Aspen X-treme

For a week in January, Aspen becomes the center of the jibtastic universe when the Winter X Games comes to town. With 80,000 spectators (heavy on the park rats), dozens of free events, and parties?i.e. free booze?galore, Aspen is going to go off. Here?s your insider?s guide to the 2011 Winter X Games.

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Cruise Port Update: Grand Turk gets NASA exhibit

Filed under: North America, United Kingdom, Canada, United States, CaribbeanIt's not all sandy beaches, shore excursions and shopping in Grand Turk these days. A unique exhibit commemorating the National Aeronautics & Space Administration's (NASA) Mercury space program and the historic 1962 splashdown of the Friendship 7 capsule off the coast of Grand Turk is now open at the Grand Turk Cruise Center.

"Splashdown Grand Turk" is a 3,500-square-foot attraction celebrating the unique relationship of the American human spaceflight mission which has special significance to the island's history.

"We believe that having this great exhibit at the Grand Turk Cruise Center not only pays homage to the remarkable history of the NASA space program, but also shows the historical richness of the island," said David Candib, director of business development for Carnival Corporation & plc, which operates the Grand Turk Cruise Center built in 2006.

Part of the Grand Turk Cruise Center, the free exhibit features a history of the Mercury space program, including replicas of an Atlas rocket model, astronaut John Glenn in a spacesuit, and the Friendship 7 capsule.

Gallery: Grand Turk Cruise CenterContinue reading Cruise Port Update: Grand Turk gets NASA exhibitCruise Port Update: Grand Turk gets NASA exhibit originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Consolidators Could Get You Cheap Flights

Author : Dakota LindalThe average joe will not fly very often A business man however might fly as much as three times a month This type of person is going to be on the lookout for cheap flights, particularly if they're the business owner and therefore having to pay for the flights themselves This is where airfare consolidators come into play

The airfare consolidator buys large numbers of tickets from flight companies and then resells them Since they buy lots of tickets, they have them at a reduced rate What this means is purchasing the air tickets form an airfare consolidator can get you cheap flights, or at least cheaper than going straight through the airline itself

Should you use airfare consolidators to obtain cheap flights, be aware that you should not expect superb after sales service They're serious about selling a large amount of tickets as possible, not really in looking after their clients afterwards If you're the kind of person who likes receiving prompt and personal assistance, rather use a regular local travel agency to get your flights booked

When rates go up, like over the times of year when everyone is heading on holiday as well as flying abroad, it could be really worth your while to get cheap flights through an airfare consolidator They can make as much as thirty percent difference to the price of the tickets This comes down to a great deal, especially if you happen to be travelling with your family or to a region where tickets are very pricey anyway, at any time of year

Additionally they come in handy if you are travelling on short notice Airlines charge more for people booking at the last minute, airfare consolidators are just happy to sell the ticket, they often don't charge more for last minute bookings

You need to be cautious about altering your plan Airfare consolidators could get very touchy about that type of thing and may ask you for lots of administrative fees to change your flight plans and so on Before investing in cheap flights from airfare consolidators ensure that you know very well what the terms and conditions of the deal are and exactly what the fees of a cancellation will be

It is possible to get cheap flights once you know best places to look Another strategy which does not expose you to the risks of airfare consolidators is to book way in advance Many airlines will make their tickets obtainable as much as six months ahead of time This is the cheapest time for you to buy tickets So if you can plan that far ahead, do, it will save you a lot of money in the end Tickets become more expensive the closer to the flight you get They are at their most expensive on the actual day of the fight and you might not get a seat if you leave it that late

The moral of the story is, that to get cheap flights you can either use airfare consolidators or else you can reserve quite far ahead of time For more information on cheap flights, go to http://www.fly.co.za

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Hyena Hunt

© Herbert Brauer / Aquavision Wildlife FilmakersIn the heart of Liuwa Plain National Park in Zambia, spotted hyenas reign as the top predator. Known to many as a scavenging species, hyenas are also masterful hunters. They live, hunt and travel in groups called clans which can include up to 80 individuals. By tracking down prey as a group, spotted hyenas are able to take down animals much bigger in size (like antelopes and wildebeest).Hyenas are intelligent problem-solvers, utilizing hunting strategies – like separating a mother wildebeest from her calf and isolating older, weaker animals – to maximize success. Hyenas have powerful jaws that can crush through bone and iron-clad stomachs that can digest other predators' rotting leftovers. They have good hearing, excellent nighttime vision and are able to chase prey for long distances without tiring.Female hyenas are larger, stronger and fiercer than their male counterparts. They also have the most male-like sexual organs out of any female mammal, such as a bizarrely elongated organ that continues to mystify scientists. All-powerful matriarchs govern the hyena clans. Low-ranking hyenas are often bullied by the clan and neighboring groups are enemies. Each clan is viciously territorial. If found trespassing on another’s' land, conflicts often break out.© Herbert Brauer / Aquavision Wildlife FilmakersFollow a hyena clan as they struggle to survive a severe drought, torrential flooding and vicious rivalries with other hyena clans on Deadly Instincts: Clash of the Hyenas TONIGHT at 10 PM et/pt on Nat Geo Wild!

