The Digital Tavern - For The Sake of Clarity

After my nap we went shopping for a new battery for my bike. After nine months of non-operation I was sure the battery was dead. But this task turned out to be more than a challenge than I expected. Motorcycle travelers in South America told me there’d be no problem finding a battery. In fact I was told many of the bikes used to deliver pizza and other goods all used the same battery. We found one with the right specs, but the positive and negative terminal posts were in the wrong position. The battery compartment in my bike is extremely tight. And there’s not a lot of room for cables nor extra cable length. After visiting three battery distributors we gave up and agreed that we’d simply jump start the bike tomorrow. And if all else failed, take it to get charged and then move on.

My bike was so close. Yet still two hours away in Potosi. Tomorrow will be a drive through arid central highlands of Bolviia to the highest city of the world. I certainly hope Doc starts up.

Jorge and my new friend Dhery are very prominent players in Bolivian television. Jorge is the general manager for more than a half-dozen stations throughout Bolivia. Business had him stuck in Tarija, a mid-sized Bolivian city about 10 hours to the south. Dhery runs the station in Potosi. After a quick walk around my hotel, I headed to Dhery’s station where I was given the grand tour and introduced to the staff.

In Joy Rides Cafe, a hip restaurant, cafe and bar run by Dirk, a Dutch motorcyclist who had met several other moto travelers I’ve been in contact with in the past, I shared a Bolivian white wine with Dhery and his wife Christina while swapping moto stories with Dirk.

(l) One of the studios and talent at ATB in Sucre, Boliva (r) Dhery Prieto, my guide, procurement legend and driver until Doc rides again!

Tomorrow is the big day. Two hours to Potosi. And caution to the wind, I hope Doc starts and I don’t get stage fright trying to ride it back to Sucre!

There’s something about going back the wrenches my mind and my gastrointestinal system. I’d be foolish to think that all that was required was to simple show up in Bolivia, hop on my bike and continue the journey. It’s not that easy. And the mind plays tricks. First, 9 long months have passed. Sure, my leg feels better but it’s not as strong as the good leg. I haven’t ridden a motorcycle in 9 months. I’m 9 months older. I’ve spent 9 months at sea level and will get dropped into the highest city of the world. I’m scared.

The first leg of my journey was unbelievable. And after 21,000 miles and 7 solid months of traveling — most of it alone — I was in the groove. Rhythm and to some degree routine made travel easy. I mean after just 2 months things just clicked. That is until Doc decided to heave its 500 lb. body in the mud and land on my leg. But that’s old news. Traveling for me was ubiquitous. It’s what I did. The fact I started the journey by going North to Alaska was intentional. Get warmed up. By the time I crossed the border in Honduras I was a pro. Colombia was a blessing. Ecuador tore at my eye and my heart. Peru and Bolivia. Well, Peru & Bolivia. Amazing.

But for 9 months I’ve been sucked in and swallowed by the comforts and conveniences of southern California, companionship of friends old and new. Bolivia was tugging at my heart but Southern California and the prospect of returning was playing with my mind and vying for my heart.

When I plopped the first of my 6 bags on the scale at the counter of American Airlines at Lindbergh Field in San Diego Airport I was ill prepared for what filled my ears.

“Uh oh. There’s a baggage embargo for all flights on American going to Bolivia.”

“Huh?” I choked out as I threw another bag on the scale.

“You can only check two bags. Period.”

My jaw hit the counter with a thud. Impossible I explained. Impossible. The on duty manager explained there was nothing she could do about this. The agent, manager and another employee stepped in.

“We can change your ticket and you can deal with shipping your things and fly later this week.” After two false starts for my return to Bolivia there was no way I could communicate with Jorge and local Bolivian Airline that would take me from La Paz to Sucre in time to make this kind of change.

“We can get you to LA and you can deal with American Airlines cargo and fly tomorrow.” Same problem. Plus the customs bill of lading would require a listing of everything I’ve packed. My mind swirled with what that task would entail.

I was turning red. Trying to stay calm. My pleas for making an exception fell on the deaf ears of the manager on duty who’s beautiful blue eyes were no match for the sharp angles of her face and her chilling manner.

I tried calling American Airlines. It’d been quite a few years since I’d been on American. Never my favorite airline and particularly in a post 9.11 world I’d rather fly a nondescript airline. But American is the only airline with flights from the USA directly to Bolivia. And there’s one each day that leaves at 11:20pm from Miami.

I was determined to be on that flight.

American still doesn’t have a voice recognition system for its toll-free lines. And it’s system wouldn’t recognize the tone beeps when I pressed the keypad on my cellular phone. After the 4th time I was ready to scream. My extreme curtness and indifference to a guy asking for directions to the bathroom made me realize I was letting this situation take control of me. TIme for the reversal.

I called Orbitz. With a more current phone system and as agent they put all of us on a conference call with an American Airlines supervisor. Once again, she could do nothing. I demanded to escalate. She said there was no reason. Appealing to her with my condition and everything else I could throw into the mix I finally got her to leak out some advice. Ask for the American Airlines Airport Manager. She wouldn’t say for sure, but insinuated he’d be the only person on the planet at this time, with this schedule who could find a way to get my excess baggage checked.

Steve appeared for a moment and said that even if he let me check the bags chances were they’d never get on the plane in Miami. I had three legs to my journey: Dallas, Miami, La Paz. The fourth leg had nothing to do with American or Orbitz. But that’s another story.

The only word in this that I heard was “IF”. On this day in the busy and billowing terminal at Lindbergh field “IF” was the most positive word in the universe. I told the agent that I’d be willing to accept the risk and the hassle should my bags get embargoed in Miami. She called Steve back but he was in a meeting and would be available in 15 minutes. After an hour the agent looked worried and then went looking for him. To be sure, I was a good flyer on this day fully prepared to go by the book. I was at the airport 3 hours early and all my liquids and gels were safely packed in my baggage - my excess baggage - to be checked.

I was running out of my three hours and the flight was minutes from pre-boarding when Steve finally showed up.

“We won’t be liable,” he said matter of factly. “I’ll make sure she notes it in the record.” I once again assured him that in evaluating all of my options and apply several risk ratios that I was prepared to take the risk. When I asked him if there was a way I could find out in Miami if some of my bags wouldn’t make it. He leaned over and out of the side of his mouth said in the way only someone from Jersey or the south side of Chicago could say. “I wouldn’t say nothin’ or talk to no one about it.” In seconds he disappeared through a door behind the counter. Unfortunately, the ordeal cost me $400 in excess baggage fees.

