Matt Leacock doesn’t remember exactly how he got the idea for his board game. “I was a new dad… you’re kind of in a haze when you’re short on sleep,” he tells EXTRA with a laugh. He does remember wanting to create a game that he could play with his wife. He had loved and [...]
The Spanish say, “After three days, fish and houseguests get old.” In my experience, sometimes the guests get old faster than the fish. To quote a more modern phrase, “Don’t be that guy.” It’s not difficult to be a good houseguest, but it makes all the difference. The main thing you need to have is [...]
This feature originally appeared on the cover of Extra Newspaper. ——- Brewer Randy Mosher is a partner at the new 5 Rabbit Cerveceria but he has been known in homebrewing and “Beer Nerd” circles for years. Mostly because Mosher wrote and designed the eye-catching and popular home brewing guide “Radical Brewing” and “The Brewer’s Companion.” [...]
It’s amazing what can be communicated just through facial expressions and gestures. Often a simple transaction, like a purchase, doesn’t need any words at all. It is more difficult to communicate through gestures if you’re trying to explain to a doctor that you have an allergy to penicillin or need direction on the metro. Learning [...]
Aside from writing a travel column for Extra I have also written some features. This one was on the cover of the August 18th issue ——- Congratulations on your matriculation! You have made it to college, and while it’s likely many of your friends didn’t get this far you have, and this is your chance [...]
Food from afar can seem strange. Meats and spices from different countries sometimes appear to come from different worlds. Some flavors and dishes, however, reach beyond the boundaries of the country or culture that spawned them. These treats are too popular to remain provincial delicacies. Among these are licorice-tasting, anise-flavored liquors. Whether because of cultural [...]
What can you eat anywhere? When you’re traveling there are many questions that continually plague a person in a new country. Where to stay, what the currency conversion is, whether to bow, kiss, or shake hands when introduced. But there is nothing as universal as food. Business or pleasure, short trip or long, seeing family or [...]
In a recent article in the New York Times Frugal Traveler blogger Seth Kugel offered the advice that “Galleries are frugal travelers’ museums: not only are they nearly always free and nearly never musty, but they also provide insight into the local arts scene that would otherwise require a lot of trendy-cafe eavesdropping.” When I [...]
It’s easy to find something to do in downtown Chicago. In the summer cultural events, compete with world class museums and historic sites to attract the attention of out of town visitors. But as my grandmother often said, “all the world can’t be London and Paris.” Travelers often find themselves a little farther of the [...]
On the high dry Jalisco lands two hours outside of Guadalajara, there is a little town called Tequila. Not the drink, but the drink’s hometown. This tiny village is about a third the population of Evanston, on rolling hills. It’s a half mile above sea level and only a short distance from the Pacific. It [...]
