"Laid off? Take off!"

I'm obsessed with Fred Flare, an online boutique that sells unusual clothes, home items, jewelry, gadgets, and oddball items—including Bacon-strip band-aids, Sparkling Toothy Earrings, and an Eiffel Tower cheese grater. The company doesn't have a "travel" tab on its site right now, but lots of its weird products are also useful for travelers, including the cute Tetran Headphone Winder ($14), an easy-to-pack 2 inches tall, and Rain Parade Mini Umbrellas ($32). Want a conversation-starter for plane or train rides? Animal ear-buds ($15) will do the trick. Bored with your digital camera? This Pop Art Color Camera—on sale right now for $15—takes four pictures in one second with 35mm film. When you get them developed, all four shots print on one page in four different colors. Oh, and for you people with lots of gadgets, there's the Electro Man Outlet Hub ($24), which can plug in four devices. I take the Retro Block iPod Speaker ($25) on road trips, when I don't have an iPod hookup in the car; you could also blast it in your hotel room (no need to plug in—the speaker is powered by the iPod.) Fred Flare has been around for about 10 years and is run by two guys in New York City. They sell a collection of their own designs and other things they love. A bricks-and-mortar store opened last fall in Brooklyn, and is just as cheerful as the online store. MORE Read a review of the store on nytimes.com

The City of Brotherly Love has a cool happening this weekend: the Quest for Freedom Live and Learn Weekend. Friday evening, Temple University will host author James Oakes, the 2008 Lincoln prize winner and author of The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Lincoln and the Triumph of Anti-Slavery Politics. The discussion will center around Lincoln, who's been experiencing renewed popularity recently. (President Obama will celebrate the 16th president's birthday next week.) Saturday, there will be special tours of the National Constitution Center's America I AM: The African American Imprint. This 15,000-square-foot new exhibit has more than 200 artifacts from 400 years of history—you can see Malcolm X's diary, the robe Muhammad Ali wore to 1974's Rumble in the Jungle, and a first edition of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Visitors can also leave video "imprints" of their own stories, thus making the exhibition an oral history. In celebration of Black History Month, Philly's official visitor site has highlighted a ton of events and activities going on all February. The speech is Friday at 6 p.m.; admission is free. The National Constitution Center is open 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.Saturday; admission is $17.50 and includes the America I AM exhibit, which runs through May 3, 2009 before beginning a four-year tour. If you attend the speech Friday evening, you can get half-price tickets to the center for Saturday; see all the details here.

New York City has ramped up this year's Winter Jam festival by erecting a nine-story ski jump in the park to host the Red Bull Snowscrapers pro snowboarding competition on February 5, followed by a day of winter sports and music in the park on February 7. The action is free to watch at East River Park, at F.D.R. Drive and Houston Street. On Thursday, 16 top pro snowboarders, including Olympic gold medalist Shaun White, will compete on the 90-foot-tall ramp, a.k.a. the Snowscraper—the largest structure ever built in a city park for a special event, according to the city's Parks & Recreation Department. The 80-foot-long hip (the down slope that snowboarders land on after their aerial tricks) is essentially a double-sided pyramid that runs perpendicular to the ramp, so the riders must angle themselves to land on the right or left side, making for some interesting maneuvering. Adding to the entertainment will be a spectator village featuring musical performances by headliner Anthrax, along with bands Black Gold and Valient Thorr, with sponsor tents set up with samples for the crowd. The gates open at 3 p.m. and the competition is scheduled to start at 5:45 p.m., with the finals taking place two hours later. Anthrax will cap off the night with a performance at 8:55 p.m. The sports action continues in the park on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., where people of all ages can tube down a 70-foot-long snow flume, snowshoe and cross country ski through a snow field (weather permitting), and scale an ice-climbing wall—with all equipment provided for free. Those who'd prefer to just watch the action can head over to the Future of Snowboarding Invitational to witness up-and-coming Olympic hopefuls tackle the ramp, take in a performance by the Skyriders professional trampoline acrobats, or cheer on participants in a snow-sculpture-making contest. The Pride of New York Warming Hut & Winter Market will provide a break from the cold with free samples from New York State farmers and producers, and various vendors will have tents set up for free demos of the latest gear. Local bands Apollo Run and Dujeous and singer Jenda White will perform throughout the day. If you can't make it to NYC, but still want to see the pro competition, you can watch the Red Bull Snowscrapers event online at go211.com Thursday starting at 6 p.m. (ET). In the New York area, MSG Plus will air the jam session at 6 p.m. and the finals at 10 p.m. Or watch a delayed broadcast of the event on February 15 at 5 p.m. (ET) on NBC. Here's a video preview of the snowboarding: MORE How rock bands find free places to crash—and how you can, too

If President Obama sticks to his word, it's likely that travel restrictions to Cuba—imposed almost continuously since 1962 and tightened under President Bush—will be eased during his tenure. He suggested as much on the campaign trail and specifically promised to allow Cuban Americans to visit relatives and send money without limits. The approach squares with a shift in attitudes. A recent poll by Florida International University found for the first time that a majority of Cuban Americans wants to end the embargo that bans most U.S.-Cuba trade and travel. There's growing support in Congress, too, although even without it, Obama could use his executive power to allow a more extensive number of religious and education groups to go. (Religious leaders recently wrote Obama a letter urging him to change Cuba travel policies.) The Associated Press has outlined the negative and positive signs for improvement in U.S.-Cuban relations. Among the latter, that the Castros aren't immune to Obamamania: "No one can doubt the sincerity of his words," wrote Fidel Castro in an online essay last week in which he also described the president's face as "intelligent and noble." On the heels of the Cuban Revolution's 50th anniversary, Worldfocus hosted an online radio show with a panel of experts on U.S.-Cuban relations. In the meantime, as experts and policymakers debate the issues, it remains almost impossible for Americans to legally visit the Caribbean island. The State Department's Cuba page details a few exceptions, mainly for professionals engaged in journalism or research and those affiliated with religious groups. (One BT reader, Susan, shared her plans to visit Cuba with a religious mission this February.) Global Exchange runs thematic research delegations, but they're open to only those Americans whose jobs directly correlate. Rates, not including airfare, start at $2,350. Would-be travelers to Cuba might note that TripAdvisor already has reviews for 410 Cuba accommodation options, and La Casa de Ana in Havana is the highest rated B&B.; A veteran visitor shared his tips with us in the story, Inside Cuba. In late 2007, we set off a heated debate among readers when former editor Erik Torkells blogged, Mr. Bush, Let Us Go to Cuba. Now that the possibility of vacationing in Cuba is edging closer to reality, would you add the island to your travel list?