The agent looked at me holding up a bar-coded baggage tag, “How many bags did you have?”

“Six.” I said looking on the floor and the conveyor belt behind the counter. “I had six bags, they’re all gone now.”

“I thought so,” she said with a panicked look on her face as she picked up the phone and tried to dial numbers with her acrylic nails.”

She sent one of my bags down the conveyor without a baggage claim.

Great. I was sure that TSA would see this and cal in the bomb squad and evacuate the airport. She hung up the phone, stuck the tag to a plastic bucket and sent it down the conveyor. By now my flight was boarding, I still needed to go through security with my carry on bags, feeling like I’m going to end up in La Paz with only a portion of my bags and was reeling in the thought that one of my bags would never get tagged and I’d end up in Bolivia without my riding suit and helmet. Good god.

To make matters worse, every flight was overbooked. Standby passengers were turned away. I ended up in two middle seats for the first two legs of the journey. Not even enough time between flights to plead for a change, I lucked out on the longest leg to La Paz — a well deserved aisle.

In La Paz by the time I passed through immigration the bags were already coming up the conveyor. I grabbed a couple of the free baggage cards in anticipation. Soon all the carts were gone and passengers were ogling my double dose with crossed eyes and folded arms. I held steady. And waited. And waited.

One large duffel looked like mine. But no avail. Then rounding the corner I spotted my first bag — a cardboard box containing one half of my Jesse bags. I waited. Then I spotted the large duffel. Some of the sweat ebbed and my heart slowed. Then I noticed the same bags making the circle on the carousel. A women with glasses perched on the edge of her nose, clutching a clipboard and pencil checked baggage tags on the unclaimed bags. Turns out she was searching for bags that didn’t make the flight from Miami yesterday - or was it the day before. The area in baggage claim thinned as did the bags coming up the conveyor.

I was doomed. I got my damn two bags and would have to go to Sucre and then come back in a day to La Paz. My heart sank.

Then another group of bags came cruising up the conveyor in dense clusters. Could it be? Yes. There was my dry bag duffel #1. And there’s #2. I had 66% of my luggage. I waited. But the bags thinned and I was standing nearly alone when a few more bags including the remaining two crested the top of the conveyor and fell into my wanting arms.

They made it. I made it. I guess this is just part of warming up.

My bags made it to La Paz. It’s a miracle.

After a short 40 minute flight to Sucre I was greeted by Dhery, an associate of Jorge, the gentlemen who’d been storing my motorcycle. Turns out it is his house in Potosi where my bike is stored. He swiftly got me checked into an economical but clean hotel in central Sucre and suggested I nap after my more than 20 hour journey to Bolivia. I thought that was funny. It had taken me 7 months to get to Bolviia the first time. This was just too fast.

It was an idyllic southern California night complete with a burning orange and red sunset, gentle breeze swaying postcard palm trees and John Hiatt with North Mississippi Allstars (NMAS) tearing up the stage at Humphrey's By The Bay in San Diego. Toward the end of his 90-minute set Hiatt said “the weathermen said it was going to rain…I guess they were wrong like they always are,” before ripping into his rocking set closing number The Tiki Bar Is Open where the synergy of Hiatt's 30+ years performing experience combined with the youthful energy of NMAS driving rhythm section brought the crowd to their feet. It's summertime in SoCal.

The rain actually came the night before clearing the air and washing away any doubt of bad weather reinforcing once more that Humphrey's By The Sea is perhaps the quintessential intimate California outdoor live music venue. And judging by Hiatt's perpetual smile and ubiquitous dose of facial expressions and grimaces, he was there not only to entertain the almost sold-out show but to have serious fun.

To be sure, this is not the first Hiatt show I've attended. A couple years ago he did an interesting mini-tour with peer singer-songwriter guitarists Joe Ely, Guy Clark and Lyle Lovett. And just before recording his latest release, Master of Disaster, he performed a solo acoustic show where he tested some songs off the new album at the venerable Coach House in San Juan Capistrano - you can read my review of that show here.

Humphrey's By The Bay on San Diego's Shelter Island is a waterfront hotel, gourmet restaurant and outdoor theatre. In the early 80's it started what was then a summer smooth jazz concert series. Besides Hiatt, the 1300-seat outdoor theater, now in its 25th year and thanks to California's endless summer sees more than 80 nights of music and comedy this year including Boz Scaggs, Lyle Lovett, India Arie, Blues Traveler, Queensryche and Emmy Lou Harris — a wonderfully diverse and more interesting lineup than the smooth jazz Humprey's started with years ago.

Tonight's show opened up with a short electric set by the North Mississippi Allstars, Hiatt's supporting band featuring Luther and Cody Dickinson on guitar and drums and Chris Chew on bass. The Dickinson brothers are sons of legendary Memphis record producer Jim Dickinson=. Ironic enough, the elder Dickinson produced Hiatt's 21st album Master of Disaster which this tour is featuring and promoting.

I was unfamiliar with the three-time nominated North Mississippi Allstars prior to attending this concert and based on reports from other dates on Hiatt's tour I expected an acoustic bluesy rock set from the up and coming NMAS. Instead, the youthful band delivered a mix of rhythm and blues and rock providing the perfect soundtrack to the setting sun. The set featured drummer Cody Dickinson playing his funky washboard to the driving beat of Chew's bass and brother Luther and helper on drums — the most unique washboard solo I've ever heard. Luther Dickinson's slide guitar work was also a surprise but his vocals were lost in the mix and lacked punch and soul — perhaps he's shy and not comfortable fronting the larger venue. And his lack of audience eye contact wasn't helped by the flap of hair hanging in his face. But judging from the sound and audience reaction this band is one to watch as they grow together — and I'm sure several months on the road with legend and performing mentor John Hiatt will will help blend confidence and experience making for a tasty future for the Hernando, Mississippi trio.

