Arts & Culture

Up until last week, the legendary sword-fighting scene in The Princess Bride—where Inigo Montoya and ‘the man in black’ show off their skills on a mountaintop—pretty much summed up my fencing knowledge.

“You seem a decent fellow, I hate to kill you,” Montoya says.

“You seem a decent fellow, I hate to die,” responds the man in black.

The music picks up, followed by the sharp clanking of swords and it’s all pretty dramatic and entertaining.

The first time I went to Pacific Heights, I expected to be surrounded by mansions, flower gardens, and expensive boutiques. Those weren't difficult to find, but while sitting in Lafayette Park during my first visit, I was surprised to see eight story apartment buildings nestled in between gold trimmed Victorian houses. That's when I began to investigate what was behind that juxtaposition – and what it meant in a neighborhood with a history of fighting up-zoning to preserve its dignified nature.

The US dominates in many Olympic sports – track and field, swimming, basketball. But, one sport the US has never won a medal for is table tennis.

This year, the US team is hoping to change that. It’s going to be challenging. Only 4 players qualified to compete on the 2012 US Olympic Table Tennis team. Three of those four live and train right here in the Bay Area at an unlikely Olympic training ground – a converted warehouse that’s part of the Indian Community Center in Milpitas (ICC).