What Flight Attendants Don’t Tell You In The Safety Demo

by Libby Zay on

For regular flyers, it’s all too easy to zone out during the requisite flight attendant safety speech. But have you ever sat back in your cramped airline seat to wonder why it’s so important to put on your own oxygen mask before helping others, or why airlines dim the lights upon landing? George Hobica of Airfarewatchdog.com helps us read between the lines — advice that is all the more relevant as we’re all thinking about Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crash at San Francisco Airport over the weekend.

Own Mask First
Safety demos never go into why it’s so important to put on your own mask before helping those around you. According to Hobica, here’s the details:

You might only have 15 or 20 seconds in the event of a cabin decompression, during which all oxygen would be sucked out of the plane (and your lungs), before you’d experience confusion and a euphoric “stoned” state… In 30 to 45 seconds you’d probably pass out. So it’s important to act quickly.

Dimmed Lights Upon Landing
If you’re wondering why airlines dim the cabin lights before takeoffs and landings, here’s the scoop from Hobica:

You guessed it: to help adjust your eyes to the dark (either inside a smoke filled cabin or on a darkened runway).

Shoes On Upon Landing
Some airlines ask that passengers keep shoes on when landing — except for high heels, which can tear the emergency slide. Hobica explains why:

Because the runway might be burning hot after you jump down the slide.

The Proper Brace Position
Those safety cards in the seat back pocket that all flight attendants ask you to read detail the proper position to brace yourself in if a crash should occur. Look closely and notice each drawing shows one hand over the other. Here’s why:

Should something fall on you during a crash landing, you want to protect at least one hand (preferably the one you write with) because you’ll need it to unbuckle your seat belt when it’s safe to do so. Your other hand is in that position to provide some protection to your “strong” hand, which will be doing the unbuckling.

Hobica came up with the tips with some help from a Flight Safety Awareness Course by British Airways. While it’s not likely these details will be added to safety speeches (we’ll thank the flight attendants for keeping things succinct), it’s clear that a lot of thought has actually gone behind making each of the safety tips short but sweet.

Macy’s New York City July Fourth Fireworks In Time-Lapse (VIDEO)

by Elizabeth Seward on


The folks over at ANIMAL know how to churn out good, art-centric content without fail and with this video of Macy’s New York City Fireworks 2013, they’ve done it again. I accidentally missed the fireworks show myself while disoriented at a house party on Staten Island, unsure of which direction would take me to the view of the show from the water, and I attempted to make up for the mishap by looking at videos of fireworks when I got home that evening. But videos of fireworks are generally boring, which is why ANIMAL’s time-lapse approach to the NYC July Fourth fireworks is brilliant – in about one minute, you’ll see around 1500 exposures taken by ANIMAL’s Aymann Ismail from the ANIMAL office rooftop.

[Thanks, ANIMAL]

Remake Detroit (VIDEO)

by Elizabeth Seward on

Detroit is coming back from the dead, one creative maker at a time. i3 Detroit is one of the organizations that is helping to pave a new path through Detroit – and there are other groups of people making an effort to rejuvenate the city through artists, too. This short documentary focuses on a devotion to the reincarnation of Detroit that is the driving force behind the collective efforts of many to bring the city back by utilizing a human characteristic the city has long been familiar with: the desire to make; the desire to build.

Thanks, Laughing Squid.

Dueling Summer Garlic Festivals Find Common Ground

by Chris Owen on

Summer festivals and events often bring open-air concerts, barbecues, annual farm-oriented contests and more. The warm weather experienced in the United States from June through September has a way of doing that. To summer day trippers, it’s often not a problem of finding an event to attend, but choosing which one. Such is the case in Oregon where dueling garlic festivals had friends and neighbors at odds.

The Elephant Garlic Fest (slogan: “fun stinks”) has been held for 15 years in North Plains, Oregon. This year, organizers of the North Plains event decided to combine their festival with an annual barbecue and truck and tractor pull held in Banks, Oregon. Meanwhile, others in North Plains still wanted their garlic festival, so they organized one of their own, the Summer Fest and Garlic Out West (slogan: “where it’s chic to reek”).

With the events happening on two consecutive weekends, one week and less than 10 miles apart, community organizers worried that neither would receive the attendance needed to make them successful.Now, after months of battling that included intellectual property disputes, conflict-of-interest accusations and claims of impropriety, it will be the 2013 North Plains Summer Fest & Garlic Out West Festival in North Plains that prevails. To be held August 9-11, the event will feature live music, food and craft vendors, beer and wine garden, fundraiser runs, pancake breakfasts, a parade down Main Street and more.

The festival also features garlic beer, garlic ice cream, garlic milk shakes and more, as we see in this video:



Meanwhile back in Banks, the Barbecue and Tractor Pull will continue and be held August 16-18, minus the garlic.

Wondering what the big deal is about garlic in Oregon anyway? In 2010, the United States exported 18.6 million pounds of garlic, much of which was grown in Oregon.

French Vintage Carnival Rides Come To NYC

by Meg Nesterov on

If you are a fan of carnival rides, history, or just good old-fashioned summer fun, take a ferry out to NYC’s Governor’s Island this summer for a festival of vintage Parisian rides and carousels. Billed as a museum meets amusement park, Fete Paradiso will open on July 13 and run until September 29, and feature 19th- and 20th-century attractions such as a pipe organ, flying swings and a bicycle carousel like the one featured in “Midnight in Paris.” To add to the vintage French feel, there will be food from bistro Le Gamin and a beer hall and event space converted from a 1900 bumper car pavilion, along with special events opening weekend for Bastille Day.

Admission to Fete Paradiso is free and rides are $3 a pop. The free ferry to Governor’s Island from Manhattan‘s Battery Maritime building or Brooklyn‘s Pier 6 runs half-hourly until 7 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday. Learn more about Governor’s Island on their website, and follow the carnival set up on Instagram here.