West Virginia Coal Miner Play

Current coal mine tragedy brings poignant play to mind

Back in 2005, the Denver Center Theatre Company put on "Fire On The Mountain," an achingly poignant musical drama about about the lives and hardships of coal miners in the Appalachian Mountains. Amid the poverty, the heartache and the tragedy, the performers celebrated the mountain culture, lifestyle, challenges and heroics communicated by Appalachian bluegrass music and dancing that revealed its Celtic roots. With soaring voices, fiddles and banjos, the cast communicated the indomitable spirit of the miners and their families.

"Fire On The Mountain" has played in a few other cities besides Denver -- Chicago, Louisville, maybe some others that I couldn't find and New York. Here's a description of the off-Broadway production as seen through New York eyes:

"From the creators of MET’s runaway hit Hank Williams: Lost Highway — is a masterful blend of musical theater and oral history. Drawn from interviews with Coal Miners from West Virginia and Kentucky, Fire on the Mountain's text is intertwined with some of the greatest traditional music and union songs to come out of America in the 20th Century. Actors and musicians (all from Appalachia) share the spotlight, with the latter made up of some of the finest pickers and strummers to ever grace a New York stage at one time.

Powerful social history, moving family drama, and incredible songs (think O Brother, Where Art Thou?) make Fire on the Mountain one of the most unusual and exciting entries of the upcoming Off-Broadway season."

When my husband and I saw it in Denver, we stayed for a talkback with the actors following the performance. The exchange between cast and audience was both beautiful and sad. Many many audience members came from mining families -- some current, some reaching back into Colorado history -- and all were able to identify with what happened on stage. If "Fire On The Mountain" comes to a theater near you, go see it. If it returns to  this area, I'd gladly go again.

Carry-Ons in the Overhead? Spirit Charges $45

Nudist resorts jump on this lousy new policy to promote the "Nakation" concept

Spirit Airlines has positioned itself as a low-fare airline, further dangling the carrot of attractive MasterCard benefits in front of passengers. But now they've added a cruel new stick, if you'll excuse the scrambled metaphor, by charging $45 (yes, forty-five dollars) for each carry-on that goes into the overhead bin, beginning August 1. What a wretched idea, paying $90 roundtrip for luggage that passengers themselves handle  -- one that I hope doesn't catch on.

Miami is their hub, and they fly to/from several other South Florida airports too. From/to points north, flights serve Atlanta, Atlantic City, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angles, Myrtle Beach New York (LGA), To the south, they fly to/from a bunch of Caribbean islands, Cancun in Mexico, several Central American cities, Columbia and even Lima, Peru.

Arthur Frommer, who has been helping travelers save money since he wrote "Europe on $5 A Day" decades ago, too Spirit to task for this terrible policy. In a blog post, he noted, "According to USA Today, Spirit receives three times the number of complaints made each year about the much larger Southwest Airlines. Its policies of customer service (or lack of it) have been widely discussed and condemned.[Then he wrote about the $45 bag fee]...Since Spirit also charges for suitcases checked aboard such a flight (it was the first airline to do so), a passenger can avoid such expense only by traveling without any luggage at all. It's hard to imagine a more inflammatory action."

"Nakationers" Save Luggage Fees

I have to hand it to the American Association of Nude Recreation for responding quickly to Spirit's new baggage-on fees by pointing out that, "Traveling with luggage is an ever-increasing inconvenience and expense - even if you don’t check your bag." The association points out that for a "Nakation" – a vacation in one of its 250 members -- the all of the necessities for a week (sunscreen, cap, sunglasses, shoes and toiletries) can go in a small carry-on that will fit under the seat, avoiding even Spirit's crappy carry-on bag fees. To avoid one last hassles involving security screening, don't bring one large sunscreen but rather two or three that are 3 ounces or less, Put them in a one-quart, clear plastic zip bag along with such optional toiletries as deodorant (well, maybe that should be optional), lip balm, contact lens solution, etc.

I've often joked (not within any official's earshot) that if the Transporation Security Agency screening becomes any more intrusive, we'll all have to go through the checkpoints butt-nekkid. Call it a pre-Nakation.

