PicoBlog

You knew a road team would win a game in these playoffs eventually. It finally happened twice Tuesday night after an 0-12 start for away teams … something we haven't seen in the NBA since 2004. I am equally confident that Denver's Playoff Jamal Murray, who hates that we call him that but keeps forcing us to call him that, will make it to the All-Star Game someday, too. You just don't want to go overboard with loud declarations just a few days into the NBA playoffs.

Hi All, In case you missed it, another Ukraine-Russia War Talk Podcast was released on Thursday evening. In it Mykola and I myself went around the battlefield and discussed some of the major stories of the week—in particular the new security relationships (not guarantees) that Ukraine is building and the Ukrainian Peace Summit in Switzerland. I will touch briefly on some of this, but in a wish not to be repetitive I thought I would write more of a summary piece about where we are in the war—particularly after the last 6 months which were some of the most telling of the entire conflict.

What happens when you meet your gods and they reveal as mortals?   In that moment you are given the most extraordinary gift, nothing less than the secret of life. That’s what happened to me when I spent ten hours observing one of Chicago’s most legendary restaurants about three weeks ago. And that’s all we’re really doing here anyway, searching for the answer. When I write of food, it is only as a conduit for identifying meaning.

Hi. I’ve written about gun politics and gun culture for The Times, but I also have a cache of stuff I could never place anywhere. I decided to run some of it here. This is the beginnings of a historical profile of International Armament Co. (Interarmco)’s founder Sam Cummings, who, among other things, sold a hell of a lot of AR-10s. In 1949, the Luger Howard Unruh bought might have come into the country with a returning G.

Holy basil stir fry or “pad kra pao” is one of the most popular dishes in Thai restaurants. But in N. America, you’ve probably had it only with the basic proteins - chicken, beef, pork…you know, the usual. In Thailand, however, we make pad kra pao with just about anything. A new favorite that I discovered during my recent trip to Thailand is made with deep fried century eggs, and I shared this in my video: what I ate in a day in Thailand (it shows up around minute 3:20).

The Last Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu died on this day, November 22, 1913. Born in Edo in 1837 as the seventh son of the Daimyo of Mito, he was seven months old when he first came home to Mito and was brought up by his strict and disciplinarian father, Tokugawa Nariaki.  Known as Keiki in his childhood, his father believed that a warrior should lie straight even in bed while asleep, and so he would often check on the sleeping habits of his son, Keiki.

Greg Mitchell is the author of a dozen books and now writer/director of award-winning films. He was the longtime executive editor of the legendary Crawdaddy. His newsletter remains free when you subscribe. His film “Atomic Cover-up” became free via Kanopy this month and the current “Memorial Day Massacre: Workers Die, Film Buried" remains free on the PBS site. Both have companion books. Startling update today, Oct. 11, as soldier who murdered Victo Jara was arrested in Florida, as reported in The New York Times.

I love summer when it’s just beginning. Those early weeks of June are brimming with anticipation, days are finally longer and I have a feeling that I might even enjoy summer, after all. The first tomato salads, the first outings to the coast, bare arms and sun-kissed skin make me feel hopeful, in love. But this romance is bound to end, as I am not a summer person, autumn being my soul season.

I admit I had a hard time even getting through "The Last Time I Saw Paris." It represents exactly the sort of Golden Age filmmaking that so turned me off as a youth: melodramatic, slowly paced, maudlin to the point of groan-inducing. It's a romantic film that starts off as a joyful scamp, turns into a drama and soon a tragedy. It's what was known in the old days as a "