Consider these two baseball lineups: Gwynn Jr. cf, Herrera 3b, Ethier rf, Van Slyke lf, Sands 1b, DeJesus Jr. 2b, Treanor c, Sellers ss, Capuano p. Sax 2b, Stubbs 1b, Hatcher lf, Marshall rf, Shelby cf, Davis dh, Dempsey c, Hamilton 3b, Griffin ss (Hershiser p). Both are pretty limp collections of players, no? The […]

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A highlight of any trip to Paris is an unhurried dinner party with friends and/or former colleagues. This is a very European concept — or at least not an American one. The four- or five-hour meal. In this case, we were invited to the home of a French couple who are particularly adept at parties […]

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The streets in the 17th arrondisement of Paris had gone dead by 8 p.m. The Italian restaurant down the block was operating, but it seemed as if it was open only to sell take-out pizzas (like the three we bought) to people in the neighborhood. You could feel a sort of hunkering down, and a […]

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A good way to help the time pass, when you’re doing slow laps in the little park at the east end of Ile de la Cite … is to indulge in people-watching. Almost impossible not to, because you find yourself dodging tourists streaming through, on their way to the Maris from the Left Bank or […]

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Predictability is no fun, and those familiar with this blog can guess where we have gone to spend two weeks of vacation. Or as a co-worker put it: “Where are you going on holiday? Oh, never mind.” The answer, of course, is:

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The Angels fired hitting coach Mickey Hatcher yesterday. Lots of “oh, what a great guy” stuff out there, particularly from those in the sports journalism community. And I say … bosh!

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Another one of those “only in the UAE” stories. Well, maybe in Qatar. Or Bahrain. But pretty much only here in the Gulf, where many regular Joes have more cash than common sense. A Turkish businessman fell afoul of the law in Dubai (perhaps still the world capital of conspicuous consumption) … because he abandoned […]

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Recycling is an idea the UAE is just now getting serious about. Even now, nearly nothing is recycled. Not even the items that could be fairly easily separated out, or that have some value. Like aluminum cans. Newspapers. Here in Abu Dhabi, they have distributed new, rolling trash cans in several neighborhood, with the idea […]

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Is this well-known in the U.S.? I tend to think it is not. The Manchester City football team that plays in the English Premier League … that just won the English Premier League … is owned by an Abu Dhabi sheikh, Mansour bin Zayed. So when City was trying to nail down the Premier League […]

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No one can criticize UAE soccer players for a lack of imagination. A year ago, the late Theyab Awana scored what must be the only back-heel penalty kick in an international game — a friendly with Lebanon. The audacity of the moment was jaw-dropping. (I was there and didn’t believe it even as I saw […]

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