Here’re some stunning pics of an old Russian sub base in Balaklava, Ukraine . Some description:
Until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 Balaklava was one of the most secret towns in Russia. 10km south eas of Sevastopol on the Black Sea Coast, this small town was the home to a Nuclear Submarine Base.
And: […]
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Before: a mere squid.
After: squid salad.
A few nights ago, A and I made squid salad. Or actually, A made the squid salad and I cleaned the squid (the Thai word for squid is plaa meuk).
I volunteered to do so, as it sounded like an adventure. Cleaning squid can be a very messy process. It’s […]
My latest Gridskipper post is about khanom buang, an interesting Thai street food made by filling pancakes with coconut cream and topping them with either egg yolks or onions. Mmmm.
I often enjoy sitting on my second-story balcony and watching the ebb and flow of Bangkok street traffic. I don’t live on a major boulevard — my neighborhood is almost entirely residential, and what I typically see is motorcycle taxi drivers ferrying passengers to their houses, people walking out to the main road nearby, folks […]
Thomas Swick has an exceptional travel story about Cuenca, Ecuador in Sunday’s South Florida Sun-Sentinel. As many of you know, I lived in Cuenca for a year and I can tell you this: Swick nailed that story. He captures the essence of the city in a remarkable way: the colorful characters, the bohemian feel, and […]
The Cruzin Cooler:
Cruzin Cooler combines two basic necessities of life, the ability to have cold food or a beverage handy along with the means to get somewhere, without walking. With modern technology, the Cruzin Cooler is light-weight and comes in various sizes and is available in gas and electric models, with a 10 mile range […]
Snip from a long New York Times Magazine story about North Korean counterfeiting efforts:
Though there is some dispute on the timing, the first counterfeit big-head supernotes might have arrived on the market as early as 1998. Like the earlier generation of supernotes, the big-head imitations show an ever-growing attention to detail. “They would certainly […]
NYT:
David Puchkoff, Eileen Stukane and their daughter, Masha, were sitting on their porch, looking out over a carpet of sedums topped with tiny yellow, white and purple flowers and watching storm clouds build over the Empire State Building.
Front porches are hardly the norm in high-rise Manhattan, nor are rooftop meadows, but the couple have managed […]
Sportswriter Bill Simmons has a great new column on choosing an English Premier League team to support.
The season starts on August 19; I shall be rooting for Arsenal, as ever. (I had a 24-hour layover in London in January of 2001. First thing I did upon arrival: took the tube to see Highbury, the […]
Garrison Keillor:
Times have changed, and I know this because I have children, two of them, one born in the old days and one in modern times. One was born back before seat belts, when a child might ride standing up in the front seat next to Daddy as he drove 75 mph across North Dakota, […]
I told you ten months ago that this would happen.
[Photo credit: twdbth]
My pal — and Malaysia traveling companion — Matt Gross recently published what I think is his finest New York Times Frugal Traveler column yet: a moving story about volunteering on an organic apple farm in Turkey. Don’t miss it. (Here’s the archive of his stories from the last two months of his round-the-world […]
Given the extent to which I’ve blabbered on about the World Cup over the past month, I’d be remiss if I didn’t come full circle and weigh in on the tournament now that Italy has triumphed. A few brief remarks:
1. US coach Bruce Arena has stepped down; he’ll now coach the New York Red […]
No less than the Economist (albeit in a very short item) says local impeachment initiatives in liberal US enclaves could ultimately gather steam:
Berkeley’s move has caused much ridicule on conservative TV channels, yet a grassroots movement of sorts is developing. Last year the Centre for Constitutional Rights laid out its legal case against the president: […]
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Backpack has been around for a while, but I’ve only recently started using it. The concept is pretty simple — you can create various to-do lists and notes that can be easily altered on the fly. The free version seems powerful enough for basic personal uses, and I imagine the souped-up pay version would […]