Náměstí Míru a Kostel sv. Ludmily

This is the entrance sign (one of them) to the metro at Náměstí Míru in Vinohrady, Prague. In the background, in the darkness, is Kostel sv. Ludmily, or St. Ludmilla's Church.

I took this picture on my way home from work.

Say "Hello" to Mr. Bentley

This is one very clean car; the yellow building reflected in hood is the Divadlo na Vinohradech or Vinohrady Theatre, located in the Vinohrady district of Prague.

3 Moons

I took these photos tonight with a new camera; when setting the dial for night photography, I got a message telling me that I needed to keep the camera perfectly still. Well, that's just about impossible, so I thought I would experiment with purposefully moving the camera about. And this is what I got. (I did not edit these at all.) Oh, if you look closely, yes, the sky is filled with stars.

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Best Actors of All Time (Almost)

Attempting to select the best actors from last decade is a daunting task; selecting the best of all time is nearly impossible. That is, unless one imposes some very clear restrictions on the selection process. I have chosen to limit my choices to English- speaking male actors who have worked in the cinema since WWII. So, sorry Edwin Booth, who may have been the greatest American actor ever; you lived in era that didn't have the modern motion picture, so, in the end, we'll never really know how great you were.

I have come up with a list of 10, all deserving of special note and all who can be seen today on DVD.

ROD STEIGER Probably more than anybody, Rod Steiger personifies the acting philosophy of the Actors Studio. He was never a movie star in the Hollywood sense of the word, and he certainly made a lot of mistakes in the management of his career, but few people in this world have been as true to himself as Steiger was as an actor. My favorite Steiger performance was his playing the role of Napoleon in the 1970 film "Waterloo."

HUMPHREY BOGART He didn't create cool, but Humphrey Bogart certainly personified cool. And of course, I'm not talking about cool from the perspective of teenagers. Men want to be Bogart and women just want him. Not too shabby for a short, middle-aged man with a receding hair line. Of course, Bogart was more than cool, he was simply a great actor. The 1942 film "Casablanca" will never be re-made because no actor in his right mind would ever attempt to follow Bogart's portrayal of Rick. On paper, "Casablanca" is a pretty silly movie, which is why it's a testament to the greatness of the actors involved that they were able to make a truly great film out of it.

The complete article at Helium can be found HERE>>>

Bush On Front Page

My article that speculates about the future plans of President Bush is going to be featured all day long on the front page at Helium. This is the second time this week that an article of mine has been so featured.

To see my byline, click on the photo above to enlarge.

To go directly to the article, click HERE>>>

Bohemia to the Czech Republic

BOHEMIA is the link to my up-dated article about the history of Bohemia and the rise of the Czech Republic.

Kafka

I found a new foto of Franz Kafka. I did some heavy editing to it. Oh, I also made some minor changes to my bio of Franz Kafka at Helium.

You can see the article HERE>>>

Things to do in Boston

I recently re-wrote an article at Helium. The topic was Boston and the interesting things a visitor or local could do in Spring. I came up with 10 ideas with Spring in mind, but most of these activities can be enjoyed any time of year.

A link to my article is HERE>>>

My Guinness Article

Over at Helium.com, my review of Guinness was featured on the front page all day long on Sunday, and I must say that it did indeed result in a lot of clicks (well in the 100s). You can find it by clicking HERE>>>

Top 10 Fav Cars

When selecting the top ten cars that I like the most, I must admit that I cannot judge them from behind the wheel experience. I've only owned a few cars in my life, and while I've driven dozens of different models, I really can't find ten amongst those worthy of any special mention. So, instead, I've relied mostly on passive observation to create my list of the top ten cars that I like.

1968 FORD MUSTANG Not to be confused with that cute little 1966 version of the Mustang, I'm talking about the Ford Mustang GT 390 Fastback driven by Steve McQueen in the movie, "Bullitt." If you have any interest in cars, and you have not seen Bullitt, make sure you put it at the top of your "to do" list. A very good overall movie, it is probably most famous for its seminal car chase scene in which McQueen, driving his Mustang Fastback, is after the bad guys in a Dodge Charger. The chase scene was filmed entirely on the streets of San Francisco and reached speeds of up to 110mph. Make no mistake, Steve McQueen put the muscle into the Muscle Car.

