Recently in Flight Blogs Category

Guess what? I'm back on a plane again! Yes, I'm on yet another flight back to the East Coast, and I'll be honest -- I wasn't gonna "flog" it. First of all, I'm a bit tired; second of all, I thought I might do real work; third of all, there aren't even any celebrities that I'm aware of on this place, and fourth of all, I just wasn't sure if I could get myself into the flog mindset.

But then someone spilled soda on me, and I knew I had to start writing. Details forthcoming. Click after the jump and refresh for live updates...

Well, here I am. On another plane. But unlike my recent Alaska and Jetblue excursions, this time I'm on American Airlines, and you know what that means — GoGo in flight wireless! That means that I am writing to you live from the skies, relaying useful and petty information AS IT HAPPENS. The glories of technology. Even better is that while this service normally costs $13, my friend jash was able to hook me up with a sweet promotion code that has reduced the fee down to $0.00. That's right. This experience is freeeeeeee! And you all know how I like a good deal.

Anyway, everything seems to be pretty good so far, but as usual, I have a few complaints. Let the whining commence...

Ardent readers of this blog may have noticed that content has been somewhat lacking over the past few days. That's because I've been touring the Pacific Northwest, enjoying the sights and sounds (and various libations) of Portland and Seattle. Well, now I'm back, but of course I couldn't just FLY somewhere without sharing the experience — especially since I managed to score a swanky first class ticket back to Los Angeles on Alaska Airlines. So yes, here I am with another FLOG, ready to share all from my two hour jaunt in the sky.

The full experience, including a MOST dissatisfying crudite incident, after the jump...

Well, I'm back up in the air and headed back to Los Angeles, and I'm proud to report that there's no Ginny in sight. I was a little concerned that my arch-nemesis would be returning to the Left Coast with me, but thankfully, she's nowhere to be seen. Perhaps there's an urgent candy cane blazer conference in New York City that demands her presence. Nevertheless, without her presence, this flight has been more or less uneventful. The guy next to me seems cool (and capable of beating me up), and even though there are an abundance of children and families on this flight, they all seem to be quiet and placid. Maybe they're all bracing for the cinematic experience that is Marley and Me — soon to begin after the cocktail service.

And where is that cocktail service anyway? I'm starving, but I don't want to gorge on my Cibo Express sandwich (ham & brie sandwich, black and white cookie on the side) until I have a beverage to sate what will surely be a ravenous thirst. Aha! Ask and ye shall receive! The beverage cart has just appeared in the aisle, and my lunch plans look to be headed in the right direction.

More excitement after the jump...

People. People, people, people. I just endured a horrifically awkward ninety minutes on an airplane, and admittedly it was really my own fault. I was live blogging my flight from Los Angeles to New York, and as I am wont to do, I fixated on random minutia in the cabin, particularly that which emanated from the woman next to me, who I had named Ginny. Well, after she nearly spilled a glass of water on me, I kind of went on a blogging rampage, mercilessly making fun of every small thing she did — which probbbbbbably (read: most definitely) wasn't tremendously fair to her, but in my own meager defense, I can say that when I start writing these things, I'm not even writing about the person anymore. It's like I've created a character and am just running with it. Anyway, that explanation doesn't fly when the person you've been quietly mocking for about an hour happens to check out your laptop, read your remarks, and then call you out on it.

And that's just what Ginny did. The whole awful saga after the jump...

Hello, people! I'm currently flying cross country on American Airlines, taking advantage of the inflight WiFi. You know what that means: time to live blog the adventures.

Bitching and moaning after the jump...

Surprise, surprise! I am currently on an airplane flying to New York, and with the advent of in-flight Internet courtesy of Gogo Wireless, I'm able to truly report to you all with a live blog. This is actually the second time I've used this service, and I'm still a bit giddy about the notion of checking my email while cruising high above the mountains of California. I LOVE TECHNOLOGY. What I don't love, however, are unexpected kinks in what should be a relatively straightforward flight.

