You meet all sorts of kindred souls here on the Internet -and on Twitter!  That’s where I crossed paths with Daniel Incandela who, like me, spends a lot of time in airports, on airplanes, and at museums.

Incandela works at the Indianapolis Museum of Art as the Director of New Media and he pointed me to this wonderful essay on the museum’s blog by Patrick Smith of AskthePilot.com.

Smith’s Jetliner as Art essay includes this great passage:

In the second grade, my two favorite toys both were Boeing 747s. The first was an inflatable replica – similar to one of those novelty balloons you buy at parades – with rubbery wings that drooped in such violation of the real thing that I taped them into position. To a nine year-old the toy seemed enormous, almost like my own personal Macy’s float. Second was a plastic plane about twelve inches long, with rubber wheels. Like the balloon, it was decked out in the livery of Pan Am, and even carried the name and registration of the airline’s flagship jumbo, Clipper America. One side of the fuselage was transparent, made of clear polystyrene through which an entire interior, row-by-row, could be viewed. The blue and red pastels of the tiny chairs is something I can still picture exactly.

(You can read the entire Jetliner as Art essay here.)

Incandela takes a lot photographs of airports and of what he sees outside airplane windows. He’s posted a lot of those images on Flickr and has given me permission to use some of his images here on the Stuck at the Airport blog.  Which I will! THANKS!

(Photos courtesy Daniel Incandela)

Not sure if it’s a fair trade, but I was pleased to be able to point Daniel – and you – to the MOOM, the Museum of On-line Museums, which has some links to some great travel-related museum sites,  including the Stewardess Uniform Collection, Big Things of Canada and the Motel Sign Museum.

Categories: Art, Museums
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There are plenty of cool, under $10 souvenirs to be found in the shops at Detroit  Metropolitan Airport (DTW).

But if you’re after something truly unusual, check out the airport’s on-line auction.

Sadly, you missed your chance to pick up this chainsaw, which came with a lovely carry case.  Unlike the 1992 Chevrolet GMT -400 ambulance currently up for auction, the 18″ Troy Bilt Model 42cc was not surplus property, but an abandoned item that ended up in the Lost & Found.

Up for adoption now: a 1990 Ford Econoline van, a variety of other vehicles, and an intriguing assortment of airline ticket printers and readers.

Not interested in any of this stuff? Keep checking back. The airport authority plans to expand its offerings to include computers and office equipment, fine and costume jewelry, watches, construction equipment and other specialty airport equipment.

Categories: Souvenirs
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Hong Kong International Airport offers travelers free wireless Internet access.

Now, with the installation of five free power poles, everyone can recharge all their gadgets for free and access the Internet even they don’t have a laptop with them.

According to this article, each pole is equipped with a 22-inch LCD monitor and a computer unit and outfitted with two power socket outlets and four USB ports.

Free Wi-Fi and free charging poles are great.  But the airport also has a nine-hole golf course, an aviation discovery center, a game zone with sports simulators, and lots of other entertaining ways to spend your time when you’re stuck at the airport.

Categories: Power Outlets, Wi-Fi
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Heading to the airport this holiday weekend? Check to make sure you’re up on the latest changes.

Shoes out of the bin, buddy!

Like what? Well, the TSA has decided that you still need to take off your shoes and send them through the X-ray machine, but now those shoes need to ride on the belt on their own, outside of the plastic bin.  Got that?

There are other changes to make note of. Some are good, some are bad and, as I outlined in my Well Mannered Traveler column this week on MSNBC.com, some are just plain wacky.  Here’s what I mean:

No Kiss ‘n Drop tax; for now

In April, London’s Luton Airport announced that it would soon be charging a fee for the privilege of dropping passengers off outside the terminal. That “Kiss ‘n Fly” tax is now on hold.

(O’Hare Airport has a Kiss n’ Fly drop-off spot with a free shuttle)

Ryanair’s “let just say everyone’s fat” tax

Ryanair was going to institute a large-passenger charge, but instead decided to just go ahead and charge everyone a new fee.  Print out your boarding pass before you go to the airport and you’ll pay a fee of about $5.  Forget to print out your boarding pass before you get to the airport and pay a much fatter fee of close to $60.  Ouch.

Loads of reasons to lighten your load

You’ll soon pay an extra fee on United and US Airways if you don’t go on-line and pre-pay the charge to check your luggage.  And Air Jamaica will soon begin taking your money for checking a second bag, but in return only promise to deliver it within seven days.

Pillows, snacks, fee-waivers, refunds, and perhaps a marriage proposal

There’s  some good news. Experts predict that on-line travel booking agencies will continue to waive booking fees. Air Canada may bring free pillows back.  And JetBlue is extending the “Lose your job, get your money back” program through the end of the year.

There’s more.  To find out about matchmaking flights and on-board weddings, see my Well Mannered Traveler column this week on MSNBC.com.

Categories: Fees, Free Stuff
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(JUPITER  -  Photo: Travis Rector (U. Alaska Anchorage), Chad Trujillo and the Gemini Altair Team, NOAO / AURA / NSF.)

This is the International Year of Astronomy, recognizing the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s use of a telescope to study the heavens.

So it’s appropriate that Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and the Alder Planetarium have teamed up to host an exhibit that’s out of this world.

From Earth to the Universe is a collection of more than 50 astronomical images, including planets, comets, starts, nebulae and galaxies.  It’s on view in the pedestrian walkway tunnel near the O’Hare CTA Blue Line station.

The exhibit, which is put together by NASA, also makes use of  Microsoft’s new mobile phone technology, Tag, which allows viewers with an Internet enabled mobile camera phone to photograph the bar code on each image and get information about that image from a special mobile website.

THE FIREWORKS GALAXY
18 million light-years
Photo –  R. Boomsma, T. Oosterloo,  F. Fraternali,  R. Sancisi, M.J.
van der Hulst

Categories: Art, History
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