Giant Marilyn Monroe statue leaves Chicago for sunny Palm Springs

Goodbye Norma Jean.

The giant, controversial statue of Marilyn Monroe has been taken down from Pioneer Plaza on Michigan Ave. in Chicago after a successful, one-year run featuring millions of gawking tourists. Workers snuck in around dusk yesterday and took the old girl apart in chunks. Oh, the humanity...

Not everyone liked the statue as it was, let's face it, pretty sexist. Day and night, women and men gathered around and under the 26-foot-high statue of the actress' famous pose from "The Seven-Year Itch" to snap photos. Her dress was billowing up and about and folks would gather by the thousands each day to stare up and see what was under that famous outfit.

Who knows what she wore during filming, but the statue presents a very Midwestern pair of white cotton-looking panties that border on bloomers. Disappointing, no doubt, to young (and old) men around the world, but that's art for you.

The initially controversial "Forever Marilyn" creation by Seward Johnson was unveiled last July directly across Michigan Ave. from the famous Wrigley Building and next to the luscious Tribune Tower. The old gal is headed to Palm Springs, California, where NBC says she was discovered  by a Hollywood agent. I always thought she was discovered, if you want to call it that, at a soda fountain at Hollywood and Vine. But maybe that was Chewbacca from Star Wars.

“It’s a perfect fit,” says Tim Ellis, local hotelier, Palm Springs Chamber President and member of the P.S. Resorts Board of Directors. “Marilyn Monroe has legendary ties to Palm Springs. She was ‘discovered’ at Charlie Farrell’s Racquet Club, was rumoured to have frequented the Movie Colony estate with Joe DiMaggio, currently known as the Sand Acre Estate, and owned a 50’s bungalow-style house in Las Palmas,” says Ellis.

"We received many requests as far away as Tokyo and Madrid and cities in Brazil, and we really felt that Palm Springs has a special connection to Marilyn because it is the legendary play land for Hollywood,” Paula Stoeke, the director and curator of the Sculpture Foundation, an organization funded and run by Johnson, told the Los Angeles Times.

The plan was for crews to dismantle the statue into four pieces and drive her across the country, and I bet they argued over who got to hold which piece. I mean, I'm sorry, but they're probably GUYS and you know what we're like. I'd apologize, but I don't really see the point of making excuses for half the planet. 

Anyway, it's too bad they couldn't leave the statue intact and strap it to a flatbed. It could've toured all over the country, giving little thrills to schoolboys from Little Rock, Arkansas to Walla Walla, Washington and even in rural Alberta, where they raise up giant statues of everything from dinosaurs to Easter eggs. Alas, Marilyn is Goin' to California with an aching in heart and word is all 34,000 pounds of her will be set down at the corner of Tahquitz Canyon and Palm Canyon Dr.

Word is she'll debut in Palm Springs May 24 and stay for about a year. After that, there's word she'll appear at the next Liberal convention and that her skirt will act as an umbrella for the entire national membership.

Her new So Cal location is not far from the outdoor statue of former Palm Springs mayor Sonny Bono, and not too distant from a sculpture of Lucille Ball. It makes perfect sense in a city where boulevards are named after the likes of Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope, I guess.

I would've liked to see the statue at Hollywood and Vine, personally, with a leg on either side of Hollywood Boulevard. The traffic would've been horrible, but who would've noticed?

According to NBC, one website, VirtualTourist.com, ranked her the worst piece of public art in the world. Guess they were never around Toronto in the 1980s to see "Gumby Goes to Heaven" on University Ave., eh?

VirtualTourist apparently also wondered why the statue was in Chicago, when Monroe was made famous in Hollywood and the movie scene was set in New York.

Virtual Tourist also suggested the towering, blown dress forced many to peer up at Marilyn's panties. Forced? I don't think so. I mean, I did my bit on this past weekend, sure, but I don't recall anyone holding a gun to my head and saying, "You, tourist from Canada, check out those panties right now or I'll fill your guts fulla lead."

It's too bad for Chicago. But they'll probably manage all right with the likes of all that great architecture, a fabulous lakefront, incredible art galleries and top-notch food and drink. Not to mention Wrigley Field, as long as you don't pay attention to this year's version of the Cubs, that is.

 

 

 

WestJet chooses Bombardier, AirCanada TO-Montreal sale & movie improvements

The Great Canadian Airline wars continue today, with breaking news all over the joint. My email and Twitter feeds went a little bonkers this morning, with headline after headline rolling in on all sorts of changes.

Possibly the biggest news for consumers here in Toronto is that Air Canada is celebrating its one-year anniversary of returning to the Toronto Island/Billy Bishop Airport by launching fares as low as $75 one-way from the island to Dorval in Montreal. That includes all taxes and fees, folks, so it's quite the steal. Heck, you could spend $75 just getting to Pearson from downtown Toronto by cab, as my recent expense form to the boss suggests.

The deal is on until May 6, and it covers travel from May 8 to Aug. 30, which means a solid summer of savings if you can snag the lowest rate. The ad in the Star lists the lowest fare as $21, plus $54 in taxes and fees for a combined $75. Even if you had to pay $100 or $125 each way, it's a bargain for a great city like Montreal. And that includes a full-service bar and snacks.

