In a video about San Francisco International Airport, Mayor Gavin Newsom has a cameo. So do Marion and Vivian Brown, the kooky 83 year-old identical twins who have become beloved San Francisco icons.  Designed to promote SFO as the connecting hub of choice for travelers coming to the United States from New Zealand or Australia, the video compares SFO’s airy, light-filled, international terminal to an unnamed airport simply referred to as “the bad airport.”

In this video, the bad airport does look pretty bad. But, marketing experts tell me, that’s what airports have to do these days to stand out.

Another example is the new campaign from Canada’s Edmonton International Airport (YEG), which serves about six million passengers a year. On March 1^st the airport rolled out a “Stop the Calgary Habit” campaign, urging residents of central and northern Alberta to stop connecting through or driving to Calgary International Airport (YYC), which serves about ten million passengers a year.  Using the tag line “When you go south, so does your air service,” (Ouch!), the campaign includes short (:15) videos portraying repentant passengers.

There’s also a tool kit that includes a shake-able Magic 8-ball-like sphere offering habit-breaking tips and – my favorite – an “Emergency Hypno Cure.”

Barf bags and skywriting

For years Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport’s (MKE) was marketing itself to northern Illinois as “Chicago’s Third Airport” and back in 2005 mailed out a “Sick of O’Hare?” media kit that included (now highly collectible) air sick bags that said “Feel Better, Fly MKE” and a package of breath mints. A few years later, when the Chicago Cubs were playing the Chicago White Sox at Wrigley Field, MKE hired a skywriter to write the address of the MKE website in the airspace over the game.

Airport spokesperson Patricia Rowe says they don’t do that ‘in your face’ stuff anymore. “Now we spend more time focusing on what’s great about our airport instead of attacking O’Hare.”

Nicer, maybe. But nowhere near as much fun.

To read my USAToday.com story about airport smackdowns, please see Gloves are off as airports go after their rivals in ads.

Heading to the SXSW music festival? There’s no need to wait until you’re right in town to start enjoying the music. The Austin Bergstrom International Airport, which has live music year-round, is hosting the first sanctioned performances of the music conference.

The kick-off performance takes place today, Tuesday March 16^th, 2010 at 1 pm with the Marshall Ford Swing Band and special guest Ray Benson (the front man for Asleep at the Wheel ).

They’ll all be at Ray Benson’s Roadhouse, right in the airport, post-security, between Gates 10 -11.  Warren Hood will perform from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m.

The airport will also host the final showcase of the music conference on Monday March 22^nd with indie alt rockers Sounds Under Radio from 1-3 p.m and Grammy U band Automatic Cycle from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m.

But wait, there’s more!  During SXSW, the airport will expand it’s regular live music line-up from 11 shows to a total 22 performances. In addition to the stage at Ray Benson’s Roadhouse, you can see those extra shows at Lefty’s, Earl Campbell’s Sports Bar, and Austin City Limits/Waterloo Records & Video.

Check the website for more information about the music at Austin Bergstrom International Airport.

Saturday, March 20th, 2010 is Obscura Day: a day of expeditions, back-room tours and hidden treasures in your hometown.

Like what? Well, how about Leila’s Cohoon’s Hair Museum in Independence, Missouri? A family emergency kept me from visiting in person a few years back, but I’ve spent a few hours on the phone with Leila talking about her collection of hair wreaths and snippets of hair from famous people.

On Obscura Day there will be a group tour of the museum, so please send a report of what you see.

Not planning to be in Independence, Missouri on Saturday?  There are dozens of other unusual places and collections you can visit on Obscura Day.  See the list of participating places here.

Can’t wait!!!

So we’ll start the week off with two contests you many want to enter to help subsidize an adventure.

AirTran Airways has a Facebook-linked sweepstakes encouraging students to become a “Facebook creeper,” which they describe as someone who “crawls Facebook, obsessively checking the content of other people’s profiles.” (That does sound sort of creepy)

The airline has set up the AirTran U Creeper page and is giving away one round trip flight per week  through the end of November 2010.  Here are the details about the AirTran Airways “creeper” contest.

Not a creeper? If you or someone you know is under 23 years old – in college or not – keep in mind that AirTran has a program that offers cheap standby tickets year-round.

[For more details about this and other student airfare deals see the article I wrote last September for MSNBC.com: Travel Discounts for the College-Bound ]

And, here’s one for fans of Hawaii and Olympic medal-winning speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno.

Alaska Airlines is running a contest for a 4-night/5 day Hawaiian vacation (for two) on Maui. And yes, Ohno will join you at the luau. .  The contest runs through April 15^th and you can get lots of extra entries by connecting through social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Enter the Follow Apolo to Hawaii contest here.

Good luck! And if you win, please send us some souvenirs.

Earlier this week, while waiting for Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger’s presentation at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, I spent some time in the Amelia Earhart exhibit.  And while I don’t think I’ll take up flying my own plane anytime soon, I keep thinking about getting some new luggage.

Amelia Earhart endorsed a long list of products ranging from cars, cigarettes and clothing to what one press release described as nothing less than “the first truly practical and genuine airplane luggage.”

Earhart may have disappeared in 1937, but it appears a line of luggage bearing her name was produced well into the 1990’s.   And while I haven’t come upon anything from that line in the thrift stores near me, I did poke around the Museum of Flight gift shop to see if I could find something under $10 and “Amelia” for today’s Souvenir Sunday feature.

The only items that fit the bill were a few young adults books, including this one from the National Geographic Children’s Books series that includes photos, quotes from Earhart’s writings, theories about how she vanished, and maps of the route she followed on her last flight.

So I’m fortunate to be able to produce radio features and write books about my discoveries. More than two hundred of my favorite offbeat attractions in Oregon are in the newly updated Oregon Curiosities book you see pictured in the craftily-titled Buy My Books section here on this site. There are an equal number of unusual people, places and things in the Washington Curiosities book I’m starting to update right now.

One of the aviation-related places in the Oregon Curiosities book is The Bomber Restaurant complex in Milwaukie, about six miles south of Portland.

From 1947 until 1991 this vintage World War II B-17G four-engine bomber served as shelter for a forty-pump independent gas station that was one of the top performers in the country. When the gas station closed, the bomber fell on hard times and for years the plane was just a sad-looking roadside attraction suffering from bird poop, vandalism, and Oregon’s rainy climate.

Now restoration of the bomber is under way. Her nose is all shiny and new and on display inside the on-site WWII-themed Wings of Freedom Showcase. And while the gas station is long gone, you can fill up your stomach at the memorabilia-packed Bomber Restaurant, where the menu includes Bomblettes (omelettes) and Bombarded Hash Browns for breakfast, and Tokyo Rose BLTs and Bomberburgers for lunch and dinner.

If you want to see The Bomber for yourself, be sure to enter the Oregon Mt. Hood Territory’s Secret Sweet Spots contest. Each week you’ll be asked to answer a (very easy) question about a “hidden gem” in the region. You’ll find the answers in the short videos on the Mt. Hood Territory website.

Of course, one of those Secret Sweet Spots is The Bomber.

Ready for St. Patrick’s Day festivities?

The Chicago airports are. Today, Friday, March 12, Irish dancers from the Trinity Academy will perform at both O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and at Midway International Airport (MDW). Performances will be 3 to 5 p.m. at O’Hare (in Terminals 1, 2, 3, and 5) and at Midway in Concourse A near the “Battle of Midway” exhibit.

And if you are traveling through Philadelphia International Airport (PHL ) between now and Sunday, March 14th, the Gap store there would like you drop your pants.

Old blue jeans collected by Gap stores nationwide will be turned into cotton fiber insulation.  And anyone who leaves a pair of pants will get a coupon good for 30% off their next denim purchase.

The project is a partnership with the Cotton. From Blue to Green campaign, which has so far turned 200 tons of recycled jeans into insulation for more than 540 houses built in areas destroyed by natural disasters .

For a story that went live on Bing Travel today, I found 10 small airports and flying experiences where you get to skip the TSA routine.  Here are a few photos we didn’t get to use in Easy Flier: 10 Airports that Reduce the Hassle.

For a tiny airport, the New Bedford Regional Airport in Massachusetts offers some surprising options.

(Courtesy Greg Cormier)

The only Ben & Jerry’s ice cream vending machine at an airport is located here, along with the Airport Grille, which has a pretty snazzy logo and, we hear, great food.  Learn about the airport’s candy-blue chairs and the routes-served here.

At the Rotorua Airport in New Zealand, you can usually skip security screening if you’re flying on a regional jet with fewer than 90 passengers. So you can spend your time instead learning about the life of Rotorua-born aviatrix Jean Gardner Batten and getting your picture taken with one of the 10 6-foot tall Maori-style carvings in the terminal.

The Easy Flier slide show has more information about 10 small “no-hassle” airports and flying experiences, including the King County International Airport/Boeing Field in Seattle, the Trail Regional Airport in Trail, British Columbia, which doubles as the clubhouse of a local flying club, and the Lake Hood Seaplane Base in Anchorage, AK.

Have a favorite small “no-hassle” airport? Share details of your find here.

To make sure everyone feels welcome, airport greeters are fanning out to welcome travelers and offer them directions, rodeo pins, cowboy hats, and other memorabilia.  Rodeo fan or not: if you’re passing through the airport, keep an eye out for characters, cowboys, and performers.  The concert line-up at the livestock and rodeo show includes the likes of Brooks &  Dunn and the Black Eyed Peas.

He began the evening by showing the NTSB’s animated version of the US Airways 1549 flight path (below) and then went on to talk a bit about his family, his upbringing, his training as a pilot, the importance of preparation and teamwork, and his philosophy of work and life. After he was done, some of the kids in the audience got to ask a few questions as did some of the aviation geeks from our high-tech community.

(Here’s a link to a more detailed report on the evening by SeattlePI.com aerospace reporter Aubrey Cohen)

Before Captain Sullenberger’s speech, I spent some time in the Amelia Earhart exhibit, which will be at the museum until May, 2010. In addition to photo panels and film clips telling Ms. Earhart’s life story, there’s a section showing some of the products she endorsed to help pay the bills, including Amelia Earhart luggage and Lucky Strike cigarettes.

All in all, quite an inspiring evening.