Commanding the stage after a short 15-minute intermission Hiatt delivered the goods throughout a 16 song set that blended songs from his latest release with a handful of amped-up versions of Hiatt classics proving that the 54-year old performer not only still has the song-writing chops but has the guts and energy to inject new life into his timeless songs. And keeping them timely is something Hiatt does best. During a rock n' roll driving version of his Memphis In The Meantime from his 1987 release Bring on the Family Hiatt brought the lyrics current by replacing Ronnie Milsap with Brad Paisley:

Not ‘till hell freezes over, maybe you can wait that long,
But I don’t think Brad Paisley's ever gonna record this song

Still, sitting in the restaurant prior to the show I shared a taste of wine with the folks at the table next to me and the conversation quickly turned to John Hiatt. “When I told people I was going to see John Hiatt tonight, they all said 'Who?'”, the gentleman in his early 40's said to me. And perhaps that's the good thing about John Hiatt. Though many may not know him by name, more people know his songs for Bonnie Raitt, Iggy Pop, Conway Twitty, Three Dog Night, B.B. King, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt and Eric Clapton have all covered his songs. Looking around at the handful of empty seats on the grass at Humphrey's I'm amazed that tickets for Hiatt were still available as he began his set yet Queensryche is sold out for a show two months from now.

Hiatt rock n' roll opener, the title track from his early 90's release Perfectly Good Guitar and driven by Luther Dickinson's masterful slide guitar work, set the tone for the rest of the concert: this wasn't going to be acoustic folk show playing homage to roots music. Instead, the band launched into driving versions of Buffalo River Home and Your Dad Did and then metamorphosing the normally folkie Howlin' Down The Cumberland into a rocking blues anthem. And taking the lyrics up a notch Hiatt jumped into his own take on Da Vinci code controversy lamenting the destiny and whereabouts of love and affection in Love's Not Where We Thought We Left It:

“The apostles were jealous
Of Mary Magdalene and Jesus
Said why do you love her more than us
Jesus turned back in disgust
Said why do I love her more than you
The answer is a question
Just ask yourself what can I do
To gain my lord's affection

Love's not where you thought you left it
Who took the last of love and kept it
Caged love in tried to protect it
Love's not where we thought we left it”

After the crowd raising Tiki Bar Hiatt returned to the stage sans NMAS to sing the soulful Have A Little Faith solo on the piano then brought the crowd back to their feet and singing along to Slow Turning, perhaps his only top 10 hit in his more than 30 year musical career. So while Hiatt may not sit in the mainstream, his music, songwriting, performance combined with the amazing talent he surrounds himself with means he'll always have an audience in me and the other several hundred friends that joined me last night for a California night of rock n' roll and good wine.

I almost forgot and let the week go by without thinking about it. It's an important milestone for me. Actually this week marks two anniversaries of sorts. First it was 4 months ago this week that I broke my leg in Bolivia and had to be Medivad'd back to the states for surgery. More on how my recovery is coming along is here.

The second anniversary is that of The Digital Tavern - the blog I started on May 16, 2002. Ah, the good old days when the word blog still had a couple years before it would seep into the nomenclature of pop culture and still more than three years before nearly every major newspaper would have its own “blogs”. It was arguably then Vermont governor Howard Dean who jolted blogging into the mainstream. Dean's failed 2004 presidential bid was marked by the successful use of the internet and his Blog For America / Democracy For America blog as a grass roots fundraising campaign. While on the campaign trail Dean frequently blogged about his experiences and efforts to “take back America.” By the time the presidential primary race was running full steam virtually every candidate had some sort of blog. And back then I ranted a bit about how perhaps it was time to lose the word “blog”.

But that's ancient history. Today blogging is taken serious and many bloggers are credited with breaking news stories, exposing corporate and political wrong-doing and for raising awareness on both sides of virtually every issue. Sure blogging has also become the next-millennium teenage diary for teenage girls and the the success of pseudo-blogging platform MySpace has taken the place of underground radio and Rolling Stone Magazine as a way for musical artists to break new music to fans worldwide.

In 2003 I reflected about the artistry of blogging and why blog. It's interesting to read these three years later.

So rather than write another post about why blogging and what's it for, I invite you to take a trip back and re-read some of those old posts that I've linked to on this page. Meanwhile, I've been four years blogging and four years using what back then was the premier and arguably “first” blogging platform Radio. Today Radio is a fraction of what it used to be and while I've complained and lamented the possibility of moving to something new, I've actually started making progress. For those of you who know my WorldRider blog you'll remember I chose not to use Radio but went with Movable Type and host the blog myself. Migrating The Digital Tavern to a new platform is taking a lot of work. I'm not done yet, but some of the links here do point to my “work in progress” new home for the tavern on a WordPress blog. Later I'll “blog” about the whole experience.

Till then Happy Birthday/Anniversary to The Digital Tavern. Thanks for stopping by!

Seems Doc is intrigued by the latest Palm Treo SmartPhone announcement. That is until he discovered the new Treo 700 would only be offered on the Verizon and Sprint Networks. Back in the day Verizon and Sprint were the only carriers pushing the CDMA standard — something I believe San Diego-based Qualcomm developed while the rest of the world was paving the cellular highway with GSM technology. I blew off Verizon more than 5 years ago. Why? The worst customer service and the lack of compatibility outside the “walled garden” of Verizon's neighborhood.

After a short stint with Nextel I moved to T-Mobile. Not that I'm a German sympathizer (Deutsche Telecom owns T-Mobile) but they offered the best value and they were early adopters in building WiFi networks (Starbucks). Plus, I could by any GSM phone and not be restricted by the petty offerings the carrier sold. Instead, I jumped in head first and bought a Symbian-based Sony Ericsson Smartphone - the P900. After I beat the crap out of that phone I moved to its successor the P910i. This phone offered unmatched international capability meaning I could use it on GSM networks in Central and South America, Asia and Europe. Sure, I'd pay out the nose for access. Or, I could simply by GSM chips as I traveled. But because these phones are rather pricey, the carrier doesn't offer it. However you can buy it directly from SonyEriicsson or any number of independent resellers.
Here in the USA the GSM phone offered adequate GPRS capability and with the 910i push-email. Combine that with compatibility to read PDF, MS Office and other ubiquitous files I had no reason to go back to the lame Palm OS I abandoned with my Verizon Kyocera Palm-based Smartphone in 2002. Good bye. There's no reason to be carrying a Windows CE device nor an antiquated OS like Palm. The Symbian OS is open source and the Sony Ericsson syncs seamlessly with Mac OS X 10.4.x. What more could I ask. Or could Doc for that matter?

Now I'm waiting for the new Sony Ericsson P990. Though they've compromised some “power user” features on the new phone, the addition of more memory, WiFi and more means I'll probably have to indulge.

