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Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Wednesday, April 25, 2007





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Alanis Morissette

In the current climate of what is appropriate and what isn't and what is degrading and what is uplifting Alanis makes a monster statement in this video.
Sometimes the most important critiques and social commentary come from within the circle that is being examined and this is huge swing at self inflicted sexism. Alanis takes a big hit and covers it and in the process exposes the lyrics for what they are...offensive drivel.
GO ALANIS!

Monday, April 16, 2007

Countdown!

Nominee for "Story of the Month"(3)

Sometimes they come in waves. Just the night before nominated story #2 took place, we had the following event...Story of the Month #3. And this time, we get the added bonus that it involves Northwest Airlines.

PORT HURON -- A veteran Northwest Airlines pilot was charged Sunday with operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs and cocaine possession after an incident in which he drove a rented Humvee the wrong way on the Blue Water Bridge and Interstate 94.

Walter Louis Dinalko, 50, of St. Paul, Minn., was arrested by St. Clair County Sheriff's deputies about 10:30 p.m. Saturday night, Lt. A.J. Foster said.

Foster said tire-deflating stop sticks were spread out across the eastbound lanes of the interstate when Dinalko attempted to elude deputies and ignored instructions to pull his vehicle over on the shoulder.

"He ignored repeated efforts to get him to pull over and officers had to resort to stop sticks to disable his vehicle," said Foster, adding Dinalko was combative when he was finally stopped and had to be wrestled to the ground during the arrest.

A bag containing a small amount of cocaine was found inside the vehicle and another bag was in Dinalko's possession, Foster said. It was unclear where Dinalko was headed when the incident took place at the international border between U.S. and Canada.

Dinalko was arraigned Sunday in the St. Clair County Jail by 72nd District Judge Richard Cooley on charges of possession of cocaine, assault and obstruction and resisting a police officer, and fleeing and eluding police. He was to be released on $10,000 cash surety bond which had been posted by a bondsman, Foster said.

A Northwest Airlines spokesperson confirmed Dinalko was employed by the airlines but refused to comment on the incident, which is also under investigation by the Federal Aviations Administration (FAA). The FAA monitors the airline industry, its employees, and matters pertaining to public safety.

Nominee for "Story of the Month" (#2)

5-year-old Ferndale girl killed when flagpole blows over

Shawn D. Lewis / The Detroit News

FERNDALE -- A 5-year-old kindergartener at Roosevelt Primary School was killed this afternoon when the wind blew a flagpole over onto her while her class was being held outside. The school is located at 2610 Pinecrest.

District spokesman Stephanie Hall said the child's name will not be released until her parents are notified. A press conference is scheduled for 4 pm this afternoon at a park across the street from the school.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Traverse City...where winter never ends

Traverse City is located in the northwestern part of the mitten of Michigan. It is famous for its cherries and bills itself as the Cherry Capital of the World. While I've never had the opportunity to overnight here in the summer it is supposedly gorgeous and full of life. Lots of neat antique store and such. Sadly, it was cold and snowy the entire time I was here over Easter weekend. I look forward to returning someday though!
This first picture is from the hotel room in Traverse City. That is one of the Grand Traverse Bays in the area. I'm terrible with direction and since I didn't even have the sun to guide me, I don't know if that is the east or the west one.

This second picture shows a skyline picture from the hotel with some hills in the background. That isn't haze either but snow. The squall had backed off a bit when I took this picture allowing for the hills to be visible. I was not aware that they were there until this picture was taken as it was dark, snowing or both the entire time I was here.







Here are a couple of street shots. The tall building on the right side of this pic is the hotel we stay in. I was walking back from breakfast and snapped this. This was Easter weekend so traffic was light as it was still fairly early in the morning as well.








This is a picture from the hotel parking lot. That tall tree is the end of land. Past that is the directional Grand Traverse Bay again. The layover is supposedly spectacular in the summer. Of course, I had put my winter coat away after it hit 85 here a couple of weeks ago so I didn't venture far.








