This struck me today. At the morning news meeting, as I looked around the crowded round table: The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi has to be one of the most diverse print media outlets in the world. Let’s enumerate.

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Perhaps we are jaded, here in the 21st century. We have high expectations of everyone and everything, particularly when it comes to our entertainment. Quick and effective is required. Red Bull Air Races at the Abu Dhabi Corniche? Planes racing? That must be fantastic to watch! Uh, no.

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Chuck Pettersen died on Tuesday. He was a successful high school football coach in the city of San Bernardino. He put in 31 years on the sidelines. I saw his teams play probably 20 times. Maybe more. In this space I originally went on at some length about what I remembered about the man. He […]

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So, turns out I can feel this sense of “we shall never pass this way again” even at an Olympics I did not cover. I did 13 of these from start to finish, and I guarantee that nearly every journalist at an Olympics reaches a point, usually no later than the middle Sunday, when he […]

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If you saw the movie Sex, Lies, and Videotape, you may remember the character played by Andie McDowell and her concern about “the garbage” … and where it all is going to go. How will it be handled? How will it be disposed? (The actual quote, per IMDB.com, is: “Garbage. All I’ve been thinking about […]

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  The Rolling Stones are playing Abu Dhabi this weekend. Yes. Those Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger and the rest of the geriatric crew. Who landed on the island today and posed for this photo, posted on their Facebook page. And you would be amazed at the fuss.

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The guys who come to the UAE to wash and sweep and polish and clean have a sideline business, after hours, that no doubt makes them a fair amount of money. Washing cars.

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I took a break from the production of the sports section tonight to run an errand across the parking lot, behind the back of the newspaper. It was 8 p.m., and twilight had long since turned into night, and as I returned to the newspaper campus. I found myself walking parallel to the windows on […]

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I know just enough about wind-powered sailing to have deep respect for those who do it. Those who cover great distances over blue water. Distances so great they eventually turn a lap of the planet. I find that mind-boggling. Around the world, however, is the idea behind the Volvo Ocean Race, originally known as the […]

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This brought back some memories, absolutely. A place not known for bicycles but interested in notions of healthy living and reducing carbon emissions, ready to be convinced that cycling is a good thing, somehow or other … bringing in a professional race over a series of days, and everyone sorta gawking at it, and some […]

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