2010 › May

Summer trips for Star Wars fans

by Leigh Caldwell on

There are several Star Wars-themed events in Alabama and Florida that should be worth the trip, so you won’t have to crash on Dagobah or invade Naboo to feel the Force this summer.

Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from May 21 through June 13

This annual festival attracts Star Wars fans of all ages to Walt Disney World. There are meet-and-greets with a number of Star Wars characters, including Darth Vader, C-3PO, Luke, Leia and Jedi Mickey, who will sign autographs and pose for photos. Stars of the movies and TV series in the Star Wars franchise appear each weekend for “star conversations” and autograph sessions. This year’s guests include Temuera Morrison (Jango Fett) May 21-23 and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) June 4-6.

Most of the action is centered around the Star Tours theme park ride inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The ride will be closing in September for an update, so many Star Wars fans are attending Star Wars Weekends this year to get their last ride on the original attraction before it changes.

There’s also a Hollywood-style motorcade of Star Wars characters and celebrity guests each afternoon, complete with contingents of marching Stormtroopers. And don’t miss the Hyperspace Hoopla, which often degenerates into a Star Wars character dance-off.

Star Wars Weekends are free with regular admission to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. A one-day ticket will run you $79.


Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination
U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama
June 25 through Sept. 6

It’s the first Southeast U.S. showing for this traveling exhibit, which uses the futuristic robots and vehicles in the Star Wars movies to teach real-world science and engineering.

Visitors can meet C-3PO and R2-D2 and learn about how humans interact with robots in Star Wars. Then they can design their own robot in the Robot Engineering Lab. Or view a Star Wars landspeeder and actual vehicles and prototypes being designed today for space travel. In total, more than 80 original costumes and props from the six Star Wars movies are part of the exhibition.

More than 100,000 people are expected to visit the exhibit in Huntsville, and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center says it will likely be sold out during peak times. Officials there suggest you buy your Star Wars exhibition tickets in advance. Day tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for kids, evening (off-peak) tickets are discounted to $20 for adults and $15 for kids.

And if you have Star Wars fans ages 7 through 12, be sure to check out the Jedi Experience overnight camps being offered at Huntsville’s Space Camp facility.

Star Wars Celebration V
Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida
Aug. 12-15
This Star Wars fan convention is sanctioned by and this year, produced by, Lucasfilm. It includes parties, autograph signings, costume events, collectible sales, panel discussions and all manner of Star Wars geekdom.

Jay Laga’aia (Capt. Typho in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith) is the celebrity host for the event. Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) is the headliner.

A four-day ticket to the Star Wars Celebration will run you $128, kids get in for $54.

Off the beaten path: St. Mauritius Cathedral in Appenzell

by Annie Scott on


On a tip from the Switzerland Tourism Board, during my stay at The Null Stern (Zero Star) Hotel, I spent a day wandering Appenzell, a small town known as “the tourist center of Appenzellerland” … a region in the eastern Swiss highlands of which I had never heard. Appenzell is a beautiful town, filled with brightly-colored, intricately-painted buildings and windy streets rich with little shops and the occasional charming cafe.

Then, like a diamond in the not-so-rough, I discovered the St. Mauritius Cathedral.

I actually found it on a postcard. I was looking for a few postcards to send home from the picturesque village and saw a stunning, ornately decorated cathedral. I took the card to the cashier’s desk and said “Where is this?”

“That way,” answered the shopkeeper, pointing earnestly down the road. I was practically next door. These are the kind of delightful surprises one encounters when one has no plan.
%Gallery-93157%The St. Mauritius Cathedral was vast, empty, and open. Sorry for the grainy-ness of the photo; the flash ruined everything so I had to go without and adjust the shadows. I was immediately taken aback by the outrageous splendor in the midst of such a notably quaint town. A sign indicated that the area up by the altar was equipped with an alarm, but being alone in a sanctuary of such opulent grandeur was a strange experience. I certainly wasn’t going to steal anything, and yet I felt like I should be supervised. It was like being in a museum all alone with no security and wide open doors.

I know it sounds like I was casing the joint, but I was really just stunned at how simple it was to walk in and absorb the glory. What looked like a museum to me was an active church, immaculately kept, and full of things that any church in America would have roped off — things that were still in use.

Perhaps equally awe-inspiring was the graveyard behind the cathedral. Each grave, facing the rolling Swiss mountains, was freshly decorated and pretty, and some included small statues, trinkets, and other gifts beyond the usual flowers. I was particularly struck by a small section of tombstones for children, decked in toys and even pictures of the deceased. Heartbreaking and unbelievably beautiful.

If you should ever find yourself wandering Appenzellerland as I did, I highly recommend a visit to the under-appreciated Cathedral of St. Mauritius. It was one of the most unexpectedly dazzling places I’ve ever been.

My trip to Switzerland was sponsored by Switzerland Tourism, but the ideas and opinions expressed in this article are 100 percent my own.

