FOLLOW me on my popular Twitter feed. Just click this photo! @hbbtruth - David - Common sense on #Politics #PublicPolicy #Sports #PopCulture in USA, Great Britain, Sweden and France, via my life in #Texas #Memphis #Miami #IU #Chicago #DC #FL 🛫🌍📺📽️🏈. Photo is of Elvis and Joan Blackman in 'Blue Hawaii'
Beautiful Stockholm at night, looking west towards Gamla Stan
On this Fourth of July, Independence Day #241, so much to be grateful for, including among others things: High-flying friends who think of me and tweet me from the most-unlikely of places... like an SAS Airbus 330
I also think of lost-dead ancestors who, when it mattered most, stepped-up and did what what was needed in order to make that dream they had for a free and independent nation, a living reality.
1/ On #IndependenceDay🇺🇸, I always think abt my paternal ancestor who was a spy for Gen. Washington during the #RevolutionaryWar, and think
On IndependenceDay, I always think about a particular paternal ancestor of mine who was a spy for Gen. Washington during the American RevolutionaryWar, and think about all the problems and the daily peril he knowingly put himself in, to serve, knowing that he'd be killed if caught by the #British Redcoats.
3/ Same ancestor had marched w/Geo Washington 21 years B4 under Gen. Braddock fm VA to #FortDuquesne to fight in #FrenchandIndianWar, 1755.
When they were both younger, this same ancestor had marched with George Washington 21 years before under British Gen. Edward Braddock from Alexandria, Virgina to Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) to fight in The #FrenchandIndianWar, 1755.
Having survived that living hell, and many years of being a Revolutionary War spy, he lived to see the Thirteen Colonies full of vary different cultures and traditions become one free nation.
He was the first of many ancestors of mine who were to live in Ohio over the next 200-plus years, living there on bounty-land he was given by Congress as partial payment for his services during the war effort. He was in Ohio even before it became a state in 1805, and was then part of the Northwest Territory, the Ohio Territory, settling in an area north of Steubenville, where the U.S. land grant office was established. And there he lived right near the Ohio river, an hour southwest from Pittsburgh and the general area where he had witnessed firsthand wholesale bloodshed of a sort that he never saw before and never wanted to see afterwards.
5/ 🇺🇸🦅 .@HamiltonQuotes: There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery & heroism.
@HamiltonQuotes: There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism. #Hamilton
In case you are new to the blog or unaware of the good news, starting in October, SAS, @SAS, will start flying non-stop flights between Stockholm Arlanda Airport, @Arlanda and Miami International Airport, @iflymia, after SAS initiated flights last fall between Copehangen @CPHAirportsand Oslo @Oslolufthavnand Miami..
Above, the State of Florida's classic 1970's national TV tourism ad that I've posted on the blog many times before. This spot ad was hugely-popular and successful, especially in the Midwest and East Coast, and was by far THE best tourism TV ad the state has ever produced. To this day, it still makes people smile when they see it or hear that catchy jingle, "When You Need It Bad We've Got It Good."
But in a much-more competitive travel marketplace than existed over thirty years ago, with so many disparate consumer markets, and different ways of reaching out to prospective travelers, it seems to me that we need to see the state come up with something new that's just as compelling as this was. http://www.youtube.com/embed/OxB0kjqO6SI
Today I wanted to follow-up with some specificity on my blog post of this past Saturday, April 20th, which had some great news that some of you readers of the blog might want to take full-advantage of in the near-future -just like me- regarding a game-changing marketing move
A move that will simultaneously make travel to a dynamic part of the world more convenient and cheaper, while also offering local Broward County-area hotels, restaurants and hospitality-related businesses an entrée to an affluent English-speaking tourism market -esp. families- that they have barely even begun to scratch:Scandinavia:
Scandinavian Delight! Starting November 30th, fly nonstop between Ft Lauderdale and Oslo on Norwegian.com for as low as $238, or fly from FLL to Stockholm Arlanda for only $269, plus taxes and luggage charges; @Oslo, @norway, @stockholm, @sweden
A comparable round-trip flight on SAS to Oslo or Stockholm, even in Economy and made weeks in advance, is well over $1,000, as I know from experience in January.
