Jaunted

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve Travel: Dropping the Ball (and the Drag Queen)

December 27, 2007 at 1:00 PM | 0 Comments

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the famous Times Square New Year's Eve Ball, and to mark the occasion, the folks at Waterford Crystal have seriously juiced up their famous sphere. The new ball, which will replace the one that's been used since the millennium celebration, will be twice as bright and have "enhanced color capabilities and state-of-the-art LED lighting effects."

Yup, its gonna be shiny and high-tech and probably way cooler than the old model but its still, well... just a ball. And if you ask the tourists committed enough to spend their night packed into cattle pens to watch it drop, it's a ball that you can barely see.

Far cooler and way kitschier, we think, then adding one more body to the frenzy in Times Square, would be to ring in the 2008 at one of the unique "dropping ceremonies" in smaller cities across the country.

Hook up with the locals in Flagstaff, Arizona and watch as they send a 70-pound silver pinecone down the flagpole. Or hang with the folks in Mount Olive, North Carolina as their massive dill takes a plunge into a pickle tank. Our favorite just might be the Key West celebration, during which organizers drop a six-foot, red, high-heeled shoe filled with a drag queen named Sushi.

Other weird objects used to mark the passage of time include a crab (Easton, Maryland), a mossbunker fish (Point Pleasant, New Jersey), a sausage (Ellmore, Ohio) and a wrench (Mechanicsberg, Pensylvania).

If you're set on seeing the ball drop in Manhattan, we understand. Just head to Little Times Square in Manhattan, Kansas to catch the aluminum apple make its run down the flagpole. It may not be as impressive at the original, but we guarantee it's heaps more energy efficient.

Related Stories:
· Times Square Ball Drop [Official Site]
· Flagstaff Pinecone Drop [AZ Republic]
· New Year's Eve coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: kaydee did]

New York

Breaking News: Plane Crashes into Building on the Upper East Side

October 11, 2006 at 4:31 PM | 0 Comments

If you haven't already heard, a plane has crashed into the Beldaire Building on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Details are still forthcoming about what type of plane and how it crashed but it is confirmed that there are residents and workers trapped inside. Heavy debris has also been reported falling from the building. However, this does not appear to be an act of terrorism. (Yet we think it's freaky that it happened today on 10/11.)

Our one hotel tip: If by chance you are staying in a hotel on the Upper East, getting back to your hotel room or out of it will be pretty hard as the streets are closed off near the crash. So check in with your hotel's front desk about what they are doing to assist guests. Also visit Gothamist and CNN for more information on the crash and how it's affecting the surrounding area.

New York

Newyorkology: M is for Museums

May 12, 2006 at 12:25 PM | 0 Comments

Here's this week's Newyorkology update from Amy Langfield:

There are a lot of changes taking place in New York City's museums right about now, with a few major shows closing ("David Smith: A Centennial" at the Guggenheim and "Goya's Last Works" at the Frick) and others getting ready to open.

Though the biggest "opening" has been not just an exhibition, but the reopening of the Morgan Museum and Library, which was out of commission for three years as it was made over and expanded by architect Renzo Piano. His integration of the staid old buildings with glass and steel may even please the folks who loathe what I.M. Pei's cube did for the Louvre. The current collection on display runs the gamut of intricately carved Mesopotamian stone scrolls, to Mary Shelly's heavily-edited first edition of "Frankenstein." And when I say heavily edited, I mean it's her personal copy she marked up to order the changes for the next printing.

I got to tour the museum during a press preview, so I can't tell you how crowded it's been since the reopening. But the museum itself is sort of a mini-Met and shouldn't eat up too much of your day, yet still give you a flavor of everything from the Masters and Modernists to the Mesopotamians and
Mozart.

At the beginning of June, the Whitney will open its Permanent Collection: 75th Anniversary Exhibition opens at the Whitney and the Guggenheim will switch to "No Limits, Just Edges: Jackson Pollock Paintings on Paper."

Other big openings in June include the Dada exhibition at Museum of Modern Art, "Treasures of Sacred Maya Kings" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and from the Brooklyn Museum: "Graffiti."

The International Center of Photography will also open four shows at once starting June 9, including "Unknown Weegee," "New Histories 10, Paris: Eugène Atget and Christopher Rauschenberg."

Shows that are already open and worth checking out include "Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh" at the Met Museum (through July 9,) and "Darwin" at the American Museum of Natural History(extended through August 20.)

A bit off the beaten path, (meaning out of Manhattan,) you can find "The Artist and the Baseball Card" at the Staten Island Museum (through July 30) or "Best of Friends: Fuller and Noguchi," which opens May 19 at the Noguchi Museum in Queens (through Oct. 15.)

A few other NewYorkology headlines from the past week:

The views from the tallest building in Brooklyn
Met Museum's restored facade best seen at night
Schnack to host 30-inch hot dog eating competition
Brían F. O'Byrne opens in 'Shining City' on Broadway

Bad Fare

Bad Fare: Shuttle Bug

April 12, 2006 at 11:44 AM | 0 Comments

Jaunted Bad Fare: $54 OW, NYC-Washington, D.C.

We are not impressed with United's recently published sale fares between New York and D.C. They're offering some good deals to Asia as part of the same sale, but the one in our backyard is full of restrictions. $54 OW sounds like a steal, except it's limited to off-peak Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Great, do we have to pat our heads and rub our tummies at the same time to get the special super saver discount as well?  

Even the miserable regional service on Amtrak starts at $63 OW. Really makes you long for the days when Delta would roll out and extra plane, just for you, if there wasn't a seat on their D.C. shuttle. Now, they're happy to point you in the direction of the bar where you can wait for your next flight.

[Image via amyscoop/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   Previous Bad Fares [Jaunted]
·   Delta Cancels Guaranteed Seat Policy [USAT]