The story behind my "Ugggghhhhh" after the jump...

I've done a lot of flight blogs — or flogs — in my time, but never in all my time have I been able to actually LIVE blog my flights. Granted, I call it liveblogging as I'm typing what I observe as it happens, but the truth is that I don't usually publish my flogs until several hours after I've touched down. Not this time, my friends. American Airlines just introduced in-flight Wi-Fi five days ago on selected routes, and yours truly has the luxury of flying one of those special planes. Thanks to GoGo, I'm able to stay connected to the internet for the duration of my flight for a flat fee of $13. It's a bit steep, I suppose, but the ability to be on email THE WHOLE WAY more than makes up for the slight pecuniary injustice. And yes, I'm on a transcontinental flight — so spread over five hours (ish) of travel time, it's a pretty good deal. I'm not sure I could say the same for the New York to Miami route, but then again, it all depends on how desperately anyone wants to check their email.

Nevertheless, let's start this flog already!

This past weekend, I took a lovely little jaunt to Chicago, and while I was busy doing work on the flight there, I made sure to reserve the return trip for some good old fashioned flight blogging, or flogging as I call it. Anyway, I've just concluded a long, arduous day of traveling, and while my celebrity sightings weren't as good as my friend Jash's (he took a flight to NY this weekend and sat next to Usher, or something like that), hopefully the addition of an Arkansas layover will spice up the festivities. Okay, it won't, but like poker, sometimes you gotta play your low card and hope for the best.

The whole sordid affair after the jump...

Sights from the Airport Lounge

Well, here I am, about to depart for yet another flight, but unlike other flight blogs, or flogs, this one is special. I'm not headed to the sunny climes of Los Angeles. Far from it. I'm flying off to the mysteriously inviting world that is Eastern Europe. That's right, I'm jet-setting off to Prague, and I couldn't be more excited. This will be my first ever international flog. But even better, I'm flying Business Class — also a flog first. This should lead to a whole new level of fascinating observations.

The action should all take place momentarily. I'm slated to board in about t-minus seven minutes, and as this is the first time I've flown Lufthansa, I'm quite excited. I've spent the latter part of the past hour sitting here in the Business Class lounge, which technically belongs to SAS, not Lufthansa, but that's okay. I'm open to all countries and their swanky lounges. As you can imagine, this one has a high number of flaxen Danes and Swedes present. I thought I had spotted three or four German hausfraus, but alas, upon further inspection (ie. the newspapers they were reading), I'd have to place them somewhere in the Oslo region.

When I haven't been doing any ethnic sleuthing, I've been snacking on the wide array of breads, cheeses, and cookies. I thought about boozing it up too, but quite frankly, I just didn't feel like it. Instead, I've merely focused on the food. I've already gone back for seconds (the sesame bun was a mid-afternoon delight — especially when paired with an ample helping of herbed cream cheese), and I was quite happy to discover a huge selection of nicely arranged Pepperidge Farm cookies. Milanos? Don't mind if I do!

Well, I should probably close up shop now. Perhaps there'll be an update in Frankfurt. See you in many hours...

The view from my seat.

Ahh, it feels like it was just last week when I last wrote a flight blog, and here I am again, busting out the laptop for more airborne commentary. It's time to leave the chilly climes of the Northeast and return to the sunny, temperate weather of Los Angeles -- Burbank Airport, specifically.  After a whirlwind weekend of wedding activities (and snow), I've found myself back at JFK, sitting in the JetBlue terminal and waiting for this alleged wireless hotspot to kick in.  You see, despite my laptop registering a full four bars-worth of connectivity, I'm unable to access the World Wide Web.  A quick polling of my nearby laptop neighbors reveal that they too have been similarly and frustratingly cockblocked from the Internet.  Sadly, this isn't the first time this has happened.  The last few times I've flown out of JFK, I've noticed that the wireless hotspot has been anything but.  I mean, yes, it is a spot, but it's hardly hot.

