When my eyes blinked open in the pre-dawn, something was nagging in that part of memory that said: “You have to do something.” It wasn’t the dream. That was about some ancient Navy stuff, nonsensical and non-threatening, and maybe triggered by the news that USS Forrestal (CV-59) was leaving Philadelphia for the 17-day drag to […]

  OK, OK, it is probably a software glitch of some kind. It probably originated in some voice recognition program, or maybe just the “autocorrect” bug that bites me all the time. It is not anything like the astonishingly inept roll-out of the Allegedly Affordable Care Act, and no one, to my knowledge, was actually […]

(The exterior of Big Pink on the eve of the Superbowl kick-off)   Today is the most amazing demonstration of the famed Weather Wall that bisects the city. Rain in Arlington and that looks like it is going to be it. Just a few miles north of here an associate of long standing is reporting four […]

(A German First World War medal awarded to submariner Paul Konig Photo: the Telegraph and CHRISTOPHER PLEDGER). If you like your weather predicted by large furry rodents, you are in luck this morning. I hope you have put some money on the Super Bowl’s outcome as predicted by the Manatees of Florida, who are going […]

(Raj and Kim at the Willow Bar- both players in the Great Game). So, one of my pals wrote this morning with the Weather Report. He said there was another of these goddamned winter storms coming this way. “Thirteenth named winter storm this year!” I wrote him back and said that while I support a […]

(Artist Frita Kahlo as a young woman in gentleman’s attire.) Rafael works his ass off. If you took his duties behind the bar at Willow as a full time job, he adds another as a pastry chef after the restaurant closes down at night, making the most extraordinary filled doughnuts. I have always liked him: […]

    (IJN Akagi maneuvering, 1941) Sorry, this is late and I am still processing The Dream. I ought to be getting my butt in gear and doing something productive. I am not much for interpretation of these night-time things, and normally do not recall much about the dreams I am sure I have all […]

I had every intent of watching the SOTU last night- I view it a duty of an informed citizen to know what sort of nonsense our rulers are spewing at any given moment. I was willing to even watch the rebuttal afterward, just to see what the inverse of the President’s opinions might be, not […]

(Robert W. Service, January 16, 1874 – September 11, 1958). Gentle Readers, I have to be on the wrong side of the Potomac way too early, and the dog sled is not ready. Accordingly, I am not going to talk about how freaking cold it is out there, or the State of the Union address […]

No, this is not going to be about the next Polar Vortex that may- or may not- be coming our way. Nor is it about the Serious Action to Protect the Planet that the President may- or may not- talk about in the State of the Union address tomorrow. I was looking at the thermometers […]