Let's check in and head back down to New Zealand for another of those oddball and absolutely wonderful in-flight safety videos for Air New Zealand. This one is called "Safety Old School Style" and stars Betty White, along with some guests.
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We haven't had one of those absolutely wonderful (and unique) on-board safety videos from Air New Zealand for a while, so let's correct that. This one is titled, "Bear Essentials of Safety" -- and it features Bear Grylls, here taking you on his own adventure to help make your flight as safe as possible. Last week, I wrote about and posted here a spectacular in-flight safety video for Air New Zealand, "The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made" that was an extension of The Lord of the Rings I noted that the airline has a history of making wonderful and elaborate air safety videos, including several others based on Middle Earth. Here's a second of those Middle Earth safety videos. It's not as near-operatic as the original, but great fun on it's own -- and would stand out even more if it wasn't for the "Most Epic" one that was, indeed the most epic. A while back, I posted a video that I titled, "The most epic safety video ever made." But that wasn't my name that I gave to the little film, it was what Air New Zealand called their own video. And the thing is -- it is. It turns out, though, that Air New Zealand has a history of making outlandish, funny and extremely wonderful safety videos. I've tracked a bunch of them down and will post them here in the coming days. But first, as a reminder, or for new people to these pages, before we get to the others, I thought it best to repeat that original video. So, here is it is and the article I posted about... "The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made." * * * And no, that is not hyperbole. In fact, the video itself begins by saying on-screen, "The most epic safety video ever made." And it's being low-key and polite. To be fair, "Epic," in this case, is sort of a tongue-in-cheek reference, as you will see. But it's nonetheless epic in the generally accepted sense, as well. This is far and away like no in-flight safety video you've seen, or likely will ever seen. It's so far away that everything else is in third place. Just leave second place empty. And, honest, that's not an exaggeration. The in-flight video is for the safety explanation aboard Air New Zealand flights, and...well, let's just say as a reminder that New Zealand is where they filmed The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. And we'll leave it at that, and let your imaginations take over.. There are twists and turns here, and a lot of tongue-in-cheek fun, and some surprises. And further, when is the last time you ever saw credits at the end of an in-flight safety video? As a safety video, I'm going to guess that patrons aren't going to be paying the closest attention to what's being told them, which probably isn't ideal. On the other hand, a) most people by now have a pretty good idea of the safety procedures on an airplane, b) in some ways, people are going to watch this much closer than the regular in-flight safety videos they zone out of, and c) this is going to be see FAR more by people who are not on an airplane, so there's no risk of going down in the water. Which brings up the other point. Beyond being the Greatest (and Most Epic) In-Flight Safety Video Ever, this is also a brilliant promotional video for the next film in The Hobbit series. If I had the opportunity to bet all my cash money, it will go viral around the world, if it hasn't already. However much it cost, there will be no need to buy TV air-time (which is so expensive), and you wouldn't anyway, since it's 4-1/2 minutes long. Maybe they'll cut down a 30-second version, but it's really not necessary, and it won't do it justice. This is so wonderful and so smart. Just a brilliant idea, and whoever came up with the idea deserves a major promotion and bonus, and hats off to all the people on both sides of the aisle who approved doing it. So, here, then is the most epic in-flight safety video ever made. Really. No, really. As I always have tried to do on my more recent trips to Chicago -- since I now stay with relatives who live in Evanston, just blocks from the beloved Northwestern University -- I like to walk through the campus which has retained its charm on the shores of Lake Michigan, but added serious construction over the past couple decades. A bit too built up in some areas, in my taste, but with incredibly impressive additions in other areas. (Particularly in the theaters arts and music areas with new stages and performance halls, and also in athletic facilities on the landfill.) To be clear, this body of water is not an inlet from Lake Michigan but a lagoon they built on campus a while back. You can make out Lake Michigan right behind the trees. But this lagoon plays a fun part in family history. Back when I was going to NU in the School of Speech (now Communications), I took a Communication Studies course, and for reasons I don't remember, one day the professor took the whole class down to the lagoon to practice projection. (It wasn't a performance class, so I really don't recall at this point why we were doing this, perhaps to expand our awareness of the use of the voice or...oh, I don't know.) But half the class stood on one side of the lagoon and the rest on the other shore. And for decades after, my father who still be bemused by this and said, "So, just to be clear, I was paying tuition so that you could learn to yell across a lake..." For what it's worth, I thought it was sort of silly at the time, too, though I enjoyed the rest of the class. But that didn't matter. It was always "That class where you yelled across the lake." But hey, as long as we're down by the waterfront, I thought I might was well also include of my buddies who joined me for part of the walk. Anyway, I bring up my walk for another reason entirely, for a reason that will likely mean absolutely nothing to most people, but it was a big deal to me. Over the past few years, as I mentioned, I take this walk through the Northwestern campus. And each time, there's one place I always make sure to stop at -- there is a museum on campus, and I always want to see it. I don't mean I "always want to see it again", I mean quite literally...I always want to see it. At least once. But every single time I've been on campus, the Block Museum has been closed. Either that was the one day it wasn't open, or they were closed for lunch, or they were closed for renovation, or they were closed to put in a new exhibition. Whatever the reason, it's always been closed. Always. So, I've never seen it, and it looks very nice, and has a good reputation for a small museum on a college campus. But this year ...are you ready? -- it was OPEN!!! O joy! I told the receptionist how thrilled I was to finally get in, and explained why. She laughed and said, "Yes, we do seem to close a lot" -- but really, she was just being polite. They don't close that often, just often enough when I'm there. Alas, they only had one exhibit, but when I rolled my eyes at my timing again, she said, "Oh, no, it's a good one." And it was. "Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa." It look at the Trans-Saharan trade culture from the days of antiquity, how the gold and even salt were such major factors in the area, and how historians and archaeologists have been able to put the past in perspective, often from only fragments. It wasn't a deeply-extensive exhibit, but respectably comprehensive, and very well presented, along with interesting video interviews of archaeologists talking about the area and this exhibit. It will be traveling to the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto this Fall -- and to any folks reading this in Washington, D.C. (and yes, this means you Nell Minow, who I know not only lives in the area, but even went to the beloved NU briefly, and we had a class together -- but she transferred to be with her longtime boyfriend who is now her longtime husband. But I digress...), the exhibit will be there in the Spring of 2020 at the National Museum of African Art which a part of the Smithsonian Institution. The exhibit got a lot of funding, but notably some came from the Buffett Institute for Global Studies. Yes, it's that Buffet, but only in being the same family. Not Warren Buffet, but his sister Rebecca Buffett Elliott who went to Northwestern and about two years ago gave the university a massive donation for that Global Studies institute. And when I say "massive," that's not hyperbole. It was $101 mlilion. Mainly, I love the extra "$1 million" so that it wasn't just a flat, dull $100 million... Anyway, I finally made it to the Block Museum on the Northwestern Campus. All is well... Just a few cherished memories of and inside Notre Dame Cathedral looking out over Paris from photos I took on a family trip around 1966, .Even as a little kid it was enthralling to approach and wander through, and the sense of history could be felt in every nook. I wish I had more pictures and better ones, but I'm glad for the ones I do have and even more grateful for having been there. And, having been a kid, I'm just glad they're framed well and in focus.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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