So without internet access, I'm stuck here observing my surroundings.  The terminal is packed, I should note.  I think I saw someone from Bunim-Murray at the food court.  I don't know his name, and I never interacted with him when I was working there, but I'm fairly sure he's a producer or something.  I also saw a woman watching Juno on her laptop.  I guess she had a screener.  WELL.  Two can play at that game, lady.  Maybe I'll just pop in MY screener of Atonement.  Actually, I won't.  It's entirely too early in the morning for a delicate British drama.

Lastly, I should note that some guy full-on farted at the security check in.  It was nasty.  So nasty that one of the security guards asked another loudly, "Juan, did you pass gas?"  She then fanned her hand in front of her face.  Whoever smelt it dealt it, right?  Rest assured, it wasn't me (despite my making the rhyme, which means I therefore did the crime.  Although, now I've denied it, which means I've also supplied it.  Damn, I'm really making a bad case for myself).  Nevertheless, the lack of usable internet access mixed with the toxic clouds of ass emissions has made this morning in Terminal 6 slightly unpleasant.  That's okay though.  I actually have real work I have to do, which means that while I'll check in periodically to give updates on the flight, I won't be as fastidious with the blogging as perhaps my trip out [ed. note -- this proved to be a lie].  Plus, there's also the very real possibility that I may conk out mid flight (only got like two hours of sleep last night).  So now we're all updated and happy, yes?  Good.  See you in the air.

Oh what a week. After having made an auspicious paparazzi photo appearance a few days ago, I knew I had to somehow maintain the (VERY real) image of my fast-paced Hollywood lifestyle, and what better way to do that than by jumping on the latest plane out of Burbank and jet setting to New York City? Yeah, I'm that cool —  I fly across the country just for the hell of it.

Okay, okay. I didn't fly across the country to look cool. I came to New York for a wedding. And I flew on the rather unglamorous (but still wonderful) JetBlue. So as you can see, my pseudo-glitzy image is in much need of bolstering (and mark my words, it WILL be bolstered some day). In the time being though, I'll do what I do best: writing a transcontinental flight blog. Or as I call it, a flog. Good times to be had by all, I'm sure.

As you all know, I definitely appreciate a good airplane story.  And when it comes to stories, very few can match Dave Sedaris in the humor department.  How convenient then that in this week's New Yorker, the acclaimed writer takes on that most vaunted of experiences:  a trans-atlantic flight red-eye.  Unlike my flight blogs, which have all taken place in the sprawling pandemonium of coach, Sedaris documents the joys and inconveniences of Business Class Elite, an entirely new and dainty beast.  It's hilarious.  I particularly enjoyed his follies with the armrest control panel (an error, I might add, that I would NEVER make)  Thanks to Zoobabe for the link!

•  Journey Into Night [The New Yorker]

WELL HELLO.  Welcome to my new blog.  It's sort of a work in progress; so excuse the mess.  A few weeks ago, I decided that I was officially going to start blogging again, and what better way to mark my triumphant return than by engaging in one of my favorite pastimes of blogging yore:  the flight liveblog.  Or perhaps, the flightblog.  Or better yet, the flog.  

Yes, for the first time in what felt like years, I decided to pull out my laptop on a flight and blog the entire thing.  At first, I wasn't going to do much — just dip the toes in the proverbial waters, if you will.  Why bother doing all this work if I didn't even have a blog set up?  But when I found myself detailing the assorted highs and lows of sitting amidst a celebrity and an awful, awful family, I knew I had to find me some real estate on the Internets.  One thing led to another, and after much brainstorming/annoyingly questioning friends to no end, I decided upon this here domain name, and the rest, dare I say, is history.  Well, maybe not history.  It's a bit presumptuous of me to act like this blog is history-worthy when this is in fact its very first entry, but IRREGARDLESS, I now have a home for my flight blog (flog), and so without further ado, I present to you my first official blog entry...