Stupid Hurricane Irene has no respect, and because of her wind and rain the dedication of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial has to be pushed back. Organizers have finally been able to get everything in place again for a second try of the dedication, and it looks like they’ve selected October 16 to do so.

Originally like 250,000 folks were expected to show up, and we’re thinking the take-two will bring out just as many when the memorial is formally dedicated on the National Mall. President Obama is expected to be just one of the many in attendance, so if you’re planning to visit be prepared for an extra security patdown or two.

If you’re not able to attend the official ceremony next month, no problem, as you can go and check it out right now. It’s not exactly possible to keep the 30-foot statue totally covered up until October, so make sure to add it to your tourist checklist next time your in Washington, DC.

[Photo: tedeytan] ]]> kjb 2011-09-19T09:15:58-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/7/2/74657/39268

Before Heath Ledger played a gay cowboy or Bob Dylan, he guested on Australia's most famous soap opera that isn't "Neighbours," "Home and Away." So it's only fitting that after his death his home city of Perth would try to focus on his more highbrow works by naming a local performing arts center after him.

Ledger had no formal acting training because there simply wasn't a venue in the western town, although he did play Peter Pan in an elementary school production.

And speaking of good acting, a Rolling Stone critic says Ledger's posthumous performance as the Joker in "The Dark Knight" (out July 18) is good enough for an Oscar nom.

Related Stories:
· Heath Ledger Honored by Performing Arts Center Name [Perth Now]
· Dark Knight Review [Rolling Stone]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo from "10 Things I Hate About You": the Guardian]]]> egw 2008-07-02T10:30:09-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/6/23/131822/203

Jaunted remembers George Carlin, who looked like our grandfather while saying some very ungrandfatherly things. Murmur the seven words you can't say on television as you visit these places which were key to Carlin's comedic career:

519 West 121st St., New York, NY :: Carlin grew up here in the then-rough-and-tumble NYC neighborhood of Morningside Heights, or what he referred to as "White Harlem." On his website he writes of this address: "First everything occurs here: sex, drugs, rhythm and blues."]]> egw 2008-06-23T14:00:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/10/8/21812/2821

We admit, we weren't one of those people glued to our televisions in 1997 when Princess Diana was killed suddenly in a Paris car accident, but we understand why some people marked the 10-year anniversary of her passing this past August. But will that anniversary spark a new wave of tourists to the place where she died?

This week at least one bus load of people without intent to rubberneck followed the path of Diana and her then-boyfriend Dodi al-Fayed: They were British jurors sitting on an inquest by al-Fayed's father into whether the royal family had any connection to the accident. Still, paparazzi hounded the jurors to the point that their bus actually hit a post and got a flat tire en route to the Ritz where Diana and Dodi ate their last meal.

Will Britain's $20 million investigation yield new results? Probably not, but that won't stem the tide of the tours that have been going on since 1998. As one French official told a Time Magazine reporter:

People can't get enough of Diana, so they keep coming back to her through the crash... Come see me in another 10 years, and I'll bet something similar to this will still be going on.

Related Stories:
· Diana Inquest Jury Visits Scene of Crash [Guardian]
· Europe Anger at "Diana Tour" [BBC]
· Princess Diana coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Anthony Cinelli and Eric Hamilton]]]> egw 2007-10-09T09:45:01-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/