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Dubai Tourist Arrested For Wearing Nude Posh Spice Tee

June 29, 2009 at 9:32 AM | 1 Comment

He's literally a fashion victim! Haha but really, it's official: we can't ever go to Dubai because we fear that the second we touch down, we'll be arrested. That was pretty much the case this last week for a Lebanese tourist in the Emirate, who made the mistake of wearing one of Marc Jacobs' celebrity nude T-shirts, and was promptly hauled in and sentenced to one month in jail for sporting the offending garment.

His T-shirt, part of a series ironically benefitting NYU's melanoma research—the perfect thing to wear to a beach resort, natch—featured Victoria Beckham almost nude, with text covering her rude bits. The man was originally confronted by a local at a bakery, and when he returned after changing clothes, the police were waiting.

Considering that we totally own one of the shirts from the same series, although ours sports a naked man (Marc humself), we should probably steer clear of using it as a beach cover-up outside of the Burj Al-Arab. But considering how money and label-focused Dubai, you think maybe we could get out of any trouble by explaining that Marc Jacobs is the designer for Louis Vuitton? Yea, we didn't think so either. Keep it clean out there folks; only plain American Apparel T-shirts allowed and leave the racy ads at home.

Related Stories:
· Man Jailed In Dubai For Wearing Marc Jacobs T-Shirt [StyleList]
· In Dubai, Sex On The Beach Could Lead To Prison [Jaunted]
· Dubai Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: elvis_payne; T-shirt photo: ebay]

Jaunted's Top Five Passport Safety Tips

June 22, 2009 at 10:32 AM | 5 Comments

Last week, a friend of ours was pickpocketed in Israel, losing a passport as well as cards and cash. And before that, in April, another one of our friends was pickpocketed outside a bar in Rome. The thief made off with his wallet but fortunately, his passport was back at the hotel.

Aside from an incident of a missing 50 Euro after a visit to the Vatican, we've luckily managed to avoid the serious pickers, but that doesn't mean we're immune. And because nothing is so stressful as having to prove your identity, navigate a foreign city with limited funds, and possibly rebook your flights, we're going to try to save a few souls by presenting our Top 5 Passport Safety Tips.

5. Have paper copies of your passport and travel documents.
Time to prepare: 20 minutes
This is the most basic form of passport backup, something which has doubtless gone on since the invention of copying machines. Before departing, take paper copies of your passport, credit cards (front and back for customer service numbers), and itinerary information with confirmation numbers.

We recommend three copies of your passport and two of the others; leave one of each copy in a same and easily-found spot at home, leave another with your family back at home or at your office, and take the third copy of your passport along with you, but stored in another non-checked bag.

This way, should your passport or credit cards get stolen, you already have a backup passport copy for heading to the consulate and can make a single call home to get all of your credit card information.

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Look Out Banksy: Barrel Monster Man Faces Prison for Raleigh Road Art

June 13, 2009 at 1:11 PM | 2 Comments

It didn't last long, but commuters in Raleigh, North Carolina were treated to a whimsical display of street art recently, as a 22-year-old NC State student (allegedly) assembled a barrel monster out of bright orange traffic barrels and put it to work directing traffic on a busy public street. Police say Joseph Carnevale is being charged with larceny for stealing and damaging the traffic barrels on May 31 for the purpose of building a statue, and I guess they're right, but it always seems unfair when it's vandalism you actually like.

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Maine's Topless Coffee Shop Reopens as Topless Tent

June 12, 2009 at 10:02 AM | 1 Comment

We've got good news for New England travelers who like their caffeine fix but hate it when their servers wear shirts. Turns out the nation's oddest Starbucks Alternative is down, but far from out.

The Grand View Coffee Shop, which was burned to the ground by a moral crusader last week, has already reopened. Owner Donald Crabtree erected a tent on the site of his destroyed cafe, and the topless waitresses have volunteered to work just for tips (to be fair, we'd bet they get better tips than your local Starbucks barista).

Topless Coffee one; moral crusaders zero.