Very proud of my friend Brian who never ceases to amaze me with his ideas, creativity, writing and business sense. I never knew he would let those pesky plastic wall anchors that come with just about every home or office accessory that need to be mounted on a wall get the best of him. But the way I figure it, he’s been frustrated for years. But rather than get a prescription from his local shrink to tame his anxiety, fear and depression from such things, he took his health and mindset into his own hands and assumed responsibility for his well being and did something about it. But jis tenacity and wanton now may help the rest of the population suffering from such “anchor anxiety”. You see a few years ago solved the problem by coming up with an idea that would make hanging things on the wall (or ceiling) much easier and more secure than traditional screw anchors, toggle bolts and the slew of other devices that litter the hardware store’s shelves.

For the sake of his mind and body, he set out to make a better mousetrap.

The result is the Raptor Hammer-in Wall Anchor. The key differentiator with the anchor’s you’ve painfully hassled with in the past? Simple. You hammer it into the wall. No need to scramble to find the right drill bit. Simply pull out your rusty old hammer and nail that raptor into the wall. Once your Raptor is secure in the wall you use a wide range of screws, which unlike other hollow-wall fasteners, Raptor Anchors accept various screw sizes, including numbers 6, 8, 10, 12. Or, simply choose any of a number of the handy Raptor ZIP pins available. Choose one best for your application and push it into the anchor with your thumb. Whether you’re hanging a picture frame, affixing a smoke detector to the ceiling or finally replacing those towell bars in the guest bathroom, there’s a ZIP pin that’ll work for you. Raptor anchors are more secure, easier to install and less messy.

I guess that’s why the veritable Popular Mechanics magazine named Brian’s Raptor Anchors gave them the Editor’s Choice Award at the hardware industry’s annual National Hardware Show last week in Las Vegas. So my hat is off to Brian and his brother Greg and I wish them good luck and success with Raptor Anchors. I’m sure this award and visibility will give a boost to their efforts to gain distribution or licensing deals in the future. That means perhaps you’ll soon see them at your local Ace, TrueValue or Home Depot hardware store in the future.

Photos: The Raptor Hammer-in Wall Anchor; Greg (l) and Brian (r) Brown of Raptor.

. . . photography.



My dad gave me my first Canon 35mm camera for my 12th birthday. In my seventh grade ubiquitous adolescent-tasked paper, that my mom still has in archives, “What do I want to be when I grow up I fancied myself a photographer. Since those free and innocent days of my youth I’ve owned a trunk-load of Canon camera. I’ve been loyal to the brand because the brand has kept its promise in delivering quality products at fair prices. Riding my motorcycle through the desert in northern Peru I dropped my Canon Powershot S70 going 40 miles per hour. Upon retrieving the scratched, dented and beat up camera I was sure I’d be in the market for a new camera. Not a chance. The Canon still clicked away with finesse, though the rubber band I used to keep the case from moving certainly didn’t add to its aesthetics. Taken moments afterward the S70 still delivered great shots (this one at 60-mph or more):

Even my EOS20D took abuse as I rode thousands of miles of dirt, rock and washboard roads. A leaky top case contributed to compromising humidity — usually a death toll for electronics. But no, the camera held its own. So I’m sticking with Canon and hope to grow my EOS system over the years.

That’s why I was especially pleased to learn a couple things from Philip this morning. He has gone through the painstaking process of compiling and categorizing the complete Canon EOS system. This project was inspired perhaps by his good article on Building a Digital SLR Camera System which looks at the top 3 Digital SLR cameras in the mid to low-end price range for such gear. But as Philip explains this project was quite an undertaking.

[…] For each item, I needed the full name, the price, and the serial number on Amazon.com (so that people could click through and see reader reviews, buy the item, etc.). I estimated that it would take me 10 hours to assemble these data by clicking around at Amazon. It is a bit more involved than you’d think because for many of these items, Amazon requires you to {€œadd item to cart to see price}€ […]

With I’m sure a heavy workload and great spring weather finally settling into the Boston area, Phil decided to enlist some help. And while I’ve never heard of this “outsourcing service“, I think I just might have to give it a try.

[…] Anyway, I put the project up on www.rentacoder.com and a guy from Pakistan did the job in two days for $10. He made only a couple of mistakes […]

While I’ve long dreamed of riding my bike along the Karakorum Highway (KKH) in northeastern Pakistan, I never dreamed that Phil (or anyone) would find a Pakistani offer to drill down the details of the Canon EOS system at such a great value. True, these propose and bid sites for independent contractors have long existed, I just hadn’t thought of employing the service for such tasks. I have quite a few ideas and features I want to explore in my WorldRider blog, so I just might tap into rentacoder.com — maybe I’ll meet a Pakistani who I just might meet when I finally ride the KKH.

As for my career as a photographer I once dreamed of years ago? I’m still not grown up I guess. So I’ll just keep shooting. Want to check some out? My WorldRider photoblog is still not complete. But here are some shots from the North American segment of my journey.

So we’re going to dance on the moon again. According to the Xinua news network the U.S. space agency NASA in partnership with India’s Nasa-equivalent, the Indian Space Research Operation (ISRO), an Indian spacecraft will launch from India sometime in 2008 with a payload of scientific instruments but no astronauts. According to the BBC the launch is part of a two year mission to map and learn more about the moon.

“The two-year mission of Chandrayaan-I to map the lunar surface and investigate its surface properties will advance knowledge about the Moon’s history and evolution, and inform future exploration decisions by characterizing the content of the lunar soil,” he said. — from the BBC

The agreement was signed in Bangalore this week and apparently it was the first visit by a NASA chief to India in 30 years. Even more, after India’s nuclear tests in 1988 t the US imposed an embargo on ISRO. All that has changed in what appears to be a trend toward more and more political and scientific cooperation between India and the U.S. as just a few months ago the two countries inked a deal to permit civilian nuclear cooperation.

Earlier in 2005 the EU agreed and gave its approval to India for lunar exploration. But why is the U.S. so eager to go back to the moon after a nearly 35 year hiatus? Seems lurking in the shadows of remnants of the cold war there is newfound interest by other “world powers” to expend new found wealth on space travel and exploration. Japan wants to go. And so does China and Russia.

In Space.com Paul Spurdis a space scientist at JOhns Hopkins University Applies Physics Lab says most of these countries are flying lunar missions to “get their feet wet” in planetary exploration. He says that with the new equipment and technology more and higher quality data will be important to asses potential resources on the moon which he says will be “a critical enabler to permanent human presence.”

