Blogs

Jason Reitman's Thank You For Smoking :

"Nick Naylor, chief spokesman for Big Tobacco, makes his living defending the rights of smokers and cigarette makers in today's neo-puritanical culture. Confronted by health zealots out to ban tobacco and an opportunistic senator who wants to put poison labels on cigarette packs, Nick goes on a PR offensive, spinning away the dangers of cigarettes.

Chatta..What? It's Chattahoochee River, the river I grew up near. In Atlanta no one would blink if you said you went to Chattahoochee River this weekend and plan to go to Lake Allatoona the next. But this same sentence has made me a victim of saliva sprays. We won't say who. Returning to Atlanta briefly last fall, I had to visit the park where I once made booby traps. I was really pleased to see that they now have a boat rental center. Of course I had to give it a try. You pay about USD25.00/hour and, trust me, an hour of moving yourself around in circles can be quite tiring.

Well ... being the ignorant bunny I am, I foolishly asked my assorted audience what the Eleventh Commandment was. When Debbie and Gert stopped with their laughter they mentioned 'The 10 Commandments' and it all came flooding back to me ... too late. My facesaving thought of 'Thou shall drink' was stated by Gert and I went back to my writing. Debbie, an old friend from England is over and saving me from madness brought on by being an in process immigrant. But better still, she understands almost every word that I say, even a mumbled mocking. She has even gone so far as explaining the structural linguistic faults in my Kiwi speak ... 'all my 'i's' sound like 'e's' and my 'e's' sound like 'i's'. Of course she's exaggerating however it does explain the Pole and Romanian on the floor laughing over my pronunciation of Brad Pitt ... apparently I said Bread Pet. I doubt this.

Just back from less than ideal experiences with not-so-good ol' Continental Airlines, this article caught my attention: "F.A.A. Says Small-Jet Air Taxi Era Is at Hand".

"Thousands of tiny passenger jets will soon begin flying,... which will open up travel opportunities at small airports, and perhaps eventually gum up the air traffic control system... [This] new class of small planes, called very light jets, or microjets, with only 6 to 8 seats...

A good friend and colleague recently asked for "anniversary in Italy/France" pointers, and I was only too happy to oblige. In fact, I gushed: "I'd be psyched to give you guys some suggestions, and, well, I'd also be happy to come along if you feel the need for a pocket translator slash food/wine taster! What better way to celebrate an anniversary than a third wheel?!?!"

Two days after sending him the email, still no response, so I guess that's a resounding "No, thanks." Anyway, I figured the thoughts might help out some of you as well. The circumstances are a little particular (visit Italy via France and build in a stay on Cápri, but maybe you'll find something helpful. Here's the email... As for Cápri (principle destinations are Anacápri, Marina Grande and Cápri town), I've never been. My instinct is that your timing would be perfect, early season (end of May through middle of June), so not yet packed. The island has a reputation for being overcrowded and overpriced, so an almost pre-season visit would be advantageous. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start at the top and work our way down the map. I'll throw some ideas at you to help you scheme up the perfect trip and then you can get back to me for more dilated thoughts on anything that strikes you. Sound good? First of all, transportation. You said, "Can't do room bookings until we have dates nailed down for flights." Right. You also mentioned finding some of your best deals from Montreal. It sounds from your email like you're thinking of round tripping it to Paris? Or maybe just flying into Paris? Best flight prices will be Paris, Rome and Milan, and if you're thinking of a split ticket, then in to Paris and out of Rome or Milan seems like the obvious way to go. And Milan should have excess capacity by then (post winter Olympics) which means cheaper rates if you wanted to stay there for your final night. It's a great city, often overlooked by tourists.