Here is the cute little restaurant where I had breakfast. The food was average, all things breakfast continue to be compared to that omelette that I ate in Salt Lake City a couple of months ago. The town is very cute like this all over.







Nothing really specific about this shot..just thought I'd throw in a bonus picture!

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Detroit Airport Water Feature

Here is some video that I shot of the water feature in the middle of the airport in Detroit. It is actually cool in person! Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

If WE'RE Number 1....Dear Heavens!

So, sometimes things happen that are so startling and so unbelievable that you can't help but think the world is closing in on collapse. The article below is one such moment. Somehow, in all the chaos and frustration that has been Northwest Airlines that last couple of years we've managed to beat out every other major domestic airline in the US for overall customer service. Boy, I pity the people that fly the other airlines cause I know we still suck. Heavens, we even beat out SOUTHWEST!
For those less familiar with the industry, the major airlines are considered American, United, Northwest, Delta, Continental and USAirways. The others are considered smaller or "LCC" (low cost carriers) like Southwest, jetBlue, Hawaiian and Aloha. The smaller airlines fair better in these sorts of rankings because of their smaller route schedules and fewer connection problems. Also, the two Hawaii based airlines have extremely high on time rates because there are no weather issues on their route structures. For a tradition network carrier to beat Southwest in this ranking is a bit shocking. Also, I think it is interesting to point out that NWA is nearly the same size as the four airlines that beat us COMBINED! For some more context in size, while NWA is as big as those four combined, Delta is twice our size and American is nearly four times our size. Just an interesting bit of info.
While I'm a bit dismayed by these rankings, I'm also a bit excited. It is nice to be able to say "we're better". Anyway...enjoy the article!



Northwest Airlines provided the best customer service among big network airlines in 2006, even though it was in bankruptcy and its employees were working under significant pay cuts.

The Eagan-based carrier had the fifth-best operational statistics among 18 large U.S. carriers ranked in the 17th annual Airline Quality Ratings study released Monday.

While the performance of the overall industry slipped last year, Northwest's treatment of customers improved in all four categories measured. In addition to showing a slight gain in its on-time arrivals -- 75 percent in 2005 to 75.8 percent in 2006 -- Northwest reduced its numbers of consumer complaints, mishandled bags and involuntarily bumped passengers.

"The people of Northwest Airlines have done an amazing job," said Terry Trippler, a Minneapolis-based airline analyst.

Hawaiian Airlines came in first in the rankings, followed by JetBlue Airways, AirTran Airways and Frontier Airlines.

Northwest has almost as many flights per day as those four airlines combined, Trippler said.

The other big network airlines ranked as follows: Continental, seventh; United, eighth; American, 10th; Delta, 12th, and US Airways, 13th.

"Northwest continues to strive to offer our customers the best flight experience possible," the carrier said in a prepared statement Monday. "Our employees have consistently maintained their focus on meeting the needs of customers."

Among the six major network airlines, Northwest noted that it had the smallest rate of mishandled bags during 2006, and it was the second-lowest in the rate of consumer complaints and third-best in on-time arrivals.

The study is done by researchers at the University of Nebraska and Wichita State University, who weight data collected by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

During 2006, Northwest was engaged in contentious negotiations with its pilots, flight attendants and ground workers.

But Robert Mann, a New York-based airline consultant, said that front-line employees still managed to serve customers. "Most employees realize that it doesn't help them in their negotiations with the company to take customers hostage," Mann said.

He also noted that Northwest has been investing in systems and making policy decisions that will allow front-line employees to do a better job. One example he cited is ticket-selling approaches that maximize revenue but reduce the number of oversold flights.

On an industry basis, the number of on-time flights dropped from 77.3 percent in 2005 to 75.5 percent last year. In addition, the rate of mishandled bags increased from 6.06 per 1,000 passengers in 2005 to 6.5 in 2006.

David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, said consumers have decided that cheap fares are their priority, so people are "getting the kind of airline system that we've paid for. We are only willing to pay bus-type fares, so we are getting bus-like service."

