I came across this video last week from Canadian anthropologist Felix Pharand. He spent 13 years making this 3 minute animation that illustrates every road, shipping lane, and flight path on earth.
You can read more about the project here and view a narrated version at vimeo.com/anthropocene/shortfilm.
I don’t fly Delta very often, but when I do I always enjoy the flight: I like that they serve Coke Zero and I’m a big fan of their Biscoff cookie.
Something else I enjoy, in a weird sort of way, is their safety video. If you’re a Delta flyer, then you’ll know what I’m talking about, and if you’re not familiar with the video….well, it’s not easy to describe. Take a look:
The woman is Delta flight attendent Katherine Lee, otherwise known as Deltalina to her many Delta fans. She looks like a super model and she’s able to deliver the line “A water evacuation is also unlikely, but just in case” so pleasantly, that touching down the ocean sounds like fun. Not surprisingly, the video has a cult like following among the Delta Points types.
I’m a fan too.
I was skimming through Google reader the other day and happend to see this thread in the Delta forum at FlyerTalk:
My reaction? Say it isn’t so!!!
The first time I saw this video I was struck by how bizarre it is; it’s like watching a David Lynch film. There are all these little odd and memorable moments. Ignoring it isn’t easy, and it’s hard not to like. Here are a few of the details I always notice:
Premium class passenger tapping his toe.
Red exit lights: The second rule of surviving a robot uprising teaches us to beware the glowing, red eyes. There’s something a little unsettling by the way the red light activate, especially with the music. If the plane goes down in water, then it might be a fight to get the floating seat cushion away from the seat.
You’re reminded to keep your seatbelt fastened, and there’s even a little turbulence in this scene. The guy looking up at the “fasten seat belt sign” has the classic disaster movie expression on his face. Maybe his fellow passengers should be more concerned.
The life vest.
And then there’s “The Sparkle”. A little bit of humor in this odd spot, or an odd bit of humor in a little spot.
And now, the two most memorable scenes in the video,
Exit rows:
And the climax: Smooooking is noooooot alloooowed!
It’s hard to imagine any sequel being as good is this.
The annual Lyrid meteor shower peaks tonight. The best time to watch will be very early in the morning on Sunday, just an hour or two before dawn. From Earth and Sky:
Since it’s radiant point – the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to radiate – is fairly far north, it’s better seen from the Northern Hemisphere than from the southern part of Earth’s globe. With no moon to ruin the show, 2012 is the time to watch the Lyrids. Sometimes, the Lyrids can surprise you by producing several times the usual number of meteors – but you never know.
If you don’t have a view from your location, or if you’d rather not venture outside, you can watch the showers with NASA’s All Sky Camera Network of video cameras set up at 11 observatories around North America.
NASA is also hosting a live chat tonight, and meteor experts Dr. Bill Cooke, Danielle Moser and Rhiannon Blaauw from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center will be on hand to answer any meteor related questions until 5 AM Sunday morning.
Hope you have a view tonight. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
I’m taking a break from the usual talk about points and miles to share some good news that will be of interest to many Boarding Area readers.
Please welcome Baby Weekly Flyer!
Blogger, and now first-time Dad, The Weekly Flyer from over at Points, Miles & Martinis, tells me that he, Mrs. Weekly Flyer, and their new arrival have been home for a few days and that they’re all doing well.
That kind of news is better than any old mileage promotion.
Congratulations to mother, father, and baby!
Photo: The Baby’s Room – photographs found in a 1930s photo album
Credit: Karen Horton on Flickr
I’m still getting caught up with my news feeds and found something that has absolutely nothing to do with AAdvantage Miles, but I thought you might find it interesting. The Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, AZ set a record last week by flying the world’s largest paper airplane.
The museum sponsored a paper airplane contest back in January, and the 45′ long, 800 pound plane was based on the winning entry submitted by 12-year-old Arturo Valdenegro. The plane flew over the Arizona desert for just 10 seconds, but that was good enough for it to land in the record books.
You can read more about it here.
The Micro Luggage suitcase from Micro Mobility Systems in Germany combines the function of a scooter with a suitcase (I guess you could call it a scootcase).
It’s probably especially useful when you’re faced with a tight connection and you have to transfer between distantly separated gates.
From the product catalog:
Watch it in action:
Via The Book of Joe
This isn’t AAdvantage related, but I thought you might find it interesting.
Colin Marshall hosts and produces the podcast Notebook on Cities and Culture, and in between his twice weekly podcast, he manages to discover some fascinating, but overlooked, internet videos and write about them over at Open Culture.
Among his recent video finds were some vintage Pan Am films that were produced in the 1960 and 70s for the purpose of promoting international travel.
