Owl in Taranaki, New Zealand
We walked across a lush green pasture where cows eyed us as we avoided their pies on the trail. The Maori Pa was a fort located in a glen near the banks of a winding stream. Up in the trees, I caught the unblinking eyes of this owl. I shot […]
Sudoko’s Just the Tip of Nikoli’s Puzzle Universe
Maki Kaji is not world famous, but his game sure is. You see, he’s the math wiz behind sudoko, which can be seen every day in more than 600 newspapers and generates more than $250 million a year….but not for him. The NY Times profiled this shy horse-racing fanatic yesterday […]
Old School and the Tea Man Come to Call
Two people came into the cafe today, all with new wares for the GoNOMAD Cafe. It is interesting to me being on this side of the fence; for many of my years of working I’ve been the guy with the pitch and the samples. Now I buy the items for […]
Preservation Wins….Despite the Grumbling Naysayers
Last night I almost missed American Idol. I was watching something even more exciting with lots more drama. It was a special town meeting featuring a room packed with Deerfield voters, all listening to a presentation about joining the Community Preservation Act. Six years ago the town decided that one […]
It’s Harder To Cover The Endless War in Iraq
Today I got up early to read Editor and Publisher. A story by Joe Strupp discussed how the war is taking a toll on reporters, there are fewer and fewer of them willing to risk IED explosions in Iraq to cover the war. Susan Chira, NY Times foreign editor said […]
The Superbowl Prank? Or Superbowl Crank?
Last night, I think I was hoaxed. The joke’s on me, just like thousands of others, who read the post on Boingboing.net about the World’s Most Daring Prank. Cory wrote hey, it might be worth a click, so I did, and ended up spending 45 minutes reading about John Hargrave’s […]
Laurie’s Rants Provide Ideas for Book Shopping
Laurie Ellis is married to my cousin Shady. They live in Arlington and I see him more than I do Laurie. But the one thing I do enjoy about knowing Laurie is knowing about Laurie’s Book Rants. Here is a quote from a review of a Calvin Trillin novel: Oh […]
Lace Almost Died–Then Along Came the Thong
Traditional Polish lace almost met its demise…until sexy thongs, g-strings and other racy undergarments helped bring it back to life. Today’s the AP has a story datelined Koniakow, Poland. “Lace wasn’t selling in the quantities it once did, and the tradition was starting to slowly disappear,’ said Malgorzata Stanaszek, owner […]
Up Early with the Howling Snow
The familiar chiming ring from my son in law’s cellphone alarm awakes me at 5:15 am. Outside the wind howls, and the snow has turned to driving little nails, spitting tiny frozen flakes. Francisco was smart to park his car at the end of the driveway, near the road, he’s […]
Arab Comics Teach the World to Lighten Up
Sometimes when I go and visit my 20-something son I get a sense of media from his perspective. And this often means watching Comedy Central. This is the channel that young men of his age are most often tuned into, and the other night they had a string of Arab […]
Do You Know Where Your Diamond Comes From?
Settling back into our regular lives, I picked up Newsweek and found a story about clean diamonds by Alicia Barney. The 20 tons of waste per 18 karat gold ring and the pollution caused by mining has people talking. Buoyed by the movie, “Blood Diamonds,” these cleaner karats are all […]
Debutante-worthy Headbands on NBA Courts
In the LAX terminal I was happy to pick up Sunday’s NY Times style section and read a funny story by Alex Williams about hairstyles in the NBA. She certainly has a way with words describing the silly hairstyles seen on NBA basketball courts. “But perhaps no recent hairstyle says […]
Nigel Ogle Recreates New Zealand’s People
Driving past the grazing cattle on the straight road out of Hawera, we met one of New Zealand’s most creative people, busy in his workshop. Nigel Ogle has been in the business of making lifesize sculptures for 25 years. He has created an entire world within the walls of his […]
Cindy, New Zealand Guest Blogger
This final New Zealand blog is written by a guest blogger, Cindy, aboard Air New Zealand flight NZ6 from Auckland to LAX. During the trip my role has been that of keeping Max organized and on time; there have also been the occasional opportunities to give him a woman’s point […]
Swept Up in the Arms of Villa Margarita
We had a long drive down from Taranaki almost to the bottom of New Zealand’s North Island, ending up in the lovely outskirts of Wellington in Pauatahanui. We were late for dinner but no worries, our host Mark was so jolly on the phone he put us right at ease. […]
If You See a Possum, Run It Over!
One thing we heard over and over in NZ was how much people here hate possums. These medium sized rodents (much bigger than their docile cousins in the US) consume tons and tons of foliage in forests and worse, they eat the eggs of the flightless birds. In short, they […]
Now Everyone Calls the Mountain Taranaki
Today we awoke to the bright sunshine of the Southern hemisphere, and a full schedule of people who wanted to meet us and share their slice of this wonderful land. The day began at the base of Mount Taranaki, where Greg and Judith Rupapera run Mount Taranaki Adventures, a biking […]
Livin’ His Dream on the Water in New Zealand
Greg Page left California 25 years ago and came to New Zealand. After years of running surf shops, he moved to Taranaki and now operates the country’s only tandem surfing company, where he guarantees to get novice riders standing up on the long board. We joined Greg on one of […]