Federal Lands in the US

via Strangemaps

Posted at 06:14 AM in Design, Travel | Permalink

Sources:
The Safest Seat to Sit In On a Plane is…
Flowing Data, May 20, 2008    
http://flowingdata.com/2008/05/20/the-safest-seat-to-sit-in-on-a-plane-is/

Safest Seat on a Plane: PM Investigates How to Survive a Crash
David Noland
Popular Mechanics, July 18, 2007   
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/4219452.html

Posted at 06:09 AM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

via Flixxy

Posted at 06:10 AM in Travel, War/Defense | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The latest advertising campaign in Mexico from Swedish vodka maker Absolut promises to push all the right buttons south of the U.S. border, but it could ruffle a few feathers in El Norte.

Source:
Mexico reconquers California? Absolut drinks to that!
LA Plaza
L.A.Times, April 03, 2008
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2008/04/mexico-reconque.html

Posted at 09:36 AM in Food and Drink, Humor, Travel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Totally addictive:

Posted at 08:57 AM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Pretty damned cool

(where's the clutch?)

Posted at 09:55 AM in Design, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Posted at 06:34 AM in Humor, Travel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

This explains why I can never find a place to park the XSR48!

In a world where the lifestyles of the superrich are increasingly spectacular, it seems as though there is no end to the number of resorts under development and no limit to the luxuries they offer. And some resort developers have found a niche that has not been fully mined: luxe marinas with boat slips that can serve giant yachts.

These days there are more pleasure boats that are longer than 80 feet. In fact, they average nearly 100 feet and top out at about 500 feet, according to Yachts International Magazine, which publishes an annual survey, The Global Build Report.

These boats are floating mansions, often with their own management companies, captain and crew, chef, swimming pool, garages and helipad. More than 820 such megayachts are now under construction, according to Jamie Welch, the editor of Yachts International. That’s just a 3 percent increase over last year, he said, but a 58 percent increase since 2002.

Source:
Resorts Respond to the Yacht Parking Problem
VALERIE COTSALAS
NYT, September 5, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/realestate/commercial/05yacht.html

Posted at 09:51 AM in Finance, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Fantastic review of Virgin America, via boingboing:

(1) Most comfortable coach I've experienced on any domestic carrier. Roomy, well-designed seats, nice leg room, seats sit at a pitch that maximizes stretch space.

(2) Obscenely comfy white leather seats (with "massage" feature) in first class. Pretty reasonable first class fares (I suppose they'll be higher later, but they're comparatively quite low right now).

(3) They're using open source software in every place possible. Linux galore.

(4) In-flight, seat-to-seat chat. Now you can bitch about babies crying or barf-inducing turbulence -- with emoticons! Or group chat around each TV channel (while you watch TV), or join topic-based chat rooms.

(5) Google Freakin' Maps. I heard details of additional add-in features they're planning to launch with this -- not bloggable yet, but when they're live, they'll be mindblowing.

(6) In-flight entertainment and info system has a super user-friendly GUI, and it's touchscreen! With little qwerty keyboards!

(7) Games. Including Doom. They're planning an open source game design competition, will feature winning games on the flights.

(8) In-flight text messaging and email are apparently on the way, as are pay-per-download music sales (mostly Virgin artists at launch, I'd guess).

(9) Movies are fairly recent ones you'd actually want to watch. Large selection of international fare for non-English-speaking passengers. Wide TV selections. You can get channels like IFC and Current in-flight. Music videos. Scan TV listings in a programming guide, see what's on when. You can set reminders for yourself for TV shows you want to catch.

(10) Some great internet content on the way. They're doing deals with internet video content producers and other video sources you'd never expect to see on a plane. They plan to have in-flight broadband in place next year (pending FAA approval) for even more frequent video content uploads. Incidentally, they have a smartly designed related method for system software updates. Many cool things about the IT design behind VA.

Looks way way cool . . .

