It’s Only a Rental

by Erik Olsen on

Ah, how many times have you uttered that delicate phrase as you cranked the wheel of your gutless four-cylinder
Toyota while pulling donuts in a ski area parking lot at night…or is that just me?

Well, those halcyon days may be gone, according
to this article. It seems the folks at
Hertz, Avis, et al, are tired of the dings and gashes that seem to magically appear when cars are returned. In the
past, car rental companies were willing to overlook minor damage to their vehicles. Not any more. The industry, hurting
still from post-9/11, now appears bent on pursuing even the smallest cases.

So I guess the lesson is, be careful when you pull that Midnight Rockford on a narrow street. The rental companies may
come after you and your money.

Cool or Lame: Your Passport, Senor

by Erik Olsen on

Frick! Here’s a story to ruin your day. According
to this article, U.S.
travelers to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda will soon need passports to return to the United States under a
new terrorism prevention policy.

The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (oh, who the hell comes up with these sweet-sounding names for crappy
policies anyway…i.e. The Patriot Act), will be phased in by 2008 in three proposed stages. it will also require
nationals of those countries and territories to present passports when entering the United States.

As most of us know, crossing to and from the United States and its North American neighbors now requires only a
drivers’ licenses or other identification. What will this mean for all the Americans (some 80%) who DON’T have
passports?

Lame lame lame.

Travel the Midwest

by Erik Olsen on

When you think of the great places in the country, I suspect you don’t often ponder sites in the midwest. No,
usually it’s Califorrnia, Colorado, Utah, the Northeast. You know what I’m talking about.
CNN runs a feature about
a guy who’s got a show coming out where he extolls the wonders of the midwest.

Touting places like the Black Hills of South Dakota or Iowa’s Great River Road, or a scenic drive along the
Mississippi River bluffs…these actually sound like cool places. (Editorial aside: I went to the Black Hills once and
went to Mount Rushmore where I got to hike up to the top of the heads and walk around on Lincoln’s cranium. That, my
friends, was cool.) So perhaps you live in one of the middle states and know all this already, but if you don’t check
it out for some potential traevl ideas.

Taking the Viagra Challenge

by Erik Olsen on

(Reader discretion is advised)

Damn, what a fine idea. Not something you’d ever
see in the prudish American media (perhaps for good reason).

A fellow in Russia writing for the exile, a wonderfully biting, hilarious rag in
Moscow, writes about how he got to the bottom (and other parts, too) of the
Viagra/Cialis/Levitra craze by testing some of the current erectile
enhancement drugs on the market. Of course, like any good test driver you might read about over at
autoblog, the test, um, driver decides to make the experience interesting, he
needs to seek out, in his words, “a grotesquely aging whore. A prostitute so old and washed-up that she hasn’t been
able to work the Leningradskoe Shosse tochkas since right around the time that Yeltsin shelled the White House.”

Hmm.

Well, I won’t ruin the story, but needless to say the marketing boys over at Pfizer should check out this little ditty
and take some notes. And speaking of notes, a few of the “New Journalism” folks might also pay attention to the
extremes one man goes to in order to pursue the story.

Now that’s journalism.

Locals Like Loca Luna in Little Rock

by Adrienne Wilson on

Loca Luna is a favorite casual kind-of dining place the locals dig
and bring their out-of-state visitors for a good selection of American food in Little Rock, AR.  Lunch
provides you with tasty gourmet Southern foods like home-style veggies, pot roast, chicken fried steaks, and
dumplings.  Find yourself there at dinner and the menu changes for a more international
approach with a southern twist, of course.  The bistro’s atmosphere can be largely compared to a
trendy diner in San Francisco or New Orleans and there is always something there for everyone.  Sounds
cozy to me.