Here’s a new reason your plane could be delayed. Last week, a Delta flight from Pittsburgh to JFK was grounded when thousands of bees clung to the aircraft’s left wing.
According to news.com.au, passengers looked on in shock, snapping pictures with their phones. The flight was delayed 20 minutes as beekeeper Stephen Repasky removed the insects.
Repasky explained the honeybees were harmless and were resting. Moreover, he believes there is a colony somewhere on the airport grounds.
That would make sense, since, according to Pittsburgh International Airport spokeswoman Joanne Jenny, this is the fourth time this year bees have invaded the airport.
What’s the strangest reason you’ve ever had a flight delayed?
If you only knew the world through viral videos, what would our perceptions of other countries look like? Video company Woki Toki mashed together some of the most famous videos from their home country, Chile, as well as the United States, India and Russia. Although Woki Toki writes the videos “[describe] different cultures and how eccentric they are,” the two-minute interludes mostly show people hurting themselves, stumbling around drunk and jumping off things. The videos are kind of like mini episodes of “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” except most of them are set in other countries. What the videos really remind us, though, is that laughter is the universal language. Watch the India video above (warning: there is some nudity) and the rest after the jump.
“The World in Two Minutes: Chile”
(Note: This video contains nudity)
When many people think of cities, they picture concrete, skyscrapers, road work and steel. The truth is, however, there are many cities around the world with a more vibrant and colorful atmosphere. In fact, some of these places are so creative and beautiful, they are a work of art in themselves.
Deep blue structures reside next to loud pink and sunflower yellow houses, as hot orange and rich spring purple buildings sit across the street. Being able to see this fusion of colors in one place is reason enough to visit each of these unique cities.
For a more visual idea of colorful cities around the world, check out the gallery. Have a favorite colorful destination of your own? Tell us in the comments.
Years ago, when I told a group of colleagues in New York that I was moving to Chicago, the reaction ranged from bemusement to outrage.
“Chicago?” one began, tentatively, as if they’d heard of the place but couldn’t quite place it. “Why would you want to live there?”
Another co-worker was more blunt.
“Chicago’s a dump,” he said. “You’ll be back in New York in a year.”
Like many New Yorkers who consider their city the capital of the world, he’d never actually been to Chicago, or anywhere else in “Fly Over Country.” My career ended up taking me away from Chicago after two stints totaling five years, but I never went back to New York, except for brief visits, and I never regretting moving to The Second City. How could I? I met the woman I would marry on my very first day in town.New Yorkers are always crowing that they live in the greatest city in the world. It is undoubtedly a singular place; perhaps the only can’t miss city in America for tourists alongside San Francisco. But I find all of the “We’re #1” bravado tiresome. There are a few things I like better in New York than Chicago – weather, weekend travel opportunities, pizza and bagels – but I’d much rather live in Chicago than New York for all of the following reasons.
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Less Attitude
Chicago attracts young people from all over the Midwest, so although it’s a big city, there’s a friendly, middle-of-America vibe. New Yorkers tend to be friendly towards tourists but rather hard on each other. When I lived in New York, I found that native New Yorkers were often friendlier than transplants.
I have a couple friends who are Staten Island natives, and I’ll never forget how newly minted Manhattan residents from other parts of the country would mock them as “Bridge and Tunnel” people. For me, the locals with the accents who live in the Outer Boroughs are the real New Yorkers, not all the transplants who live in Manhattan and look down upon everyone else as soon as they get a 212 area code.
More Affordable
According to Bankrate.com’s cost of living comparison, New York Metro’s cost of living is about 95% higher than Chicago’s. In the Windy City, you can buy a fairly nice three-bedroom home in a nice, close-in suburb with good public schools for about $450,000; whereas that same amount of money barely buys a small condo in a sketchy neighborhood in New York.
In New York, I lived in a neighborhood called Bay Ridge, a long subway ride from Manhattan near the Verrazano Bridge in Brooklyn, because I couldn’t afford to live closer to my office in Manhattan. But when I moved to Chicago, I felt like there were only a couple of neighborhoods that were completely off limits due to price.
Chicago is also cheaper to visit. I was in town last week for a visit and got a room at the Hyatt at Michigan Avenue and Wacker for $55 on Priceline. No chance you’ll get a nice room in NYC for that price.
Lake Michigan
There are more bike paths in New York now than when I lived there but there’s still nothing quite like Chicago’s killer lakefront, which has an 18-mile-long bike path and several very nice sandy beaches, including one just steps away from downtown.
Better Smells
Thanks to the Bloomer Chocolate Company, the sweet smell of chocolate permeates the West Loop neighborhood but New York has more foul smells than good ones. If you Google “New York smells” or “What does New York smell like” the most common results involve urine.
You Can’t Get Lost in Chicago
If you give me the east/west coordinates of any address in the city of Chicago, I’ll immediately know where it is, thanks to the city’s street coordinates system. Midtown and Uptown Manhattan are straightforward but the rest of the city’s a mess and God help you if you need to find something in Queens.
Billy Crystal and Yoko Ono Have no Apparent Connections to Chicago
Chicago has a few obnoxious celebs, but New York has scores of them. Donald Trump. Rush Limbaugh. The Jersey Shore kids. (some of whom are from NY rather than NJ) The list goes on and on.
Vintage Street Signs
Chicago has more vintage street signs than any city in the country and these old beauties are emblematic of the way the city preserves its past, rather than bulldozing it.
The Green Mill and B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted
New York also has its share of small, atmospheric jazz and blues music venues, but there’s nowhere I’d rather hear live jazz and have a stiff cocktail than the century old Green Mill in Uptown, and if I could hear blues in just one place in the world, it would be B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted, which features authentic live bluesmen and women 365 nights per year.
Conclusion
It’s silly to claim that one city is definitively better or worse than any other city. One man’s paradise is another man’s prison. But for me, Chicago’s the most livable big city in the country. It’s a place where it’s easy to meet people, easy to fit in, no matter who you are, and hard to leave.
There are harsh, long winters that stretch into hot, humid summers, legendary traffic tie-ups, and miles of boredom outside the city limits in every direction. But there’s something about Chicago – the neighborhoods, the architecture, the people, the vibe – that has hooked me in a way New York never did. It’s a huge city that still manages to be a well-kept secret.
In recent airline news, a man was kicked off a Spirit Airlines’ flight for wearing baggy pants with the top of his underwear showing.
According to the Daily Mail, a flight attendant asked the passenger to pull up his pants, but he refused.
“It was to the point where his entire bottom was hanging out,” said Spirit Airlines’ spokeswoman Misty Pinson. “And that’s not appropriate. We have a lot of customers on the plane, a lot of children on the plane.”
According to Pinson, the man’s pants were below his bottom, exposing his underwear but no skin. When he was confronted, the unidentified man apparently become aggressive, threatening to smack the flight attendants.
When law enforcement arrived, the man and his female companion were escorted off the plane with their belongings, and put on a later flight.
What are your thoughts on airlines enforcing dress codes?
