The Titanic Awards

Megan Barnes, a 37-year-old woman in Florida, reportedly caused a car crash when she decided to shave her bikini area while behind the wheel.

She told authorities she was visiting her boyfriend and wanted to be “ready for the visit.”

Apparently, Barnes should not have had the wheel even without a razor. She has been convinced of a DUI the day before and had a suspended license.

(No Ratings Yet)

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View? None. It’s a converted bunker.  But it’s popular.

There are plenty of crapo hotel/hotels on the subcontinent and in Africa that would make this place look luxurious, but it’s  impressively low-end for Europe.

The Null Stern hotel near Zurich costs 6 pounds per night. Bed and no breakfast. But you get some ear plugs included to keep out the snoring from fellow guests in the communal rooms and a hot water bottle is available upon request.

(No Ratings Yet)

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Here’s a new one for rail travel: police don’t need to worry about their guns.

An Amtrak officer is suing the railroad, claiming it’s liable for a woman who grabbed his gun and shot him in the foot.

James Bullard, working at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station last March, got in line at McDonald’s (he wasn’t even on the train). While there, he tried to remove a disruptive woman from the restaurant. She grabbed his gun  and shot him in the foot.

You might think he’d sue McDonald’s. But Bullard is claiming that he had a worn-out gun holster and that Amtrak failed to provide a new one when he requested it. Perhaps he has a case.

(No Ratings Yet)

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Name Edward Hasbrouck
Who? Author of The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World, blogger at www.hasbrouck.org and travel agent guru.
Age 50
Countries Visited 54 (and hoping to keep that number higher than my age!)

Titanic Nominations
1. Worst Airline Emirates. Consistently incompetent and unhelpful staff at ticket counters
and sales offices on 4 continents.
2. Worst Toilet A hole in the ground behind our “hotel” in Tashkurgan, Chinese-occupied
East Turkestan, only partially screened from public view and blowing dust,
and surrounded by an ankle-breaking mound of rubble and refuse.
3. Worst Airport Dubai.  I was predisposed to dislike DXB (see my choice for Worst Airline), but it was worst than I imagined. Changing planes in the middle of the night, I want a place I can rest — not the cacophony of a shopping mall where I have to fight my way through crowds buying raffle tickets for luxury cars, or trip over rows of transit passengers sleeping on the floor for want of chairs.
4. Worst Inflight Meal (Domestic) Aeroflot: Bread and water.  (International) PIA.  Don’t ask, don’t tell.
5. Worst City for Driving Sana’a, Yemen. Deadly recklessness and unpredictability. Underpowered, ill-maintained vehicles with bad brakes and bald tires, and not enough pedestrians, bicycles, or animals to slow them down to a safer speed. (Runner-up: Townships in South Africa, where there are urban areas with more than a million people with few street signs and no maps, and where a wrong turn can put you at risk of robbery or carjacking.  Map Studio, the Rand McNally of South Africa, just published its first map to Soweto in time for the World Cup, and has none for any other township.)
6. Worst Car Rental Fox Rent-A-Car, LAX. Tried to charge me US$200 in damages because my car got a flat tire (while with the valet parkers at my hotel!), and referred their claim to a collection agency when I didn’t pay.

Stuck in an elevator for 45 minutes over 120 floors from the ground, people stranded on the observation deck, smoke, small explosion heard — suddenly that $110 immediate entry fee to take a lift to the top is starting to feel … well, adventurous.  Maybe they should capitalize — just play it up as adventure travel or extreme tourism. After all, the fee is on par with the cost of a bungy jump.  If they just make you sign a waiver and hand out parachutes, they might event be able to attract a higher-paying, more exclusive visitor.

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 10)

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The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest mall, which is just outside the world’s tallest building, has a showcase 10-millkion-liter aquarium with 33,000 living animals (over 400 sharks)) and boasts the world’s biggest single viewing panel (32.8m wide and 8.3m high). Much of that tank is now on the floor of the Dubai Mall after a crack flooded the mall.  The lower-ground and ground floor areas were cordoned off and cleaners were seen mopping the floor.Many shops are now repairing damages from the flooding.

(1 votes, average: 3.00 out of 10)

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A 19-year-old Ukranian tourist decided to clip down a 30 meter cliff on Sydney’s Manly beaches, then got stuck and passed out on a ledge.

He was spotted by a fisherman, who alerted rescuers.  And taxpayer money took care of the rest.

