| Wild Card -- Weekend
Not for everyone. It's a kid story, after all. And mebbe that's why Wilson's Lewis is so appealing. The guy had so many warts (as I do) and yet he produced the wonderful Narnia series, as well as "Screwtape Letters," "The Great Divorce," "Mere Christianity," etc. Mebbe there's hope for me, yet. Soldier on. DFO .
kf Feels Brad Grey's Pain!
CBS seems to be experimenting with a UPS-style voting gizmo that doesn't solve the main problem (which is subtle bias in the selection of which voters get questioned by the liberal-looking college-age interviewers). ... 12:05 P.M. Good Cheap Shot: "Warner Camp in Disarray" .... 1:30 A.M. Wednesday, August 16, 2006 California's safe-seat Democratic legislators kill the anti-gerrymandering plan they promised when they successfully campaigned against Gov. Schwarzenegger's "year of reform" initiative last year. New West Notes' Bill Bradley is not surprised. ... 9:47 A.M. It looks like it will take another weekend's box office to determine whether Paramount's World Trade Center is a hit or a flop. Here's why I hope it's the latter. ... 12:22 A.M.
Penn tells top director: No moonlighting
As an associate director of MBA admissions at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Judith Hodara hosts a weekly podcast that dispenses tips for getting into business school. It's not the only place she hands out advice. Recently, she was asked to sit on an advisory committee of a Japanese company that helps Japanese students get into top U.S. programs leading to a master's degree in business administration, including her own. Since 2004, she has also run her own college admissions business, IvyStone Educational Consultants, to guide high school students through the tricky process. While Hodara said her consulting work was "compliant with university policy," some admissions experts questioned her ties and whether there was the appearance of impropriety. Penn agreed with them and pulled the plug on her moonlighting.
Kosher restaurant to reopen after blaze
A popular kosher restaurant in Golders Green will reopen this week, almost four months after it was gutted by fire. Solly's, in Golders Green Road, was severely damaged in the blaze on September 24, last year. It led some fans of the restaurant, which has been a favourite of residents for almost 20 years, to brand it "truly a tragic day for food lovers". A Facebook group, set up to "mourn the loss of Solly's", has almost 1,000 members, who have posted their memories and comments about the restaurant, along with any updates or theories as to what caused the fire. Manager of Solly's, Menashe Gavish said he expected the takeaway area to open tonight (January 15), and the rest of the ground floor to be opening tomorrow. "It has taken a lot of cleaning but it is now first class and will look tip-top with great food," he said.
Three years later, Backman still trying to get to the bigs
There is a seafarer's look to the man; one too many days engulfed by the salty air. In the two years following the Diamondbacks debacle, Backman dabbled in this and that -- a fruitless search for fulfillment. Baseball? Who needed baseball? Wally and his brother Mike chartered fishing trips. Wally opened up Prineville's first authentic deli, the New York on Seventh Street Caf, and worked as its chef (the business didn't last). He went on dozens of hunting excursions. Mostly, though, he subconsciously waited. And waited. And waited. In his first season as a manager, with Catskill of the Northern League in 1997, Backman went 3-23. That was an aberration. In the six ensuing years, he suffered one losing campaign. After guiding the Lancaster JetHawks to an 86-54 record in 2004, managing future major leaguers including Conor Jackson, Carlos Quentin and Dan Uggla, he was named The Sporting News' minor league manager of the year.
Oh Kei, Roddick up next for teen
SAN JOSE Consider Kei Nishikori's position for just a minute. First, the soft-spoken 18-year-old stuns the tennis world with last week's surprising defeat of James Blake in the final of the Delray Beach International, making him the first Japanese player to win an ATP event in nearly 16 years. The feat sent his stock rising so rapidly even a stay at a San Jose hotel required a quick name change on the room in order to avoid getting besieged with phone calls. And now he has Andy Roddick, the world's sixth-ranked player, waiting at his door. Nishikori insists he doesn't have to pinch himself, but there was a point during Wednesday's 7-5, 6-3 victory over Diego Hartfield at the SAP Open where he had to remind himself to keep going. "I want to play Roddick; that's why I won today," Nishikori said.
VUSD officials recommend waiting to open high schools
She said failing to open the new campus on time is a disservice to the students and teachers who are now crammed into Vista Unified's two overcrowded high schools, Vista High and Rancho Buena Vista High."We sent the message to the community that we were going to build this school," she said. "As a board, it's our responsibility to get it opened."The sooner the district opens the schools, the better, Herrera said, because it doesn't appear the state's budget problems are going to clear up anytime soon.Gibson and Herrera agree that the district needs to do something to ease overcrowding at its two large high schools, which each have more than 3,000 students. However, they disagree about how to do it.For years, Gibson has pushed for the district to use existing facilities for the magnet schools instead of building a campus on the 66-acre site in eastern Oceanside.
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