No this doesn't feature Kiefer Sutherland.

We really like what Concierge.com has done with their 24 Hours In - video series. They really give you a great glimpse of things in a particular area, or city that leaves one wanting more.

Twenty-Four Hours In Paris is a great example. In just a short seven minutes, we are taken from viewing Pont de Bir-Hakeim, with its view of the Eiffel Tower, to The Latin Quarter, Rue Mouffetard Market, Notre Dame de Paris, The Louvre, and many other familiar sights, including the Eiffel Tower. 

As quickly as it can be done, this video shows us shopping, dining, markets and night life. In that short time, museums, gourmet dining, romance, and gardens are viewed, and Paris, one of Europe's most innovative cities, is on display.

Although we don't recommend trying to see Paris in seven minutes, this is a great sample of one place that should be seen in person.

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The photo comes from the blog Barcelona Daily Photo developed by Irredento Urbanita. About the photo, he says, "While I was walking I took this photo. It's not perfect, that's the reason I uploaded. Batlló House." (Mientras estaba caminando tomé esta foto. No es perfecta, por éso la subí. Casa Batlló.)

We're glad he did. Take a look at some of the other great photos, featuring the people and places of one Europe's great cities, Irredento has shared at his site. 

The party's over. As of today, Southwest Airlines says it will be unable accept free drink coupons without expiration dates. SWA first mentioned this a year ago, but now -- they gave us year to use the old coupons -- the expiration day is finally here.

In the future, Southwest says the coupons for free adult beverages will "expire one year from the last day of the month in which the coupons are issued. To explain: When coupons are issued in November 2011, the expiration will be November 30, 2012."

It's a sign of the times. Southwest, like all other business, had "to find ways to operate smarter" since "watching the bottom-line is more important than ever." 

Southwest said in an August 2010 announcement, "We've reached a point where being so flexible with drink coupons has put us in a position of having far too many in circulation."

"To help purge the system of these excess coupons, we will start enforcing expiration dates on coupons over the course of the next year," Southwest added in its statement from a year ago.

Looking at the bright side, at least this should prolong the advantage of "bags fly free". But you can't drink a bag!

Now -- where's our 1983 inflatable Shamu plane?

From the fine folks at This vs That, created by Jon Hotchkiss,  we are allowed to see the amazing Steffen Method for stuffing airplanes! Watching, you'll be amazed to see passengers taking their seats quickly and in an orderly fashion. 

Dr. Steffen's boarding method is significantly more effective at boarding passengers more quickly, than any other known boarding method. 

The method gets its name from American astrophysicist (figures) Jason Steffen who worked it out in 2008 ‘out of curiosity’ after getting stuck in a long line in the  departure lounge.

With the Steffen Method, passengers should board from the back (gasp), each taking a seat on every other row (OMG), starting with the  window seats first. (Thank you baby Jesus!)

It's a plan that should end a lot of wasted time and frustration.

Most airlines fill planes in blocks but the new technique did it in half the time. 

Our idea is faster, but it involves removing the seats, scuba gear, and a water slide!

Have any ideas of your own? Let's hear them.

As September rolls around, we remember those end of summers from the past, the beginning of new school years (offering a nice collection of holidays), and an end to some stifling hot days of summer. It also reminds us of a song from a long-running musical whose lyricist, Tom Jones,  started his days in the Texas Panhandle.

September also makes us think of cooler weather as Fall sets in, and turns towards winter. September is when we try to remember what it was like in Winter, and what it will be like this winter. Moreover, September makes us think of SNOW! SKIING! BOARDING! 

Are we prepared for our snow adventures? Are we ready for those skiing opportunities? What will we do different this year? What's our agenda, and what will we take, and how will we get there, and where will that be?

Too many questions! But here we offer a couple of suggestions, and information that might help you. Especially with the transportation of that cumbersome equipment you'll require. 

First, let's look at picking a ski or board bag. The folks at SpadOut.com will clue us in.

Second, since the bag is big enough to pack in three small children, let's do it right. Our friends, (lucky bastards that they are, being able to ski in summer months down in OZ) at Auski.com.au will lend a hand showing us how to stuff that stuff.

Who knows? Perhaps we'll see you skiing Japan this year with all of your ostrich friends? Until then, pray for snow!

Always something weird about people who would rather make fun of the possible danger around them. We suppose that's how famous last words come about.

Gee thanks Dr Ruth. And we're supposed to meet to two twenty-one-year-old blondes, at the Statue of Liberty around 10:00pm!

We have books. We can bring them over if you like!

OK JC, but you've got to do something about cockroaches and crab grass!

If people can be sorry about a major storm turning out to be somewhat less than predicted, we suppose there are some in government and media today, who are sorry.

Having been through several hurricanes, we know what was missed. And the greatest number of people  involved were lucky -- this time.

Was there some media hype? Of course! However, if your city, town, hamlet, or county has been directly impacted by Irene, you probably haven't noticed the hype. In fact, you've probably noticed water more than anything else. Lots of it!

Share some of your thoughts and experiences related to Irene below.

Today is Robin Leaches 70th birthday and we are wishing the man, who originally encouraged us to seek our champagne wishes and caviar dreams, a grand birthday today.

And so it starts with a couple of simple Tweets. One from us. One from them. It's a dichotomous relationship in Twitter Land, and the real world. Like the relationships between labor and management, or customer and staff.


Whether we're on vacation or not, short of the tips we leave behind for some, we often take for granted the personnel and staffers who tend to our needs. They make our lives simpler and more pleasurable. Additionally, in many cases, they make things safer. 

You know them. They're the wait staff, porters, attendants, housekeeping staff, and maintenance people. We leave our work behind, or at least hope to, and in the process of escaping, we enter their work world. If they do their jobs right, we will barely notice them. In fact, the times we do take notice is when they provide exceptionally good service, or extremely poor service. 

Poor service, you may have noticed, usually comes from those staffers who just aren't very happy with their work. There can be a couple of reasons for this. One could be that the staffer wouldn't be happy no matter what they were involved in. The second could be where work has become intolerable. The first has to do with personality. The second has to do with working conditions.  And that involves management.

We're certain any management type can understand what we're addressing here. They have seen good and bad service in their lives. They know the difference. They too, like everyone involved, want to be served by happy, beautiful, quality people -- no matter what. 

Just in case you're wondering about the quality, and beauty of Teamsters Local Union 31 members, the Rocky Mountaineer employees, just look at the article from Jenny Uechi, Managing Editor of The Vancouver Observer. A picture is worth a thousand words, and there are nine pictures there. (Sorry we missed that event!)

Final analysis: An employee lock out, in our opinion, is not a good negotiation strategy. It tends to irk those involved, customers included, and makes management look like something one would want to scrape off the bottom of a shoe.

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California's major airports supported LAX in its effort to bar the Hare Krishna religious group from collecting cash and now California’s supreme court agrees. California’s supreme court ruled that banning them from collecting donations in the airport was a reasonable security measure to protect harried passengers rushing to make travel connections. The group has been a fixture at the airport since 1974, but now :-( , no more.

In a ruling Justice Carlos Moreno said: “The problems posed by solicitations for the immediate receipt of funds that arise in any public place would be exacerbated in the often crowded and hectic environment of a large international airport.” YAY Carlos! 

The Hare Krishnas are still free to preach and distribute pamphlets on airport property, and to ask passengers to send in donations later by distributing self-addressed envelopes. Damn!

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, Krishna Baby! Goodbye. Woh - Oh - Woha!