Just before we came over to Abu Dhabi, we stocked up on a few items we weren’t sure we could get here. Not at the same price. And where do you go in SoCal to get items in bulk?

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Not enough of us hit the “reset” buttons on our lives. Or we wait too long. Suzie Ahn, a former colleague of mine in the good old days of the San Bernardino Sun sports department, hit the button, and she didn’t wait too long. Suzie did what some of us talk about doing, but never […]

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Time for a list. I’m not doing enough of them. One thing I learned in journalism but never put into practice often enough: People love lists. They do. Even bad lists. So, you judge the merit, but here comes a list … Of the American TV shows we currently look forward to most avidly. Counting […]

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That’s what I’m calling it. A slump. Just a string of unfortunate results. Accidents, even. I don’t actually look like that. A little down period on the mugshot front. It began the other day. 2005, I think it was.

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For non-Muslims in the UAE, Eid al Adha is the most notable for this: It is the longest holiday on the calendar. At The National, this was a one-day work week. Sunday. Eid al Adha then began on Monday, hit a zenith today and continues on for two more days, at least in the governmental […]

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Abu Dhabi has a reputation as a place of law and order. Aside from the life on the streets. Not like “on the streets” in the “homeless” sense … but life on the streets. As in “driving.” When people here are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle … this is not the Mideast, it […]

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I’ve seen enough Formula One racing to know that leaders don’t get passed often. Or at all. Not unless their cars break. And some tracks are even less likely to produce a pass than others. Especially after the first few turns of the race. If you are fast enough to qualify up front, it’s just […]

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Even 15 years ago, keeping track of a U.S. sports team from the other side of the world would have been a dicey proposition. The first sport-specific bloggers were just firing up. (This was even before Bill Simmons.) Not every newspaper paid close attention to its website. (I worked at a place where the managing […]

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Isn’t this what so much of our lives is about? For good or (often) ill. Gaining attention? Personally. As a group. As a community. The city and the emirate of Abu Dhabi, it strikes me, are ready for their close-up. In the sense that they would like to be known, recognized by the Average Joe […]

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Guy from news side came over late in the shift tonight and said, “What happens to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix if it rains?” We figured it was a rhetorical question. It doesn’t rain in Abu Dhabi, and it definitely doesn’t rain in November. I mean, it could, but it doesn’t. But the news guy […]

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