writer and lives in Chiangmai, Thailand.bVientiane, People’s Democratic Republic of Laos, March 1977/bbrbrThe neon hammer and sickle buzzed and flickered into life over the night club of the Lan Xang Hotel. The sun had plummeted mauvely into Thailand across the Mekhong River, and the hotel waitresses were lighting the little lamps that turned the simple sky-blue room into a mysterious nighttime cavern.brbrIn an hour, a large Vietnamese delegation would be offered diversion there by members of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Politburo. They’d be made to watch poor country boys in fur hats do a Lao falling-over version of cossack dancing. They’d be forced to suck semi-fermented rice whiskey from large tubs through long straws until they were dizzy. They’d finally be coerced into embarrassing dances with solid girls in ankle-length skirts and crusty makeup.brbrAnd, assuming they survived these delights, they’d be allowed to return to their rooms to sleep. Next day, with heads heavy as pressed rubber, they’d sign their names to documents laying the foundations for the forthcoming Lao/Vietnam Treaty of Friendship, and they probably wouldn’t remember very much about it.brbrBut that was all to come. The understaffed hotel day shift had been replaced by an understaffed night crew. The sweating receptionist was ironing a shirt in the glass office behind her desk. The chambermaid was running a bowl of rice porridge up to a sick guest on the third floor.brbrOutside, an old guard, in a jacket so large it reached his knees, was locking the back gate that opened onto Sethathirat Road. At night, the gate kept out dogs and the occasional traveler tempted to@4=p£×ÿ¾Û€  (less)

A hawk circling improbably high above southern Ontario sees a land mass bordered on the north by Georgian Bay, the west by Lake Huron and Lake St. Clair, the south by Lake Erie, and the east by Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe. Facing west, the hawk sees the shape of an animal in the land below, the tail heading up the Bruce Peninsula, the feet treading on Niagara Falls and Haliburton, the forehead etched by the St. Clair River, and the trunk, for this is clearly an elephant, nuzzling the cities of Windsor and Detroit.brbrAs the hawk’s spirals tighten, his path circles south central Ontario, and he skirts the flank of the elephant. His elevation decreases, and he is visible overhead from my farm, first as a speck and then recognizable, his tail fanned out, his belly streaked and his wings tipped dark. He catches good thermals over the Dundalk Plain.brbrWhen he dives for a deer mouse in my hayfield, the hawk lands, briefly, over the womb of the elephant. It is a vast open space, isolated from other farms and cushioned by soft hills and gentle valleys. It is where we came to incubate as a couple and apprentice to be stewards of the land.brbr* * * * *brbrWe arrived here in our early twenties by way of the city. Thomas was right out of medical school and keen to start a country practice in the nearby town of Murphy’s Mill. I would take on the house, the land, the creation of a life in the country. The area had been designated as medically under-serviced, and the province guaranteed an income if we stayed for four years. The land provided rich soil to extend roots, dig in and stay. Murphy’s Mill is treed and spired, a road winding in from the south like a Carrington painting or a Maud L@&B? (õÃÿ¾Û€  (less)

her boyfriend (Hagen) dumps her to marry a local wallflower one bad-ass biker babe (McBain) decides that she won t give up without a fight to the death!Chrome and Hot LeatherYesterday he was a hero. Today he s an outlaw! "Action is the prime ingredient" (Motion Picture Herald) in this "novel twist" (Variety) on a biker flick starring William Smith Tony Young Marvin Gaye and Cheryl Ladd! When a gang of low-down low-riders kills his fianc e (Ladd) Mitch (Young) a Green Beret declares his own personal war and discovers that revenge is a dish best served with a rocket launcher!System Requirements: Running Time 178 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 027616920713 Manufacturer No: 1008027  (less)

squaring-off of versions. The story line is a bit more complex, with the abominable snowman's antagonist role played by the Whoopi Goldberg-voiced Ice Queen, Stormella, and Rudolph's running buddies depicted as a polar bear (excellently voiced by Bob Newhart) and, not surprisingly, a cutesy doe, Zoey. The animation is first-rate and completely convincing, making this new Rudolph ideal for the discriminating 3- to 7-year-old viewer. Stormella looks for all the world like a hybrid of King Triton and Ursula, the Sea Witch from Disney's The Little Mermaid . As for the story, none of it is either heavyhanded on the good versus evil front for the younger set, or so sappy that it's intolerable for adults. As with so many animated features ...  (less)