Porter, which still pretty much owns the Island Airport, is offering 50 per cent off base fares if you book by May 4, according to their latest ads. Montreal fares are listed at $124, all inclusive, while fares to Halifax are $198 and flights to Newark/New York are $180 each-way.

I haven't seen any big WestJet announcements on sales this morning, but they did make a big splash today by announcing that they've chosen Bombardier's Q400 as their new regional airplane, opting for the Montreal-based company over ATR out of Europe.

The new plane is part of WestJet's plan to challenge AirCanada and Porter with a regional airline, set to launch in the second half of 2013. Officials say the new plane will allow them to serve new cities, plus existing destinations not currently connected by WestJet, and will allow for schedule improvements on certain routes where a smaller aircraft can efficiently provide greater frequency.

"We are very impressed with the Q400," said Gregg Saretsky, WestJet President and CEO (see photo). "Both ATR and Bombardier put forward excellent proposals and ultimately we believe the Bombardier Q400's combination of range, speed and seat density is the best choice to meet the needs of the market and how we plan to operate the regional airline. We look forward to working with another great Canadian company."

Some experts had suggested the ATR was the better choice given fuel efficiency issues. But WestJet opted to buy Canadian, which is certainly a good political move and one that undoubtedly will bolster spirits in Montreal, as well as perhaps Bay Street.

Round about the same time all these announcements were being made, Air Canada sent out a missive saying they're bumping up the number of movies available on those terrific (mostly) seat-back TV's they offer on most of their planes. The airline said it's doubling the number of movies available and will now offer up to 150.

That's pretty outstanding, folks, especially when you consider some airlines still make you watch Adam Sandler pictures on a tiny overhead screen that's 30 feet away. If you're really lucky, it's 35 feet.

I like the movies for the most part. But I never quite get the "classic" movies Air Canada offers. It seems to me it's always a bunch of black and white films with Charlie Chaplin and never enough of "Gone With The Wind" or "Casablanca." Personally, I'd like a wider variety in that category. Not that anyone was asking...

OOPS - BAD TIMING FOR PARKS CANADA CUTS

This is awkward. On Monday, the Canadian Tourism Commission announced it was adding a slew of new "Signature Experiences" to its list of great things tourists can do when they visit Canada.

Among the new top-rated experiences listed is a tour of the Fortress of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia. That release came around 9 a.m. Later in the day came news that federal budget cuts could mean reduced staffing at the Fortress; perhaps as many as 120 fewer jobs.

BIZ STUDY PUTS TORONTO ON THE MAP

A company called Concur recently published a study of business travel and entertainment spending. Based on overnight stays at hotels, the company said the most visited city for U.S. biz types were London, Shanghai, Singapore, Beijing and Toronto. Nice we're fifth, but it's interesting that Beijing and Shanghai were both ahead of us. A real testament to the Chinese economy, I suspect.

Anyway, Montreal was 9th on the list, Calgary 16th and Vancouver 19th.

The study also analyzed the cost of travel and entertainment to cities around the world. Topping the list (not a list you want to be on top of) was Tokyo, at an average daily cost of $528.43. Next was Copenhagen, then Perth Australia ($502.65), Sydney, Stockholm, London, Brisbane Australia, Zurich, Melbourne and Paris ($440.65). That's four Australian cities in the top 10, but you have to keep in mind that the cost of getting to the city was included.

I'm sure it's cheaper to stay in Perth (see photo at left) than it is in Paris, but for most Americans, and North Americans, it's a lot cheaper to fly to Europe than to Australia.

 

 

The lovely waters of North Carolina, and good grub at Pearson Airport

Nice to see, albeit in the Globe, a story this morning on how Pearson Airport is boosting its food options.

Chris Nuttall-Smith writes that, starting this summer, some of the biggest names in Canada/Toronto cooking will be involved at Pearson on a dozen new bars and restaurants. Included are: Claudio Aprile (Origin, Colborne Lane), Mark McEwan (Bymark, One, North 44), Hemant Bhagwani (Amaya) and Rocco Agostino (Pizzeria Libretto, Enoteca Sociale).

This is all supposed to happen by summer of 2013, and it'll be a huge improvement on Tim's and such. Pearson is desperately trying to overcome the increasing advantage of cheaper options such as Buffalo-Niagara, and they want to be sure to get folks connecting on overseas flights instead of watching them go through Chicago or JFK in New York.

It's great to see the new food options, and it should help a food concept that's already been boosted significantly in recent years and months, with several new spots. But what I really think Pearson needs - not so much to draw passengers as to make Torontonians happier - is more options for people WAITING for friends/family to arrive. Have you ever been stuck at Pearson waiting two hours for a delayed flight? Is there ANYTHING to do? Anything at all?

There's usually one tiny shop with about sixteen magazines to choose from and a bar. That's about it. But you can't drink if you're driving someone from the airport, so what on earth are you to do? Wouldn't it be nice if there was a Roots store or an electronics shop or something? I mean, there's a captive audience so why not take advantage?

