Monthly Archives: February 2009

Daily Planet

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I went up to the museum for a little bit before coming home.  The cast and crew of Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet was there filming tonight’s show in honour of the Centennial and Flight.

dailyplanet

Here we see Jay Ingram and Ziya Tong shooting a short piece.

I’ve been a fan of Jay’s work since I first heard him on CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks way back in the 80’s.  Unlike most radio and TV hosts, he really knows what he’s talking about.  He’s not the most polished of personalities but he comes across, both on screen and in person, as someone who is truly interested in what he’s doing and what his guests are saying.

The filming was for tonight’s show which airs on Discovery Channel at 7 and 11 pm.  I’ll be taping it – I might even be visible in one of the shots.

I’ll provide a link to the episode tomorrow.

Update:  The episode is available here

Not helping so far

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tsx01

Yep, that’s yours truly helping to open the TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange) this morning. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to have helped the markets as they’re down about 112 points as I write this.

So the TSX invited us to celebrate the Centennial of Canadian Flight.  The museum gets some publicity and we all had a good time – except for having to drive downtown during the morning rush hour.

Big thanks to Monique who herded us through the process which is coordinated like a military operation.  9am – arrive.  9:05 – coffee and snacks. 9:15 – meet and greet with the President of the Exchange. 9:20 – presentation.  9:27 upstairs to the media section.  9:29:45 – start clapping.  9:30 – Museum Chairman Wayne Barrett touches a screen to open the market (keep clapping) 9:31 – stop clapping.  9:45 – get out!

An interesting experience.

But will it stimulate the economy?

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Monday marks the 100th anniversary of the first powered flight in Canada.  I’ve just had it confirmed that I’ll be part of a group from the museum who will be opening the Toronto Stock Exchange on that morning.

Though not as prestigious as ringing the closing bell on Wall Street, it’s still exciting.  Who knows, it might just be the stimulus that the Canadian economy has been waiting for. Or just a whole lot of fun.

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Of course, I don’t think we’ll have any giant pandas in attendance like the World Wildlife Fund did when they opened the market.

Final post on the Swiss trip

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Let’s close the book on this one.  Flight from Zurich to Toronto took 9 hours and 5 minutes.  The plane was only half full so I got 2 seats to myself.  Not enough to stretch out (like some lucky bastards who grabbed the middle row did) but much more comfortable than normal.

Turbulence across the Atlantic was pretty brutal for about an hour.  Always fun to watch those big-ass wings flex.  We took off in cloud and I didn’t see the ground or water until we were about 5 minutes from touchdown as we crossed Lake Ontario.

I shot off the plane and managed to get through Customs in about 5 minutes which must count as some sort of record.  We landed at 1:15pm and I was home by 2. 

Delivered chocolates last night and this morning so I can now say that the trip is officially over!

What I missed

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So I missed the big kickoff at the Museum yesterday. Looks like it was a success as we launched the new name and our capital expansion program.

One of the highlights was the playing of the above video.  Harrison Ford owns a de Havilland Beaver and recorded this for us.  Nice touch.

Too bad the submitter spelled the the word congratulates wrong.

Heading home

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Just over 4 hours until we depart Zurich for the 9 hour flight back to Toronto.  Another crummy night’s sleep but today I don’t care.  Tonight I get to sleep in my own bed again. 

I’m really upset that I’m missing the big press event at the museum today.  We finally unveil the new name – Canadian Air & Space Museum – and kick off our celebrations of the Centennial of Canadian Flight.  I hope that the place is packed and everything runs smoothly. 

Time to get ready to go.  Grab a quick shower.  Finish the packing.  Grab the shuttle bus to the airport.  Buy the chocolate (I can’t leave Switzerland until I buy chocolate). Check in at Zurich is always a pain as they never seem to have enough people on the desks.  Air Canada farms out their passenger services to an outside company and I’ve never been terribly impressed with their customer service skills.  Once I endure that it’s a quick trip through passport control (why, oh why can’t Canadian Customs be so efficient) and the 2 minute train ride with the mooing cows and yodelers.  If you’ve ever been through Zurich airport you know what I’m talking about.

Seat 21K today.  On a Boeing 767-300ER this puts me squarely over the wing.  Smoothest seat on the plane.  Catch a few catnaps, watch a movie or read a book and then I’ll be home.  Home.  What a wonderful word.

From Einsiedeln to Schindellegi to Kloten to home

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Moving day. Woke up this morning in Einsiedeln to the sound of a band crashing and banging up the street at 5am. It’s some sort of winter carnival here in Switzerland but it really doesn’t seem to have a timetable.

A day of meetings (last one!) so I had to make the trip from Schindellegi to Kloten so that I’m closer to the airport for tomorrow morning’s flight. For the first time in all my travels here I boarded the wrong train in downtown Zurich. Figured it out within one stop but it left me a 45 minute wait until I could get the right one going the other way.

Finally made it to the Allegra Hotel in Kloten – surely my favorite hotel here. Bright, colourful, comfortable and smoker friendly!

One more sleep and then Air Canada can get me the hell out of here and back home where I want to be.

Hands up (or pants down) if you’ve ever felt like doing this

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image A hardy “well done” to the Swiss International Airlines pilot who decided to tell off a security screener yesterday.  From the Sun 

When asked by the screener to remove his shoes and belt, he dropped his pants, exposed himself and asked “Do you want to search THIS?”

It has always amazed me why flight crews have to put up with the silly and humiliating procedures that the passengers endure.  Who cares if they’re carrying a small knife or a big bottle of Coke.  About 30 minutes after they get through security they’ll have their hands on the controls and they could essentially do anything they wanted.  Sure, they might have to fight off their partner should they feel the urge to reenact 9/11 but, come on, we trust these men and women with our lives.  Is it too much to ask that we show them a little respect?

The downside of this is that the flight had to be cancelled and 37 passengers waiting to board at London’s City Airport were forced to wait 2 hours.  All I can add is that the pilot sure had a lot of balls (or at least that’s what the eyewitnesses said).