Related Stories:
· Arsonist Destroys Maine's Topless Coffee Shop [Jaunted]
· Maine Opens Topless Coffee Shop; Hopefully With Frost Bite Insurance [Jaunted]
· Burned topless coffee shop reopens in a tent [Jaunted]

[Photo: AP]

Art Theft Travel: Paris Loses a Picasso

June 9, 2009 at 1:07 PM | 1 Comment

We love a good art theft mystery, but usually in the form of a book or movie like The Thomas Crown Affair. Today however, the real thing is going down in Paris as authorities have discovered the disappearance of a book of Picasso sketches from the Picasso Museum.

Its value? 11 million dollars. Its historical importance? Priceless. Although there are several Picasso museums in the world, including ones in Switzerland and Barcelona, the Paris collection is known for having over 3000 of his works plus paintings that he owned by the likes of Degas, Matisse and Cezanne.

In cases such as art theft, any press is good press for both the return of the artwork and tourist numbers to the museum. if you're planning a visit to the Paris Picasso Museum, expect heightened security, larger crowds, and general paranoia until the investigation gets further underway. But then, it's not like there aren't enough Picasso Museums to go around.

The Picasso Museum Paris is located closeest to the Metro Line 8 stop at Saint-Sébastien Froissart; the museum is open from 9:30am to 6pm, and costs 8.50 Euro per adult.

Related Stories:
· French police: notebook of Picasso sketches stolen [Washington Post]
· Picasso Museum [Official Site]
· Museum Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Kristin Myers Harvey]

Arsonist Destroys Maine's Topless Coffee Shop

June 4, 2009 at 4:17 PM | 2 Comments

Earlier this year we told you about what we thought was a pretty fantastic moment in the history of coffee shops. Grand View Topless Coffee Shop opened its doors in Vassalboro, Maine. As far as we know, Grand View was the only place in the country where you could order a cappuccino and crueller and have it served by a topless waiter or waitress.

An ingenious business plan if you ask us, but unfortunately, not all of Grand View's neighbors were so enamored. A fire destroyed the coffee shop early Wednesday morning, and police say it was set by an arsonist. The fire came just a few hours after the shop's owner, Donald Crabtree, had appeared before the local planning board to defend his operation, and followed several complaints about Grand View.

Undeterred, Crabtree vows to reopen his business, but for now, the nation has lost its most unique Starbucks alternative.

Related Stories:
· Topless coffee shop destroyed in arson fire [Boston Globe]
· Maine Opens Topless Coffee Shop; Hopefully With Frost Bite Insurance [Jaunted]
· Maine travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Boston Globe/AP]

Deep Trouble for Brits Getting Busy on the Queen's Lawn

May 4, 2009 at 12:11 PM | 0 Comments

You'd think that after last year's Dubai beach sex scandal, randy British couples would have learned their lesson to not attempt sex in heavily-touristed spaces. Last weekend however, they were at it again—although not the same couple—when a soused pair took to the lush lawn at Windsor Castle and assumed the position.

Nevermind the fact that it's outdoors and public, but the primly-manicured grass at Windsor Castle is royal! Apparently the Queen was home at the time, adding to the kinkiness, but it was a busload of Japanese tourists who filmed it for posterity. Not to mention that the royal guards caught plenty of the spectacle before the two were stopped and arrested and issued a warning about public decency.

At least this time the lusty Brits kept it on their home turf (literally), since who can guess what would have happened had they tried this stunt outside of an Emirati sheik's palace. Looks like the worst they'll have to settle for is the threat of having their antics uploaded to a Japanese porn site.

Related Stories:
· Couple Arrested For Sex on Lawn at Windsor Castle [WSMV News]
· Busted! Fehking On the Queen's Lawn [Perez Hilton]
· Lusty British Couple Freed by British Court of Appeals [Jaunted]
· In Dubai, Sex on the Beach Could Lead to Prison [Jaunted]
· Sex Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Windsor photo: future15pic; Grass sign photo: Edgley Cesar]

Air Chase! Grand Theft Cessna Ends Safely In Missouri with One Arrest

April 7, 2009 at 10:45 AM | 0 Comments

This is why we don't leave our keys in parked planes: A Cessna stolen from a Canadian flight school last night landed safely on a Missouri back road last night after a six-hour flight over four states. Canadian citizen Adam Leon was arrested on the ground after fleeing the plane on foot.