Compare that to whatNorwegian.com will offer starting in late November, with a direct flight to Oslo from FLL.
And coming back this way, with these flights, Broward is now much-cheaper airfare-wise, than flying from Stockholm or Oslo to The Maldives, a very popular vacation spot for Swedish families that's heavily-promoted, along with, of course, Thailand.
The latter is a holiday travel location that many Swedish families have been to so many times before that at least some of their kids are actually blah towards going there again. (Really.)
And since I neglected to mention it in Saturday's post, or so far today, you should know that Norwegian.com is the fastest-growing airline in Europe and has already placed orders for 200 new airplanes.
Here are two photos from my blog of some travel-related advertising I snapped while I in Stockholm in January, and trust me, these display ads are everywhereyou look.
You literally can not escape them.
And that's in part because they work so well.
Especially when it's 17 degrees Fahrenheit and sundown is at 3:45 p.m.
Not surprisingly, this ad was in heavy rotation during morning TV news shows, so much so that I started hearing this jingle in my head by my 3rd day in Stockholm.
As a friend who's a travel professional in Sweden explained to me, since I didn't know myself, flights from Oslo or Stockholm to The Maldives or to FLL are roughly the same time-wise.
But if you compare the costs of airfare using Norwegian.com, NOW flying to FLL from Scandinavia is a ridiculous bargain, by hundreds and hundreds of dollars, and is a bargain that is multiplied by each person who flies here.
After being over there and getting a small sense of how things are done, my own opinion is that the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) needs to really increase their advertising and marketing dollars in Scandinavia and start working on some compelling co-op advertising with Norwegian.comthat they can start running this Fall, before the twice-weekly flights start. http://www.sunny.org/
It seems to me that we need to do this to make sure that the airline's strategy (gamble) works to everyone's satisfaction, and then at some point, they can increase the number of flights or days they fly between FLL and Oslo, whose still-new-looking airport is, in a word, sweet.
Since HB's beach is so woefully unattractive and poorly-maintained, the local postcards that I gave to some business people I met-and the new friends that I made- in Stockholm were entirely of Hollywood Beach and The Broadwalk.
Trust me, people I spoke to there in all sort sof places around Stockholm were very intrigued by what I told them about the area, esp. after hearing them relate some of the daily hassles they deal with when they go to Thailand and other tropical places.
They're looking for new places to visit, so why not our part of the world?
Savvy and enterprising individuals, companies and firms from South Florida to Sweden can now finally reach the affluent, well-informed and influential decision-makers in South Florida and beyond who regularly read Hallandale Beach Blog and its Twitter feed for the facts, nuanced insight and original analysis they can't get elsewhere, and do so via VERY REASONABLE advertising on the blog, at prices starting at just $85 a month. Contact me today for more details at hallandalebeachblog@gmail.com
Above, in the foreground, a Norwegian.com plane alongside one from SAS and Thai Airways on the tarmac at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, around 12:39 p.m. (I told you it was overcast most of my trip!) This particular plane has famed Swedish botanistCarl Linnaeus a.k.a. Carl von Linné, featured on its tail. His face also appears on the 100 Swedish krona note, the smallest bill with a security foil strip. As I have blogged about before here, he's scheduled to be replaced on that bill by gorgeous Greta Garbo'sface. Ah, Garbo! January 10, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. (c) 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved
Meant to post something about this valuable bit of great news a few months ago when I first got the news from someone in-the-know, but it's still worth mentioning all these weeks later now that it was officially made public on Tuesday. And it's a real game-changer, too. Starting November 30th, you can fly nonstop between Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood and Oslo on Norwegian twice a week starting at $238 each way,plus taxes and luggage charges. Norwegian's departures from Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood will be on Mondays and Fridays at 9:30 p.m, arriving in Oslo at 12:35 p.m.the following day.