CADILLAC ELDORADO What can you say about the fins on those second generation late 1950s Eldorados? The most original, most beautiful ornamentation ever put on a car.

THAT BLACK TRANS AM I'm talking about the 1977 Pontiac Trans Am driven by Burt Reynolds in the movie "Smokey and the Bandit." That t-top, that ridiculously large engine, and Sally Fields; it was the car parents feared their kids would want and the car that every teenage boy dreamed of driving.

FORD GRANADA A rather obscure blast from the past, the Granada was actually a pretty nice car that never really took off in America. I remember it fondly because I once drove one when I was a teenager. It also has special memories because just after visiting Graceland and standing at the gravesite of Elvis Presley, driving down Elvis Presley Blvd, some local Memphis yokel, ran a red light, and crashed into my Granada, totaling it. Nobody was hurt, but because we had chocolate shakes from McDonald's in the car, there was chocolate shake all over the interior of the car, which from the outside was easily mistaken for blood. It was a pretty gruesome looking scene.

SKODA 100 The Skoda Auto company in the Czech Republic is a client of mine, so I have to mention them. And of all their models, I'm going to single out the 100, which was produced 1969-77. It's not the sexiest car ever produced, and despite all of its engineering shortcomings, the car has an irresistible appeal. Today, young gear heads in the Czech Republic are snapping them up and fixing what needs to fixed and updating what needs updating. These young people are doing some very fine work, and the Skoda 100 is beginning to turn some heads.

To read the rest of my list at Helium, please click HERE>>>

Top 10 Fav Foods

When accepting the task of narrowing my favorite foods to a field of 10, I, at first, thought it would be an easy one. But I must now admit that it is much more complicated that I had previously thought. There are foods that I like to prepare, foods that I like to snack on, foods that I prefer in a restaurant. So, narrowing it down to an overall list of 10 was difficult, but I was able to do it.

PASTA I love preparing pasta because it really allows my creative culinary juices to flow. All the different meats and vegetables and sauces that can be put into a pasta, and the myriad of combinations is the stuff, when discovered, of a life-long relationship. I like eating pasta out, but truth be told, I always prefer my own pasta.

To read about the other 9, you can get the complete article HERE>>>

The T for Tourists in Boston

A common mistake that people make about the "T" in Boston is that it is limited to the subway. In fact, the nick-name "T" (from Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority), covers all methods of transportation offered by the authority, rail, bus, trackless trolley, subway, and boat.

In regards to the T's usefulness for the average traveler seeking to explore Boston's many sites of interest, the T is not nearly as useful as one might think.

First of all, the best way to get around Boston is by foot. Boston's leading tourist attraction is its Freedom Trail, and it's a strictly pedestrian experience.

Secondly, the stations on Boston's subway lines are deceptively close to each other. In the downtown area that interests tourists the most, subways stations are located one to three blocks from each other! In the five minutes you waste standing on a platform waiting for a subway train, you can probably walk to your destination.

To read my complete article at Helium, click HERE>>>

Pete Rose's Banishment

What is frequently lost in the debate about Pete Rose is the fact that he was betting very large sums of money and doing so illegally. To put it another way, he was do business with people in Organized Crime, and he wasn't doing it anonymously. His bookie(s) knew that he was taking bets from the manager of the Cincinnati Reds! And to think that the bookie involved wasn't selling the information he received from Rose is nave. If Rose has a standing bet of $1000 on the Reds for every game, I could live with that and even excuse the fact that he was dealing with the kind of people that should be kept away from baseball. But that's not what Rose did; he bet heavily on the Reds sometimes, lightly at other times, and sometimes, he didn't bet at all. And Rose's betting patterns reverberated throughout the illicit betting world. They were the kind of inside tips that big-time gamblers dream of. If Pete Rose is not betting on his own team to win, the odds are pretty good that his team won't win. If Rose has placed a large wager on his team to win, odds are he's going to do everything in his power to see that his team wins. Whether Rose's betting pattern affected the way he did his job is probably a question that cannot be answered, but there is certainly an appearance that Rose was better motivated to win some games and not others.

