|
Archives by date
October
11, 2003
The month of October has always been a month of celebration
and fun in my family, culminating on Halloween night.
All my children were born in October, and my in-laws
were too, Libras all.
October
5, 2003
To continue my dissertation of the surreal aspects of
life in Puerto Vallarta, I have to confess that if it
all weren’t so sad, it would be very funny.
September
28, 2003
It has often been said that truth is stranger than fiction.
I would venture to say that the statement was coined
with Puerto Vallarta in mind, except that I know that
it wasn’t.
September
21, 2003
This week, I must start out with an advisory note for
all my faithful readers: The words you are reading do
not appear anywhere else but on the computer screen
you are facing.
September
14, 2003
The present city administration came to power nearly
three years ago. A few months after it did, my neighbor
decided that he was going to add a floor to his house,
even though city regulations a) prohibit anyone from
building above a certain height and..
September
7, 2003
One year ago exactly, the municipal DIF (the system
for the Integral Development of the Family) family services
department launched a campaign to fight child prostitution
and sexual abuse in this town.
August
31, 2003
Our friend, journalist-author-political analyst Sergio
Martínez Luquín, passed away on Sunday,
August 24th, twelve days after falling from a scaffold
where he was inspecting some work at a home in Conchas
Chinas.
August
24, 2003
Before I forget again, does anyone know what the explosions
are that have reverberated throughout the valley around
downtown, always during the night? I’ve been meaning
to ask the question of our local readers for a couple
of weeks now.
August
17, 2003
Firstly, I must thank all our readers who were so kind
as to ask what happened to me a couple of weeks ago
when I did not hand in a column.
August
10, 2003
Where to begin? Am I glad to be back in Vallarta? You
bet your booties I am! But then, that’s how it
is every year. I start counting the days and the hours
to my return even before take-off, here at the local
airport.
July
20, 2003
In a slightly unusual departure from my usual format
(if I may call it that, considering that this column
really doesn’t have a format) I would like to
respond to an anonymous reader who sent me a beautifully-written,
single-spaced 7-page letter last week.
July
13, 2003
I know I’ve said it before but I really get a
kick at this time of year with all the national celebrations...
first the Canadians, then the Americans, and then the
French.
July
6, 2003
When I was little, my mother always used to call me
“tziganka” (which means gypsy in Romanian)
because I always walked barefoot, something she was
never able to accept.
June
29, 2003
We’ve all heard Andy Warhol’s famous quote
about “15 minutes of fame”. Well, Puerto
Vallarta got way more than that lately what with the
capture,
June
22, 2003
It was another one of those unusual, exciting weeks
in Vallarta. In reality, there never is a dull moment
in this town.
June
15, 2003
There are many, many taco stands around town, some say
too many.
June
8, 2003
The last time I saw so many people gathered in the main
square and spilling over to Los Arcos Amphitheater was,
to the best of my recollection,
June
1, 2003
What busy weeks these last few have been! With all the
special events going on all around town, it was not
easy to make up one’s mind every day.
May
25, 2003
There are those who believe that mid-May in Vallarta
marks the beginning of the “low” season…
May
18, 2003
The local holidays are over, and the “megapuentes”
(extra-long holiday weekends) are over too, at least
for a little while.
May
11, 2003
On May 3rd of last year, I found out, discovered, by
fluke, that Vallarta’s big annual fiesta in honor
of the Día de la Santa Cruz was held one block
away from my house...
May
4, 2003
When my children started to travel, really travel I
mean, not just to the corner grocery store and back
April
27, 2003
That’s it. The holidays of Passover and Easter
are over for another year. So-called “Spring Breakers”
April
20, 2003
I must begin this week by offering my sincere apologies
to all our readers who admonished me for not having
submitted a column in last week’s issue of the
Tribune and the Mirror.
April
6, 2003
This past week has been filled with so many incongruous,
unrelated events that in all honesty, I must admit I
haven’t the slightest idea where to begin.
March
30, 2003
It all started when I was working as proof-reader at
the Tribune, just a short time after it began publication.
March
23, 2003
We’ve all heard all the jokes dealing with “Mexican
time”, but some of the delays caused by that concept
are funnier than others.
March
16, 2003
Many folks, foreigners all, who have lived here for
a number of years have expressed their feelings that
the only thing they miss in Vallarta.
