Chihuly exhibit at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix

We went to Phoenix on Sunday to view the exhibit of Dale Chihuly glass on display at the Desert Botanical Gardens. The show we attended was sold out, and well worth while if you are a Chihuly fan, as Yvette is. The gardens themselves are magnificent too.

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Beware the triple whammy

The United States has the will and the resources to deal with pretty much any problem, as we have demonstrated for the last couple of centuries. We can even deal with two major problems at one time, as we did when World War I and the Spanish flu pandemic overlapped by about a year around 1918. Let [...]

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Yogis salute the sun May 2

A flock of yogis will assemble at Himmel Park in Tucson Saturday, May 2 to greet the sun with a sequence of yoga poses known as the sun salutation. The intent is to perform 108 repetitions and to raise money by means of supporters who pledge donations to the yogis. The event is a fundraiser [...]

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Yikes! They’re attacking Strunk & White!

One of my all-time favorite books is The Elements of Style, written by William Strunk and dutifully updated long ago by E. B. White. On the occasion of the release of the 50th anniversary edition a bunch of really bright people decided to desconstruct the slender little document and kick it to the curb. You [...]

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The power to say ‘amen’

The word amen, according to my trusty reference book, The Oxford Companion to the Bible, means “certainly” or “may it be so.” The book says amen can also serve as “an opening affirmation of the validity and seriousness of what follows,” which means it can precede a solemn statement of intent. This has been translated in [...]

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Banks raise credit card rates to celebrate bailout

Imagine being on a flight on your favorite airline, if there is one you don’t despise, and somewhere around 32,000 feet the flight attendant stops by and demands another $100 for your trip. You might be resistant to paying the surcharge. While this may seem outrageous, it is exactly what banks do on credit card [...]

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Waterboarding, George Bush, and the Salem witch hunts

The Washington Post reports today that people in high places in the Bush administration approved waterboarding (a near-drowning experience) for use on people who might know something the CIA really wants to know. Call me foolish, but the reason to fight the bad guys is that we don’t want to live and act like them.  When we [...]

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Why isn’t dismantling a company considered vandalism?

I like Emerson’s article on executives who dismantle companies—General Motors in this case—with complete impunity. Emerson thinks it is an act of vandalism. He may be on to something.

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When “college education” is an oxymoron

Chris Jordan photographs junk to draw attention to our costly, wasteful ways. He wants us to notice how much discarded material we generate, and he wants us to sensitize ourselves to the effects of those actions on the livability of our planet. His work is distinctive, and well worth a few mouse clicks to check [...]

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Only 20 million people have seen it?

Susan Boyle provided a big “gee whiz” moment with her singing on a British talent show, and the video posted on YouTube has been visited by some 20 million people.  You can also read an interesting article about the phenomenon she created in The New York Times. So, if you are not one of the 20 million [...]

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