Cannon's Mouth Julius Caesar said, "In war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes." I guess in life, too, the biggest of events could result from the most innocuous of incidents. You wouldn't …
August 17, 2006
Asia: travel reviews
Sunny Somani in Bangalore, India
Sunny Somani in Bangalore, India
That's Holi for You We've all seen kids color elephants red, color the sky pink, and color water yellow. Such iconoclastic color schemes are usually the results of lack of adequate colors or indifference to …
August 10, 2006
Sunny Somani in Bangalore, India
Arbitrary tales from east and west Never mind the title. All tales here are going to be based in the singular location on Earth called Bangalore. No, wait. The East refers to the eastern part …
August 3, 2006
The Few and the Proud: Marine Corps Drill Instructors in Their Own Words
The Few and the Proud: Marine Corps Drill Instructors in Their Own Words by Larry Smith. W.W. Norton, 2006, $26.95, 325 pages. FROM THE DUST JACKET: The Few and the Proud examines how Marines are …
If You Get My Continental Drift
Your Mattness: Who decides what are continents? Why is Greenland not a continent? It is bigger than the island/continent of Australia and has more people than Antarctica. How can Europe and Asia be one continent? …
February 2, 2006
Frans Alkemade's Super Anime, a Japanese cartoon site with Catholic values
In Roman times, the word "animare" meant "to give breath to." In the Biblical record, the first act of animation was performed by God, who created Adam by breathing life into a lump of clay. …
November 10, 2005
Old Wounds
When Escondido resident Le Ly Hayslip learned that the California State Assembly planned a May 9 award to honor her work, she got ready to celebrate. "My birthday is May 10," she says, "and I …
August 25, 2005
Florist Face Off
Haruko Crawford says, "I started taking ikebana lessons when I was 13 years old. I'm 80 now." I lean back into my chair, close my eyes, and wonder how I got here, on the telephone …
May 5, 2005
Wrong About Japan: A Father's Journey with His Son
Wrong About Japan: A Father's Journey with His Son. Alfred A. Knopf, 2005; 158 pages; $17.95. FROM THE DUST JACKET: The recipient of two Booker Prizes, Peter Carey expands his extraordinary achievement with each new …
Pink Steam
Pink Steam. Suspect Thoughts Press, 2004; 190 pages; $16.95. FROM THE DUST JACKET: Pink steam rises from the vats of melting goo in the Vincent Price 3-D horror classic, House of Wax. Railroad buffs know …
Lê Thi Diem Thúy’s The Gangster We Are All Looking For
“Linda Vista, with its rows of yellow houses, is where we eventually washed to shore. Before Linda Vista, we lived in the Green Apartment on Thirtieth and Adams, in Normal Heights. Before the Green Apartment, …
February 5, 2004
Invasion's End
A couple of weeks ago Jay Leno did a gag about how the Japanese had offered to send troops to help out in Iraq. "Great timing," he said, the message being that the Japanese had …
July 3, 2003
Cooking the Books
It's been highly amusing to watch the flow of charges and countercharges over cooking the intelligence books on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. "The administration deliberately bent the data to make 'the Merkin people' …
June 12, 2003
Special Forces, Then and Now
Awhile back, a friend asked me what the differences are between the Special Forces of my day and this generation of Green Berets. After careful thought I have decided that the spirit is identical, the …
May 22, 2003
It's Not Your Father's M16
'If you think the M16 is bad in the jungle, you should see it with sand in it," said my friend Samir. The topic under discussion was why he carried an AK47. He was showing …
May 1, 2003