Following in the clever Mitch Tobol's footsteps, I found this interesting news story. In Britain, he is known as a cantankerous ex-navy officer and for being the queen's husband, but in remote villages in the tropical Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu, Prince Philip is much more. Several hundred scattered residents on Tanna island pray to the British royal, who they regard as a deity and who celebrates his 94th birthday Wednesday. "Here in Tanna, we believe that Prince Philip is the son of our God, our ancestral God who lives up in the mountain," says villager Nako Nikien, who prefers to go by

It started with an offer by Sara Gruen to participate in the Gotham Book Club’s discussion of “Water for Elephants.”  I asked her publicist (via email) if Ms. Gruen would provide a quote about her novel for our upcoming book discussion. The next thing I saw was an email from Gruen herself, offering to chat with our group, online, in real time.  What luck!  The discussion was thrilling; we had a best-selling author chatting with us, responding to our posts as they popped up on the screen.  

I passed on basketball yesterday.  Folks who know me know well I do not skip ball lightly -- even during summer play at the pool when the player no longer skwer predominantly my age with a few sons merged in.

What's on second. And a new Chinese restarant opened in Rochester named..."I Don't Know."   Owner Jessie Dong told the local news that she came up with the unusual name because whenever she would ask her three children what they wanted to eat, their response would be: "I don't know."   Dong said when it came time to name the new restaurant, her family didn't know that either, hence the name I Don't Know.   I wonder what they will be serving...

I am a lifetime athlete: who played Soccer in college, finished 33 (26.2 mile marathons), ran 3000 miles per year for over a decade, ran at least 2 miles for 620 straight days, completed triathlons, competed in countless road races, survived three 24 Hour Relay races, swam 170 straight days, recently planked for 10 minutes and continue to pitch for the Gotham Batmen softball team.   Lifetime, I have run for over 55,000 miles (over twice around the World) and like to say "If I was a car I would trade me in!"

Last Friday, as the Rangers faced the decisive game seven in their series with Tampa Bay, I read all the hype about the Rangers’ past successes in seventh games over the years -- they were unbeaten in the last seven decisive games. The hype upset me. Sports, as many things in life, are generally subject to the laws of averages. Over time, things balance out closer to the middle than either extreme. So, with seven wins in their last seven decisive games, the law of averages was bound to catch up with the Rangers.

Thirty-five years ago, I had a friend, maybe just a regular acquaintance, who decided to change her name fom Linda to Caitlin. Some "spiritual adviser" had told the new name had better "whatever" for her. I thought it was the stupidest thing I had heard. Anyway, her name wasn't unappealing before but she changed it.