| Bobby Fischer's final bizarre act
Only five people attended the brief service early on Monday, conducted in the half-light before the short Icelandic day had properly begun. Among them was Gardar Sverrisson, Fischer's closest friend of the last few years and the man who had organised the digging of the grave without seeking the permission of Iceland's Lutheran Church or of the state authorities. Sverrisson had also secured the services of a Roman Catholic priest from Reykjavik, some 30 miles to the west. Fischer was not a Catholic but must have been content with the arrangement - Sverrisson would have followed the American's instructions to the letter. The fifth mourner may or may not have been Fischer's wife, a Japanese woman named Miyoko Watai. So much about Bobby Fischer was a mystery. He liked it that way, keeping people guessing.
ENTERTAINMENT - Cleveland Home & Garden show preview
The newly combined Interior Design & Home Improvement Stage allows for a larger range of seminar topics while making room for a new Green Pavilion seminar stage. After its debut in 2007, a larger, more comprehensive Green Pavilion will address today’s flourishing green building movement.The Home & Garden Show will once again team up with Rosby Resource Recycling in Brooklyn Heights to strengthen its sustainable business plan and decrease its overall "waste stream." The ongoing efforts to reuse Show materials, divert waste from crowded landfills and maximize recycling efforts are part of the Show’s proactive and ongoing green mindset.The Home & Garden Show will officially open to the public Saturday, Feb. 2 following a 9:45 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony in the Italian-themed Entry Feature Garden.
Production Halted On Heath Ledger's Final Movie
In the film, Christopher Plummer plays the impresario Doctor Parnassus, and Ledger took the role of a mysterious outsider who joins the Doctor's troupe on a quest through parallel worlds to save the doctor's daughter (Lily Cole) from the clutches of the devil (Tom Waits). A rep for the film, which was shooting in London and Vancouver, confirmed to Access Hollywood that Ledger had not finished shooting his part. And while Ledger did finish shooting his part as The Joker for Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight," the studio is left wondering how to adjust the movie's marketing campaign, which has been so heavily centered on Ledger's character. But as far as "Imaginarium" goes, it's certainly not the first project to face the dilemma of losing a star before completion.
Holiday Scorecard: Small Stuff Wins Big
THE BEAN COUNTERS WERE AT THE MALL THIS Christmas Eve. According to one rather cautious research note, put out at the crack of dawn Wednesday, the day after Christmas, the top gifts this holiday season probably included Apple's (ticker: AAPL) iPod, Activision's (ATVI) "Guitar Hero" video game and Nintendo's (NTDOY) Wii game machine. "Smaller ticket items like...iPods appeared as common items at checkout," went the report. Shocked -- shocked! That, of course, would not be the response of any parent who was hit up for "small" electronics costing a mere several hundred dollars. But in these subprime times of diminished expectations, there had been some concern that even iPods could be a bust this Christmas. The fears were probably overblown, concluded Daniel Ernst of Hudson Square Research after his stroll through Shopping Land.
NEW 911 SIGNS ONLY AT PUBLIC RIGHTS OF WAY
The Jan. 17 Advertiser article about the new beach 911 signs "Need help, but don't know where you are in Hawai'i?") failed to underscore a couple of important points: Those nice, new yellow 911 signs are only located where there are public beach accesses. As the city's press release says, that's just 86 public rights of way for the entire island of O'ahu, which has more than 100 miles of coastline. Not only that, those signs are more than a half-mile apart on parts of Kailua Beach, because that's how far apart some of our public accesses are. Tough luck if you have a heart attack or pull a drowning victim out of the ocean along stretches of the beach that are blocked off by locked gates on private roads. You won't see any yellow 911 signs in those "private" beach areas.
Celebrate the Year of the Rat!
Add ground ginger, garlic, Chinese five spice powder, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir until well combined. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl to cool. When the mixture has cooled completely, heat vegetable oil in cleaned wok. Combine flour and water to use as glue for the egg rolls. Put an egg roll wrapper in front of you in a diamond shape (not a square when you look at it.) Place about ½ cup of the vegetable mixture onto the center of the egg roll wrapper, slightly toward the bottom of the wrapper. Fold the bottom point of the wrapper over the filling, then fold in the side points. Use your finger to put flour water around the top point of the egg roll and roll the egg roll over the top point, applying just enough pressure to make the egg roll slightly tight without tearing the wrapper.
The best restaurants of 2007
For main dishes, the hearty, homey, up-to-date takes on classic American comfort food translate well here. Don't miss the pot roast; the meat is tender and packed with flavor. Coq au Vin is also deeply flavored with red wine and bacon. Desserts include the best hot fudge sundae I've had, and an equally impressive banana cream pie. So, yes, it's worth the trip and you don't need a passport or shots. Tracht's (in the Renaissance Hotel), 111 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach; 562-499-2533
Contact the writer: Fax: 714 840-4188 .
Dec 28th
Well, it's almost time for me to head off to Australia. Tomorrow, actually, but this might be my last chance to get in a blog before then. I will try to blog while there but won't promise. Christmas is over and it was quite a pleasant one. My son visited from Las Vegas and he said he had a good time. It looks like he is set on going back to college full time to qualify as an accountant. He did one class last semester and got an A, so it looks like he should do OK in that field. He has quite a bit of money coming to him for education from the time he spent in the United States Air Force; at least enough for about two years of college. We spent Christmas Eve morning at my wife's parents then headed to Pensacola Beach, Florida to where my wife's sister and family live. Lots of gifts were handed around and we all ate and drank too much.
|
