RT @WindyCityLIVE: thanks to @RoeConn for joining us today! @RyanWCL is back on the show tomorrow! - 1 hour 17 min ago.RT @WindyCityLIVE: @RyanWcl will be out again tomorrow (no worries, he'l be back wed), but @roeconn is filling in for him! - 16 hours 52 min ago.RT @richardmarx: Michigan City, In! Richard's coming to you Feb. 4. Get your tix here now!! t.co/YLrHWHtm - 2 weeks 4 days ago.RT @wlsam890: LISTEN: Cruise ship survivor tells @RoeConn & @richardroeper she never went over safety plan t.co/pVL9fFkg #CostaCo ... - 3 weeks 18 hours ago.Clearly @JimJohnsonWLS is running the polling unit at Fox News t.co/VzEzKP8a - 3 weeks 18 hours ago.Mitt Romney should not say "thank you" after answering a question. It sounds like a Miss USA contestant who just got through the Q&A section - 3 weeks 20 hours ago.Great opening ? For Newt by @Bret_Baier "Revenge is a dish best served cold" #scdebate - 3 weeks 20 hours ago.Top 10 Reasons #Huntsmania failed... #1 CAN actually see Russia from his house. - 3 weeks 1 day ago.Top 10 Reasons #Huntsmania failed. #2 Spent so much time on campaign trail, even that 'return to gold standard' thing started to make sense. - 3 weeks 1 day ago.Top 10 Reasons #Huntsmania failed... #3 Thought he'd have this whole thing wrapped up before the debut of the new season of American Idol. - 3 weeks 1 day ago.Top 10 Reasons #Huntsmania failed... #4 Insulted that Newt referred to him as "Dumpy" - 3 weeks 1 day ago.Top 10 Reasons #Huntsmania failed... #5 Florida humidity makes his hair frizzy - 3 weeks 1 day ago.“@SusiePR: @RoeConn #6 having a voice eerily similar to Jerry Seinfeld's when he gets excited” - 3 weeks 1 day ago.Top 10 Reasons #Huntsmania failed... #7 Wishes to return to career as a picture frame model. t.co/iqJVHQ6L - 3 weeks 1 day ago.Top 10 Reasons #Huntsmania failed... #8 Just Realized He Couldn't Afford The Paycut - 3 weeks 1 day ago.Don't tell The Rev that Tebow lost. t.co/SOT3FpHc - 3 weeks 1 day ago.Top 10 Reasons #Huntsmania failed. #9 Bizarrely angled eyebrow oddly reminiscent of Snidely Whiplash. - 3 weeks 1 day ago.Now I can get back to thinking about top 10 reasons #Huntsmania didn't sweep the nation. #10 National Anthem Too Hard in Mandarin. - 3 weeks 1 day ago.I love when Meryl Streep acts so surprised she won another one. It's like Aaron Rodgers not winning another Superbo... Oh, wait a minute... - 3 weeks 1 day ago.WTF is up with wilderness beards in Hollywood. I kinda get Zack Galifianakis, but Paul Giamatti? Three words Nor-El-Co! - 3 weeks 1 day ago.

'UP' and Away

MAN CROSSES ENGLISH CHANNEL WITH HELIUM BALLOONS

 

ABC News

by Bradley Blackburn

 

Life imitated Pixar's 'Up' today in Europe, as a man successfully crossed the English Channel in the air... held aloft by colorful helium balloons.

 

American Jonathan Trappe, 36, is the first person to accomplish the feat, living out a fantasy that many have dreamed.

 

"Didn't you have this dream, grabbing on to a bunch of balloons and floating off?" Trappe asked reporters.  "I think it's something that's shared across cultures and across borders -- just this wonderful fantasy of grabbing on to toy balloons and floating into open space."

 

Trappe hitched a bunch of balloons to a chair, but his rig was a little more complex than a toy or the house in 'Up.'  He took navigation equipment, tracking devices and an oxygen system along for the ride, which was approved by aviation officials.

 

Trappe took off early this morning from Kent and five hours later landed in a cabbage patch in France, descending by cutting off balloons.

 

"It was just an exceptional, quiet, peaceful experience," he told reporters upon returning to ground.

 

It's not Trappe's first balloon journey -- he made a similar trip in his home state of North Carolina last month, traveling 109 miles.  

Jun 22, 2010