June 17, 2004

Ever spend a night in the airport because of a delayed or canceled flight? In the upcoming Steven Spielberg film, Tom Hanks' character can't leave "The Terminal," because a coup in his home country had made him citizenless.

Inspired by this movie's plot line, New York Times reporter Andy Newman spent three nights at Kennedy International Airport. Here's his report.

Wikipedia is an open-content encyclopedia that features nearly 283,000 articles. Browse by topic, click on the Random Page link or receive its featured article as an RSS feed.
 

June 16, 2004

Several friends have declared my Amazon wish list to be: 1) a great place to find interesting books to buy, and B) an intriguing map of my strange reading habits.

The 22-page list is constantly changing -- and currently boasts more than 540 items -- but here are some of the latest book entries:

* Stargazing: Memoirs of a Young Lighthouse Keeper by Peter Hill - biography
* State of the Union by David Callahan - political thriller
* The Twentieth Century: A People's History by Howard Zinn - nonfiction
* Flint by Paul Eddy - mystery
* The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope - historical fantasy
* Cassandra French's Finishing School for Boys by Eric Garcia - fiction
* Gothic: Ten Original Dark Tales by Deborah Noyes - horror
* Flights: Extreme Visions of Fantasy by Al Sarrantonio - fantasy
* Obituaries in American Culture by Janice Hume - nonfiction
* Book of Werewolves by Sabine Baring-Gould - reference
* Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying by Derek Humphry - nonfiction
* Big Red Tequila by Rick Riordan - mystery
* Remote Viewing Secrets: A Handbook by Joseph McMoneagle - nonfiction
* Women Without Superstition: No Gods - No Masters by Annie Laurie Gaylor - nonfiction
* Little Green Men by Christopher Buckley - fiction
* Almost by Elizabeth Benedict - fiction
* Conscience by John Mason Skipp - horror
* The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep by Loren Coleman - reference
* Our Guys: The Glen Ridge Rape and the Secret Life of the Perfect Suburb by Bernard Lefkowitz - true crime
* Hot Nights in Ballymuir by Dorien Kelly - romance
* The Plot Thickens: A Suspense Story by Mary Higgins Clark - nonfiction
* Booked to Die by John Dunning - mystery

"There's no excuse for boredom."
--Henry Rollins

June 15, 2004

A new Jaded Writings column has been posted. This week, I discuss reality TV.

* Garnet Hunt White - 6/15/20
* Isabelle Holland - 6/16/20
* Erich Segal - 6/16/37
* Joyce Carol Oates - 6/16/38
* Gail Godwin - 6/18/37
* Tobias Wolff - 6/19/45
* Salman Rushdie - 6/19/47
* Karen Sweeny-Justice - 6/19/58
* Lillian Hellman - 6/20/05
* Charlotte "Charlee" Boyett-Compo - 6/20/48
* Jean-Paul Sartre - 6/21/05
* Ian McEwan - 6/21/48
* Douglas De Bono - 6/21/57

June 13, 2004

Robert Strauss has his panties in a bunch.

The contractor for Floridian Estate Builders filed a complaint with the Fort Lauderdale Code Enforcement Department because the woman who lives next door to the house he's building has the nerve to air dry her clothes on her own property. For the second time in four years, the case has gone to court only to be dropped.

What a waste of the judicial system's time! The courts should be utilized for more important cases -- like suing people who advocate diets that don't work.

Matchstick men in Los Angeles have been using the old grandma routine to bilk the elderly out of hundreds of dollars.

The cons will call up an older woman and say he's her grandson, in need of help. The victim then wires money to Western Union, which does not require ID to receive withdrawals under $1,000. In recent weeks, 20 women have been scammed.

Past Afterthoughts