Inspired by Alex’s blog on Tuesday, I was hoping to get your thoughts on a situation I encountered quite a few times recently, one caused by airport delays.

When I was on my back-to-back trips to Los Angeles and the British Virgin Islands, I flew in and out of Philadelphia International Airport eight different times in like nine days. Four of the flights were on Delta in first class and four of them were on American Airlines in economy. I think all 8 flights were delayed in some way, either boarding or waiting on the runway. I do not think the following situations are unique to these airlines in any way, and they are more general practices that I began to question.

When boarding was late, I noticed announcements being made that they were going to be eliminating certain services, mostly for first-class passengers, in order to board quickly and take off as close to our scheduled time as possible. They were not going to do the welcome beverage service for first-class passengers or other welcome perks that first-class passengers are technically paying for in the price of their ticket. And I am not complaining because I was in first class; to be honest, I don’t remember which carrier this was on, which leg of the trip it was or where I was sitting (it all kind of blended together!). It just seems to me that by delaying boarding and take off, you have inconvenienced passengers. I completely agree that this is out of the airline’s control, but beverage service is within the airline’s control. Eliminating services, in my mind, would only serve to inconvenience and anger the passenger even more, right? And, let’s face it, those tickets aren’t cheap! There must be a way to incorporate the service and still board the plane in a timely manner.

On another one of those flights, the airline wanted to reduce weight and was having problems with the water system, so they eliminated all hot water, including coffee and tea, and the water couldn’t be used in the bathrooms. This was an early-morning flight. Understandable that they were experiencing problems, but that is a bit disappointing to learn when you are already loaded and on the runway. Plus, can’t bottled water be boiled for coffee and tea? Or supplied in the bathrooms so passengers can wash their hands? With so many changes occurring in the airline industry and so many more charges being incurred by passengers, sometimes you wonder why the airlines don’t go the extra mile to accommodate passengers when things go wrong. I understand they are hurting, but making passengers happy when problems occur will build loyalty and keep people flying certain airlines when times are tough.

And, on a completely unrelated note, celebrities have now apparently jumped on the oil bandwagon. This week, Diddy, formerly Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and Sean Combs, music mogul, fashion designer, etc., complained to oil companies that prices were too high and were forcing him to fly commercially rather than on his private jet. I am sure everyone reading this blog feels very bad for him. I bet when Diddy is on board, the carriers don’t eliminate his beverage service or hot water!

-Kimberly Krol, circulation and PR executive

The Olympics are over. The opening and closing ceremonies were spectacular. There was plenty of great competition and drama all throughout the Olympics. While I am usually apathetic towards the Olympics, I do find myself now looking forward to the future, the 2016 Olympics, which I predict will be held in my hometown, Chicago.

As I wrote in the May 2008 issue of Global Traveler magazine (back issues are still available), the 2016 Olympics would really showcase the ascension of Chicago to world-class status. During the reign of Mayor Richard M. Daley, Chicago has evolved from a gritty city where things got done to a beautiful, smoothly functioning city where things are always happening. Chicago would be the perfect place for the event in 2016.

Of course, as a publication distributor, the Olympics would present a logistical nightmare beyond imagination for me. Several regular city events, like Jazz Fest, Venetian Night, etc. already wreak havoc with distribution. The Taste of Chicago is a 10-day traffic jam, which requires our distribution crews to reroute and reschedule their usual deliveries. Still, these events are part of the fabric of Chicago, and my inconvenience is a small price to pay.

The Olympics would make all of these other events look minor in comparison. Of course, my logistical headaches would be astronomical, but I am willing to make that sacrifice for the good of the city.

I do think it would only be fitting to bring softball back to the Olympics for 2016. As it stands now, softball (and baseball) will not be part of the 2012 event, but could be voted back for 2016. Chicago would be the perfect place to see softball reinstated.

If I may take a step further, I would like to see 16-inch slow-pitch softball be at least a demonstration sport. This is Chicago’s very own. It is a game of skill and strategy. Some may scoff at this version of softball (Fran), but I maintain that it is the most enjoyable and competitive version of the game. There is true beauty in this game.

I guarantee that if Chicago gets the Olympics, there will be plenty of television features on our pizza, beer, sausage, etc. They will highlight the Sears Tower, Water Tower Place, Navy Pier and Millennium Park. Oprah, Richard Roeper and Jim Belushi will scramble for the spotlight. However, if they really want to showcase the heart and soul of Chicago, softball must take its rightful place with the other sports.

-John Wroblewski, distribution specialist

Plucking banjos, sullen cellos, vibrating violins, harmonizing guitars and energetic mandolins. Bluegrass is the only music genre that can coerce me to clap my hands and stomp my feet like a moron. Last night, my roommate and I saw the Punch Brothers, featuring Chris Thile, perform as part of New York’s free River to River Festival, hosted by American Express. Due to the threat of inclement weather, the concert was moved from Rockefeller Park on the Hudson to the high school auditorium of Stuyvesant High School on Chambers Street. As a fan of Chris Thile since my early teenage years, I found myself in a passive-aggressive, competitive “speed walk race” to the front door with fellow bluegrass girl fans an hour before the doors opened. He is the reason why I, and probably many others, have a mandolin sitting in my closet, collecting dust. The show being held in the high school actually made for a far more intimate performance with a better sound quality.

