Travel woes

We had reserved the room two weeks before. A nice suite. A day or two before we were to arrive, I called on the phone and verified. Because, you never know what can go wrong with hotel reservations.

Then I checked for reviews of the place on the internet. Something we should have done before making the reservation. The reviews were really bad

fit only for prostitutes to bring clients to, walls covered with the most disgusting goo, and rampant bedbugs.

We arrived in the evening like we were supposed to. The first thing that happened was that the desk clerk tried tot put us in a tiny room for the same price. We objected. Then we were told we would be getting the suite we had paid for, after some resistance.

So they we went up to the room. It wasn't a suite at all, but just a slightly larger room. We went back downstairs. The clerk insisted it was a suite, and described the multiple rooms. I told her it was not a suite. Eventually she admitted that she had no idea what rooms were in the hotel. And that she thought it was a suite, and if it wasn't, that meant there was no suite in the motel. And that to find out what was going on, I'd have to talk to the manager.

I did the next day. It turns out that the night clerk had no idea what she was talking about, and that our suite was sitting there last night, empty because the night clerk refused to check us into it. And of course it would be no problem to switch to the suite, which we did.

The awful Internet reviews were rather off. It wasn't super-clean, but it wasn't super nasty. This led me to wonder if competing motels don't go around putting up the worst possible reviews of other motels onlone.

And when we checked out, the manager told us that the night clerk had been fired.

I've written of bad lodging experiences in the past. I've had too many bad experiences. Has anyone had any lately?

Pre-paid phones?

I'm anxious to get rid of my cell phone and cell phone plan. All of the regular phone plans I see out there are too much: too many minutes for too much money. So I am looking at pre-paid. So far, Virgin Mobile looks to be the best: the phones are decently priced, and it is $25 per month plus tax. Does anyone use Virgin or have heard anything about it? Any other information about experiences with pre-paid cell plans would be appreciated.

Renaissance Fair

I recently ran across this old brochure from the "Grand Traverse Pavilions Renaissance Fair". I think it is about 10 or so years old. They did not put a date on it. I think it was the only renaissance fair or anything like that in the area, other than the one in Interlochen that I never saw, for years. I know they have huge ones in the South, and I think of that King of the Hill episode now. I'll have to see if there is another later on in the summer. Gotta get those turkey drumsticks and corn on the cob.

"Land of the Lost" End Titles

About a year ago, Will Ferrell tried his very best to destroy childhood memories of a great TV show with his "Land of the Lost" television-to-film adaptation. There was one part of the movie, however, where it seemed someone was actually trying. It was the end credits. The site "Forget the Film, Watch the Titles" features it.

Michael Giacchino did the soundtrack for the movie. Overall it wasn't nearly as good or original as the banjo and synthesiser (think "Deliverance" meets Larry "Synergy" Fast) soundtrack of the old TV show. But it wasn't bad. Giacchino clearly wasn't trying to wreck things as Ferrell and director Brad Siberling were. Giacchino has been around a while, but he's pretty good and is more and more visible on major projects, such as the most recent "Star Trek" movie and the TV show "LOST". I found the end titles entertaining (click the picture to watch):

The last comment on the page, by Rich B, says "If the movie had the same energy and atmosphere as the end credits, it would have been a treat. Instead, this is the best 5 minutes of the film." I pretty much agree with this. Giacchino appears to be very busy, and is doing the soundtrack for the forthcoming "John Carter: Warlord of Mars" movie. He might very well be the John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, or Maurice Jarre of the movie soundtrack future.

I love ducklings

And I love ducklings.

These were only about 6 feet from me.