Anyway, at least they've got the food thing going in the right direction...

NORTH CAROLINA GUEST BLOG

Thanks to Star entertainment/travel guy Richard Ouzounian for this guest appearance from coastal North Carolina. Sounds like a great place!

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, N.C. – Rufus Sewell went hungry on Saturday night.

            The broodingly handsome British actor (best known for A Knight’s Tale and The Illusionist) walked into the South Beach Grill, was told there was an hour’s wait for a table and promptly left.

            If I hadn’t stopped my wife from jumping up and asking him to join us, I might now be filing an interview to the Entertainment section, but, heck, I was on holiday and my reflexes are still good.

            Why was Sewell in this totally delightful beach resort on the Carolina coast? He’s shooting a movie called The Occult here and his co-stars are Jennifer Carpenter and Anne Heche.

            Lots of movies and TV series shoot down here and have, ever since Frank Capra Jr. and Dino de Laurentis got a studio built in 1983 in neighbouring Wilmington for their film, Firestarter.

            Dawson’s Creek shot six seasons here, One Tree Hill went for nine and looking at the glorious light, friendly people and temperate climate, it’s easy to see why.

            Ironic cinematic footnote: even though the Cape Fear river runs through the town and the cape itself is only a few miles away, neither version of that frightening flick were made here. The first was in Savannah. The second, Ft. Lauderdale. Go figure.

            This is a coastal resort town where Carolinians (and a few enlightened tourists) come to relax, unwind and enjoy the pristine coastline with a beach that goes on uninterrupted beauty for miles.

            It’s not a party town and the prices are nice and low.  The comfortable Holiday Inn Resort is right on the beach, has two pools, gorgeous views and rates as low as $168 C.  Dinner for three at the snazzy Bluewater Grille, with wine, was $100. And breakfast at the Sweet & Savoury includes goodies like a Fried Chicken Biscuit for $2.99!

            You also should take advantage of the Wrightsville Sunset Cruise, run by “Captain” Joe Abbate, a trained naturalist and ecological pioneer. Besides giving you some of the most breathtaking views around, he can fill you in on everything from the hurricane history of the region, to the unique bird life, to the fact that the location scout from Iron Man 3 (which is just about to start filming there, starring Robert Downey Jr.) just picked a multi-million dollar mansion as a major setting for the film after seeing it on the cruise. $25 for 90 minutes.

            The weather on Easter weekend was in the low 20s and while the Atlantic was a bit chilly for swimming, our family made a vow to come back here again soon.

            More details from further up the Carolina coast tomorrow

 

 

 

 

Funky museum exhbits honour black leather jackets, art deco and Geronimo

Yeah, Las Vegas has the new Mob Museum (see Saturday's Star Travel sectionfor a full story). But The Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee has something almost as cool; a tribute to the black leather jacket. The museum will look at its evolution beginning with its role to protect pilots and motorcyclists through its adoption by Hollywood celebrities, rock stars and others as a symbol of rebellion.

It will also look at its modern-day designs from fashion houses such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Gianni Versace. There will be more than 100 artifacts during the exhibit's run, including jackets worn by Elvis Presley and Taylor Lautner of the “Twilight” series.

“Worn to be Wild: The Black Leather Jacket” starts June 16.

I was stunned to see that the blurb on the museum's website doesnt' mention The Fonz from Happy Days. I mean, aaaayyyyy, the show was SET IN MILWAUKEE, GUYS!

In case you haven't been, Milwaukee's a fine town. Great pubs, terrific food, nice shopping and plenty of culture in a city that doesn't take itself too seriously...

ART DECO OUT WEST

Things are a little more high-brow – and feminine - in Vancouver. More than 66 women’s garments from these and other leading designers from the 1920s and 30s will be featured in a new Museum of Vancouver exhibition, “Art Deco Chic: Extravagant Glamour Between the Wars,” opening March 8.

The high fashion designs include a black beaded gown worn to the opening of the Commodore Cabaret in Vancouver in 1929, and a red and gold evening dress depicting the battles of the Trojan War. Accessories such as handbags, hats, shoes and jewelry will also be featured in the exhibition, which will run until September. www.museumofvancouver.ca.

GERONIMO! IN ARIZONA

A new exhibit at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, “Beyond Geronimo: The Apache Experience,” draws on that warrior’s fame while also exploring less familiar stories of other Apaches.

The exhibit isn’t all weapons and military history. Visitors will see that Geronimo also was a family man and a showman who capitalized on his name recognition. He was permitted to make public appearances, selling the buttons off his shirt at train stops where people gathered to see Apaches, and autographed postcards, bows and other items at parades and the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.

“Beyond Geronimo: The Apache Experience,” runs through Jan. 20, 2013.

AIRLINES ON TIME?

I’m sure nobody who flies actually believes it, but the biggest airlines in the U.S. did one of their best jobs ever in terms of getting passengers and their bags to their destinations on time. Transportation Department stats on the biggest 16 U.S. airlines shows 79.6 per cent of flights arrived at gates within 15 minutes of their scheduled time during 2011; the fourth highest for any year in the 17 years with comparable numbers. Perhaps due to weather, airlines had their best December in 17 years, with 84.4 per cent of flights landing on time.

