TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read So many have asked (actually, no one has asked), "Portico, won't you share with us the gear you used poolside in Cabo Pulmo? And maybe even share the music with which you wowed your fellow travelers vacationers?" My pleasure. THE SOUND SYSTEM If you know me - at all - you know I don't travel very far wit...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Happy Monday. Well, yippee, we have a new Speaker of the House of Representatives! Rep. Mike Johnson, from Louisiana! I think he's an asshole! But please judge for yourself - here are some facts regarding Mike Johnson. And when you're finished, perhaps you can tell me again who wants to "destroy our gre...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read I took both of these just yesterday. The first, of The Golden Gate Bridge, was snapped a bit after sunrise, during my daily 5 mile walk in The Presidio. The origin of the second photo, of The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, is a bit more nefarious: I snapped it with Miguel Shannon after a boozy lunch ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read It is taking a lot of restraint for me not to write or at least ask questions about the fiasco in Israel and Gaza. I find the current "no discussion allowed" environment to be unpleasant and not productive. And while I don't want to piss anyone off, I do wonder if it's healthy to equate any questioning o...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read On the ride home from SFO last Tuesday after a vacation of contrasts, it was more of the same here. It was hard to avert my eyes from the homeless tents on the recently rebuilt and beautified Van Ness Avenue, one of SF's main promenades. It was something I had never seen before, at least not on Van Ness ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read + 10 minute external podcast First, no more Ukrainian flag. Why? Because what am I going to do? Have 3 flags, one each for Ukraine, Israel, and Palestine? What a mess - everywhere. Maybe China will invade Taiwan soon! Until then (!), I would like to share the single most intelligent and balanced thing I'...

OVERVIEW (Editor's Note: This is full of photos. If it's slow to load, try opening it in a browser using this link.) Cabo Pulmo National Park is a marine sanctuary on the southeastern tip of the Baja Peninsula, on the Sea of Cortez, in Mexico. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and about a 55 mile (m-f'ing fairly gruesome) drive from ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read It probably seems like just yesterday that I did what I do here, but it's been a week. I am back. Tan, rested, ready, and bearded. Of course a Cabo Pulmo Mexico Travel Guide is forthcoming, but it may take a while - it's going to be unusual. That's because it was Bogus and Diamond Certified, all at the s...