SkyMall Monday: Spa-N-A-Box Portable Spa

by Mike Barish on

One of the best aspects of travel is meeting new people. One of the best aspects of meeting knew people is putting your penis inside them. Yes, travel sex is one of the great pleasures of the road. But the art of seduction is not easily mastered and many people struggle with language barriers, culture clashes and hygiene differences. Thankfully, SkyMall knows that everyone could use a little help in the romance department. That’s why they’re always there with sultry apparel, sex toys and inflatables. If you’ve met someone while traveling, had a few drinks and need to seal the deal, you’re going to need to impress her in a way that no one else can. Simply being a visitor from another city, state or country is not enough. You’re not as mysterious and interesting as you think. Odds are you’re actually quite boring and filled with cliché anecdotes about full moon beach parties and frequent flier miles. That’s why you need the ultimate seduction tool. SkyMall Monday is very aroused excited about this week’s product. The next time you find yourself away from home and ready to get to home base, simply set up your Spa-N-A-Box Portable Spa.Up until now, hot tubs have been inconveniently immobile. The static nature of these spas meant that you had to be suave enough to lure a woman to your home simply with your charm, wit and willingness to order her as many pomegranate mojito-tinis as possible before her homely gal pal dragged her away. That was expensive and dangerous (alcohol poisoning is no laughing matter unless it involves clowns). Now, you can simply set up your Spa-N-A-Box right there at the bar if need be. You’ll go from Spa-N-A-Box to Dick in a Box in no time.

Thinking that packing a spa will be expensive and burdensome? Don’t believe that you need a Jacuzzi to lure a young lady’s mouth towards your phallus? Virgins like you make me sad. Let’s check out the product description:

Buy Comfort Line Products’ Spa-N-A-Box Portable Spa and you can enjoy having a totally portable spa that fits easily into those hard to get to locations – both indoors and out! Relax, now you can treat yourself to a soothing, hydro-therapeutic massage any time, anywhere…The barrier-free seating arrangement allows you freedom of movement.

It fits into hard to get locations…just like your penis! And that freedom of movement is going to come in handy when you also invite your new lady friend’s homely gal pal to join you for a soak. The more the merrier, right?

Don’t just take SkyMall’s word for it. For the first time ever, we’re also taking a look at the user reviews. Check out what this satisfied customer had to say:

“We live in a trailer, we have a cement slab… set the hot tub up …. completly and totally amazing!!! Wonderful!!!! It feels bigger than it is. We are VERY happy!!!“
Gender: Female
Age: 46-50

If that middle-aged lady is getting busy on a cement slab in a trailer park, imagine how easy it will be for you to get some action in a place where everyone has their teeth.

You can waste your time with conversation, personality and respect or you can cut to the chase and get wet. Choose the latter. Choose the Spa-N-A-Box Portable Spa. Choose chlorine.

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.


Daily gear deals – $20 headphones, $47 National Geographic DVD set and more

by Scott Carmichael on

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Monday, May 17th 2010. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today’s first deal is for a pair of retro looking headphones from Altec-Lansing. Their UHP-304 AirFit headphones are ultra-light, and come with a convenient carrying case. On sale for $19.99. Click here for this deal.

Next up is a great deal on the digital version of National Geographic. On these 6 DVD’s, you get every single edition of the magazine since 1888 – including every single photo, map and more. On sale for $46.98. Click here for this deal.

Today’s third deal comes from Woot, where you’ll find an assortment of Camelbak day packs. The packs are on sale for $19.99, but do not include the optional hydration pack. Still, even without that, these packs are well designed and full of handy features. Click here for this deal.

And finally in today’s lineup is a Bluetooth headset/speakerphone combo. Wear the headset outside your car, then dock it in the speaker base to convert it into a handsfree speaker. On sale for $19.99 over at wireless.1saleaday.com.

Sex and the City 2: A NYC Movie Location

by Amy Chen on

The long-awaited Sex and the City 2 hits theaters on May 27. For those hoping to visit some of the actual film locations, it’ll be a little tougher with the sequel (parts of the movie were filmed in Morocco, which is meant to stand in for Abu Dhabi).

A brief scene, however, was filmed a little closer to home at the Hotel Plaza Athenee, on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Remember the first movie when Mr. Big built Carrie a drool-worthy walk-in closet? Well apparently for the sequel, crews resorted to filming an apartment scene on one of the hotel’s balconies (Suite 1501 to be precise).

I recently toured some of the hotel’s renovated suites, and it’s not hard to see why Hollywood came calling: many of the suites have views of Central Park, and some of the rooms can be joined together to create a palatial multi-bedroom suite.

Standing in the footsteps of Carrie’s Jimmy Choos obviously doesn’t come cheap: booking Suite 1501 (a deluxe suite with a balcony) starts at $2,200 per night.

For a more affordable Sex and the City experience, fans of the TV show may recognize the on-site Bar Seine as where part of the second-to-last episode was filmed. Bartenders here mix up a signature cocktail: the Crystal Cosmopolitan.

If you can’t make it to New York City in time for the film premiere, here’s the Crystal Cosmopolitan recipe for post-movie cocktails no matter where you are.The Crystal Cosmopolitan at Bar Seine

Ingredients
2 oz. Absolut Citron
1/2 oz. Cointreau
1 oz. white cranberry juice
1 lime wedge

Instructions
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. In the shaker, combine the vodka, Cointreau, and juice. Cover and shake thoroughly. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Speaking of martinis, famous hotel guests apparently have included none other than 007 himself (Pierce Brosnan).

Details: Hotel Plaza Athenee is located at 37 E. 64th Street at Madison Avenue.