THIS WEEK'S JOHNNY JET 10/2/2002
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WHERE'S
JOHNNY JET
?
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Greetings! Even
though I trekked all across the country this week to
LAX-ORD-HPN-LGA-ORD-CLE-DEN-LAX, I don't have one great
story like I did last week, instead I have a few!
After our short
stint in Kona, Hawaii, we came home and my
buddy, Chris,
invited Amber Airplane and I to the set of
Just Shoot Me
. We had a lot of work to do but we weren't going to pass
up VIP tickets so we drove out to Studio City
in Friday afternoon traffic (nightmare as usual). It
was my first time witnessing a live taping of a TV sitcom
and I have to say, it was pretty cool! If you are visiting
LA, I highly recommend it. I know they are always handing
out free tickets at Universal City Walk, Mann's Chinese Theater,
and other popular touristy locations in LA. But you
can also get them online from
TvTickets
, TvTix
,
Audiences Unlimited
, and FreeTvShows
. I hear with the freebies, it's first-come, first-serve and they
bus people because you can't park on the studio lot, which means
you could be held prisoner until the show ends. It
really is fun to watch and learn how they do it, but after the first
couple re-takes it got old real quick. The Just Shoot
Me taping took from 5pm-11pm to complete the 22 minute show.
They rehearse all week and on Fridays they tape in front of a live
audience. The audience of about 200 sat in seats about five
feet higher than the set which was divided into five different rooms.
There were microphones taped above our heads to capture the studio
laughter. They have writers right on the set so if a joke doesn't
fly with the audience they will quickly rewrite the line and try
again. To keep people entertained while they move the four
camera's, test the lighting, or rewrite, they have a show starter
who sits in the audience and keeps everyone from falling asleep or escaping.
This comedian did a great job from keeping the people from
dying of boredom and/or starvation. He was funnier than
the cast members. It was classic, he would just sit in his chair,
with the microphone pressed to his lips and whisper as he picked on
a crew member or an extra who had no idea that the whole audience was
watching and laughing at them. My friend Chris really hooked us
up big time because not only did we have the first four seats reserved
just for us but we had wristbands which enabled us to walk on the set
where ever and whenever we wanted. Most importantly we were able
to eat the great food, which they had tons of. Oh yeah, we also
got to
hang out
with the
cast members
and mess around
on the set
! Not bad for a Friday evening.
Enough with LA. The first stop on my cross-country
tour was The Windy City. I landed at 9pm at O'hare
and instead of going downtown or to my cousin's house, I checked
into a hotel
I have seen
countless times but have never been to.
The O'Hare Hilton
, which is located right smack in the middle of the airport,
is very easy to find. Just follow the yellow brick road,
I mean the
Hilton floor signs
. They will lead you downstairs the same way as to the CTA
(train). If it's warm out you can take the Johnny Jet
short-cut and walk through the arrivals pick-up area and across
the street, just be careful of the impatient cabbies, (I don't want
to be responsible.) The hotel had the longest check-in line
I have ever seen outside of Vegas or a cruise line. It's a
good thing I'm a Hilton Honors member so I didn't have to wait long.
I couldn't believe how busy it was. Not only was the lobby
packed, but so was the restaurant and bar. The
rooms
were comfortable and had high speed internet access and
plenty of tv channels to keep me busy. The best part
about the hotel , which every road warrior knows or should
know about, is it's great
work-out facility
. It opens early at 5am and doesn't close to 10pm Fri-Sun
and 11pm Mon-Thurs. So, if you ever have a couple
hours to kill at ORD and you don't want to fill your belly up
on some of their tasty airport concessions then take the 10
minute walk to the Hilton and go
for a swim
or pump some iron. It costs only $10 for a walk-in day pass,
$5 for Hilton Honors Silver, Gold, or Diamond Members, (should
be free for Diamond Members), $7 for airline crew, and $10
for a hotel guest, (should definitely be free). You can also
get massages: 1/2 hour for $40, an hour for $70, or if fake baking
is your thing, the tanning machines cost $8, ($5 for crew). If
you are a very frequent traveler to ORD, then look into memberships
that begin at $50 a month to $300 a year. Flight Attendants
and Pilots get the best deal at $70 a year.
