I had loved Saura all my life.
[more...]

The Irish Green Party ended up with six seats in this year’s election. The largest party in the Republic, Fianna Fáil, got 78. With 166 seats total in the Dáil (the Irish Parliament), Fianna Fáil need some partner(s) in order to rule effectively.
[more...]

The French Open is my favorite tennis tournament, and possibly my favorite sporting event. I’ve always loved clay court tennis, and it’s the premier clay court event. It doesn’t get as much attention as Wimbledon, which is more or less its opposite—grass and clay are at the extremes in terms of tennis surfaces, with the various types of hard court (and possibly carpet) in the middle.
[more...]

It struck me this weekend that there are significant advantages in having large extended families, not merely in standrd labor-sharing terms but also in terms of the likelihood of a greater range of experience.
[more...]

This Guardian (UK) article discusses the difficulties that Gay pride organizers are having in Eastern Europe. It’s not a surprise, because it’s been clear for a few years that the prevailing sentiment in the ex-Communist countries is very anti-gay, but it’s still disturbing.
[more...]

I’ve never been any good at chess. I like it, but the higher orders of understanding it elude me.
[more...]

Road signs. This is something that irritates me as a pedestrian, and a cyclist, and a driver. But it’s worst when driving. By “road signs” here I specifically mean the signs that let you know what the name of a street is. It’s truly amazing how much better the San Francisco infrastructure is for that than the Irish equivalent.
[more...]