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Tags: Ostentation Vacations / Videos / New Year's Eve / → All Tags

Vegas Volcano Up And Running--And On Webcam

As Jaunted reported this weekend, the recession hasn't encouraged Las Vegas to tone down it's lavish ways just yet, and, as if to prove the point, one of Sin City's iconic over-the-top attractions is back in action today in even more over-the-top fashion.

The volcano at the Mirage, which ushered in the age of the new outlandish Vegas when it debuted 19 years ago, is back after a nearly year-long, $25-million-dollar renovation. The amped-up volcano features more than 100 new fireball-launching devices and shoots water 120 feet into the air, all choreographed to the music of Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and Indian tabla artist Zakir Hussain. If that's not impressive enough, daredevil and son-of-Evel Robbie Knievel plans to jump the volcano in a New Year's Eve stunt.

The four-and-a-half minute show runs every hour, on the hour, from dusk to midnight. But don't fret if your NYE plans are taking you to Copenhagen instead of Vegas: The volcano is also on a 24-7 webcam. And if you don't feel like waiting 'til the top of the hour, check out the YouTube video after the jump.

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Tags: Open Threads / Inauguration Travel / Inauguration 2009 / Bars / Videos / → All Tags

Should DC Bars Stay Open Late For Obama's Inauguration?

Now that the DC City Council, two senators, police advocacy groups and hospitality associations have weighed in on DC's proposed January boozathon, it's time to ask what you think. Should bars, clubs and restaurants be allowed to stay open 24 hours a day, serving drinks until 5 am in the run up to Obama's inauguration? Or are hundreds of thousands of extra wasted people roaming the streets the last thing DC needs?

It's about more than just the "morality" of getting tanked, Bob Bennett fans: Every time a bar sells a drink, the city pulls in some scratch in taxes. And if people have a good time when they're in DC this time around, the city may well end up in future travel plans--once inauguration visitors pay off those pricey vacation rental bills that is.

Still, as one DC resident says:

I think it's insane to allow people to be drinking 24 hours a day.

Is it? Or does this guy just need a drink? Let us know in the comments!

Related Stories:
· History In The Making: DC Bars To Stay Open Late For Once [Jaunted]
· Two Senators Hope To Curtail Late Night Partying In DC [Jaunted]
· Inauguration Travel coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Silver Foxes / Sharks / Animals / Diving / Videos / → All Tags

Anderson Cooper, Shark Tourist

Emoting anchor Anderson Cooper will host a "Planet in Peril" special on CNN tonight spanning 11 countries on four continents that, among other things, will focus on shark tourism and cage diving off the coast of South Africa. To report the story, A-Coop went swimming with sharks himself--and dove in at least once without a cage.

After getting an OK for the stunt from CNN's president, Cooper's local shark experts gave him some advice:

They say to project confidence. I'm not sure how one does that through SCUBA gear.

They actually tell you to hold your breath when a shark comes toward you. But my heart was beating so fast I couldn't actually hold my breath.

He managed the dive without any incidents, which isn't to say going without a cage is completely safe: We didn't have any trouble swimming with sharks off Andros Island recently, but early this year a man was killed off the coast of Florida diving without protection in shark-infested--and chummed--waters.

Related Stories:
· Anderson Cooper Dives in for Shark Story [Hollywood Reporter]
· Cage-Free Swimming with Sharks [Jaunted]

Tags: Christmas Alternatives / Live Arts / Videos / → All Tags

Merry Circusmas!

Carolers are boring and Frosty's overplayed. Kill some of those long, empty days before Christmas (and before gift-buying panic sets in) with a trip to the Circumnavigando street festival in Genoa, held December 18-21.

This isn't some kind of buskerfest: The city officially invites acrobats, clowns and other performers to fill its streets for four days. Britain's Bash Street Company adds live music to silent mime acts, while the Swiss act Roc Kidz Crew leans towards breakdancing.

Stay for Christmas if you want to catch the Pope's blessing or just enjoy waiting for Befana (the Italian bearer of gifts, a kind witch who gave the Wise Man directions) to deliver presents on the feast of Epiphany.

