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How To Get Tickets To / Television Travel / David Letterman / Television / New York City / The Late Show With David Letterman / → All Tags

How To Score Tickets To The Late Show With David Letterman

So you spent most of Thanksgiving feigning interest in your relatives' flat, inappropriate jokes. We fully empathize, having let out our share of faux-laughs over turkey and sweet potatoes. Family holidays can be fantastically warm, fantastically awkward, or some combination thereof, and they usually entail a healthy amount of humor therapy after the fact in order to fully recover. Don't worry; Uncle Dave's got you covered—David Letterman, that is.

If you're a native New Yorker or holiday traveler to the city, we suggest trying your chances at landing tickets to The Late Show. Now that Conan's migrated to the West Coast, Dave is the last bastion of New York-filmed late night comedy on network television. Sorry, Jimmy Fallon.

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Fear of Flying / Television / Virgin Atlantic / Richard Branson / Whoopi Goldberg / Travel News / → All Tags

Whoopi Goldberg Can Fly, Thanks to the Teachings of Richard Branson

Can we get a "whooppee!" for Whoopi?! This month, the comedian successfully battled her fear of flying and managed to complete her first airplane flight—on a private jet to London—without the help on her on-board doctor, ready with sedatives. So how, after a career full of touring by bus, did Whoopi Goldberg finally face her Twilight Zone fears? We can start by thanking good old Richard Branson.

Since 1997, his Virgin Atlantic pilots and crew have been teaching "Fear of Flying" courses over in Britain, which these days go for around £233.83 ($340.74) per person. To give Whoopi a hand, Virgin sent their movement simulation seats, virtual flight goggles and some of their crew to the set of the The View, making Whoopi's lesson a first for this course on American soil.

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Public Transportation / Public Transportation Love-Hate / Television / → All Tags

Public Transportation Love-Hate: Madrid Plays The Map

Jaunted is in the midst of a public transportation festival. Join us in celebrating the ultimate travel tool: a cheap way to get around. Share your stories in the comments or by emailing us at tips [at] jaunted [dot] com.

In most cities the public transit system is like a skeleton: It's always there, and more noticed in its absence than in regular operation. Perhaps the city of Madrid was hoping to save its cheap, clean subway system from such a fate when the local Telemadrid television station created "Metro a Metro," a game show that makes the metro system its playing board.

The game starts with four players racing to get to one pre-determined metro stop by answering trivia questions. The furthest away is eliminated, and then the map changes and they're racing to a different stop. In the finale, participants go head-to-head to answer 15 trivia questions in a minute. "Metro a Metro" loved to ask about the often obscure names of the subway stops; it's from there that I learned my own stop, Islas Filipinas, was named in honor of an ambassadorial visit. Sometimes co-host Carla Hidalgo would shoot live footage around Madrid for the questions.

When I lived in Madrid I used to come home every day after class and watch "Metro a Metro" with my host dad, a guy who knew pretty much all the answers. My only chance was with the pop culture questions, and then only when I could translate them fast enough. I used the Metro constantly, even though it closed during the all-important party hours between 2 and 6 a.m.; it had just been spiffed up for the city's bid to host the 2010 Olympics (it lost, sadly). You can even take it directly to the airport -- hear that, New York? Too bad no cunning producer has picked it up for an American version (say, "Subway to Subway" on NY1?) yet. Watch "Metro a Metro" five days a week at 7:30 p.m. in Madrid and the suburbs.

[Photo: dcols]

YouTube / Television / → All Tags

Drunk Pilots

Here's an old clip from the Man Show, featuring Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel. They dress up as airline pilots and act all waaasted at the airport. "You know what's tricky is the night landing, because it's like, you're in the middle of the North Atlantic and it's pitch black and you can't see nothing." "...and you're on quaaludes."

Related Stories:
· The Man Show [G4 TV]

Amazing-Race-11 / Chasing Racers / Television / → All Tags

The Amazing Race 11: Start Your Engines

Go Straight to the Amazing Race All Star Maps and Recap

We're getting geared up for The Amazing Race: All Stars 'round here. Before the big premiere--on February 18--we'll be taking a look at all the teams--and setting the odds. Let us know who you're watching

We couldn't start the talk with anyone but Dustin and Kandice. Team DuKa was one of the dirtiest teams in the history of the race. Conniving, underhanded and totally hot, these two indistinguishable former beauty queens were near the front of the pack for most of Season 10.

