Etc...

Let's not go there

Sometimes, when a new restaurant opens, you just have to question whether the proprietors know what they're doing. Take the concept behind a two-week-old cafe in Phom Penh, Cambodia. It is designed to remind the city's residents and visitors of the genocide under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s. For starters, it is across the street from the regime's notorious S-21 interrogation and torture center. Then, too, its wait staff dress in black fatigue uniforms, just as the communist guerillas did. The menu? Well, patrons may select salted rice water with leaves. Or, corn mixed with dove eggs and accompanied by tea. Price: $6. Alas, customers so far have been staying away in droves. Said manager Hakpry Agnchealy, whose grandfather died in the genocide: "We don't know how much longer we can go."

With the Major League Baseball playoffs under way, many fans are waiting to see if either the Boston Red Sox or the Houston Astros can continue a run of three straight World Series championships by "wild card" teams. When baseball changed its postseason format in 1995 to add one team in each league with the best non-division- winning record, the idea was to balance the playoff format with a fourth team in each circuit and to generate more fan interest. So far, the experiment has shown that these wild cards can be the hottest teams when it counts most. The wild cards, with those that have gone on to win league (*) and World Series (**) championships since the format was introduced:

American / National

1995 Yankees / Rockies
1996 Orioles / Dodgers
1997 Yankees / Marlins**
1998 Red Sox / Cubs
1999 Red Sox / Mets
2000 Mariners / Mets*
2001 A's / Cardinals
2002 Angels** / Giants*
2003 Red Sox / Marlins**
2004 Red Sox** / Astros
2005 Red Sox / Astros