The Colours of Bahrain

Chan’ad Bahraini prepares for Mawlid al-Rasool.

Sometimes I Miss TV

Matt Groening explains how and why, after sixteen years, The Simpsons are only halfway through their run. Sometimes I wish I had my TV set back.

Mile-High Size Queen

Ever since I was a boy, I’ve been fascinated by passenger jets (spare me the jokes about loving long, tapered, cylinders – it’s already boring). My parents and I lived under an airport route and I used to run to the window to see what kind of plane was screaming over our house. Since at that time I lived in a medium sized city, it was usually only a boring DC-9 or 727. Sometimes it would be an enormous L-1011 or a 747 and I would jump up and down and be all happy in a way only children seem to get excited.

There’s a new crop now, and although they all look basically the same to me, I like to newest ones. There’s the double-decker Airbus A380 due out next year that claims to be big enough for cocktail lounges and gyms.

The Boeing 777 (already out) and 787 (out in a couple of years) look very graceful. I wish I had enough money to travel.