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Gator Battles Python

© Mike BarronThe American alligator is a species success story. For millions of years, their kind has survived and evolved with the planet. And while the American alligator was once endangered, they now thrive in their native range, growing up to 15 feet in length. These giant reptiles are opportunistic hunters, lurking in waters until quarry comes within strike range. They can launch from the water at speeds of 50 miles per hour. Small prey is swallowed whole, while larger victims are shaken and drowned before consumption.  But the Burmese python is an equally formidable predator. It's one of the biggest snake species in the world, growing up to 23 feet in length and as thick as a telephone pole. They constrict their prey to death, opening their mouth almost 180 degrees and swallowing victims whole. And Burmese pythons are survivors – they're comfortable on land, in trees and can hold their breath in water for up to 30 minutes. Burmese pythons are native to southeast Asia and were imported to the United States as pets. And since that time, they've invaded the Everglades in record numbers. Nature never intended for the Burmese python to meet an American alligator in South Florida– but what happens when these two powerful, apex predators come face-to-face? Follow this fascinating Nat Geo WILD story about a monstrous 13-foot Burmese python and a six-foot Florida gator encounter – who attacked whom, and why? Tune in to Python vs. Gator Saturday 1/29 at 6 PM et/pt on Nat Geo Wild!Video Preview: "Pet Python Attack" — Rescue firefighters respond to a 911 emergency call where a snake’s owner is being suffocated by his 11-foot python.

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From the archive, 1 February 1919: Strikes at a critical stage

Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 1 February 1919The Government have declined to interfere in the labour deadlock, and the result has been to increase the tension at Belfast and on the Clyde, where rioting has taken place. The situation is not desperate, but an extremely critical stage has been reached. On the result will largely depend whether improvement in labour conditions in the future is to be readied by a process of reasoned conciliation and binding agreement, or, if it can be so reached, by sporadic and inconsistent outbursts of "direct action". Only a small minority of revolutionary extremists are deliberately in favour of using methods of violence. And yet these are the methods being used increasingly. Partly this has been due to past mistakes, and partly to the war, which compelled the Government to put military necessities before logical consistency. But even before the war the same tendency had appeared, and there is little hope that the advent of peace will bring an automatic return to what are known as "constitutional" methods. These methods do not, of course, preclude the right to strike, which has always been in the last resort the most effective weapon of the trade union. But they do preclude the use of that weapon in breach of an agreement and in defiance of the union's own elected representatives.If the trade union organisations are to be deprived of authority and power the whole community will suffer. There must be some authority with which employers or the State can deal. Otherwise agreements become a farce, and the antagonism between employer and employed develops into a kind of guerilla warfare of which the present scenes in Scotland are but the beginning. Trade unionists would be well advised to put their own house in order. Violence is a sign of weakness, and in the end it cannot pay. It is the duty of the Government to see that it does not pay. But it will not do simply to repress disorder after it has arisen. In proportion, as the Government show severity towards violence, so must they show appreciation of discontent legitimately expressed. A reasoned programme on national lines would not only retain the support of moderate trade unionists but would add enormously to the moral forces behind the Government in whatever measures of repression they may find necessary.[On 31 January demonstrators campaigning for a reduction of the working week to 40 hours clashed with police in the battle of George Square. The government sent thousands of English troops to occupy the streets of Glasgow. On 10 February the strike was called off, the unions having negotiated a reduced working week of 47 hours.]Trade unionsGlasgowSocial historyProtestguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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Short stays in the UK

