Should we rush to sign up for Disney’s Galactic Starcruiser immersive hotel?

by philg

Who’s ready to sign up for Disney’s Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser experience/hotel? Compared to the price of Taylor Swift tickets, $6,000 for a family of four for two nights is a bargain. Fox Orlando explains:

Touted as a “first-of-its-kind immersive experience” Disney opened the resort with much fanfare in the spring of 2022 during “The World’s Most Magical Celebration” honoring the 50th Anniversary of Walt Disney World. Guests were invited aboard the Halcyon starcruiser, “a vessel known for its impeccable service and exotic destinations.” The resort hotel also had direct access to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Throughout the voyage, “guests’ choices determined their personal stories as they interacted with characters, crew, and other passengers.”

The immersive experience at Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser came with a hefty price, critics said. At its opening, the cost for two guests per cabin came to $1,200 per guest, per night. A cabin for four guests (3 adults and 1 child) was priced at $749 per guest, per night. Guests were also required to book a two-night minimum stay.

(“3 adults and 1 child”? Is Fox joining the Wall Street Journal and New York Times in promoting throupledom?)

Our kids aren’t quite ready for this because they haven’t seen all of the Star Wars movies yet, but I had thought that we would take them eventually. Now we have only until the end of September to stuff them full of Star Wars knowledge, e.g., about the relationship between Jar Jar Binks and General Grievous, and get them to this immersive hotel.

Separately, though I hate to brag (nobody hates to brag more than I do), I need to share that I was just 50′ from Taylor Swift when she was on stage. Even better, I did not have to pay $5,000 for my seat and close-up view of Ms. Swift. It all happened at Oberlin College where Taylor Swift was receiving an earned bachelor’s degree. A 2015 Daily Mail story explains:

Taylor Swift, 21, is the second cousin of the famous singer

They’ve never met, but the famous Taylor’s parents brought her backstage at the 1989 tour – which she bought tickets to herself

She currently attends Oberlin College where she’s taking classes in politics and Hispanic studies, and she spends her spare times giving swim lessons to kids.

College student Taylor doesn’t sing, she doesn’t like country, and she didn’t even listen to her famous cousin’s music until recently.

I hope that by now the singer Taylor Swift has at least sent some free tickets to her same-name cousin!

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Pride Month has arrived once again in our Florida neighborhood

by philg

It’s Pride Month once again in our MacArthur Foundation-built New Urbanism development.

The above young people have graduated from the regular high school, the nerd (“STEM”) high school, and the talented (“arts”) high school (funded by a former MIT Board member, Alex Dreyfoos). All of these are public schools, run by Palm Beach County.

The bad news for Emily, headed for University of Florida, is the school is ranked only #29 in the nation by U.S. News. The good news for her parents is that they likely won’t be paying tuition due to the Bright Futures program in which lottery addicts fund higher education (a savings of $6,400/year, the headline in-state tuition rate).

Readers: How’s your Pride Month going? What are you proud of?

(Also, I’m in the mountains this week. What’s happening with Target’s attempt to proselytize customers into the One True Corporate Faith? (Note that I’ve been boycotting the Jupiter, Florida Target for almost two years.))

Related:

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What are you doing for World Environment Day?

by philg

Today is World Environment Day (which means we can ignore the environment for 364 days per year, cranking up the A/C in our pavement-melting SUVs?). What are you doing to mark this milestone?

Here’s Facebook back in May enforcing orthodoxy by augmenting one of my posts:

Every day is World Environment Day for the artificially intelligent robots at Facebook!

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California: (a) Florida is not free, and (b) migrants are harmed by relocating to California

by philg

According to Governor French Laundry, Florida is one of the worst places on Planet Earth. Some examples… books are banned, speech is restricted, nobody can vote against Republicans, and “women” are criminalized:

abortion care for pregnant people is restricted:

2SLGBTQQIA+ people cannot get medical care in Florida:
What about a vulnerable person who wishes to live for four generations at taxpayer expense? According to this CATO report (in pre-Biden dollars, but the percentage figures in Table 4 should still be reasonably accurate), in the paradise of California he/she/ze/they will enjoy 96 percent of the spending power of someone who works full-time at the median wage. What about in the stingy hell of Florida? Only 41 percent (i.e., it might actually be rational to work).

Combining all of the above, it is tough to understand how anyone would choose oppression and/or poverty in Florida rather than freedom and material splendor in California.

Yet… “California investigating whether migrant flight came from Florida” (NBC):

State Attorney General Rob Bonta said that the migrants who were dropped off in Sacramento without any prior arrangements “were in possession of documentation purporting to be from the government of the State of Florida.”

