Other funny names of places: How about Intercourse?

by Jamie Rhein on

It’s great to have belly laughs. The article in the New York Times that Jeremy wrote about yesterday had me chortling out loud and reminded me about why Monty Python is so darned funny.

I thought Intercourse, Pennsylvania was bad, but the list of funny names in England was impressive. For some reason, Titty Ho caught me the most.

As I was reading the NY Times article, I kept thinking of Life of Brian and the scenes with Pontius Pilate. It also reminded me of Annie’s post on Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, a place I have actually been to. There’s also Beaver Lick, Kentucky.

Here are a few more funny names for places. Pennsylvania also boasts the town Blue Ball which is not far from the aptly named town Virginville. Then there’s Montana’s — Bald Knob Mountain. What about Bucksnort, Tennessee? Or Bumpass, Virginia?

This one seems apropos, Happy Camp, California. Who couldn’t use a little stay in Happy Camp these days?

For some Saturday entertainment, keep reading for the YouTube Life of Brian scene with Pontius Pilate.

Britain’s most embarassing place names

by Jeremy Kressmann on

You tend to think of the British as a smart, buttoned-up lot. We’re talking about a country with a history of lots of curtsies, foxhunts and tea at high noon. It’s surprising then to learn that the British apparently are not quite so polite when it comes to naming their towns and cities.

Yesterday’s New York Times takes a look at some of the more unintentionally hilarious place names in the United Kingdom, including Crapstone, England; Ugley, Essex; Titty Ho, Northamptonshire and Penistone (it’s pronounced PENNIS-tun, how immature of you) in South Yorkshire. You can’t blame the town founders for their poor naming decisions either – many of the towns were founded (and named) hundreds of years ago. Clearly it was simpler time – a time before the Internet, when adolescents minded their manners and didn’t spend their schooldays passing around links on Digg.

Go check it out. What’s that? You’re too mature for this sort of thing, aren’t you? Skip it if you must, but don’t tell me you don’t read a street name like Tumbledown Dick Road without snickering a little.

[Via Buzzfeed]

US Airways check already in the mail

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Notoriety is now worth $5,000. US Airways sent checks for $5,000 to each passenger on Flight 1549 last week, better known as the plane that touched down on the Hudson River. The payment came with a letter, in which the airline claimed to be “truly sorry.” Passengers were also reimbursed for ticket costs.

This is a pretty refreshing move, especially following JetBlue’s refusal to recognize its shortcomings outside a courtroom.

According to US Airways, luggage from Flight 1549 may remain in the hands of investigators for several months, and some may be “unrecoverable.” Compensation for this inconvenience, the checks began to arrive yesterday. US Airways has stated that the checks are not intended to sidestep any claims or litigation that passengers may file.

The reason for the delay in returning recovered luggage, according to reporting by the NY Times, is that the items have to be weighed wet, dried for eight weeks and then weighed again. The purpose is to verify the weight and balance of the plane.

[Via NY Times]

Still traveling on $5-a-day budget, but switch dollars for euros

by Jamie Rhein on

Back in September of 2005, Adrienne wrote about Leon Logothetis, the ultimate frugal traveler who travels on $5 a day and the kindness of strangers for his show Amazing Adventures of a Nobody. Three and a half years later, he’s still at it, but he traded the $5 dollars for 5 euros for his journey from Paris to Moscow.

In this New York Times Q & A article, Logothetis, talks about his experiences and offers tips.

If reading that it’s possible to travel on just $5 a day gets you feeling excited and ready to sling on a backpack, consider Logothetis’s answer to what you can do on such a modest amount.

“Nothing.”

At least you can’t without help. Logothetis recounts how he has been given places to stay, been fed and offered rides. He’s found Americans particularly generous.

One tip he has for anyone who is relying on others is to not be upset if someone says “no.”

Reading about Leon’s experiences reminded me of my trip to Mali with a Peace Corps friend. We had very little money and wanted to budget most of our cash for the journey to Timbuktu. One night in Mopti, we slept at a guest house on a sheet covered mattress out on the balcony. Even that cost $1.50 or so, and that was years ago. I remember shining my flashlight of the bathroom, just big enough for the toilet, in order to get the roaches to scurry away. There was a certain thrill from seeing just how little we could spend and how much frugality we could stand. It was kind of fun in a sick sort of way.

The new season of Amazing Adventures of a Nobody airs on Fox Reality Channel starting on January 25.

Sound of Music family’s Vermont lodge and ski resort still going strong

by Jamie Rhein on

Certainly any kid who imagined him or herself a singer pictured what it would be like to be dressed in a play-suit made of curtains leaping about Salzburg, Austria with the von Trapp children as they sang “doe a deer.” I certainly did.

When the von Trapps escaped from Nazi-ruled Austria during World War II, they eventually landed in Stowe, Vermont as the Trapp Family Singers who made money by performing and opening a ski resort lodge. After the movie “The Sound of Music” came out in 1965, the real family and their ski resort and lodge gained even more notoriety.

I read in this New York Times article that Sam von Trapp, the grandson of Maria and the captain, immortalized by Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, is the newest von Trapp to take over the business. He’s happy to do it since, from what I understand, no one asks him who he was in the movie. A generation of distance from tinseltown fame helps.

Recognizing that “The Sound of Music “connection is one that brings business, Sam is running commercials advertising the Trapp Family Lodge on tonight’s showing of the movie on ABC. He also plans to bring back holiday singalongs like the good old days.

The one song I can sing reasonably on key is “Edelweiss.” If you’re ever at the singalong, see if that’s on the list of options. If you want to sing the song along with the movie von Trapp’s, click here.