Frontier Introduces Three-Tier Fare Pricing

Frontier now offers a more customizable fare structure

Denver-based Frontier Airlines (route map right) has introduced air fares on three price tiers that it cleverly calls AirFairs: the "economy" fare with nothing included (no checked included and no flexibility to change tickets), the "classic" fare (including two checked bags, snack and drink, and in-flight television) and the fully refundable "classic plus" with checked luggage and in-flight entertainment also included.

The "classic" fare starts at about $20 more than the "economy" fare and includes two checked bags and an in-flight movie, which the airline reminds passengers is a $46 saving right there. Higher tiers also net more points for members of its Early Returns frequent-flyer program.

Take only a carry-on and bring your iPod, and "economy" will probably suffice. Traveling on business and need tun-on-a-dime fare flexibility, and "classic" or "classic plus" might be the fare for you. The new fare structure was soon compared (favorably) with Southwest's flexible "business select," "anytime" and "wanna get away" fares. To book it, you have to buy your ticket from the Frontier website, because Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity and other booking sites display only one fare class for each flight.

Meanwhile, sometime on Tuesday, Denver International Airport expects its 50 millionth passenger of 2008 to travel through. The city is planning to make a big deal of this, with Mayor John Hickenlooper planning to greet whoever that person might be and pass out commemorative items of some sort to passengers on hand. Despite the recent erosion in air travel, this will be a record year for DIA. In 2006, a record 49.8 million flew in or out of DIA.

Great Barrier Reef Ship Grounding, Update

Efforts underway to contain reef damage

Travel Babel seems to have been the first travel blog to report on the Chinese-flagged coal carrier "Shen Neng 1" that went 9 miles off-course and plowed into the coral reefs of Keppler Island, part of the Great Barrier Reef. The resultant oil spill continues to threaten marine life in a maritime protection area that also happens to be one of the world's great scuba diving destinations. Since then, the disaster has caught some world attention, with television news and wire service reports updating the situation and the Australian government response. The photo at right was released by Australian Maritime Safety Authority, and you can see a SkyNews report on YouTube.

The threat to the reef remains worrisome. According to an Associated Press report released on Tuesday evening, local time, "A stranded Chinese coal ship leaking oil onto Australia's Great Barrier Reef is an environmental time bomb with the potential to devastate large protected areas of the reef, activists said on Monday." Reuters quoted Llewellyn, director of conservation for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Australia, who called the "was a "ticking environmental time bomb."
The reef, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, the ship carried some 300,000 gallons of heavy fuel to run its engines. Shipping companies like this (relatively) cheap, low-grade fuel, which is very viscous, and and must be heated before injected into engines. When it ends up in the ocean, this gooey, sludge-like oil coats birds, wildlife, corals, rocks and sandy beaches and is extremely difficult to clean up.

An Environmental Crisis Waiting to Happen -- and It Did

"We've always said the vessel is up in an area it shouldn't be in the first place," Marine Safety Queensland general manager Patrick Quirk  told the media. "How it got to that to that position will be the subject of a detailed investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Board." He added ships sometimes used a shortcut through the reef, a practice that will be reviewed by the federal government.  Six thousand ships a year travel the marine lanes between the east coast of Australia and the Great Barrier Reef. Numerous conservation groups have for years been concerned that bulk carriers are permitted to travel through the reef without a specialized marine pilot. The government has thus far said pilots are not necessary when ships pass protected areas because they are banned there -- until they stray off-course, nine miles off-course, in the case of the "Shen Neng 1." The government might now change its tune.

At last report, two powerful tugs were on the scene, attempting to stabilize the ship while salvage crews assessed the situation. A boom is in place around the stranded ship to contain the oil spill. Australian  officials say the "Shen Neng I" is owned by belongs to the Shenzhen Energy Group, a subsidiary of China's state-owned China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (acronym, COSCO) -- the country's largest shipping company. COSCO could be fined up to 1 million Australian dollars (US$920,000) -- a pittance in view of the damage.

COSCO's History of Oil Spills

This Australian incident is COSCO's third major foul-up in less than three years. In November 2007, the "Cosco Busan" hit one of San Francisco Bay Bridge supports and spilled 53,000 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay, contaminating beaches, killing wildlife and floating into the Pacific Ocean. Skipper John Cota received a 10-month jail sentence for negligence. I don't know whether COSCO was also fined, but cleanup reported cost $100 million.

