Word: balloonfuls
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Create a record company, an airline and a megastore. Make a billion dollars. Fly a giant balloon over Tibet during a late-December trip around the world. Make the Chinese government angry and -- maybe the greatest accomplishment of all -- get away with it. That's the scorecard so far for Richard Branson, as China bowed to pressure from the British government late Tuesday and granted the entrepreneur and balloonist extraordinaire permission to fly over its airspace.?Branson and his two balloon-mates, American millionaire Steve Fossett and Per Lindstrand of Sweden, then drifted placidly -- if more slowly than they...
Although Richard Branson and his team have avoided the ignominy of aborting their balloon flight because of Chinese territorial sensitivity, they're not home free by any stretch. The crew of the ICO Global hot-air balloon is now wafting over Tibet in search of a fast draft that will carry them swiftly eastward -- and out of Chinese airspace...
China nearly scotched the mission when it ordered them to land at an airfield in Lhasa, Tibet, Tuesday, but the balloon overshot the target and couldn't come down anywhere else in the mountainous region. An appeal by British prime minister Tony Blair finally secured them the right to overfly northern China, the last geopolitical hurdle on their round-the-world flight. But the threat of ice buildup forced ICO Global to use more fuel than anticipated to stay above the Himalayan clouds, and with sluggish winds pushing them along at 50 mph -- less than half the speed needed...
...Meanwhile, their liaison on the ground -- along with the British government and former prime minister Edward Heath -- continues to make appeals to the Chinese. It's par for a rough course: Over the weekend, Libya gave the flight a last-minute reprieve after suddenly withdrawing permission. The hot-air balloon took off from Marrakech, Morocco, on Friday morning, and could reach Europe by New Year's if all goes smoothly. Too bad they didn't take along one of these killjoy politicians, who could probably provide an inexhaustible supply of buoyant...
There may be some small flaws with Boston Ballet's The Nutcracker, however, they remain few and far between and hidden under the frilly layers of breathtaking spectacle. Filled with gorgeous costumes, glorious sets and amazing special effects (particularly noteworthy are the hot-air balloon that Clara and the Nutcracker Prince fly away on, as well as Drosselmeyer's subsequent flight across stage), The Nutcracker is sure to leave audiences spellbound with the wonder and magic of the season, neatly packaged onstage, for the 33rd year in a row. The dancers are magnificent. The music is enchanting...