(1 votes, average: 10.00 out of 10)

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Poetic irony update: Spencer Tunick — noted for his mass public nude photos — arrived in Australia to find that his clothes didn’t make the trip with him. Only fitting if he’s forced to shoot the photo naked — for a change.

(1 votes, average: 1.00 out of 10)

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Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner was forced to land after one of its engines “lost thrust.”  Rather, it’s no problem to fly on one engine, but they thought it prudent to land anyway.

That’s why they’re testing it.  (After two years of setbacks.)

I’m sure Boeing will have things sorted out so they can keep selling them (840 orders so far for the 787 — the most ever)  and we can get back to worrying about lost luggage and if overweight passengers should be buying one seat or two.

(1 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)

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Make the wrong turn and you could spend all day circling this concrete plate of spaghetti.

(1 votes, average: 2.00 out of 10)

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A British Airways flight from Barcelona to London made an emergency landing after the pilot noticed a strange smell in the cockpit.

It became clear something was wrong when the pilot used the PA to summon a senior officer “immediately.” Then the cabin went dark and everyone began to panic just before landing back at Barcelona, 20 minutes after take-off.

The plane did manage to land safely.

(2 votes, average: 1.50 out of 10)

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Fish massage enthusiasts rejoice — all 3 of you.

The Eyre Peninsula’s aquaculture industry is now offering a unique experience.  Divers and snorkelers can immerse themselves in large schools of tens of thousands of fish which — thanks to fishing nets — offer a concentration that is impossible to find in the wild.

Each of these pens holds up to 25,000 yellowtail kingfish, which can reach more than two metres in length and weigh up to 65kg. Lacking a sense of space,  they rub against and swim straight into divers.  Other excited fish rapidly circle the pen, creating a whirlpool.

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Sure you can understand how Mitt Romney’s attacker was shown the door on the way back from Canada, but what about a doctor, who asked for a glass of water for his very pregnant wife? Hard to justify that one. The plane was grounded at La Guardia airport for two hours and he reportedly made several pleas for a glass of water for his wife.  That was apparently too much of a hassle, but it wasn’t too much of a hassle to boot him and his wife off the plane. Congrats Spirit Airways. That appears to be a new low in customer service.

(5 votes, average: 8.80 out of 10)

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Director Kevin Smith (self-described as “way fat”) was booted off a Southwest Airlines flight because of his size. The captain considered him a “flight risk.”

His 1.6 million Twitter followers could follow it minute by minute. Here’s what they read:  “Hey @SouthwestAir? F**k making it right for me just ’cause I have a platform. I sat next to a big girl who was chastised for not buying an extra ticket because “all passengers deserve their space.” F**king flight wasn’t even full! F**k your size-ist policy. Rude…”

Southwest gave him a $100 voucher for the hardship he endured.

(1 votes, average: 10.00 out of 10)

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Bought to you by the South African carrier Kulula, who hopes to use this design to “demystify air travel.” They’re calling the plane “Flying 101.” The pilot is “the big cheese” and the  toilet is labeled “Loo (or mile-high initiation chamber).”  As someone pointed out on Gadling’s website, if it ever crashes it will be easier to put back together.

(No Ratings Yet)

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Just  Italy needs: a pseudo-food American version of Italian cuisine.  Now Americans can go to Italy and get what they’ve so badly been missing.

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Sounds like a nice idea. An amphibious bus that can travel on water and roads. Sadly (or comically if you prefer) it  was grounded, less than an hour after it got wet.

The $1.5 million Dutch-made “amfibus” was being demonstrated for service between Renfrew and Yoker when things went pear shaped. Mechanics are hoping to have it swimming again by tomorrow.

In theory, it runs like a normal bus on land, but uses two water jets to carry 50 passengers at speeds up to eight knots in the water.

Check out the full story at TimesOnline here.

(3 votes, average: 5.67 out of 10)

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Australians are making a mark for themselves as creators of bold (or cheeky or raunchy) tourism campaigns.  Following on the heels of “Where the bloody hell are ya?!” and “”Cairns – Great Up Top, Fun Down Under,” Queensland’s Mission Beach has decided to go for “Get high, get wet and get laid.” So much for taking the high road.

Sure there’s a Great Barrier Reef just off shore and popular white water rafting nearby, but why push those natural resources when you can promote sex and cannabis?

Scotty’s Beach House owner Boyd Scott said the signs have hit the mark. Really? Sex and pot are popular with backpackers? Go figure.

(3 votes, average: 10.00 out of 10)

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