I remember once telling a friend in an email that I was headed to Austria. “Don’t hit any kangaroos,” he replied. I think about this story and the last time I was headed to this same city, Australia’s second largest metropolis–Melbourne. Tonight’s flight will take me across the Pacific for […]
Disneyland I am told is way too big to try to see in just one day. Plus, there is Disney Adventure right next door, so today we will visit the rest of the park as I spend my second day here in Anaheim. The city would be pretty downhearted if […]
Disneyland is the magnet that draws grandparents, parents and their kids to Anaheim, south of Los Angeles. We visited the park today, and my two hosts were stunned to see so few people lined up to get in. “It’s never this uncrowded,” they said, both amazed that we were able […]
Egypt’s economy is at the heart of the protests and calls for Mubarak’s exit. A few stories I’ve read have provided some background to the situation, which, despite some pundits’ claims, is not the fault of the US government or Wall Street, but mostly a result of an entrenched system […]
I was expecting to join my friend Ed for lunch at the cafe today, but instead, i heard his anxious voice on my office voicemail. “I’m sorry I can’t make lunch today,” he said, “we have a terrible situation at the house. The ice dams are building up and it’s […]
Now comes the exciting part of being a travel writer. The next trip. As I gaze out into this winter wonderland with the four-foot drifts in South Deerfield, I am reading the itinerary that will take me, far, far down under. I’m heading for Melbourne Australia next Tuesday night and […]
I’ve been following a story out of Greenfield that sadly, may be the future for many cash-strapped towns. The subject is a town employee named Lester Reed, who is being laid off to save money and being replaced by an outside contractor. I used to play basketball with the soft-spoken […]
Egypt is on people’s minds these days, what with the potential toppling of the dictator, Mubarak in the Arab world’s largest country. What a perfect time to watch a rerun of Anthony Bourdain’s show about time in Cairo. He shows off the dishes that the capital city is famous for–sizzling […]
Nobody knows where Whitey Bulger is hiding, or even if he is still alive. He went on the lam in 1995. Howie Carr is my favorite radio talkmaster and he wrote a book a few years ago called “The Brothers Bulger,” which included this scary scene recounted below. In 1983 […]
Sometimes it’s easy to take for granted some facts about the US. For example, it’s relatively easy to start up a new business here, and the bureaucracy and permits most entrepreneurs face here is piddling compared to in other countries. One of the European countries that has been in big […]
I first saw the flyer when I was trying, in vain, to interest my five-year-old grandson into trying Go Berry. Even with a generous coating of chocolate syrup, only a sliver of a bite was consumed, but while we were there I picked up a flyer for a Friday night […]
