Ten crazy videos and photos from the airport security checkpoint

by Scott Carmichael on

To most people, the airport checkpoint is where we line up, get partially undressed, and attempt to get through as quickly as possible, without incident or drama.

To others, the checkpoint is an opportunity to make a point, show off or get in trouble. We’ve collected ten funny photos and videos from the security checkpoint that’ll make you want to get through it even faster next time you fly.

From a half naked lady with a poodle to a man who picks the X-ray machine instead of the metal detector, these are some of the funniest clips we could find!

Not entirely sure what the context of this video is, but it appears to be genuine. In the video, a young girl seems to be setting off the metal detector, and decides that walking through it in her underwear is the only way to stop it beeping.

This is someone who wants to make a point – she clearly doesn’t appreciate the lack of privacy at the checkpoint, so walks through in her bikini.

This was a huge viral hit last year, and shows 52 year old Tammy Banovac passing through the checkpoint in her underwear with her poodle on her lap. She did this because she had experienced a nasty search in the past and had “nothing to hide”.

This one showed up in Twitter earlier this year when a local TV station tweeted the photo asking for more information on the man in his underpants.

Another speedo guy walking through the checkpoint. Yeah – not everyone can get away with this.

Check out this guy at a Las Vegas security checkpoint getting the full pat-down. The Marvin Gaye music only makes it better. If this were a movie, the TSA would have made it a PG13.

Partially naked Germans protest invasive security scanners. I think they could have made their point without getting naked, but that probably would not have made it on to YouTube.

“Crazy man in X-Ray machine” – clearly not happy with setting off the metal detector, this guy pops himself right inside the X-ray machine…

And what it actually looks like when you go through the X-ray machine…

And finally, here is a golden oldie from Australia – a TV commercial for mens underwear.

La Brea tar pits still pumping out history

by Chris Owen on
The La Brea tar pits, just 7 miles west of downtown Los Angeles, have been a treasure trove for paleontologists for decades. Producing more than a million bones since their discovery, the sticky ponds that trapped living creatures tens of thousands of years ago are still pumping out history.

Work over the past few years has involved sifting through 23 boxed deposits and some 16,000 bones reports the Associated Press. Chief curator Dr. John Harris and lead excavator Carrie Howard have been going through the find, discovered in 2006 during the construction of an underground parking garage close to the tar pit location.

“We’re still trying to piece everything together” Harris said estimating it would take five
years to sort through, so long that work has been stopped on another area, Pit 91, where scientists have been working since 1989.

Pit 91 measures 28′ x 28′ and about 14 feet deep. 3′ square grids are used for excavation and after fossils are excavated, they are cleaned, identified, labeled, catalogued and put in storage where they have been made available for research by professionals and students from around the world.

Called Project 23: New discoveries at Rancho La Brea, the Page Museum, part of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, believes this find has the potential to double their collection by three to four million specimens.

Gadling listed the La Brea Tar Pits as one of the World’s Strangest Natural Wonders and it looks like the La Brea tar pits will still be pumping out history for some time to come.

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Flickr photo by jkritchter

Day at the Pits from Andy Chen on Vimeo.

Delicious Santa Fe – 5 great restaurants

by Justin Delaney on

I came to Santa Fe for the fiery sunsets, pueblo architecture, and vibrant art scene; I left dreaming of chile rellenos, gooey breakfast burritos, and burgers with a spicy punch. New Mexican cuisine leans heavily on locally sourced food and Hatch chiles. The local food is mind-blowingly delicious and farmer fresh. If you find yourself in Santa Fe, then be sure to drop by these purveyors of the scrumptious.

The Shed
I abhor lengthy wait times, but I waited like a giddy school girl lining up to see the Bieb at this establishment, twice. An hour wait time is a reasonable penance to feast upon pollo adobo or green chile enchiladas at this creative cookery. The restaurant is extremely welcoming and spreads out across several colorful rooms filled with wooden tables, benches, and chairs. The servers are helpful. One even doodled a map for me to showcase some of his favorite local sights around Santa Fe. The food is somewhere between heavenly and sublime. Utilizing blue corn tortillas and fresh Hatch chiles processed at their in house mill, the Shed delivers fresh New Mexican cuisine that will leave a deep impression.

Location: Right off Santa Fe Plaza, East of the Palace of the Governors
Open for lunch and dinner – menu

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Tecolote Cafe
The breakfast burrito is a splendorous vessel filled with all that is great about breakfast. At Tecolote, this glorious concoction is stuffed with fluffy scrambled eggs and peppery sausage. The flaky tortilla casing is drizzled with cheddar cheese and smothered in local red and green chile sauce. Like some sort of enlightened enchilada bearing all the badges of a world class breakfast burrito, it is nirvana on a plate.

Tecolote has been serving breakfast and lunch in Santa Fe for over 30 years. The manager, Chris, makes the place feel like home and even brought out a plate of their various sauces for us to sample pre-burrito. Although throughout the restaurant, on the menu, and even on their website, they avidly proclaim, “No Toast,” each meal comes with a bakery basket filled with a variety of fresh muffins and other baked goods. The jalapeno corn muffin is my personal favorite. Beyond the burrito, try a local dish like Huevos Yucatecos – corn tortillas layered with black beans, eggs, green chile, Swiss and feta cheese, pico de gallo, and surrounded with fried bananas. Yum.