Stats show 99.7 per cent of fliers got their bags on time, which PROVES that this survey could not have included Pearson.

 

 

Maui not resting on its tourism laurels ...Neither is Bal Harbour, Florida

It's almost always named top island in the world by the big tourist magazines. But Maui isn't letting the attention get to its head.

The Hawaiian island continues to make improvements; adding wine and food festivals, upgrading hotels, and adding new cultural attractions or romance packages.

The Maui tourism folks say the number of Canadian visitors were up 15.2 per cent in the first 11 months of 2011, to nearly 196,000 people. Nice.

Before I go any further on Maui, I should offer a disclaimer. I've been going on a regular basis since I was a little kid, and I absolutely love the place. I love the people. I love the Hawaiian culture. I'm a sucker for Hawaiian music, even when I can't understand the words. I love the beaches. I love the fresh fish. I love the golf. I love the fact you can drive to the top of an enormous volcano and drive through desert-like conditions and two hours later - if not less - be in the middle of a jungle with towering, orange African tulip trees dripping with moisture and the sound of waterfalls outside your car window. You can be at a perfect, tropical beach and, 20 minutes later be "upcountry" in Makawao, eating a Portuguese pastry and walking streets filled with cowboys and stores selling giant belt buckles and rich-looking saddles.

I've always been a bit of a Maui nut, which is probably why the tourism bureau took pity on me and gave me their annual Kalama award last week for helping talk about their culture and way of life. It IS a tremendous culture, that of Hawaii and Maui. There's rich history, with epic battles and fierce kings and kindness to strangers intent on stealing their land. There's a wonderful story-telling tradition that goes back centures. There are hugely colourful people; folks like Grammy-award-winning singer George Kahumoku Jr. and singer-songwriter Cody Pueo Pata.

Cody is a bit of a travelling ambassador for Maui. He started a tourism board meeting in Toronto last week with a deep, booming welcome chant and then sang a song about ice hockey that he'd written especially for the occasion. And that's not something you're likely to hear when the folks from, say, Slovakia or Burma come to town.

Anyway, it was quite something. The information passed along to journalists at the session is far too meaty to fit into a travel blog, but here are some highlights I took away:

The Sea House restaurant at the wonderful Napili Kai Beach Resort (that's it in the photo above left), which is on perhaps the best beach in the world, Napili, was given the award last year for the best breakfasts on the entire island. Not only is the food great all day long, it's perhaps the only restaurant/bar on Maui that fronts directly onto the beach. You can sit at a beachside table and the silky waters of the Pacific are perhaps 20 feet away. Sheer perfection, with great snorkeling, swimming and body-surfing and killer sunsets. Wednesday nights they do a Masters of Slack Key guitar, with folks like the remarkable George Kahumoku on stage for singing and storytelling. Don't miss it.

Ka'anapali Beach not only has great shopping, food and hotels (I love the very Hawaiian Ka'anapali Beach Hotel but the Westin and Hyatt also get great reviews), but they have a number of events that are free or cost less than $25. They do nightly torch-lighting along the beach, and there's also cliff-diving (which I've somehow never seen) and more. At the Hyatt, they'll take you up on the roof for a "couples stargazing" event, complete with chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne.  The first-ever Ka'anapali food and wine festival, called Ka'anapali Fresh, will take place around Labour Day weekend this year. The Westin at Ka'anapali has added outrigger canoe rides, which I highly recommend. They also have Hatha Yoga and even belly-dancing lessons for teenagers. And, on Fourth of July, instead of shooting off fireworks they have a helicopter hover overhead and drop 50,000 orchids on the property and the pool area, and how romantic is that?

Down in Wailea, they have an outdoor film festival on the driving range, and they'll be doing a restaurant week in May and November with specially-priced meals. Proceeds will help a local food bank, which is terrific. And they'll have a wine and food festival of their own later this year. They're also big on civil unions for the LGBT crowd down at the Grand Wailea, a fabulous resort with a great pool (see photo at right) that features waterslides and rope swings and incredibly luscious grounds, right on a great stretch of beach. They've beefed up the spa as well and, in honour of their 20th anniversary, have a 20-hands massage treatment that sounds out of this world. Add in the new Amasia restaurant by Alan Wong, reportedly President Obama's favourite chef, and there's lots of reasons to check out Wailea.

Just a minute or two down the road is the lovely Makena resort area, a tad quieter and a little less brash than Wailea. The Makena Beach and Golf Resort has packages with free breakfast, free parking and no resort fees. They do wedding packages and have free bikes you can use. They even have a constellation night with campfires and iPads so you can learn about the stars.

Maui's tourism board also include the neighbouring islands of Moloka'i and Lana'i. Moloka'i has the only fringe reef in the United States, a massive, 28-mile long affair that stretches along a wide part of the island. There are no traffic lights and only a couple resorts on the island, which is a real throwback to a simpler way of life. Definitely worth checking out. It's the site of the famous leper colony where Father Damien did such remarkable work. They're adding new flights to the Kalaupapa peninsula, too, so it'll be easier to get there in the future. It's a stunning piece of greenery that lies alongside massive sea cliffs, with pounding surf and a real South Pacific feel to it.

