Falling Downs narrowly avoids mid-air collision

I was sitting in the yard, eyes on the heavens, when I noticed two vapour trails that seemed to be heading for the same space in the sky.

Oh my God, there's gonna be a mid-air collision!

Then I'd be duty-bound to assist in the search for the remains of the passengers. Not to mention the remains of their wallets...

I ran in the house and googled up Flightradar24.

Turns out the plane out of the southwest was a Delta Airbus heading from Detroit to Paris.

The vapour trail coming out of the north belonged to UAL808, a Boeing 777 on a direct flight from Beijing to Washington.

You'd have to agree that mid-air collision would make for some interesting wallets.

Alas, the Boeing was flying at 39,000 feet. The Airbus was at 35,000. They had nearly a mile of vertical clearance between them as they crossed paths overhead.

But it looked promising from the ground.

Tits and ass and the running of the bulls

Pamplona seems to have become just one more destination for yobs who want to take their assholery to the world stage.

That's the tourist market that all the big airplane manufacturers are aiming for. Build bigger more fuel-efficient airplanes so that more British pedophiles can go to Cambodia or Bangkok cheaper.

I've always believed tourism is bullshit.  And the more you focus on doing it on the cheap, which is the sole purpose of the last generation of jets from Airbus and Boeing and Bombardier, the more you make it possible for small-time shit-bags to spread their small-time shit all over the planet.

Let's be clear; not every passenger is heading to South East Asia for a sexual encounter that would see them jailed in England.

There are many passengers on these flights who are going on legit trips to present papers at academic conferences or visit family members they haven't seen for years.

But there's probably more traffic heading for Pamplona...

So, more efficient short-run airplanes will allow more yobs to visit Pamplona, there to drink and puke and molest the locals.

Guess it's all good then!

That's tourism in the 21st century!

Tourism is bullshit

Tourism.

Back in the hippy-dippy era I too criss-crossed Europe with a knapsack slung over my shoulder. I bought hashish in Amsterdam and checked out some of those store-fronts with the scantily clad ladies in the window.

I was a tourist.

At some level I suppose I contributed something to the economy. But overall I was an obnoxious know-nothing. All things considered, my hosts would have been better off without me.

I think that holds true for the vast majority of tourists today; the hosts would be better off without you. Mass tourism seems little more than a scheme to keep Boeing and Airbus and a handful of international resort developers in business.

There is certainly a niche for legitimate international tourism. The mountaineer who has already climbed all the most demanding peaks in Europe and America may be excused for wanting to take a crack at Everest. The religious pilgrim who wants to see Jerusalem or Mecca or Bethlehem or Amritsar... I think we can cut them some slack.

But for the folks who are just polluting the skies and the seas in search of an all-you-can-eat all-you-can-drink package vacation, what's the point?

Just stay home and stay drunk for a week!