Location: 1203 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe
Open for breakfast and lunch – menu

Bert’s Burger Bowl
Bert’s Burger Bowl is a hole in the wall that locals adore and travelers embrace. The small establishment houses enough room to order but not much else. People come from near and far for Bert’s ambrosial green chile burgers. The signature all beef burgers are served with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and hatch chiles nestled between a slightly charred bun. The end result is perfectly balanced with a substantial chile kick. For some extra spice, dip your burger in Bert’s red chile sauce. A regular burger is $2.75. Bert’s also serves hot dogs, Frito pies, burritos, and a Kobe burger that will run you $12.95.

Location: 235 N Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe
Open for lunch

Sage Bakehouse
While more a bakery then a restaurant, Sage deserves inclusion on the merits of its fresh artisan breads, cookies, muffins, and deli sandwiches. Their peanut butter muffin, filled with sweet jam, tasted revelatory – one of the best things I have ever eaten. Artisan breads like pecan raisin walnut grace the minimalist interior on steel racks at the back of the cafe. The owners are very kind, and their bakery fresh goods are muse worthy.

Location: 535 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe
Open for breakfast and lunch

Relleno’s Cafe
The chile relleno is taken to glorious heights at this small Taos eatery. With just a handful of tables, Relleno’s quaint atmosphere and threadbare furnishings belie the transcendental grandiosity that their tasty rellenos hold. Arriving spicy and hot from the tiny kitchen, the rellenos here are the best. Ever. The double shelled crispy tacos also stir powerful emotions of deep adoration. It is worth the scenic drive from Santa Fe to Taos for a taste of greatness.

Location: about an hour and a half north of Santa Fe, directly off the Taos Plaza
Open for lunch and dinner

5 great spring break ski destinations

by Kraig Becker on

With spring break just around the corner, many of you are no doubt looking for one last blast of winter fun before the warmer temps set in. With that in mind, here are five great ski destinations that will make your spring break a memorable one.

Big Sky Resort, Montana
Big Sky bills itself as the “Biggest Skiing in America,” and for good reason. With over 150 runs to choose from, the longest of which is 6 miles in length, you’ll never run out of mountain to explore. And thanks to a strategic partnership with nearby Moonlight Basin, visitors have more than 5000 skiable acres to shred. The resort is so large in fact, that you’ll rarely have to wait in line for one of the 22 chair lifts and once you do get to the top of the slope, you may not encounter another skier until you get back to the bottom again. Throw in dramatic Montana skyline, a host of other on site activities, and over 400 inches of snow per year, and you have a skiers paradise to say the least. Complete your Big Sky experience with a Yeti Dog and thank me later.

Whiteface Ski Resort, New York
East coasters who can’t make it out west this year have plenty of options for hitting the slopes as well. Whiteface Ski Resort, located in upstate New York, is the perfect example. With 22 miles of trail, spread out over 86 runs, Whiteface truly has something for everyone. The mountain even boasts 3430 feet of continuous vertical drop, which is not only the most of any resort in the east, it is also more than Aspen, Vail, or Park City. Surrounded by the spectacular Adirondack Forest, the trails offer a remote solitude, but when you’re ready for some fun off the slopes, nearby Lake Placid has plenty of bars, restaurants, and shops to keep you busy too.

Mammoth Mountain, California
Skiers and snowboarders on the left coast will no doubt already be well aware of Mammoth Mountain, a fantastic destination for everyone from beginners to experts. Located in eastern California, in the Sierra Nevada range, Mammoth offers up 3500 skiable acres that are covered in more than 340 inches of snow on an annual basis. Of the 150 or so runs available, about a quarter are rated for beginners, while a third of the remaining trails are rated as a Black Diamond or greater. The place is a popular destination for the snowboard crowd as well, thanks to its 18-foot Super Pipe and 22-foot Super Duper Pipe. Known for its long season, (the resort was one open for an astounding 10 months in a row!) Mammoth is likely to have great conditions not just for Spring Break, but for weeks to come as well.

Sun Valley, Idaho
Sun Valley Lodge, located in north-central Idaho, has been a top ski destination since it opened all the way back in 1936. At the center of the ski and snowboarding culture that has developed there is Bald Mountain, or “Baldy” as it is affectionately known. Baldy offers 3400 feet of vertical drop, with an excellent consistency to the terrain, that has made it a favorite for skiers from around the globe. It also offers some of the finest powder you’ll find anywhere and miles of trails with few crowds to contend with. Throw in a great freestyle park and a Super Pipe for the snowboarders, and you have an amazing destination that will keep everyone happy.

Ruby Mountains, Nevada
For a completely different skiing experience, consider going to the Ruby Mountains, located in northeastern Nevada. There you’ll find Ruby Mountain Heli-Experience, a company that specializes in offering heli-skiing opportunities in the pristine backcountry. Unlike the resort options listed above, you won’t find any groomed trails or ski lifts here, just 200,000 acres of fantastic powder that is only accessible by helicopter. You don’t have to be a world class skier or snowboarder to enjoy the Ruby Mountain experience either, as you can choose to take on long, slow, shallow bowls or adrenaline inducing slopes that will have your heart pounding out of your chest. At the end of the day, you’ll return to the lodge for an amazing home cooked meal that will be the perfect end to a perfect day.

The calendar may say that it is turning spring in just a few weeks, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have just a little more winter fun. Enjoy one last blast on the slopes before putting the skis and snowboard away for one more season.



Map shows passport ownership by state

by Grant Martin on

Have you ever heard the statistic that only 10% of Americans have a passport? Well, it turns out that that’s a bunch of crap. Fueled by data taken straight from the government’s records at data.gov, C.G.P Grey compiled the actual number of passport ownership by state throughout the entire United States. Surprisingly, his findings suggest that over 45% of Americans have passports with residents of New Jersey having the highest percentage at 68%. The state with the lowest percentage of passports? Mississippi. Check out the rest of the statistics in Grey’s handy infographic: