Rick Steves, the guru of efficient European travel, was featured on 60 Minutes recently and he wrote a behind the scenes look at the creation of the story. The crew tagged along on a trip to Amsterdam and Germany. They filmed his preparations (filling a travel sized toothpaste tube, packing his bag), his plane trip (he was in coach, they were in first class), and his “liberal politics” (particularly the relaxed Amsterdam attitudes towards prostitutes and drugs). Paranoid about accurate journalism, they hired cameramen to camp out and film the exact train that Rick was on as it sped by and made sure to film the exact plane he flew out on. What a logistics nightmare!

Has Susan Sarandon been in a movie musical since Rocky Horror? Romance & Cigarettes, written and directed by but not starring John Turturro, opens later this summer. Described as “an unusual musical about a two-timing jerk played by James Gandolfini” it features Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon, Steve Buscemi, Mandy Moore, and my favorite song and dance man turned character actor who happens to lives in my hometown, Christopher Walken.

P.S. Dear Seattle Cinerama: Please show Serenity when it opens in September. Thank you!

I rarely read USA Today except to make fun of their charts, but the Ask the Captain series is interesting. Captain Meryl Getline answers reader questions about flying commercial aircraft. The archive titles list only the first question from each column; often there are more interesting ones inside. Ever wonder when pilots use the autopilot? Cabin lights are dimmed during takeoff and landing for safety reasons, so our eyes are adjusted to the dark in case of emergency evacuation. But your windowshades must be up so the crew can see outside. “English is officially the only language used for international air traffic control purposes. But sometimes we hear pilots and controllers talking in their native languages.” And bird strikes are, alas, rather common. (found on Ask Yahoo!)

Glenn Gordon Caron held fast to the necessity of keeping the original music in his TV series Moonlighting for DVD release. Other shows weren’t so lucky. Quantum Leap and Northern Exposure had songs replaced for DVD release. But Caron stood his ground until licensing deals were worked out for all the music and at last Seasons 1 & 2 of Moonlighting are available on DVD. Now the 80s nostalgia can truly end — bring on the 90s!

Little Women the Musical officially opened on Broadway in January and closed in May. Not much of a success. But a national tour will be wending its way around the country for the next year. The publicity for the show included a show weblog and comp tickets for bloggers (female bloggers in particular) given out before the closing announcement; now the hope is that there will be weblog PR for the tour (no I’m not writing this to get comp tickets in Seattle — unless they come with a baby sitter!). By the way, Little Women (the book) is in the public domain so the text is available online.

I found out only recently that melamine should not go into the microwave. Now I need to find out what I have that is actually melamine besides my pink mixing bowls.

The Seattle Times’ new Digs section ran an article on Laguna Vintage Pottery. I stumbled upon this wonderful store a couple years ago in Pioneer Square. It’s heaven for vintage American ceramic fiends. I spent hours looking at every little thing (but mainly the Russel Wright and Metlox).

This baby muskox is adorable! Somehow abandoned by his mother and herd, the little guy has been rescued and given tins of Carnation milk. He will hopefully be adopted by a group of 15 adult muskox in the Yukon Wildlife Preserve. Here’s a photo of an adult so you can see how all the cuteness grows up. (via snarkout)

Did you know? Trader Joe’s was purchased in 1979 by Karl and Theo Albrecht (#8 and 20 on Forbes’ World’s Richest People 2005). They built up Aldi, the German discount grocery chain, into a multi-billion dollar business with Aldi stores across Europe, Australia and the eastern U.S. The deep discount Aldi stores charge for grocery bags and use a quarter deposit system for shopping carts. You can see how the Albrechts made their billions! In addition to owning TJ’s, Aldi has an 8% stake in Albertsons. (thanks Jen!)

The Merc writes up an an assessment of Silicon Valley corporate cafeterias with star ratings. Google, of course, takes the cake with its free, organic, high quality dining experience. If you’re a chef looking for work, they’re hiring. The job description states that “the cafes will ‘compete’ with each other for participation.” It seems that Guckenheimer and Bon Appetit are the two firms running corporate dining. My favorite corporate “cafeteria” was Castro Street in Mountain View with an abundance of ethnic restaurants within walking distance. (via A Full Belly)