Over the holiday weekend, you might have noticed this article on kiteboarding in the Wall Street Journal. The pursuit of wind power atop a surfing speed machine has attracted the amour of "adventure capitalists" like Richard Branson, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Philip Rosedale, Alexander von Furstenberg, Bill Tai, and our own Ari Horowitz. As a result of this burgeoning luxury niche that continues to thrive in the face of general economic blues, we're pleased to highlight a small nugget from the WSJ piece: the upcoming launch of our sibling site focused on kiting, KiteEnthusiast.com.

Remember six years ago when Richard Branson unveiled his plans to make Virgin the first commercial airline in outer space? We all kind of laughed, thinking he was crazy like Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary, who wanted his flight attendants to double as co-pilots. Anyway, Branson made us all look like idiots yesterday—10/10/10—as one of his aircraft left our hemisphere—sorta and briefly.

Sir Richard Branson just made thousands of brand-loyal Virgin customers even happier with the product. On Wednesday, he announced that he would finally link up all airlines within the Virgin Group to build a strong frequent-flier program. Passengers of Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America and V Australia will be able to earn miles on any of the programs. Spending miles for awards on other Virgin Airlines is being phased in through the second quarter of 2011 as computer systems are linked. Elite status will eventually be reciprocal too (Virgin America still has to create upper tiers in its frequent flier program).

Exorbitantly priced private space travel is closer to being a reality for a very, very small number of people! Late last week, a private spaceship built for rebel billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic made its first crewed flight. Don't get too excited, though. The spaceliner didn't go to space -- it just cruised over California's Mojave Desert.

What will crazy rebel billionaire Richard Branson do next? When an airline and record store business aren't enough, go into the hotel business, apparently. The Virgin founder says he's "not many months away from making an announcement" about his plans to become a hotelier. What would a Virgin Hotel be like (and aren't they really opening themselves up to some tasteless joke-making, here)? Branson told Hotel Chatter that "it will will be the hippest most comfortable hotel in any city. Anyone's who anybody will know to go there."

Sir Richard Branson is cool because he seems more like an '80s cartoon of a rich person, like a grown-up Richie Rich, than a real rich person. The rebel billionaire isn't afraid to go there, be it space or a ridiculous new gadget, like this one: an underwater plane.

The big news in the holiday travel sector is the fact that 12,500 British Airway workers are going on strike, leaving thousands of passengers without planes during the prime holiday travel time, December 22 through January 2. Obviously the British Airway union is trying to make a statement at a time that will hurt their bosses the most, but this may well leave many passengers stranded for the Christmas holiday. (If you've got a ticket on a BA flight during those days, Jaunted has a step by step guide on how to rebook your flight.) But one person who's not bummed out by this turn of events is Virgin Atlantic mogul Richard Branson.

Things to look forward to in 2010: the World Cup in South Africa, the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and now, the Kite Jam on the British Virgin Islands March 1-5. The fest looks to be a doozy of an event. All of the BVIs will be partaking in the festivities, which include flat-water freestyle, waves, sliders, and racing, plus all the good times you can handle. The BVIs are intent on showcasing their islands as the place to be for anyone who's anyone in the kiteboarding world (such a long list, I know).

Sir Richard Branson is hopping mad about regulations coming down the pike courtesy of the UK Parliament, and he's not sitting around bitching about it idly. The issue at hand is the Air Passenger Duty (APD), scheduled to rise by an ungodly 113 percent by November 2010, with the next phased increase due in November of this year. It means, for example, that the APD tax on a flight from Heathrow to Dubai will go up from £40 to £60; the tax on a Premium Economy ticket from Gatwick to Barbados will go up from £80 to £150 and the tax on an Upper Class flight from Heathrow to Sydney will increase from £80 to £170. In his own words, Sir Branson trashed the measure:

As president and co-founder of Paul Frank Industries, Ryan Heuser has been with the brand since day one. In 1995, Heuser befriended the brand's namesake while working as the head of public relations for Mossimo men. The California native knew a good thing when he saw it, and he immediately invested his efforts in Frank's project -- now worth well over $40 million. The brand recently made a split with Paul Frank the man, leaving the enterprise in the hands of Heuser and CEO John Oswald. Heuser opens up about the split, business these days, and going green.