September 2010 Issue 102

When I was a child, people called me “kid,” “guy,” or “hey, you.” Young women were called “girls.” Older women were called “ladies.” When I received a greeting card, usually in honor of my birthday, it was always addressed to me as “Master.” When I became older, the address changed from “Master” to “Mister.” I [...]

  by John Powell I have always been interested in flying; it started as a child in the 1930s when I would build small models of RAF aircraft of those days, like the Hawker Hart and Hawker Fury, suspending them on cotton thread, with cotton wool for clouds. Jabiru Ultralight My first flight was at [...]

by Eric Shackle Guyanese philosopher/poet Randall Butisingh, a poet and philosopher living in Florida (US), who was born in British Guiana (now Guyana), 96 years ago, is probably the world’s oldest blogger, succeeding the much-loved Spanish great-grandmother Maria Amelia Lopez Solino, who died on May 20, aged 97. Butisingh was born on Dec. 1, 1912, [...]

by Eric Shackle A Novel Scheme Delights Young and Old Toque-me, Sou teu say signs stuck on free-to-use public pianos in Sao Paulo, Brazil. “Play Me, I’m Yours” say similar signs in Birmingham, UK and Sydney, Australia. Dozens of pianos placed in public areas in those cities tempt passers-by of all ages to sit down [...]

By Brian Barratt When someone speaks of a cute kid, we usually know what they mean—an attractive or pleasing child. However, a search through literature and 14 dictionaries reveals another story. In “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” (1870) Jules Verne writes of a fisherman, “Skill, coolness, audacity, and cunning, he possessed in a superior [...]

I like to think I don’t tell lies, though my children assure me I used to mischievously mislead them when they were little. I also know I am not always brave enough to tell the truth when a simple white lie will get me out of trouble. I have plenty of company in that. What [...]