I celebrated, two weeks ago, while traveling in Italy, the fact that I would not be able to see the Lakers and Celtics on live television in the NBA Finals. Because 1) it would agitate me and 2) these things usually end so badly for the Lakers. That does not mean I haven’t kept close […]

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When you live on the other side of the world … it isn’t easy to predict what might make you suddenly nostalgic for “home.” So it was with a little surprise that I noted the death of singer-songwriter Jimmy Dean at age 81 … and found myself listening to his classic, 1961 hit, a grand […]

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Great day … I am back in sports journalism. I have transferred from the news desk at The National, here in Abu Dhabi, to the sports department. And so far it’s been rather like going home again. Even if “home” now includes quite a lot of cricket and rugby for what is, at heart, a […]

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Where did we leave off? We mentioned Vietri, yes? Let’s back up a minute. We left Sicily two days ahead of schedule. Mostly because we were running out of interesting things to do within a reasonable drive … and because our hotel — Feudogrande agriturismo — was supposed to be about sublime, home-cooked Italian food, […]

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Wow. Was that fun! Show up with a vastly inferior team, smaller, slower, less-creative and less-skilled, withstand all but one of about 50 scoring chances, get a fluke goal that slips through the keeper’s Mickey Mouse mitts and trickles across the line at about 1 mph … and escape with a point in the World […]

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I am writing this from the terraced bar area of the quirky Bristol Hotel in the little Amalfi Coast town of Vietri. We left Sicily two days early and powered halfway up the Italian boot yesterday. Now, we’re back to overlooking the sea … near the end of our Italian vacation. In a few minutes, […]

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You’ve heard of the food taunt? Even people who aren’t really foodies talk about this. You take your camera to a restaurant, you take a photo of the tastiest aspects of your meal, you post it on the internet or message it to your follow food-taunters and hope to inspire jealousy. I know of two […]

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Just did the math. Twenty-four hours ago I was in the middle of a copy-editing shift in the office of The National in Abu Dhabi. Now, I am sitting on the patio of L’Oasi Hotel, watching the gentle sun angling slowly below the horizon … just outside the city of Rome. As in Italy. The […]

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At the office the other day. A weekend day. Things are slow. Room is quiet. And then, those mechanical sound. The sort of ambulance siren … with scratchy needle-on-LP thing … and yes … someone is playing Pacman on the google.com home page. Someone turned around and gave the co-worker — a person with a […]

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I put up with this show for seven years. Including more than one season (like 2 and 3) when I wondered why I bothered with this random, uneven, inexplicable, frustrating show. “Lost.” I remember watching the debut episode, with the plane crash and the survivors on some strange beach … and liking the whole concept. […]

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