Source:
Getting high with Richard Branson: Virgin America's virgin flight
boingboing,Wednesday, August 8, 2007
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/08/08/getting_high_with_ri.html

Posted at 10:01 AM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Fascinating look at how mankind spread out from East Africa through the Middle East, Asia, Oceania, Europe, and the Americas over the past 150,000 years. Especially interesting are the interaction of migration and climate, and the effects of geological events, such as the eruption of Mt. Toba in Sumatra.

Posted at 06:53 AM in Science, Travel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Careful on the road this travel weekend!

"In California and across the nation, where some freeway shoulders have come to resemble weekend yard sales, the nature of road debris has changed, and litter anthropologists are now studying the phenomenon. Where “deliberate” litter used to reign — those blithely tossed fast-food wrappers and the like — “unintentional” or “negligent” litter from poorly secured loads is making its presence felt.

Steven R. Stein, a litter analyst for R. W. Beck, a waste-consulting firm in Maryland, attributes the change to more trash-hauling vehicles, including recycling trucks, and the ubiquity of pickup trucks on the country’s highways. In 1986, Mr. Stein said, two-thirds of the debris was deliberate, but surveys now show the litter seesaw balanced.

He said the two most recent surveys indicated a further increase in unintentional litter. In Georgia, which recently quantified its litter, 66 percent of road debris comes from unintentional litter, largely unsecured loads. A study in Tennessee last year showed that 70 percent of the state’s debris was unintentional.

By dint of its climate, size, population, lengthy growing season, increasingly long commutes and, perhaps, its casual lifestyle, California is a road-debris leader. It is also home to the country’s largest number of registered vehicles — 32 million, twice that of No. 2 Texas — and roughly four million pickup trucks, the most of any state, according to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers in Washington.

No other state spends more on litter removal, in excess of $55 million, said Christine Flowers-Ewing, the executive director of Keep California Beautiful, a nonprofit environmental education organization.

Motorists in California can be fined if anything other than feathers from live birds or water should escape. (In Nebraska, the exception is corn stalks; in Kentucky, coal.)

Along with mudslides, brush fires and earthquakes, chance encounters with a set of box springs, a chintz cushion or a crate of lettuces are the daily stuff of radio traffic updates, recounted in excruciating detail."

>

Source:
Highway Debris, Long an Eyesore, Grows as Hazard
PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN   
NYT, May 11, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/us/11debris.html 

Posted at 06:33 AM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Chinese pet food ingredients* spiked with a potentially dangerous chemical found their way into U.S.- manufactured pet food - as well as feed for hogs, chicken and farmed fish. After numerous pet deaths were attributed to the chemical, the FDA called for a series of recalls and quarantines beginning in March. Here is how the tainted ingredient spread.

Dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical.

Frozen catfish laden with banned antibiotics.

Scallops and sardines coated with putrefying bacteria.

Mushrooms laced with illegal pesticides.

"For years, U.S. inspection records show, China has flooded the United States with foods unfit for human consumption. And for years, FDA inspectors have simply returned to Chinese importers the small portion of those products they caught -- many of which turned up at U.S. borders again, making a second or third attempt at entry.

Now the confluence of two events -- the highly publicized contamination of U.S. chicken, pork and fish with tainted Chinese pet food ingredients and this week's resumption of high-level economic and trade talks with China -- has activists and members of Congress demanding that the United States tell China it is fed up.

Dead pets and melamine-tainted food notwithstanding, change will prove difficult, policy experts say, in large part because U.S. companies have become so dependent on the Chinese economy that tighter rules on imports stand to harm the U.S. economy, too.

"So many U.S. companies are directly or indirectly involved in China now, the commercial interest of the United States these days has become to allow imports to come in as quickly and smoothly as possible," said Robert B. Cassidy, a former assistant U.S. trade representative for China and now director of international trade and services for Kelley Drye Collier Shannon, a Washington law firm."

>

Source:
Tainted Chinese Imports Common
In Four Months, FDA Refused 298 Shipments
Rick Weiss
Washington Post , Sunday, May 20, 2007; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/19/AR2007051901273.html

Posted at 06:22 AM in Finance, Food and Drink, Politics, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Cool infographic of NY regional commuter lines:

click for jumbo graphic

graphic courtesy of NYT

However, given 9/11 and what happened in Spain, I am wondering how smart tghe bullseye was . . .