The Punch Brothers bluegrass band, named after a Mark Twain story and founded by Chris Thile, consists of the banjo, cello, guitar, violin and mandolin. Thile, literally a mandolin prodigy, was originally part of the pop acoustic band Nickel Creek. After pursuing a few solo albums, Thile began touring and collaborating with the Punch Brothers. I started listening to Thile when I was 14 and will never forget the excitement I felt going to a Nickel Creek concert at the Calvin Theater in Northampton, Massachusetts during my senior year in high school. Since then, Chris Thile has, without question, moved from the innocent and harmonious folk music to a real innovative approach to a transformed bluegrass genre. The result is a thought-provoking combination of classical and folk.

The Punch Brothers and Chris Thile are currently best known for their 40-minute, 4-part suite, composed by Thile and performed by the band. The suite is titled “The Blind Leaving the Blind” and it is a bluegrass mini symphony. The song shifts from complicated, at some times seemingly broken, to complex and then breathtakingly melodious and harmonious. In February, NPR hosted a great analysis of the suite and the performers on All Things Considered: Bluegrass Suite Packs a Progressive ‘Punch’. The suite and interview are audible on the NPR website and the Punch Brother’s website.

In the end, the free show was spectacular, leaving my roommate and I feeling a little ‘blue’ because it was over and neither of us was married to Chris Thile. Maybe one day I’ll take that dusty mandolin out of my closet.

-Courtney Centeno, account executive

Today marks the release of the highly anticipated follow-up to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight. It is expected to gross over $100 million during opening weekend and Heath Ledger, who plays the Joker, is earning rave reviews and there is talk that he may win a posthumous Oscar following his death in January. I was never a huge fan of superheroes and comics, but I always enjoyed Spiderman and, particularly, Batman and I am excited for the new movie.

Even if Ledger does not win an Oscar, he earned himself a spot on the Top 25 Movie Villains list, as compiled by Moviefone. I heard about the list on the radio during my drive to work yesterday and I decided to check it out further and see if I agreed. According to the list, the top ten are:

10. Queen, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

9. Max Cady, Cape Fear

8. Hans Gruber, Die Hard

7. Chigurgh, No Country for Old Men

6. Goldfinger, Goldfinger

5. Joker, The Dark Knight

4. Hannibal Lecter, Silence of the Lambs

3. The Wicked Witch of the West, Wizard of Oz

2. Darth Vader, Star Wars

1. Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter

Personally, I do agree some of those villians are scary - Hannibal Lecter, Chigurgh, Voldemort. But I also think Michael Myers, Halloween, should have been higher than #12. And the Wicked Witch, #3, come on!

Anyway, this list inspired me to create The Global Traveler Blog Top 25 Best Travel Movies of All Time. Please send me your suggestions and we can put together the list in a future blog! I thought of Lost in Translation or the new one, The Darjeeling Limited, about brothers on a trip through India. Maybe Thelma and Louise on their road trip? Start sending suggestions!

-Kimberly Krol, circulation and public relations executive

Trying to write a report on an event like Wizard World, with unique characters at every turn, is a daunting task. More than just a Comic Con, it is a world in itself. As one attendee, Jason Fleigel, stated, “Wizard World is the place to go when you just want to be yourself…to not worry about stigmas and perceptions, but instead to immerse yourself in whatever your hobby is.”

The Chairman of Wizard Entertainment, Gareb Shamus, explained that Wizard World took over ownership of the Chicago Comic Con in 1997 and it quickly became the biggest comic convention in the Midwest (later expanding to Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Texas). Wizard has roughly 75 talented individuals who produce three monthly magazines, two websites, four conventions and numerous special publications including Toy Wishes.

One of the 250 exhibitors was Robert A. Kraus, founder of RAK Graphics, who displayed his popular superfreek superhero spoof series. Kraus, one of the first independent comic book publishers, has done conventions since the 80s, doing about 30 shows a year. Eager fans looked for their favorite superfreek or for new ones, of which Kraus said, “I get tons of requests….wrestlers and sports will be next (to be spoofed)”. The constant traffic at the booth indicates new ones cannot come soon enough. I am waiting for the Distribution Specialist series, featuring Lou, me and the rest of the Arch News Agency.

The most unique celebrity guest might have been wrestler, actor and instructor Al Snow, who enjoys the shows because they are part of the whole picture for him. He said, “Without wrestling, I couldn’t do these shows or instruct, but without these shows I couldn’t wrestle (and so on).” Snow is currently planning to open a new wrestling school and take over the world with his own evil army. It’s this type of humor that has earned Snow his tremendous following.

Terri Runnels is making her return to the convention circuit after a several-year absence. Runnels has worked for CNN, Ted Turner and the WWF/E, as well as owning SoccerTots-Gainesville, which she is selling. Runnels stated, “It’s a wonderful program, but I just don’t find joy in running a company day-to-day.” Runnels does have fun at the conventions, enthusiastically greeting her fans and promoting her latest project, Make the World Write. “This show (Wizard World) is not quite my specific audience, but so many great people have stopped by…it’s so much fun,” Runnels exclaimed. Runnels also planned on picking up some items at the show for her 14-year-old daughter, Dakota.

Other celebrities appeared as promotion for their employers, like Beth “Venom” Horn of NBC’s American Gladiators. While waiting for filming of AG to begin in November, Horn “has been traveling all over the place, having a blast promoting the show.” The success of Gladiators has Horn very excited: “They are doing a comic book, a tour and I’ll have my own action figure.” Despite her hectic schedule, Horn filmed a movie, Fancy Pants, to be released in 2009.

The enormity of this convention is really mind-boggling. I spent 3 days at Wizard World, but I feel like I have only scratched the surface of many stories from the dealers, celebrities and fans. I suppose that means I must return next year.

-John Wroblewski, distribution specialist