Northwest Airlines memorabilia becomes big with collectors

by Meg Nesterov on

Two years after being absorbed by Delta, Northwest Airlines has become a hot ticket again among airline collectors. Airline museums in Minnesota and Atlanta are seeking artifacts from Northwest and all things NWA-related are selling on eBay, according to the Detroit Free Press.


“It was the airline everyone loved to hate, but you know what? People are starting to miss it,” said Bruce Kitt of the NWA History Centre in Bloomington, Minnesota. The curator of the Delta museum is seeking NWA items such as children’s airline wings that represent the “passenger experience.”

The airline once jokingly referred to as “Northworst” joins other defunct airlines such as Pan Am, TWA, and the Concorde (technically a part of still-flying Air France but a big draw for aviation enthusiasts) as brands with hotly-demanded memorabilia. “Airline collectors are a dying breed, but if you go to any shows, the strangest one I’ve ever seen is a guy in a bright yellow baseball cap that says, ‘I buy barf bags,’ ” Kitt said. “Here’s a guy who just collects motion-sickness bags, including the first ones from the 1920s.” Airplane models, brochures, and safety cards are popular items, and silverware and china (they weren’t always plastic) are often for sale at New York’s Fishs Eddy home store.


If you’re visiting Minneapolis, or just flying through MSP Airport, you can visit the NWA History Centre via light rail to Bloomington’s 34th Street Station. The Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum south of Atlanta is free to visit with special hours to view aircraft interiors.

Do you collect airline items, from current or defunct airlines? Tell us about your finds.

Photo courtesy Flickr user Ted Kerwin.

Party with Hef at the Playboy Mansion for Halloween

by Katie Hammel on

If haunted houses, ghost hunts, cemetery tours, zombie pub crawls and other usual Halloween attractions just aren’t sexy enough to make your holiday complete, if you want more girls and less gore, and if you’ve got $1000 to drop, make plans now to attend the Kandy Halloween Party at the Playboy Mansion.

I was always under the impression that you had to be an invited guest (or a lowly “Tunnel of Love” ride attendant as my husband was for the party in 1999) to attend. That’s not the case. A $1000 ticket and a costume (which is mandatory) will get you access to “1,000 of the sexiest girls in the world”, plus Hef and some Bunny-loving celebrities.

The party will be held on October 24th and tickets cost $1000-$2000 per person, unless you want to roll in some serious style. Then you’ll need to shell out about $10,000 for a table or cabana, table service, Crystal, seating for 8-10 people, and a Kabana girl to attend to your every need.

I wonder if November’s cover girl, Marge Simpson, will be there.

[via Jaunted]

Beer babe’s favorite European bars

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Katarina Van Derham, the 2009 St. Pauli Girl spokesmodel, doesn’t like to spend all her time in one place. The Slovakia native now lives in Los Angeles and still loves to get out on the road as much as possible. When she’s home, her favorite place to grab a pint is Barney’s Beanery in Santa Monica. She can have a relaxing drink on the patio, which is a prime people-watching spot. Of course, she has favorites on the other side of the Atlantic, as well.

The 2009 St. Pauli Girl spokesmodel‘s European Favorites are:

Morrison Pub (Cannes, France): there’s always live music and a welcoming crowd; Cannes’ “beautiful beaches and relaxed vibe” help

Phanas Pub (Rijeka, Croatia): Phanas is a great party place with rock music piped in; Katarina came here while shooting a music video for a Slovakian band

Mermaid Bar (Ibiza, Spain): this bar caters to an international crowd, has clear water and a great club scene

U Medvédku (Prague, Czech Republic): a house beer and authentic Czech food are served, and you’re only footsteps from the city’s stunning architecture

CK Browar (Krakow, Poland): grab a beer at this bright brewery before shopping at the outdoor street fairs on Saturdays

Salm Bräu (Vienna, Austria): located in a charming old building, this bar is a great stop en route to Slovakia (since Vienna has the nearest international airport)

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Straight out of 007: Bodyguards to die for

by Jerry Guo on

From the land of the world’s craziest game show (a real-life version of the video game Grand Theft Auto), I bring you another Russia delight: a corp of sexy female bodyguards-for-hire.

Run out of Moscow, the bodyguard agency provides sultry female bodyguards–many trained by the Soviet-era spy service, the KGB–to “give discreet protection to Moscow’s billionaires and their wives and mistresses.”

Here’s what the owner and top bodyguard of the corp, Anna Loginova (picture to your left), said about her service. “A normal man gets sick and tired of male bodyguards around him all the time. In addition, many restaurants now do not allow a guard inside. They can come in and check everything but then they are asked to wait in the lobby. In contrast, you can take female bodyguards inside, she will sit down at the table and nobody would guess that she’s a weapon herself – and can react appropriately in any dangerous situation.”

But this story doesn’t have a happy ending. 29-year old Loginova died this week while fighting off carjackers who were trying to make off with her Porsche.

Glacial Shrinkage: Taking one for the Environment

by Neil Woodburn on

What do glaciers and shrinkage have in common?

Two things when you combine glaciers with global warming and naked bodies.

Photographer Spencer Tunick, who has been making quite a name for himself by taking pictures of mass nudes, has recently turned his lens towards a good cause: global warming.

The photographer, who never seems to have a problem drumming up nude models, enlisted the help of 600 people who hiked to Switzerland’s Aletsch glacier this morning, took off all their clothes, and posed for the largest mass nude shot ever taken on a glacier (I’m taking a wild guess on this one).

The event was to draw attention to the plight of Europe’s rapidly decreasing glaciers, most of which are expected to disappear by 2080 if warming trends continue. The Aletsch glacier itself has receded 377 feet in the last two years and has become the poster child of global warming within Europe. 600 naked people frolicking on its slopes probably haven’t helped in keeping temperatures low, but has at least raised some awareness about the issue amongst those searching for porn on the internet.