Another disastrous morning from the staff of The Daily. Twice this week I have launched off on topics that (when I got to the end of the essay) made me a bit queasy. This is another one. I think it is fairly good, and touches on some of the issues one confronts with the idea […]

(The contents of last night’s Socotra medicine chest. Clockwise from lower left, el Cubano Bitters, Deer Park Cparkling Warer, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, el Guapo Tonic Syrup and the finished product. Forget to garnish with fresh lime. Damn.). I was listening to National Public Radio yesterday afternoon as I motored in the Bluesmobile toward the Class […]

(Front, L-R, John-With, Chanteuse Mary, Lovely Jamie, Joy, (second) The Architect, TLB, Vic Incendiary, Jon-without (back) some guy and Chris-from-Montana. Photo Jasper). Now in the morning pre-dawn, smoking the first cigarette of the day- I don’t smoke in the apartment except for those irritating eCigs and looking out over the parking lot at Big Pink […]

(Heather and Liz-with-an-S. Photo Socotra.) Vincent <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000237/?ref_=tt_trv_qu> : And you know what they call a… a… a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris? Jules <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000168/?ref_=tt_trv_qu> : They don’t call it a Quarter Pounder with cheese? Vincent <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000237/?ref_=tt_trv_qu> : No man, they got the metric system. They wouldn’t know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is. […]

Man, the farm is sort of like a narcotic. I waded through another in the excellent series of NFL playoff games as I scanned old color slides from Raven’s extensive collection. This particular slide carousel contained evidence of a trip to London and Brussels conducted, according to the time stamps on the back of the […]

We are going to have a roller-coaster winter. They are talking about another Polar Vortex (there is apparently a difference from the usual Alberta Clipper) coming to town by next weekend. It may not be as severe as the last one, but it will bring the National Capital Region snow and more chaos. I mean, […]

Mister Mxyzptlk: (/mɪksˈjɛzpɪtlɪk/ US dict: mĭks·yĕz′·pĭt·lĭk or /mɪksˈjɛzpɪtəlɪk/ US dict: mĭks·yĕz′·pĭt·l·ĭk), Backwards, Klptzyxm (kil-pit-ZEE-zim /kɨlpɨtˈziːzɨm/) – Wikipedia The lights at Refuge Farm flickered briefly as I breathed the last letter of my name, spelled backwards. “V,” I said, and the great room seemed to swell and gain color and then diminish and snap back into […]

Gentle Readers, Before we get started, the wonderful author Val Ormand is reprising some old Socotra bits from the mini-series “Boondoggle” on her web site: http://believinginhorses.com/blog/2014/01/09/boondoggle  Check that for diversion, and check her books and activities. She is someone special! Vic I confess that as jaded as I have been about the current state of […]

I bundled up for the trip down to the lobby at Big Pink, hoping to see Rhonda, the generous den mother to the 700 of us who live in this large dusty mauve building. Leo the Engineer was at the desk, and periodically speaking in Spanglish on the walky-talky mode on his phone. I greeted […]

(The complete USCG Ice Breaker inventory- both of them together at McMurdo Sound in Antartica). Goodness, there is a lot to consider this morning. It is exactly fifty years since Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty, and I was amazed to hear his declaration on NPR this morning. I forget how creepie that guy was. […]