I’m not sure if all this activity equates to a renewed Space Race. But it does signal a new era in global cooperation in scientific research and exploration of not only the moon but space, too. In March the Washington Post reported that the U.S. plans on putting a base-station on the moon as a step toward inhabiting Mars. But there are an enormous amount of questions to be answered before we can go. Perhaps most important, what will it cost? And who’s paying? What’s happening with the Space Shuttle?

The moon sits about 1/4 million miles away. Mars? 34 million. I’d like to go but I’m not sure my MedJetAssist medical evaluation plan will send help if I break my leg or get sick several million miles away. This goes for our astronauts too. But I’d go. And I think a global consortium to explore space is good diplomacy, step towards peace and a move in the right direction to better understand the world we all live in — together and interdependently.

At the end of the day do higher priced goods or services negatively impact your decision to buy? That is, would a higher price on something you desire dissuade you from purchasing it? If current gas prices are an indication of “consumers’” insatiable appetites to imbibe regardless of cost then I’d have to say no. Accordingly, any strategy that employs a price increase tactic in an effort to reduce consumption will ultimately fail.

But for the last 75 years the state of Washington figured that a fixed markup and no discounting would curb alcoholism. By taking advantage of the 21st amendment to the constitution which repealed Prohibition (the 19th amendment) and gave states control of the distribution of alcohol within its borders, Washington state has long mandated the distributors sell wine to retailers at uniform prices and at a minimum 10% markup. What’s more, producers also must charge a minimum 10% markup to wholesalers. What’s more, Washington also mandates that delivery of alcohol must originate from wholesaler warehouses directly to each individual retailer. For large volume and multiple location retailers this law means it cannot negotiate with wholesalers for volume discounts on beer and wine and impacts costs through inefficiencies that could be improved through centralized distribution. Washington’s ludicrous liquor laws don’t end there, either. For example, it mandates that wholesales charge the same price for delivery to all retailers regardless of location.



And for the country’s largest wine retailer, these laws are worth fighting against. So earlier this year the Washington-based giant Costco, with its $600 million in annual wine sales filed suit against the Washington State Liquor Control Board asserting its laws restrain trade and eliminate the free market. It argued that the state’s regulations were anti-competitive and in violation of the federal Sherman Antitrust Act. The Costco case is another chip in the weakening armor of arcane state liquor laws and States’ rights outlined in the 21st amendment. Last year a Supreme Court decision found state liquor laws in Michigan and New York unconstitutional and therefore paved the way for wineries and producers the ability to sell and ship directly to consumers and retailers. The latter of which was originally part of the Costco suit until a U.S. District Judge found Washington’s law prohibiting producer to retailer sales unconstitutional using the Supreme Court Decision as a precedent.

Last week the same judge, Marsha Pechman ruled in favor of Costco on the remaining arguments in the lawsuit. In cutting the legs out of most of the Washington Liquor Board’s laws and argument she said:

“If the state desires to promote temperance by artificially increasing beer and wine prices, the state could readily achieve that goal in a manner that does not run afoul of the Sherman Act.”

Ultimately, the decisions means the that the Washington State Liquor Board cannot:

• Force a 10 percent markup products sold by producers and distributors
• Ban volume discounts on beer and wine to retailers
• Ban credit sales to retailers
• Ban central/retailer warehousing of beer and wine
• Mandate that beer and wine distributors and producers post and hold prices for a month
• Mandate that wholesalers charge uniform prices to all retailers.
• Mandate that wholesalers charge equal “delivered” pricing to all retailers, regardless of actual delivery cost.

While the judge placed a 30-day stay on her decision in order to give the defense time to consider an appeal, I don’t think it will file one. As more and more of these laws are argued in front of today’s judges they are finding that while the 21st Amendment gave states the right to control the distribution of alcohol, many state laws are two-faced. That is, some of the laws don’t apply to in-state businesses and therefore unfairly penalize out-of-staters and this is unfairly restricting commerce under the guise of controlling the distribution of alcohol.

What’s this all mean for you? If you live in Washington you soon might reap the benefit of Costco’s lawsuit and find lower beer and wine prices at retailers throughout your state. Though some might complain that this law will hurt the little guy - low volume retailers and small production wineries. But let’s face it, the laws weren’t designed as protectionist measures — and they shouldn’t be. Producers and retailers can win customers with age old methods - quality product, customer service and a positive shopping/purchasing experience. After all, price really doesn’t matter.

Does it?

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Wine

For the few hundred or so subscribers to The Digital Tavern, you've probably noticed that notifications for new posts have been sporadic at best. This is because Monsur of Bloglet seems to have abandoned his service. I can't blame him, for it has been free for so many years. There's no advertising and for the most part it has been on remote control. But it's broken. And while many of you use RSS newsreaders or aggregators, most of you rely on a quick, simple and unobtrusive e-mail when something new is posted here. I apologize that recently these notifications have been flakey.

I trust Feedblitz will change that.

So in the future you will receive notifications via Feedblitz. So if you are using blacklisting or other e-mail spam filters be sure to add Feedblitz as a trusted friend — think of it as coming from me. To be sure, the email subscriptions are secure and are not shared. You will only receive an email when I update The Digital Tavern. On good months this could be a couple times a week. Otherwise you'll get the email once a week or so.

So please note that you'll receive these emails beginning tonight or tomorrow.

For those of you who haven't subscribed, take a moment and subscribe using the form in the righthand sidebar. And if you have any thoughts, ideas or recommendations on what you'd like to see here on the Digital Tavern post a comment or contact me here.

Perhaps I'm a bit late on jumping in on this discussion. But now since some of the dust has settled and users have tested and commented, I feel it's time for me to chime in on just some thoughts, wishes and observations.

Early last week Apple released a Beta copy of BootCamp, a clever little software add-on to OS X that allows Macs with Intel processors to boot and run Windows XP. Apple also released and will support video and device drivers. This means that, unlike Virtual PC, video will run natively using onboard hardware instead of nasty and painfully slow emulation.

How excited am I? Mildly to put it nicely. A few years ago I would have responded with “who care.” As a user I have no interest in Windows and until recently there was nothing I couldn't do with existing Mac software that would have me wishing for a windows machine or better emulation than Virtual PC. Yet also as a user I have always evangelized and helped bring many new Mac users into the Apple camp. Those resistors have been a gnarly if not obstinate bunch. Many just ignorant and seem to gloat in their refusal to move or even acknowledge the benefit of the Mac and OS X. But iTunes and iPods have seen some of even the most stubborn reluctantly put dollars into the Apple till.

