Quick Notes / Home From The Road

Quick Notes / Home From The Road

Took a short fun trip. Nice getaway. Guest Blogger and I hit the road in a rental car, and left our worries behind.

Visited friends in VA just outside of D.C. and then just outside of Greensboro, NC.

Then I went with the kids to see John Mayer and The Counting Crows. More on that show later, as in another entry another time. Short concert note: opening for the two lead acts was Leona Naess [1], who has a record coming out later this month ñ watch out for her and her very good band ñ you heard about it here, where we occasionally pick the hits.

On the Interstate in Virginia thereís a sign: ìSPEED LIMIT ENFORCED BY AIRCRAFTî Does this mean helicopters or small planes swoop down on speeding cars, and forcibly slow them back down to the speed limit? Driving over 600 miles of Virginia highways this past week (and having done this many, many times before), I can report that wherever those signs are, one never, ever, EVER sees any overhead aircraft.

At an Interstate Rest Area on I-81 in Pennsylvania there is a signpost containing Rest Area Rules of the Commonwealth. The very last of the rules points out that there is to be no sexual intercourse at the rest stop. Tell that to the couples in the trucks and the RVs.

How does Pennsylvania expect to enforce this rule?

According to the signpost, violators of these rules can anticipate fines and/or jail time. No car nookie in PA, or it is off to jail, so says the sign.




Random Thoughts

Weíve all heard the phrase, ìTough Noogies.î Are there noogies that are not tough?

Can one find malleable noogies? Or noogies that are softies? And, aside from a knuckle to the head (remember Bill Murray and Gilda Radner?) [2]what is (are?) a noogie (noogies?), anyway?

Language Question

Is a dry run the same thing as a dress rehearsal? And does that make Opening Night a ìwet run?î

Interstate Homogeny

Enough time on the road, seeing signs for motels, gas stations, eateries, et al, makes one wonder about the sameness of everywhere. Thereís a McDonalds, an Applebees, a Motel 6, a CITGO or Exxon, and apparently a Wal*Mart, at almost every town with an exit ramp.

A frightening thought comes to mind: Wal*Mart, MicroSoft, Clear Channel and McDonalds could all merge, and function under one roof. Then Fox would merge with that entity.

They distort. You decide.

Oops, no. THEY decide . . .what you eat, what you read, what software you use, what music you are exposed to , what concerts you might attend, what news you are allowed to hear, and so on.

They might also ban the word homogeny, as it sounds a little too much like that unbiblical behaviour all those parties oppose. Well, we don't know if Bill Gates cares one way or the other, to turn a phrase.

The Car Radio

Car radio highlight from the drive: Hearing Al Franken [3] on Teri Grossí Fresh Air [4] on NPR [5]. In addition to hawking his book about the liars [6], Franken is just plain entertaining and a funny guy.

Car radio lowlight: hearing the sameness of even the medium-market radio stations. Also known as the sickness entitled Clearchannelizationitis.

Car radio bonus last Sunday: listening to a few different ESPN Radio [7] affiliates on the drive to Virginia, hearing almost the entire Red Sox-Phillies game. And most of the drive back Thursday evening, hearing the Yankee game on WCBS 880 [8], with that excellent 50 kilowatt clear signal.

Guest Blogger wanted to know if that newfangled Satellite Radio would allow us to hear the Yankee Broadcasts, anywhere we happened to find ourselves. No, I explained, it is their own private version (as in channels) of music, and some syndicated talk radio programs, as well. Not even NPR!

Teasers and one little Rant

More coming shortly, including notes on the FCCís setback, a report on the concert, observations on the Democratic Presidential hopefuls, and what a cold-hearted liar Dubya is. Okay, that one canít wait: on the very same day that the report comes out about increasing joblessness, and the day that France and Germany say no to Dubyaís proposed UN resolution (ìwe invade, you support us after the factî), he announces at a Missouri public appearance that there is good economic news. The economy is looking up, says Dubya [9].

Can this guy lie, or what? I suppose the economy is looking as up as the weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq are looking apparent and located. Does Dubya think people in Kansas City are complete dunces?

Surely they know there, just as well as anywhere else, that the economy is in the crapper, that the war in Iraq is turning into a daily body count of American soldiers (and wounded ones, too, although the Pentagon is classifying this information), and that like his Daddy, Dubya didnít finish the job of eliminating Saddam.

Remember his campaign, the one he lost in the electorate, but was handed over to him by the Supremes? Wasnít Dubya that self-proclaimed Beltway outsider and non-partisan unifier?

Facts since speak volumes: he is simply a right-wing powercrat, seizing foreign assets and waging war, handing over economic opportunity to his cronies, and selling out the assets and lives of average Americans. The man must go.

If only there were a qualified, worthy, electable Democrat to run against him.

Attention Al Gore! Attention Wesley Clark!