(French King Henry III ‘s “L’Ordre du Saint-Esprit.” Hung from a blue ribbon or “un cordon bleu” it became associated with the lavish and decadent feasts held by the Order. Photo Le Cordon Blue)   Pool Czar Peter was stalking around the deck of the pool late yesterday when I strolled in from a […]

The title of the book is a little florid for my taste, though I certainly appreciate the value of a good blade, be it on an instrument as long as your arm, or something better suited for the satisfying clean plunge through a tomato.   I would tell you about the expensive plastic part that […]

Gentle readers, this is something important about the situation in the Gulf, and these are the words of my friend Ray, who is authoritative on marine matters. What he says is worth taking onboard, since the media has the oil spill in its teeth and is fanning hysteria. Ray comments that the disaster is real, […]

(Frozen Jumbo Shrimp, image courtesy Food Mayhem 2010) I was peeling some shrimp last night to sauté in garlic and extra virgin olive oil. It has been steamy hot lately, the great slump into the long season of simmering heat here that always starts a few weeks before the building HVAC is cut over to […]

(Kelly-the-attorney, late of Oakton, on her 30th birthday/ All Photos Socotra)  I am still in a  bit of a daze this morning. There is a fog hanging around, mentally, anyway, and a lot of mail piled up while I checked out to attend the Virginia Gold Cup at Great Meadow in Faquier County yesterday.   […]

No Story today- we are headed for the Virginia Gold Cup! Copyright 2010 Vic Socotra www.vicsocotra.com Subscribe to the RSS feed!

(Deepwater Horizon burning prior to sinking. Photo Rueters/Coast Guard) If nothing else, the month ends with all of us stuck between a rock and a hard spot. I will grant you that I am querulous at the end of this calendar box. The San Jose Sharks beat my Red Wings in game one in the […]

Lochiel, Lochiel! beware of the day When the Lowlands shall meet thee in battle array! For a field of the dead rushes red on my sight, And the clans of Culloden are scattered in fight.   -Campbell   I don’t know what documents my Scottish forbearers had to have when the King decided to clear […]

  “No, Steve, I think its more like we both have a rich neighbor named Xerox, and you broke in to steal the TV set, and you found out I’d been there first, and you said. “Hey that’s no fair! I wanted to steal the TV set!” – Bill Gates’ response to Steve Jobs, after […]

(President for Life Manuel Noriega) I am still feeling the effects of the weekend ramble across the vastness of the eastern heartland of America. In a way, the traumatic effect on the body has been good; I did not for an instant think about Financial Reform; the Johnson County War; Oil and Gas law; or […]