This last weekend, we went to a wedding out in Costa Mesa, which is only about 35 miles from our home. We got about 25 miles of the way there, when a little arrow pointing up lit up on our control panel. So my wife Becky asks me what that little arrow pointing up means. I didn’t know, so I started to frantically look through the owner’s manual of our ancient 1997 Volvo V90 wagon. Meanwhile, she pulled off the freeway at Westminster Boulevard and we pulled into a Chevron station. I discovered that the arrow indicated a fault with the transmission. And I suppose it was pointing up...

A couple of years ago I managed to score a couple of tickets to see the Irish comedian Graham Norton at the Coronet Theater in Hollywood. If you’ve never seen Graham Norton, you owe it to yourself to try and watch one of his shows. He had a chat show on BBC 4. BBC 4 is the commercial channel in the United Kingdom. That’s the channel that shows all the reality TV shows and the imports from America. It used to be aired here on BBC America, but now you can catch it on the LOGO channel. The LOGO channel is the channel that is aimed primarily for those with alternative lifestyles....

Like so many people who grew up during the sixties and seventies, I wanted to be a rock star. I wanted to play my music on stage surrounded by adoring fans. I wanted that thunderous applause. But like most folks, I had to let those dreams go. Life got in the way. I had soon had responsibilities. And I always felt a little sad about that, especially when some character in some movie would remind us to “follow our dreams” and to “never give up.” Easier said than done, I’d think. Then, when I got my first good computer and the internet was new and wondrous, I went on line...

Quiet lying, laid out there I wanted so to comb his hair And close his mouth still open wide To see him thus seemed so unfair A man of dignity and pride They laid his hands down by his side Eyes closed as not to stare in space And still the fear of night implied There was no peace upon his face He did not greet the dark with grace He did not leave on his own terms When angels chose to end his race To stand before him now affirms We all were born to feed the worms Wilson/06

There is a lot of controversy regarding bilingual education. We used to have a really good program in Los Angeles, until the voters killed it. Not that it was perfect, mind you. Here is how it worked. You taught the kids who spoke no English in their native language, gradually mixing in English, and gradually increasing the amount of English used until, by the fifth grade, the kids were speaking English all day. This allowed the kids to learn difficult subjects such as Social Studies, Math, Science, etc., in their native language. Imagine going to France and trying to study French...

I remember back when I was a kid. We were in the car on our way home from some place. My dad was driving as was usual. My mom knew how to drive, but she quit driving when I was about four because it made her too nervous. My father was not allowed to drive on the freeways when she was in the car. Anyway, there we were, stopped at an intersection, when a fellow riding a horse started to cross the street. Something must have spooked the horse, because it reared back and the rider fell off. There he lay in the middle of the street writhing in pain. My father immediately jumped out of...

Isn’t it interesting how many famous people die unknown and poor, even people who were once famous? Of course, I suppose the world is full of non-famous, poor people, but still, you’d think that once you were rich and famous, you’d stay that way. The poor part I can understand. I mean, everyone makes bad money decisions and money is kind of hard to get and keep. Do you ever look at your W-2 in January and wonder what the hell you did with all that money and why don’t you have it anymore? I look at think, and mine shit, I waste a lot of money. Sometimes I’ll...

Okay, I didn’t write this up on April 1st for reasons that are about to become obvious. As you all know, I have long been a subscriber to FATE magazine because it is such an entertaining little periodical. If you want to know why FATE is so special, please read my blog on the scrumptious piece of periodic literature, written a couple of years ago. For those of you who haven’t the inclination to find that blog, I will repeat here that FATE is a magazine dedicated to the paranormal. If it’s weird, it’s in FATE. You can always trust FATE for articles on ghosts, UFOs, Demons, Trolls,...

When I was a kid, I used to like puzzle books.  You know the kind.  There would be the puzzle that showed six clowns that looked very much the same and then ask which one was different.  Or there would be the picture in which you were supposed to find various things.  Later on, I would come to love books of brain teasers, seemingly impossible puzzles to reason out, some of which required hours to suss out. I remember one puzzle in particular, regarding some pennies, that drove me nuts.  You have twelve pennies, one of which is counterfeit.  The fake coin is either heavier or lighter than...