Related Stories:
· Circumnavigando [Official Site, distressingly still under construction]
· Why Not Stay At The Astor Hotel In Genoa? [HC]
· Christmas Alternatives coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Australia The Movie / Australia Travel / Tourism Board Travel / Videos / → All Tags

Another Australian State Copies Baz Luhrmann

Now that Australia, The Movie has been open a week or so to a pretty lukewarm reception, Australia, The Country might be a bit disappointed that they decided to do so much tourism board promotion tied to the film. This will not be to Oz what Lord of the Rings was to New Zealand, it seems.

That hasn't stopped a couple of Australian states jumping on the bandwagon. First off South Australia got you to make your version of South Australia, The Movie.

And now the breakaway island of Tasmania has gotten cheeky about it. They've put out three spoof promos of "Tasmania, The Movie" with dramatic voice-overs about a man who dared "to take his wife on vacation." We've got a feeling these short vids are probably a lot more enjoyable than the 165 minutes of the real thing, but please don't get the wrong idea. We still like Australia, The Country.

Related Stories:
· Tasmania the Movie [Official Site]
· Movie Mischief: Tassie In Grab for Limelight [SMH]
· First Came Australia, Now There's South Australia, The Movie [Jaunted]
· Australia, The Movie coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Television Travel / Food Travel / Videos / → All Tags

Man v. Food: If You Don't Puke, It's Free

We normally don't get too excited about food travel shows. Seriously, how many times can you watch Anthony Bourdain eat a sheep testicle or some other bizarre find you're never going to actually taste?

But we're intrigued to check out the Travel Channel's new series Man v. Food, in which host Adam Richman travels across America investigating our most nationalistic culinary tradition: Eating as much as is humanly possible.

Richman visits the kind of places that offer you a 72-ounce steak for free, if you can finish it without vomiting. Items on deck for the show, which starts Wednesday, include the Ohio Deli's "biggest Dagwood sandwich in the country"--a 2.5-pound behemoth of ham, turkey and roast beef; the 30-inch pizza at Big Pie Pizza in Atlanta; and "the hottest curry in the world" at New York's Brick Lane.

After the jump, video of Adam taking on Big Texas Steak Ranch's 72-ounce sirloin.

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Tags: Thanksgiving / Macy's / Videos / Travel News / → All Tags

Macy's Parade Was Best Ever, Say Our Internet Overlords

There are no words for our delight. While Macy's played it mostly safe with its new balloons for the 2008 Thanksgiving Day parade, adding a Smurf, Horton the Who and Buzz Lightyear, the Cartoon Network float appealed to those of us who live in the series of tubes by having the set of "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" interrupted by... Rick Astley. That's right, Macy's Rickrolled the world.

Whether the reference was caught by a majority of the over three million people lining the parade route in New York was not recorded. But if they didn't enjoy that, there was always Miley Cyrus on the "Bolt!" float, numbers from last summer's park production of "Hair" and "American Idol" runner-up David Archuleta. The Energizer Bunny led the parade but peeled away at the end, that wascally wabbit.

Philadelphia's parade was led by TV foodie Rachel Ray but concluded with a visit from Santa Claus, who was cheered on by crowds bearing noisemakers IKEA passed out before the show. And Detroiters saw a resurgence in their parade tradition of papier-mache costumes known as Big Heads, with over 120 marchers decked out in historical or celebrity noggins to walk the parade route.

Related Stories:
· Thanksgiving Parade Offers a Fun Distraction [Detroit Free Press]
· Santa Brings End in Oldest Thanksgiving Day Parade [WFMZ]
· Boosters Push Love for City, Parade [Metro Mode]

Tags: New Airlines / Indochina Airlines / Asia Travel / Ha Dung / Videos / → All Tags

Vietnamese Pop Icon Launches Indochina Airlines

Move over Branson, there's a new celebrity airline exec in town: A pop music composer in Vietnam launched the country's first privately-owned airline this week.

Alongside a group of Vietnamese businessmen, Ha Hung Dung, who's also a judge on "Vietnam Idol," put up the $12 million in cash to buy two planes for Indochina Airlines. The new carrier has four daily flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, as well two flights daily between Ho Chi Minh City and the central coastal city of Danang.

Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific, both with foreign-owned majority stakes, also fly within the country. But even airline execs in Europe agree that the Asian market is the future of flying, and carriers in the region are all one-upping each other with aggressive expansion even in the current business climate.

As more people discover that about half of Vietnam's border is lined by white-sand beach, the carrier plans to add flights to Nha Trang as well as to the ancient capital of Hue. No word on whether Ha Hung Dung plans to blast his catchy tunes aboard the flights, but from what we've heard of Vietnamese pop, we're crossing our fingers that it's a no.

--Claire Duffett

Related Stories:
· Vietnam's First Privately-Owned AIrline Launched [AP]
· Fall The Best Liquor in Vietnam [Jaunted]

Tags: Thanksgiving Alternatives / Disco / Live Music Travel / Videos / Thanksgiving-Alternatives-Map / → All Tags

Disco's Not Dead. Yet.

To break a world record, the city of Buffalo threw the biggest disco party ever in 1979 with 13,000 attendees. In the '90s, they did it again--for charity. Saturday's World's Largest Disco attracts a giggle-inducing parade of '70s stars and a crowd of 7,000 people every year to benefit Camp Good Days, which organizes festivals and fun days for children with cancer.

We know what you're thinking: Are you, venerable website, really suggesting we trek up to Buffalo, where it is supposed to snow all weekend, in order to participate in a giant disco dance? Why, sure we are. Because we've all had that Thanksgiving we'd rather forget, due to a "House of Yes"-style family fight or a "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" travel nightmare. This one, though, you'll never forget. Don't forget to send us your notes if you go!

Related Stories:
· World's Largest Disco [Official Site]
· Buy Nothing Day [Jaunted]
· Toast Your Thanks In Oregon [Jaunted]
· Thanksgiving coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Sex on the Beach / Crime / Sex / Dubai Travel / Videos / → All Tags

Lusty British Couple Freed By Dubai Court of Appeals

The British couple nabbed on a Dubai beach this summer and convicted of public indecency, drunkenness and having sex outside of marriage won't face prison after winning their case in the emirate's Court of Appeals. The pair, Michelle Palmer and Vince Acors, are still convicts, but instead of spending three months in the clink, they'll simply be deported after paying a 1,000 dirham ($272) fine each.

The duo still insists they didn't actually have sex on the beach, though they do cop to being drunk and making out. (These are admittedly common side effects of an all-you-can-drink champagne brunch.)

While the Britons are thrilled with the decision, it's hardly a green light to disrespect the strict laws of the Muslim emirate, where almost any form of PDA can get you arrested. Besides, risking jail time isn't the only reason we're avoiding Dubai's beaches.

Related Stories:
· Dubai Beach Sex Woman Says Release "Proves Innocence" [Telegraph]
· In Dubai, Sex on the Beach Could Lead to Prison [Jaunted]

Tags: Adventures of Link / Airport Security / TSA / Videos / → All Tags

On 7th Birthday, TSA Attempts To Explain Its Reason For Being

The TSA was created seven years ago today, and the agency is celebrating with three new public service announcements and a special web page dedicated to answering the question: "Why?"

You know, as in "Why do I have to take off my shoes?" or "Why do I have to show ID?" or that perennial favorite "Why do I have to to put my three ounce liquids in a zip-top plastic bag?" (We probably don't have to tell you that the answers are less than satisfactory.)

Still, at least the TSA is trying to prepare travelers for what to expect at checkpoints as the busy holiday travel season approaches. Given that the rules keep changing, a little reminder for those less traveled than us might make everyone's trip to the airport a bit smoother.

Check out all three clips after the jump.

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Tags: Videos / Flight Attendants / Ryanair / → All Tags

Ryanair Hardly The First To Objectify Women

Ryanair's annual charity calendar--which features slightly racy snaps of flight attendants hauling hoses and reclining inside jet engines--garnered predictable cries of sexism when it came out earlier this month, with women's advocacy groups saying the carrier is merely perpetuating outdated stereotypes that flight attendants have been fighting for years.

While the airline is trying to brush aside criticism with what it thinks of as wit--"Ryanair will continue to defend the right of girls to take their clothes off, particularly when it is for charity"--it's true that flight attendants have been objectified for decades. We've rounded up six of the most egregious video examples here:

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