Leon took off from Ontario's Thunder Bay Airport around 3PM and crossed into Michigan's Upper Peninsula. F-16 fighter jets met him when he crossed into Wisconsin, where his flightpath caused the evacuation of the state capitol building in Madison. Suspected to be low on fuel, the pilot, a flight student who later told state troopers he was hoping to be shot down, was able to land the plane on Missouri Highway FF around 9PM, where he was apprehended after hitching a ride to a convenience store. That's right, Midwesterners are so nice they will give you a ride even after you put the scare into Homeland Security.

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Do Not Do: Travel With CSI's Gerald McCullouch

January 26, 2009 at 2:12 PM | 8 Comments

A high-profile mugging on the New York City subway, on one of the lines leading from JFK, is splashed all over the news today as an example of the city's dangerous public transportation system. But we say the NY media is just being their usual sensationalist selves, fueled by a publicity-hungry actor. Here's why we're not worried about riding the subway.

First, some background. Gerald McCullouch, who plays Bobby Dawson on "CSI: Original Flavor," was taking the A train back towards the city from the airport at 2am Saturday when he was allegedly attacked by a knife-wielding passenger. As the train pulled into the Utica Avenue stop in Brooklyn, McCulloch had his laptop open, on which he was editing a YouTube video and charging his iPhone. Cuz that's what we all do on a train from the airport at 2am, right?

Suddenly, a man approached him and and tried to snatch the laptop. The two men got into a fistfight, because, as McCulloch said:

I didn’t want to give up my computer after working on my video all that time.

Also McCullouch just happened to be boxing about eight hours before this incident so he was all punch drunk anyways. McCullouch said he managed to fend off his attacker, who was holding a 10-inch blade, until other passengers alerted the conductor to stop the train. Police boarded and arrested the alleged assailant on the spot.

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Be Nice To Your Flight Attendants, Lest They Deem You a Terrorist

January 25, 2009 at 12:47 PM | 0 Comments

There's no shortage of stories about people getting drunk and going nuts on flights these days, but a recent report sheds some light on what happens to these hooligans after they've been frog-marched off the plane by the police. It turns out that the lager lout who peed on the drink cart was actually a terrorist.

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You Flew Here, We Grew Here: NYT Falls for North Shore Bad Boys

January 24, 2009 at 1:48 PM | 0 Comments

Most surfers have a reputation for being peaceful and laid back, but that hardly describes the scene on Oahu's famous North Shore, if a recent New York Times story is to be believed. The paper of record introduces us to a menacing but handsome gang of local surfers known as the Wolfpak, who are known to resort to violence and intimidation against visiting surfers who don't show the proper respect for their rules of the waves. Surf gangs are nothing new, and protecting breaks from interlopers is as old as surfing itself, but the Wolfpak holds particular power on the Banzai Pipeline because every pro surfer worth his Sex Wax is pretty much required to be proficient in its massive winter swells.

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Tijuana: Now More Dangerous Than Baghdad?

January 24, 2009 at 12:35 PM | 0 Comments

You know the violence is getting out of hand in Tijuana when Marines from nearby Camp Pendleton in California are now effectively prohibited from visiting. The new rules apply to 44,000 Marines, many of whom who have recently been in Iraq and Afghanistan or are there now, and were implemented during the Christmas holiday and extended indefinitely. Base commanders cite Tijuana's shocking rise in gang violence, with 843 killings in 2008 compared with only 337 in 2007. Marines can still visit Tijuana, but it takes plenty of planning and the proper authorization. According to USA Today, Marines now need written approval from a lieutenant colonel or higher-ranking officer to cross the border, and must also "complete anti-terrorism training, receive a military security briefing, and 'use the buddy system.'" Sounds like a lot of time and effort to go through for some R&R. The irony of preventing people who've spent time in Middle East war zones from guzzling cheap tequila in TJ isn't lost on anyone, but the military seems to have taken a better-safe-than-sorry approach. After all, Baghdad might be dangerous, but Tijuana is where authorities recently nabbed Santiago Meza Lopez, who confessed to dissolving the bodies of 300 murdered enemies of a drug kingpin in vats of acid. Any reasonable person would proceed with caution.

[Photo: USA Today]

Related Stories:
· Tijuana Off-Limits To U.S. Marines [USA Today]
· Base Commanders Issue New Restrictions on Travel to Mexico [Stars and Stripes]
· Alleged Acid Disposal Man for Mexico Gang Nabbed [AP]
· Tijuana Tourism Struggles as Violence Itensifies [Jaunted]