Over on Lanai, things are a little more fancy. There's a small hotel in the tiny town of Lana'i (the Hotel Lana'i) that's quite charming, but most folks stay at the Four Seasons Lodge at Koele, an English-style getaway nestled in the cooler hillsides and surrounded by towering trees, or at the beachside Four Seasons Manele Bay, where you can dine on incredible Asian cuisine and swim in a quiet bay with a pack of wild dolphins. A simply magical experience. You also can rent UTV (ultimate terrain vehicles) or hike or cycle or go horseback riding or even hunting. And the golf courses at both Four Seasons resorts are among the best on Hawaii.

BAL HARBOUR BOOST

The new St. Regis Bal Harbour resort in Bal Harbour, Fla. is drawing attention to this enclave just north of Miami Beach. The property is a stunner that's right on the beach and right across the street from the glitzy Bal Harbour shops.

The hotel (see photo) features a Jean-Georges restaurant and all 243 rooms feature glass-enclosed balconies with "floor to ceiling panoramic ocean views and the brand's signature white-glove butler service."

The waterfront Bal Harbour Quarzo is a boutique hotel that opened just a year ago, with 29 condo-sized suites with full kitchens. There's also The Sea View Hotel for families or the ONE Bal Harbour Resort and Spa, which opened in 2009.

Top dining options include Makot by Stephen Starr, Mister Collins for oceanfront dining, a caviar and French wine bar called Savarin and the J and G Grill, which is the Jean-Georges restaurant.

They have an expansive cultural program, including fitness classes on the beach, a beach camp for kids and even movies on the beach, featuring the likes of Harry Potter, Casablanca, Indiana Jones and Midnight in Paris.

 

 

 

 

 

Canada-New York airline wars/Fewer Pearson screeners/Oscars and travel

Hoo,boy. This is gonna be fun.

Air Canada today announced it will launch three-times daily, non-stop flights between Toronto Pearson and New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport, starting May 3, and that it will increase its flights from YYZ to LaGuardia in New York so they run on an hourly basis.

Air Canada trumpeted the moves in a press release this morning, saying that "the new services further secure Air Canada's position as the leading airline serving New York City and makes it the only carrier that operates to all three major New York City area airports: John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport. Air Canada, which began flying to New York 71 years ago, will operate up to 38 non-stop return flights a day between Canada and New York City this summer."

That's a ton of folks heading to New York. But it's no surprise. I got a report from hotwire.com on Tuesday that showed the number one city Canadians were searching for family day getaways next month was New York.

For those who may have missed it, WestJet a while back was awarded the right to operate eight round-trips daily out of LaGuardia. WestJet is using those coveted slots, which it paid a bundle for, to increase its U.S. presence and to attract more business travellers. They already serve Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, as does Porter (from the Toronto Island airport). But LaGuardia is the biggest prize in the Big Apple, for sure.

It all makes for a very entertaining "air war" in the crucial Toronto-New York hub.

Air Canada's release today said that by adding JFK (albeit on 50-seat aircraft), "Air Canada will provide customers with the most frequencies, widest choice of airports and greatest convenience of all airlines flying between New York and Canada. The flights are timed so customers can easily connect at our Toronto hub to other destinations in our extensive domestic and international network, such as Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing. All eligible customers will also be able to collect and redeem Aeroplan miles," said Ben Smith, Executive Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer at Air Canada.

"Air Canada's New York service, with hourly flights, is ideally-suited for business travelers. Customers will have a choice of three airports across the New York City region, the option to purchase flight passes, access to Maple Leaf or Star Alliance partner lounges at all airports with priority ground services where applicable. In addition, Air Canada flights to LaGuardia and Newark feature Executive Class; the only Canadian airline offering business class service," officials boasted.

"Beginning May 1, 2012, Air Canada will add an additional daily return flight between Toronto and LaGuardia, providing customers convenient hourly service each business day. The new Toronto-JFK service will be operated by Air Canada Express using a 50-seat CRJ regional jet. The JFK flights will have early morning, afternoon and evening arrivals and departures," officials said.

With the new services, Air Canada will operate a total of up to 38 return flights a day to the New York metropolitan area from Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver. Any way you look at it,that's a TON of folks. If New York doesn't boost its tourism numbers again in 2012, at least they won't have Canada to blame.

COMING SOON TO PEARSON - FEWER SCREENERS!

Unbelievable.

The folks at the Greater Toronto Airports Authority are constantly trying to make Pearson a better place. I think they've made some bad moves in the past, including building terminals where there's almost NOTHING for folks to do while they wait for friends and family to arrive. And don't get me started on baggage wait times.

But they've added free wi-fi and, just the other day, a couple new restaurants, including a Thai place (about time). Things are improving, for sure.

So now comes word that the number of screeners is going to be cut by 20 per cent. Yeah, that's right. CUT by 20 per cent.

