From the monthly archives:

September 2008

My New Mini Clubman

by on September 25, 2008

in Cars & Driving

Sad as I was to leave my Mini behind in England, the pain has been greatly eased (if not erased) by my new Mini Clubman here in California. A couple of people have asked me about her, after hearing she’s “pimped” up. So here you go. She’s very sweet, and the Clubman is new enough [...]

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The Decline From “Best” To “Good Enough”

by on September 18, 2008

in Life,Rants

We can’t fly as fast as we used to. Our music sounds worse than it did years ago. On a regular basis, I often can’t understand what people are saying on the telephone, something that never, ever happened when I was a kid. How did we get from having the best of things to things [...]

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When Bar Marquees Go To War

by on September 13, 2008

in Orange County

I got a kick out of this. Malarky’s is the cross-town rival to Mutt Lynch’s, so Mutt Lynch had some fun with their marquee message this week: “Even when blank, our marquee is funnier than Malarkys.” Hmm — have to go see what Malarky’s is saying now.

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Balboa Bids Tourists Adieu

by on September 6, 2008

in Orange County

It’s the best time of year in Balboa, with the summer over, the summer tourists gone but the summer weather continuing. The sign I saw on local bar landmark Mutt Lynchs, shown above, said it best. “The Nightmare Is Over. Welcome Back Locals.” The tourists aren’t really a nightmare. After all, they’re part of Newport [...]

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Best Buy Makes Me Reward Zone Premier Black — Then Takes It Away

by on September 4, 2008

in Gadgets

Returning to the US, I had to buy a lot of new household electronics. No, that UK TV won’t work over here. Or the DVD. Or the Xbox. Or the telephones. Or the … you get the point. Best Buy turned out to be my port of call for most of this stuff, to the [...]

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Sea Lions Sinking Boats In Newport Harbor

by on September 3, 2008

in Orange County

I went sailing around Newport Harbor recently and was surprised to see sea lions on boats so far inside the harbor. Usually, you’d only see them at the jetty entrance. Turns out, they’ve been finding the inner harbor a cool place to hang out recently. And a boat owner wasn’t so happy about it when [...]

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