IT WAS the King's birthday when I went to Bangkok. But I did not see him or even have a glimpse of any of the Thai royalty. Anyway, that was not my purpose.

There was a time not so long ago when the New England Patriots felt comfort and confidence when they watched Adam Vinatieri jog on the field to tip the scales of a game that was hanging in the balance.

I am really fond of eating and often try my hand at cooking as well. Although I have developed a taste for different kinds of cuisine, when it comes to cooking, I have a Bengali hangover. I have been brought up in Kolkata and most of my friends there are Bengalis. Hanging around them has moulded my taste too. People pick up cooking from their moms, I have picked it up from my friends' moms! My ...

BLUFF CITY There are not many hardware stores left like the one on Main Street in Bluff City. Thomas Hardware has just about everything nuts and bolts, feed and seed, tape, twine, tools, paint, pipes, a pink bike, a red trike and even some Tootsie Pops stashed near the cash register.

In just a couple of weeks, Glenbrook senior Jack Kidd will be living a dream few prepsters get to live. He'll be prefishing at the site of the 2007 CITGO Bassmaster Classic with one of the professional anglers who have already qualified for the event. The 18-year-old Kidd, who played football for Glenbrook, might draw Kevin VanDam, Mike Iaconnelli or Jay Yelas to show him the lay of the land at ...

A RETIRED miner has escaped jail, despite admitting that he stashed more than 4,000 in cannabis.

Isabelle Conner is in the 10th grade at The Potomac School in McLean, Va. She spent many of her childhood summers at the home of her grandparents, Bob and Joanne Harman, who lived on Wilmington Island at the time. Isabelle's English class was given an assignment to write a narrative essay on any topic of their choice, and hers addresses the value of letting children and adults wander about in ...