In fairness, I would say that long lines at the screening stage aren't among the biggest problems at Pearson. Long lines at customs are another story, as are the aforementioned wait times for luggage. From what I've seen, the wait times for the screening process at Pearson aren't any worse than any other airport, and they're far shorter than, say, Los Angeles.

Still, it's pretty disturbing to see where Garda Security Solutions, a privately held company that supplies screeners at Pearson, is cutting back. A story in The Star's Greater Toronto section today by reporter Josh Tapper quotes an official with the Canadian Airport Workers Union as saying that 63 folks will be laid off permanently, and another 236 will get reduced hours.

It's a 20 per cent cut, Tapper wrote, at a time when business is on the upswing. And March break isn't far away.

In fairness, the GTAA isn't in charge of security. That headache falls to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, which handles such matters at all Canadian airports.

Folks from Garda weren't commenting yesterday. A spokesman for CATSA said it's not his company's role to advise or direct the way screening contractors manage their workforce.

Trinity-Spadina MP Olivia Chow said the layoffs will almost certainly affect security.

"There's absolutely no excuse to lay off airport screeners," she said.

OSCAR TRAVELS THE WORLD

A nice piece in USA Today this morning on how you can see the world through Oscar's eyes.

Two particular Oscar-nominated films come to my mind with real travel connections: The Descendants and Midnight in Paris.

The Descendants shows Hawaii in all her glory, especially the "Garden Isle" of Kauai. Most of the film takes place up near Hanalei Bay, a gorgeous stretch of beach that's backed by a verdant, impossibly green valley and a long, spiky ridge of deep-green mountains that pierce the sky in true South Pacific-looking fashion. It's a quiet spot but with elegant hotels, a fun little "town" and great golf at the Princeville Resort. There's also incredible hiking, great snorkeling and more.

Parts of the film also showcase Honolulu, although not as much as Kauai, and also show off a bit of the Big Island (ditto).

It's been in theatres a lot longer, but another travel-worthy film is Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. It showcases the Paris of long ago, but it's quite easy to get in the mood in the Paris of today.

One great spot to check out is Le Bristol, a glorious hotel near the Champs Elysees where a good deal of the movie takes place. I had the good fortune of staying there a year and a bit ago and it was truly outstanding. Even if you can only afford a drink at the bar, and that'll cost a pretty Euro or two, it's worth checking out.

Also with travel connections is The Help, filmed in the Delta towns of Greenwood and Clarksdale and Jackson - where you can plot a driving tour of downtown and the city's historic Belhaven neighbourhood, USA Today explains.

And don't forget Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which is centred on 9/11 in New York City. The National Sept. 11 Memorial opened in lower Manhattan last Sept. 12 and already has attracted more than a million visitors.

War Horse is attracting folks to Devon and Dartmoor in England, and they already have tours set up where you can see where some of the film was shot.

There's also Moneyball, but even a Toronto travel editor who was born in Oakland and raised watching the Oakland Raiders play football at the Oakland Coliseum wouldn't suggest a visit to such a dreary stadium. Unless the Blue Jays happen to be in town, that is, in which case you could probably get a ticket behind home plate and be one of maybe 5,000 fans in the ballpark.

 

 

More stupid people - this time: in-room movie choices ... Fairmont moving up

Come on, folks. Yesterday, I was writing about dummies in the U.S. who try to sneak guns onto airplanes. The U.S. Transportation Safety Administration said there were 1,238 such incidents last year, which is so amazingly stupid as to be nearly incomprehensible.

Now comes something worse. Not in terms of airline safety, but simple common sense and good taste. A company called LodgeNet, which provides in-room pay-per-view movies in hotel chains such as Holiday Inn, Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton, has released their list of top movies ordered in 2011. And it's not pretty.

Top of the list is Bridesmaids (see photo), which seems reasonable. Two? The Hangover II, also a popular series. Then comes Limitless, Fast Five, and, wait for it, Little Fockers.

Little Fockers? That's the stupidest movie I've ever seen a trailer for. Bar none. Anywhere. I cringe just thinking of DeNiro in a movie such as that. I hope he does, too. Even the Hollywood Reporter went to town on the "film," denouncing it as an "unsavory hodgepodge ... in a franchise that has overstayed its welcome."

I think they overstayed their welcome when the opening credits rolled on the first one.

I mean, sophomoric doesn't begin to describe these flicks. The writers make the guys who write for Two And a Half Men look like William Faulkner (or was it William Focker?) Then again, Will Rogers is widely quoted as saying nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence or taste of the (American) public, so there is that.

If you're interested, the bottom five movies in the LodgeNet top 10 list were Just Go With It, The Lincoln Lawyer, No Strings Attached, Hall Pass and Life As We Know It.

Doesn't sound like too many hotel folks are tuning in to Ingrid Bergman movies...

FAIRMONT RATCHETS UP THE CLASS FACTOR

Nice to see more classic hotels getting spruced up around the world. I'd heard previously that Fairmont, the Toronto-based hotel firm, was doing a massive renovation of the Pekin Hotel in Moscow. There's a story on it in the Report on Business today, talking about how they're spending $100 million to fix up the old gal, which has been used as office space by the KGB in the past (and wouldn't that be a cool theme for a hotel room?). Renovations are supposed to start next year.

