The Harry-est Town in America

by Justin Glow on

What’s the Harry-est town in America? And I don’t mean body fuzz.

Amazon is running a contest to find out what U.S. town (on a per capita basis) will pre-order the most copies of the new Harry Potter book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Interesting concept? Yes. Genius marketing idea? Absolutely.

The winning town will be announced shortly after the end of the contest at 11:59 PM PDT on July 15, 2007. Here are the current standings as of right now:

  1. Falls Church, Virginia
  2. Gig Harbor, Washington
  3. Vienna, Virginia
  4. Fairfax, Virginia
  5. Media, Pennsylvania

Visit Amazon’s Harry-est town in America promotion to see the top 100 cities.

Seeking Warmth Without the Sun? Indoor Waterparks are 84 Degrees.

by Jamie Rhein on

Snow days getting you down? Waiting for Old Man Winter to head on out? Wishing you were Gadling blogger Willy Volk and you lived in Florida so you soak up some sun and enjoy the beach? You may not be able to get the sunshine you want if you live in the snow addled parts of the U.S., but warm water fun is close by —and it’s multiplying. Hotel owners are seeing their bucks grow when they add a water park to an already existing hotel or build a new hotel with a water park as the main attraction. Read.

Ohio, for example, has seven water parks to date. Last year I went to one of them. Kalahari in Sandusky is in the northern part of the state. This was a family occasion of sorts with my husband’s brothers, sisters and their spouses and kids convening for a day. Honestly, it was a blast and getting wet is not my favorite thing to do. I tend to like my exercise on dry land. With our ages ranging from just turned 4 to 50, there was something for everyone. Even my son, the four year-old at the time, braved the family-sized inner tube slide that, after our long climb to the top of a series of stairs, took us on a wild ride down a curving shoot, out of the building and back inside before dumping us into a tank at the bottom. A highlight for me was watching people try to surf on a simulated wave. Most people shot off the surfboard like a rocket while trying to keep their swimsuits on. Did I try it? Are you nuts?

Some water parks you need to be a guest to go to. Others, like Kalahari, sell day passes. This year we’re thinking of heading to Splash Lagoon in Erie, PA to meet up with a friend of mine and her family. It’s halfway between us. She lives near Rochester, NY. Each of us could stand some 84 degree weather right about now.

Sienna Miller vs. Pittsburgh

by Adrienne Wilson on

Poor Sienna Miller is stuck in Pittsburgh while she works on upcoming film “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.” According to pop culture travel blog Jaunted, Miller told Rolling Stone she needed to get more glamorous films and apparently called the town “Shitsburgh.” Sigh, do these actors and actresses ever get enough? There are people living in Hobart, Oklahoma and Podunk, Alabama who I’m sure are dying to visit a sometimes happening spot like Pittsburgh. I’m sure after her hard acting work is done in Pittsburgh she’ll be on the first jumbo jet to some cozy English countryside or whatever tickles her fancy of course. I’m not saying Ms. Miller can’t have an opinion about where she is sent to work, but there are far worse places than Pittsburgh. She should be lucky the film isn’t called “The Mysteries of Compton.” She apologized for dumping on the Steel Town, most likely for ticket sales.

But Sienna’s drama doesn’t end there – Miller was also said to have been removed from Pittsburgh’s Youngs Tavern when she tried ordering alcohol before providing identification which she did not have on her. It is claimed that Miller ripped off her hat and said ” I am Sienna Miller. I am a famous actress!” Sienna denies throwing any type of temper tantrum.

Are the people of Pittsburg mad? Nope – they have other concerns.

Philly Taxi Drivers Protest Use of GPS Tracking Plan

by Adrienne Wilson on

NPR has an audio listen on the taxi situation in Philly, where cab drivers are protesting a plan to place GPS (Global Positioning Systems) in their vehicles. The GPS devices would allow the cab dispatchers to know and pinpoint the exact location of a driver, but the driver’s are saying this is a violation of their privacy.

Hmm… Personally, I think it is a great plan. I don’t catch cabs too often, but it peeves me to high heaven when I call one and wait decades for them to arrive. I start imagining all the stops or personal errands they decided to run in route to picking me up for my very important flight or meeting. (Violation of privacy – ha!) When you phone into the dispatchers it’s as if they are in a whole different world from the drivers. They always say something like this: “Yes, he will be there in five minutes. He said he is nearby.” Sometimes I just want to cough bull sh–, but I always keep my cool. Not to say all cab drivers taking the scenic route to get where they need to be or that they’re not stuck in traffic, but it would do dispatchers a great deal of wonder to be able to say something more specific and a little less generic.

Hope a plan like this works out in Philly for the greater good of people who actually have to get to important places or meetings.

Philly Caribbean Festival

by Adrienne Wilson on

Score! It looks like I’ll be fortunate enough to head over to the Philly Caribbean Festival this weekend. The event takes place on Sunday, August 20, 2006 at the Great Plaza in Penn’s Landing from 12 PM – 8 PM. Like most festivals of this nature it will be a celebration of Carib culture through island cuisine, music and vendors selling authentic island crafts. Also on the scene will be the Expedia Team distributing info on their special giveaway in Philadelphia. Now, I would imagine it would be something really incredible like an all-inclusive vacation to the Virgin Islands or something. Well, okay wait, it looks like it will be info on their $50,000 Dream Vacation getaway, which is just as fabulous if not better than what I had imagined.

If you’re in the Philly area with nothing on your agenda as of yet, come check out the fest, grab some jerk chicken, Red Stripe and lime a little bit. Make sure you save me some!

(picture from locolosconplatanos.com)