From a family break (without a TV) to hanging with the Glasgow art crowd, there's a UK destination to suit all tastes. Plus win the holiday of a lifetimeFamily fun in SussexIt takes less than five minutes for the four children (all under five and over-curious) to make a beeline for the staircase. Stairs, in normal circumstances, are not something to lose sleep over. But this isn't any staircase. It's a Landmark Trust staircase. Big, bold and with a wooden latticework banister, it is here the children are soon scrambling up and perilously teetering over before an adult steps in to ruin the fun. I'm not sure what she was worried about more ? the children or the antique banister ? but mercifully both came away unharmed.The Landmark Trust, with its imagination-busting collection of rentable towers and castles, seems an obvious choice for a family holiday. Indeed, when I tell a friend I'm visiting my first Landmark pad, she effuses about childhood holidays in Maesyronen, a converted chapel in Wales, and the Martello tower on the beach at Aldeburgh, where they would climb out of the windows and jump on to the sand. They sound idyllic, so it is surprising to learn that the Landmark Trust doesn't actually attract families in great numbers. Apparently many are put off by concerns about damaging the building and the fact that no Landmark Trust property has a TV.Not to be deterred, we set off ? two couples, each with two children ? for a weekend at Wilmington Priory in East Sussex, having been warned that our first choice was considered "hardy" (meaning it would be colder than other buildings). Advice well heeded, it turned out, as this was a December weekend of snow and freezing temperatures. Much hardier than Wilmington I'm not sure I could have stomached.While the children were busy endangering their lives, the four adults cosied up in front of the fire to marvel (and tut) over a scrapbook detailing how the Priory has been added to and altered in various makeovers since its inception as a cell of the Benedictine Abbey at Grestain in Normandy.The big attraction of this property, though, is its view of and proximity to stunning Sussex landscape, with the chalk hill figure of the the Long Man visible from the window. We steel ourselves for a wet and windy walk to the summit, only to find the Long Man fenced off for preservation. Still, we marvel from below, until the minors lose patience and force us back to explore the Priory (the unconverted chamber complete with a table tennis table would have been a hit in summer but, with its open, cathedral-like roof, was a bit nippy for midwinter).The next day we have breakfast by the kitchen fire, followed by a rainy but memorable walk to the local pub. They are, I hope, memories the children will take with them into adulthood. And the lack of TV? Didn't bother us at all. But ? whisper it ? we did bring along a few DVDs and a laptop. Just in case. Merope MillsFor more information, visit landmarktrust.org.uk.Scottish romanceWhen planning our wedding-on-a-budget last year, a flashy car was one of the first expenses we crossed off the list. What was the point in paying for a Bentley or a Rolls for a half-hour round trip? Yet as we drove back from the register office in our reliable yellow Skoda, we couldn't help wondering whether it had been an economy too far.Which is ? in a roundabout way ? why we found ourselves three months later cruising along the empty roads of Scotland's border country in a 1969 E-type Jaguar. As he later admitted, my new husband was not immune to the lure of an old-fashioned, head-turning classic car. And by hiring one for a weekend, we would have the time really to enjoy the experience.Trigony House, a cosy country hotel near Dumfries, offers vintage car hire as part of its weekend package ? along with fishing, falconry and horse riding, for the more physically adventurous. The cars, which range from a 1937 Austin to an MG J2, are supplied by local owner Martin Edgar, a man well-versed in the local beauty spots and their attendant pubs. He advised a drive down the Solway coast, an unspoiled stretch of coastline that, while not quite the "Scottish Riviera" described in the hotel guidebook, has an understated charm. There are no doubt more spectacular parts of Scotland, but what the area really had going for it, for our purposes, were long, loch-lined, empty roads.Driving a vintage car turned out to be more challenging, and exhilarating, than we expected. There was a certain amount of stalling, and the realisation that, just inches from the road, without seatbelts or suspension, what felt like a terrifying 60mph was in fact a more sedate 40mph. All things considered, it was lucky there wasn't another soul on the road.A stop-off for a pub lunch in Castle Douglas allowed for some head-turning opportunities, though, and we got plenty of waves from passersby (Martin later told us that they probably thought it was him in the car ? he's quite the local celebrity, apparently). Never mind. Driving through such rugged, untouched scenery in this Bond-esque machine, we could have been celebrities on an illicit getaway in the 1960s. In fact, when we stopped at the picturesque National Trust-owned village of Rockcliffe for a cliff-side walk, we couldn't wait to get back in the car.Back at the hotel, and revived by what is officially Scotland's Best Breakfast ? the food at Trigony House is delicious, organic and homemade, down to the bread rolls ? we packed our yellow Skoda to go home. It may have been a smoother, easier drive, but on this journey, I'm sad to say, we didn't get a single wave. Charlotte NorthedgeTrigony House hotel prices start from �165 per room per night on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis. Full-day hire of a Jaguar E-type starts from �285.Glasgow city breakI'm after a city break, but the snow has taken out the Eurostar and all planes are grounded. "Come to Glasgow," says my very cool little sister, who is there studying art. The Caledonian Sleeper isn't quite what I'd imagined (the Orient Express), but a lack of