>

Source:
The Commuting Conundrum
KEN BELSON
NYT, March 18, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/18RTRAIN.html

Posted at 06:05 AM in Design, NYC, Travel, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Pretty cool looking:

Description:

Porsche Design Studios is bringing some Stuttgart style to the boating business with its first-ever seacraft (the waterlogged 928 in Risky Business doesn't count). Set to debut at the Miami Boat Show, the 28-foot-long high-speed cruiser is a collaboration with Florida-based upstart Fearless Yachts. "We reached out and said, 'You have a blank canvas,'" says Fearless CEO Jeffrey Binder, and the German creatives set about designing a luxury racer that could dominate what they dubbed the "aquabahn."

The boat boasts a fiberglass hull with the sleek curves and lean silhouette of a European coupe, and its "unitized," or seamless, construction does away with unsightly rivets that might slow it down. There's also a 525-horsepower Viper engine that helps the craft reach a top speed of 80 mph, which may not break any world records but will make you grateful for the Latham precision steering controls. Should 28 feet (and room for five) prove insufficient for your entourage, Porsche and Fearless are expanding the line to include vessels of up to 150 feet in length, and while the prices may be steep—the 28 starts at $300,000—they have this advantage: They manage to make a 911 look like a bargain.

Yanko Design via Trader

Posted at 06:24 AM in Art & Design, Automobiles, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Very amusing:

click for larger map

Reprographics via GMSV

Posted at 06:30 PM in Art & Design, Humor, Travel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

TIme lapse of a guy driving across country in his convertible.

Very cool!

Posted at 06:26 AM in Travel, Video | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Composite photo of planes taking off from a busy airport:

flickr

Posted at 06:08 AM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Amusing ad for the Muang Kulaypan Hotel:

Posted at 05:59 AM in Photo Caption Contest!, Shopping, Travel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Dear Captain: a rather funny note from 8 year old girl on her first flight
(you may have to read it twice to cacth the funny part)

Yes, its real -- see the other time wasters here:   http://www.micom.net/oops/

Posted at 09:35 AM in Humor, Travel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Cool article in Wired:

"A new generation of supersonic private jets could trigger a boom in luxury high-speed flight -- without the sonic boom normally associated with breaking the sound barrier.

Lockheed Martin's advanced Skunk Works unit is designing a small, 12-seat passenger jet that would travel at 1,200 mph (Mach 1.8) but which would produce only a whisper of the annoying crack once emitted by the retired Concorde.

The sleek, 130-foot-long QSST (for "quiet supersonic travel") aircraft is being designed for a Nevada consortium called Supersonic Aerospace International, or SAI, at an estimated cost of $2.5 billion.

Source:
New York to L.A. in Two Hours
By Robert Andrews
Wired, 02:00 AM Aug, 28, 2006
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,71665-0.html

Posted at 08:36 AM in Design, Science, Travel, War/Defense | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Insane clips of Princess Juliana Airport, in St. Maarten (Netherlands Antilles), which is right n the beach.

Lots of Landings and Takeoffs, whith 757s and A340s almost dipping their landing gear in the water! 

Posted at 08:38 AM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Obscure class of coach fares guarantees seats up front

WSJ:

These obscure fares have been available for the past few years but are attracting more buzz lately as the U.S. airline industry shrinks and planes become more crowded. Total available seat miles, a measure of industry capacity, declined 1.2% in March compared with a year earlier, the ATA says. Last month, American Airlines said it would ground 27 MD-80 planes by July 1, and Delta and Northwest Airlines are using bankruptcy protection to ditch unwanted aircraft.

Q-up, Y-up and Z fares aren't hard to find or buy, requiring just a few extra clicks of a computer mouse. Online travel Web sites such as FareCompare, Expedia Inc.'s Expedia.com, Sabre Holdings Corp.'s Travelocity and Cendant Corp.'s Orbitz let users search by specific fare type. While known as Q-up or Y-up fares, the codes airlines use to identify them sometimes contain additional airline-specific characters, as in one recent Delta fare labeled QUPBV.

