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I was all hopped last week when an episode our family remembers as “the Beatniks from Outer Space” finally showed up on Twilight Zone re-runs. It’s as wacky and far out as I remembered.

Now comes word from the Museum of Flight that the Association of Space Explorers is having its 21st annual Planetary Congress in Seattle from September 15 – 19, 2008.

Coincidence? I think not.

All week, space travelers (astronauts, cosmonauts and, no doubt, a few “beatniks”) will be on hand to talk about the status of space programs around the world and the challenges to the human body made by those long spaceflights.

Categories: Events, Museums
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Kelli Grant wrote a lovely article for Smart Money about my favorite topic: what to do when you’re stuck at the airport. She was nice enough to include a few quotes from me in her story.

The bottom-line message from me and pretty much everyone else she spoke with is that there’s no need to just sit around: “airports now offer upgraded amenities and swanky new terminals, which not only provide added revenue, but also serve to soothe frazzled travelers.”

Categories: Other Resources
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Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW’s) officially opens its new North Terminal on Wednesday, September 17^th (2008) with 35 brand new shops and restaurants, including a few “firsts” and special features.

Here’s a preview:

Look for the first airport locations for the Earl of Sandwich and Ruby Tuesday restaurant as well as the first branded Sports Illustrated retail store, which will have electronic kiosks for accessing sports information and sell branded merchandise of the area’s professional (Red Wings, Tigers, Pistons, Lions) and college (Michigan State University and the University of Michigan) teams.

Sports – and film – fans might also enjoy the Hockeytown Café, which will pay tribute to Detroit’s hockey history, and the Legends Bar, which will feature art glass panels that honor great heroes of Detroit such as Joe Lewis, and Gordie Howe – as well as Golden Era of Hollywood figures like Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo and more.

In addition to food courts, delis, news stand and gift shops, the new North Terminal will also have a Brookstone store, Zoom vending ‘stores’ stocked with electronic items and accessories, and a branch of XpresSpa, offering massages and reflexology services, as well as salon treatments such as manicures, pedicures, facials, and waxing.

Here’s a link to a readable version of the terminal map below.

Categories: Openings
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The Pope has popped over to France to commemorate the 150th anniversary of St. Bernadette’s vision of the Virgin Mary.

Lots of folks are pretty excited about this trip, including the folks at Air France. That’s because on Saturday and Monday (September 13th and 15th, 2008) Air France will be transporting Pope Benedict XVI to Lourdes and then flying him home to Rome.

For the event, the airline has rearranged an Airbus A321 with 3 cabins for the Pope, his delegation, and the more than 70 journalists going along for the ride.

Air France says the crew – two pilots and eight flight attendants – will change on each flight, so that the largest number of staff will get to travel with the Pope.

Here’s the itinerary: on Saturday September 13th, the aircraft will take off from Paris-Orly at 4:30 pm and land at Lourdes-Tarbes at 5:50 pm. On Monday September 15th, the aircraft will depart from Lourdes at 1 pm to reach Rome-Ciampino 1 hour and 50 minutes later.

This isn’t the first time a Pope has flown on Air France: Jean Paul II took two flights on an Air France Airbus A310. In September 1996, he travelled from Reims to Rome, after commemorating the 1,500^th anniversary of the baptism of Clovis, and from Paris to Rome in August 1997, after the World Youth Day held in France.

Categories: Celebrities, Events
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It’s the seventh anniversary of the September 11, 2001 tragedy.

In addition to our individual remembrances and those taking place in various communities, airports around the country are marking the date.

Earlier this week, Boston Logan International Airport 9/11 Memorial was unveiled. The 2.5 acre “Place of Remembrance” honors the crew and passengers of the two hijacked Boston flights with a large glass sculpture encasing two glass panels etched with the names of the passengers and crew of each flight.

(Photo: Massport)

Across the country, at Los Angeles International Airport(LAX), the 26 lighted Gateway Pylons on Century Boulevard were lit in red, white and blue beginning at 12:01 am, today, September 11, 2008. They will remain lit until 12:01 am Friday, September 12th.

Boston Logan Airport and LAX are tragically linked to each other, and to the 9/11 attacks.

Two of the four hijacked planes were originally heading for LAX from Boston. A third flight was heading for LAX from Washington, D.C.

• 92 people died when American Airlines Flight 11, bound from Boston to Los Angeles, crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center;
• 65 people died when United Airlines Flight 175, bound from Boston to Los Angeles, crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center;
• 64 people died when American Airlines Flight 77, from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, crashed into the Pentagon;
• 45 people died when United Airlines Flight 93, bound from Newark to San Francisco, crashed in rural southwest Pennsylvania.

Categories: Events
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