Departures from Oslo are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 3:10 p.m., arriving at Ft. Lauderdale at 7:30 p.m. Eastern the same day.
CopenhagenAirport1 YouTube Channel video: SAS commercial: Så godt som hjemme (As good as home) Former Danish Foreign Minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen is discovering Tokyo, Japan via SAS. Uploaded January 25, 2009. Music: Ryuichi Sakamoto. http://youtu.be/33CQKswrPlg
Have begun preliminary pre-flight checklist for trip to snowy Stockholm, yet am already taking flight in my imagination, even while researching how many NFL playoff games I won't be able to see in Stockholm sports bars because of the six-hour time difference.
Like former Danish Foreign Minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen and his trip to Japan depicted above, I'll soon be the proverbial fish-out-of-water, a tanned Floridian in snowy Sweden in darkest January, riding sweet-looking trains, trying to figure out vending machines, and taking photos of normal, everyday things that cause passersby to wonder why I'm taking photos.
But those with a yen for the Internet will quickly spot my Sony Bloggie videocamera and surmise, "Oh, he must be a blogger! Everything is fascinating to them." My first full day there I'm slated to say hallå to a day where sundown comes around 3:15 p.m. http://www.smhi.se/ More on that in the days to come...
I wrote about the ridiculously-talented Malena and the song here on the blog last year:http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Malena%20Ernman Honestly, why hasn't SAS figured out a savvy way to incorprate this catchy song and Malena into a new TV campaign for the airline, showing sophisticated places in Europe where talented and sophisticated Malena is both flying and performing in? I mean the video is practically an invitation AND how-to-guide served up on a silver platter? #frustrating. Here's the version Malena performed at last year's Melodifestivalen. Still gives me #goosebumps! https://youtu.be/5WH2OwJeMBE The craziest, brilliant idea I've had in quite some time came to its logical conclusion in next-door Aventura late Saturday afternoon, after I'd watched the latest in a long line of dreary, punchless Indiana University football losses toBig Ten teams since that seminal Bill Lynch victory over Purdue two years ago, losing to Ohio State 38-10 over in Columbus. (More on the ballgame later today.) Yes, it involves another trip by yours truly to the "Venezuelan" Target, which was in rare form late Saturday, completely living up to its well-earned reputation as being the #1 casual hangout hereabouts for all the many beautiful Venezuelan women living in Aventura and SE Broward County, plus, their very good-looking Argentine friends.Claro! Style-wise, it's the closest thing to being back in Washington, D.C. or Stockholm. Over the past week, I'd been going thru some songs I'd favorite-ed on my YouTube Channel since I first signed-up and created it, which included some songs that I know that 99.9% of you have never heard of. Like REALLY, REALLYnever heard of. http://www.youtube.com/user/HallandaleBeachBlog
So as a result of that, I've had some songs in my head recently that I haven't thought of in quite some time, and been humming many of them as I wait in a long line in the many left-hand turning lanes on Hallandale Beach Blvd. that you MUST endure to get anywhere in this traffic-gridlocked city next to the ocean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kghCqyMLPFA Catchy songs, pop songs, songs with hooks... No, not just the delightful Kristina Pelakova singing "Horehronie" in Oslo, above, which I mentioned here recently, but also some terrific catchy French songs as well, which I'll share here soon so you can "hear" what I've been thinking about lately. You know how I love the EuroPop! So, with the items I needed I inside the snazzy, new streamlined Target plastic shopping carts I was piloting -SO MUCH lighter and quieter than the old metal ones- I ambledover to the back of the store to where they keep 'seasonal' products, where I spied the hysterically funny and clever Halloween costumes for kids. Sorry the photos aren't clearer!