At FareCompare, for example, bargain hunters can click "Trip Search," then enter the desired route and "business/first class." Using Expedia, select "Additional Options" and then check the box to search for seats in business class or first class. Both sites search for the lowest fare in the chosen seating cabin.

If a discounted first-class seat is available, "QUP" or "YUP" will pop up in the fare-class box shown by FareCompare. Otherwise, regular first-class codes such as "F," "A" and "P" will appear on the screen.
Expedia's Q-up fares can be seen by clicking on "Rules and Restrictions."

Source:
How to Buy a Cheap Seat in First Class
EVAN PEREZ
WSJ, May 2, 2006; Page D1
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114653336888641120.html

Posted at 05:20 PM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Four T6 Harvard Aircraft from The Flying Lions Aerobatic Team waterskiing across the Klipdrift Dam near Johannesburg South Africa.

Pilots Hone Their Skills For Upcoming Airshow Season

>

Aviation Dimension writes:

Lead by Scully Levin, with wingman Arnie Meneghelli, Stewart Lithgow and Ellis Levin, this renown airshow display team rehearse a sequence for the newly launched "Aviation Action" television program on Supersport. Arnie Meneghelli from Academy Brushware, owner of the aircraft had this to say, "What we did today I believe is a world first. It illustrates that South African airshow pilots are amongst the best in the world".

This unusual act, approved by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and supported by Castrol Aviation, was meticulously planned and took place under the watchfull eye of divers and paramedics that were on site.

via Aviation Dimension

Posted at 07:09 AM in Photo Caption Contest!, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Interesting NYT article on the increasing girth of pleasure craft in Europe:

"Are boats tending to get bigger? "The answer is yes," he said. Of course, the builders of what have come to be called giga-yachts - even bigger boats of 400 feet to 500 feet - prefer the Monaco boat show, which just preceded Genoa. Still, the best-known builders below that category were all here.

The high price of oil, which yachts burn as fuel, did not seem to worry anyone. Fulvio Dodich, chief executive of Ferretti Yachts, a unit of the Ferretti Group of Italy, described his customers as "middle-tier millionaires," adding that 17 percent of them had liquid financial assets of more than $100 million. "Fuel consumption is not that important," he said.

But the health of the American market affects how European boat builders fare. Ferretti, Italy's biggest yacht builder, does about 20 percent of its business in the United States.

European yacht builders have made their deepest mark in the American market for sailboats, but they are running to catch up with powerboats as well.

To do so, yacht builders from Italy, France, Germany and elsewhere have increasingly transformed the business into a high-end branch of the luxury goods arena by creating yachts that are to sailing what Ferraris or Porsches are to driving."

click for larger photo

photo courtesy of NYT

<spacer>

Source:
In Europe, Big Boats for 'Middle-Tier Millionaires' and Hang the Fuel Expense
JOHN TAGLIABUE
NYT, October 25, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/25/business/worldbusiness/25boats.html

Posted at 07:33 AM in Design, Travel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

WSJ:   "Air travelers well beyond the Gulf Coast, where Hurricane Katrina hit land, should brace themselves for delays and cancellations well into the week.

Airports yesterday including Louis Armstrong New Orleans International and Jackson International in Mississippi were closed, and airlines grounded flights throughout the Deep South. Continental Airlines canceled 111 flights in and out of the Gulf Coast, for instance, while AMR Corp.'s American Airlines canceled 36 flights in and out of New Orleans yesterday and American Eagle had about 65 cancellations in the area."

>

click for larger chart

via WSJ

>

Source:
Katrina Disrupts Flights Across U.S.
Storm on Track to Hit Hubs From Detroit to Memphis; Moving Planes to Safety
AVERY JOHNSON
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, August 30, 2005; Page D1
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112536360425826283,00.html

Posted at 06:47 AM in Current Affairs, Finance, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

This Woman's voice fell somewhere between fingernails on a blackboard and a cat being disemboweled alive. Think of Cyndi Lauper's voice on Mad About You -- only 10X more annoying.