He writes:
ABC’s period drama Pan Am may have come to an end two weeks ago, but if you look hard enough, you can still find a few Pan American World Airways-inspired media.
Back in the sixties and seventies, at the height of the long heyday that would cement its place in the lore of Cold War American culture, the airline commissioned New Horizons, a series of ten- to fifteen-minute documentaries on their various exotic destinations.
Eleven of these short subjects have surfaced on YouTube, so you, too, can feel the midcentury aspirational thrill of motoring across the rolling Irish countryside in a powder-blue Austin-Healey, handling creatures snatched fresh from the sea floor by a Fijan diver, or gazing upon Sydney‘s imposing new modernist apartment complexes.
Here’s a look at one of the films: New Horizons: Ireland, 1960
To view them all, go over to Open Culture read about the other Pan Am films that he’s managed to locate.
My favorite domestic flights are those on American’s Boeing 767s between New York and San Francisco.
One of the reasons I like them, is that I think that they offer a great opportunity to use some of your AAdvantage Miles and maximize your redemption value when you upgrade to first or business class from a deeply, discounted ticket.
For 15,000 miles and a $75 co-pay you can upgrade to the next class of service. It’s almost a six hour flight, and the one-way fare difference between the cheapest coach fares and first or business class is often between $1,500 and $2,200, so you’ll “earn” about 10 cents of travel value per mile.
Unless you’re traveling internationally, it’s a challenge to get that kind of return on your miles. You’d be hard pressed to redeem 12,500 on a domestic MileSAAver award and earn more than 2 – 5 cents per mile, so the mileage upgrade is a pretty good deal. And did I mention that it’s a six hour flight?
Between JFK and San Francisco, American uses two-class configured 767-300s and three class configured 767-200s.
My preference is business class on the 767-200.
Most people would probably prefer the larger, first class seat on the 767-300, but on the 3 cabin 767-200, American offers wifi and their Transcontinental Flagship Service.
Aside from the wireless internet and watching movies on the complimentary Samsung Galaxy tablets, American’s Flagship Service is like a throwback to another era in domestic air travel: printed menus with enhanced dining options, a long wine list, and made to order ice cream sundaes.
I’m fond of it for nostalgic reasons.
I guess that I’m a history geek.
And it’s for this reason, that on this route I never fail to think about, and appreciate, the fact that I’m able to make the journey between these two cities, across this huge continent, over immense plains, and the Rocky and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, in just a few hours.
It’s a shocking accomplishment of human effort that in 160 years we went from stagecoach to an airline offering four flights a day.
So Sunday I was traveling on AA 179 and enjoying the flight (thanks to Henri and the great crew) and I started to think about all this. And out of curiosity, I did a little research.
Here’s how long it took to make the trip from New York City to San Francisco throughout the years:
Chart: Travel time from New York City to San Francisco
• Back in 1876, the Transcontinental Express made a publicity run to demonstrate the speed of travel along the first transcontinental railroad.
• In 1929, Transcontinental Air Transport (which would go on to become TWA) introduced a hybrid of rail service and Ford Tri-Motors to transport passengers from New York and San Francisco in just 48 hours.
• And from this page in a 1953 American Airlines System Timetable, there’s an express flight with only two stops (one in Chicago and another in Los Angeles) before completing the 12 hour and 25 minute journey in a Douglas Aircraft DC-7. This was the last turbo prop large, piston engine, propeller-driven aircraft to be added to the American Airlines fleet. The next big order for aircraft happened just a few years later when American ordered the Boeing 707.
• And then there was my trip Sunday, on American Airlines Flight 179, a big 767-200: 5 hours and 51 minutes.
If I could travel back in time so that I could travel back in time, my first stop would be 1929…..I’d love to take a ride in a Tri-Motor.
In the 1970s, American Airlines flight attendants would give out free AstroComics to kids on their flights.
The comic books featured well known Harvey Comics characters Casper the Friendly Ghost, Wendy the Witch, Richie Rich as well as some of the lesser known ones like Little Audrey, and Dot.
Anyway, this was back before the days of $2 headphones ( and deregulation), but in a world of Angry Birds and iPads, the idea of kids reading comics books seems as quaint as the idea of an airline giving them out.
What really seems antiquated is the “Story of you Stewardess” from the “All About Your Flight Crew” section of each comic book.
(Proving that no detail is too unimportant for this blog) If your name is Tom Horton (and you’re not the CEO of American Airlines), I’ve got some bad news and some good news.
First, the bad news: If you were planning to use your name with your own website, you’re out of luck.
Earlier this month American registered TomHorton.com. According to Domain Wire, they paid about $1,000 for it.
Now the good news: American’s PR firm registered TomHortonSucks.com, so at least you won’t have to worry about your brother-in-law using the domain to post embarrassing photos of you.
