| Dog-sledding rides give tourists timeless view of Alaska's glaciers
The Norris is one of 38 large valley glaciers in the 1,500-square-mile Juneau ice field. From the prime seat next to the pilot, a panoramic view unfolded as the green spruce trees and placid, cruise-ship-filled harbor curved like a clam shell against a denim sky. Flying at 120 mph, 3,300 feet above the Earth, it felt like a Disney ride. Just a month earlier, Jim, a trim guy with a goatee, baseball cap and friendly grin, had flown this helicopter cross-country from Lake Charles, La., where he'd been working for the same aviation company, but in a different job: hopscotching about the oil platforms, flying folks over the Gulf of Mexico. Originally from Arizona, his family was headed up to spend the summer with him in the Last Frontier, as Alaskans like to call their state.
Google and PayPal collide at the checkout
Jon Kuhlmann has had a front row seat as that competition unfolded. Kuhlmann, whose company Grapevinehill.com sells discount footwear, had been taking PayPal for years, largely to service the eBay Inc. customers that account for 80% of his revenue. And when Google Checkout came along he added that payment option to his eBay store and his own site. But eBay, which owns PayPal, was having none of it. For the first few days we took Google Checkout for some eBay transactions, but that was quickly stopped by eBay, he says. A year later, eBay was still banning Google Checkout, saying it is unproven. And Kuhlmann was on hand in Boston when Googles attempt to poke fun at that ban badly misfired. Party crashing Google invited merchants attending the annual eBay Live event in June to attend a Revolutionary War-themed party billed as a celebration of freedom of choice.
STAGE TO SCREENS: Merkerson, McDonagh, Stritch, Balaban, LaVoy
This month, we speak with S. Epatha Merkerson (Come Back, Little Sheba); Martin McDonagh ("In Bruges"); Elaine Stritch (At Liberty at Caf Carlyle); Bob Balaban ("Bernard and Doris"); and January LaVoy ("One Life to Live"). * S. Epatha Merkerson, a 1990 Tony nominee for August Wilson's The Piano Lesson, returns to Broadway as Lola Delaney in the first Main Stem revival of William Inge's 1950 play Come Back, Little Sheba. Kevin Anderson, who received a 1999 Tony nomination as Biff in Death of a Salesman, plays Lola's husband, Doc. "He's quite fabulous," says his co-star. The Manhattan Theatre Club production began previews Jan. 3, at the Biltmore, prior to a Jan. 24-March 30 run. .
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