Having the world's most annoying voice is a handicap that would normally engender some sympathy -- even pity. ONLY SHE REFUSED TO SHUT UP THE ENTIRE RIDE HOME. Yammering way too loud on the cell phone the entire ride. 

Not just continual noise, but worthless, pointless babble:  She ordered Lemon Chicken for dinner, she had a spat with someone (Husband?  Boyfriend? Therapist?) about some minor offense this poor bastard committed (Seriously, this schmuck should be on suicide watch if he has to endure that voice every day -- If I had to listen to that voice all day long, I'd either kill her -- or myself).

She repeatedly said WAAAT? WAAAT? into the phone in her horrific nasal screetch. 

Here's what the shrill harpy looks like:

The guy across the aisle started saying outloud: BLAH BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH -- she never got the hint. 

As soon as she left the train, everyone around her (former) seat started talking "Wasn't that the msot annoying voice you ever heard?"

>

Normally, I have the iPod with me so I can escape to some degree; I forgot to charge it after a flight Sunday, so I was trapped with nowhere to go.   

I doubled up on Advil and Tylenol as soon as I got home

Posted at 06:14 AM in Humor, LIRR Commuter From Hell, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

How cool is this: iPod Subway Maps

Download Maps here

Posted at 02:59 PM in Design, Music, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A terrible amusing WSJ story this week:  Captain Kirk vs. Captain Picard  -- regarding travelling on Earth:

In the online travel world, one of the biggest battles for new customers has come down to this: Captain Kirk vs. Captain Picard.

Patrick Stewart, who played Captain Picard on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," is the new company spokesman for travel search engine SideStep. That's a direct challenge to rival Priceline.com, whose ads have long featured William Shatner, Captain Kirk on the original "Star Trek."

The celebrity showdown reflects the growing rift within online travel. Traditional online travel sites -- like Priceline, which invented "name-your-own-price" online travel bidding technology -- ruled the dot-com era. Newer travel search engines, like SideStep, now scan the Web and claim to retrieve the best deals with no surcharge to the user.

SideStep enlisted Mr. Stewart because "he literally represents the next big thing. We can play off Priceline and the original captain of the Enterprise," says Phil Carpenter, a SideStep spokesman.

>

Date With the Captain: 
Unlike Priceline's traditional ad campaign, SideStep's ad is a contest. The winner gets a chance to hang out with Captain Picard as the prize.

>

Source:
Travel Site Beams Up 'Next' Trekker
Campaign Features Patrick Stewart to Challenge Priceline Pitchman Shatner
By ANNELENA LOBB
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
July 26, 2005; Page A18
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112233199540095440,00.html

Posted at 11:10 AM in Humor, Television, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday evening, July 4th Holiday weekend. Muggy day, people leaving for the Fourth of July weekend, loaded with bags.

A crowded train, a weekend getaway, whatever shall we do to pass the time? 

I know, lets paint my nails!

Ahhh, sweet, sweet acetone! Has ever a more delightful fragrance wafted across a crowded train?

click for a larger, self obsessed narcissist

Another selfish jerk on the LIRR . . .

Posted at 08:39 AM in Humor, LIRR Commuter From Hell, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Its Friday afternoon, and it was 91 degrees in the city today. Like everyone else in the city, I just want to go home and peel of my disgusting clothes. I get on the train -- aaahhh, air conditioning! -- and relax. The train is nearfly empty, we pullout and head East.

Then, at Jamaica, this cretin gets on. His working assumption was that we all wanted to see his gnarly, stanky, hot sweaty feet. FOUL!

How selfish -- and clueless -- of a human being to you have to be to behave this way?

When the conductor came by, I asked to be added to the Pedicure list!

If you are wondering, I made absolutely no effort to hide the camera phone . . . got as close as I was willing (no closer than 5 feet max) and snapped away!

>
Given how disgusting some of my fellow riders have been lately, I'm going to keep updating this series on a regular basis: LIRR Commuters from Hell.

