Here’s another way to enjoy the tale of JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater, who allegedly cursed out passengers, activated the jet’s emergency chute and slid away with two beers Monday after after a passenger refused to apologize for accidentally hitting him on the head with a bag. Three problems with the animation:
It shows a Boeing 747, which JetBlue doesn’t fly (the flight used an Embraer 190, shown below);
Slater reportedly activated the chute before grabbing the beer;
Tapping into a massive yet largely ignored gaming audience, the makers of the video game Rock Band have added the Colombian rocker Juanes to its ever-expanding line up of tracks.
The dude has a grip of Latin Grammys and has sold more than 15 million records, so it’s fair to say this is a safe bet in terms of garnering the attention of the Rock en Español subset of Rock Band gamers.
To put this in perspective, they already offer over 1,500 tracks for download online, playable on the Xbox 360, PlayStation and Wii consoles.
This all means the next time my buddy Sergio hosts a Rock Band party I’m going to have a tough time keeping up with the lyrics, I can’t even sing in English.
Jack Daniels, the partially blind black kitten abducted from Maddie’s Adoption Center at the San Francisco SPCA over a year ago, was found Wednesday wandering the streets of Manhattan. New York’s Animal Care and Control confirmed that he was the purloined puss from his microchip.
How he got to New York is anyone’s guess. But unlike most strays, he does seem to have been well-cared for. Jack Daniels weighed three pounds when he was kidnapped; he tips the scales at 11 pounds now.
After he’s deemed healthy by SPCA medical staff, he will be put up for adoption again. In his honor, the veterinary hospital will offer free microchips during checkups and spay/neuter procedures through August.
Jack Daniels is due to arrive home today on a complimentary JetBlue flight.
Liked the flight attendant who slid away from his job with two beers and a curse-filled rant? Check out this woman who sent her entire office a series photos of herself with dry-erase board messages.
Turns out Jenny will miss all of her colleagues, except one. I’d say more, but that would ruin the surprise.
I can’t say for sure that this is legitimate, but it sure is funny. And now I know what a HOPA is.
A flight attendant accused of cursing out a passenger on an airplane public-address system and using an emergency slide to hop off looked happy and relieved afterward, a passenger said Tuesday.
Steven Slater lost his temper after a passenger accidentally hit him on the head with luggage on the ground at Kennedy Airport on Monday, police said. After the plane parked, he grabbed beer from the galley and used the exit slide to make his getaway, police said.
He was awaiting arraignment Tuesday in Queens on criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing charges.
Passenger Phil Catelinet said he heard the profanity-laced announcement on Flight 1052 from Pittsburgh, which he described as “the most interesting part of the day to that point,” but didn’t see Slater use the exit slide or grab the beer.
It wasn’t until he saw Slater on an airport train and overheard him talking about the escapade that he put it all together.
“He was smiling. He was happy he’d done this,” Catelinet told NBC’s Today.
Slater appeared “pretty relieved” and “seemed like he was looking forward to whatever comes next careerwise,” Catelinet told CBS’ Early Show.
By Monday night, several Facebook pages had been set up in tribute to Slater, with many users of the social networking site expressing support for his grand exit from his job.
“As of this moment there is no official donation response in effect yet however if such a fund is erected it will be made public on here. Thanks for the support!”
Jodie Fisher is generating all the growls, hisses and purrs any cougar could possibly require.
Some are questioning why the 50-year-old “cougar actress” at the center of CEO Mark Hurd’s dismissal from Hewlett-Packard would have been hired to help in marketing the firm’s computers.
Photos and the demo video (linked above while it lasts) of the actress are winding their way through the web. The video includes her appearance on the dating reality show “Age of Love,” in which she was the second-oldest “cougar” vying for the affections of Australian tennis star Mark Philippoussis, then 30. Maybe she just likes guys named Mark.
Trying to stay topical while retaining a degree of seriousness, a Wall Street Journal blog takes a look at the dangers of office flirtations.
For the racier-minded, clips from her 1992 soft-core feature “Intimate Obsession” can be found through a YouTube search but appear to require signing up for a porn site first (Note: I didn’t actually test it out.)
This graph from Calculated Risk blog is winding its way around the web today (Here’s their full, readable version).
What it shows is that this is by far the deepest and longest recession since World War II as far as job losses are concerned. The dotted line down the middle marks the month in each recession that had the highest percentage of employment reductions from the previous cycle’s high. Notice how the red line, job losses in the current recession, seems to have stalled out after rising briefly off the low.
Sorry for the Friday afternoon downer. At least if you’re out of work, you have company.
Wyclef Jean holding the Haitian flag at the 2010 Latin Music Awards. (Getty Images)
Years after releasing the song “If I Was President,” Wyclef Jean is now putting that to the test.
Jean officially announced his bid for the Haitian presidency on Thursday.
The Miami Herald has reported that the singer told listeners in an interview to Haitian radio show “Bonjour Haiti” Thursday morning that he is indeed running for president, after months of speculation.
According to the Herald, quoting from Jean’s interview with “Bonjour Haiti”, the main reason behind his candidacy is the Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated the impoverished island country.
“For the 250,000 people who died in the earthquake, that’s the reason we ought to see a change in the system,” Jean said.
The former Fugee, born in Haiti before relocating to the United States as a child, has been a prominent advocate and fund-raiser for the Haiti earthquake relief effort.
The Associated Press reports that Wyclef Jean is expected to file his election papers Thursday afternoon in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, officially starting his campaign for the Haitian presidency.
Jean has stepped down as chairman from his embattled charity Yele Haiti as of Thursday morning, in order to focus on his campaign.
The charity, founded by the singer in 2005 to raised money and foster awareness for Haiti’s problems, hit hot water recently after scrutiny revealed allegations that the organization has misused funds, including paying Jean to perform at fund-raising events.
According to the AP, candidates for the Haitian presidency have to meet several eligibility requirements that might end up as roadblocks for Jean’s candidacy. Constitutional requirements include residency in Haiti for five consecutive years, and never having held foreign citizenship.
With current President Rene Préval blocked from running again by term limits, Jean will run against a number of other candidates including his own uncle, Haiti Ambassador to the U.S. Raymond Joseph, as well as ex-Prime Minister Jacques-Eqouard Alexis.