The next day my cousin, Dennis, picked me up and we went to a great
soul food restaurant that is a block away from
Oprah's studio
. After indulging on some potato and chive pancakes at
Wishbone
, Dennis and I went over to the
McCormick Place
Convention Center for The
Motivation Show
. No, it wasn't a Tony Robbins seminar. It was the world's
largest collection of incentive merchandise, travel &
meeting destinations, recognition awards, promotional products,
performance improvement services, and business gifts.
More than 2,000 exhibitors from Godiva to the
China Tourism bureau
were on hand. The place was so huge that my feet are
still killing me from walking about 10 miles in my uncomfortable
shoes. The exhibitors don't give away a lot of
free promotional stuff, (which is kind of ironic, don't you think?),
but some do have elaborate booths with other gimmicks to
suck people in. The
Fiji booth
had entertainers. The Mandalay Bay Hotel had
this girl and these parrots
. But my favorite, (other than Mrs. Fields booth that gave
away free cookies), was the Pro Bowl booth that had ex-Dallas
Cowboy
Randy White
signing autographs and a couple of the
cheerleaders
:-). The show only cost $25 to attend, so if you are in
that line of business and in that part of the country, you can't afford
to not go.
I spent the next night at my cousins house. Sheridan, Dennis' wife, used my late Grandmother's recipe to make some of her amazing pasta which brought back so many of those Sunday afternoon memories. Thanks Sheridan!
I was scheduled to fly out to Connecticut the following day, but when I found out that Amber Airplane was going to be in O'Hare for a three hour layover I decided on leaving a day early to surprise her and take her to the Hilton gym for a work-out. Just kidding.... We went to dinner at the airport Chili's . Why would we want to workout when we can eat????
It was funny because out of all the gates they have at ORD, (70
total), ours were right next to each other, which made for an
easy departure. I flew the hour and forty minutes
to HPN (White Plains, NY) which is only thirty minutes away from
where I grew up. My best friend from high school, Mike, picked
me up since I was in town to go to a his brother's wedding, (I was
surprised I was invited because we used to beat him up when we were kids:-).
The wedding was in Brookfield, Connecticut, which was another
thirty minutes from where I grew up but in the other direction, (North).
It's a great drive, especially during the fall foliage, but right
now it's still a bit early. I will try to go back when they are peaking
to take some good pictures.
Anthony and Tara
had a
marvelous
wedding and their reception at the
Fox Hill Inn
was perfect. The reception
was fun
and we
danced
until my foot started hurting.
OTHER NOTABLES:
Next week, I will tell you about how we partied
all night with Amber's parents for her Mom's birthday party
in Cleveland, and..........
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MEDIA ALERT
From Joe Sent
Me
:
CYBERTRAVELER: Airlines and Hotels by
the Numbers
You never know what John "Johnny Jet" DiScala
will think of next and the latest additions to his
sprawling Johnny Jet Web site are the soul of probity
and convenience. He's built one-stop links to most
of the world's hotel and airline sites along with their
toll-free reservations numbers. Surf to AirlineNumbers
and you'll find a simple, uncluttered bunch of links
to the airlines and their respective toll-free numbers.
The same goes for HotelNumbers, where you'll find quick access
to hotel web links and hotel-chain reservation numbers.
READER AIR-eMAIL
TOP 20 COUNTRIES THAT PEOPLE LOGGED ON JOHNNY
JET FROM IN OCTOBER
1. United States 2. Canada 3. Japan
4. UK
5. Netherlands 6. Australia
7. France 8. Belgium
9. Italy 10. Sweden 11.
Singapore 12. Germany
13. Switzerland 14. New Zealand
15. Israel 16 . Taiwan
17 . Spain 18. Brazil
19 . Austria 20. Mexico
WHAT'S NEW IN
JOHNNY JET
JET CAPTAINS
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Yesterday
I was coming back from Atlanta to Denver (my
home) on a Untied 737, and the pilot was coming in
for her approach. I as listing to the tower on my headset,
something United has always done. About 1000 feet from the
runway, she turned up the throttle and told the tower she
was going around, later she told the passengers that there was
a something on the runway. The winds were calm. This is the third
time this has happened to me. I fly over 25,000 miles a year. I
know pilots practice this all the time, but you don’t hear about it
in the press. Does it happen often?
