Get inked: Tattoo artist in residence at The Marcel at Gramercy

by Melanie Nayer on

Who said luxury hotels can’t be a little edgy? Renowned LA-based tattoo artist to the stars, Mister Cartoon, is coming to New York City and will be inking New Yorkers as part of the “Tattoo Artist in Residence” series hosted by The Marcel at Gramercy.

Seat yourself in the artist’s chair through Nov. 24 and let Mister Cartoon ink you. The boutique hotel, located on the border of New York City’s Gramercy Park and Murray Hill neighborhoods, will feature a pop-up Ink Suite so you can get tattooed in private.

Not sure what you want? Consult some of his famous clients including various members of the New York Yankees, and celebrities such as Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Eminem, Mena Suvari and Ryan Phillippe.

As part of his time at The Marcel, Mister Cartoon will unveil a one of a kind artwork to be displayed in the hotel lobby, in addition to acting as The Marcel at Gramercy’s “Tattoo Artist in Residence.”

Need some inspiration? Our own Mike Barish offers a list of travel-inspired tattoos and resident globe-trotter Aaron Hotfeider put together a list of travel tattoos you won’t regret when you’re old and wrinkly.

As an added bonus: Hotel guests will have the unique privilege of skipping the one-year waiting list to get “inked” by the master himself.

French and Mexican food put on UNESCO heritage list

by Sean McLachlan on

Good news for fine dining: Mexican and French cuisine have made it onto UNESCO’s list of Intangible World Heritage.

At a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, the UNESCO committee named several cultural practices as important for world heritage and in need of preservation, including Spanish flamenco and a dance called the huaconada performed by the Mito people in the Peruvian Andes.

The BBC report is only preliminary and there’s no news yet about whether the Spanish practice of making human towers that we reported on Monday has made it on the list.

So now you can tuck in to baguettes and burritos with the knowledge that you are preserving important world heritage. As we’ve reported, eating French cuisine the way the French do can keep you thin, and if Mexican food is more your style, check out the best Mexican restaurants in Los Angeles.

[Image courtesy user Styggiti via Gadling’s flickr pool]

SeaWorld to open new Shamu show next spring

by Leigh Caldwell on

Shamu will get a new show next spring at the SeaWorld parks in Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego.

The killer whale show will replace “Believe,” which debuted four years ago. There’s no word yet as to whether SeaWorld’s killer whale trainers will be in the water with the orcas in the new show.

The trainers have been out of the water since the February death of Dawn Brancheau at SeaWorld Orlando, forcing a hasty rework of “Believe,” a show which focuses on the interaction between killer whales and humans. I have seen the show twice since the rework, and the storyline just doesn’t work now, because the trainers were such a big part of it.

SeaWorld Parks President and CEO Jim Atchison told the Orlando Sentinel that the new show was in the works before Brancheau’s death, but the timetable for launching the new show has been accelerated. Atchison also said the safety review launched in February has influenced the new show’s development.

More details about the show are expected to be released in the next few weeks.

[Image credit: Flickr user Abi Skipp]
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EasyJet profits triple as budget airline attracts more passengers

by Sean McLachlan on

Budget carrier easyJet almost tripled its profits in the past 12 months as fuel prices dropped and passengers flocked to book cheap flights, BBC reports.

The airline released figures for the past twelve months through September, revealing a profit of £154m million ($247 million). The previous 12 months saw profits of £55 million ($88 million). A total of 49 million people flew on easyJet in the past year, up 8 percent.

While a 9 percent drop in fuel prices helped all airlines, there’s been a continued shift away from national carriers such as British Airways and Air France in favor of budget carriers, and no budget airline has as much share in the European market as easyJet. The carrier now accounts for 7.6 percent of the European market.

The airline also announced it will pay a dividend for the first time in 2012, and will be buying 24 airplanes in order to expand its services.

[Photo courtesy Antony J Best via Wikimedia Commons]

Contest: Steven Slater and Toktumi want your crazy flight stories

by Tom Johansmeyer on


Who would have thought that Steven Slater could actually get another job? The disgraced former flight attendant has even picked up a gig in the travel industry, though he obviously isn’t pushing the beverage cart any more. Rather, the man who may have had close to two decades of flight attendant experience, depending on which of his claims you believe, has landed his first job as a spokesman.

Slater is the public face of Toktumi’s mobile communication app Line2. If you’re on a wifi-equipped plane, you can use Line2 to text while in flight. So, why Slater? Well, Toktumi’s latest contest involves in-flight insanity, so he as a natural fit. And, let’s be realistic – it’s not like he has much else to do. To enter the Mile High Text Club Contest, and see if you have a story that tops Slater’s, text your tale to 222-222-2222. Your contributions will appear on http://www.milehightextclub.com starting today. The deadline is December 3, 2010.

The winners will be decided by a panel of judges, one of which will be Slater. If you can win over the flight attendant who cracked under pressure, you may walk home with the grand prize: a weekend holiday shopping trip for two in New York City. Seven iPod Touch devices are available as second prizes, with 13 third-place winners receiving gift cards for six months of free Line2 service.

%Gallery-99568%”In order to spread the word that Line2 allows airline passengers to text from the sky, we hired one of the most famous guys in the airline business today, Steven Slater,” explains Peter Sisson, Founder and CEO of Toktumi. “After talking with Steven, I realized that despite his dramatic approach – which he regrets – he was making a statement about the need to return civility and common courtesy to flying.” It’s an interesting way to make that statement, I guess, given that Slater was far worse than the passengers he encounters. Sisson adds, “He’s a perfect judge for a contest concerning the current state of air travel.” He was a flight attendant for 20 years, and both his parents had long careers in the airline business.

Line2 has a laudable goal for the “Mile High Text Club” contest: the company wants to make in-flight texting the norm, to keep people from yelling into their phones … and ostensibly from creating another Steven Slater moment.

“Line2’s SMS texting is really useful while in flight,” Sisson says. “You can let people know about delays, make plans for the evening, or just pass the time texting with your friends and family while you fly.”

And, you can let them know when a grumpy flight attendant loses his mind, grabs two cold ones and pops the slide.