TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Despite my advocacy for them to now gracefully exit the stage, I will always be a huge fan of The Rolling Stones, for many reasons. Don't worry, I'm only going to cover 34 or 35 of those today. Oh, and Happy Wednesday. Kidding. I only need one reason, and it's the new record from these geriatric legends....

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read Happy Monday, and how about some useful information to start your week? A nice break from the font of narcissism typically showcased here 3 times a week? Sorry, not so fast - this is still tangentially about my favorite subject. Indeed, it is a follow-up to The World's Most Expensive Man is Dead post, bu...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <6 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the sixth installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Get Wired And Decide You can see it was time to get to work. And yes, that is what February and March of 1998 were all about. Mostly. I still can picture Julie joining me at R...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Happy Wednesday and it is great to be back in San Francisco. As you might have noticed, I tend to be a bit of a cheerleader for my beloved SF. That was never more true than on my recent trip to Hoboken and Tupper Lake. I took every occasion to do my "those that bet against San Francisco always lose" rou...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read While it probably seems longer, it is 3 years tomorrow that I began this blog. A couple of months later, a companion website. Swag, too. Of course, there is swag! But it wasn't all vile commercialism: I built an AI art gallery, after all. There have been a total of 502 posts in the process, and 476 trac...

Portico Darwin: Lottery Winner, Part I Portico Darwin: Lottery Winner, Part II Portico Darwin: Lottery Winner, The Electrifying Conclusion

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <6 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the fifth installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 It Snows in London and The Royal Horseguards Doesn't Suck I know because, after the Seaco team visited San Francisco, I was soon asked to come to London in December of 1997, and again i...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Hello Hump Day and not to worry: Julie and I are doing great, nor am I going to prison. Indeed, it feels like just yesterday (albeit in dog years) that we got married. I kid my wife but I think she'd agree occasional time apart is not a bad thing, after almost 35 years together. So that is how I find mys...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Happy Monday, and happy break from the orgy of self-revelation that is my London Calling series. Today's post is about a trick at San Francisco International Airport. I used it just yesterday on my way to Tupper Lake (via Hoboken last night) and it continues to impress. Here it is: The Short-Term Parking...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 6 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the fourth installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 A British Invasion Welcomed by Yanks Seaco's due diligence trip to Genstar's HQ in San Francisco did much to cement me and others into the picture. For one, we drank together, both in SF and also...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Some may find it shocking that I am well into a full week here in Sonoma, yet have not bragged nor otherwise gone on about it. That all ends now, but it's not what you think. Motivated by my surroundings, I am pleased to present the virtue-signaling and decidedly pompous: Portico Darwin Simple Guide to ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read I had a light, informative post for the start of the week, but that will have to wait until Wednesday. I've written previously about corruption, guns, and election reform in America. I stand by each post. But another mass shooting made me realize the issue isn't the guns. There is also no red or blue ti...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 6 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the third installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Welcome to Our World In between our due diligence trip to London in October of 1997 and Seaco's own to San Francisco a few weeks later, rumors internally at Genstar were running rampant. Although I was not ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Happy Valentine's Day. Let's dance. But before anyone asks, no, I do not know who this happy woman is, although this photo was in my parents' ginormous collection of 35mm slides, the best of which I scanned a while back. Like this one. Because, look: I have been to my share of parties. A shocker, yes, bu...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read What Super Bowl? It feels like a bad dream. But happy Monday regardless. And let's take a break from the barrage of me. You're so very welcome, but when you see today's alternative, you might just long for the next chapter of London Calling. And don't panic: Today's post does not signal a return to my "...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 5 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the second installment of London Calling. But before that gets started: OK. Here we go. Upper Ground and Upper Class (Non-Virgin Atlantic Variety) I had worked for Ernst & Young in Houston in the early 1990s (so in both their and client Chevron's fancy towers downtown) and had a...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Happy Wednesday, and as if London Calling isn't enough, let me today share an outcome of our recent engagement with a certified financial planner, the fiduciary Heather Liston. Here it is: The World's Most Expensive Man is Dead. Or, in other words, the diamond man is now the lab-grown diamond man. Some b...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Happy Monday, but I will say I am a bit unnerved by the prospect of a widening conflict in the Middle East. Us attacking Iranian proxies in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen over the weekend, while completely justified in the mind of this diplomat, could still send the region into full-tilt war. With the United St...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read Hello, and happy Friday. No witty repartee: There is obviously no one asking me to tell the story of my stint in London, during 1997 and 1998. But I love to write, so recently hearing from a colleague from that time was all of the impetus I needed. Lucky you. 10 Seconds of Seriousness: Lucky me. I will a...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Happy Hump Day. Yes, I am still basking in the glory of Brock "Playground" Purdy and our Niners being Super Bowl-bound, for the 8th time. But the haters still be hating, and darn if we don't give the rest of the country good reason. And it's not just our perfect weather and even better geography. Or eve...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read plus Ungodly Hours of Listening Happy Monday and let's jam: the Niners are going to the Super Bowl. But I won't even try to pretend: This is a self-indulgent, narcissistic clusterfuck of a blog post. But is it really? Why is having (a lot of) the world's finest music in one spot not useful? Either way, w...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read + several podcasts Disclaimer: I've touched on this subject before, but it was two years ago, and there's plenty of new information that's come out since. Plus, this subject is important. Because did you know there was a time - and it was just 60 years ago - that fully 80 percent of American citizens tru...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Hello, and Happy Wednesday. So many (fact check: none) have said, "Portico, your recent posts have been brilliant, as usual. But they've been a bit on the heavy side, and too political. And gee, I'm just dying to know if you are still wearing the same loungewear that you documented so wonderfully a while...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read + 3 Hours of Podcasts I know I've been heavy on the politics recently, and I apologize. Sadly, our week begins with a continuation, and worse, today I cover Israel, Islam, Hamas, Gaza, and more. But it's not what you think. What follows aren't my opinions or thoughts; instead, I am sharing 4 podcasts wi...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read I think it was the daytime and Textbook Daiquiris he made for us that did it. Because Wednesday afternoon found Arthur and I pondering the potential of a third World War. We even went further: Maybe we're in one already? But a new kind? That's crazy - it had to be the rum, right? You tell me. But you may...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Don't thank me, thank Republicans. Or at least those in Iowa. Because to the surprise of no one, Trump won the Republican caucus in Iowa on Monday and barring a mass awakening, is destined to appear - again - in a presidential election as the Republican candidate. It's almost February of 2024, and this ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Before beginning the normal nonsense, a reminder that today is a national holiday, honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I say this every year around this time, but what would America look like today if JFK, MLK, Malcolm X, and RFK had lived out their full lives? On to that normal ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read It's Friday, so how about a post on obesity in America? No, wait a moment. Better to let my quasi-hero Scott Galloway do it for me. The relatively brilliant Professor Galloway annually makes predictions regarding the upcoming year in technology and business. This year, and on several of his media platfo...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read Yesterday, I finished reading Geddy Lee's amazing and Diamond Certified autobiography, My Effin' Life. If you have even a modicum of interest in the band Rush - or are seeking a personal account of the toll of the Holocaust on one family - this is a must-read. It is powerful enough that I found myself in...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Happy Monday and I wish I could say I came up with the idea presented in today's post. While I joined many a long time ago and urged Joe Biden to announce he would not run in 2024, he's chosen the opposite path. What, he didn't read my writing on the subject? Accordingly, he's now put the Democrats in a...