Below, October 9, 2010 photos by me, South Beach Hoosier at the Aventura Target. Eventually, after wandering the three aisles they have for Halloween costumes, I came across a thirty-something year old father with his kid in tow, waiting patiently for the wife/mother member of the triangle to make up her mind about whatever it was she was choosing between as the head consumer of the family.
And then, out of the blue, inspiration hit me like a bolt of lightning. I heard this kid humming something that I couldn't quite make out. And the next four words that came to mind were, strangely enough, "Malena Ernman" and "Ice Dancing."
Frankly, I'm writing this now knowing in advance that I won't be nearly able to adequately describe this enough to satisfy myself, much less you, despite how clear it is in my head. But I have just got to get this out of my head before I go crazy.
It's frustrating, like trying to describe how intensely beautiful Bloomington and nearby Brown County are, esp. in the Fall when the leaves are changing colors, http://www.browncounty.com/ to someone who has not only NEVER been there, and can't conceive of how magical it is. To say nothing of only vaguely sure where, precisely, Indiana is located in the Midwest, which, shockingly, is the case with lots and lots of people I've met in South Florida since returning from the Washington, D.C. area seven years ago. http://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?m=pool&s=rec&w=576934%40N24&q=Brown+County%2C+Fall Reminder: west to east -Iowa, Illinois, Indiana: the Three I's. Michigan is north, Ohio is east and Kentucky is south. Got it?
I won't even try to mention the technical descriptions of the particular dancing skills and requirements that I can so easily visualize in my head, since 99.9% of you won't understand them even if I did, but...
If anyone out there reading this knows of at least two very talented skaters who are looking for some music to accompany their choreography in Ice Dancing, especially for an exhibition, I think you could really strike gold with La Voix, as performed by fabulous opera singer Malena Ernman, which was the song she sang representing Sweden at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, where Alexander Rybak of Norway won for Fairytale.
IF anyone knows of any figure skater(s) anywhere, more likely in Europe, whether singles or pairs, who has already used this intensely catchy song in competition or an exhibition, please let me know how it turned out. And if there's a video of it somewhere on the Internet, all the better.
In the right hands, this song could/would/should be a dynamite crowd-pleaser for a very talented Ice Dancing couple.
Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean -STILL the GOLD standard!
Torvill & Dean performing to Bolero at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo- HQ
Tessa Virtue&Scott Moir at 2010 Vancouver Olympics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE4TbwxMsCA
Official website for 2010 Olympic Gold MedalistsTessa Virtue & Scott Moir of Canada:http://virtuemoir.com/
Official website for Malena Ernman, chock-full of interesting photos, videos and anecdotes about her career and life. An opera singer with a great sense of humor, moxie and humanity!:www.malenaernman.com
I wrote about the ridiculously-talented Malena and the song here on the blog last year:http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Malena%20Ernman Honestly, why hasn't SAS figured out a clever way to incorporate this catchy song and Malena into a new TV campaign for the airline, showing sophisticated places in Europe where talented and sophisticated Malena is both flying and working/performing in? You know, like Scandinavian travelers? I mean the video at the top is practically an invitation AND how-to-guide served up on a silver platter to SAS? #frustrating. Here's the version Malena performed at last year's Melodifestivalen. Still gives me #goosebumps! https://youtu.be/5WH2OwJeMBE The craziest, brilliant idea I've had in quite some time came to its logical conclusion in next-door Aventura late Saturday afternoon, after I'd watched the latest in a long line of dreary, punchless Indiana University football losses toBig Ten teams since that seminal Bill Lynch victory over Purdue two years ago, losing to Ohio State 38-10 over in Columbus. (More on the ballgame later today.) Yes, it involves another trip by yours truly to the "Venezuelan" Target, which was in rare form late Saturday, completely living up to its well-earned reputation as being the #1 casual hangout hereabouts for all the many beautiful Venezuelan women living in Aventura and SE Broward County, plus, their very good-looking Argentine friends.Claro! Style-wise, it's the closest thing to being back in Washington, D.C. or Stockholm. Over the past week, I'd been going thru some songs I'd favorite-ed on my YouTube Channel since I first signed-up and created it, which included some songs that I know that 99.9% of you have never heard of. Like REALLY, REALLYnever heard of. http://www.youtube.com/user/HallandaleBeachBlog