A car is coming soon to take us to SFO. But I published my "last" post before vacation without acknowledging the horrific situation in Israel and Gaza. Also, my recent Oily post now seems naïve, but who cares? There were and will be so many killed. Hamas revealed itself again to be the savage terrorist organization it is. No matter wha...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read Today, I will conclude my Soft on People, Tough on Crime proposal for treating ourselves better in America. I believe we have advocates on one side that want to almost always be soft on people, but also soft on crime. And, of course, on the other, those who don't really care about people in the first pla...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read On Monday, I'll be wrapping up my ginormous Soft on People, Tough on Crime program proposal. It's a big post, so today's is short(er), and mostly a summary of SOPTOC. First, the belief that underpins the entire thing: People are most definitely not born with a gene that makes them want to steal and/or s...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read + External Article Greetings on Hump Day. I am surprised I have not been hearing more about the surge in oil, and thus gasoline, prices. The price for a barrel of Brent crude is now at $90. In California and OMFG especially here in SF, we pay the highest prices in the country, but still - prices are goi...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute or Much Longer Read Good morning and happy Monday. Today's post is as long or as short as you wish, because what follows are my posts regarding October 2. Huh? I was 55 years old on this date in 2019 when an event occurred that set Julie and me on a course neither of us was expecting; I've written about it a...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Happy Friday and consider that only Republicans have caused government shutdowns. Further, if the Republican party were interested in reducing the deficit, they could repeal the Trump tax cuts and also tax capital at the same rate as labor. But you'll be pleased to know that's not what today is about. I...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read I often prattle on (bang on and on?) about the state of my beloved SF, including its best and worst. Here's a recent example of the former. But comprising a big part of the latter category are the tent encampments that exist in certain locations here. As you may know, the City and County of San Francisco...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Gosh, it's a shame you're not retired like I am. If you were, you could fully utilize today's post. But it's a Monday for you (another Saturday for me!), so you better not pour a Paper Plane and put on Tim. "My God, Portico - even for you, that is obtuse." Well, in the interest of relating to my working...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read I could also call today's post "A Refresher in Gratitude". Because, in summary: The San Francisco Giants' Brandon Crawford and The United States' Joe Biden should both retire. Crawford now, and President Biden should say he's not running in 2024. While also being very thankful for their absolutely, posi...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Short of a self-imposed media blackout over the past few weeks, you've certainly heard the name Deion Sanders and about what he's doing as the head football coach of the Buffaloes, at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Which, as I've mentioned a couple of times, is my alma mater. I graduated in 1985...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Over the weekend, I read yet another "The Stones Are Back!" puff piece, this time in Culture's Fall Preview 2023 in The New York Times. For your Monday, I give you my response: F'ING ENOUGH ALREADY. Don't get me wrong - me and The Rolling Stones go way, way back, and I have always been a fan, at times ev...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read + Article Happy Friday, and lucky you, you're missing out on what was to be yet another rant about SF and its corrupted politics. But then I saw this referenced in yesterday's Dealbook, and well, that post is history. Or maybe the Earth is history? This is the f'ing Wall Street Journal blowing the lid o...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read First, a rave worthy of the Boomer that I am, and now this. Let's turn to a 40 year-old concert movie, albeit arguably the best of them all. Monday night, I joined Byron Browne IV and Louise Lederhosen (fellow Thievery Corporation board members - so to speak - on Saturday) in attending one of the simult...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Today is September 11. I'm sure World War II was something, but 9/11, the 2009 financial crash, the pandemic, and January 6 were quite enough for this blogger. Onward, into an awkward transition . . . For today's post to make much sense, you'll need to first look at this from LinkedIn: https://www.linked...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read It is a Friday, a day when many look forward to a couple of days of not working. Except for those that aren't working in the first place. You know: People like the ever-vacationing Hunter Deuce, me, and all of the writers and actors in Hollywood and elsewhere that are presently on strike. It is that last...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read Hello Wednesday and it's great being retired. And also lazy, well-informed, and the editor of my own blog. Huh? Because I can decide to simply re-publish a brilliant article from my beloved Economist magazine as a post. Many of my whines about America stem from our refusal to learn from Europe; increasin...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Happy Monday of Labor Day, and what says "holiday weekend" more than a description and review of a recent sound system I installed? OK, virtually anything, but at least it involved "labor." As you might recall, not long ago, I went to Houston to install the WiFi and A/V at Dr. Shelly Murphy's new ginormo...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read (+ endless hours of listening) So many have asked (actually, absolutely nobody has asked), "Portico, what rock albums have meant the most to you? Not necessarily your opinion on the best, but what albums could you not shut up about, upon discovery?" Here they are. This is not my list of the greatest albu...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Say hello to hump day. As we observe the Presidential candidacy of Ron DeSantis, the Republican Governor of Florida, implode, it is useful to consider his pandering on culture war issues in his state. And some of his worst bootlicking has been providing cover for those who want to ban particular books i...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Happy Monday, and let's make it interesting. If you've been following along at home, you know I've started putting out my (fantastical) ideas regarding addressing homelessness and lawlessness. I've put it all under the umbrella of Soft on People, Tough on Crime, or SOPTOC. I contend that if we make it ea...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Welcome to Friday. I followed through on what I said to Hunter Deuce: I didn't watch Wednesday night's Republican National Committee debate. What follows is all I've read or heard on the subject; it is from The Economist's daily news briefing yesterday. “Eight presidential hopefuls tussled in the Republ...

OVERVIEW We were only here for 3 days, but holy smokes, did we see and do a lot in this easily Diamond Certified area. Diamond Certified for so many things beyond fine wine, which of course we guzzled, too. We visited rad places in and outside of Paso Robles, stayed on a swank ranch in Templeton, went to a wacky museum and even crazier...