But now things are different. Or, at least they will be.

First, for me I've been frustrated at GPS manufacturer Garmin's adamant refusal to support the Macintosh or at least provide Mac USB drivers for their products. In January, Garmin announced that by year end it would support the Mac. I hope they don't cease development in light of BootCamp and other virtualization options for Mac users to run Windows. Until Garmin supports the Mac I must use a Keyspan USB serial adapter in order to get my Mac to recognize that there is a GPS connected. This is because Keyspan provides the driver. Secondly, I must run Virtual PC so that I can run the Garmin MapSource application. MapSource is used to load maps into the GPS hardware and to upload and download tracks, routes and waypoints. At 9600 baud loading Maps into my GPS with the serial adapter and running MapSource on Virtual PC is just not an option. It would take a week to load CitySelect North America. I have been successful, albeit frustrated in downloading and uploading waypoints and tracks. So while Garmin will eventually provide software and hardware support on Mac OS X, until then I would expect to be able to run XP on my Intel Mac (if I had one) and load maps and have a better user experience in running the MapSource software.

Next, for my stubborn and obstinate Windows fans I hope that the new BootCamp and other options will at least peak their curiosity and offer the possibility to live in two worlds — one for working and the other (I think) for playing. Of course, many will cry at the price of the hardware. But if price is an issue so be it. There are those of us who would rather pay for quality, experience and style than opt for the common and generic. Then there are those Windows users who live in fear that their world might not be compatible with the other world should they switch to Mac. Deep down these users fantasize, dream and secretly desire a Mac. But in the open world they harness there desires and opt for the common and generally accepted prudent behavior by settling on a Windows machine. But now, for the first time they can dip into the forbidden world of Mac OS X and play in the quiet of their homes behind lock doors with the privacy where no one can see.

No matter the category of user, I do see that Apple will see a bump in market share. This is good for Mac users and shareholders. I would expect it to be good for developers too. But already there is fear that with the option of dual-booting a Mac in Windows and OS X that software vendors who currently provide two product versions for the competing platforms may opt out of continued Mac development as I speculated with Garmin. The most feared are Adobe with Photoshop and the top game developers. And while ceasing Mac development will arguably reduced development costs and ultimately cost of goods, the message it sends to the Mac loyalists could have potentially harmful side effects. For one, Apple will not provide a copy of Windows with any Mac or copy of OS X. At about $150 per license these are dollars many Mac users would rather put toward native OS X applications or a beefed up .Mac account.

For me, I hope I'm able to use my copy of Windows XP that came with my virtual PC and simply install that on my Intel Mac — when I get one. Until then and the official release of Panther (OS X 10.5) when BootCamp, or whatever name Apple gives it past its Beta phase, I'm going to watch the noise in the development community very carefully. I'll watch Apple's stock, too.

If you've held off on owning a Mac, perhaps this will give you a good reason to come out of the closet. It's so much more fun and simple when you allow yourself to live freely. Go ahead. Be different — but the same.

As you can probably guess, I've been forced into armchair traveling these days. No worries. Soon I'll be strong enough to put one foot in front of the other. Nonetheless, my friend Tim found himself in New Orleans this week and had this to report:

You could come from the airport, stay and play around the French Quarter, ride along St. Charles Street and never know anything ever happened to this town, then you drive for miles and miles and miles and this is all you see […] no people — nothing — 7 months later?

His photos are amazing even though taken from a low resolution handheld TREO phone.

Like Tim, I'm amazed that after 7 months and millions of dollars the scene still looks hopeless.
.

While I haven't made it to Africa quite yet on my WorldRider Journey, it appears my brother Jonathan beat me to it. A couple weeks ago he wandered around Algeria, Mali, Chad and who knows where else. His mission? Spending some quality time with US Special Forces as they trained anti-terrorist militia groups from various African Nations for ABC News.

Jon's crew peforming sound and lighting check in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

His photos from the journey are posted here. Even better, tune in tonight to ABC News or NightLine and watch his report on this unusual plight of our military in its never-ending efforts to stomp out terrorism worldwide. Check out his photos and tune into ABC tonight!

————

UPDATE: Jonathan has posted a blog entry at ABC News. Check it out here.

Comments are off for this post

While I haven't made it to Africa quite yet on my WorldRider Journey, it appears my brother Jonathan beat me to it. A couple weeks ago he wandered around Algeria, Mali, Chad and who knows where else. His mission? Spending some quality time with US Special Forces as they trained anti-terrorist militia groups from various African Nations for ABC News.

Jon's crew peforming sound and lighting check in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

His photos from the journey are posted here. Even better, tune in tonight to ABC News or NightLine and watch his report on this unusual plight of our military in its never-ending efforts to stomp out terrorism worldwide. Check out his photos and tune into ABC tonight!

————

UPDATE: Jonathan has posted a blog entry at ABC News. Check it out here.

Comments are off for this post

While I haven't made it to Africa quite yet on my WorldRider Journey, it appears my brother Jonathan beat me to it. A couple weeks ago he wandered around Algeria, Mali, Chad and who knows where else. His mission? Spending some quality time with US Special Forces as they trained anti-terrorist militia groups from various African Nations for ABC News.

Jon's crew peforming sound and lighting check in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

His photos from the journey are posted here. Even better, tune in tonight to ABC News or NightLine and watch his report on this unusual plight of our military in its never-ending efforts to stomp out terrorism worldwide. Check out his photos and tune into ABC tonight!

————

UPDATE: Jonathan has posted a blog entry at ABC News. Check it out here.

Comments are off for this post

While I haven't made it to Africa quite yet on my WorldRider Journey, it appears my brother Jonathan beat me to it. A couple weeks ago he wandered around Algeria, Mali, Chad and who knows where else. His mission? Spending some quality time with US Special Forces as they trained anti-terrorist militia groups from various African Nations for ABC News.

Jon's crew peforming sound and lighting check in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

His photos from the journey are posted here. Even better, tune in tonight to ABC News or NightLine and watch his report on this unusual plight of our military in its never-ending efforts to stomp out terrorism worldwide. Check out his photos and tune into ABC tonight!

————

UPDATE: Jonathan has posted a blog entry at ABC News. Check it out here.