I hadn't heard about it, but Fairmont also is currently renovating the historic Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston (see photo), spending about $20 million.

Folks who keep up with Star Travel might remember we've highlighted a couple of other major Fairmont renovations in the past year or so. Fairmont did a magnificent job restoring the Peace Hotel in Shanghai to its former glories. Ditto for the famous Savoy in central London.

Fairmont says their renovations are part of a larger pattern, and I think it's great.

“They bring to guests the romance of the old,” said George Lagusis, Fairmont’s senior vice-president of design and construction.  “And while they may not be wonders of the world, we get lots of visitors coming in just to admire them.”

Exactly. In a world of trendy hotels with rainshower baths and trendy bars, it's nice to see a company putting a shine on some old standards and giving us normal folks (yeah, even the ones who order Little Fockers in their hotel rooms) something to gaze upon in wonder.

 

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo tour of Stockholm...A Dominican deal with jaunt,ca

STOCKHOLM - The tattoo parlour in the Stockholm neighbourhood where The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo lives is abuzz with the sounds of sharp instruments puncturing flesh, but no one is getting a winged creature imprinted on this day. A young woman is getting a simple flower tattooed on her ankle.

We duck back outside and continue on our way. It's raining, but Daniel Craig and I are both under the same drizzly Stockholm sky in the fall of 2010. He's a few blocks away filming the opening scenes of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo which opens this week in theatres.

The courthouse steps where he was filming is part of the tour I'm on as we walk through the narrow ancient streets where the lead fictional character in Stieg Larsson’s bestselling trilogy Millennium series stomped around in her kick-ass boots.

I missed the English version of the tour by 20 minutes so hook up with the Finnish one and everyone pitches in to translate from Finnish to English for me. We are bound together by Salander. Others hold their tattered paperback copies of The Girl with them, a few, like me, use our iPad as reference.

We play a game as we walk through the streets. We are trying to guess who among the young girls we pass during our walking tour of this working class neighbourhood would have a dragon tattoo. Our conclusion is this Stockholm district is home to many Lisbeth Salanders, many Mikael Blomkvists. Almost anyone we spot could be a crusading journalist like Blomkvist or a computer hacker like Salander.

Until Lisbeth Salander pushed her out, the most famous resident in the working class neighbourhood of  Södermalm was Hollywood movie idol Greta Garbo. A statue of the reclusive actress is still here but few passerbys stop to pose next to the monument.

Stockholm’s largest and most populated district is these days better known as the neighbourhood where the Millennium trilogy is set. Visitors like me are taking pictures of the 7-Eleven where Salander purchased her cigarettes, pickles and microwave pizzas and having coffee at the Kaffebar on Hornsgatan where she spots Blomkvist kissing his girlfriend.

The tour takes us past the Greenpeace office in Södermalm where the magazine Millennium's editorial office is supposed to be located even though in reality, the space is used for  residential apartments.

One of the residents at Fiskargatan 9, one of Stockholm’s most exclusive addresses, looks annoyed when she sees us lingering outside the entrance of the apartment building trying to peer in as she tries to enter. It’s in this building where Salander purchased a luxurious 21-room apartment after stealing millions of dollars through computer transactions.

We hold up our copies of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as explanation of what we’re doing and why we’re in her personal space to invade a little of her privacy. She nods warily before giving us a shrug.

TRAVELALERTS/JAUNT DEAL OF THE DAY

Try an all-inclusive, seven-night stay in the sunny Dominican Republic. The package provides roundtrip airfare, departing from Toronto, and seven nights at Allegro Resort Puerto Plata. From $299, plus $387 in taxes. www.jaunt.ca.

 

Porn movies on a plane? Ryanair folks talk it up... Fairmont Mexico all you can eat

I gotta hand it to them, so to speak. The folks at Ryanair are simply marvellous at keeping their name in the spotlight.

A year or so ago, they were making waves by talking about installing pay toilets on board airplanes. Visions of lineups and folks digging into their pockets for coins as they danced a jig in the aisles of planes sparked a huge outpouring of media attention, including comments from me of course. To my knowledge, Ryanair hasn't built a single pay toilet on board a plane. But they got a ton of publicity.

Now comes word they want to develop apps that will allow passengers to play games, gamble or even watch a porno flick at 36,000 feet.

Chief executive Michael O'Leary, who I'd love to meet some day, said it would need at least a year to implement the technology as the plan doesn't even have broadband on its planes (and you thought Air Canada was bad).

"I'm not talking about having it on screens on the back of seats for everyone to see," Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary told the Sun in London. "It would be on handheld devices."

Oh, that's SO MUCH better, Michael. How discreet. How marvellously sensitive!

"Hotels around the world have it, so why wouldn't we?" O'Leary said.

Um. Last time I checked, most hotel rooms have doors that close so folks walking down the hall don't see what's on the TV in every room. Maybe Ryanair could issue magic cloaking devices so we can't see our neighbours smartphone or iPad. Come to think of it, let's hope they can do just that so I can avoid sitting next to adult men who play annoying video games that go "ping" and "zowie" and make other, horrible sounds FOR A SOLID TWO HOURS on the way back from Jamaica.

