My son woke me up around 5 am this morning. Well, actually, I had been lying there for some time. Full moons seem to affect both of us equally. The night of the full moon I hardly sleep at all but the few days before and/or after aren't that much better either. The thing is, […]
We had just moved into the second half of the second half and it was still nil-nil. We had all gathered for Bajram, or Eid (sort of like Muslim Easter) as we usually do. But this time the table was set around the tv. It was the final World Cup qualification match. Sabina's uncle sat […]
I was helping a Swiss tv crew do a documentary on Bosnia some years back. I can't recall exactly when but I do know it was summer. They asked me to take them to Lukomir, the highest and most isolated permanent settlement in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It's as close as one gets to a medieval […]
It's a party in Pale. The flags are out. So are the three fingered patriots. The collective has awaken. Momcilo Krajisnik is on his way home after serving a part of his sentence for war crimes that took place during the Bosnian war. I thought we may have witnessed an unheard of breakthrough when he […]
This song has been in my head for days. It won't leave. I don't want it to. Being that I have been obsessively listening to it for days it struck a chord (no pun intended) with me yesterday, July 11 - the 18th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacres. It is always a sad day here […]
Usually when the father of the bride addresses both families at a wedding he speaks of his love for his daughter, how pleased he is to welcome the grooms side into the family, and (whether he believes it or not) that his son-in-law is a great man that truly loves his baby girl. Not my […]
My Dad enlisted in the Marines just after he finished college in 1968. I was born on the base where he was stationed in Cherry Point, North Carolina (it's definitely one of the reasons I'm a Tarheel fan as well). As a kid I loved to rummage through his old chest and try on his […]
Speaking of Kosovo.... It was the summer of 1999 (now I have Bryan Adams 'Summer of '69 song in my head). I had been shuttling around Albania between refugee camps. By far the worst situation was in the border town of Kukes. So most of my energy was utilized there. Refugee camps were well established. […]
For a continent that has produced the likes of U2, the Beatles, Gainsbourg, Pavarotti, Goran Bregovic and ABBA, I am stunned, year in and year out, at the old continents enthusiasm for the Eurosong 'contest.' And yes, I'm well aware that ABBA won Eurovision before I was even in kindergarten. So what?! Even though there […]