Owlspotting

Not that long ago, the New York Times ran a self-referential (and self-reverential) meta story about the portrayal of the newspaper in movies. It was the kind of self-love you profess on the back page of your math-class notebook, where the spelling of your name is adorned with cute flowers and stars, if not smiling […]

*** Acesta este al doilea dintr-o serie de trei eseuri (inspirata de urmatoarea carte). Text publicat original in update-ul tematic “Bucuresti” pe dbrom.ro in 2002. Primul eseu, “Hotul dumneavoastra” il gasiti aici. am baut ultima gura de cola din cana mea rosie cu ferrari. inca imi e sete, dar nu mai am nimic de baut. […]

My visits to Washington’s RFK Stadium to see the Washington Nationals have made me love baseball and the experience of attending the ballgame. This past Saturday I decided it was time to take the camera with me and capture some of the atmosphere on video. While this game provided little action on the field, there […]

England wins the 2006 World Cup in Germany–at least that’s what my personal predictions say. And you know what they say about predictions: you’d better make them with your heart unless you want to find yourself cheering for teams you don’t care about (ahem, Italy) just because a cool-headed analysis forced you to pick them. […]

Sitting down at my computer, I was ready to take my country apart, rip it to shreds. I’ve just finished reading Lucian Boia’s “Romania, tara de frontiera a Europei” (Romania, borderland of Europe) and felt a surge of anger at the teachers that shaped my childhood and at myself. Some context first. I’ve not read […]

*** Acesta este primul dintr-o serie de trei eseuri (pornita de aici). Text publicat original in update-ul tematic “Furtul la romani” pe dbrom.ro in 2002. celor care mi-au furat televizorul…. cand nu fura, vinde ce a furat. e rapid, dibace si neobosit. e o masina care ar putea trai fara mancare, fara bautura, fara somn […]

The Bucharest bird flu quarantine was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered this afternoon, when host Mellisa Block interviewed Radu Tudor of Jurnalul National about the situation in the Romanian capital. Tudor’s performance was similar to that of other journalists NPR calls in countries or regions they don’t have their own correspondents in. Tudor sounded […]

Let me a start a chronology to build on for the next few weeks probably. March 12: Word that McClatchy made the winning bid on Knight Ridder is out. March 13: Sale is made official. McClatchy says it will put 12 of the papers it just bought up for sale. March 14: Speculations for buyers […]

Severeal suprising pairings emerged at the official drawing of the group stage of one of the most anticipated competitions of the summer. “Campionatul Mondial de Bere Romania 2006” (The World Beer Cup) is organized by Romerican with the blessing of consumer of horrid beer everywhere. (Owlspotting is a self-designated patron and booster–we were too cheap […]

This week’s European Comission meeting (the one that supposedly was going to decide Romania’s European future) was pretty poorly covered by major American newspapers. But if you want the quick and dirty without swimming through Romanian media speculation or American media ignorance, just read the first two sentences of the Economist’s coverage of the result […]