Thursday, August 17, 2006

Airport Security

As advised, I arrived at DIA today two and half hours early--they actually are recommending 3 hours, but that seemed ridiculous. I was through check-in in about 8 minutes including checking a bag. Then security took me another 8 minutes. I was in the Premiere Executive lines, which speeds things up significantly, but even looking at the regular lines it seems like things are pretty much back to normal.

One thing that isn't normal is my checking a bag. I never check bags, but the fact they would take my shave cream and toothpaste away from me convinced me to check luggage.

Long term, I may start to simply buy what I need on the other end, but in cases where I'm in a bit of a hurry, that just seems crazy.

In any case, two and a half hours early was way too early. I will have sat at the airport for 1 hour 45 minutes when I could have been at home.

C'est La Vie.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Carry On Baggage and the Arts

I'm travelling in just a few days for a meeting in Vancouver. This has me thinking a lot about how the newest restrictions on carry-ons for airlines might affect those in the arts. Here, it seems that anything that a musician might bring on board--like slide oil--could be a royal pain.

In the UK, the entire ban on carry on baggage obviously affected all travelers. But how about musicians who rely on their instruments to make their living? My uncle plays cello for the London Symphony Orchestra and it occurs to me that they fly in and out of the UK fairly often. The normal mode is to bring your instrument on board with you--if it is big you buy an extra seat for it. Placing expensive musical instruments into the hold verboten. Freezing cold AND not necessarily pressurized...

So as rough as not having toothpaste on the plane, or moms having to drink a little formula at security might seem. Imagine the impact this must be having for any artist group that must carry instruments with them.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Elvis Stojko -- Recording an Album

I came across this article on the CBC web site while catching up on news from back home.

I seriously thought it was a joke when I first saw a poll on the site.

Figure skating, karate, kickboxing, show tune singing...

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