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I never heard of Dave Barry until the television show called "Dave's World" caught my interest. Dave, played by Harry Anderson in the show, is a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for The Miami Herald. Now I look forward to his column every Friday -- even though you can't believe a thing he writes.

This week I was very pleasantly surprised to find that Dave went to Nagano, Japan, to cover the Olympic Games. In addition to his weekly column he writes other stories about current events like local politics and, most recently, Monica-gate. And now, with Dave in Japan, I've been enjoying a new installment from him every day.

Although he began his Olympian series a week earlier, with a report on the first event -- getting to Nagano -- I didn't notice it until last Sunday when I finished writing my own weekly composition. I'm not sure why, because I don't normally do so, but I decided to re-read last Friday's harangue on road rage. I haven't really been paying much attention to the games this year but according to Dave it involves spending a lot of time on a bus.

Not only did I get to catch-up on Dave's adventures with several insightful reports from Japan last Sunday, but I also got to enjoy a new report each day since. Beginning with his arrival, he's been sending his somewhat skewed accounts of his particularly singular observations. From the opening ceremony, to the Japanese culture -- including the food -- to informative news conferences; Dave, in his own unique style relates to his readers his Olympic experience.

While he didn't cover all of the events, he did offer an in-depth explanation of the sport of Curling. He even got to try it, which explained why he was there as a journalist and not as an athlete. And even if he didn't tell us who won the luge event, he made sure we were all aware of the scandal involving illegal German booties, as well as another scandal involving dope-smoking snowboarders -- but no scandal involving Monica Lewinsky. With throngs of spectators crowding each venue, Dave admits that he couldn't even see what was going on most of the time, but that didn't stop him from reporting on the ski-jump competition.

After spending more than a week on a bus, I guess that Dave needed to take a break from the games. Somehow -- he doesn't say how -- he broke his reading glasses, which provided a good excuse to get away from the droves to visit some local merchants, thereby providing additional insight into the giving nature of the Japanese people. Dave's complaints about the bus and the crowds not withstanding, he had nothing but good things to say about his hosts. And not only did I get to enjoy these reports, but Dave, in addition to his role as correspondent, also published his regular weekly column on Friday, so I got to learn a little bit about manners as well.

My favorite event of the winter Olympics has always been the bobsled competition. I sure hope that Dave sends back some news from that venue next week -- and maybe he'll even be able to get close enough to actually see it.