Invariably I opt to check out documentary features at film festivals . The reason is simple. Although some of the most creative work comes from independent filmmakers, festival fare is always a mixed bag--a few gems scattered among a lot of really mediocre work. Life is far… Read full post »

Having seen Hotel Rwanda a few times, I was a bit more aware of Rwanda and the horrific genocide that took place in 1994 than most Americans. After all, this story rated little more than a brief blip of media coverage in the states at the time./… Read full post »

Travel ranks very high among my passions. I get cabin fever if I have  to remain in the U.S. too long... and I prefer venturing to locations less traveled (and in the off-season when possible).

Very high on my list is a joint tour of Jordan and Syria,… Read full post »

With my Daewoo radio tuned habitually to NPR, the brief blurb about today marking the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's reign sent my mind wandering as I emerged for my morning mountain hike.

So Elizabeth wasn't quite Queen when I was born... the stuttering monarch portrayed in… Read full post »

Prompted by my sister's eloquent blog about "This Thing Called Dying," I have a few thoughts on connections with the "other side." Of course, thoughts about death seem to creep into consciousness I officially qualified for senior citizen discounts at the local Harkins Movie Theaters--a/… Read full post »

Watching the ball drop in Times Square seemed to be the ultimate way to celebrate New Year's Eve--at least that's the way it's been promoted for generations in the U.S. I checked that off my bucket list at the end of 2005.

To my horror, I discovered that this iconic… Read full post »

 117 over 70. Heart rate of 48. All vitals in normal range at my last annual wellness exam. In fact, these readings are desirable for athletes in their twenties. I'm just three months shy of reaching the age noted in the Lennon-McCartney song, and in far better… Read full post »

I hadn't planned on being Hillary's "advance man" when I booked my trip to Burma over six months ago ... but that's the way it turned out (in a sense). For those puzzled over whether to call this most traditional (less developed) South-East Asia country, Burma is… Read full post »

I just left chessworld.com

Not an easy thing to do technically since there IS no direct link for doing so. Plenty of sign in places and renewal links, but no where do they advertise an "abandon site" location.

I had to click through a number of links and read further instructions… Read full post »

 Just composed a rough draft--ranks among the toughest I've ever had to compose. That's not due to my own lack of knowledge--a situation I've often had to face in my current job where occasionally I'm called on to fake being a subject matter expert in technical areas when the company doesn't… Read full post »

Morning mountain hikes provide private time for meditation, prayers, and random reflections. This morning a few minutes were devoted to preliminary plans for future travel...

 I suspect one thing that sparked this was a brief NPR story reporting that no one got gored at this year'… Read full post »

It's often mused that some writers have just one novel lodged within; the same goes for many filmmakers. Margot Benacerra, for example, finished making films after crafting her second...her documentary Araya is so astonishingly beautiful and tightly constructed, it would be virtually impossi/… Read full post »

Men rarely speak of their dreams--I'm not talking about the surreal ones experienced at night that are routinely forgotten upon waking... but "goal" like long range ones. To do so can be too revealing or set you up for failure.

My dad was among those men. Like the men… Read full post »

I frequently feel like an alien in the U.S.--that I should have grown up in Paris with its political, cinematic, and artistic temperament. The art house cinemas serve as a refuge and I absolutely love the art museums. Everyone raves about the Louvre, but Paris serves as a base for many… Read full post »

Guatemala was not even remotely on my immediate bucket list of places to visit until a traveling friend mentioned that she had seen a special Gap Adventures tour for spending Semana Santa there in 2011. After Googling "Semanta Santa" and "Guatemala," I began to realize just how special indig… Read full post »

Experimenting with the HTML code that Trip Advisor generated to share my travel map/favorite cities. Don't know how this will work until I try. I generally trust Trip Advisor for a great deal of travel advice since most of it is generated by actual travelers and not the hotels/restaurants them… Read full post »

Although I don't particularly enjoy enduring long flights, I love to travel... and get "cabin fever" if I have to remain too long in the U.S. But everytime I venture to new terrain, there's always a bit of nervousness beforehand. Things have always worked out for the most part... so it's… Read full post »

I have no other expectations whenever visiting the dentist every few months for regular checkup and cleaning other than enduring the procedure, but Wednesday afternoon I experienced a revelation. Knowing how I travel frequ… Read full post »

If you're a thinking person who has questioned conventional Christian doctrine, no doubt you have been attacked--whether threatened with eternal damnation and Hellfire or more subtly "beat up" for your lack of faith. Fundamentalists automatically chide non-believers and doubters with B… Read full post »

Official disclaimer: This blog is specifically for Zynga Mafia Wars players/addicts. If you don't play this online game (via Facebook or MySpace), read no further. The words will be meaningless. It's a frickin' game--a pastime without relevance to what's important in Life.*

* Disclaim… Read full post »

Tomorrow marks the best time of the year for sports fans--the absolute prime time to be in Las Vegas where you could camp out in any of the Sports books and watch simultaneous coverage of college men's basketball at its best.

March Madness ... where 64 NCAA schools… Read full post »