I don't want to get into the details of the idea, but I can just imagine the nightmare of having people watching erotic movies in their seats as they fly over France or, better yet, Come By Chance, Newfoundland. Sales of those little moist towelletes would soar, for sure.

"Ladies and gentlemen (especially gentlemen), if the oxygen mask drops please place it over your nose and mouth and breathe heavily."

O'Leary is almost certainly kidding. But when you're playing with a master p.r. guy like this, it's sometimes hard to know. I mean, check out their "Girls of Ryanair Calendar."

(Nice that proceeds go to charity, but isn't that Silvio Berlusconi up in the cockpit?)

You're not going to see that in Canada any time soon, folks. Porter has given us those cool pill box hats on the flight attendants but I can't imagine a "Girls of Porter Airlines" calendar....

FAIRMONT GOES ALL-INCLUSIVE FOR FOOD

The Fairmont Mayokoa on the Riviera Maya in Mexico is experimenting with a semi-allinclusive package. Faced with competition from high-end all-inclusive resorts, the hotel is the first Fairmont property to test a food-and-drink package that allows customers to buy all their meals - and drinks - in advance.

Barb De Lollis in USA Today writes that folks who buy the package can go to any restaurant at any time of day. You can order alcohol. If you choose to eat at the Fairmont's highest-end restaurant that serves imported meat and seafood dishes, you'll pay a surcharge and then eat as much as you want.

The hotel is selling the package at $429 per day for a family of four (with children over age 5) for what typically is considered worth $740 of food and drink per day, retail. Kids under five eat free.

The package excludes sale of alcohol by the bottle. "It would be hard to control" if customers were ordering two bottles of Cristal at $150 a pop, he says.

You'll also find limits on some cocktails or glasses of wine. If you want a scotch, for instance, you'll receive Johnny Walker Red; if you want Johnny Walker Black, then you'd have to pay for it.

"You won't get well drinks," Robinson says. "When you order vodka, you'll get Absolut."

Pretty clever idea. As a guy with a family of five, I can definitely see the advantage of knowing my costs in advance. It's about $100 per day for a family of four; not cheap but pretty good if you have hungry children who are of drinking age.

 

Top steak in the galaxy at Hitching Post II California, Sideways movie sights

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA - I'm a little leery, normally, of absurd platitudes about such and such being the best coffee in the world or the best hotel or what have you.

I mean, it's a fairly large world out there last time I checked, and it's pretty tough to say. But in this case, I'm making an exception to my own rule and proclaiming that YOU WILL NEVER IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE find a steak as
good as the ones they rustle up at the Hitching Post II in Solvang, California.

They get great cuts of beef, but the secret is cooking the meat on an open fire on a large, metal rack that's suspended directly over fiery red oak from these parts. It's a way of cooking that the old Spanish rancheros used to practice in California, and it's been perfected out here and a little ways north in the town of Santa Maria, where it's called Santa Maria barbeque.

The Hitching Post II uses a little bag of seasoning they call Magic Dust, which you luckily can buy to take home, not to mention taking home some of their own bottles of local magic wine.

I guess there are steaks that are just as tender or moist, but you won't find with a better, smoky flavour than these.

The restaurant is fairly plain, with wood panelling that's not exactly top of anyone's designer list. But the wait staff is tremendous and it's just a perfect spot for a great meal.

Fans of the movie Sideways, still for my money one of the funniest movies ever made, will know the place for sure as the restaurant Miles (Paul Giamatti in a brilliant performance) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church, who's hilarious) frequent on their trip up to the glorious Santa Barbara wine region.

The bar has a big whack of photos from the film taken at the restaurant, which is the spot where the Virginia Madsen works in the movie, playing the role of a waitress named Maya.

They serve their own branded wines, including some absolutely stunning Pinot Noirs (Miles' favourite), and there's a big TV in the bar that you can use to watch a football game or what have you.

If you like the movie, you'll love the Hitching Post II. If you've never heard of the movie, go anyway. Your steak will come with a baked potato or fries, and you also get soup or salad, plus garlic bread and a starting tray with pickles, local olives, carrots and celery. All for about $25, and a terrific wine list with many great bottles under $30.

Just for fun, and to save a little money, I stayed at the Days Inn in next-door Buellton; maybe five blocks away. It's where Miles and Jack stay during their trip, and it's featured in some great scenes, including one where Sandra Oh, who plays Jack's love interest (even though he's about to get married), gets off her motorcycle and beats the heck out of him with her purse.

It's an okay chain spot best known for the movie and for a giant windmill out front, Solvang being known as a place with a large Danish population and a whole slew of faux Danish architecture that some find charming and that, I personally, find kinda stupid.

The hotel isn't much. My room was non-smoking but there was a large cigarette burn mark and a hole in my blanket.

But it's okay, and it' s convenient for exploring the great wineries in and around the Santa Ynez Valley, just inland from the beautiful coastline of Santa Barbara.

More to come later this week from Santa Barbara proper, which might be one of the great towns of the entire United States.