Conventional Wisdom
TAKING THE NIGHT TRAIN TO LONG BEACH, CHASING A POKEMON DREAM
On the Saturday night train home from Los Angeles, I met a kid named Nick.He was headed to Long Beach---with a little food money and planning to sleep on the streets---to compete in a Pokemon video game tournament. We began to chat ...
WHAT IS ALCHEMY, ANYWAY? LET’S JUST SAY SHE KNEW IT WHEN SHE SAW IT
The International Alchemy Conference was coming to Long Beach, but nowhere did it say what alchemy is, so I went to find out for myself. I tried to withhold my preconceptions, and I wasn't proud I kept picturing a cartoon of a bearded man with a conical hat churning a bubbling cauldron.
CALLING ALL CHEERIOS TO LB CONVENTION CENTER! TIME TO BRING IT!
Today's cheer-and-dance competition at the Long Beach Convention Center is designed to appeal to young narcissists everywhere. Promoters are bringing it, Hollywood-style, guaranteeing red carpets, paparazzi, a lounge with a DJ, live website streams of performances, and many, many, many exclamation points (!)
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM: THERE’S AN EASIER WAY TO LEARN VALUE OF A DOLLAR
There are coin collectors who still do their searching like Indiana Jones---if Indiana Jones spent his weekends pacing parks and beaches with a metal detector and a Walkman. But the most-common collector will be found among the people wandering the Long Beach Convention Center floor this weekend.
DOG GONE, BUT WHAT A WEEKEND FOR DEE AND HER BLUETICK COONHOUND!
“This is the biggest moment in my dog-showing career,” Dee Gunter reflected quietly after her Bluetick Coonhound won Best of Breed at the AKC National Championships. “Fifty years I’ve been waiting for this. I started when I was 10½ and I’m almost 62 years old. Yes, I am.”
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM: BUS-RIDER GETS A TASTE OF LIFE FROM A HIGHER PLANE
Turns out you don't have to own a plane or possess a pilot’s license---or even aspire to, someday---to attend the long and varied schedule at this weekend's convention of the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association. I came on the bus and don’t even particularly like "Top Gun." They’ll let anybody in.