Posted at 06:07 AM in Humor, LIRR Commuter From Hell, Travel | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Wicked cool looking:

Forbes: "The global theme park industry takes its fun seriously. 

In 2005 alone, more than 100 new attractions have opened or been announced to open worldwide. The amusement industry is strong and growing at a steady rate," she explains. "What limits what is created for the industry is just two things. One: physics. Two: the imagination of the designers and engineers."

How much imagination? In New Jersey, Six Flags Great Adventure recently debuted the 456-foot high Kingda Ka, which is billed as the world's fastest and tallest roller coaster. Its hydraulic launch propels the train out of the gates at 128 miles per hour and then through a 270-degree loop, making passengers feel weightless. The roller coaster has a dual-loading station that allows four trains to simultaneously load and unload on two separate tracks, a peak horsepower of 7,400 and can accommodate 1,400 people per hour."

The Top Ten Most-Attended Amusement/Theme Parks Worldwide, 2004
(compiled by Economic Research Associates)

1. Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.: 15,170,000
2. Disneyland, Anaheim, Calif.: 13,360,000
3. Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo, Japan: 13,200,000
4. Tokyo Disney Sea, Tokyo, Japan: 12,200,000
5. Disneyland Paris, Mame-La-Vallee, France, 10,200,000
6. Universal Studios, Japan, Osaka, Japan: 9,900,000
7. Epcot at Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.: 9,400,000
8. Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park at Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.: 8,260,000
9. Lotte World, Seoul, South Korea: 8,000,000
10. Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.: 7,820,000

Amazing that 8 of the 10 most attended Amusement Parks are Disney!

>

Source:
World's Most Fun Amusement Parks 2005
Sophia Banay
Forbes, June 2005
http://www.forbes.com/travel/2005/05/26/cx_sb_0526feat.html
>

Posted at 05:53 AM in Design, Science, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Do you know this guy?

He works for Shell trading, gets on the LIRR in East Williston -- and for the entire ride into NY, proceeded to  snort, cough, gorgle, hacckkk, grunt, phleeggm, sneccch, blurrp, ecchhhh, and generally make unusual and disturbing sounds:

Solution:  Snap a camera photo and go to the iPod . . .

Posted at 10:54 PM in Humor, LIRR Commuter From Hell, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

I am having the Travel Day From Hell.

I was supposed to be on 11:15 to West Palm, but it snowed yesterday, the roads were a disaster and my driver (who looked like and drove like Big Pussy from the Sopranos) was an hour late. I still got to the airport on time, but thanks to the wonderous policies of Delta Song, my reserved seat was not held. (It was straight out of Seinfeld: They know how to take the reservation, but they don't know how to hold the reservation).

Adding insult to injury, I got to stand and watch my plane just sit there for another 45 minutes without me before it took off.

At least, LaGuardia has wireless internet access $7.95 for 24 hours. Right now, I am sitting in LaGuardia Airport (Gate 4, Delta Song) on Standby for the 2:50 flight, which like everything else today is late. Delta posts the list of standby passengers on the overhead, and I see I am #6. Not bad.

Except now I am #8 -- no #9. Apparently, the Delta elite club members get priority over the first come first serve passengers.

I strongly suspect this will be my last ever experience with Delta Song.

UPDATE:  4:43pm  MArch 9, 2005

Fuck Delta. They are  incompetent. A thte airport, they tell me the 7:25pm flight is full -- I get home ($84 cab ride), only to be told there is one seat one the 7:25.

Too bad -- already rebooked on Southwest tomorrow.

Posted at 03:25 PM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

I leave Southern California on Saturday, to come home to this in NY:

That's my block where I live above; Below was the view from the Gliderport, a few miles away from where I stayed:

My hairy dog out in the snow this morning:

The local California furry "Dogs" sunning themselves on the beach:

Lastly, here's my home front porch:

and the view from the front porch where I was staying:

Vacation withdrawal . . .

Posted at 11:59 AM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Welcome to Lawn Gyland -- but please watch where you park.

At least, thats what recent data suggests, according to an article in Newsday this week.

