TODAY'S RAMBLINGS (Editor's Note: yes, I am aware there is a war taking place, an awful war. I'm sure I'll write more about it and I mean no disrespect to the entire situation by the trivial subject matter today or at any time in the future. What a fucking disaster for the Ukrainians and the world.) To those of you that imagine my self...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today, I will try to divert our attention at least for a few minutes from the all-too-real horrors of Ukraine with a visit from the (thankfully all-too-fake) conservative pundit, Seamus Colonnity. For those not paying close attention to this newsletter, Mr. Colonnity is an occasional visitor here, borrowed from Christ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS In a switch sure to disappoint many, there will be no proper Travel Guide for our trip to Houston, which ended yesterday with a nice flight home in the big, beautiful Polaris seats United has on their refurbished widebody planes. Because sadly, it would be extremely difficult for anyone to duplicate our experience in ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS We flew in for what can only be described as a Texas-sized event, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. It is 28 days, and each day is like a Super Bowl. Do some poking around at their website if you don't believe that. Plus, being in the warm embrace of my cousin Dr. Shelly Murphy (who disguises herself as Kelly J. L...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Well, it's a wrap. My first and likely only art exhibition was held last night at The Funston House in our beloved Presidio. For a change, I'll be brief and limit my comments to just two things. Gratitude and thanks. The event came off as we had hoped it would. Frankly, it came off far, far better than I had hoped. Th...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS This being the eve of the big Clufff & KLUF art event, I figured many would like a detailed description and critical essay of each of the 82 of Charlie's works we'll be exhibiting. But then Dr. Doreen Downs came over to dinner and I decided to write this instead. Today, I'd like to share - in alphabetical order to tam...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Leave it to me to publish something that could be construed as supportive of Putin the day before he invades Ukraine (!). I want to repeat: his invasion is illegal and wrong, full stop. These are dark days and the tone here reflects that. But . . . I will stand by the point I was trying to make. We expanded NATO right...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I don't believe in the invasion of one sovereign nation by another, and I certainly don't condone the actions of Trump's puppetmaster, Vladimir Putin. I also think this will go down as a large blunder by the Russian dictator, and that he's going to find himself bogged down by both the war and the economic sanctions th...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today, I will vent on something that's bothered me for years. Before, I didn't have a forum where I could publicly air these sorts of grievances. That's no longer an issue - lucky you. OK - what has bothered me for years? Junk mail. Why does the United States government, A.K.A. you and me, subsidize junk mail? At leas...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS The word for today is schadenfreude. As most know, it's a German word that refers to the emotion of taking pleasure in another's misfortune. Like the jolt of joy most will feel when Trump and his family are led away in leg irons. But I digress. Instead, today I am referring to the perverse pleasure I'm getting seeing ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS There's been an interesting thread on Twitter, I believe started by my quasi-hero Joe Scarborough, regarding what years "The Baby Boom" generation were born. More precisely, the latter years. For certain, there can be no debate about when the Baby Boom began - it's based upon when our boys came home from World War II ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS . . . in this case it is absolutely, positively true. I woke up Saturday, and was greeted by this gift: After Pak and Beeple, What’s Next for NFT Collectors? Art Made With a Paintbrush I mean, like, wow. This is precisely what my cousin, Charles Clough is doing. He is offering real paintings with his NFTs. Here's a li...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Anyone that knows me and/or reads this blog is likely aware I do not like Facebook, nor its subsidiary tentacles Instagram and WhatsApp. No, that's not right. I just don't like them: I believe they are amongst the most dangerous companies to have ever existed. The damage they've done to the commonwealth is immeasurabl...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS My old man-ness knows no bounds. I will prove that, yet again, today. But there's some value-add, too, although in a decidedly niche subject. I came across this photo - it is from early 1978, and was taken as part of the CBS Network's 50th anniversary celebration that year. In case you have a hard time making out the ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS . . . steal from the best. I occasionally like to share things I find impactful, from people far smarter than I. Perhaps you can read this and ponder its points this week? Because with the Republicans censuring Kinzinger and Cheney on Friday, something's gotta give. The January 6, 2021 insurrection and attempted coup ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today, I'll traverse various areas of the oft-treacherous cancel culture region of the US. Are these proverbial offings specious? I would love to hear your own thoughts on one or all 3 of these situations. Joe Rogan The recent dust-up over Joe Rogan, his misinformation regarding vaccines, the fallout from it, and the ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Some (OK, none) were curious as to my new, rather strident attitude, re: the virus. Well, I can tell you exactly what did it. It was the first of these two podcasts, on The New York Times "The Daily". I listened to the first last Friday on my last beach walk in Ormond By The Sea. The second came out on Monday, which i...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today's post will be mercifully short (you're welcome), but the subject thankfully was not. As some of you know, Julie and I had what can only be described as a crazy-town travel year in '21. We decided we were going to take full advantage of Julie's ability to work remotely and my retirement, and we went nuts. 10 sec...

