Of all the gin joints in all the world ...

Photo courtesy of the "new" Rick's

Much of the world is intimately familiar with Rick's Cafe Americain, the site of most of the action in the 1942 film classic "Casablanca."

In fact, some are so smitten with the film they feel as if they've been to Rick's. Not possible, of course, since it was merely a movie set on a Hollywood back lot.

However, Kathy Kriger, a 61-year-old former U.S. diplomat, took care of that the last time Leap Year Day rolled around.

She captured the ambience of the film and has turned a 1930s seaside mansion into a landmark in the exotic Moroccan city, giving it the look and atmosphere of the film. She marked the fourth anniversary of the "re-opening" of Rick's this Feb. 29.

Check out a Reuters feature story on the enterprise here, or go right to Rick's Web site here.

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ON THE WEB
• The Marvels of Casablanca
• Lonely Planet Guide to Morocco
• Dowd's Guides

Well, if you have to be stranded ...

From the DailyRecord.com.uk

• Islanders had just caviar and whisky to live on after their supply ship was cut off for a week by storms

The 125 residents on Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides are completely dependent on the mainland for all their food. They're used to keeping plenty of dry and powdered goods stored away for rough weather, but milk and fresh produce can run out after just a few days.

Last week, after a bout of stormy weather, the island missed two vital deliveries, leaving the only shop with just a few jars of caviar and bottles of whisky on the shelves.

Shopkeeper Mike McNicholl said: "When you miss one boat, you have a run on supplies but it's not normally too bad. Once we miss two, however, we're really in trouble."

Islanders were left fighting over the last of the rations before a ship managed to make the journey across with much-needed supplies on Wednesday night.

Mike added: "We have a perfect, idyllic lifestyle -- apart from when we don't get the boat and we don't have anything to eat."

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ON THE WEB
• Inner Hebrides
• Visitor's Introduction to Colonsay
• Dowd's Guides