News You Can Use…Or Can’t

It’s been a busy week. I’m currently in Charlotte, NC for work (pictures to come) on my first week on the new job no less and very much enjoying the Westin in Uptown Charlotte. As usual, I’m looking forward to a weekend of catching up on sleep and some downtime in Charlotte with The Boyfriend on Sunday. Some news you can use…or can’t:

The world’s happiest and saddest countries, compliments of Forbes.

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I probably won’t stay at any of these hotels ever. And not because I don’t want to.

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Damn it! Why am I not on this list? Check out Bloomberg’s fun chart of the richest people in the world.

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This clever ad from Microsoft brings back memories. Remember Hungry, Hungry Hippos? I loved that game!

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If you like laughing at other people’s misfortune, this video is for you. Or if you suck at riding a Segway.

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Amazing business class deals to Istanbul and Moscow.

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Stunning hotels in extreme locations from Conde Nast Traveler.

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Very useful primer: The best business class seats for couples traveling together.

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Pretty funny: Designers graphically represent awful client feedback.

NEWS YOU CAN USE…OR CAN’T

I spent the  majority of this week lying on my couch, blowing my nose and feeling sorry for myself. You’d think being home sick would give a gal plenty of time to catch up on her blog, but no, I was too busy feel with the aforementioned nose blowing and moping. So here’s to a restful weekend and some mindless links to keep you busy.

Kids say the darndest things. Especially in this video where Jimmy Kimmel asks them what’s the difference between boys and girls.

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Sad news in the world of hotel points. Priority Club has upped the redemption prices on a host of hotels in popular destinations and SPG has increased the cash + points cost of all its hotels. Bummer.

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This looks handy. Kayak adds price forecasting to predict price drops and increases.

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Great photography series from Spanish photographer Pol Ubeda Hervas. Check out “I’m not there.”

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Another hysterical Jimmy Kimmel video: People commenting on the inauguration days before the inauguration happens. Awesome.

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If you want to run around a runway JFK airport, here’s your chance.

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Want to feel really bad about how weak you are? Watch this video of some dude doing some the most amazing and difficult pushups I have ever seen.

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I don’t plan on getting on a the Boeing 787 Dreamliner for some time after its most recent string of mishaps, but if you want to know what the inside of the famous Dreamliner looks like, look no further.

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The cheapest times to fly in 2013, compliments of USA Today.

NEWS YOU CAN USE… OR CAN’T

I hope the weather is as unseasonably warm wherever you are as it is in Washington, D.C. Sixty degrees??? Awesome. I plan on enjoying it. Have an amazing weekend.

Hysterical, seriously: Honest titles and posters for 2013’s best picture Oscar nominees.

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This is disturbing and mildly painful: Eyelash jewelery. I really hope it doesn’t become a thing.

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New hotel promotions for the first quarter of 2013. Sign up now for SPG and Club Carlson.

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New York City’s subway system takes a big step forward with this new app that tracks train arrival times for seven of the system’s 24 lines. Now, if only MTA could get the Second Avenue line up and running.

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It is not true what they say. Not all publicity is good publicity, especially in the case of Boeing’s much hyped Dreamliner. After an electrical fire broke out in the plane earlier this week at Boston’s Logan Airport, the FAA has announced it is launching a review of the 787 plane.

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Question of the week: Are you more likely to get drunk at higher altitudes? Gizmodo has the answer. Hint: It’s complicated.

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Need a laugh? Check out 25 brutally honest no trespassing signs.

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A useful list from Million Mile Secrets: Credit cards that don’t charge foreign transaction fees.

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How to build the best Hulk ever, you know, just in case you have some spare time on your hands.

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This is for The Boyfriend and his obsession with tall buildings: The tallest skyscrapers of 2012.

NEWS YOU CAN USE…OR CAN’T

Jet lag. It sucks. There really is no other way to describe it. If you want to know what I was doing at 3 a.m. last night, look below. The internet is a wonderful cesspool of mindless and occasionally awesome distractions.

The tallest man in the world. Whoa.

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Here’s to New Year’s resolutions. And breaking them.

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Earn 1,000 Priority Club points for watching a 90 second video.

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From Travel + Leisure, the most important travel trends of 2013.

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25 highest mountains in the world. I want to see all of them.

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What to do with all the torn and old pantyhose you’ve got laying around the house? Don’t throw them out! Make scary pantyhose sculptures instead.

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I love this French urban artist, OakoAk. He turns ordinary urban scenes into art.

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This is mildly disconcerting: Confessions of a hotel insider.

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The best New Year’s fireworks ever. Now I know where I need to go next year.

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Finally, a list I actually do decently on: The world’s most visited museums. I’ve been to 10 out of the the 20 most visited museums in the world. Not bad. How many have you been to?

News You Can Use… Or Can’t

Late again, but I’m in Paris, so I have a pretty darn good excuse. Here are some entertaining links you may or may not find useful while you’re welcoming in the new year. Hope you have an awesome weekend and an even awesomer (yeah, I’m declaring awesomer a word) new year.

Need a reason to go to Taiwan? This Taiwanese street performer is pretty impressive. If I tried this, I would fall flat on my face.

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The best Tumblr sites of 2012 from Huffington Post.

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I’m a sucker for these obnoxious maps.

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The 25 most extensive subway systems in the world. Not surprisingly, New York makes the top 10.