March
9, 2003
One of the most delightful aspects of having out-of-town guests
is that we get to show off this beautiful place we have chosen as our home. February
23, 2003
Sometimes, we wake up in the middle of the night for no apparent
reason. February
16, 2003
Have I ever told you how much I love living here? Yes, probably
all too often. February
9, 2003
Every once in a while, a topic comes up that seems to awaken everyone
from what has often been called a "Tequila-induced lethargy". February
2, 2003
In its infinite wisdom, the Universe makes sure that everything
remains in a constant state of evolution. January
26, 2003
Montreal, Québec, Canada is known for being in an earthquake-prone
zone. It experienced innumerable minor quakes during the decades when I lived
there. January
19, 2003
There have been times over the last six years when I really didn't
have anything worthwhile to write about. His
Opinion: Watch out for the killing machines
This space is normally reserved
for all things Internet and other computer-related topics. January
12, 2003
Holiday time has obviously come to an end for a few months at
least, and things are returning to normal in our little corner of paradise. January
5, 2003
Did any of you happen to see the incredible sunset last Monday,
December 30th?. December
29, 2002
My neighbors must feel vindicated just about now. December
22, 2002
Diary of a Serendipitous Day
This week's column should
really go under our "Musings" section rather than "Opinion".
I would like to devote it to sharing with you a most unusual and fulfilling experience
I lived last week. December
15, 2002
It's that time of year …again. (And every time it comes
around, I am still amazed at how fast the weeks and the months fly by as we get
older.) Special Article
A
Very Special Lady
by Marie Raeburn
Her name is Sybil
Graham. She comes to P.V. for 4 months every winter. For the past five years,
Sybil has done something very special for some of the unfortunate Mexican children
in P.V December
1, 2002
This week is a very special one in Puerto Vallarta. Immediately
following Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. November
24, 2002
There has been so much going on these past days that I don't
even know where to start. November
17, 2002
Due to the inordinate amount of e-mails received at this publication
over this past week, either directly or through pvmirror.com. November
10, 2002
I have made so many mental notes over the last couple of weeks
that I can't remember any of them now. October
28, 2002
In case you weren't around last Friday morning, let me tell you:
you missed it. The whole thing only took a couple of hours, and not solid at that. October
21, 2002
A few years ago, I expressed my pleasure at the fact that stop
signs had finally been installed downtown although I could not understand why
they had only been put up on one-way streets going uphill and not on the ones
going downhill. October
14, 2002
Mathematics have never been my forte and I have no shame in admitting
it - despite the fact that the father of my children is an accountant.. October
7, 2002
It must have been a gesture of friendship. Why else would our
friend T.J. have published a statement like "Looks like the rainy season
is over. September
30, 2002
Welcome to autumn, the most beautiful season of the year in so
many parts of the northern hemisphere. September
23, 2002
Over the last few weeks, some of our readers called to point
out a few things to me, and some even had some suggestions, regarding Vallarta's
"historical" downtown area. September
15, 2002
It's been a very unsettling week. Even though it is often said
that we who live here in Puerto Vallarta live in "paradise"... September
9, 2002
On the first anniversary of 9/11 - I believe that we should never
forget, nor should we allow others to forget the horror of that day. September
2, 2002
I just read that Puerto Vallarta will once again provide the setting
for a movie. This time, it will be (according to what I read) "Puerto Vallarta
Squeeze". August
26, 2002
Are we all having a good summer? I certainly hope so, because
if you read the headlines or watch the news on TV or surf the net, you could think
that the world was coming to an end. August
19, 2002
This is a week for the award of bricks and bouquets, something
I haven't done in a while. August
12, 2002
This week's column should be filed among the "Truth is often
stranger than fiction" items August
5, 2002
Am I glad to be back in Vallarta? You can bet your booties I am!
It's always the same thing: As soon as I get on the plane, I start counting the
hours until I return July
22, 2002
Ramblings from the Great White North.
I was listening to
the news report the other morning and wondered, how does one "shift"
$172 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS from a company's books July
15, 2002
Exactly eight years ago, a friend of mine who had moved down
here a few months earlier called me to ask when I was moving to Vallarta. July
8, 2002
Sometimes I really do believe that we live in the one place on
earth that has the most beautiful, awesome and spectacular sunsets of all. June
24, 2002
Do you realize that the days have already started to get shorter
in our northern hemisphere? I know it sounds silly, but we're on our way to winter,
folks. June 17,
2002
It is said that "man proposes and God disposes". That's
what happened last Monday. We were all standing out there, looking west to where
the setting sun should be, as the rains poured down upon us. June
10, 2002
You can't say I didn't warn you. If you weren't awakened by the
yells of joy, the whooping and the laughter in the middle of the night last Monday. June
3, 2002
I have a confession to make: I was never an "honest-to-goodness"
sports fan. I was only "honest" to those teams that were "good". May
27, 2002
The local papers have used a lot of ink recently in covering
the city's attempts to reduce the inordinate amount of advertising for "massage
services" in town. May
20, 2002
A trip diary. I spent Mother's Day, Mexican-style, in Tequila.
My son and his fiancée treated me to a long weekend out there because Tequila
is where she comes from and where her family lives. May
13, 2002
Perhaps I hadn't read the papers carefully in previous years,
perhaps I had flown up to Montreal to celebrate Mother's Day with my own mom. May
6, 2002
I lived most of my life in a country where trees bloom but once
a year. Here in the tropical paradise that is Vallarta, nature behaves very differently. | 
Current
Weather Report
