Boston To Costa Rica: $330

Here’s a pleasantly low fare between Boston and San Jose, Costa Rica: $330. I’d even call it astonishing if I hadn’t seen a fare of $275 just a couple of months ago.

That’s round-trip, with all taxes and fees included, by the way.

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Third Song Released In United Breaks Guitars Series

Canadian country singer Dave Carroll has come out with his third and final song on the subject of United Airlines breaking his guitar. His message: I’m not angry at United any more, but lots of other people are.

I liked the first song and video best, especially the scene with the chalk outline around the guitar, but this one is fun.

Video: Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite National Park

I posted a photo of Bridalveil Fall in my Yosemite photo gallery a while back, but it takes a video to show how it got its name:

I clipped the video just before a guy in a baseball hat walked in front of it and started shouting back at his family. It was amusing but it wouldn’t be fair to leave it in because I’m quite certain he hadn’t noticed my camera.

This video was shot, by the way, with my inexpensive, trusty and slightly battered Canon PowerShot SD450 atop a Gorillapod tripod.

Visit Denmark And Get Laid?

A rather strange video in which a young Danish woman purports to seek the foreign visitor who impregnated her has been pulled from YouTube by Denmark’s tourism agency, Britain’s Telegraph reports. This is the kind of thing that reminds us that Europeans think of sex differently than Americans generally do. Those considerations aside, though, it’s still a very weird video.

Long Walk, Cool Video

My friend John Ward found this video and posted it to Facebook. It’s a time-lapse view of a man and his facial hair on a one-year walk across China:

The Longest Way 1.0 – one year walk/beard grow time lapse from Christoph Rehage on Vimeo.

Ryanair Standing Room Idea Parodied

Just ran across a Dublin radio station’s parody song based on comments by Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, about selling tickets for standing room on jets. The tune is Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing:”

United Breaks Guitars

After Dave Carroll‘s guitar was smashed in transit on United Airlines, he immortalized the event in song. (Thanks Doug and The Consumerist.)

[Update, 7/9/2009: United wants to make up, the Los Angeles Times' Daily Travel & Deal Blog reports].

Air New Zealand Spices Up Safety Video

A new safety video just rolled out on Air New Zealand features employees wearing nothing but body paint and shoes.

The video is shot so that the painted-on uniforms don’t reveal much more than the ordinary uniforms would. But the whole thing is a hoot, if only because the employees in the video look as if they’re about to crack up laughing:

The New York Times reveals that one of the employees is Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe. After Googling him, I have to conclude he’s the pilot in the video.

Videos Make Fun Of Cleveland, With A Swipe At Detroit

A couple of spoofs of Cleveland tourism ads are getting some attention on YouTube. The first one invites visitors to “come and look at both of our buildings:”

The follow-up video declares that Cleveland’s main export is “crippling depression,” and takes a swipe at Detroit. (If this was an attempt to incite a smackdown, it’s not working, reports The Detroit News.)

Joe Biden Didn’t Officially Mean It

“Let’s just talk as non-experts, you and me,” said Matt Lauer to Vice President Joe Biden. And so they did.

Biden’s office says he really didn’t mean to advise against flying on airplanes or using mass transit because of the risk of contracting swine flu, but that’s very clearly what he said:

His office suggested that wasn’t what he meant to say. Certainly it isn’t what he should have said.