BAD, BAD CRIMINALS, part IV– South Africa by Leigh Lundin The South African Police Service is called SAPS, but from the following stories, the acronym applies to the criminals rather than the cops. When Planning a Heist, Don’t Forget the Get-Away Mthatha, Eastern Cape, SA.  If you’re going to steal booze, it’s a good idea […]

NUMB3RS, Part 4: CHOCOLATE CALCULATOR by Leigh Lundin I love the little puzzles and games readers send in, more than to be mystified, I like to demystify. Here is the fourth in our series, this time from South Beach, Florida. The best puzzles are like the best mysteries, enigmatic at first, requiring the reader to […]

A SHORT TALE by Leigh Lundin This morning when I planned to shower, an anole arrived before me. I opened the window and there he was, inside the screen, glaring at me. When I reached for him, he scampered up the screen, inside the glass. He was a juvenile, his tiny body less than 1-1/2 […]

DUMBED DOWN by Leigh Lundin According to an article from a few years ago, the American vocabulary is about two-thirds that of an educated citizen in the mid-1800s. A glance at a school primer (pronounced with a short i rather than long) shows the readers of the time to be considerably more difficult. Even compared […]

OUT of AFRICA by Leigh Lundin When one of our readers in South Africa heard James was visiting her illustrious country, she sent gently self-mocking photos of what James might be up against. It proves most of what sets us apart, is also what makes us most alike. South Africa actually tops New York City […]

YOUthanasia by Leigh Lundin Two and a half weeks ago, famed British conductor Sir Edward Downes and his wife Joan died together at a suicide clinic outside Zürich "under circumstances of their own choosing." Sir Edward was not terminally ill, but his wife was diagnosed with rapidly developing cancer. Together, they decided they did not […]

BAD, BAD CRIMINALS, part III– JAPAN by Leigh Lundin After last week’s Chinese crime news, our friend Yoshinori Todo said he hoped we wouldn’t follow up with weird crime news from Japan. If I hadn’t been thinking about it before, naturally I turned my attention to that topic. We’ve written about odd crimes in North […]