Blogs

Perky Summer Ears

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It’s always fun to be out, especially if there is live music being performed. This summer, take full advantage of the music festivals in your city or wherever you’re going! There are all sorts, from the Boston Early Music Festival (June 13 to 19, 2005) to the Finland Festivals.

Roman Burger, Medium Rare

http://www.hadrians.com/rome/romans/food/roman_dinner.html

Imagine what the ancient Romans ate day to day--the pies, the bread, the spices. Fortunately for us, a lot of these recipes have survived, even one for the isicia omentata, the Roman Burger! Of course there are also a number of dishes which may be too exotic for your palate. But it'd be a culinary adventure to let your tastebuds experience history with ancient roman recipes.

Biting a Pig

Since leaving Georgia, nothing has taken me back save a special lady. Recently, however, I've been thinking about the place where I grew up. Well, about eight hours south of where I grew up—Savannah. Somehow seeing azaleas blossoming this week had me thinking about Savannah and its historic townhouses, which were featured in the film Midnight of Good and Evil.

Bird Envy

Sometimes, staring out a plane window, you see clouds so soft you're convinced they must be. Then you imagine yourself bouncing on those bundles of cotton. Boing, boing. Well, some people picture this then go skydiving. Why not? This prompted me to seek out my high school pal Curry, who jumps into the sky on his days off. When asked why he'd willingly scare himself witless, he said, "To skydive is to no longer envy a bird in flight.”He then provided some very useful information.

Web's First "Travel Size It!" Store

Launched in July, 2004, Minimus.biz has become "the" destination for travel size items. You'll find toothpastes, shampoos, and shaving creams included in their online offerings, as well as a wide variety of snacks, coffee, tea, condiments, salad dressing packets, pharmacy items, topical medications, laundry detergents, and more - all in individual servings and convenient travel sizes. For orders over $20 they offer free domestic ground shipping.

Father In a Half Shell

After the December 26, 2004 tsunami, this Kenyan baby hippo lost its mother, washing upriver, traumatized. Instead of retracing its steps home, it found a surrogate mother in this old male turtle. The two now swim and eat together happily with the hippo tagging along its “mother”. Go to Animal Planet for the full story. The Sea Turtle

Heating Up, Heating Up

I just found perhaps the most comprehensive and simple explanations of climate change and global warming on the George C. Marshall Institute website. Another one is www.globalwarming.org. This site provides an updated collection of articles concerning environmental issues. Finally, see www.junkscience.com. Here they even include the global mean temperature and links to yet more interesting reading material.

Sidewalk Clams of Taipei

Living in Taipei I find myself unfriendly in public, so I try to stay indoors. I’m just not too keen on doing the tango with scooters and motorcycles every time I get on the sidewalks. This is particularly so on rainy days, when the spurting sidewalk clams come out. Let me explain. Taipei may have pedestrian rights—the politicians tell us we do, sidewalks indicate this, as do the zebra crossings and red flashing lights. But why do I feel like a traffic cone in danger of being knocked down every time I walk down the sidewalk? By now you must be picturing buses and cars running amok in a city. That’s pretty accurate. Now add to your picture 960,000 registered scooters, then motorcycles, bicycles and my grandmother’s walker. Put them all on the sidewalks. That’s right. Motorists zoom up on the sidewalks (the ramps are meant for the physically handicapped), then slow down to a clumsy dance, each with their own daring and unpredictable steps, as they shake by pedestrians. And the sidewalk clams I speak of are not something you missed in “Alice in Wonderland”. They are broken pieces of 1-foot-square tiles that add up to most sidewalks here. When scooters and motorcycles drive on the sidewalks, the tiles eventually break into smaller pieces. When it rains, water collects underneath these loose "shells". When you step on one, these shells open up and send fresh brown liquid spurting up your pants, or someone else's.

Riding With Your Pooch

Not every dog is suited for traveling in a car. My dog Piggy loved the idea of going somewhere, but once the car started moving, he’d get carsick within minutes. Then I'd get carsick because he'd stink up the car. Before you hit the road with your pooch, visit www.dogfriendly.com to plan your next trip with your pooch. The site provides a list of dog-friendly hotels and lodging and even a a dog-friendly beach guide for this summer! Take a look. There's tons o

Kentucky Derby Preview

2005 Kentucky Derby Preview (Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

New York Times' reporter Joe Drape looks at the 2005 Run for the Roses which begins with the Kentucky Derby tomorrow. Whether you'll be headed south for the races or raising a mint julep in your living room with a couple of friends, you'll enjoy this multimedia audio slide show.

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