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i spend roughly 75% of my time in uganda in kampala. kampala is the environment and culture i know best in uganda, so tropical fish: tales from entebbe, a novel set mostly in kampala and some in entebbe and los angeles (i still don’t get why the sub-title is : tales from entebbe), gives […]

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when i travel, i like to read novels set in that country or region, preferably ones written by locals. it’s my way of learning local history, customs, nuances as told by those who live it. i looked all over for thailand reading recommendations, but surprisingly, i found very few. maybe i just […]

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i’ve been lethargic in my reading lately. i think it has a lot to do with phil being home. i read a lot more when he’s gone, which explains why i have a new book review since i read a lot when he was in scandanavia last month.

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last king of scotland premiered in uganda right around the time seth arrived in town…about 5 weeks ago. it was a big deal - forest whittaker was here, there was a red carpet at garden city. we didn’t have enough connections - although we do know the bbc correspondent - to get us […]

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i had 11 hours in london today en route from DIA to EBB. unlike my 20+ hour layover a week ago in the other direction, this time i was in london during daylight hours and rather than waste my time sitting in heathrow i spent a day on the town in central london. […]

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we will make up for a lack of posts and pictures soon; we’re off to rwanda for a few days. the presumptive highlight of the trip will be tracking mountain gorillas in the parc national des volcans. we’ll have photos and posts before the new year. so until then, merry christmas and many happy […]

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phil and i have been sick for the better part of the last month - phlegmy coughs, sinus congestion, fevers. major respiratory breakdown, really. phil was feverish when he first came home from the states, then my hacking, choking coughs took center stage for a while, then phil regained the sicky limelight with […]

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an annual christmas tradition in kampala is the pantomime (the “panto”). it’s a play, musical, theatrical experience staged 6 times over 5 days in early december. as the stagebill for this year’s pantomime says: “for those of you new to panto, it represents an integral part of british culture, requiring certain very specific […]

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i saw the last king of scotland the other day. i’m not really a reviewer but i think you should see it. forest whitaker will win the oscar for leading actor, and for the most part it’s often worth watching oscar-winning movies.
the last king of scotland is historical fiction about idi amin and his […]

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Again, another book not about Africa. A good one, though.
I’ve never read any Ian McEwan books before. A synopsis of his book First Love, Last Rites: “Taut, brooding, and densely atmospheric, these stories show us the ways in which murder can arise out of boredom, perversity can result from adolescent curiosity, and sheer […]

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