TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read I can make the argument that Willie Mays is the American icon. As you may know, he passed yesterday, at age 93. I cried. I am doing something I have not done to date in these august pages, that being repeating a previous post. Here is the genius of Willie Mays, in his own words, which I originally publis...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Serenity now, indeed. And Happy Monday. Yes, we are still a few months out and anything can happen. But there are many reports that a 2nd Trump presidency is likely, this from The Economist among them. So many are asking Nobody in their right mind is asking, "Oh, Portico, please share your random emotio...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read + External Videos and Articles! Happy Friday and sorry, but I am going to bang on yet again about cars and that they suck. But today, I offer evidence (that you can review over the weekend!) for something I've said for a long time: A central factor in our country's malaise was building everything for car...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Happy Hump Day, and yes, that is an old photo that I've used here before. It is of a large General Electric home appliance and television factory, in Louisville, Kentucky, in the 1960s. For now, please keep it in mind as you read today's . . . creative post. I've always had a distaste for gambling. Whil...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Happy Monday, and let me help you with a must for the summer, at least for me, and I believe I am uniquely qualified. Because apart from owning a business for years in the field, I am generally obsessed with music and its twin, gear for its proper reproduction. Indeed, I have previously written long and ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Happy Friday and I am in the middle of an interesting book, written by Charles Duhigg, entitled Supercommunicators. I can heartily recommend it to anyone who interacts with others, personally or professionally. So, you know, everybody. I am kidding, but not really, as the book drives home the importance...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read The big news here in San Francisco over the last week or so is that our beloved but defunct Anchor Brewing has been purchased, and will be reborn. Better still, the new owner sounds like a modern-day Fritz Maytag, the washing machine scion who owned and ran the brewery during its heyday, from 1965 throu...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Sorry to do this on a Monday. While I've done an OK job tamping down most of my feverish political rants for almost two years now, I've about fucking had it. You either believe in America and its system of laws and norms, or you do not. So seeing many leading Republicans demean our courts and the outcom...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read (+ 18 Minute Video) Happy Friday. If you hang around me for very long, Scott Galloway(pictured above)almost certainly will come up. That's because I find this entrepreneur/professor/observer to be wiser than most on many subjects, ranging from the rich (like himself) needing to pay more taxes, to the co...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Today, I am going to talk about something I have not previously, that being the panic attacks I've had for most of my adult life. Have you ever had a panic attack? They come in different flavors, but if you have or have had them, there is no mistaking one. For me, it's an uncontrollable freefall that ca...

I walk often in the National Cemetery located within The Presidio, and this is my short video/audio tribute to the fallen. It's best if you can listen, as well as watch. Memorial Day Every Day It is also for my Uncle Jack, my mother's younger and only brother, an Air Force pilot who was shot down during the Korean War. He was spoken of...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <4 Minute Read Happy Friday and Happy Summer. Disney was clearly aware that Memorial Day Weekend kicks off summer, and thus are wise to debut their new documentary about The Beach Boys today, on Disney+. Because what the hell says summer like The Beach Boys? (Kids, believe me: Not much.) But I digress, because thanks ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Wow, am I glad to no longer be in the residential A/V game. Or a Sonos customer. As I've mentioned once or twice endlessly, I owned an integration firm that designed and installed the technology in fine homes for almost 17 years. Now, a company that was initially a savior and then a no-brainer go-to for ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Happy Monday, and if you had even half as much fun as I did over the weekend, you're probably ready for some reality. So today I am focusing on the world in which we live - not one that isn't coming back. The High Interest Rates Aren't High This nutty expectation of ultra-low interest rates must end. Int...

OVERVIEW Julie and I love to camp. But when one gets to a certain age - or just doesn't want to screw around with a tent - it is nice to find parks that offer some kind of rentable enclosure. You know, like a primitive cabin. Or a yurt. WTF is a yurt, some may ask? This is a yurt. More specifically, that is my wife on the deck of ginor...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read Happy Friday and we're back from camping. Mt. Madonna County Park, in a luxuriant redwood forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains, is certainly worthy of a Micro Travel Guide, which is coming soon. For now, let's just say B.J. Thomas will loom large. Until then, and since you've had a break from this festival...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Happy Friday and this post is multifaceted. It includes a thank you, a podcast recommendation, and a reprint of one of my proposed Constitutional amendments. And it's all because of Anthony Scaramucci. Huh? First, a thank you to my British friend Randy Smee for introducing me to a UK podcast called The R...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read I hope you have an enjoyable Wednesday and a laugh from some signs I've seen recently. There was this, at the Textbook Vesuvio in North Beach. Really, the white paper and green tape were enough. Next, a bodega in Cow Hollow, not too far from our place. I like how the error is kinda permanent. And then t...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Happy Monday and I hope you had a great weekend. Sadly, I am going to dive right in and start bitching immediately, after some housekeeping. While I am aware of the protests occurring on many university campuses regarding Israel and Gaza and the whole mess, what I have said in two earlier posts still rep...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read For a Friday, I will do my bit as a big-time influencer and share a product that upped my game recently at the bar. At least at my own - I'll let others assess my performance in public places. I enjoy making the occasional cocktail at home, and my two favorites are the Old Fashioned and the Negroni. The ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read For hump day, how about if we find something upon which we can all agree? Are you ready? Because if you're reading this, I am nearly certain you are a liberal. A classic liberal, in fact. That's because, until its corruption in the not-too-distant past for cynical and partisan reasons, the term meant som...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Happy Monday and a nice, relaxing weekend gave me time to ponder a problem in America that is hiding right out in the open. That problem is greed. If you've been exposed to my blather for any period of time, you've likely heard my speech on the subject. It goes something like this: “I simply don't unders...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read + Listening Damn it, this pains me, but I must give credit for today's post to the wannabe music guy Hunter Deuce. I was whining in this blog a while back about how hard it is to find quality new music, and he shared one of his techniques for doing just that. It is a shocker, I know, but it made a lot of...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Let me say something today that will surprise no one: I like being complimented. My raging insecurities demand attention, and often, in case you've somehow forgotten. So I do enjoy being noticed when out in public. Well, usually, because today I'll share a cautionary tale, one aimed especially at younge...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read Happy Monday, and please stop the world, I want to get off. And no, for a change, I am not talking about global events. Because we raged Thursday. We raged Friday. And yes, we raged Saturday. So instead of drivel by Darwin, today you get (mostly) photos by Portico. I took the picture above last Tuesday ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Happy Friday and today's post may make some long for the days of London Calling. Because one of the founders of the company that produces this blogging platform recently reminded me that there's woke, and then there's Madison Wright and the Psycho Woke. There's no better example of the latter than the ba...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read As I consider the Middle East powder keg, I believe the time has come to call in our special agents. But first, please ask yourself: If Israel's laws and policies were imposed on Iran, what would happen? Iran would have rule of law, free and fair elections, minority rights, LGBT rights, etc. If Iran's la...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Editor's Note: I wrote this before Iran attacked Israel over the weekend. Given that, perhaps you will enjoy this diversion. 1 Minute Read Happy Monday, and after yet another Travel Guide and the interminable London Calling, how about something other than my usual textual verbosity? How about some pictures? Like a who...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 6 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the eleventh - and yes, last - installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 We They Did It That's false modesty because I was as critical to the success of this ginormous program a...

OVERVIEW Sure, I write about this region - the California coast from where we live in SF, north to Mendocino - often. F'ing sue me because if comparison is the death of joy, I am dead. Because I say this part of America, in our beloved California, is as good as it gets. Anywhere. And I'll be damned if I prefer Sonoma, downtown Sonoma, ...