Prague’s ‘Franz Kafka International Airport’ a true nightmare

by Jeffrey White on




The Onion is poking some good fun at Prague’s international airport, which they claim is named after Franz Kafka, saying it is the world’s most alienating hub: a place of suspicion and confusion, where time simply disappears.

This is not much of a leap. Having lived in Prague for two years, I can confirm that there are elements of life in the city — like making your way through Czech bureaucracy — that can feel truly Kafkaesque. Yet Prague does hold on to good old Franz pretty tightly as a tourist draw, plastering his name on cafes, hostels and scenic alleyways. His birthplace, off of Old Town Square, is more subtly marked, and his resting place, out of the way in a Jewish cemetery in Zizkov, takes a little effort to get to.

For the record, Kafka’s name does find itself on something related to travel in the Golden City: Prague authorities renamed Holesovice train station after him — but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who refers to the station’s new name.

Happily, Prague’s Ruzyn?? Airport, its real name, doesn’t really recall scenes from The Trial. Go to the foreigner’s police for that.

Earth Hour on March 28

by Brenda Yun on

Get ready to celebrate Earth Hour 2009 next week on March 28. Wherever you are in the world, you are encouraged to participate in this effort to raise awareness of climate change by turning off your lights for an hour at 8:30 p.m. local time.

Earth Hour has been encouraged by the United Nations (as seen here in the video), and is sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, an organization that continues to seek solutions to solve our planet’s critical environmental challenges. Looking over Abha’s report on the same event last year, Earth Hour has grown substantially in just a year. According to the Earth Hour website,”1,760 cities, towns and municipalities in 80 countries have already committed to VOTE EARTH for Earth Hour 2009, as part of the worlds first global election between Earth and global warming.”

I just heard the song “We are the World” on the radio, so I’m feeling pretty inspired, aren’t you?

A bit of spring on the first day of spring

by Jamie Rhein on

One of the loveliest places to be in the spring is the Appalachians in Kentucky. This video is the North Carolina version, but just as stunning. My favorite are the Redbud trees that add clouds of purplish pink in the midst of light green and bark. The hammer dulcimer Celtic tune accompaniment is perfect for the setting.

This read about a hike on Parson’s Mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains in Abbeville, South Carolina describes several of the plants featured in the video.

Don’t take air travel for granted

by Mike Barish on

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At the rate that humans are creating new and more dynamic technologies, it’s easy to begin to take things for granted. I mean, space shuttle launches used to be front page, stop what you’re doing and find a TV news. Now, most people don’t even know when a trip to the International Space Station takes place. And that assumes that people even know that we have an International Space Station. Where people live. In space. Away from Earth.

Well, comedian Louis CK paid a visit to Late Night with Conan O’Brien and helped us regain the proper perspective. Long one of my favorite comedians, Louis summarized what I have been thinking for a quite some time: Pay attention to how amazing the world is and stop bitching about everything! You can travel the world in a flying tube in a matter of hours. You can leave Sydney at 11:00AM Monday and arrive, more that 20 hours later, in New York at 5:00PM the same Monday! I just did that! It was amazing. And I watched TV in the flying tube while I did it.

So, the next time that you find yourself complaining about a flight delay or a seat that doesn’t recline, watch this video and take a deep breath. The world is an amazing place. You just have to pull your head out of your ass to realize it.

How not to ride an escalator

by Annie Scott on


How not to ride an escalator.

1. Do not step backward.
2. Do note sit down.
3. Do not, at any point, attempt a triple salchow.

According to MallCop6, who posted this video on YouTube, “The dude didn’t get hurt at all.” Otherwise, this would really be too mean to post. Also, the camera is pulled back far enough that we can’t see who this actually is. If we could identify this man, we would, again, feel it was too mean to post.

However, since he looks like he’s fine and we can’t see who he is, and he totally pulled a 360°, artistically commendable, epic escalator fail? We’re sharing.

This is one example of many ways not to ride an escalator. More rules after the jump.

4. Do not attempt multiple backwards somersaults.

5.Do not ski (keep watching, he rides up the escalator first before the awesomeness kicks in).

Lasty, and perhaps most importantly:
6. Do not wear Crocs. (Ever.)