Alternate title A: “Good god, I’ve been bumped (or as I like to call it — ‘getting royally shafted by a corporate airline with no soul’)”

Alternate title B: “SXSW, here I co….wait, just one second there, padna!”

Customer service is dead. (Almost).

After years of hearing about the trend of airlines overbooking and thinking it was urban legend or something that only happened to people who had done something truly heinous in a previous life, it happened to me. Actually, it happened to me and five (it was thought to be four, but we caught up with the fifth later) other randomly chosen unfortunates, by the evil trolls that live deep within the bowels of United Airline’s computer reservations mainframes.

Apparently, it’s not good enough anymore to simply make a reservation with an airline. As I learned today, this does not guarantee you will get a seat on a booked flight. Even if you show up almost 3 hours early, make it through security without a hitch and have the luxury of time of your side, you may unwittingly be doomed. Walking up to the ticket gate around noon, I had no doubt I’d be boarding for my 12:30 flight to Austin. Nothing in previous travel experiences had alerted me to the fact that this could ever happen. I knew flights got overbooked and people could volunteer to skip in exchange for comps, but I hadn’t realized the extent of it and how unaware airlines really are when it comes to factors like conventions and the fact that overbooking is a shady business practice.

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What time is that, you say? SXSW time. The grandfather (probably not a term they’d choose) of all modern conferences. And generally, when people think SXSW, the popular consciousness thinks “music,” but alas, even though I’m a musician (with a semi-professional past), I have never been. No, I’m talking about the red-headed stepchild here (no offense to any red-headed stepchildren out there). And that child, of course, is the Interactive portion of the show.

Looks like this year will have a Twitter hangover, as there seems to be no leading contender to fill it’s shoes, though some might say it’s Meebo. Alas, some trend or app will dominate by show’s end.

Nice this year is the panel picker (or did that start last year), which is a user-generated and submitted process that allows the masses to choose from a long list of panel “ideas,” ranging from the sensible to the outlandish. Seems as though outlandish is in this year (and well, that’s no surprise, eh?).

Just noticed Microsoft is pushing Silverlight on us unsuspecting non-PC and PC types uniformly, though I’m not sure I want to install anything by Gates & Co. on my precious (or is that precocious) Mac. Ah, but maybe since Frog has something to do with, I’ll give it a second thought. And they’ve got a swell-looking opening bash to attend, so maybe I can just view their version instead.

More coverage once I’ve landed. Cheers!

Stumbled upon this great link, which is a collection of images documenting the boomtown madness that is Dubai. In the designer’s mind, this looks like a series of renderings of fantastical buildings from the deepest recesses of an architects wildest fantasies and while, in some sense that could be true, the wild part is that virtually all of these projects have been greenlighted.

Leaving us recession(ish)-shaken Americans with gaping jaws at the mere thought of these monstrosities coming to light is a humbling experience. Not since the Post-War era have we even come close, and even that pales in comparison.

According to the link, Dubai is said to currently have 15-25% of all the world’s cranes. As a bourgeoning showcase for the world’s tallest buildings, it has lofty goals of making a name for itself by any means necessary. Also fascinating is the development of Hydropolis, the world’s first underwater hotel, said to be ready by 2009. Found a truly bizarre website which seems to be the corporate entity for this “under”-taking, but be sure to put on your goggles with the UG-LEE filter first.

With their oil reserves dwindling, Dubai has sought to reinvent itself as a tourism mecca for Europe and beyond. The appeal is definitely reaching beyond, as least to the most adventurous of us. Would like to think I will actually make it there someday, as prices seem to be reportedly dropping, due to the onslaught of the tourism industry. Would make for one aesthetically mind-boggling, sensory walloping experience that really shouldn’t be missed.

Well, we made it intact on the flight over from Dulles with the baby in tow. First time for that. We opted for the Baby Tylenol trick, which worked well on our usually fussy infant. On arrival, my mother and sister picked us up and we made our way to Pasadena. As I’m now a visitor to my own home town, it feels surreal coming home. Always something new to look at now. Much new construction around Staples Center. Residue from the housing boom, many new lofts and a new Nokia Theater. Wonder if it will be similar to the one in New York, where my friend Brian and I saw Antibalas a couple of years ago.

Once in Pasadena, more new construction abound. A gigantic, multistory Whole Foods on Arroyo Parkway, but otherwise same ol’ town. We settled in had a welcome dinner that night with old friends.

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Never even considered going to Yemen until reading the NY Times article today. A place out of reach to most Westerners due to its civil strife and uncertain political moves, it is full of the exotic sights and smells associated with more glamorous destinations like Morocco and Egypt, but without the hordes. I personally like edgy travel, so I’m not afraid to visit places off the government-approved path.

Yemen’s capitol of Sana has a souk in the Old City district that looks particularly inviting and is a Unesco World Heritage site. I hope I can mange to visit there in this lifetime (or the next).

The NY Times always manages to deliver up top-notch travel content and has the breadth of detail that rivals popular travel publications. I find there recommendations to be spot on for wherever I’m going.

Well, off to L.A. again for the holidays, family cheer and good times. Looking forward to seeing the fams, checking out the new Griffith Park Observatory, possibly the Malibu Getty and of course, the local grub. Tacos! Can I say it again? OK, but you know? I love those muthas. There’s this one particular truck that I am looking forward to hitting something wicked. Then, of course you have your In N Out Burgers, Zankou Chicken and we are hitting up the legendary Spago Beverly Hills over the weekend.

This, all coupled with seeing friends and introducing our newborn son Jack to the West Coast masses will be most cool. If I can, I’ll get a post or two in, but will be mostly signing off until the 29th. Happy Holidays All!

P.S. The pic is from last year’s visit to the landmark Olvera Street in historic L.A. downtown.

Apparently the folks at WeJetSet do and they seem inclined to let the world know. Their nicely designed site offers travel-oriented consumer products aimed at the more design-centric connoisseur.

From the always reliable Wallpaper City Guides to classics like Moleskin notebooks (in city specific packages, no less) to the oddly-looking light-bulb looking travel bottle set, they’ve got something for most every discerning traveler.