"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
It’s all stuff
It was enormously disappointing to watch Jon Stewart fluffing Mau Mau Mike Huckabee on Wednesday’s Daily Show. Oh, Stewart gently nibbled at him about his support for right-wing fundamentalist David Barton, but he didn’t challenge any of his evasive answers. He didn’t mention Huckabee’s advocacy of religious indoctrination at gunpoint, nor did he bring up […]
I’m packing for a motorcycle trip to Nevada and Utah, tomorrow through Monday. In Las Vegas I’ll stay with a friend, visit with the kids and grandkids, and take some day rides around southern Nevada; on Sunday my son and I are going on an all-day out & back ride to southwestern Utah, with Gregory […]
Donna saves change in a decorative wooden box, which I’m raiding this morning for quarters. It’s take-the-motorcycle-to-the-car-wash day. I’m going on a cross-country ride to Nevada and Utah later this week, and it just wouldn’t feel right to start a big trip on a dirty bike. I read somewhere that the coin-op car wash industry […]
A friend asked me which Superbowl ads I liked best. The very idea of advertising rubs me the wrong way, even though I grant the necessity — have I not plugged my own blogs here and there around the internets? Still, watching and critiquing Superbowl ads has become a tradition, and who am I to […]
Just back from the annual classic & collector car show at Tubac, Arizona, a retirement boutique settlement near the border town of Nogales. I really should call it a classic, collector, & enthusiast car show, since there were several groupings of PT Cruisers, new generation (2002-2005) Thunderbirds, and Saturn Sky/Pontiac Solstice two-seaters. But there were […]
It’s the slack time between Christmas and New Year’s, and to all appearances, not much is going on. Jon Stewart’s on vacation, so nothing’s happening in Washington DC or the outside world. Current events are in short supply. Current events at Chez Paul? Also in short supply. We’re enjoying quiet nights at home. There’s only […]
This is Sinterklaas, the Dutch Santa. Formerly the Archbishop of Turkey, Sint Nicolaas, Sinterklaas is shown with two of his Zwarte Pieten (there are six to eight Zwarte Pieten — “Black Petes” — originally Moorish slaves, but today more gently described as servants or even companions). Sinterklaas arrives in The Netherlands each November by steamboat […]
How’s the new Barnes & Noble Nook working out, you ask? I guess I owe you a preliminary review, so here goes: I want to first say first that I took to e-books and e-reading immediately. The Nook is about the size and weight of a trade paperback; a pleasure to hold. I love the […]