Caught on tape: Basketball shot made from a theme park ride

by Leigh Caldwell on

Do you remember those Hampton Inn Hilton Honors Points commercials from a couple of years back with the amazing basketball shots? Teen boys banked shots off roofs and stairways or used a tennis racket to shoot them into the goal. The ads were all followed by the tagline “Want an easier way to score points?”

It turns out those were real teens, shooting real videos at their homes in Alabama, and uploading them to YouTube, where they were discovered for the ads.

And now the boys, who call their YouTube channel The Legendary Shots, have turned their attention to theme parks. Their latest video shows one of the them making a shot from the Stratos-Fear ride at Alabama Adventure theme park in Bessemer.

In the video information on YouTube, The Legendary Shots crew thanks Alabama Adventure staff for making the Stratos-Fear video, and a second ferris wheel video, possible.

Can a basketball/theme park commercial be far behind?

Toyota’s Farm to Table Tour takes sustainable eating on the road

by Laurel Miller on

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Yeah, right. Toyota just needs damage control. As if feel-good, treehugging road trips make up for all those recalls.” But before you judge, let us separate the issue from the mission.

This is Toyota’s second annual Farm to Table Tour, in which 11 farmers markets nationwide participate with the automotive giant to visit “farmers markets across the country to showcase the connection between farmers, chefs, farmers markets, and the communities they serve, and to give market shoppers the opportunity to experience Toyota’s hybrid vehicles.” On each stop, up to 12 local chefs and farmers pair up to highlight seasonal ingredients through free tastings. Talks on eating locally and sustainably, culinary vacation giveaways, gardening information, and test rides in a 2010 Prius, Highlander Hybrid, or Camry Hybrid are also part of each market collaboration.

Toyota is also making financial donations to the participating markets, as well as to the Farmers Market Coalition. In addition, the company is using eco-friendly materials and purchasing carbon credits through TerraPass to offset the educational tour’s carbon footprint.

Tour stops include Birmingham, Pittsburgh, Chattanooga, Minneapolis, and Salt Lake City. The Washington DC FARMFRESH Market by the White House stop on July 29th features influential chef Nora Pouillon, of Restaurant Nora, the nation’s first certified organic restaurant, which opened in 1999. Regardless of how you may feel about Toyota, the company deserves props for its ongoing commitment to sustainability, and supporting family farms. And that ain’t a bad thing.

Alabama Adventure theme park offers Father’s Day deal: $50 per carload

by Leigh Caldwell on

It’s one week until Father’s Day. Have you made plans with your dad?

The folks at Alabama Adventure near Birmingham suggest a day at the theme park. After all, what says, “I love you, Dad” more than screaming in his ear during a ride on the Rampage wooden roller coaster or digging your fingernails in his arm while being catapulted 185 feet in the air on the Space Shot?

Next Sunday, June 20, Alabama Adventure is offering a great deal for dad’s day: $50 admission for a carload. Now, they’re limiting that “carload” to six people, so don’t even think about sneaking the neighbor kids in in your trunk.

Still, that works out to $8.33 per person — less than a trip to the movies and way less than the general admission price of $29.99.

Alabama Adventure will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Father’s Day.

Gulf Coast Oil Spill Watch: June 10th

by Leigh Caldwell on

It’s Day 52 of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Here’s a look at the latest news about how the spill is affecting travelers:

Tar balls have arrived on the beaches in Perdido Key, Florida. The Pensacola News-Journal reports that a mile-long stretch of the beach was covered with greasy clumps about the size of peas.

Want to help? Alabama’s governor tells WAFF TV that it’s as simple as renting a condo or eating a seafood dinner.

The Tennesean reports that renting that Gulf Coast condo could be a great deal, as last-minute Gulf Coast lodging deals are plentiful.

But those lodging deals don’t extend into Central Florida, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Orlando-area hotels say oil-spill discounts could be viewed as “cashing in” on coastal hotels’ misfortune.

And what of the predictions that oil will spread all the way up the Atlantic Coast this summer, or that it will travel west and reach Texas beaches? The Houston Chronicle says to “take them with a grain of salt water.”

[Image credit: Flickr user lsqcp]

Photo of the Day (5.25.10)

by Stephen Greenwood on
Today’s Photo of the Day comes out of Jasper, Alabama from Flickr user bamassippi. Taken under the stadium lights of a High School football field, I feel that this photo captures a quintessential American summer evening – and with Memorial Day right around the corner, there will hopefully be many of these summer sunsets up ahead.

Jasper is part of Walker County, which once ranked among the world’s leading producers of coal. Settled in 1815, it was named in honor of Sergeant William Jasper, a Red Stick War hero.

Do you have some simple shots that put your hometown in a new light? Share them with us! Submit to our Gadling Flickr Pool and we could feature it as our Photo of the Day!