Here’s my ‘bonus’ At the Airport column on USAToday.com this week: a round-up of some of the holiday entertainment and special offers at airports this holiday season.

Even if everything goes according to schedule, getting to and through the airport can be a real headache during the hectic holiday travel season.To ease the stress and help keep passengers in good spirits, many airports offer holiday entertainment, promotions and contests as well as discount offers at shops and restaurants throughout the terminals.

Here’s a taste of what’s on tap for this holiday season.

The LAX TSA choir - really!

For more, keep your smartphone handy when you travel: Many performances and special offers are still rolling out on airport websites and some events are being posted exclusively on airport Facebook pages and Twitter feeds.

Prizes and promotions

This year it may pay to save some cash – and room in your carry-on – for last-minute holiday shopping at the airport.

San Antonio International Airport’s (SAT) coupon campaign is available online and will be printed on boarding passes. Those with smartphones need only show the coupon on their phones to a participating vendor to use the offer. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is also offering discounts to travelers who use their smartphones to scan barcodes on signs throughout the airport.

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport’s Holiday edition of the Eat, Shop, Relax guide runs through December 31 and includes more than 80 coupons for some of MSP’s most popular restaurants, shops and services.

At New York’s LaGuardia Airport, travelers can print out or download a coupon good through January 2, 2012 for 20% off an item in a participating store or restaurant in the Central Terminal Food & Shops program.

And, as part of one of the holiday promotions taking place at Boston Logan International Airport this season, travelers are invited to write and submit a letter to Santa in the St. Nick Send Me to St. Thomas contest, which has as first prize a trip for four to St. Thomas.

Decorations, music and more

Most airports have holiday decorations strung up, but Fresno Yosemite International Airport is once again hosting a display of eleven uniquely decorated Christmas trees. This year’s theme is “An Airport Christmas…non-stop adventure” and each tree will be decorated to highlight one of the airport’s non-stop destinations.

At the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, “the holiday decorations are up and the children will be singing and dancing,” reports airport spokesperson Allan Siegel. The airport is getting ready to host its 23nd Annual Winter Festival of Music. From December 12 through December 16th, more than 1,200 children from various Broward County elementary, middle and high schools will be performing throughout the airport terminals.

The seasonal Choral Concert Program is already underway at Pittsburgh International Airport. Performances take place on the pre-security ticketing level of the Landside Terminal and feature choirs and orchestras from local schools and community groups and runs through December 22nd. A series of early morning (6:30 am to 8:30 am) piano concerts continues through December 30th.

TSA spokesperson Nico Melendez confirms that at Los Angeles International Airport, the LAX TSA choir is scheduled to perform December 20th at Terminal 4 and December 22nd in the public area of the international terminal.

Appearances by Santa are expected at a several airports, including Philadelphia International Airport, where Santa will be strolling through the airport and stopping to pose for pictures through Christmas Eve. PHL also promises passengers Victorian carolers, visits from Philadelphia’s famous Mummers, music performances, dance troupes and other entertainment.

Karaoke at the Houston Airport

Nashville International Airport will fill five stages with holiday-themed performances by the Cremona Strings Ensemble, the Pattie Cossentino Jazz Quartet, The Nashtones, Freeplay, The Billie Gaines Band and others through December 22nd and, each Wednesday and Friday through December 23rd, San Francisco International Airport’s ‘You are Hear’ program will be offering holiday-entertainment at stages located post-security in Terminals 2 and 3 and pre-security in the International Terminal. On Friday, December 23rd, the Golden Gate Bell Ringers return for a performance in the International Terminal.

At Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, a storybook-costumed character will read to children at the Red Balloon Bookshop (near Gate C12) December 22-23 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., on the hour and half-hour.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, which offers 15 live music performances each week throughout the year, has a holiday festival line-up (December 19 through 22) that includes Bishop Sterling Lands, the Judy Lee Dancers (tap-dancers 60 and older), the Austin Jazz Workshop and the Austin Square & Round Dancers.

Passengers (and some airport employees) will help provide the entertainment this year at two airports: Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport opens the mikes for airport karaoke on December 19th and Detroit Metro Airport’s karaoke event takes place December 19-22. “It’s been a big hit in past years, and we look forward to another great week of filling the concourse with the talent of travelers and airport team members while also collecting contributions for a great cause! [the Salvation Army],” said airport spokesperson Scott Wintner.

And, beginning at 6 am on December 23rd, travelers will be serenaded by the Full Measure Carolers and the Rockin’ Cranberries at the San Diego International Airport.

Categories: Air Travel, Entertainment, Holidays
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To the dismay of the mayor of Indianapolis, many local citizens, much of the arts community in Indiana and beyond and, most of all, artist James Wille Faust, on Monday night workers removed Faust’s site-specific work, Chrysalis, from its prominent spot over the main escalators at Indianapolis International Airport.

