Three travel sites have gained more power

by Jamie Rhein on

What do Jaunted.com and HotelChatter.com now have in common? Both of these blogs have been snapped up by CondéNet, the publisher of Concierge.com. SFO*Media, the previous publisher of these two travel blogs is now under the CondéNet umbrella.

Does this mean that Jaunted.com or HotelChatter.com will look different? Will they be different? Not necessarily. Both will continue in their blogging world ways with Jaunted honing in on popular culture travel and HotelChatter continuing to provide the latest news bits and tips about hotels and lodging around the world. Add Concierge’s focus on upscale, trendy travel to the other two, and that’s a powerful travel trio.

What does this mean for me, you might wonder? CondéNet now has more reach when it comes to marketing and attracting big money advertising. There will be more coordination between the three sites, so you might notice crossover information. It also says that the media world is recognizing that the people who are reached by travel blogs are mighty in numbers, are passionate about travel, and they have some money to spend. These are forces to tap into.

Broome Street, memories of place, and Jaunted’s tribute to Heath Ledger

by Jamie Rhein on

Every day I read Jaunted to see what’s happening over there. Heath Ledger was one of the things happening today (January 23) since blogger Juliana was as floored as I was by his death. Her response was to provide an overview of the places Ledger traveled that formed his life as an actor.

If you spend any time at Gadling, you’ll see the theme of place as well. People who travel have automatic feelers for the qualities of a place that make it unique. In one of Jerry’s post on bookstores, he mentioned The Strand. It’s one of my favorite places to go and just a short walk from where my brother lives. My brother has lived in Manhattan for years and over the years of visiting him, I feel like his neighborhood is somehow mine as well. His friends have also lived there for years also, thus our paths have crossed often, and they have added to my scope of what life is like in New York.

When I step out of the subway stop at Union Square to walk to where my brother lives, it feels as if I’ve arrived home. When Broome Street was mentioned the street where Heath Ledger lived, I thought about the many times I’ve walked down Broome Street to Ted Muehling’s marvelous jewelery shop when it was located in this part of SoHo. Ted has since moved to Howard Street, but I can hear the sound that the metal steps made when I walked up to the door at the Broome Street location.

Close by is the The Guggenheim Museum Soho on the corner of Broadway and Prince, but when Ted’s shop was still on Broome Street, The Museum for African Art was one of my favorite stops in the neighborhood. That museum is now temporarily located in Long Island City, Queens.

When I heard Heath lived on Broome Street, I thought of the post I wrote not too long ago how our lives, travel, and the news intertwine to where each influences the other–particularly when we have a personal connection to a place.

If you’ve been to Anne Frank’s house, read her diary as an eighth grader and felt moved, the chestnut tree has a poignancy, for example. It’s not an abstract, far away thing–something that is “over there” with no consequence to our daily lives. When I read Neil’s post about the plans to cut it down, it felt alarming–as if the stars were shifting. I do know that nothing stays the same, but places do in ones memory unless you revisit them and find them changed.

I haven’t been down Broome Street for a few years or so, but it’s still there and it’s altered. Along with the sound of the metal step, and the taste of the rich piece of chocolate that I chose from the box that was on the table in the back of Ted Muehling’s store, I have other thoughts of Broome Street that I never expected. My memory is not quite the same.

The Turkey Testicle Festival

by Adrienne Wilson on

In the famous words of my old dear aunt, “Gag me with a spoon, please!” Thanks to Jaunted I’ve just learned of a festival that has been taking place in the town of Huntley, IL for 24 years now, the Turkey Testicle Festival. Gulps. The event has already passed (it was held yesterday according to the dates on the site), but appears to be rather popular with um, Chicagoland locals and other Illinois residents? Can someone out there confirm? Staged at the Parkside Pub in Huntley they not only serve hot turkey nuts – they give you some brewskies to wash all of it down! Yum?

While I love trying new things, you’d probably have to lie to me to get gobbling up or down on turkey testicles. Just call me on the traditional side and hand me a leg. That’ll do just fine.

No Fly List Exposed

by Adrienne Wilson on

Another CBS News piece I missed for who knows what reason, but they’ve got a pretty good summary of what went down in the program. In a very interesting episode of 60 Minutes, correspondent Steve Kroft goes over the very sloppy and inaccurate No Fly government list that can detain fliers for hours and create a ton of unnecessary hassle for the innocent or unlikely terrorist. For starters the “No Fly” list is part of a secret government database compiled after 9/11 to keep all the bad frequent fliers from flying so frequently or at all. In all seriousness, it is supposed to prevent suspected terrorists from boarding planes, but after managing to obtain a copy of the extra, extra secret list – 60 Minutes uncovers and exposes some major flaws. For instance 14 of the 19 9/11 hijackers who have been dead for five years are still on the list. Shocking? Not to some… When Kroft questioned Donna Bucella, who has run the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center since 2003, her response was:

“Well, just because a person has died doesn’t necessarily mean their identity has died. People sometimes carry the identity of those who have died.”

Okay, Bucella has a point with that one, but a good one? I don’t think so – what moron would assume the identity of a known terrorist? Moving along, also found on the list is Saddam Hussein, convicted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, Francois Genoud (Nazi sympathizer and financier of Arab terrorism, deceased for ten years now), Evo Morales (president of Bolivia) and to make a long list of flaws short last, but not least comes Robert Johnson. Poor, poor Robert Johnson – when 60 Minutes brought in 12 men, all named Robert Johnson to discuss the topic, all had some trouble boarding planes at one point or another. With a name as common like that, I think Jaunted finds the only possible solution to beating the hassle in their No Fly rant. Their solution – change your name to Bobby Johnny. Sounds a lot like Ricky Bobby to me.

As far as I know I’m not on the list, but I’d love to hear some first hand accounts. Any Gadling readers out there wrongly on the rotten No Fly List? Please, share.