Travel Blog
Promo Videos Gone Wrong: ‘Nebraska: Who Knew?’
by Eva Holland | 02.19.09 | 12:21 PM ET
Next up in our ongoing series on unintentionally humorous tourism promo videos? An offering from Nebraska Tourism, with a slogan—“Who knew?”—that probably hits the nail a little too firmly on the head. Self-deprecation is a tricky thing for any tourist board to pull off, and I’m not sure a promo spot is the right place to remind your viewers that nobody thinks there’s anything worth seeing in your state. (Though for what it’s worth, I’ve always wanted to see Carhenge, myself.)
The clip—which, to be fair, includes some pretty impressive Great Plains scenery—is after the jump.
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Yahoo! BuzzR.I.P. Conchita Cintron, Woman Matador
by Jim Benning | 02.19.09 | 11:38 AM ET
The Peruvian matador’s debut performance dates back to 1937. She died in Lisbon at the age of 86.
Morning Links: Haka, ‘Travel as Rehabilitation,’ Taxi Gourmet and More
by Jim Benning | 02.19.09 | 11:20 AM ET
- The Washington Post profiles Layne Mosler, the food pilgrim at taxigourmet.com.
- Oh, no he didn’t: An angry pilot at a London airport security checkpoint dropped his pants and asked, Do you want to search this?
- Can’t get enough morning links? BootsnAll has launched BootsnAll Today.
- The Christian Science Monitor profiles the creator of www.accessible.travel, the “first online booking engine for disabled travelers.” Says its founder, “I truly believe that travel is rehabilitation.”
- Coastal Living explains how to go from 0 to 200—degrees—with sauna-loving Finns at Thunder Bay, Ontario.
- The Millions on a topic we love: literature as tour guide.
- Finally, why the sour face? Oh, must be because it’s time for the haka championships.
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Time Travel to Honolulu
by Pam Mandel | 02.18.09 | 5:44 PM ET
It’s politically incorrect, not entirely accurate historically, and oddly, the producers chose to intersperse “Aloha Oe” with “The Skater’s Waltz” in the sound track. But the boards are huge, the leis are fluffy and plentiful, and the footage of Waikiki Beach? Wow, it looks nothing like what I saw last year:
Your Friendly Neighborhood Airport Bookstore?
by Eva Holland | 02.18.09 | 2:41 PM ET
I spent a good portion of my Friday night at Newark International this weekend, waiting on a friend’s delayed flight from Canada. As a result, I had plenty of time to conduct an in-depth study of the titles on offer at the airport’s Relay store.
The project started out innocently enough. I’ve never paid much attention to airport bookstores—long layovers generally find me sound asleep on the floor at a quiet gate, or roaming the halls in search of an unsecured wireless signal. But this time I decided to browse the magazine selection, and then (while I struggled to reconcile my love for both “Cosmopolitan” and “The Atlantic”) a section heading in the books section caught my eye: Travel and Pictorial. The heading seemed odd, because—I could see from 10 feet away—half the books in the section had been written by Candace Bushnell. Had I somehow missed Bushnell’s transition to narrative travelogue author? Curious, I moved closer. And found that the Travel and Pictorial section was filled top to bottom with Manhattan-based chick lit. Multiple copies of “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Confessions of a Shopaholic” and “Shopaholic Takes Manhattan,” and no less than four Bushnell titles (“Sex and the City” chief among them, of course) covered the shelves in a blur of chirpy, bright, pink-heavy covers.
No One Will Ever Find Me in This Camouflaged Treehouse Hotel
by Joanna Kakissis | 02.18.09 | 1:32 PM ET
Not sure if this idea is crazy or brilliant, but I’m not surprised that it came from eco-chic Scandinavia. The Swedish architecture firm Tham & Videgard Hansson have designed a lightweight treehouse hotel with a mirrored exterior that reflects the forest around it. The mirrored cube is supposed to be invisible, but with a full set of living quarters inside, including a bedroom, bathroom, kitchenette and even a roof terrace. (But a warning to the dainty eco-poseurs: scaling up here via rope ladder or rope bridge is not for the matched luggage set; pack a backpack instead.)
Filmed Here: ‘Gossip Girl’
by Eva Holland | 02.18.09 | 12:27 PM ET
So here’s the dilemma: New York’s Restaurant Week has been extended, you’ve got a friend visiting from Canada, and you’d like to take advantage of the deal as a special treat. But how to choose just one of the 150 participating restaurants before making your reservation? Well, if you’re a sucker for teen television dramas (guilty), then naturally you book at the restaurant recently featured on “Gossip Girl.” Which is how I found myself at Butter for an unfashionably early dinner on Sunday night.
(Butter, in case you haven’t been keeping track, is the restaurant where Jenny Humphrey—aka Little J, the “poor” girl who lives with her aging rock star dad in a fabulous DUMBO loft—and Blair—the teen queen of the Upper East Side—staged a major showdown on Jenny’s 15th birthday back in season one.)
Ryanair Joins the Cruise Game
by Eva Holland | 02.18.09 | 11:09 AM ET
The king of low-cost carriers has joined forces with Costa Cruises and will now be offering discounted bookings with the Italian company through the Ryanair website, the Telegraph reports. “Ryanair and Costa Cruises will reduce the cost of traditionally expensive cruise holidays and bring greater choice to those looking to beat the recession and take advantage of these great value cruise holiday packages,” said a representative for the Irish airline.