Comments are off for this post

While I haven't made it to Africa quite yet on my WorldRider Journey, it appears my brother Jonathan beat me to it. A couple weeks ago he wandered around Algeria, Mali, Chad and who knows where else. His mission? Spending some quality time with US Special Forces as they trained anti-terrorist militia groups from various African Nations for ABC News.

Jon's crew peforming sound and lighting check in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

His photos from the journey are posted here. Even better, tune in tonight to ABC News or NightLine and watch his report on this unusual plight of our military in its never-ending efforts to stomp out terrorism worldwide. Check out his photos and tune into ABC tonight!

————

UPDATE: Jonathan has posted a blog entry at ABC News. Check it out here.

Comments are off for this post

Demme's Masterful Portrait of Neil Young in Concert

It took a few years until I appreciated the music and genius of Neil Young. My high-school girlfriends all loved Neil Young, Crosby Stills Nash & Young and all the other derivations. His music didn't fit into the profile of my young teenage angst. I was geared to Led Zeppelin, Blue Oyster Cult, Rush or other art rock icons such as Pink Floyd Emerson Lake & Palmer, King Crimson and… well you get the idea.
But one day I decided to actually listen to Neil Young. Go to one of his live performances. See him act in an independent film. And like many things in life, I appreciated Neil with a little age.

And my recent viewing of Jonathan Demme's “Heart of Gold” reinforced and added to the plethora of reasons of why Neil Young will always fill playlists on my iPod. At first glance you might think it odd that the director of such heavy handed dramas of Oscar winning films as Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia and most recently the excellent remake of The Manchurian Candidate would direct a documentary and concert film of an aging hippy rock star. But Demme's appreciation and talents have enhanced musical performances for the big and small screens in the past. He's directed a number of videos for Bruce Springsteen and one for Chryssie Hynde and the Pretenders. Ironically enough, Demme recruited both Springsteen and Young to write and record songs for his 1993 Academy Award Winning (Best Picture and more) film Philadelphia. Both songs received Oscar nominations for best song, but Springsteen's took home the prize that night. Yet perhaps Demme's most groundbreaking musical film work was for his 1984 Talking Heads concert film “Stop Making Sense.” All Demme's accomplishments are duly noted but for “Heart of Gold” it's the collaboration of Young and Demme that makes “Heart of Gold“ glitter.

Many concerts films never see the big screen. Instead they are relegated to special features on cable television or simply go straight to the DVD racks, its refreshing to watch “Heart of Gold” on the big screen. If you ever wanted to unobtrusively sneak around the stage of a Neil Young concert capturing an intimate look at Young and his army of friends including EmmyLou Harris, Ben Keith, Spooner Oldham, The Memphis Horns and countless others Demme takes you there. Without resorting to tired special effects or hyper kinetic editing, Demme favors the use of long lenses to expose the musicians up close personal and intimate. The film is shot in 16-mm giving the film a raw, intimate and unpolished look not unlike Young's nearly 40 year catalog of music. What's more, the concert footage is virtually absent of audience shots which contributes to the on stage intimacy of being with the artist and his songs. Only during the opening of the second set and at the end of the last song does Demme gives us the perspective of sitting in the first few rose as silhouettes of fans rise to a standing ovation.

Shot in Nashville last summer at the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Olde Opry, “Heart of Gold” is primarily a concert film featuring the debut performance of his last album, Prairie Wind. The film opens with short but pointed commentary by Young, his wife Pegi and many of the musicians as they ride to the concert. It's here we learn that during the recording of Prairie Wind Young packed his suitcase to travel to New York for neurosurgery to treat a brain aneurysm. After the successful operation he returns to Nashville to complete the album. This brush with mortality combined with the recent loss of his father results in a concert that is at once nostalgic and lonely while warm and uplifting as the poignant song list wanders through themes of death, dreams, family and friends. Yet with all this nostalgia, loss and reflecting “Heart of Gold” is a positive look at an artist who is at once comfortable in his own genre, but throughout his career never was afraid to explore, sample and play.
Unlike many guitarists who seem to spend more than half their shows switching out guitars, Neil plays the same old beat up guitar for the entire performance except at one point trading guitars with one of his band-mates. His short narratives between songs reflect memories of his career and family life growing up on the Prairie in Winnipeg, Canada. At one point he remembers how he got the guitar his guitar — which was used to record Heart of Gold — his only number one hit. But there's more to this guitar than that. It once belonged to Hank Williams whose last performance before he died was in this very same auditorium — probably playing that guitar. Young laments of the change he sees in Nashville and wonders what Hank would think if he stepped out of the auditorium today to see the massive Gaylord Entertainment Complex across the street, now home to the new Opryland. But with all the change Neil sees in Nashville he looks sincerely at the audience and says “It's still got its spirit. And that's a good thing.” Waving above to the heavens, Neil launches into “This Old Guitar” a tune from Prairie Wind destined to be a Young classic.

As voyeurs on stage with Neil and his friends, it's amazing how the songs and his voice sound as good as they did years ago. Young, who turned 60 last year, may feel the impending doom of his mortality, his songs are During the second set, Neil delivers heart wrenching renditions of his timeless classics Heart of Gold, Needle & The Damage Done, Comes a Time and before delivering a soulful Old Man tells us who inspired that song — with his eyes closed during most of his performance Neil may be thinking he's the old man today.

While the army of Young's staple musicians, horn and string section and the physical beauty of EmmyLou Harris and his wife, perhaps the best part of “Heart of Gold” is the last song where Young, alone and stripped of the hat he wore during the hole show sits alone on stage in the empty auditorium as once again Demme's camera de voyeur lets us sneak up behind him and listen to Young - alone and real - with the spirit that can't burn out and refuses to fade away.

“Heart of Gold” was released on February 10th. If it's playing in your area make the time to see it. If not, put your name on the DVD waiting list!

Heart of Gold
Directed by Jonathan Demme
Starring Neil Young, EmmyLou Harris, Pegi Young, Ben Keith, Spooner Oldham & more
Produced by Bernard Shakey (aka Neil Young)
100 minutes
playing in selected theatres nationwide.

