Tag Archives: airplane

‘Hobbit’ inspired in-flight safety video is a must-see for fans

October 31, 2012Movies, VideoAir New Zealand, airline, airplane, in-flight, instructional video, LOTR, New Zealand, NZ, Peter Jackson, safety video, The Hobbit, The Lord of the RingsScott Meisner

So you know those typically boring in-flight safety videos airlines make you watch before the plane takes off? Well I think I found one that you’ll want to sit through. If you’re a Lord of the Rings fan, that is. Air New Zealand has partnered with WETA Workshop to produce a Lord of the Rings / Hobbit inspired in-flight safety video featuring characters from J.R.R. Tolkien’s expansive Middle Earth, as well as cameos by director Peter Jackson and Andy Serkis CGI’d as Gollum. If you can overlook the basic seatbelt instructions, I bet you’ll enjoy watching this wonderfully crafted clip called “An Unexpected Briefing” made by Air NZ who’s now calling themselves the “The Official Airline of Middle-Earth.” From the bare, furry feet to the Elvish ears to Jackson’s disappearing act, it’s an instruction video I wouldn’t mind watching before lift off.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is out December 14.

A flight from Sydney to Los Angeles…

March 14, 2010EXPERIENCE, Image cacheairplane, easter egg, flight, Lost, Television, tripScott Meisner

Travel site Kayak.com is offering what at first glance looks like standard one-way flight from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles, California. If you are a Lost fan those particular locations should ring a bell. If you look further into the flight details, more Lost clues come to the surface. The airline? Oceanic Airlines. Take-off date? September 22. Airfare? $4,815.16. Taxes and fees? $23.42. Flight duration? 10 hours, 8 minutes. Clearly the site is playing with the Lost numbers that are key to the show’s mythology: 4 8 15 15 23 42 and 108, as well as other show factoids: The Losties crashed on September 22, 2004, on an Oceanic Airlines flight from Sydney to Los Angeles. So what’s really going on here?

Obviously the people at Kayak.com are Lost fans and couldn’t resist the urge to offer up this flight in anticipation of the final season. When you actually go to buy a ticket for this flight, the site redirects you to the Lostpedia website, specifically to the Oceanic Flight 815 page. After some digging, Slashfilm traced it all back to BoingBoing and the Twitter account of a staff writer. When asked about this easter egg, a Kayak PR rep responded “It’s a mystery,” with a smiley face emoticon.

[Via CNET; HolyKaw]

TSA’s new Genital Visualizers

February 6, 2010Hilarity, Videoairplane, airport, genitals, smuggle, TSAScott Meisner

If people are crazy enough to smuggle contraband in their underwear, what’s stopping them from shoving things inside their penises? Right!?

[Via Landline.tv; Gizmodo]

Panasonic Fusion in-flight entertainment system

October 9, 2009Technology, Videoairlines, airplane, airplane seat, deisgn, economy seating, flying, future, Panasonic, seat, user interfaceScott Meisner

The Panasonic Fusion is what we all hope “the future of economy class seating and in-flight entertainment” to be. Panasonic has integrated a tablet-like screen into the back of an airline seat. With its supurb industrial design, the Fusion’s main goal is to give OEMs the ability to create their own user interfaces. As shown in the video above, such UIs could include Facebook and Twitter integration, along with TV and movie watching. If this in fact the future of airline seating, I will have to start travelling more often! Except to see the Panasonic Fusion being installed in various airlines by November 2010.

[Via Gizmodo; RunwayGirl]