Ryanair passengers denied water in a five hour delay

by Annie Scott on

Ryanair passengers stuck for five hours on the tarmac at London Stansted last Monday were given ice cubes to fight the stuffy, hot conditions. Just the cubes. Suck on that.

Six inches of snow fell tauntingly outside as passengers cooked, free of air conditioning, and flight attendants claimed that it was against regulations for them to hand out water.

“A Ryanair spokesman claimed that cabin staff could not open the bar while the aircraft was on the ground due to ‘Inland Revenue laws’. The Air Transport Users’ Council, the aviation watchdog, disputes this, adding that there is no law to prevent staff from handing out a few free cups of water,” reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

The Irish airline is famous for cutting every corner to ensure low prices, including Michael O’Leary‘s pay-to-pee plan, charging for infants who sit on your lap, and hidden fees which make your total price a lot higher than you had anticipated when you clicked on that low fare.

Refusing to serve water to anyone for five hours on a hot, grounded airplane, when the water was certainly available, in this blogger’s opinion, ought to be treated as a crime. Imagine sitting for five hours in a stifling plane, asking for water, and the flight attendant telling you “no.” Imagine them saying “no” to your grandmother and your kids. I can’t believe there wasn’t a mutiny.%Gallery-51515%

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Kazakhstan tries to sell its freezing capital

by Annie Scott on


As I write you from my parents’ home in the sub freezing winter wonderland of Minneapolis, I am pleased to report that this weather now apparently qualifies for envy.

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev made his annual speech yesterday, and attempted to lure diplomats to move to the country’s capital city, Astana, on the basis of its face-breaking cold weather. “It only strengthens our spirit,” he said, on a day when the temperature was -22°F.

Nazarbayev (above right, with Nicolas Sarkozy, in front of the Astana skyline in October 2009) went on to praise the sanitary effects of the frigid environment, saying: “Even germs can’t survive in this weather.”

Astana is the world’s second coldest capital city (after Ulaan-baatar, Mongolia), but with all that oil and mineral money, you can bet they’re toasty warm inside their gold-tinted (seriously!) buildings.

[via Reuters]

Method for quieting child on plane: Works better without the vomit

by Jamie Rhein on

Too bad Pamela Root, the latest woman to be kicked off a plane with her child because of her child’s behavior, didn’t have Lisa Belkin’s method of calming down a screaming toddler. Not the whole method though, just part of it. The whole version is gross. And yes, it is funny–very funny. But it is gross, very gross as well. It’s also a cautionary tale of sorts regarding those handy barf bags tucked into an airplane’s seat back pockets.

Belkin, who writes for the Motherlode blog in the New York Times, recounts her own trapped-on-a plane-with-an-unruly toddler story. In Belkin’s case, it was her own toddler who would not be consoled. Well aware of the looks of horror and sympathy being directed her way by the other passengers, and the not so friendly skies look of the flight attendant who was closest to her, Belkin feared being jettisoned off the plane.

In a flash of brilliance, Belkin pulled the barf bag out of a seat pocket, drew a face on it, slipped her hand inside and turned her hand into a puppet show. Her child stopped crying immediately, pleased as punch.

Belkin, figuring that if one puppet was a hit, two might be Oscar winning material, thrust her other hand into another barf bag. Unfortunately, someone already had found a use for the barf bag– the use for which it was meant.

Yep. There was Belkin, her hand in a barf bag covered with vomit, and her puppet show at a screeching halt. Fortunately, her husband, who had not been very useful up to that point, was there to help out while Belkin bounded for the restroom lickety split for a sanitation session in the lavatory before the plane took off.

After reading Belkin’s story, I’m thankful that when I used a barf bag this summer to hold my son’s Lego airplane pieces from the toy I bought at the Detroit airport, I didn’t have a mess to clean up. Vomit on Legos? Gaad.

I bought the toy as a way to keep him occupied on our way to Venice via Amsterdam. Fortunately, he’s at the age where the in-flight movies do the trick just fine.

Playing for Change sets new fall tour

by Brenda Yun on

If you haven’t heard of “Playing for Change” or its international renditions of “Stand By Me,” “One Love,” or “Don’t Worry,” you no longer have to worry: the documentary’s favorite musicians are coming to a U.S. city near you this fall for one month (between October 20 – November 19) only!

Kicking off on October 20th in Alexandria, VA, the PFC Band is going to be performing in over 20 cities in the US and Canada, finally ending up in Vancouver, CA on November 19th. Tickets are on-sale now, and are going fast. For a complete listing of dates, venues, and links to purchase, visit the Playing For Change Band page.

If you want to get a taste of the tour, check out this combo of live performance clips, behind-the-scenes footage, and artist interviews from the Playing For Change Band’s 5-city promotional tour earlier this year.

Additionally, the documentary film, Playing For Change: Peace Through Music is now available for purchase HERE and will ship on October 13th, should you be interested in watching how the PFC movement began.

The attack of the Asian black bear

by Brenda Yun on

A four-foot Asian black bear was shot dead after seriously injuring four tourists at a bus station in Takayama, in central Japan.

The male bear had wandered near the station and attacked a group of nine tourists who were waiting to take a bus to the nearby mountains in the region. Some workers trapped the bear in a souvenir shop. It was later shot down by officials.

Fortunately, Asian black bears are not known to attack humans, but are commonly found in the mountains surrounding Takayama. Takayama, located in Japan’s “Alps” in the mountainous Gifu region, is regarded as a city with rustic charm and attracts thousands of visitors seeking natural landscapes and relaxation.

September is considered high tourist season in Japan, as the weather is pleasant and cool.