Then again, for all their effort Du and Ka ended up finishing fourth in their race. Maybe alienating all your fellow racers doesn't make for success? That remains to be seen. With their speed, skills and Phil-loving ways, we have to keep an eye on the blondies. They will go far, but can they pull out the win?

Utterly Official Jaunted-TAR: All Stars odds:
· Top 3: 3 to 1
· Pull out the win: 6:1

Related Stories:
· The Amazing Race: All Stars [Official Site]
· Amazing Race 10: It's Pronounced More-icious [Jaunted]

Amazing-Race-11 / Television / → All Tags

The Amazing Race: Is It Still Amazing the 11th Time Around?

Go Straight to the Amazing Race All Star Maps and Recap

Well, kids, it's now less than a month until The Amazing Race: All-Stars debuts. Obviously, we're dying with anticipation, but it will be the 11th edition of the race around the world for $1 million. Aren't the producers running out of ridiculous stunts for these contestants? Time will tell. While we wait, let's take a closer look at a couple of these "all stars."

Team Kentucky--Dave and Mary--is back, apparently willing to leave that new house Rosie O'Donnell bought them for another shot at the big money. Rob and Amber, reality TV's Bill and Hillary are back, too. Will their underhanded tactics topple the similarly shady team of Dustin and Kandice who we met last time around? Coming back from the very first season are Joe and Bill--the "guidos"--and frat brothers Kevin and Drew. Will they have what it takes after spending years off the tube?

We'll be ready to go with another Chasing Racers map--like we've done twice before. But while we quiver waiting to see Phil Keoghan again, won't you be so kind to pass along your tips? Did you spy the racers on the course? Did you go to high school with one of the racers? Can you believe this is the 11th edition of the show? Let us hear it.

Related Stories:
· The Amazing Race: All-Stars [Official Site]
· The Amazing Race 9 coverage [Jaunted]
· The Amazing Race 10 coverage [Jaunted]

Television / Giada De Laurentiis / Celeb Travel / Travel Media / Travel Tips / Packing / → All Tags

Giada De Laurentiis' Travel Tips

Food Network head minx/bobblehead flirt/movie biz heiress/chick with the actual culinary chops, Giada De Laurentiis, has hit Los Angeles and is done with it. This Friday, her weekend getaway in Jackson Hole, WY, will premiere at 9:30 p.m., and the episode guide promises spicy Mexican hot chocolate and a real cowboy breakfast.

Giada's also on the most recent cover of Life Magazine, and the story inside reveals that she's collected "more than 17,000 frequent-flier miles" during the show's filming. Miles that she should clearly donate to us because you know she doesn't need them anyway. But which of the genius travel tips Giada goes on to share is your favorite?

Plan Ahead
Before I leave, I figure out all of my outfits, down to which socks and underwear I'm going to wear. Then I put each outfit in a two-gallon ziplock bag so the clothes stay ironed and clean. It takes a little extra time to pack, but it makes the vacation so much more relaxing.

Giada's mild OCD insanity is evened out by her insistence on skipping airplane food, which we do usually. We also assume it's easy for her to go all Kip Hawley on us and stuff her getaway wardrobes into Ziploc bags, because her producers will be keeping her in bikinis as often as possible. Ratings.

Related Stories:
· Escape With Giada De Laurentiis [Life]
· Giada's Weekend Getaways [Food Network]
· Tonight on Food Network: Giada's LA Getaway [Jaunted]

Television / Giada De Laurentiis / → All Tags

Tonight on Food Network: Giada's LA Getaway

Food Network head minx Giada de Laurentiis has a new show called Giada's Weekend Getaways. It's the network's anti-Rachael Ray travel show that shows Giada eating and playing around various locales without a strict budget--which makes sense, since she is Dino's granddaughter and all.

