Most major movies made in Hollywood make their way to the UAE, sometimes opening on the same day as they do in the U.S. But certain movies … Well, you can’t really plan on seeing them in Abu Dhabi. Which is why we spent two of the past three evenings in Southern California theaters. The […]

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Turned on the delayed final round of the British Open in time today to see the part that really mattered — the three-man, four-hole playoff, which ended in Zach Johnson‘s tears of joy and relief after winning the oldest trophy in the game. It was a reminder of how psychologically demanding the game of golf […]

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It is beyond cliche, so much so that I will refer to it, for TV and radio news people to recite the title of the 1972 pop song — It Never Rains in Southern California — when it actually does rain in Southern California. Of course, it rains. Fifteen inches per year in Los Angeles, […]

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A lesson on how bad the drought has been in the “Golden (tilting towards brown) State”. It rained here today, and Californians were more joyful, verging on giddy, in reacting to it than are Emiratis, for whom rain is even more rare. We were on Fletcher Avenue, behind Griffith Park in Los Angeles, when we […]

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I work in a room with dozens of Britons, and their interest in Major League Soccer extends about one team deep: The LA Galaxy. For two reasons:

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When Americans — Californians, in particular — return home from overseas, one of their highest priorities is having Mexican food. Which is unavailable in many parts of the world and is substandard in much of the rest. Thus … We had Mexican for the third time in two weeks, the other night, and it was […]

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It is unusual to see private homes built right on the sand of the Pacific Ocean, in California. As is the one in which we are staying. It is even more unusual to sit inside that home and watch hundreds of recreational vehicles roll past on their way to the Ocean Dunes State Vehicular Recreation […]

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Monday, the scorched and dry hills. Today, the dramatic cliffs and crashing surf of Montana de Oro State Park. The latter is pretty much immune to the California drought — and it made for a very fine Central Coast hike.

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We went on a short hike today, above Lopez Lake, about 10 miles inland on Highway 227 from Pismo Beach. California is suffering through a drought of historical proportions, and it is particularly noticeable here in San Luis Obispo County, where the hills often remain green right through the summer. (As opposed to Southern California, […]

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We invited several dozen people over to the Pismo beach house for Day 3 of the wedding, which has turned into the brunch/lunch affair, often held out of doors, in the summer sun. It was carefully planned.

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