Supermodel Banished from US

by Erik Olsen on

The Horror! Say it with me: The Horror!

What has the world come to when we are denying supermodels
entry into this country? How completely utterly sad and tragic.

Yes, according to this report, former Sports
Illustrated swimsuit model May Andersen was
arrested and denied entry into the United States recently. What did she do? Well, apparently she attacked a flight
attendant during Martinair flight from Amsterdam to Miami. There are few details about what she said or did, but the
case against her says she became "unruly and violent" on the flight last Thursday. She was held in the
Miami-Dade County jail and then moved to federal immigration custody.

Shouldn’t we just forgive and forget?
I mean, we need all the supermodels we can get, right?

Climbing Icebergs with Will Gadd

by Erik Olsen on

First, a warning: don’t try this at home. Not that you
would, since you’d either have to live in Greenland or keep monstrous icebergs around the house. No icebergs? OK, then
read on.

The photos
here, and the amazing video
that accompanies it, take us to, well, not Greenland, but a series of icebergs that came off Greenland and which lie
ten miles off Labrador’s coast. The climber in the video here is Will Gadd, a 38-year old adrenaline junkie, who also
happens to be one of the top ice climbers in the world…which I thinks helps matters when you’re talking
about such ballsy stuff. Me? I think I’ll stick to the neighborhood climbing wall. 

Wanted: LEGO Builder

by Neil Woodburn on

Want to help create the next tourist site instead of merely gawking at it? Well, the job of a lifetime might just be yours if you are really really good with LEGOs.

The LEGO company is looking for a new Model Builder. Qualified applicants must able to take ordinary LEGO bricks and turn them into fantastic works of art. And they must at least 18 years old.

A few years ago I spent an entire day at the LEGOLAND in Denmark mesmerized by the fantastic array of statues, buildings, animals, and countless other constructions made entirely of tiny LEGO bricks. They kicked ass over the little square forts I used to proudly construct as a kid.

On February 20th, LEGOLAND in Carlsbad, California began its search for a new artist to add to their ranks. Over the next three months aspiring LEGO builders will be pitted against each other in construction competitions to be held in seven cities across America.

I’ve got just one question: Why couldn’t the Lincoln Log company get their act together and build a theme park? Now that’s a job I could’ve landed. I kicked ass with log cabins.

Word for the Travel Wise (01/24/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

After one of the scariest flights of my entire life today I wanted to drench the ground in sloppy wet kisses, embrace it with arms wide open, place my cheek onto the cool concrete, and curl up into a tight ball. With 45 minutes remaining in flight before landing, the captain informs everyone of an unusual situation and that we would need to exercise one of the procedures in the emergency safety card. Huh? What? Come again? This was exactly the kind of thing I did not need on my quick day-trip up to NY for an interview and now my mind was completely shot. Without reliving the details, we’ll just say I was a mixture of emotions.

Today’s word is a Danish word used in Denmark:

svimmel – dizzy

All the commotion going on within me certainly didn’t make me feel dizzy, but if the experience had been any longer or any worse I probably would have been. I thought about presenting this word a few days back after I had watched the dizzy Dogme film, Italian for Beginners, but it works just as well today. Danish is part of the North Germanic language family, also known as a Scandinavian language. Speak Danish dot com has a ten day intensive online course that provides you with lesson one for free and the rest at a charge of $75 USD. Learn Danish is a good source for all the facts regarding the language, but points us back to the Speak Danish which gets a bit dizzy if you’re looking for an alternative site to visit. For learning abroad in classroom settings click here.

Eurail Announces New Options for 2006

by Dave (Blogsmith Old) on

For the first time ever, the company will introduce a single-country pass, the Eurail National Rail Pass. Travelers can choose to explore one country from three to 10 travel days (within one month or two) for these nine countries: Finland, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain or Sweden.

Another expanded offering is for the existing Eurail Regional Pass, with seven new combinations to choose from: Austria-Czech Republic, Austria-Switzerland, France-Benelux, France-Germany, France-Switzerland, Germany-Austria and Germany-Switzerland.

Finally, the Eurailpass will now be valid in 18 countries with the addition of Romania in 2006. The complete list includes: Austria (including Liechtenstein), Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France (including Monaco), Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Ireland, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. (The Eurail Selectpass is also valid in Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia & Montenegro and Slovenia.)

As a reminder, don’t forget to check out the bonuses available to rail riders, including discounts on boat crossings, rental cars and a free map when you buy tickets. All these new options will be available for purchase beginning January 1, 2006.