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Snow art.

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A good review on what kind of credit cards you should be using from one of my favorite bloggers, View from the Wing.

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A great tumblr site I discovered for beautiful travel photographs from around the world. Warning: It will make you jealous.

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Need advice on packing light? There’s a tumblr site for that.

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The country of Iceland has its own tumblr site. It’s called Iceland Wants to be your Friend. I would definitely like to be Iceland’s friend.

NEWS YOU CAN USE…OR CAN’T

I’ve been delinquent. Again. The past week has been insane, but I won’t leave you high and dry. There’s plenty of completely pointless, completely hysterical news to share with you. So here it is, a day late. Hope you all have a great weekend and holiday. I will be off to Paris tomorrow… Au revoir!

Remember Fisher Price roller skates? Here’s a great trip down memory lane, compliments of Buzz Feed. How many of these awesome toys did you own as a kid?

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The best new hotels of 2012 from Conde Nast Traveler. The Andaz Shanghai looks amaaaaazing. And here’s the best new hotels under $300.

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Gotta give props to this 82-year old man for going after what he wants: A wife.

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Scary newspaper article title of the week from the Washington Post: “Surgeons left 4,857 objects in patients over the past two decades.”

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I don’t like animals, and even I have to admit that this video of a baby panda at the San Diego Zoo is pretty darn adorable. Prepare to say “aw” a lot.

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Lonely Planet has the top 10 top countries to visit in 2013. Sadly, I haven’t been to any of them. I almost made it to Montenegro when I was in Croatia but we ran out of time. What do you think of this list?

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In honor of the holidays, 10 ridiculously ugly Christmas sweaters. If you own one of these, my condolences.

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The 25 most expensive cities to live in. Spoiler alert: #1 is Tokyo.

News You Can Use…Or Can’t

Some fun links to tide you over the weekend. As usual, I will be catching up on sleep and hangin’ with The Boyfriend. Oh, and of course. We will be seeing The Hobbit.

Do a cartwheel! Shout from the rooftops! Trumpet your horn (if you have one)! Google maps is back. You can now download google maps for the iPhone/iPad. Sure I’ll miss the dedicated/hysterical Apple maps tumblr sights, but now I can finally upgrade to iOS6.

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More best pictures of 2012, this time from Reuters.

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Another map: If all the states had followed West Virginia’s lead.

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Odd, but true. Amazing animal bridges around the world.

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50 creative billboards.

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Meet the mayor of Reykjavik, Iceland. And here. He’s a riot.

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In honor of my upcoming trip to Paris, Paris in Motion by photographer Mayeul Akpovi. Pretty awesome.

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This is incredible. Photographer Danny Goldfield is attempting to take a picture of a child from each country in the world all in New York City. Some of the kids are freakishly adorable.

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17 ways to tie your shoes because you have nothing better to do with your time.

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And finally, something to inspire your travel dreams. Condé Nast Traveler has come out with its 2013 Gold List: The world’s best places to stay. Dream away!

Have a super awesome weekend!

NEWS YOU CAN USE…OR CAN’T

In honor of the fast-approaching weekend, I give you some random information for your edification and amusement.

No idea if this is new, but I just stumbled upon Fodor’s top 100 hotels of 2012. There are some real stunners there.

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Holy crap. These are some of the most insanely beautiful photographs I’ve ever seen.

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Are you obsessed with tracking your travels? Here’s a good time waster for you.

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Pictures of the year from The Atlantic: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

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Another map to fuel my ongoing obsession. How lazy are you? Find out here.

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Have you always wondered what he difference is between “fully flat” seats and “angled” airplane seats? The Wall Street Journal takes an in-depth look at business-class seats and how they’re changing.

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Offensive, but incredibly funny map of the world according to stereotypes.

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Top 10 most important cameras of 2012

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Laugh of the day. 26 things that actually exist. Really? Who needs an etch-a-sketch belt buckle?

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And in honor of Hanukkah, here are 16 different ways to spell the holiday.

Hope you have an awesome weekend!

News You Can Use… Or Can’t

I don’t know if you read The Everywhereist, but you should. She is a veritable riot. She also says that we bloggers should shamelessly steal other people’s good ideas, so I am stealing her idea of posting random, useful, sometimes useless, entertaining and interesting links every Friday. Thanks Geraldine. Remember, imitation is the sincerest form of something or other.

You think you’re an expert traveler. Please. This guy makes you look pathetic.

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Apparently, United Airlines is still struggling with internal technical problems, says the New York Times. I don’t care. They still have the best award availability of all the airlines.

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Sorry North Korea. Did we say the sexiest man alive? We meant the most gullible man alive. This story is not to be missed.

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What a shocker. Delta changes its mind. Again. At least, this time, it’s to the benefit of travelers. View from the Wing reports, Award Wallet supports Delta Skymiles again.

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Awesome volcano video. Enough said.

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How emotional are you? Well that depends on where you live. Here’s a color-coded map of the world’s most and least emotional countries.

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This is exciting news if you love the southwest U.S.  like I do. Jetblue now has nonstop flights from JFK to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I love Arizona and I think I would love New Mexico too, but getting there has always been a pain in the neck. Until now. (HT: Just Another Points Traveler)

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The worse hotel in the world, and proud of it. This story is funny, but I won’t be staying here anytime soon.

Have a super-awesome weekend. I plan on sleeping for most of it.