SKYGIRLS
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Have you ever been through turbulence and have you ever been
injured while working?
SKYGUY
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
It
seems "service" often takes a back seat these days. I often feel like I'm
imposing on flight attendants for my beverage of choice (club soda with
ice--the whole can, please). Should there be more flight attendants on the
plane?
Travel Celebrity Q&A:
Guide Book Writer Pamela Lanier
TIP OF THE WEEK:
Inexpensive way to go from Manhattan Hotel
to JFK and Newark (EWR) Airport Transfer or vice versa!
(Starting from USD $17 per person).
To make a reservation click here
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CHICAGO TRIBUNE
GOOD TO KNOW!
You saved
the company 300 bucks, but now you've got half a
day to kill between flights. How best to spend the time?
Here, at five of the nation's busiest airports, are our
picks for the most entertaining ways to while away the hours.
From
Business2.com
Atlanta
William B. Hartsfield International Airport
An exciting terminal this is not. But a 16-minute subway ride takes
you to the World of Coca-Cola (KO), an exhibit
detailing the history of the planet's favorite
fizzy drink. (Take the MARTA train to Five Points station,
then follow the signs to the Underground Atlanta mall.) The
pavilion showcases more than 1,200 company artifacts, including
a replica of a 1930s Barnes Soda Fountain, where a soda jerk
demonstrates how Coke was prepared in the early days. You can also
sample 23 soft drinks that the company distributes only outside
the United States -- everything from Beverly, an Italian carbonated
grapefruit drink, to South Africa's Stoney Ginger Beer.
Chicago
O'Hare International Airport
Assuming you don't feel like riding the psychedelic moving walkway
between the B and C concourses 152 times in
a row, your best bet is to head downtown, 45 minutes
away via the elevated Blue Line train. Get off at Clark
Street, pretend you've never heard of the Sears Tower,
and walk straight to the Billy Goat Tavern. (Head east along
the Chicago River, cross the Michigan Avenue Bridge, and find
the tavern beneath the Wrigley Building.) Made famous by the
late John Belushi, who used the tavern as the basis for a classic
Saturday Night Live skit ("No Coke, Pepsi"), the Billy Goat is
a favorite haunt of local media types and does indeed make a tasty
"cheezborger."
Dallas/Fort Worth
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
DFW has something no other airport can boast: its own winery. La
Bodega Winery, in Terminal A near Gate 15,
offers 50 varieties of wine from 16 Texas vintners,
including 4 bottled under the La Bodega label. (If you're
flying American, take the interterminal TRAAIN to Gate A13;
all others, take the DFW airport train's Yellow Line to Gate
A9.) Best bet for lovers of red: the Becker Reserve Cabernet
vintage. Prefer white? Try Sister Creek Chardonnay. Texas wine --
who knew?
Los Angeles
Los Angeles International Airport
An acceptable option is to grab a meal at Encounter, the restaurant
atop the airport's futuristic Theme Building,
which offers good food and even better martinis.
But we suggest that you instead take advantage of two
distinctly L.A. phenomena: year-round sun and a populace that
inspired the nickname La-La Land. A $20 cab ride will land
you at Venice Beach in less than half an hour. Once there,
try the Timothy Leary burger at the Sidewalk Café on
Venice's famously quirky boardwalk, where you're likely to catch
sight of anything from the star of your favorite workout video
to a country-western singer clad in nothing but boots, skivvies,
and hat.
New York
John F. Kennedy International Airport
Ah, the majestic plumage of the great blue heron. This must be ...
New York City? Yup. Believe it or not, the 9,000-acre Jamaica Bay Wildlife
Refuge, one of the most important urban parklands
in the country and home to more than 325 bird species,
is just 6 miles from the congested runways of JFK.
To get there, take a shuttle bus to the Howard Beach subway
station. Ride one stop to the Broad Channel station, then
head north on Crossbay Boulevard for about half a mile.
Less than 40 minutes after walking past airport security,
you'll be hearing many fine examples of the region's distinctive
mating calls (and we don't mean the kind that begin "Hey, baby
...").
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