| HAPPY TRAILS, PAL
He wouldn't be pleased to know that I'm writing this, which is why I filed it after he left for the weekend. He couldn't stop what he didn't know about; he couldn't give it one of his, "No one cares" or "Boring" feedbacks. "No one cares" and "Boring" are two of the say-no-more responses Klayman would offer - but only if you asked - after he read what you wrote for the next day's paper. And I often asked because he always answered quickly, gently and honestly, ingredients tough to blend. And on those days Klayman said your piece did nothing for him, you had two choices. You could pull it back and try to make it better, or you could tell yourself that this time Klayman doesn't know good from bad, then let it go - and then feel as if you'd ignored him or, much worse, let him down.
It Is What It Is … But What Is It?
The latest evidence that Congress doesn't know jack about sports came when Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., interrupted Wednesday's steroids hearing for a "parliamentary inquiry" into the origins of the phrase "it is what it is." Brian McNamee, Roger Clemens' ex-trainer and alleged drug supplier, had told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that his use of "it is what it is" during a tape-recorded conversation was his way of letting Clemens know that he was telling the truth. According to Souder, the members of the committee were not "prototypical New Yorkers" like McNamee, and were thus flummoxed by the "pivotal phrase." But as any sports fan would know—and as Chris Mottram wrote in the Sporting News—"it is what it is" is "about as specific to New York as the words the, of, and to."* In recent years, it is what it is has supplanted giving 110 percent and taking them one game at a time as the reigning sports cliché.
Cox set to rejoin Braves
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The Braves had to get through their first full-squad workout without an inspirational speech from Bobby Cox. The manager missed Wednesday's workout while attending the funeral of his mother-in-law back in Georgia. He's expected to rejoin the team today, firing up his players a day later than normal. "I kind of missed his opening day speech," third baseman Chipper Jones said. "He kind of gets us all jacked up with his optimism for the upcoming season. We missed that ... but we'll just have to wait one day to get it." Bench coach Chino Cadahia ran the team in place of Cox, but he didn't try to fill the manager's shoes - especially the speaking part. He just went over the schedule for the day before everyone hit the field. "It wasn't much of a speech," Jones quipped.
New Delhi, March 1
I wish I could help him, he has been studying for days and making notes. Now, he screams that he has forgotten everything and is going to fail, Madhu says of her son, Saurabh Gupta, a bright student. In such cases, if parents calm down their wards by patting their backs and telling them that it does not really matter how they fare, because they have studied hard and will surely recall the lessons during the exam could help calm down the student. Deep breathing every morning for five minutes is a good way to relax the brain. One could sit in the padmasana posture and practise it, it really helps, says Bindu Prasad, senior counsellor with Sardar Patel Vidyalaya. Ruchi Sharma feels like sobbing. The class X student has studied hard during the preparatory holidays but finds she is not scoring well in the sample practise papers she has been attempting at home.
Film review: Reality trumps fantasy in `Spiderwick Chronicles'
"The Spiderwick Chronicles" may not be in the same fantasy league as the tales of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling. Yet the family flick based on the books of Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black is an all-around class act, even if its world of ogres and goblins is a bit stale in the wake of its more ambitious cousins in the over-the-rainbow genre. The human characters are the main source of wonder here. Freddie Highmore, Sarah Bolger and Mary-Louise Parker authentically capture the fractured spirit of a family newly cast into single-parent mode, while David Strathairn adds a wistful streak as a naturalist so absent-minded he fails to notice how his devotion to a magical realm has cut him off from the marvels of everyday life. Far more modest than films based on Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings," Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia" and Rowling's "Harry Potter" books, "Spiderwick Chronicles" actually becomes more pedestrian the further it wanders from reality.
Somalia Media Conditions Deteriorate
At least nine journalists have been killed since February 2007 and death threats and arrests have forced at least 50 others to seek refuge in neighboring countries, Amnesty International said. "The killings, arrests and death threats targeting Somali journalists are not just another unfortunate byproduct of the conflict and general insecurity in Somalia — they are a deliberate and systematic attempt by all parties to the conflict to stem the flow of information out of the country," said Michelle Kagari, deputy director of Amnesty International's Africa Program. The attacks on media freedom mark a reversal from 2005 and 2006, when new media outlets began extending news coverage and affiliation beyond clan and warlord loyalties, the report said. On Sunday, Somali government soldiers raided three independent radio stations in the capital, Mogadishu.
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