So as a result of that, I've had some songs in my head recently that I haven't thought of in quite some time, and been humming many of them as I wait in a long line in the many left-hand turning lanes on Hallandale Beach Blvd. that you MUST endure to get anywhere in this traffic-gridlocked city next to the ocean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kghCqyMLPFA Catchy songs, pop songs, songs with hooks... No, not just the delightful Kristina Pelakova singing "Horehronie" in Oslo, above, which I mentioned here recently, but also some terrific catchy French songs as well, which I'll share here soon so you can "hear" what I've been thinking about lately. You know how I love the EuroPop! So, with the items I needed I inside the snazzy, new streamlined Target plastic shopping carts I was piloting -SO MUCH lighter and quieter than the old metal ones- I ambledover to the back of the store to where they keep 'seasonal' products, where I spied the hysterically funny and clever Halloween costumes for kids. Sorry the photos aren't clearer!
Below, October 9, 2010 photos by me, South Beach Hoosier at the Aventura Target. Eventually, after wandering the three aisles they have for Halloween costumes, I came across a thirty-something year old father with his kid in tow, waiting patiently for the wife/mother member of the triangle to make up her mind about whatever it was she was choosing between as the head consumer of the family.
And then, out of the blue, inspiration hit me like a bolt of lightning. I heard this kid humming something that I couldn't quite make out. And the next four words that came to mind were, strangely enough, "Malena Ernman" and "Ice Dancing."
Frankly, I'm writing this now knowing in advance that I won't be nearly able to adequately describe this enough to satisfy myself, much less you, despite how clear it is in my head. But I have just got to get this out of my head before I go crazy.
It's frustrating, like trying to describe how intensely beautiful Bloomington and nearby Brown County are, esp. in the Fall when the leaves are changing colors, http://www.browncounty.com/ to someone who has not only NEVER been there, and can't conceive of how magical it is. To say nothing of only vaguely sure where, precisely, Indiana is located in the Midwest, which, shockingly, is the case with lots and lots of people I've met in South Florida since returning from the Washington, D.C. area seven years ago. http://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?m=pool&s=rec&w=576934%40N24&q=Brown+County%2C+Fall Reminder: west to east -Iowa, Illinois, Indiana: the Three I's. Michigan is north, Ohio is east and Kentucky is south. Got it?
I won't even try to mention the technical descriptions of the particular dancing skills and requirements that I can so easily visualize in my head, since 99.9% of you won't understand them even if I did, but...
If anyone out there reading this knows of at least two very talented skaters who are looking for some music to accompany their choreography in Ice Dancing, especially for an exhibition, I think you could really strike gold with La Voix, as performed by fabulous opera singer Malena Ernman, which was the song she sang representing Sweden at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, where Alexander Rybak of Norway won for Fairytale.
IF anyone knows of any figure skater(s) anywhere, more likely in Europe, whether singles or pairs, who has already used this intensely catchy song in competition or an exhibition, please let me know how it turned out. And if there's a video of it somewhere on the Internet, all the better.
In the right hands, this song could/would/should be a dynamite crowd-pleaser for a very talented Ice Dancing couple.
Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean -STILL the GOLD standard!
Torvill & Dean performing to Bolero at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo- HQ
Official website for 2010 Olympic Gold MedalistsTessa Virtue & Scott Moir of Canada:http://virtuemoir.com/
Official website for Malena Ernman, chock-full of interesting photos, videos and anecdotes about her career and life. An opera singer with a great sense of humor, moxie and humanity!:www.malenaernman.com