Getaways features sightseeing and eating picks, and tonight's episode is on Giada's hometown of Los Angeles, which indicates she might actually have some trustworthy advice. Tonight she'll be taking a drive up the Pacific Coast Highway, eating fish and chips on Catalina Island, and, if the episode guide is to be trusted, eating some Zinfandel glazed short ribs. For now, you'll have to watch for repeats of last week's South Beach episode to catch Giada in a bikini.

[Photo: Cynthia Lin]

Tourism Boards / Websites / Television / → All Tags

One of These Things Is Not Like the Others

Can you tell which of the above stills came not from an episode of A&E's junkiethon, Intervention, but from the Bahamas' new tourism marketing campaign, Bahamavention?

The Bahamavention campaign is elaborate, and even its website intro might spook you. The idea is this: Americans are stressed, and need Bahamaventions (the intervention of friends forcing them to go on a vacation to the Bahamas) to set them straight. One of the best parts is that you can customize a Bahamavention video (a la the Swedish e-card or the Snakes on a Plane one, if you remember those) to send to friends...or yourself.

Enter the website if you dare. As for the above scenes, we won't completely give it away, but would like to send a shout out to Cristy in the top right corner. Best Intervention episode ever.

Another scary Bahamavention picture after the jump.

Related Stories:
· Bahamavention [Official Site]
· A&E Intervention [Official Site]
· Harbour Island coverage [Jaunted]

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Virgin / Richard Branson / Space Travel / Television / → All Tags

Chumps in Space

Is Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Everything, omnipresent or what? Yesterday we reported on his troubles getting Virgin America, a low-cost airline in the U.S., off the ground. Today comes news that he's working on a TV show where contestants can win a trip into space.

Yup, he's in talks to make an "Astronaut Idol" type show, where six contestants will vie for a spot on Virgin Galactic. That's his interstellar airline, which he hopes to have running by the end of this decade. We wonder if Simon Cowell can learn something about space flight by then?

Related Stories:
·   Astronaut Idol Talks [Guardian]
·   Virgin America in Canada? [Jaunted]

Travel Tips / Contests / Books / Television / → All Tags

Bob Harris, Phileas Fogg of the Daily Double Set

Sometimes people just don't know when to quit. Jeopardy! winner Bob Harris--he won thirteen times consecutively--felt it wasn't enough to lord his intellectual superiority over us simpletons simply by taking home many thousands of dollars in cash prizes. No, he chose to spend that cash on travel, which he subsequently parlayed into a book deal.

The book, called Prisoner of Trebekistan (a barren place, sadly bereft of moustaches), chronicles Harris's trips with the prize money. It also includes tips on how to better play the game, so that you too can win prize money and travel. Sounds like a plan, but if we have to compete against guys like Bob, maybe Wheel of Fortune might be a better idea.  

Related Stories:
·   Jeopardy Winner Publishes Travelogue [UPI]

Television / Adventure Travel / Tony Bourdain / → All Tags

Tony Bourdain's No Reservations in Beirut

Last night we finally caught up with the Beirut episode of Anthony Bourdain's show on the Travel Channel, No Reservations. For those of you who may have missed the drama surrounding the show, Bourdain was taping in the city when Israeli air strikes began last month; the episode documents the tiny sliver of Beiruti life he was able to experience before that happened, as well as the crew's experience trying to get out of Beirut.

We were very impressed with the way that the show was put together. Bourdain's interviews with Ramsay Short, the editor of Time Out Beirut, and his guide the night when the air strikes began were quite telling. While everyone was the first to say that Beirutis like to party through danger, they both resigned about what was to come.

Much of the show documents what it was like trying to escape, which was interesting, and could easily have come off as whiny and self-serving. Luckily, Bourdain makes it clear he knew how easy he had it.

Ultimately, we were most impressed with the closing thoughts of the show. Bourdain talks about getting the opportunity to travel, and how that experience food and travel seemed to foster a kind of cross-cultural understanding, but now he's now so sure. "Are we all crushed under the same wheel?" he asks. While that's a heady sentiment for a travel show, he's making a good point. In a situation such as the one he was in, it's clear that all the hummus and kibbeh in the world cannot escape the weight of history.

Related Stories:
·   Tony Bourdain Beirut Update [Jaunted]