TODAY'S RAMBLINGS This is the third installment of an occasional ongoing series where I'll try to pass on knowledge, etc. that I've found useful and helpful. Here are the first and second in the series. My decision to move on from my own show at Casa Integration led to me being a big consumer of business-oriented self-help and/or impro...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS The last few days in Tupper Lake and The Adirondacks were warm and sunny, in the upper 50's most days. I had a great last dinner in town with Bulleit Bob and his lovely wife Betty at the Tupper Lake stalwart Little Italy. Great way to wrap up a great trip. The food was actually quite impressive - I'd say Textbook, but...

It's awful that the next sentence is a cliché' now. In the wake of yet another tragic mass shooting in the United States . . . I decided to post something that I've mentioned to some of you over the years. It is my proposal for somehow getting a grip on the gun plague in America. 1. Guns are dangerous - even the most ardent gun enthusi...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I'd like to share with you some of the podcasts to which I listen regularly. These brilliant people make me a bit smarter and/or less crazy (or at least I like to tell myself) with every listen. And they make my exercise routine (daily 4-5 mile walks) much more enjoyable. Here they are. Kara Swisher and her influentia...

Warning: this may offend some viewers, or at least those with ears. Live Concert Footage from Murphy Manor

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Well, you can't say this blog is pointless. In fact, due to these very ramblings, I had the honor of hosting on Saturday the elder of the Darwin family, cherished first cousin and spiritual wunderkind Lally Darwin Heinz Esq. and her uniquely delightful husband, the storied jurist Harrison Heinz, for lunch Saturday her...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It was just a beautiful St. Patrick's Day here yesterday. Warm and sunny, as you can see below. While I mostly respect and support the regulatory regime in place for decades to keep the Adirondack State Park primarily a wilderness area, and avoid tourist fiascos like Lake George Village, I just do not understand how a...

And this is just a small part of Murphy Manor!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I flew from the gorgeous, new-ish (and nearly empty) Harvey Milk Terminal 1 from SFO to ALB on Saturday. For an airport, T1 at SFO is wonderful. Plus, the new AA Admiral's Club there is about as good as it gets (domestic benchmark = Alaska Airlines at SEA). Easy-peasy into ALB via a packed ORD, and in to the Serviceab...

TODAY’S RAMBLINGS As I embark in a few moments on the 3rd (here's the first and the second) of about a zillion wacky things I'm doing this year, I find myself feeling a massive amount of gratitude for being able to retire or at least semi-retire. I'd like to express that gratitude, but in a different way. I think the topic of this blog...

Housekeeping: I've added headers because I'm OCD! There's today's post, feedback from subscribers, and the music section ("KLUF" is another outcropping of my vivid [drug- and alcohol-addled?] imagination). Thank you for reading. TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Those that know me know that I like to push books on my friends - like all of the time. So...

While it may seem ludicrous splurging on a fat-cat hotel a scant 5 minutes from one's home, it is not to your inveterate traveler friend, Portico Darwin. This past weekend, Julie, me, and senior exec/real estate mogul Ol' Purple Label spent 3 glorious (and sodden) nights at Cavallo Point: The Lodge at Golden Gate, and I will say after ...

Sometimes, I'll just let someone much smarter than I carry the load. I give you Scott Galloway, a professor at the NYU Stern School of Business, and a general badass (look him up and listen to his podcasts and/or watch his YouTube vids). To me, his blog post is about the power of love and time - but what did you draw from it? https://w...

On December 15, 2000, dear friend Arthur, my better half and wife Julie, and I attended an Everclear concert at The Warfield in San Francisco. They were touring in support of the second volume of their "Songs From an American Songbook" albums. Good show, not great (the official term is "Serviceable") but out of it came my nom de plume,...

Obnoxious? Yes. Of course, you could always start your own blog and use your own rating system . . . You can count on seeing these often. About hotels. Headphones. National Parks. Maybe even the occasional scoundrel. I've given examples! Diamond Certified: typically a travel and occasionally, a restaurant or gear, rating. It is the pin...

Portico Darwin is back - subscribe at the bottom of this message to my new blog to get the latest on gear, books, music, travel, dining, intoxicants, recipes, and current events. Anything political will be reason-, fact-, and evidence-backed. Every few days, I'll be posting something that caught my eye or ear or more. My ego gone wild?...