Wed, 30 January 2008  
This week we've got a blockbuster on our hands, an all out action bonanza
that will blow you away! Nah, not really, but it was a fitting start to what we
are covering: our list of truly notable directors. We go through a good group
of old and new directors, some with huge bodies of work and others just
starting out, but all quality. Of all the 'list' shows we've done, this one may
generate some delicious dissent among our listeners. There are a few obvious
choices, as there always are, but I think we popped a few surprises in the mix
as well. As always, let us know what you think!
Opening Music: "Fire
In The Sky" by Dave
London
Closing Music: "ET"
by Peplab
Direct download: ozone75.mp3 Category: Movies and TV -- posted at: 10:00 AM |
Wed, 9 January 2008
Well, our first show of the year did not quite turn out as expected.
First off, I'm in Las Vegas for CES and recorded on a rickety internet
connection and my old headset, which sounds a bit like a Volvo gunning through
a tunnel in first gear, so apologies for the quality on my end. Secondly, we
never did make it to the topic we planned, again rambling on for over an hour.
If not for the positive email about our ranting and the great flow of these
aimless tirades, I'd be worried about us. Hope you all had a good New
Years Eve, and enjoy the show!
Opening Music: "Fire
In The Sky" by Dave
London
Closing Music: "ET"
by Peplab
Direct download: ozone72.mp3 Category: General -- posted at: 10:00 AM |
Sat, 5 January 2008  Just
checking in with a small update. You've probably already guessed that we're not
going to have a show this week, which is largely my fault as I didn't
anticipate that my traveling would wipe me out so much. We should be
back as usual next week, but I'll be at CES in Las Vegas this week so we may
have a push there too. My trip back to NY was a great time, got some relaxation
in and also managed to hit the most fantastic Chinese Food place on the
planet, which I always make time for when I'm back east. I actually made
sure to post a very favorable review of the place on my Yelp! page. Yelp! is an
awesome little site that has some brutally honest reviews of restaurants,
stores and other stuff. I've found that while I have no tolerance for generic
social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook, more specific social sites
have a lot to offer.
On to the
trip, my wife and I flew the new Virgin America airline and it was a very
interesting experience all around, both good and bad. Let’s start with the bad
points, since I prefer ending on better notes when possible. I originally
booked our flight on July 7, a full 5 months and 16 days before we were to fly
out. I always book long flights way ahead to ensure I can get an emergency
seat, since I have a rather severe terror of flying, I get claustrophobic in
small spaces after extended periods and I’m about 6’2” with a need for
legroom.. Virgin America offers an option to pay $25 extra for “premium
seating,” which the emergency row is considered and I gladly paid the extra
money for the comfort. I received an email confirmation, and all seemed well.
In early November there was a message left on our answering machine informing
us that the flight time was moved up much earlier in the morning, which again
was no problem. All this time I had been doing nothing but pimping the hell out
of the airline, telling everyone how much I was looking forward to it, I think
even on the show once or twice.
The day
before our flight, I logged in to do online check-in, and noticed our “premium
seating” had been revoked. No refund of the premium rate, no phone call, they
had simply booted us into a standard row and I find out the day before we’re
leaving. Clearly, I’m pissed off. I call the Customer Service line and in all
fairness, I think I did a poor job of explaining the issue to the woman I spoke
to. I think she read my anger as being just at the lack of refund, not the
seating change and the lack of notification about the change. If they had
properly notified me about the seating change, I might have been able to call
earlier and possibly have gotten my seats back or at least been moved to
another flight that day with seating available. I called back a second time,
and this time explained my issue more clearly to a different person but he
offered no help at all beyond an apology. After this I called my mother to let
her know the time our flight was coming in, and of course mentioned the seating
nonsense. She advised me to check to see if any of the front ‘bulkhead’ seating
was open, as it was typically still more spacious than standard seating. I did
that, and sure enough there were two seats open and I immediately called VA
back and got a really helpful guy in Florida who got everything taken care of
for me, which kept my head from exploding. He got my seats changed for the same
cost as the refund, although after the failure to notify I felt I should have
received the refund anyway, especially since we lost the emergency seats on the
flight back which had not been changed at all. Regardless, at least we had
potentially better seating. That was the end of the negative part of the
experience, but it makes me wonder whether VA will be our first choice for an
airline on our future trips. Incidentally, I have not seen that refund come
through as of this writing and I will be contacting them on Monday if it hasn’t
shown up by the end of the week.
Now the
flight itself was great. Happily the bulkhead seating was actually better than
emergency row seating, and the overall atmosphere of the plane was a very
refreshing change. I have posted a Flickr photoset with pictures of the Linux
based computer that each seat has, including the available features and some
that aren’t quite in place yet. Overall the whole approach to flying that
Virgin is trying to promote is fantastic. Three prong power outlets and USB
ports in each seat, a flipside remote control that retracts into the seat arm
and has a full QWERTY keyboard, on demand drink service and of course the 9”
widescreen touch screen computer with a reasonably hefty free selection of
movies, TV and reportedly 3,000 or so MP3s. There is also premium content, and
it featured reasonably recent movies such as The Bourne Ultimatum and Resident
Evil: Extinction. I tested out the chat feature, which would be really
useful if you’re traveling with friends and aren’t seated together but
otherwise is simply a cute thing to play with for 5 minutes. The drink ordering
is a genius move when you think about it. Less of that wobbling cart
gridlocking the aisle when you badly need to piss, the ability to get a drink
when you’re actually thirsty instead of when they bring it to you. All around,
the on demand model is a fantastic way to go for airlines. All in all, a very
good actual flight. It’s really a shame that the customer service end was
largely negative, because like most people I remember more of the bad than the
good about the flight. In the end, will I fly Virgin again? Well, I’m going to
send a letter to their customer service department and that answer will depend
largely on the response.
And not
that note, I bring a close to this rambling missive. We are planning to record
something while I’m in Vegas, and depending on time I may have something for
the 9th. Until then, take it easy.
Category: Blog Post -- posted at: 9:44 PM |
