I had a great Christmas Day, and hope you did as well. The early travel from the City to the Country was a delight on uncontested roads, with middling sunshine and temperatures that soared to near sixty. There was not a lot to open under the tree- no tree- and taken in toto it […]

 (The Washington Choral Arts Society Artistic Director Scott Tucker leads the chorus. Photo Choral Arts Society). My pal, Senior Executive Jerry, is a tenor in the Choral Arts Society. He alerts me to cool performances as that are scheduled, and they are a remarkable institution here in the District of Distraction. SEJ needs a […]

 If you have not received a photo essay called “The People of WalMart,” you are the poorer for it. There are several such collections, each more horrifying than the other about the mental state of our fellow citizens. The image above is among the most benign, and I include it because it is at […]

I talk a lot about Tracy O’Grady, executive chef and co-owner of the best darn watering hole I have ever found. It is easy- she is earnest and outgoing and a real people-person. I had her baby kale salad last night as a light entree, and I have to tell you the food at her […]

(High Endurance Cutter Campbell (W-32) on Caribbean migrant patrol. Photo USCG). God bless the Coasties- there is not a finer bunch of Americans anywhere. We are blessed to have their presence here in Traverse City. My respect for them began when we got rescued in a 36ft Columbia yacht when we had run out of […]

(The Macellum of Classical Puteoli, now know as Pozzuoli. It isn’t always just launching aircraft and stumbling around ashore on cruise. Sometimes you have to experience culture. In February of 1990 we happened to be in Naples and I hooked up with my Pal, The Judge, who exposed me to some high culture and local […]

 (Stonehenge in Snow. Picture courtesy Paul Robinson via BBC). This is the fourth attempt at a story this morning. The first one was a polemic about something really important I won’t bore you with; the second another polemic about something else that bothers me intensely about the PC thugs; the third a fun romp […]

There is plenty we could talk about this morning. We could talk about the apparent surrender to cyberhackers of the North Korean Army, who have succeeded in vanquishing the American First Amendment, and to which I have seen no credible response. Nor any to the Chinese who are merrily penetrating every computer network in the […]

(Lobby poster in Socialist Realist style promoting the new Seth Rogan film which apparently irritated some people. The Sony Pouters Corporation has the copyright on that, just like they did everything else they owned. Image Sony Pictures). I had one of the new hundred dollar bills in my wallet and paid for lunch with it. […]

There were no significant adventures yesterday- sorry, I was on a roll there for a couple days. I made it back up north from the farm, it was a great day for a drive, the sky blue, temperatures in the fifties and nice and sunny. The car handled well, and life was good, if uneventful. […]