RELATIVELY RECENT NEWS… : Over the past year and a half I’ve been participating in a study run by radiologist Brian Witcombe of the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in Gloucester, UK, on the physiological effects of sword swallowing, which has been destined for publication in the prestigious British Medical Journal.

The original short article that preceded the full research appeared in the British Medical Journal back in 2005 and received coverage on Boing Boing (coincidentally one of my favorite blogs). The full article, co-authored by Mr. Witcombe and my former business partner with whom I founded the Sword Swallowers’ Association International oh-so-many years ago, was finally released last month. Since then it has received coverage by virtually every media outlet, be it print, television, radio or Internet.

Cold Mountain Cafe, Bethlehem, NH

Those who have read any of my other reviews have by now discovered that I have a penchant for finding out-of-the-way cafes in obscure backwaters that often function as a beacon of light in the middle of nowhere. Cold Mountain Cafe is no exception to this rule.

Bethlehem, NH is a strange little place. Nestled in the White Mountains of the granite state, most visitors are so as a result of happenstance. You see, Bethlehem is “on the way” to some great New Hampshire skiing; but unless you’re a local, an Orthodox Jew or have come for the low pollen count or hordes of antique stores with hours as odd as their owners, there’s really no reason to be in this northern New Hampshire town. Robert Frost once wrote of the area’s “pang…that makes poetry”. It’s a lonely, obscure little place.