Travel Channel

How do you escape the winter blahs without blowing a few thousand bucks on an island getaway? My clan has been taking magical mystery trips on the Travel Channel, cable TV's most exotic retreat. Why, just the other day, we were getting the full treatment (including mud wrap and waterfall splash therapy) at Miami's top spa, the Doral Saturnia, then gliding through the Everglades at sunset, both on a show called "The Perfect Trip. " In another fantasy excursion for the eye and mind, we were exploring the lush Cayman Islands - feeding the turtles at a reptile farm, playing a Jack Nicklaus-designed half-size golf course (with special balls that fly only half as far as normal)

The Avalon String Band, which selected a theme called "Red, White, Rhythm and Blue" for the 1993 Mummers Parade, will be strutting those colors to honor Bill Clinton's inauguration on Jan. 20 in Washington. Avalon's quick-step appearance in the inaugural parade will be the Mummers' second national exposure of the month: The Travel Channel, available on cable systems that reach 17.5 million subscribers, will carry the Mummers Parade in its entirety, the first such airing for Philadelphia's New Year's festivities.

A SCHEDULED shoot yesterday for "Limitless," formerly "The Dark Fields," was postponed due to illness of an actor, according to sources involved with the film. A film spokeswoman did not disclose who was ill, but we hear that Bradley Cooper may have injured his knee during a prolonged fight scene filmed Friday in the Broad Street subway near Locust Street. Earlier that morning the Rydal-raised actor and Australian actress Abbie Cornish shot a scene at Sampan (124 S. 13th)

Do you like British television programs? If so, you may be pleased to learn that an all-British cable channel will soon be launched in this country. The British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) and Discovery Communications Inc. signed an agreement yesterday to launch a new channel called BBC America on March 29. The BBC will own and operate the channel and Discovery Communications will distribute it. Discovery Communications, based in Bethesda, Md., owns the highly profitable Discovery Channel, with 72 million subscribers; the Learning Channel, with 62 million; the fast-growing Animal Planet, with 37 million; and the fledgling Travel Channel, with 18 million.

Watching the Mummers Parade on television may not be the best way to see it, but it at least guarantees cold beer and warm feet. Here's what you need to know if your parade route extends from the couch to the fridge: WHERE: Channel 17 (WPHL) will air the parade for the second year in a row. The Travel Channel, which has shown parts of the parade in previous years, will not be doing so this year, so you may want to tape the best bits for friends who are out of town. WHEN: Coverage begins at 8:30 a.m., weather permitting, but if your taste doesn't run to the early-bird comic brigades, you should be able to catch the fancy clubs from noon to 2 p.m., the string bands from 2 to 5 p.m. and the fancy brigades from 5 to about 7 p.m. Times, as always, are approximate.

Lower Bucks Cablevision subscribers can expect their cable bills to jump $2.62 next month, an increase the company attributes to inflation and higher costs for programming. Standard-tier rates will rise from $15.01 to $17.34 on Jan. 1 along with basic cable service, which goes from $11 to $11.29, the company announced. Four new channels, including Bravo and the Travel Channel, will be added to the current lineup of 46 channels. Lower Bucks Cablevision serves approximately 41,000 customers in Middletown, Bristol Township, Bristol Borough, Lower Makefield, Yardley, Langhorne, Langhorne Manor, Penndel and Hulmeville.

The Auction ATV Network plans by year's end to turn your home into an auction house, via the Internet and cable TV. You won't have to get off the couch to make way for this event. Just like the Travel Channel is making armchair globetrotters out of viewers, and Emeril and Two Fat Ladies from the Food Channel are making our plates sophiscated, the guys from the ATV Network, in Bucks County, want to make us auction-savvy. Through a marriage of computer science and cable TV, they plan to bring the auction house into your house.

New Hope has earned its reputation as central Bucks County's hip entertainment and shopping bastion, emerging around the time it became the halfway point on the original colonial York Road between Philadelphia and New York. It has had incarnations as a theater center - the Bucks County Playhouse was a Broadway tryout venue in the mid-20th century and playwright George S. Kaufman brought many New York literati to his summer house nearby - and as a gay resort, and a biker haven. Music flows in its narrow streets, which are filled with art and antiques galleries and tchotchke shops.

UP NORTH. Tourism in Alaska is suffering because of the March 24 Exxon Valdez oil spill, Gov. Steve Cowper has acknowledged, and inland sport-fishing lodges - though they are located on freshwater rivers miles from the sea where the oil was discharged - are incurring the deepest losses. Cruise lines have also reported flat bookings, and discounts are available in August. The oil should have little, if any effect on the Alaskan travel experience, Cowper said: "If you were going to Alaska this summer to see the spill, it would be very difficult to find it. " OPENING UP. China may not be getting much U.S. tourism right now, but a new part of Asia has just been opened up: the Soviet Far East.

Priceline.com, the airline ticket source that lets Web users "bid" for airfares, recently turned one year old, marking the milestone with an announcement that on a couple of days in April it had sold more than 4,300 tickets. In the weeks since, the daily figure has surpassed 5,000. Seldom has an infant travel company generated so much buzz, using high-profile promotional methods and benefiting, too, from wide media coverage and word of mouth. In a birthday news release, the company said it had sold 330,000 tickets for leisure travelers in its first 12 months of operation, an average of 6,875 a week, and now is selling 20,000 plane tickets a week.

