Words About Things

I was looking for some information about car hire in Italy for a forthcoming trip and came across these videos. The first one is from India but is how I picture driving in Italy – dodging scooters and a lot of luck involved! The second video is actually of Italy and features some nice traditional narrow streets. A Vespa is perhaps the best bet here but I would rather have the safety of a car!

The stereotypical beauty queen is nice but dim and often particularly fond of the idea of ‘world peace’. They might however be harbouring controversial views or have other shortcomings such as a lack of understanding of simple geography. In Japan however they demand a little more of their potential Miss Universe entrants.

At the recent Miss Universe Japan competition the entrants took part in a gruelling ‘boot camp’ designed to expand their horizons and prove that a beauty queen can be strong and adventurous as well as pretty. The contestants tried rock-climbing, some Base Jumping and Jujitsu classes. Miss Universe Japan’s creator Ines Ligron says that this years event saw the girls go beyond traditional ideas of what makes a beauty queen:

“Traditional beauty contests are tacky. They don’t belong to this millennium. They are from my grandmother’s time. It’s degrading to women to be judged on having perfect boobs and legs. I’m trying to prove you can win with your personality and intelligence. I want to create ‘Bond’ girls. A Bond girl is sexy, strong. She is sensual, intrepid. She can do anything.”

This seems to be an attempt to bring the Miss World contest into the modern age. I’m not sure it fits however, while we still judge people on how attractive they are the whole idea seems outdated and a little crass. This years winner was Emily Miyasaka who I can’t seem to find any information about online. Lets just assume she is very good at Base Jumping and Jujitsu as well as being not too shabby in the looks department.

To celebrate their 5th birthday HostelBookers are offering 250 stays at popular hostels in Barcelona, Valencia, Corfu, Alghero and Santorini for only 5p per night. The beds are available between the 6th-10th of July this year and they go on sale on June the 1st so you need to be able to travel late notice. This seems like an act of desperation but HostelBookers’ CEO David Smith says the company is doing well:

“We have had a phenomenal five years and experienced unprecedented growth. This is the first time we have run a promotion on this scale but our anniversary felt like the perfect time – it’s a way to say thank you to all our customers, and give a little something back, after all their help over the years.”

This is clearly going to be a challenging year for tourism as people try to reduce their outgoings. Some companies are reporting increases in sales whilst others suffering. Occupancy levels in European Hotels have fallen by nearly nine per cent this year compared to last. Tourism in Mexico suffered a massive hit after the Swine Flu outbreak but the Mexicans are fighting back. The threat level was recently downgraded and people are taking advantage of offers that are becoming available.

Car rental companies are also trying to tempt cautious consumers with deals on car hire in England aimed at those not venturing too far. Airlines are offering reductions but most of these are off season so not such a great deal for families looking for money off their summer holiday.

I yearn to go back to a time before I knew this advert existed. Somebody, somewhere decided that it would be a good idea to get Andi Peters, Melinda Messenger, Goldie, Johnny Vaughan, Lisa Snowden and some guy from Hollyoaks to mime along to a rap song about Chicken Wraps for Nandos.

This is apparently an ‘internal’ video for staff so maybe these celebrities thought that we would never know how desperate they are for money and exposure. Now that the video has found it’s way onto the internet their lack of shame will be noted for eternity. Watch the video below but remember what has been seen cannot be unseen…

Hmm, this post has had 240+ hits today with no referrer or from email addresses, would someone satisfy my curiosity and leave me a comment to let me know what this is all about?