Sri Lanka Doorman Turns 90. Has Worked At Galle Face Hotel Since WWII
Posted on February 20, 2010 - Filed Under Photography, Sri Lanka | Leave a Comment
A happy 90th birthday to K. Chattu Kuttan, the doorman at Sri Lanka’s Galle Face Hotel. He has worked there since 1942 when he witnessed a Japanese Zero crash land on the hotel grounds. I have stayed in the grand but musty old hotel a couple of times. In its days of glory The [...]
Read More..>>Oceans Apart: Las Vegas and East Las Vegas
Posted on January 27, 2010 - Filed Under Macau | Leave a Comment
I had a dream that the Grand Lisboa tower, a hotel-casino that now dominates the skyline of Macau, came alive one night, pulled itself from its mooring, marched across China’s Pearl River Delta and, like Godzilla, tossed trolley cars around Hong Kong.
Ka-Ching? (a Chinese expression?)
Like Vegas in the 90s, this former Portuguese backwater colony, now [...]
Cold Turkey in Heidelberg: Audio Story
Posted on December 17, 2009 - Filed Under Audio, Germany, Holiday | Leave a Comment
Heidelberg Castle ©Russell Johnson
What do you do when you are alone during a holiday, stuck in a place that doesn’t celebrate it? A few years ago I flew to Germany the day before Thanksgiving for a 1/2 hour business meeting. The meeting was a bust and alone, in a foul mood on a bone-chilling afternoon, [...]
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Cold Turkey - Holiday in Heidelberg [4:56m]: Up From Baja: Point Lobos Migrates North
Posted on September 2, 2009 - Filed Under California, Photography | Leave a Comment
Don’t know much about geology, but what I am learning defines me, in the nature of nature, as the insignifcant biped that I am.
Paid a visit to the Pinnacles National Monument. Not recommended during the summer as the temperatures regularly hover around the 100F mark. The best time to go is in the cool spring [...]
Art in Carmel: The Not-So-Good, The Bad and the Badder
Posted on September 1, 2009 - Filed Under California, Culture | Leave a Comment
Moseying ’round Carmel, California Saturday, I wondered how its tourist trap economy could survive when one of its major exports is cheese-ball art. There are often three or four stores selling similar product in a single block. But then, it doesn’t take too many sales to make the monthly nut. The Golden Gate Bridge picture [...]
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