The Return of Little Big Man - Thomas Berger. Little Big Man is one of my father's favorite books, and somehow I have never read it. When I grabbed this book, I did not make the connection, but this is the sequel. It is a fictional account of the life of the only white survivor of the Battle of Little Bighorn. Jack meets one famous person after another, from Buffalo Bill to young Winston Churchill, and everyone in between. Kind of like Forrest Gump meets the wild west.Read more »

Now that I sit down and think about it, 2009 has been quite a ride. I should do this more often during the year. 2009 was chock-full of good happenings. Here are a few highlights:

- The Adkin-Bedard wedding in Cuba
- Completed the Balaton SwimRead more »

I got a surprise invite to go see a production at the Siraly on December 7th by the Kosztolanyi Dezso Theater.Read more »

I should know better, I really should, but not wanting to go home and face a cold flat ("new" heating system on the fritz), I met up with Josey and Mike at the dive on the corner of Madach ter. From the outside, it looks like such a dive that I had never been in, but while small, it is not so bad. Service is typically Hungarian. After a couple pohars (and at this point I really should have gone home), we moved on to a more upscale place, but that one is a blur.Read more »

Saturday evening I joined Bottlehugger Ben and family for a movie at MOM Park. Normally I have found Disney flicks good, but The Princess and the Frog lacked any kind of innovation, laughter, new ideas or even the masterful animation normally found in their films. With the promise of waffles in the morning (ok, I am a hedonist) we rented a movie and watched it back at their place.Read more »

This year I again had the honour to be Santa at 2 local English-language kindergartens, A-to-Z and Planet Kids. I was also asked to be at Superkids, but unfortunately, could not work it into the schedule.Read more »

It had been a couple months for one reason or another, but Jeroen, Lennard and I made it down to Szalonna again last weekend. Because of a children's booksale, we could not leave until 6pm, which got us down there quite late.Read more »

I admit it, after 12 years or more of cooking Thanksgiving for 30-40 people with friend Josey Walker, I had had about enough. I thought it was about time someone cooked for me. Rich Adkin and Tara Bedard took up the challenge a few weeks ago for Canadian Thanksgiving, and the Friedays cooked it up this past Saturday. I still contributed my cornbread and arabian squash caserole, but mostly I just relaxed, drank, played with Ben and Anita's kids Noah and Abi.Read more »

November 19th was another great concert at Treehugger Dan's Bookstore Cafe by this local international duo Marco & Kati Concert (HU/FR).Read more »

I came of age in the early 1980's when people had no idea how HIV was transmitted, and everyone in the US got a packet of info hung on their front door from Attorney General Koop. Back then, people still thought HIV could be transmitted by toilet seats.Read more »