Big airlines have stripped their services and no longer offer food, blankets or pillows in coach class, Stempler said, and they've reduced staff so they can save money and offer fares that compete with low-fare airlines.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Nominee for "Story of the Month"

I've decided to add an occasional topic here. It seems that Detroit and the area around it has a lock on the bizarre, unfortunate, sick, disgusting and shocking stories. Because of this, I've come up with an idea to highlight the best of the worst that Detroit has to offer. In the first nominated story we find an internet sex case involving a 7 year old behind sold off by her mother. The community of Taylor is located directly beside the airport and the hotel she brought her child to is near where I stay.
This is from the Detroit Free Press



A 33-year-old Taylor woman -- arrested with bags of sex toys and children's outfits that police say she planned to let a man use to sexually abuse her 7-year-old daughter -- was arraigned Sunday on several sex abuse charges.

Wayne County sheriff's deputies arrested the woman about 6:30 p.m. Friday at a Romulus hotel, where officials say the woman brought her daughter to be abused. The prospective abuser, however, was an undercover sheriff's deputy.

"She made it clear that she would see that the child would comply," Sheriff Warren Evans said Sunday.

He said the case was the most disgusting and exploitative he has seen in his 30-plus years of law enforcement.

The woman, whose name isn't being released to protect the identity of the 7-year-old and the woman's four other children, was arraigned on five charges in 34th District Court in Romulus. A not guilty plea was entered on behalf of the woman, who wasn't represented by a lawyer at the arraignment. A $1-million bond was set.

Evans said an undercover deputy with the sheriff's Internet crime unit contacted the woman, portraying himself as a photographer interested in child pornography. The woman told him she was a prostitute, Evans said.

"Even worse than that, she began talking about her children," Evans said.

The deputy had several online conversations with the woman, who indicated that the 7-year-old had been used in sex acts for money before, officials said.

She offered the deputy a menu of options, officials said, ranging from pornographic pictures to having sex with the girl. The woman also offered to perform sex acts alongside her daughter, Evans said.

When the woman arrived at the hotel to book a room, plainclothes deputies arrested her, said John Roach, spokesman for the sheriff's office.

The 7-year-old was turned over to Child Protective Services, as were her siblings--ages 6, 9, 11 and 12. Evans said investigators were trying to determine whether the other children have been offered for sex or molested.

Evans would not say how the deputy came into contact with the woman because, he said, it's part of a larger investigation.

Some Pics of the Detroit Airport

Firstly, let me set things straight. The Detroit airport isn't in Detroit. As a matter of fact, it is closer to Ann Arbor than Detroit. Furthermore it isn't all that much further to Toledo than downtown Detroit, but they call it the Detroit Metro Airport to get around it. The airport is actually in Romulus which will supply a giggle to anyone that is a fan of Star Trek. Since I am NOT a fan of Star Trek it invokes a yawn.

The pictures here are from the McNamara Northwest WordGateway Terminal at Detroit Metro Airport. The Northwest WorldGateway Terminal opened in February 2002. It really is a spectacular facility which means it has no excuse to be associated with either Detroit or Northwest. I think that

This is the famous Red Bullet Train. The train runs the length of the terminal and makes three stops. This is the stop at the center of the terminal right above the water feature.















This is another shot of the Big Red Train. The train is pulling into the center station. Off to the left is a nice seating area with some very nice leather seats and the ubiquitous ficus trees. The terminal has very high ceilings...as you can see from the Big Red Train and is mainly glass allowing for a nice open airy feel throughout.
















This is a nose-on shot of a 747-400 aircraft parked at the gate. Currently, this model is the largest commercial aircraft flying. The nwa configuration holds 403 passengers. It will lose that title to the Airbus A330 when it begins flying next year. The dots are in the glass and really are only visible when taking pictures. For some size relation, the main part of the terminal where this picture was taken is actually on the second floor. So the nose of the aircraft is more than two stories off the ground and the top of the aircraft nears four stories tall. For some more understanding of the size of the aircraft, take a look at the truck to the side that fits underneath the wings.

Ukraine 2007 Verka Serdyuchka - Dancing

Sometimes things are just simply too amazing to not share with the world. Everyone..get on your dance pumps and DANCE!