NEW YORK - If September is what first comes to mind when considering new television shows, there are some 82 reasons to think again. That's the number of new programs that have or will premiere on cable networks post-Memorial Day through August, based on an informal survey. That doesn't even include existing series that are starting new seasons (HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," USA's "Burn Notice," etc.) or new programs on broadcast TV (NBC's "Love Bites" and ABC's "101 Ways to Leave a Game Show")

A SCHEDULED shoot yesterday for "Limitless," formerly "The Dark Fields," was postponed due to illness of an actor, according to sources involved with the film. A film spokeswoman did not disclose who was ill, but we hear that Bradley Cooper may have injured his knee during a prolonged fight scene filmed Friday in the Broad Street subway near Locust Street. Earlier that morning the Rydal-raised actor and Australian actress Abbie Cornish shot a scene at Sampan (124 S. 13th)

New Hope has earned its reputation as central Bucks County's hip entertainment and shopping bastion, emerging around the time it became the halfway point on the original colonial York Road between Philadelphia and New York. It has had incarnations as a theater center - the Bucks County Playhouse was a Broadway tryout venue in the mid-20th century and playwright George S. Kaufman brought many New York literati to his summer house nearby - and as a gay resort, and a biker haven. Music flows in its narrow streets, which are filled with art and antiques galleries and tchotchke shops.

Another Bollywood movie is being shot in Philly. Who's in it? Who knows? Yesterday was the first day of camera work for an untitled drama from Mumbai's Yash Raj Studios, which shot an action film called New York here a year ago. For Day One, cast and crew were camped at a store near Seventh Street and Girard Avenue in North Philly. Tomorrow, they'll shoot all day at the Trolley Car Diner in Mount Airy. Sri Rao , a Pennsylvania-born producer who does a lot of work in the Philly area, said exteriors would be filmed in and around Center City until Oct. 11 or 12. The production, which was begun in Mumbai, will wrap in New York.

The heathen Irish king has lots of strife in store when St. Patrick (he's only Bishop Patrick at the time) comes calling to convert him. First, one of the king's warriors yells at Patrick, who magically makes him choke. Then, another tries to run him through. He's frozen solid. Hacking him into little pieces is a no-go. Poison? Sorry. Finally, it's the time-tested traditional trial by fire. The slimy chief druid and Patrick's loyal disciple Benignus walk calmly into the pyre.

Priceline.com, the airline ticket source that lets Web users "bid" for airfares, recently turned one year old, marking the milestone with an announcement that on a couple of days in April it had sold more than 4,300 tickets. In the weeks since, the daily figure has surpassed 5,000. Seldom has an infant travel company generated so much buzz, using high-profile promotional methods and benefiting, too, from wide media coverage and word of mouth. In a birthday news release, the company said it had sold 330,000 tickets for leisure travelers in its first 12 months of operation, an average of 6,875 a week, and now is selling 20,000 plane tickets a week.

The Auction ATV Network plans by year's end to turn your home into an auction house, via the Internet and cable TV. You won't have to get off the couch to make way for this event. Just like the Travel Channel is making armchair globetrotters out of viewers, and Emeril and Two Fat Ladies from the Food Channel are making our plates sophiscated, the guys from the ATV Network, in Bucks County, want to make us auction-savvy. Through a marriage of computer science and cable TV, they plan to bring the auction house into your house.

Do you like British television programs? If so, you may be pleased to learn that an all-British cable channel will soon be launched in this country. The British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) and Discovery Communications Inc. signed an agreement yesterday to launch a new channel called BBC America on March 29. The BBC will own and operate the channel and Discovery Communications will distribute it. Discovery Communications, based in Bethesda, Md., owns the highly profitable Discovery Channel, with 72 million subscribers; the Learning Channel, with 62 million; the fast-growing Animal Planet, with 37 million; and the fledgling Travel Channel, with 18 million.

Lower Bucks Cablevision subscribers can expect their cable bills to jump $2.62 next month, an increase the company attributes to inflation and higher costs for programming. Standard-tier rates will rise from $15.01 to $17.34 on Jan. 1 along with basic cable service, which goes from $11 to $11.29, the company announced. Four new channels, including Bravo and the Travel Channel, will be added to the current lineup of 46 channels. Lower Bucks Cablevision serves approximately 41,000 customers in Middletown, Bristol Township, Bristol Borough, Lower Makefield, Yardley, Langhorne, Langhorne Manor, Penndel and Hulmeville.

Watching the Mummers Parade on television may not be the best way to see it, but it at least guarantees cold beer and warm feet. Here's what you need to know if your parade route extends from the couch to the fridge: WHERE: Channel 17 (WPHL) will air the parade for the second year in a row. The Travel Channel, which has shown parts of the parade in previous years, will not be doing so this year, so you may want to tape the best bits for friends who are out of town. WHEN: Coverage begins at 8:30 a.m., weather permitting, but if your taste doesn't run to the early-bird comic brigades, you should be able to catch the fancy clubs from noon to 2 p.m., the string bands from 2 to 5 p.m. and the fancy brigades from 5 to about 7 p.m. Times, as always, are approximate.