Like the Lufthansa baby, give her miles for life

by Grant Martin on

Last year, a flight between Frankfurt and Denver was disrupted by a medical emergency. One of the passengers, Heather Randle, went into labor nearly two months early and despite the plane’s diversion into Canada the child was delivered onboard safely.

The delivery was broadly covered by the news media, and now that baby Trudance is turning 1 this year, Lufthansa is donating increments of miles to the child as a birthday present.

For every “like” that the airline gets on its customized Facebook page they’ll donate 100 miles to Trudance’s account — not very much, but when you add up a tidal wave of hits then the aggregate can be significant. Right now, the Lufthansa site has almost 223,000 likes (we’re not sure what percentage of those are dedicated to Baby Trudance), and if one in ten of those is dedicated to the birthday effort then that’s a total of over two million miles. For a girl that’s barely 12 months old, that’s a lot of frequent flyer miles.

Just be aware — every time you “like” another travel brand you’re signing up for low level Facebook marketing from the group, so make sure you’re ready to get Lufthansa news (or you have the mute button ready.)

You can send the birthday miles over at the Lufthansa Facebook Page.

UPDATE: According to the folks at Lufthansa, “the only way that Trudence will receive miles is if individuals actually write a birthday wish to her… we are not rewarding per ‘LIKE.'” — So, in addition to liking the page it looks like you also need to write a birthday wish as well.

[flickr image via wbaiv]

Vanilla Ice appears on Travel Channel’s Man v. Food Nation tonight

by Chris Owen on

On the Travel Channel’s Man v Food Nation, host Adam Richman explores the “big food” offerings of a different American city each week before facing off against a pre-existing eating challenge at a local restaurant. On tonight’s episode, Richman visits Key West and the Florida Keys and got a surprise visit from host of DIY Network’s The Vanilla Ice Project, Rob Van Winkle (aka Vanilla Ice).

In each episode of Man vs Food Nation, food challenges may involve hot and spicy, unusual, famous or large quantities of food. Richman finds places in each city to indulge his appetite and visits local landmark, interacting with local restaurateurs and giving a brief insight to the local community.

Tonight Richman heads over to Key West’s Hogfish Bar & Grill to taste a local favorite sandwich dubbed ‘The Killer Hogfish.’ To top it off, a slice of Key Lime Pie is in order so Richman heads to the Blue Heaven restaurant, thought to be the best Key Lime Pie in town.

Rapper/Home Remodeling expert Vanilla Ice, a Florida resident and host of DIY Network’s The Vanilla Ice Project, surprises Adam at Blue Heaven and explains why the Florida Keys is home to the best Key Lime Pie.

Then it’s time for the challenge and Richman heads to the Key Largo Conch House for the Conch Republic Fritter Contest: eat the most Conch fritters in 15 minutes and be crowned the king or queen of the Conch.

This episode airs tonight, July 6th at 9:00p e/p on the Travel Channel and would make great homework for anyone planning a visit to Key West any time soon.

Flickr photo by wonker

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Meet Hawaii’s greenest farmers market

by Eva Holland on

Searching for local produce with a minimal eco-footprint? Look no further than the Hale’iwa Farmers’ Market, which claims — convincingly — to be Hawaii’s greenest.

Hale’iwa Town is located on Oahu‘s legendary North Shore, in the heart of the big-wave surf scene. Its market is open every Sunday from 9pm to 1am, and aims to be Hawaii’s first totally green, zero-waste market.When I visited, more than 40 vendors had laid out their finest fresh produce, crafts and prepared foods. Most came from the North Shore, though a few items came in from elsewhere on Oahu or neighboring islands. I cruised along the rows of stands and bought a mango and pineapple smoothie that had been blended using the market’s solar power. The smoothie and the avocado sandwich I went for next were both served to me in corn-based disposable containers — unlike their plastic cousins, my containers were biodegradable.

In the midst of the vendors I found the Zero Waste Station, where the market’s trash was sorted. Food scraps go to a local pig farmer, the disposable dishes get composted, glass and cans are recycled, and a last — hopefully unnecessary — bin takes any remaining garbage.

Hale’iwa’s market may not be on wheels, but its commitment to minimal waste puts it on the cutting edge of American farmers’ markets. If you can tear yourself away from the surf (and the surfers), it makes a great Sunday breakfast or lunch stop on Oahu’s North Shore.

Check out the gallery below for some shots from the market. Fresh produce fanatic? Gadling has more farmers’ markets recommendations for you.

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[Disclosure: My visit to the Hale’iwa Farmers’ Market was part of a trip sponsored by the Oahu Convention and Visitors’ Bureau. Nonetheless, my opinions about the epic rightness of blending mango and pineapple together are my own.]

Emailed photos become instant postcards with Postcardly

by Laurel Miller on

If you’re anything like me, perhaps you’re a bit too…lazy to send postcards when you’re on vacation trip. Like most of us, I got sucked into the convenience of email, and it was a good excuse to not deal with looking for a post office in a foreign country. On the other hand, I love sharing vacation photos. Which, understandably, tests the patience of those who failed to receive a postcard from me while I was on said trip.

If you possess similar habits, I suggest you check out Postcardly. This recently-launched company allows you to email photo attachments from your laptop, an Internet cafe, or your Smartphone. Postcardly will then turn that photo into a real postcard (you provide the text, and they print it up on the back of the card), and mail it to as many people as you want (delivery takes between one day and a week). Postcardly isn’t the first company to come up with this concept, but it differs in that their postcards are the real deal; they’re not a phone app (i.e. no need for roaming capability or a global phone), pop-out cards, or printed on flimsy stock. They’re keepsakes, if you will.

Pretty nifty, especially for kids or people like my dad, who can’t fathom computers (or really, anyone; who doesn’t love receiving a postcard?). Postcardly costs $4.99 a month for five postcards, $9.99 a month for 15 postcards, or a one-time charge of $19.99 for 20 prepaid postcards. Currently, they only mail cards mailed domestically; international service coming soon. Go here for a free trial of three postcards. And don’t forget to write!

Video of the day: Brooklyn fireworks gone astray

by Elizabeth Seward on

Fourth of July Fireworks on South 4th from Steve Smith on Vimeo.

Having had zero fireworks in Austin, Texas for July 4th, I found myself nonchalantly scrolling through my Facebook feed. I was eager to live vicariously through friends of mine seemingly everywhere else who were actually able to celebrate Independence Day via fireworks. I was on the hunt for status updates that would scratch that itch. And then it happened: I clicked on this video that was posted by a friend. In an aim to take a gander at some Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I checked out this little shot here and found myself suddenly grateful that there weren’t fireworks going off in Austin this past weekend.

Considering the purported patriotism of Texans in particular, one that I can at least sometimes back up as being intense, a ban on fireworks for July 4th could have imaginably led to fireworks like the street. And maybe those fireworks would have gone a bit astray like they do in this video. I’m happy I didn’t have to find out.