“While this is still under investigation, we can confirm these individuals were in possession of documentation purporting to be from the government of the State of Florida,” he added. “While we continue to collect evidence, I want to say this very clearly: State-sanctioned kidnapping is not a public policy choice, it is immoral and disgusting.”

The Florida Legislature passed a bill in February that expanded DeSantis’ program enabling government officials to fly migrants to destinations in blue states that have sanctuary policies in place. The Republican-controlled Legislature gave the DeSantis administration $10 million for the program during a February special legislative session, and $12 million more during the recently concluded 2023 legislative session.

“Immoral and disgusting” to help a migrant enjoy the California lifestyle in which abortion care is available as part of standard reproductive care for any pregnant person? Immoral and disgusting to help a migrant who chooses not to work collect more than 2X the welfare benefits (housing, health care, food, smartphone, etc.) as a percent of median income? What is there about Florida that these noble defenders of migrants in Sacramento consider to be good? If everything about Florida is bad, how is it “kidnapping” to give someone a relocation ride on a private aircraft to California, where everything is good?

From the CATO analysis:

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Chattanooga, Tennessee as an aviation stopover

by philg

We’re getting into the summer travel season. For folks in small planes fleeing South Florida, Chattanooga, Tennessee is a reasonable first overnight. KCHA is a huge airport with a great FBO:

The surrounding Appalachian Mountains are scenic, but don’t interfere with instrument approaches down to 200′ AGL.

This post has some photos from an overnight stop in Chattanooga on the way home from Oshkosh last summer (early August 2023).

Uber it to downtown and visit the Tennessee Aquarium, which takes the novel architectural approach of following a river down to the ocean:

This is what my house would look like if I were an evil billionaire. The aquarium puts a lot of effort into showing river ecosystems from around the world. In the Department of Stuff You Couldn’t Make Up, Bank of America supports the piranha exhibit:

We’ll see how many San Francisco Fed supervision failures lead to Bank of America swooping in!

Speaking of swooping in, Science says that humans crossing a border are good, but the Nile Perch crossing into Lake Victoria has been bad for native species:

Invasive Mosquitofish are also bad…

The dark River Journey building has now been augmented by a more conventional Ocean Journey building that has similar to displays to what you find in public aquariums around the world.

Puckett’s is a great Southern-style restaurant next door:

Walk along and then across the river…

Cry when you learn that Americans won’t put down their Xbox and OxyContin long enough to come in and make donuts (“Staffing Shortages” sign below):

Your kids can cool off in a fountain and then ride a carousel…

Ruby Falls is entirely underground so it is open late. You start high above the city:

You walk through a limestone cave with beautiful formations and eventually come to the falls themselves:

Downtown is a little scarier than the cave:

You probably won’t get sued for divorce or custody during your overnight in Chattanooga, however, because child support profits are capped in Tennessee (see Real World Divorce). You can finish your evening with a late-night snack inside the old train station:

All of the above can be easily accomplished if you land before 1 pm. Then fire up early the next morning and proceed to the heartland!

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Science says that vaccines prevent COVID transmission

by philg

A cousin is a Scientist (i.e., a physician). He is married to a woman with some Deplorable and Deplorable-adjacent relatives. He recently described getting into a fight with the in-laws in late 2021. He and his wife spent some time in their secure all-Democrat enclave with a filthy unvaccinated 19-year-old cousin visiting from disgusting Florida. The girl appeared to be in perfect health. Shortly afterwards, the wife came down with some symptoms consistent with COVID-19. He then waxed expansively to the Deplorable side of the family regarding his regrets that he had allowed this filthy unvaccinated girl within 100′ of his wife. The wife did not speak to her relatives for more than a year and the rift caused by this discussion remains open in 2023.

Our conversation:

  • me: “Did [wife] actually get COVID from this girl?”
  • Dr. Cousin: “No. She tested negative and it never developed into anything more than a slight cold.”
  • me: “Have you considered apologizing to the in-laws now that Science says COVID-19 vaccines don’t prevent transmission?”
  • Dr. Cousin: “It’s true that the vaccines were designed to prevent infection and transmission. They were designed to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed. But if everyone had taken them as soon as they were available, they would have stopped transmission.”

In other news, Science told the Mayo Clinic to drop the masks:

At the same time, Science told the Covidcrats in New York City to keep the masks:

(The depicted young people are Following Fauci by wearing cloth masks against an aerosol virus?)

