TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read OK - let's get right into another long rant about Trump, and the lack of highspeed rail in the US. I will also work in more complaints (or brags!) about SF. Kidding! And happy Friday. Around noon today we are off on a highly-anticipated trip, and one almost certain to be immortalized in a proper Travel ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read I know, I know: I've regressed and have been writing about policy, if not politics (OK, maybe some politics, too) quite a bit lately. You can blame the United States Senate. Because hopefully we've now come to the final chapters in one of America's worst stories: the criminal melodrama of Donald J. Trump...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read For the record, I am thrilled President Biden's Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to further investigate the dodgy Hunter Biden. If Hunter did something illegal, he should be prosecuted. If the criminality involved his father, so be it - he should be impeached and removed from ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read . . . and they are ugly. Happy Friday, and my apologies in advance for sharing this rather sobering information ahead of your weekend. But Gallup - the polling company - has been doing a big annual survey for 20 years now of how Americans feel on a variety of topics, and the results merit your attention....

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read I mentioned on Monday that we saw Barbie this past Sunday. My God is Margot Robbie f'ing hot. There, that's the post. No, that's wrong. In actuality, she's really f'ing hot, but that's still not what today is about. Since Sunday, I've had a chance to consider 3 different, but related, inputs, and - shock...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Happy Monday, and how about a touch of Debbie Downer? You can thank the demise of college football's Pacific 12 Conference for the inspiration. Because lately, I've been thinking quite a bit about things that used to be, yet are no longer. Or still are, but rendered irredeemably Bogus. While it is sad fo...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read + 8 Minute External Article Here's something to ponder for the weekend. I came across this interesting article from Foreign Affairs Magazine about the United Kingdom's British Broadcasting Corporation, the legendary BBC. I share it today as a reminder of the importance of a nation's soft power. For an ex...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Let's call this Worst Wednesday. Because today is about the two worst branding decisions I have personally witnessed. And I'm almost 60, FFS! Disclaimer: I am no branding, or even marketing, expert. But by now, you must know there's no correlation between my expertise and my popping off on a given subjec...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read + Great External Stuff Happy Monday. Today's post is short, so at least there's that. I love to write, and I remain amazed by its inspiration. Like today. As you may have heard, a founding member of The Eagles, Randy Meisner, passed on. And there you are - a blog. Meisner's death, and one of my favorite...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <4 Minute Read Happy Friday. Julie and I live in one of the nicest neighborhoods in SF. And with all due modesty, that also (still) implies the world. This is down the street one block. Sorry, but it's true. Which begs the question: how on Earth can a man talk about Xanadu and paradise and winning lotteries and gratit...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read A hump day in the middle of summer? What better time for a dry policy discussion! And on the topic of Section 230 to boot! Try to calm your excitement and pay attention, because the adjustments I propose (really, stole, from Scott Galloway) below to this regulation could largely clean up social media. O...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read + a 13 minute (!) song Actually, this is probably more appropriately entitled "My Most OCD Blog Post Yet". Why? Because our destinations this weekend, Mendocino and personal Happy Place Anderson Valley, are not unlike paradise, and are a big muse. I have visual evidence. We depart in a couple of hours to...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read + Links Happy Friday. Tomorrow, we leave for a minibreak to the magic of Mendocino, and we're going with Ol' Purple Label and her hubby, K. Helmsley Garfinkel. A visit to the Portico Darwin Happy Place Anderson Valley is a given, so I'm already getting jacked. Indeed, I like the region so much, there's ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Not many here saw this coming. Anchor Brewing, an SF institution forever and the makers of our beloved Steam beer, looks like it is going away. Its corporate parent since 2017, the Japanese brewing giant Sapporo, announced last week they are closing it down. I have a couple of personal notes, and then I'...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read In case you haven't noticed (and given that I rarely shut up about it, how could you not?), I have been on a personal quest of sorts since retiring. A part of it has been to develop more patience and also to temper my volatility when things aren't as I wish. Please: laughing doesn't help. But for your en...