The main culprit? Big parking lots in Malls and train stations -- especially those with easy access to highways.

Source: Newsday

.

Here's a short excerpt:

Dude, where's my car?

If you're fortunate enough to live in one of the Island's tonier North Shore villages, chances are excellent that it's right where you left it.

But if you parked your car in Hempstead, Port Washington or Freeport, or in parts of the Town of Islip, the chances aren't nearly as good, according to a Newsday analysis theft reports.

The good news is that, even in areas with the highest rates, auto thefts are falling, thanks to better antitheft devices. A total of 5,707 auto thefts were reported to Long Island's county, town and village police departments in 2003, the most recent year available, a decline of 4 percent from the previous year. What's more, theft rates here are low relative to most other U.S. metropolitan areas.

In the Village of Hempstead, police took 473 stolen vehicle reports in 2003. With a population of about 54,000, that is 8.75 thefts per 1,000 people -- the highest rate of any Long Island police jurisdiction in the Newsday analysis.

Port Washington had only 22 thefts in 2003, as reported by the state, but that averages out to a rate of 7.8 thefts for every 1,000 people. The Village of Freeport was another of the Island's hot spots in 2003, with 205 thefts, for a rate of 4.65 thefts for every 1,000 people.

In contrast, police in many of the Island's wealthier villages, located far from main highways and where residents are more apt to park in garages, recorded no thefts at all in 2003, according to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. They included Kensington, Kings Point and Sands Point in Nassau County. In Suffolk, no reports were taken by Asharoken, Head of the Harbor, Huntington Bay, Lloyd Harbor, Nissequogue and Ocean Beach.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When on Long Island -- better watch where you park . . .

.

Source:
LI auto theft rates falling
TOM INCANTALUPO
Newsday, January 18, 2005
http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzsteal0118,0,843736.story

Posted at 08:28 AM in Current Affairs, Humor, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Whenever I travel, or hear myself recorded, I become painfully aware of my own elocution issues -- my Nu Yawk accent.

How do you pronounce the following words:

Water
Coffee
Printer
Long Island
New Yorker

Unfortunately, when I am not paying attention or am tired, it sounds like this:

Wah-tah
Caw-fee
Print- ah
Lawn Guylin
Nu Yaw-ah

Blecch! I must learn how to speak English without the horrific accent.

Posted at 11:44 AM in Humor, Travel | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Waxy has gathered an amazing collection of first-person videos from the Asian tsunami.

His bandwidth is shot, so use the mirrors linked at site . . .

Posted at 07:54 AM in Science, Travel, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

The ultimate collection of The Best of 2004 lists.

If you can think of it, its here:  Sex, Music, Film, Books, Video Games, Ideas, Science, DVDs, Blogs, Words, Media, Architecture, Dance, People, Art, TV, Tech, Law, Radio, Sports, Automobiles, Comics, Travel and more.

If you can think of a "Best of 2004" list topic, its here.

List junkies will spend a week on this one . . .

.

Source:
Fimoculous "Of the Year" lists
http://www.fimoculous.com/year-review-2004.cfm

Posted at 07:13 AM in Books, Design, Film, Food and Drink, Games, Music, Sports, Television, Travel, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

We had brunch at a nice little place in the Hamptons, Sunday morning. We've been there before, the food is always good. We usually go early -- avoid the crowds -- but today we straggled in about 10:30.

What a mistake.

There's something about people who are early risers: farmers, teachers, joggers, overseas currency traders. They are motivated, self-sacrificing, taking a path less traveled . . . or at least less traveled at 6:30 am.

That was assuredly not the group who surrounded us over Blueberry Pancakes and Challah French Toast.

This crowd was simply heinous. An arrogant collection of rude and pompous jackasses. They were just awful. (Don't these people know what happens when you are horrible to the wait-staff?) If I didn't witness it myself, I would never have believed it:

1) A late 30s couple with an occasionally loud and obviously bored 2 year old ask the waitress for crayons. When she says,. "Oh, I'm sorry, we don't have any," they looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Mind you, this was at a restaurant at an Inn, not a Denny's or an IHOP. It was all I could do to not scream: HEY IDIOTS! ITS NOT THE RESTAURANT'S RESPONSIBILITY TO ENTERTAIN YOUR CHILD. ITS YOUR KID – BRING SOMETHING NEXT TIME YOU JERKS.