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I just got off the phone with my good friend Johnee Bee. I first met Johnee in 1987 just months after I opened the door of my advertising agency PRISCOMM. My then partner ironically sported the nickname Johnny A and together we responded to a small classified ad that Johnee Bee ran in the local free business rag that circulated the Orange County John Wayne Airport business district. I still remember the ad copy:

“If you’ve got the Mac

I’ve got the knack”

Johnee Bee was a fledging computer artist illustrator. Johnny A greeted him with a huge smile, high energy and sincere excitement and yelled into my office, “Hey Allan! Johnee Bee good is here. Wearing stylish glasses, hip clothing and two different colored socks, he just turned to Johnny A and in a deadpan monotone voice said, “It’s just Johnee Bee!”

Nearly 20 years and countless designs and illustrations later we are still great friends and still have the opportunity to collaborate on creative projects. A year ago he married a beautiful woman, Cynthia who around the same time couldn’t turn down a terrific career opportunity in Minnesota. So the tow of them abandoned the sunshine of Southern California for the lakes and could winters of Minneapolois/St. Paul.



Johnee swears it isn’t that bad. For a guy who grew up in Southern California and never took to winter sports such as skiing, I do believe him. But I wonder when they’ll be back.

He is one of the best illustrators I’ve ever worked with and he keeps reinventing himself and now is one of the top Flash animators in the country. But that’s besides the point. While I’ve been galavanting around the world on my motorcycle, Johnee Bee has become the PodCast producer and host extraordinaire. Nearly a year ago when he traded in his sunglasses and sandals for wool blankets and a heating bill, he kept himself entertained and free from the brutal cold and wind-chill of the great white north by producing a wildly entertaining PodCast called Mostly Trivial.

Johnee describes the PodCast Show as “a fun, general and short trivia game.” But he is doing himself an understated injustice. The production quality is top notch, the subject matter varies from the sublime to the esoteric. Johnee has a knack for making his show interesting, funny and fun. He writes much of his own music, has a notorious knack for finding and researching intriguing material and makes Mostly Trivial infinitely entertaining complete with its own cast of characters.

—> Check out this show. You can subscribe to Mostly Trivial with your host Johnee Bee through iTunes here. <–

- - -

Before I set out on my WorldRider journey, Johnee Bee and I brainstormed and even recorded a few sound-bytes for what we both thought would be the start of on ongoing PodCast show documenting the sights, sounds, characters, cultures and adventure of my journey. But as solo journeys go, time for experiencing sometimes conflicts with time for documenting and recording. I kept up to a point my video coverage, but soon that became a burden. Unfortunately the PodCasts never took off at WorldRider.com.

However, today we were reinvigorate and newly inspired to finally bring the long past-due PodCasts to life. So while I’m in physical therapy and building back my strength we will bring some of the stories of my first 7 months of riding around North, Central and South America to life in WorldRider PodCasts. What’s more, I will bring in interviews with other riders, adventurers and arm chair travelers to make the show interesting, stimulating and inspiring.

I’ve already recorded my first PodCast as an experimental and non-official first show: “Travels From The Sickbed“. This first show was recorded lying in bed using my PowerBook G4, an AKG microphone and GarageBand software. It’s a first stab. So check it out. But stay tuned here and to the WorldRider website for updates and continued. improvement.

Technorati Tags: Blog, PodCasting

I watched a fantastic film last night. Featuring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, Before Sunset is one of those few movies that can pull off dialogue between two people for practically the entire film. And Hawke and Delpy do it with finesse. If you're looking for action, comedy or suspense don't bother with Before Sunset.

At the end of the movie I was so inspired to review the DVD's “special features” and that's where I found out the movie is a sequel to a film produced 9 years prior. Hawke plays an author who while on a book tour in Paris finds the lost love of his life and the subject of his best-selling book lingering in the back of the bookshop where he's signing autographs. The two actors played the same roles in the film “Before Sunrise” years ago. I haven't seen the original film and I never would have known there was a prequel had I not perused the “special features”.

Nine years ago our characters met and enjoyed a spectacular and romantic evening of love and lust. Now 9 years later that one night short affair still weighs heavy on the minds of both characters. The writing is superb and Hawke and Delpy's dialogue is so real, heartfelt and convincing as the time since the two last met shrinks. The cover topics from politics to true love and from dreaming to cyicism. The met on a train to Vienna 9 years earlier. They never exchange phone numbers but agree to meet in Vienna six months later. Hawke's character, Jesse makes the trip from the United States to Vienna but comes up empty handed. For nine years he thinks she blew him off, yet he can't stop forgetting about the one night of true love he writes a book about it. Delpy's Celine has read the book and confesses that days before she was supposed to be in Vienna to meet him her grandmother dies.

It's filmed in real time as Jesse must make it to the airport in less than two hours, but the two spend the nearly 90 minutes of the film confessing, exploring, wondering and dreaming. Amazing dialogue and the chemistry bewteen the two makes it so beliable.

So I rarely discuss film or due reviews of movies on the Digital Tavern, but I was taken back by this film due to it's ambitous writing and superbe acting and direction in an era where studios would rather play it safe than attempt something great. Before Sunset hinges on greatness and therefore a strong Allan Karl recommendation for those confused browsing NetFlicks or through the aisles of Blockbuster wondering what to watch on a cold winter day.

While on the topic of films, I stumbled back into Wonderchicken again. Another blogger who somehow has escaped my blogroll (but will be the first new addition in nearly 3 years). A traveler and great writer he reminded me of another film I used to love to watch during those cold winter afternoons back when I was a child living in Connecticut. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World flickered on screens in 1963 and featured the most impressive comedic cast in filmmaking history. Sadly because so many great comics are in the film, some are delt little or no lines. But that doesn't detract from the film

[…] I hadn't thought about the movie in decades, probably, media-starved and nomadic as I'd been during my wanderyears. It was, without exaggerating, one of the formative films of my young life. It helped make me the man I am today. I fired up the torrent and whispered a breathy 'woo hoo', so as not to wake up She Who Must Be Obeyed, and the downstream rate nudged its way up past 400Kb/s […]

Now Mr. Wonderchicken goes off on a wonderful tirade of how this film awakened the sexuality of his youth (don't be offended):

[…] but it (the movie) played so regularly as the background soundtrack to the pure unalloyed joy of smacking my weiner around like a pinata at a fat kid's birthday that they eventually merged into twin double-happiness somehow, back in the root of my pubescent lizard brain […]

Just being reminded of that movie and the image of Jim Backus (as my friend Tim Amos can so mimic this scene) wandering around the cockpit of a crashing plane wondering why he can't get a drink brings back memories. I think the next rainy day might be a mad, mad, mad, mad time!

Ahhh. Blogging. It's great to be back.
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