By including “thank you for keeping your fellow New Yorkers safe”, I think the Covidcrats of NYC are saying that cloth masks stop transmission, but vaccines don’t (since the requirement to wear a simple mask applies even to those who have accepted the Sacrament of Fauci).

We are informed that Scientists have reached a consensus regarding the temperature of Planet Earth on January 1, 2100, yet those who Follow the Science cannot agree on masks-on vs. masks-off?

In case the above tweet is memory-holed, a screen shot:

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ChatGPT gets mugged

by philg

An elite white Democrat told a friend about her elite white Democrat nephew who managed to get into an Ivy League college with a story about having been mugged in New York City. With some coaxing and examples, my friend managed to get the following out of GPT-4….

TITLE: Echoes of Valjean: A Tale of City Streets and Empathy

In the grandeur of New York City’s skyline, nestled between skyscrapers’ shadows and the ceaseless hum of life, I experienced an epiphany that would alter my perspective forever. This revelation did not emerge from the plush halls of an Ivy League seminar or the prestigious walls of my parents’ alma maters, but from the gritty, unromanticized underbelly of the city.

Late one evening, as the city was donning its twinkling night attire, I fell victim to a mugging. The swift, terrifying episode left me shaking, my pockets lighter, but my mind teeming with thoughts. For the first time, I began to see the city, not as a backdrop to my privileged existence, but as a complex ecosystem where survival was not guaranteed, but hard-earned.

In the days that followed, I found myself haunted by the face of the man who mugged me. He wasn’t the malevolent figure my fear had painted him to be, but a mirror of desperation, poverty, and the ruthless pursuit of survival. It was as though I was seeing the embodiment of Jean Valjean, the protagonist of Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables,” in the streets of New York. Valjean, a man condemned by society for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family, was suddenly no longer a character confined to the pages of a book, but a living, breathing reality of modern capitalist society.
My upbringing, framed by the comforts provided by my Ivy League-educated parents, had shielded me from such harsh realities. I was raised in a world where success was not just expected but assured. My mugging served as a stark contrast to this cocooned existence. It forced me to confront the fact that while I was contemplating which prestigious college to attend, others were grappling with life’s fundamental questions of survival and morality.

In the grand scheme of things, the mugging was not merely an act of crime but a cry for help echoing through the city’s concrete canyons. It was a manifestation of the unequal society we inhabit, a world where some are born with silver spoons while others, in the words of Hugo, “see only a horrible, starless night.”

The incident transformed me. I found myself questioning the societal structures that pushed the marginalized into crime, the economic systems that perpetuated inequality, and my own place within these frameworks. It was a distressing but necessary introspection, one that made me realize how privilege had colored my world.

This understanding ignited a newfound determination to use my privilege not as a shield but as a tool for change. I channeled this drive into volunteering at local shelters, mentoring underprivileged students, and advocating for policies aimed at reducing income inequality. As Hugo wrote, “There are no bad plants or bad men; there are only bad cultivators.” I pledged to become a cultivator of change, to bridge the chasm between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots.’

My experience with the mugger on that fateful night in New York City was a turning point. It brought the harsh realities of inequality into sharp focus, compelling me to rethink my privileged existence and inspiring me to strive for a more equitable society. This transformation, I believe, is the essence of education – a profound understanding of the world around us, which instills a sense of responsibility to make it a better place. As I prepare to embark on my collegiate journey, I carry with me this sense of duty, ready to learn, ready to cultivate, and ready to change.

Note ChatGPT’s sexism. Out of the 74 gender IDs recognized by Science, ChatGPT picks a “man” as the mugger. The prompt said simply “the writer’s experience getting mugged on the streets of New York City” and did not provide ChatGPT with a gender ID for the mugger.

Separately, the have-nots sort their aluminum treasure (Manhattan, May 2023):

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The future is trans

by philg

Happy Pride Month (last year it was officially “A Proclamation on “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, And Intersex Pride Month”, according to Joe Biden).

From state-sponsored CBC… “The future is trans: As Transgender Awareness Month comes to an end, what are our next steps?” (November 2018).

An important variation from TeenVogue (June 2020): “”The Future of Trans” Documentary Shows the World Transgender People Deserve”

From TIME.. “Imara Jones: Why Black Trans Women Are Essential to Our Future” (August 2020):

Black trans women are essential to creating the future, because when everything fails you, you’re more clearly able to reimagine what it would look like if things worked. This is why Black trans women are, in many cases, the most visionary and progressive leaders within social justice movements. … The future is trans because the ways we’ve gone about organizing human life have changed in really fundamental ways. Trans people, just through our existence, show the power and the resilience of change, and possibility of how we can do things differently.