There’s no word on whether Costa will start nickel-and-diming passengers as a condition of the deal. Charges for the lounge chairs on deck? Pay-by-weight at the buffet? A steadfast refusal to offer assistance, compensation or even a refund of the measly 15 pounds you paid for your ticket after a last-minute cancellation by the airline? (Not that I’m bitter.)
‘Flying Thief’ Flies No More
by Rob Verger | 02.18.09 | 10:17 AM ET
Reuters reports that Kosztor Sandorne, a Hungarian thief also called “Flying Gizi,” was arrested while in the process of breaking into a house in Hungary. Sandorne “earned her nickname because she liked to flee her crime scenes by taking commercial flights” the article reports.
But here’s the thing. She’s 83 years old. She’s been on the police’s radar since the 1950s. These days, she takes the train instead of flying, “since train travel is free for pensioners in Hungary.”
R.I.P. Leila Hadley
by Michael Yessis | 02.18.09 | 9:42 AM ET
The author of Give Me the World and other travel books passed away last week. She also wrote a series of guidebooks about traveling with children.
In the New York Times obit, William Grimes writes that she earned praise for her “sharp-eyed, vivid descriptions and for the author’s enthusiasm for leaving the beaten path, wherever she was.”
In the New York Post, Liz Smith said farewell with the words: “Do not rest in peace, dear Leila, just tear things up wherever you are!”
Hadley was 83.
Morning Links: JetBlue Fare Refunds, America’s Emptiest Cities and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.18.09 | 8:31 AM ET
- It happened again: Another cruise ship ran aground in Antarctica.
- Las Vegas and Detroit finished 1-2 in a Forbes list of America’s emptiest cities.
- Inside the hardened, restless lives of business-travel nomads.
- Here’s a scathing takedown of the idea of Dubai. (via Kottke)
- Here’s another dancing guy. He doesn’t go around the world, though. Just to hallways and stairwells and such.
- Teresa Watanabe looks at African Americans who are being “called back to Africa by DNA.”
- JetBlue promises fare refunds if you lose your job—with some fine print.
- “Afghan Model” is coming to Emrooz TV.
- The Yankees are building a new vacation stadium in the Hamptons, complete with on-deck gazebos and yacht parking for the players. The Onion has exclusive video.
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Going to SXSW? Put the Harry Ransom Center On Your Schedule.
by Sophia Dembling | 02.17.09 | 6:00 PM ET
Photo by Eric Beggs The South by Southwest (or SXSW) film, music and interactive festival is less than a month away. Got your plans and reservations yet? (And did you know that many Austinites flee the city as you arrive? Too much traffic and other mishigos.)
I realize that SXSW is all about the future of this, that and the other, but while you’re in town, I urge you to carve out some time to pay your respects to what many consider a dying art form, the written word, with a stop at the free galleries at the Harry Ransom Center.
Robert Plant: From Wales to Timbuktu
by Eva Holland | 02.17.09 | 2:39 PM ET
In the wake of Plant’s five Grammy wins last week, the bloggers at Rock’s Backpages have dug up this 2003 story about a one-day tour of Snowdonia, in Wales—with the former Led Zeppelin frontman playing tour guide. In it, Plant reminisces about the ways a visit to Timbuktu influenced his subsequent solo efforts, and takes the writer to Bron-Yr-Aur, the rural Welsh cottage where he and Jimmy Page wrote much of “Led Zeppelin III.” “Bron-Yr-Aur gave Jimmy and me so much energy,” Plant says. “Because we were really close to something. We believed. It was absolutely wonderful, and my heart was so light and happy.”
Britney Spears: Back in Wax
by Eva Holland | 02.17.09 | 1:35 PM ET
Well, now the troubled pop star’s well-publicized comeback is truly complete. The London outpost of Madame Tussaud’s has unveiled a new statue that shows Spears clutching one of the MTV awards she grabbed (along with some restored dignity) last fall. “We are delighted to be featuring Britney at Madame Tussauds London for the second time,” a spokeswoman told the Telegraph. “Her original figure ... was extremely popular. However, she’s undergone a huge transformation since then and we wanted to reflect her as she is now.”
Ticketmaster and Live Nation: In Cahoots?
by Eva Holland | 02.17.09 | 12:26 PM ET
If you were planning to add a major concert to your next trip itinerary, you may want to think again. The U.S. Justice Department is investigating after word of a possible merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation—the world’s largest ticket seller and the world’s largest concert promoter, respectively—raised fears of a monopoly on concert tickets. The department is “committed to vigorous enforcement of the merger antitrust laws and will conduct a thorough investigation of the proposed Ticketmaster/Live Nation transaction,” a spokeswoman told the AP.
Several politicians have already spoken out against the potential deal—and now even Bruce Springsteen (who’s already had one dust-up with the ticket giant this month) has joined in, too. Wrote the Boss on his website: “The one thing that would make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan than it is now would be Ticketmaster and Live Nation coming up with a single system, thereby returning us to a near-monopoly situation in music ticketing.”