Chrysalis had been made for and installed in the airport’s new passenger terminal back in 2008, as part of the $4 million collection of permanent public art work that had been commissioned for the building from 17 artists and six poets.

But at IND airport, “permanent” doesn’t seem to mean what we thought. Faust’s work is to be replaced by what the airport calls an “innovative LED video wall … that will feature video-based artworks and commercial advertising.”

The video wall, to be installed in time for holiday travel, will be 22 feet wide and 7.5 feet tall and, in addition to advertising, will feature a video art series put together by curators from the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

According to a release from the airport, in its first year, the On Screen art program will feature Perm Press: The American Cycle (2011), a video by Indianapolis-based artist Artur Silva that runs about a minute and includes images of Abraham Lincoln and other American icons. A project by New York-based Nina Katchadourian called Seat Assignment (2011) will follow.

In a statement, airport authority CEO John Clark said the removal of Chrysalis and the installment of the video wall was a decision made in part “to remain competitive and support our goal of being the airport system of choice.”

But many local residents, including Indianapolis mayor Greg Ballard, were disappointed in the decision.

“Mayor Ballard has long believed and publicly stated that visitors to our city should be welcomed by a high profile display of public art,” said Mark Lotter of the mayor’s office.

Faust also issued a statement that said in part, “We believe this defiant and perceived underhanded action speaks for itself.”

Categories: Art
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Staying shower-fresh and stain-free when you’re on the road can be challenging.

Especially for air travelers who must snooze sitting up and squeeze a week’s worth of cleansing lotions and cosmetic potions into those tiny, zippered, see-through baggies.

Sponge-baths in public restroom sinks can be awkward so, for a story on msnbc.com, I rounded up an assortment of travel-sized products that may come in handy next time you or your favorite road warrior is creased, crinkled or stinky and away from home.

Paper showers and public restroom survival kits

Moist towelettes can be lifesavers when your hands – or the tray table and the armrests on the airplane – are sticky and full of germs. For bigger jobs, there’s the Paper Shower, a two-part packet with a wet side containing a paper towel dipped in alcohol-free soap and skin moisturizers and a second, super-absorbent towel on the dry side to remove what the wet portion leaves behind.

These days you can find all manner of travel-sized soaps, shampoos, toothpastes and hand sanitizers in drugstores but “at the request of several self-proclaimed germaphobes,” Paul Shrater said his company, Minimus.biz,  put together the Public Restroom Survival Kit,, which is stocked with travel-sized packets of toilet seat covers, disinfecting wipes, surface cleaners and toilet paper.

In the on-line cleaning supplies aisle Minimus.biz offers travel-sized odor eliminators and bed bug spray and, elsewhere on the site, Shrater finds that “Travel-sized Febreze and Lysol tend to be very popular.”

Lip-stick sized deodorants and no-brush tooth polish

Over at 3Floz.com (“For those who travel, those who are curious and those who can’t commit”) bestsellers among the personal care travel items include Beze Deodorettes, which are lipstick-sized mini-deodorants that fit into a purse or a pocket, and Supersmile Quikee, a pocket-sized no brush/no rinse tooth polish.

And for those who like to kick off their shoes on the airplane, but are self-conscious about the smell, there are Silver Linings, ultra-thin shoe inserts made with silver to absorb bacterial odor.

Of course, out on the road it’s not just people who get grimy. “For well-traveled smartphones we have cellphone cleaning wipes,” said Minimus.biz’s Shrater. “They’re called Celly Smellys and are a popular and interesting curiosity.”

Categories: Bathrooms, Design, Travel Gadgets
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Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is presenting a new exhibit titled:

Sharon Taffet: Fanciful Footwear.

“…[I]nspired by Philadelphia author Jennifer Weiner, who wrote ‘In Her Shoes,’ Taffet began to create a series of embellished, one-of-a-kind footwear. Using only a single shoe or boot – never working with pairs – she thematically decorates and adorns them with fun items such as costume jewelry, feathers, artificial fruit and foliage, shells, candy, playing cards and dice. Decorated with a variety of different textures, patterns and colors, a regular store-bought shoe is transformed into a sculptural work of art. Each shoe is fanciful and whimsical and provides viewers with a decorative delight.”

Sharon Taffet: Fanciful Footwear will be on display in Terminal D through February 2012.

Categories: Art
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It’s Souvenir Sunday – when we take a a look at some of the souvenirs you can pick up when you’re stuck at the airport.

This week’s souvenirs come from San Francisco International Airport, where the Brookstone store has modern-day versions of Pan Am travel items;

Where several newsstands carry flight attendant-themed doll sets;

And where a new shop called Destination Green offers these cute pink (‘green’) cars that Barbie might covet.

Categories: Airports, Shopping, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs
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