Destination: United States
Update: Lorrie Heasley, ‘The Fockers’ and the United States Constitution
by Michael Yessis | 10.09.05 | 6:08 PM ET
Michelle O’Donnell puts Tuesday’s T-shirt incident aboard Southwest Airlines flight 219 into legal context in today’s New York Times, asking some constitutional law experts about the rights of passengers to wear “offensive” attire and the rights of airlines to kick passengers off their planes.
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Yahoo! BuzzPork for Salmon on Alaska Airlines Plane
by Michael Yessis | 10.05.05 | 9:41 AM ET
The money that paid for the fish on an Alaska Airlines plane—a “Salmon-Thirty-Salmon”—comes from a $500,000 United States government grant to support the salmon industry, reports ABC News. Critics of congressional pork are having a field day across the web. Rightly so.
Supreme Court Justice Travel Watch: Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy
by Michael Yessis | 09.29.05 | 4:06 AM ET
It seems that at least two of the current Supremes love to travel. Soon-to-be-retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor told Associated Press reporter Gina Holland Wednesday that, once Congress confirms her replacement, she’s looking forward to working on book projects and traveling. “Just to see friends and take a trip or two would be nice,” said the 24-year-veteran of the court. Earlier this month, The New Yorker’s Jeffrey Toobin profiled one of O’Connor’s colleagues, Anthony Kennedy. Toobin met up with Kennedy in Salzburg, Austria where the Justice has rented an apartment for the last 15 summers with his wife, Mary.
Palms Hosts “The Amazing Race” Premiere Party Tuesday in Las Vegas
by Michael Yessis | 09.26.05 | 10:36 PM ET
The latest edition of The Amazing Race reality television travel show begins tomorrow night at 9 p.m., and if you’re in Las Vegas you can watch it at the Palms Resort side-by-side with contestants from seasons 1 to 7. The party begins at 6 p.m. with autograph signings.
Airplane Lands. Nation Rejoices.
by Michael Yessis | 09.22.05 | 4:30 AM ET
Yesterday’s emergency landing of a New York-bound JetBlue airliner in Los Angeles was a post-post-modern experience, passenger and New York Observer editor Alexandra Jacobs told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Translation: Passengers watched the live national television coverage of their crippled jet circling the skies over Southern California on their personal TV screens within the plane. The good news of the landing caused Cooper, who has been covering Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, to smile for possibly the first time in weeks. If you haven’t seen the video of the amazing landing, Crooks and Liars has it.
NYC Gets the Stews. LA and DC Welcome Travel Movies.
by Michael Yessis | 09.22.05 | 4:20 AM ET
Plane Crazy, a play about “stew life” in the ‘60s, is in the middle of a nine show run in the New York Musical Theater Festival. New York Times writer Miriam Horn gave it a mixed review, but the show appears to have sold out every performance. I wonder: Is it a good play that does justice to the life of stewardesses in the early jet age, or do people just like the songs and the outfits?
“Lost” Wins Emmy, Inspires Travel
by Michael Yessis | 09.21.05 | 4:10 AM ET
The second season of the ABC television show Lost begins tonight, and with it comes a new round of travel stories about folks “set-jetting” to where the show is filmed: Hawaii. It’s the latest in a string of filming locations/destinations to see an influx of travelers and travel writers, and perhaps the strangest considering the show revolves around a group of plane crash survivors. Jaunted has more on the phenomenon, and links to some “Lost”-themed travel stories that explore the ramifications of travel driven by successful movies and TV shows.
Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans?
by Kate Hahn | 09.09.05 | 10:20 PM ET
Kate Hahn shares her only souvenir of The Big Easy: the memory of a city that showed her how to let go
Travel Writer Taken to Task Over a Cheeto
by Michael Yessis | 08.29.05 | 12:38 AM ET
At .6 ounces, though, it’s a really big Cheeto. But is it the world’s biggest? That’s the $.89 question. Chicago Tribune writer Mike Conklin ventured to Sister Sarah’s Restaurant in Algona, Iowa, and wrote a short piece about the famed roadside attraction. In his piece, he did some math to put the size of the Cheeto into perspective, and that’s where he ran into problems with Edward B. Colby of CJR Daily, the online publication of the Columbia Journalism Review.
Talking Travel Writing at Book Passage
by Jim Benning | 08.20.05 | 1:49 PM ET
Jen Leo has posted a report and photos from the Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference, which is taking place this weekend in Northern California. Tim Cahill and Simon Winchester are among those on the faculty.
Freelancers, Travel and The New York Times
by Jim Benning | 08.19.05 | 6:18 PM ET
A number of freelance travel writers are miffed about a column in Sunday’s New York Times by Public Editor Byron Calame. Calame points out that bylines of stories written by freelancers in The Times Travel section look no different from those written by staff writers. Because it’s difficult for editors to monitor the ethical and reporting standards of freelancers, Calame writes, “readers deserve to know whether a freelancer or a staffer provides the content.” Many newspapers make a distinction, of course: Bylines of stories written by freelancers in the Los Angeles Times, for example, carry the phrase “Special to the Times” as opposed to “Times Staff Writer.”
Santa Cruz vs. Huntington Beach: A Pox on Both of Their ‘Surf City’ Houses
by Jim Benning | 08.19.05 | 4:13 PM ET
Oh, the battles that people and places will wage in the quest for the almighty tourist buck. The California cities of Santa Cruz and Huntington Beach are squabbling once again over the use of the moniker “Surf City USA.” The latest flare-up is the result of a state senator introducing a resolution to make Santa Cruz in his district “Surf City USA.” Not so fast, says Huntington Beach, which has filed trademark applications for “Surf City USA” and uses the name in its logo. A story in today’s Los Angeles Times details the history of the fight, which goes back 13 years. It’s ugly.
Q-and-A With Bill Bryson
by Michael Yessis | 08.15.05 | 11:05 PM ET
Yesterday’s Washington Post featured an interview with “Walk in the Woods” author Bill Bryson. What’s he up to? “I’m doing a book which is a kind of travel book,” he tells K.C. Summers, “except that it’s a memoir about growing up in the ‘50s in Iowa.” Go with it, Bill. We’re with you.
Mullet in the Treetops
by Bill Belleville | 08.15.05 | 10:16 PM ET
Photo by Bill Belleville In a land studded with theme parks promising manufactured thrills, Bill Belleville discovers a different kind of Florida Fantasyland
Portzline Debuts “Bookstore Tourism” Podcast
by Michael Yessis | 08.03.05 | 9:49 PM ET
It’s newsy, but it’s the kind of news we like. Larry Portzline, who created Bookstore Tourism and wrote a book about it, discusses how to kickstart your own local bookstore tour and spreads the word about an upcoming trip planned by the Southern California Booksellers Association. Portzline also has a Bookstore Tourism blog.