OVERVIEW You may be asking yourself, "Why?" Or, "Really?" You're wondering if my ego is so large that I'm actually going to trumpet a week in a Mafia stronghold just north of Daytona Beach in Florida? Yes, and while I have no idea about Ormond By The Sea (or Ormond Beach, or Daytona Beach, or Daytona Beach Shores, or New Smyrna Beach) ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Let me begin by poking at the hypocrite police out there. I'd love for you to read and then fall all over yourself about my LinkedIn post yesterday. Commercial over. For a few minutes, at least. It's been a nicely chill week here, in more ways than one. The weather, except for a glorious Sunday and Monday, has been co...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It's been interesting to participate, albeit in a tiny, tiny way, in a Gold Rush in the Wild West. It is 1849 all over again here in early 2022 in the NFT world. Based on what I've observed thus far, it's the same, but different. It's not decentralized. At the core of the blockchain concept is a decentralized, permiss...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Our flight was only 2.5 hours late, and Julie and I both made it safely to our respective destinations. Julie sounds very happy at her recently refreshed room at Disney's Contemporary Resort, and my Airbnb is ideal. There will be some kind of brief Travel Guide of my escapades on the Atlantic Coast published upon my r...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS A Clufff & KLUF update: we've concluded week one of our 6 week media campaign related to the launch of my cousin Charlie's first NFTs. In fact, the campaign bore a tiny, itsy-bitsy piece of fruit just today - but I'm not jinxing anything. Going in to the weekend, it would be a big help to us if you'd friend him or lik...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I love to read almost as much as I like to write and also talk. So yes, I like to read. I occasionally highlight books here, and I'm kind of doing that, but not really. I can't really recommend the book, because the author spends most his time citing statistics. It gets dull at times. I am talking about the recent boo...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS The artist Charles Clough is a smart ass. But a correct smart ass. He sent this to me last Thursday night. “"The scale of my audience has, until now, been of the 'bespoke' dimension. Frankly, I’m ready for Beeple’s 40 million eyes to behold my treasure."” MIC DROP, beeyatches! Because today, we're launching Charlie's ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS . . . would still stink to high heaven. I'm very much in a business state of mind this week, and that leads me to go off on shitty - or even not that shitty - companies that try to change the conversation by going nuclear. They opt to dump a well-established (but perhaps tarnished) corporate brand and come up with . ....

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Just when you thought I'd hit peak pretension! I will now take it to the next level - shocker. Because I am now an art dealer! I am proud to announce a partnership I am calling Clufff & KLUF. You may have noticed references I've made to my first cousin, the artist Charles Clough, in the past, here in this newsletter (...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS When did we stop believing in America? I would like to have faith when the cheerleaders say "Anyone's that ever bet against America has lost!" But really? Bin Laden bet against us and while he himself is dead, his attack on the US in 2001 worked to a degree he couldn't have dreamed. And while 9/11 and its aftermath ar...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS After seemingly months of overblown hype, the gala 2021 Darwin Awards are TOMORROW! Ask yourself: what's stopping you? Walk, bike, taxi, BART, drive, or fly: it will be worth it. Well, this gala event may not justify flying to town, but still . . . be sure to watch the video clip attached to this to see what you'll be...

I find the events of January 6, 2021, an insurrection and coup attempt predicated upon Trump's Big Lie, more disturbing than those of September 11, 2001. Because it was/is a deep, deep self-inflicted wound. So I must remind you today of another time when the majority ignored the warning signs. I learned of it at the single most impactf...