So see my article at Helium, please click HERE>>>

The U.S. Sanctions Policy Against Cuba

Today's U.S. sanctions policy against Cuba, as laid out in the Helms-Burton Act of 1996, clearly benefits wealthy corporations at the expense of the average American. Driven by special interest lobbyists, American policy in regards to Cuba is meant, at its root, to provide leverage for those large property owners in Cuba who lost their property as a result of Communist nationalization when they attempt to stake their restoration claims after the eventual fall of Castro's regime.

To read my complete article, click HERE>>>

G.W. After the White House

When George W. Bush steps down from office in 2009, I can only imagine that, after eight years of performing the world's most difficult job, he would like to indulge in a very, very long vacation. Unfortunately, for him, in this day and age, that is impossible. His first piece of business will be his presidential library and museum. It will reportedly cost an estimated $500 million; and Mr. Bush's first order of business when he leaves the White House will be to raise that half billion. Only time will tell how easy or difficult that will prove to be. It's safe to say that much of it will depend on how loyal the President's "loyal followers" will be once he's left office.

To read my complete article, click HERE>>>

The Dead of Mt. Auburn

When the old burying grounds in Boston and Cambridge starting closing due to overcrowding, an alternative site for burying the dead was sought and found on what was then the rural outskirts of Cambridge. The tastes of the day called for something more special, however, than a typical burying ground, and as a result, the concept of the "garden cemetery" was born. Opened in 1831, Mt. Auburn Cemetery quickly became the place of choice of the elite of Massachusetts to be interred.

To read my article about ten of the most famous, click HERE>>>

Fast Food

For me, fast food has always held a duel attraction; it is food served up quickly and conveniently, but more importantly, it is food that feeds not just my hunger but a primal need to indulge in decadence. Jared trying to tell me that Subway sandwiches are good for me does not attract. McDonald's submitting to the trans fat police in the making of their fries disgusts me. Yes, I want my fast food fast, but I also want it to be a guilty pleasure which provides great pleasure and about which I feel no true guilt.

At the top of my list of favorite fast foods I have to place street vended sausage. In Prague it's called klobasa, and it's served on a small paper tray with a slice of bread and a dollop of mustard on the side. It's a perfect way to take a break from your work-a-day and indulge in the primeval pleasure of holding a piece of meat in your fingers, dipping it in a condiment and then chasing it with a bite of bread. Nobody knows how many calories are involved, the fat content, carbs, all of that stuff is unknown, and nobody cares.

To read my complete article, click HERE>>>

NFL + LA = ?

The question isn't whether the NFL needs Los Angeles (it doesn't), but rather does Los Angeles need the NFL. Or really more to the point, does Los Angeles want the NFL?

No franchise will be allowed to move to L.A. in the foreseeable future, if for no other reason than the politics of building a proper professional football stadium in Southern California. The process would certainly take too long, and the people of California would not finance a stadium on speculation that a team might move there.

To read my complete article, click HERE>>>

Tough Jobs: NBA Referee

One of the most difficult jobs in sports is refereeing an NBA game. There are the obvious demands and pressures that come from working in what is essentially a fishbowl. Like all game officials, NBA referees are subject to constant scrutiny and second-guessing, and only their mistakes get viewed on ESPN. And unlike their peers in football and baseball, NBA referees, due to the nature of the game, must work in much closer proximity of potentially hostile members of the crowd, as well as the benches. That said, there are basically three reasons which make working in the NBA as a referee an especially difficult job.

To read my complete article, click HERE>>>

Art Nouveau & Pilsner Urquell in Prague

To experience a little bit of the Art Nouveau in Prague, the restaurant Kolkovna, located near the Old Town Square, is the perfect place. It not only features classic décor and classic Czech cuisine, it serves what is known as tankovna Pilsner Urquell beer, which is probably the best beer in the city.

Like most Czech restaurants, Kolkovna is much larger than it appears. Just walk right through the bar, and then you'll find the dining area. More importantly, however, its interior décor is a wonderful example of the Czech Art Nouveau style as set forth by the Czech artist Alfons Mucha. It is elegant, and at the same time, very comfortable.

To read my full review, click HERE>>>