Latest & Greatest on Montauk

NYTMag does Montauk for the weekend: http://bit.ly/b9wmr5

US Gets Agressive on Israel Travel Warning

New #travel warning for #Israel, the West Bank & #Gaza advising all U.S. citizens to refrain from travel http://go.usa.gov/361

The Friendly French? Oui, C'est Possible!

Lonely Planet gets out of Paris and finds some friendlies.  In Defence of Hospitable France: http://bit.ly/9od1zX

In Case You Were Thinking Maybe Kandahar

Businesswoman Rangina Hamidi, seller of Afghan handcrafts, has decided to leave Kandahar for U.S. due to violence, stating that the province is in such chaos, she's abandoning her 7 year quest to help bring her country in synch with the international community. http://n.pr/bhb2WU

@lonelyplanet's Top Little Known Neighborhoods

Greatest little-known neighbourhoods http://bit.ly/ckSDcq #lp

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Violence in Nigeria @TravelGov Issues New Travel Warning

New #travel warning for #Nigeria due to ongoing violence throughout the country http://go.usa.gov/3f1

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Himalaya Trekkers Beware: @TravelGov New Travel Warning for Nepal

New #travel warning for #Nepal regarding the current security and political situation http://go.usa.gov/3fr

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@nytimes Reports Radio Journalist Killed in Phillipines

Radio Journalist Slain in Philippines http://nyti.ms/aneske

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FW: Bar Harbor Village Green Hideaway - Year Round Rental in Maine

It's hard to rave too much about Bar Harbor's The Village Green Hideaway rental home. In fact, it is tempting to not review it - no one who's been there wants a mad dash on the place making it harder to book next time.

But The Hideaway is too wonderful to keep silent about. A lovely home in a perfect location - right on the edge of downtown Bar Harbor. The house has, 2 comfy bedrooms, beautiful spa shower, huge kitchen, great living room with cable, comfy fireplace, great work desk. There's a great TV, cable and many, many DVDs. Flawless internet access. The price for a week is just right, too.

Everything is brand new and spanking clean, and the glorious windows let in wonderful light, but the Hideaway is still nestled in a corner off the main path so there's no feeling of being in the middle of town despite the fact that is exactly, happily, where the Hideaway is. Easy walk to the grocery store, fabu restaurants, the movie theater, even the YMCA is close by. For the cross country skiers and snowshoe-ers, Acadia National Park is next door, with the heavenly Eagle Lake 3 miles up the road on which the Hideaway sits.

Late December through early January was a great time to hunker down at the Hideaway, go on hikes in the day and walk to town in the afternoons and evenings. The owner is next door - very sweet to check on renters, but completely respectful of privacy. She's quite the charmer!
Hard to believe anything could make Bar Harbor better, but the Hideaway does. Highly recommended. http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p170479

Starbucks to Offer Free Wi-Fi in US locations

Via ATT, so good luck, but we'll take it as a nice addition to a doppio espresso and a clean W.C.
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Everyone Knows It's Windy

Ok Clear Plastic Bag, Kathy Frederick has a blog about Windy the Plastic Bag, an actual, 2 year old plastic bag stuck in a tree at Frederick's home. Though the blog is well followed by legions who want more and more shots of windy (bagarazzi can't be far behind), we at HFB can't help but feel that til she landed at Frederick's, Windy was a High Flying Bird. Leaving her stuck on a jagged bough doesn't seem quite right (no one puts Windy in the corner?) so let's all tell frederick to let Windy go. After all, if you love something set it free. www.junkdrawerblog.com/category/windy
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Thanks, Dad

Nice to hear Dad signed solo sailor Abby Sunderland to book deal before she risked her neck on the waves. Using his 16 year old to support pregnant wife and six other kids, now that calls for a father's day present.
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Brownsville Station - Smoking in the Boy's Room

The mayor of Brownsville, Texas has issued a travel warning for residents headed across the border to Matamoros. Drug cartel shootout at the police station, with seven officers killed. Spillover violence expected in US.
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Prayers Headed For Indian Ocean

While we might want to slap her folks upside the head, we at HFB honor the adventurous spirit of Abby Sunderlund, a 16 year old working on sailing a solo trip around the world. She's now missing in the Indian Ocen with emergency beacons signaling. Our thoughts are with Abby and her family.
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Pointless Single Use Plastic Bags RIP

A super-sad day for our contributor Clear Plastic Bag, as California bans "pointless" single use plastic bags. http://n.pr/aTZ4wg.  So what's a well-coiffed girl to wrap the hairspray and mousse in as she buggys from Kathmandu to Varanasi?

The glamour and glory of it all . . .

I recently found myself stranded in an airport (again) around 1:00 pm. At 5:40 pm. I learned the plane might take off for Nashville before 10 pm but even this news was announced in a vague tone indicating a departure time was iffy at best. Ever the vigilant lunactic, I opened my computer to work and was typing away when my battery died. Great. Now to find an electrical outlet. Aha! There's one behind the trash can . . . and my laptop sits nicely on top of the trash can . . . and it is at the perfect ergonomic height for typiing. So what the hell. Of course, it wasn't until I was deep in a brief that I realized this is one of those fancy electric recycling trash cans. So every time someone dropped in a plastic cup the trash can came alive shaking and shimmying for a full minute before shuddering to a halt. That would be fine if the airport weren't packed and someone was dropping something into MY trash can every five seconds. After awhile it became quite funny, at least to me, and I began to invite people into my office as they cautiously approached the trash can and its current resident attorney.


So the humor went out of that exercise when the maintenance guy came to change out the trash bin and when he opened the door I swooned from the smell. With a fully charged computer I relocated my office to one of the many airport bars. The world just isn't the same without double for a dollar more. It's just wrong to sit with one puny little glass of white wine sweating in front of me. Wrong I tell you. Wrong.