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read As you may have noticed, I was recently in Houston. And I was thinking: what is the opposite kind of place, in terms of just about everything? A US National Park. So now, as a service (and for a reason to show fun photos) to my readers, I bring you some great information about what Ken Burns rightly dee...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read + More at Link I had a typically pithy piece teed up for today about National Parks, and how they remind me of Houston (!). I leave in a few hours after a very successful trip, at least in terms of the installation. You can count on a future article where I sing the praises of the bonkers Monitor Audio ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Happy Monday. Let's put it this way: where I am and what I am doing is the polar opposite of going outdoors to a picnic or festival. Because you can't really go outside: I'm in Houston and it's July 10. I'm staying at the rapidly-emptying Murphy Villa, yet spending a lot of time at the new-to-Shelly and...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <4 Minute Read In a couple of short hours, I'll be ensconced up front on a nonstop to balmy Houston. Dr. Shelly Murphy has beckoned: it's time to install the tech in her swank, freshly-remodeled and ginormous - shocker - condo. So how about a Friday free of my drivel, as I jet off to a land of big hats and bigger bugs...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Phew. Time to towel off from that shower I'm sure you needed after Monday's post. The navel gazing ends (for now) and I return to envisioning a better world, no matter how far-fetched the ideas. Because today, I would like to add to my thoughts about being Soft on People and Tough on Crime, as a general...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS >6 Minute Read Hello, and happy Monday on an Independence Day holiday weekend. If you've been paying attention, you know I recounted the luckiest moments in my life last Monday and Wednesday. Today is different - very different. But hopefully no less entertaining, and maybe even helpful, if you ever must confront what...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read FFS, even I need a break from that lottery thing! So in honor of America and its 247th birthday Tuesday, let's look at some recent presidents, in an admittedly narrow light. In relative terms, were they smart and/or corrupt? Or none of the above? Full disclosure: I stole this concept nearly in its entir...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 5 Minute Read The reaction to the first post on my life's winning lottery tickets was met with the exuberance I've come to expect. Which is to say, there was basically none. But no matter, here are the rest - except for the last 3, which I'm saving for a special 4th of July post. If you find this all too self-absorbed...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <5 Minute Read Happy Monday. While we certainly had a wonderful time in New Mexico, there is nothing quite like coming back to SF, especially after being away for an extended period. Quite a change from sunny and 100° to foggy and 60°, and while I certainly enjoy my Pool Boy antics, it is nice to feel that clear, cool...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Well, it's been a wonderful 12 nights here on the desert, and I'd be remiss if I didn't thank our hosts, the marvelous, if rather aged, Davis and Melynda Fladgate. These two were kind enough to give us the complete run of their home for almost 2 weeks, whilst also tolerating my endless plays of M83's Fa...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Today, I am publishing, in its entirety, a reply I received from star reader Hunter Deuce about my post Monday on Identity Politics. “I'm pretty sure no one has ever chased you down an alley with a baseball bat looking to cave your head in because you're straight or white. In a perfect world, we wouldn'...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <4 Minute Read Happy Monday. We're continuing to ride the Fladgate hospitality train, and I may never get off. But despite the ultra-chill nature of the scene here, I am going to pop-off (again) on race, sexuality and gender. On Juneteenth! You're welcome! Why another third-rail tap dance? Well, there have been a coup...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <5 Minute Read Happy Friday. Sure, family is nice, but a highlight of our almost 2 weeks here is Julie's dad's dog, Lucy, who I've mentioned before. I also mentioned bragsnapshots. Can't we have both? Onward to the weekend (!) and as promised, here are the remaining 18 of the 37 Signals, by my management heroes Jason ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 5 Minute Read Since I last wrote, we've enjoyed literally all there is of Belen, and had a great visit with Julie's family. Indeed, an event that brings 3 of the 4 Fladgate siblings (Julie, Biff, and G. Robinson - with only the hockey groupie Rhoda missing) together at one table called for the best, and we almost foun...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Speaking of Ukraine and before indulging in a lovely blog: fingers crossed their pushback works and this madness from Russia can end. But let's (awkwardly) transition to something nearly as important as peace in Ukraine: me, and my life. And a bonus: there's nary a mention of a certain former president w...