A current foray into screenwriting has me researching movie writing materials -- and a small item under "Pitch Sales" in the May/June 1999 issue of Creative Screenwriting magazine gave me a chill when I read it last night. It reads: "New Line Cinema has landed a blow to opponents in a bidding war for Nosebleed...

"In class and ideological conflicts, the key question was "Which side are you on?" and people could and did choose sides and change sides. In conflicts between civilizations, the question is "What are you?" That is a given that cannot be changed." --Samuel P. Huntington, "The Clash of Civilizations?", Foreign Affairs , Summer 1993

[Luke Oak's latest artwork, which he tells me is a "camel".] My youngest nephew, Luke Oak Van Tassel, is not quite old enough to be as verbal as his big brother Cedar -- but he has taken quite a shine to drawing pictures. Above is a recent piece (no doubt influenced by the Dada movement...

"The vocabulary of the rejectionist movements varies with the country and the time -- the Koran in today's Saudi Arabia, Kim Il Sung ideology in today's North Korea, and a mix of Confucianism and secular xenophobia in the Japan, China and Korea of the 17th through 19th centuries. But these religions and ideologies seem to...

"When you strip people's homes of their distinctiveness -- either by homogenizing them or by destroying them environmentally -- you undermine not only their culture but also social cohesion. Culture, at its best, can be one of the most powerful forms of voluntary restraint in human behavior. It gives life structure and meaning. It sanctions...

Though my stint with Land Rover's Drive Around the World expedition has finished, the rest of the team is set to begin the next leg of the journey in Australia. I'm sure new dispatches will start up in the next week or so on the expedition website . In the meantime, the DATW organization has...

[Above: Cedar's drawing of a mummy.] My nephew Cedar , who is four years old, was over for Easter this weekend, and he wrote me a new poem about mummies, complete with picture (see above). This is a special poem, as it requires audience involvement. Indeed, after just a few lines about mummies, Cedar told...

"The question being asked is...whether the digital economy can be a catalyst to bring the poor in from the economic cold. At first glance, the notion seems silly. After all, only 6% of the world has ever logged on to the Internet; perhaps half has never used a phone. And it's not obvious why, given...

[Above: Alpacas hanging out on the Bolivian-Chilean border.] One of the best things about traveling by Land Rover through Patagonia (and surrounding regions) last month was the opportunity it allowed us to see wildlife. Unlike on a bus journey, we were able to stop and linger when we saw penguins swimming or guanacos running. In...

It's been nearly two months since I've posted any writings by my four year-old nephew Cedar, and it would appear that his fans are getting restless. In a recent comment to Cedar's last article, a reader declares: "You are being far too skimpy with the wisdom from this wise sage... when is the next installment?...

A couple of days ago -- after over three months and nearly 14,000 miles of driving across 12 countries -- the Drive Around the World expedition reached the end of the road in South America. Based from the city of Ushuaia (a staging area for Antarctic expeditions), we drove three hours southeast on Route J,...

"In some ways, Europe and America are more alike than ever. The level of commercial interpenetration, the number of young people choosing to study and work across the Atlantic, and the spread of a common mass culture from Disney and The Sopranos to reality TV and Pen

[Above: A girl in traditional Incan clothing, near Cusco, Peru.] Greetings from the mountain resort town Pucon, Chile. I am posting this blog in advance, since in coming days I will mostly be out of contact, as our Land Rover expedition travels the remote "Astral Highway" through southern Chile into Argentinian Patagonia and Tierra del...

As part of a continuing series , here are two informational science articles by my nephew Cedar, who is four years old: Article one: Hippos "Hippos are really dangerous. They have big teeth that look like weapons. They can run fast and knock their enemies down. Most of the time they eat plants and spend...

Due to the popularity of the last book my 4-year-old nephew Cedar wrote for me, I am now publishing some of his new work. While his first tome had a decidedly philosophical-theological slant, this new, more poetic work revolves around meterology, fashion, and the surreal. I include only the last three pages, since the first...

I mentioned our Drive Around the World visit to the taping of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno last month; here's photographic evidence (click here for a bigger pop-up photo; I'm on the far left). Our "in" with Jay was his mechanic, who bought one of Nick's old Land Rovers some time ago. We also...

Greetings from Granada, Nicaragua. You may have noticed that I haven't updated this blog much since I left Mexico. There is a reason for this: I will soon be writing a dispatch for Slate.com about my Central American transit, and I don't want to spoil things for that article by talking too much about my...

[A DATW Land Rover loads onto the Sea of Cortez ferry at La Paz, Mexico.] La Paz to the Sea of Cortez ferry Stymied by paperwork on Sunday, Nick, Nancy, Justin and Neil roll into La Paz to get our vehicle permissions translated into Spanish and notarized. Neil (who is the sound man for the...

[Above: A shot of Rolf driving through Baja by the light of the maplight. The first week of Drive Around the World has involved lots of night driving and high-mileage days.] Just checking in here briefly to let everyone know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Rather, I am busy driving...

Ever since joining the Drive Around the World team in California, I have been trying to help fund the expedition by attracting sponsors. It