Photo of the Day (7.14.09)

by Grant Martin on

Holy cats, is that Paul Brady of Jaunted fame? Posing for the laviator series? Oh, you flatter us. The last time I heard from Paul, he was wrestling alligators for tips in Chile. According to this picture, he was on Spirit Airlines yesterday, so he can’t be too far from the grand old States of America. I wonder what he’s up to.

I know that we’ve been banging the laviator drum non stop for the past few weeks, but it’s always fun seeing the photo of a colleague posted up on our Gadling flickr pool. If you’ve got a laviator or a wonderful picture of your own that you’d like to submit for the Photo of the Day series, stop by and add it, just remember to save everything under Creative Commons, otherwise we can’t use them!

Jaunted founders launch Vegaschatter.com

by Grant Martin on

Our friends over at Jaunted and Hotelchatter are up to no good again, this morning kicking off Vegaschatter.com, a sister blog that will cover all things Vegas.

Why Las Vegas? According to one Mr. Mark Johnson, the founder of SFO Media, “Las Vegas has always been one of the world’s most popular travel destinations, and for years the city was in dire need of a daily travel web publication that would cover Vegas the same way HotelChatter covers hotels and Jaunted covers travel — from a visitors perspective.”

This means you can expect the same witty delivery, quality content and high volume of posts as you get from the other sites, particularly since Juliana Shallcross , managing editor of [editor of?] Jaunted and Hotelchatter will be in charge.

And what of starting a Las Vegas blog in the midst of a deep recession that seems to be hitting the City of Sin the hardest? Will the investment now grow as the city rebuilds? Is Vegaschatter as doomed as the flailing Nevada economy? Tune into Vegaschatter.com for the details.

Juliana, Mark: best of luck.

Winning an island: Even a 4-year-old can do it

by Jamie Rhein on

Imagine this. Instead of the grand prize being a trip to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, the winner of a national lottery gets an entire island. That’s what happened to one four-year-old boy. This small boy landed a small island in small country–Taiwan.

The island in Pengu County isn’t his forever, but for the next five months he can go there as much as he wants. The great thing is, he gets to take seven family members with him. That’s good because I’m thinking that without family along, a four-year-old might have a bit of a rough time making use of an island. It would make for an interesting Disney flick, though.

Lest you think that this small boy and his family will be stuck sitting on the beach looking for shade, this island comes equipped with running water, electricity and a cabin. Considering that Taiwan gets mighty humid and hot in the summer, this island get-a-way is quite the sweet deal.

Although this island is off limits to visitors other than that small boy and his family, Pengu, off the west coast of Taiwan does have 89 others. The scenery, culture, and things to do are worthy of a trip. Here’s a link to a page of what you’ll find if you make the journey. Straight off, I’m noticing the seafood.

Thanks to Jaunted for the heads up on this lovely island tale. The photo by Hairworm is of Jibay Island, another of Pengu’s gems.

Where to pee in D.C.: a guide for Inauguration Day

by Jamie Rhein on

You’ve been there. You’re in the middle of a day of site-seeing and you have to go. As in, RIGHT NOW! Unfortunately, you’re hard pressed to find a public restroom. With the crowds expected to gather in Washington, D.C. for Inauguration Day, finding a toilet when nature calls could be a problem.

Thinking ahead, Jennifer Lynn has come up with an insiders guide for where to pee in D.C. Her down-loadable brochure is called “Where To Pee in DC: The Insider’s Guide on Where to Go” and is for sale on E-Bay.

Jaunted did a write up of this useful gem and highlighted a few of Lynn’s suggestions.

For example, head to the east wing of the National Gallery of Art. The advantage of Lynn’s method, I think, is not only will you find relief, you’ll find culture as well. Although, you might be in a hurry when you pass by some of the artwork on your way to the john, take time to browse on your way out.

Here’s the link to the down-loadable book. It costs $2.50. If you are going to D.C. for the Inauguration, this might be the best money you’ve spent. According to the statistics, there is one toilet for every 6,849 people.

More baggage scale woes. Can luggage suffer from water weight gain?

by Jamie Rhein on

On my last airplane trip, my daughter and I took only carry-ons so baggage scales were a minor thought. Not long ago I wrote a post on the problems with scale calibration at American Airlines check-in counters.

Jeffrey chased that post with another scale problem missive. This time the scale culprit was discovered at the Tuscon International Airport. After reading this Jaunted post about what one honeymooning couple discovered in the Caribbean, it does appear one might be a bit suspicious if your baggage has had a weight gain.

Although people may retain water on different days–or at different hours of the day, which might explain weight fluctuation, I’m not sure that luggage does. Or does it?

As this Jaunted story goes, upon arriving at the St. Lucia Hewanorra International Airport to hoist their luggage on the scale as one of the steps to departing from a honeymoon in paradise (I hope it was paradise), the couple discovered their bag must have been eating while they weren’t looking. How else can you explain 15 pounds? Even water weight gain doesn’t fluctuate like that.