On July 31, 2009,, "Full City," a Panamanian-flagged ship owned by COSCO, suffered engine failure, ran aground during a storm and spilled some 200 tons of oil that eventually spread 100 miles in an area of wildlife sanctuaries and popular beaches. Pollution effects could linger for a decade. According to a British report on the fiasco, "In the days following the disaster, one of Norway's worst, thousands of birds said to be part of the Lille Sastein bird sanctuary and which were covered in oil, were considered beyond saving and had to be shot. Hundreds more are being cleaned up by volunteers along the coastline." The captain, whose name and ultimate fate I don't know, was arrested for a failure to alert authorities that his ship was in trouble, but he was released without bail.

COSCO has been notably silent about this latest disaster, but on April 1, it issued the following press release, which seems to indicate that money and ROI and not responsbility are all that matter to this state-owned compay:

"COSCO Sustainable Development Report 2008, among the 44 sustainable reports, was praised as 'Notable' report, which was conveyed in the letter to Capt. Wei Jiafu, President and CEO of COSCO Group from Mr. Georg Kell, Executive Director of UN Global Compact Office on March 3rd, 2010. COSCO Group is the only selected Chinese company this year and only Asian company whose sustainability report is deemed 'Notable' for four years in a roll [stet]. The report analysis was conducted by a coalition of global investors from 13 countries managing over US$ 2.1 trillion of assets, and they are all signatories to the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative to help companies that under United Nations Global Compact better corporate reporting on environmental, social and corporate governance activities."

Southwest to Start Service to New York in '09

Leading low-fare carrier braving LaGuardia in -mid-2009

Southwest is planning to start service to New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in June 2009. Since, IMO, LaGuardia is one of the worst, most congested, most unfriendly airports in the country, this might just put a damper on Southwest's high customer approval ratings. LGA, Newark (EWR) and JFK International, New York's major airports, among them are credited or blamed for something like 70 percent of the flight delays in the entire country. That's is the reason that Southwest has for years avoided New York, flying no closer than Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP), which is 50 miles from Manhattan. That's twice as far as Denver International Airport is from downtown Denver, and about the same distance as DIA is from Boulder.

Southwest, which reportedly is planning to fill the void at LGA when ATA went belly-up, is being quite coy about announcing which airports will be on the other end of the new routes. ATA's gates became available, and Southwest grabbed them -- not that there's all that much competition right now with airlines folding like a deck of cards in a poker game.

Republic to Announce Frontier's Fate

Merged airlines' single name to be announced next week

April 13, 2010, does not fall on a Friday, gut next Tuesday could mean bad luck -- or at least bad news -- for Coloradans who have been loyal to Denver-based Frontier Airlines, saddened when it was taken over by Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings and will be be heart-broken if the parent company removes the Frontier identification. Republic also took over Milwaukee-based Midwest Airlines, and Cheeseheaads are rooting for that name to prevail.  And Indianapolis, the corporation's headquarters city, is probably so wrapped up in basketball that locals there aren't paying attention to anything in the air higher than a player can throw an alley-oop. FWIW, it has been reported that either the Midwest or Frontier name will be sellected.

Announcement "ceremonies" have been scheduled for the 13th in Denver, Indianapolis and Milwaukee to announce the decision. Republic's CEO Bryan Bedford is to make the announcement from Milwaukee, while Frontier employees and media (not including me) have been invited to a suite in Coors Field to watch event live via an Intranet connection. It is impossible not to read meaning into Bedford's selection of the announcement site.


The first Frontier Airlines, cobbled together from a merger of Arizona Airways, Challenger Airlines, and Monarch Airlines in 1950, flew until 1986, when Continental purchased Denver's hometown airline and wrapped it the Houston-based giant. The "new" Frontier took to the skies in 1994, and its name might meet the same fare as Frontier I.

Delta and Virgin America Offer WiFi to Some Flights

Two carriers now offer broadband WiFi on domestic flights

Following its introduction late last month on Virgin America, Aircell’s Gogo inflight WiFi service debuts today on on one Delta Boeing 757 and on five MD88 planes that fly the popular shuttle routes between New York’s LaGuardia Airport, Boston’s Logan International Airport and Washington's National Airport. Until December 31, access on Delta is free. On both airlines, the regular cost is $9.95 for flights shorter than three hours and $12.95 for flights three hours or longer.