WHY NOT TO FLY WITH FLYBE
I feel it’s my civic duty to warn anybody out there who may be considering flying with Flybe NOT TO!
My New Year’s resolution is NEVER TO FLY WITH FLYBE AGAIN! I wrote to the CEO explaining how Flybe losing my luggage for 36 hours on the outward leg of a weekend trip to Cheltenham Literature Festival on Oct 5 had completely screwed up my plans and prevented me from attending the festival (on the first weekend I’d had off after working non-stop 7/7 in India and Kenya for a few months). Didn’t hear a dickie bird. On the return leg Flybe damaged my baggage. I had to go to the official dealer myself, who of course then sent me elsewhere for the repairs. Three return trips across Paris, all requiring an afternoon off, all at MY expense. Flybe will only cover the cost of the actual repair! UNBELIEVABLE. They are so miserly, they won’t even cover the cost of public transport to effect the repair that their shoddy service made necessary. So, to recap, FLYBE completely ruined the weekend, making the actual trip pointless and then they break my baggage and I’m the one who has extra time, trouble and costs putting THEIR mistake right. You’d think they’d make some form of commercial gesture and at least refund the transport costs associated with the repair, wouldn’t you? Whoever they’ve got running PR should be sacked. Why would I ever want to travel with Flybe again? Oh! That’s right. I don’t! Since October I’ve travelled to the UK four times, each time with EUROSTAR. I heartily recommend anybody considering traveling between France and UK with Flybe to think again.
So there you go. Don’t say you weren’t warned…
Seems they’ve just finished filming the third and final part of Driven to Extremes in Malaysia’s djungles, now with Adrien Brody as the celebrity. It’s part of the adventure show of which Tom filmed his part in Siberia. Here’s how the show is described:
Shell in collaboration with Discovery Channel, commissioned a three-episode series called Shell Helix Driven to Extremes.
The objective was to put its premium motor oil, Shell Helix Ultra, to the ultimate test in some of the coldest, hottest and roughest locations on earth.
Part 1 was filmed in Siberia during its harsh winter conditions while Part 2 was filmed in China’s desert of death.
Part 3 was filmed in Ulu Sedili, where the crew had to overcome challenges of driving under extreme conditions in tropical jungles.
In every series, there were two drivers.
Mika Salo was the designated driver in all the three series while his co-driver in each series was a famous actor.
Adrien Brody, Henry Cavill (haven’t seen a photo of him from filming) and Tom Hardy. That’s the quite the trio! According to the article, the show will be aired in March, on Discovery Channel. Yay!
Sounds like my kind of documentary…
Powerful image from New Delhi, India: Hundreds of Indian women and men participate in a peace march to pay homage to the gang rape victim and for women’s safety Photograph: Anindito Mukherjee/EPA
Effective Goals Setting
It is that time of year again where we set New Year’s Resolutions…maybe to quit smoking, eat more fiber or lose 20 pounds. How many of us really make an effective plan to achieve our goals? Go beyond the typical “I want to lose weight” and make an effective game…
Is this the picture of the day? Kimon, an eight year old, female long-tailed monkey sits with a kitten, whom, she treats as her baby, in Bintan Island, Indonesia. Taken from Picture Desk Live: our photo coverage of the day’s events in the UK and around the world
Photograph: Sijori Images/Barcroft India
Let’s have a beautiful rendition of a classic song for N°1 this Christmas…
Katherine Crowe, cancer patient, has one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard. She has a dream to make it to N° 1 in the UK charts this Christmas, because she’s probably not going to make it through her illness… Watch this Youtube video of her recording session with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios. I’m sure you’ll agree with me: she is genuinely talented and her rendition of Charlie Chaplin’s ‘SMILE’ is glorious! Tomorrow her CD & iTunes download will be released. Please share this link with as many people as possible to build awareness and help her reach her goal:
The planet Earth is black! Nasa lights up the world at night
Space agency satellite uses hi-res visible and infrared imager powerful enough to spot a single ship’s light to produce ‘black marble’ cloud-free night-time pictures - see them in this stunning blog.
Photo: NASA EO/Rex Features
The following is a submission from Molly Parent, who, in light of Kate Zambreno’s recently published study Heroines, considers the special cases of two writers no one reads: Vivienne Eliot and Zelda Fitzgerald. (Ed.)
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Kate Zambreno’s Heroines—a thoughtful, confessional, research-rich book…
Morning Tumblr! Brrr - freezing today. This little squirrel also made it onto our front page (via Winter weather brings snow to UK – in pictures | UK news | guardian.co.uk)