sleep on the journey only accentuates the splendour of the beautiful bedroom at my B&B, 15Glasgow.Our first stop is lunch at Crabshakk, a trendy seafood restaurant in the West End. We hunker down with hot clam chowder, then, once the snow eases, stroll east to the art school. Charles Rennie Mackintosh's building is a wonder; gnarly and intricate. My sister takes me straight up to the "hen run", a glass walkway at the top of the building. With dark clouds rolling over the city, it is a beautiful spot.That night there's an art show at the Glue Factory, an abandoned building sporadically taken over by art students and the place to be seen. People drift through the space, inspecting the art and each other, until we decide to abandon our cool night out for an exceptionally delicious late-night curry in Mother India.We begin day two with a walk through Kelvingrove Park to Tchai-Ovna cafe, for a cosy vegan lunch, then it's across town to Trongate 103 arts centre to see the extraordinary Sharmanka kinetic theatre, a collection of moving sculptures made of scrap. Next door, we find the equally eccentric Britannia music hall, which in the 1900s had a zoo in its basement and a carnival in the attic.There are plenty of trendy bars around Trongate, but we bypass Mono and 13th Note in favour of Laurie's, where hordes of Glaswegian pensioners are dancing to a jazz band. My sister is immediately picked up by Willy, in his 70s, who takes her for a turn. Glasgow, Willy tells us, has a vibrant jazz scene.The heart of Glasgow's East End is the Barras market, by day a sprawling mass of antiques, junk and Hannah Montana towels, by night a rowdy run of traders' pubs. We're here on our last night for an event in honour of John Peel, organised by art collective Glasgow Podcart. It's a strange evening. At first everyone huddles around the heaters, waiting for something to happen, then about 20 musicians slowly assemble. This is Blochestra, and when they open with a haunting rendition of Beirut's Postcards From Italy, everybody freezes ? for once, not because it's snowing. Becky BarnicoatVisit seeglasgow.com for more information.Relax in SurreyQuality time with my mum happens less and less as I get older. Weekends back home up north fly by, and the longest we spend, just the two of us, is the time it takes her to beat me at Scrabble. So off we headed to the majestic Grayshott Spa, set in 700 acres of National Trust land in Surrey, for some proper mother and daughter time.I find it hard to sit still, so I tried yoga, a legs, bums and tums class, and made full use of the pool and steam room. Grayshott isn't huge, so I'd often bump into Mum, fresh from the relaxation room, looking slightly glazed. And we came together for the treatments: an exfoliating citrus detox body wrap and a hydrotherapy marine mineral bath that involved jet streams soothing every muscle. If everyone had one of these, the world would be a better place.Evenings started with canap�s and (non-alcoholic) cocktails in the bar, followed by a three-course dinner ? by no means the rabbit food you might expect. It's not a dry spa, either, so we did enjoy a glass of wine (or three); Mum still managed to beat me at Scrabble, though. We also gossiped and giggled like teenagers.Spending such quality time with a parent is not something to take for granted. Now it's time to start planning the father and daughter spa break. Anna ChestersA two-night break at Grayshott Spa starts from �455.Retreat to Northern Ireland"Gorgeous, isn't it?" says the woman opposite us in the hot tub, pressing a button that gets the bubbles blasting again. It's hard to argue. Although I can see my breath in the icy air, the water is hot and a full moon is shining on the river Maine as it rushes through the grounds of the Galgorm hotel.We've left the children behind for a weekend in Northern Ireland and ? after nearly missing train and plane, and getting tangled up in the Ballymena roundabout system ? we've finally landed at our luxury bolthole in the Antrim countryside. Being without our boys is strange enough ? I've spent the day feeling so helium light that I keep checking to see what I've forgotten (suitcase? Handbag?) ? but sharing a whirlpool bath with a pair of semi-naked locals has pushed things into the surreal.A leisurely lunch, a couple of hours' lazy reading, a massage, a stroll along the river during which no one sits on the ground and howls? we check off many gloriously child-free activities before we even arrive at the spa and now, after sauna, steam room and something called an "aroma grotto", we're wallowing without a care in the world.One long lie-in and a huge Irish breakfast later, we're on the road back to Belfast, the previous day's bickering replaced by a new calm that outlasts multiple circuits of the one-way system. We check into the Merchant ? ornate Victorian bank on the outside, low-lit art deco boutique hotel inside ? and head off to meet local guide Billy Scott. We spend the afternoon hopping in and out of his black cab, listening to hair-raising stories of the Titanic shipyard, bank heists and an IRA leader gunned to death in hospital by UVF men in white coats. Places made notorious by the news bulletins of my childhood turn out to be tidy little clumps of terrace houses, even if some are still decorated with hooded gunmen touting AK-47s.In freezing winter, and in the middle of an economic catastrophe, Belfast can look bleak, but as soon as we're inside one of the city's many cosy pubs, it seems the best place in the world to be on a cold day. And that's how we spend our last night, listening to a rowdy folk band and drinking Guinness in a packed little pub called Fibber Magees, never once worrying about what time we have to rush home to the babysitter. Liese SpencerFor information, go to discovernorthernireland.com, galgorm.com and themerchanthotel.com.SussexScotlandUnited KingdomEuropeGlasgowNorthern IrelandMerope MillsCharlotte NorthedgeBecky Barnicoatguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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