From Adobe Inc.’s “50 LGBTQ Pride month social media caption ideas and Pride quotes”:

“The future is trans.”

The corporate author (no human is identified) say “The Internet serves another purpose for the queer community, which is known for its taste-making sensibilities, accepting attitudes, irreverent humor, and fun-loving vibes.” What if a person says “I agree with the Florida law that bans public school classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity for K-3″? Would the queer community accept that person?

Here are some templates from Adobe:

The Future is Trans T-shirt comes in “Male Fit” and “Female Fit” (make mine 5XL please):

Related:

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The fancy new terminal at LaGuardia Airport

by philg

“Wait, La Guardia Is Nice Now? Inside New York’s $25 Billion Airport Overhaul” (New York Times, July 2022):

The first airport to be completed will be La Guardia, where Delta Air Lines has just opened a gleaming, $4 billion terminal … already won an award as the best new airport building in the world.

I was there earlier this month! Let’s check it out…

The ticketing level was mostly empty on a Sunday afternoon:

You walk around a corner, marvel at the enormous artwork (zoom in and you can see the chin diaper on the righteous New Yorker), and head upstairs…

The security line was non-existent and there is an interesting Agam-inspired illuminated artwork above it:

It’s all-Delta-all-the-time out the window:

The interior space is beautiful:

(Note cloth mask against an aerosol virus worn by the Soldier of Faucism riding the escalator.)

Does the airport terminal achieve greatness? Not for me. Nobody seems to have had any imagination for what passengers should be able to do inside. There are the usual options: shop for magazines and junk food, eat in a restaurant, drink at a bar. What if you are stuck there for 4 hours due to thunderstorms or a missed connection? (admittedly the latter is rare due to LGA not being a hub) There’s no amazing garden or aquarium or art museum or science museum inside. There are no historic aircraft hanging from the ceiling. Qatar put a lap swimming pool inside their big terminal. Maybe that’s too much to ask from the folks who gave us the New York Subway, but how about a planetarium? Why not a pinball and video arcade? A carting track? A trampoline park? (the last few ripped off from Dezerland, a vast indoor space in Orlando where almost anyone can happily spend a few hours)

I’m not sure what makes all of these airport terminals so similar in terms of what passengers can actually do while they wait. I’m going to guess that it is the desire of the airport operator to make the last possible dollar on rent, the same thing that causes American shopping malls to be so similar and dull.

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A visit to the Whitney Museum of American Art

by philg

One of the joys of New York was casual access to great art museums. Post-coronapanic, however, access is no longer so casual. They’re on the dreaded timed ticket system.

The lobby contains neon art by Eric Adams:

What other messages do we see in the Renzo Piano building who total project cost was $760 million in pre-Biden money?

In the oppressed after first investing $760 million in a fancy building?

My favorite work on display is by Josh Kline and reflects a compromise between Republicans and Democrats regarding whether it is permissible to install gas stoves in American households:

Kline predicted “mass layoffs” in a series called “Contagious Unemployment” back in 2016. He wasn’t completely wrong in that labor force participation is low, but technical “unemployment” (people who want jobs and can’t find them) is actually lower than it was in 2016. Even if the artist failed as an economic prophet, his shrink-wrapped middle managers are impressive:

The permanent collection is always worthwhile. Sailors and Floosies (Cadmus 1938) might need an update now that “US Navy hires active-duty drag queen to be face of recruitment drive” (New York Post):

(Cadmus could have painted himself in? He wasn’t famous for being straight.)

The view of the High Line is awesome:

The museum is also a good place to see the Little Island at Pier 55 (about $260 million in public and private money):

The main exhibit was by a Native American artist, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. It is uncontroversial and accurate to refer to people crossing the border without an invitation as a “European invasion”:

(Would the museum characterize the current flood of folks coming across the border as an “invasion”? If not, why not? Because they are generally not armed while the mostly-peaceful Pilgrims had rifles?)

A 2021 painting by Smith cashes in on Americans’ love of pronouns:

Her “trade canoes” are impressive. Examples:

Pilots may imagine that the FAA is everywhere in the galleries because the guards’ uniform says “Here to Help” on the back:

What’s the mask situation, you might ask? About half of the guards were masked. (If they’re worried, why don’t they switch to a job with less potential for virus transmission?) With the exception of the virtuous group, perhaps only 1 in 40 patrons was masked.

How’s the neighborhood?

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