I'm in Las Vegas for another big fight (this time, Floyd Mayweather vs Victor Ortiz). as has been the case for big pay-per-views since 2009, Bert Sugar and I have shot some webisodes for HBO.com. Enjoy.
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Blog
Travels
September 11, 2011
About to hit the road again. Seems I spend most of my time traveling. So be it. The nomadic journalist has perhaps the best professional life of all. the next couple of weeks are a case in point: Las Vegas first of all, to cover a big fight. How many days have I spent in Sin City over the past eight years? I couldn't even begin to count. I have no idea how many times I've sat ringside either; must be close to 100. There is no shortage of sports fans who would surrender a limb, or chop one off somebody else, for such a privilege.
What I'm really excited about, though, is the week after, when I head to Tombstone, Arizona for several days to research an article for the Washington Post Magazine on the history of the town and, of course, specifically the Gunfight at the OK Corral. It's a completely new subject for me, and I love being a rookie, coming to a story fresh and learning all I can - particularly one that I enjoy personally as much as this. Pretty much a dream assignment. Read More
What I'm really excited about, though, is the week after, when I head to Tombstone, Arizona for several days to research an article for the Washington Post Magazine on the history of the town and, of course, specifically the Gunfight at the OK Corral. It's a completely new subject for me, and I love being a rookie, coming to a story fresh and learning all I can - particularly one that I enjoy personally as much as this. Pretty much a dream assignment. Read More
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Ten Years Later
September 11, 2011
Truth be told, I don't have a particularly impressive 9/11 story. The day before the attacks, I had been in Los Angeles with friends; I nearly decided to change my flight to return a day or so later, but fortunately I did not. I returned to Anchorage late at night on September 10th, and decided to sleep in the next morning.
I vaguely remember my phone ringing in the middle of the night; it seemed like the people leaving messages on my answering machine (this being the time when people had landlines and answering machines) were crying. By the time I hauled myself out of bed, it was late morning in Alaska, and the rest of the country had been on high alert for five or six hours. Read More
I vaguely remember my phone ringing in the middle of the night; it seemed like the people leaving messages on my answering machine (this being the time when people had landlines and answering machines) were crying. By the time I hauled myself out of bed, it was late morning in Alaska, and the rest of the country had been on high alert for five or six hours. Read More
Anniversaries
September 10, 2011
Funny thing, anniversaries. They matter to us only because we decide they do. Dates, after all, are essentially artificial constructs. Even so, they do matter. They help provide a sense of focus, and allow for reflection. Tomorrow marks the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and there is little really that I can add to the reams of reflection and reminiscences.
But today is a personal anniversary, too. It's hard to believe that it has been a year since my mother passed away, and yet it has. My last conversation with her was on the telephone, as I stood on the deck of a ship in the Gulf of Mexico. I don't remember the substance, but that's of less import than the fact we talked. More clearly, I can easily picture my last time at home with her, when I was able to spend a week or two sitting with her in the living room, working quietly on the galley proofs of my book as the sun streamed in while she alternated between reading, chatting, watching television and napping.
As time passes, the significance of anniversaries often recedes a little. I find myself having to remind myself that Dad's anniversary is October 7. But I will no more forget that date or September 10 than I will ever forget my parents, who - anniversary or no anniversary - appear almost daily, unannounced but always welcome, in my thoughts. Read More
But today is a personal anniversary, too. It's hard to believe that it has been a year since my mother passed away, and yet it has. My last conversation with her was on the telephone, as I stood on the deck of a ship in the Gulf of Mexico. I don't remember the substance, but that's of less import than the fact we talked. More clearly, I can easily picture my last time at home with her, when I was able to spend a week or two sitting with her in the living room, working quietly on the galley proofs of my book as the sun streamed in while she alternated between reading, chatting, watching television and napping.
As time passes, the significance of anniversaries often recedes a little. I find myself having to remind myself that Dad's anniversary is October 7. But I will no more forget that date or September 10 than I will ever forget my parents, who - anniversary or no anniversary - appear almost daily, unannounced but always welcome, in my thoughts. Read More
Catching Up With Al gore
September 8, 2011
In December 2009, former Vice President Al Gore sat down for an interview with me, which I published in two parts for Discovery News. The links to those pieces are in the blog archives; last week, he spoke with me and two other journalists on the phone about his latest project, which I've written about here.
UPDATE: The day I posted the blog that resulted from my interview with the former vice president, a man who would be president made comments during the Republican debate that showed willful ignorance about climate change persists at a high level - and indeed has become an article of faith among some. A brief fact check of Texas Governor Rick Perry's attempt to compare himself to Galileo is here. Read More
UPDATE: The day I posted the blog that resulted from my interview with the former vice president, a man who would be president made comments during the Republican debate that showed willful ignorance about climate change persists at a high level - and indeed has become an article of faith among some. A brief fact check of Texas Governor Rick Perry's attempt to compare himself to Galileo is here. Read More