are certainly glitzed up and sensationalized (not to mention acted out by improbably attractive law enforcement officers), you can still pick up a lot of legit local detail from them: I first heard of narcocorridos in a CSI episode about the Mexican community in Las Vegas, and saw handball played for the first time in an episode of CSI: NY—now, walking around Queens during my stay here, I see the game being played daily.
Where We’re Eating: Tel Aviv, Minneapolis, New York City
by David Farley | 03.11.09 | 1:47 PM ET
Find yourself in Tel Aviv, Minneapolis, or the Big Apple and not sure where to eat? Try these restaurants:
Montefiore, Tel Aviv
Set in a restored 1930s building (on the ground floor of the hip new boutique hotel of the same name), this Tel Aviv eatery infuses Mediterranean ingredients with Vietnamese dishes to mouthwatering success. The consome with silky foie gras ravioli is a must.
Remembering the Concorde
by Rob Verger | 03.09.09 | 12:01 PM ET
Last week marked the 40th anniversary of the first flight of the Concorde. The plane, the only supersonic commercial aircraft, was in service between 1976 and 2003. In 2000, the fiery crash of an Air France Concorde claimed 113 lives.
I saw a Concorde for the fist time this weekend, on display at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. Inside the plane, I was struck by the narrow, claustrophobic cabin in the pencil-thin fuselage, the tiny windows and tightly packed rows of seats. Outside, I loved seeing the cool sweep of its delta wings and its stunningly narrow nose.
What We Loved This Week: Kutiman, the Scorpions, Meat (Glorious Meat)
by World Hum | 03.06.09 | 4:14 PM ET
Our contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
Rob Verger
I loved this hilarious pro-flying bit by comedian Louis CK on the Conan O’Brien show. My favorite part? When he says, “Everybody on every plane should just constantly be going, ‘Oh my god, wow!’”
Valerie Conners
Meat, glorious meat! Went to one of Philly’s more interesting restaurants, Ansill, to try the special “European Barbecue.” It involved a plethora of mysterious meats (think quartered hearts and kidneys from an unidentified beast) and very tasty grilled meats served with a variety of dipping sauces. The experience brought me right back to my days living in Leuven, Belgium, and one of my fave restaurants there.