2) Next up was a 60-something couple -- he was wearing a bicycle helmet (which he kept on for way, way too long). "Helmet man" asks the waitress if the chicken hash and eggs takes longer to cook than the granola (They were late for another event). He was insistently rude and arrogant, wanting to know if they could "hurry up my eggs" on a busy Sunday morning.

Lemme ask you a question: Imagine you recently suffered a blunt trauma to the cranial region – say, a shovel upside your head (that what I was thinking, nay dreaming, about) -- even in that disoriented condition, which would you think would take longer: a bowl of cold granola, or hash and eggs? That was too complex for this soon-to-be hunk of soylent green.

3) Going the opposite direction, an Ally McBeal anorexic walked in, draped in gold and diamonds, including the necklace around her waist, just at the top of her size 0 jeans. She ordered a massive breakfast, too. If she didn't barf it up shortly after, than she has a tapeworm. They also barked at the waitresses.

4) I do not know what this other 60-something woman who joined Helmet Man was thinking, but for future reference, may I suggest a bra? Really, no one needs to see that during breakfast.

5) Say you are a woman of a certain age, and are about 40 pounds overweight. Is the wisest fashion choice you can make skin tight spandex? Hey, I'm no lightweight -- but I'm not running arounnd in one of those marble sac Speedos, either. She actually wasn't too bad to the waitress (its all relative), but her outfit was so absurd that it demanded comment.

Consider that the next time you feel like being an asshole in a restaurant.

Unless, of course, you like the taste of spit -- or worse -- in your food . . .

Posted at 11:25 PM in Humor, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Its the time of year when we all tend to eat and drink more. Point your attention to an interesting NYT article (well hidden in the Biz section) on the pitfalls of not knowing local drinking customs. The twist is its not the usual Islamic admonitions of "no alcohol," but rather, just the opposite: The many ways Europeans enjoy their grog. Worth a look, especially if you travel on business alot.

American executives abroad often find that liquor is a much bigger part of the business equation than at home. But ordering, pouring, toasting and drinking in a foreign land can be fraught with pitfalls for the unwary. What seems trivial may provoke reactions from mild irritation to acute horror.

"Wine and beer are in corporate cafeterias in Western Europe and commonly served at lunch,'' said Dean Foster, whose consulting firm, Dean Foster Associates, offers cross-cultural corporate training. "As you go further east in Europe, you see more and more of a drinking culture, and liquor is always a part of business meetings at any hour of the day." In Budapest, for example, shot glasses of apricot brandy on the table for 9 a.m. meetings are not uncommon, he said.

And visiting Americans should be prepared to lift them. "You are totally expected to drink it, and as soon as you finish, your glass is refilled,'' said Mr. Foster, who has written books on how to behave in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East for the Global Etiquette Guides (John Wiley & Sons, 2000). "If you refuse, it means I can't trust you, and thus we can't do business together."

Here are some of the "drinking rules" in Europe:

· In Britain, don't ask for "a beer" in pubs. "You'll be laughed at! Instead, order ale, stout or lager."

· In Scotland, when ordering a single-malt, state the location (like Highlands, Islay, Skye or Lowlands), brand and age. (One bartender noted: 'We have 65 varieties - which one would you like?');

· DO NOT order the country's most famous export on the rocks -- its seen as insulting by Scots; Instead, order with a splash or side of water;

· In Italy, pouring wine while tilting your wrist backwards over glasses is a Faux Pas!

· When making a toast in Austrian, look deeply in the eyes of your group;

· In Germany, the practice of linking arms during a toast signifies friendship;

I want to party with these guys!

Source:
Making a Toast Without Dropping One's Guard
By SHARON McDONNELL
New York Times, December 16, 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/16/business/16drink.html

Posted at 11:19 PM in Food and Drink, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack