Who Says Flying Isn't Fun Anymore

Was at Newark airport on Sunday on my way to the gate for my flight when over the P.A. the following was heard:

Attention, Continental Airlines is paging Darth Vader. Darth Vader, please meet your party at Gate 95. Darth Vader, please meet your party, Luke Skywalker, at Gate 95. Your flight for Star Wars is now boarding.

Perplexed faces were everywhere. More curious than amused as some public spaces such as airports use code names when alerting security personnel to an incident. This is what I thought might be happening as I assumed that airports had become devoid of humor. Perplexed turned to giggles as the next announcement followed only a few seconds later:

Attention, Continental Airlines is paging Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse, please meet your party at Gate 95. Mickey Mouse, please meet your party, Minnie Mouse, at Gate 95 for immediate boarding and departure to Orlando.

Quickies

There have been so many things I wanted to post recently, and I just never get a chance. Here are a few quickies.

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My wife was reading something to Molly, our 7-year old, that included the word "rheumatism." Betsy asked Molly if she knew what that word meant. Molly very proudly said, "Sure. It means having to do with being in your room."

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Saw the following license plate on a FedEx delivery truck: PLZNOTKT

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Boris Yeltsin died today. He always was so sickly, I just assumed he was already dead.

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I now know two people who have seen, on separate occasions, a man in Penn Station wearing a pink tutu.

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A couple of weeks ago there were news reports that Keith Richards had reportedly snorted a mix of cocaine and the ashes of his dead father's cremated remains. It was later denied by his publicist, but not before Richards mentioned that he was on the "Most Likely To Die" list for 10 years and was annoyed that he was taken off. Why does none of this surprise me?

More when I think of it.

Plain Jane Ain't So Plain

My friend, neighbor, and colleague Jane Seskin recently didn't retire. That is to say, Jane is someone who will never retire, but rather continue to start new chapters in her life.

In this new chapter, Jane has created a unique selection of cards. Please visit her website (also in my list of Fun Links on the right) and peruse the witty, profound, and charming selection. Even better, tell all your friends and relatives!

N'awlins

I'm here in New Orleans attending a conference. With 25,000 attendees, we're the largest group to come to NOLA post-Katrina, taking up just about every hotel room in town and filling all the restaurants. The city has been incredibly hospitable and thrilled to have us and our expense accounts.

I haven't seen any of the stricken areas (staying right between the French Quarter and the convention center), but the tales from everyone I speak to are universal. Whether they were directly affected or not, there is duality of sadness and resignation combined with a spirit of survival. While very different, it reminds me of New York post 9/11 when we were still reeling a bit but so very thankful for the visitors that came and spent their money after tourism had dropped off to zilch.

The town is still wonderfully charming with some of the best food and music in the universe. Come visit and spend your money here. It's for a good cause.

Oddcast

Check out the new entry under Fun Links for the Oddcast Text to Speech Demo. I've seen stuff like this before and they're used quite frequently with canned responses for customer service applications and the like. The demo, however, is particularly fun because not only can you type in whatever you want the app to say, but you can also choose one of several languages and one of several voices/accents. And her eyes follow your mouse around the screen too.

Typing in naughty bits are the most fun . . .

Rant Of The Day - iFines

It was reported in the news yesterday that New York City may soon impose fines on pedestrians who cross the street while listening to iPods or while busy typing away on Blackberrys. Apparently, there has been an increase in pedestrian accidents and deaths attributable to people not being aware of their surroundings.

I don't think there should be fines. As a matter of fact, I think we should encourage such behavior. After all, if you're stupid enough to be that oblivious while crossing the street, then Darwin's Law should rule and you should be culled from the pack.

If we're going to do something about distractors, how about getting people to stop using cell phones - whether handsfree or not - while driving. I've seen too many people driving like idiots while engaged in conversation and in those cases, while Darwin's Law should again rule, the fact of the matter is that while driving a car you are likely to injure another or take someone else's life at the same time. That wouldn't be fair.

Maui Ain't Getting Much Better

Last we saw our hero, he was waiting for the car rental company to show up . . .

Well they did, and that was about the only thing that went right on Monday.

That afternoon was the only time I had set aside to do something fun on the island. I had hoped to catch the luau at my hotel which is supposed to be the best one on the south coast (I didn't want to go to the most famous one in Lahaina because I didn't want to have to drive back after possibly having some festive beverages). It is only offered Thursday through Monday so this was my only night to catch it. I enquired as to the start time, and found out that I would not make it back from the 2-hour whale watching trip I had booked for that afternoon.

Greased up with sunscreen, put the polarizing filter on my new fancy-shmancy telephoto zoom lens, and drove up a half-hour north for the whale-watching cruise. Had a few minutes before I had to check-in, so checked my voicemail in the office. The whale-watching organization had called just a few minutes before, leaving a message that all cruises had been cancelled due to the weather.

Not my luck on this trip so far. I thought, however, that I would salvage the evening by now being able to get back to the hotel in time to catch the luau. Went back to the hotel, went up to the front desk to sign-up for the luau - told that it's sold out.

Not my day.

Have been working ever since, which is just fine because the weather has been very windy, on the cool side, and rainy. High surf warnings have closed most of the beaches in the whole island chain. Forecast for the duration of my trip is pretty much the same, except for heavier rain tomorrow - the day I leave.

Supposedly, one can see the whales from the beach right in front of the hotel. I looked. They're not there. Either that or they're hiding.

The good news - I love my client and they love me. When I had to make a presentation to the entire staff who had gathered in a huge meeting room, they introduced me and then presented me with a beautiful lei made from kukui nuts and leaves from the state tree. Perhaps there will be another chance to come back sometime in the future.

Aloha and mahola for reading.