J. Garcia neck wear: Many have seen J. Garcia ties. J. Garcia was Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead, which he is, at least the dead part. While never a practicing Deadhead, I was acutely aware of their enormous success since they first emerged. Each time I look at a J. Garcia tie, I wonder just how it is that one of his legacies is a line of neck ties. Garcia is effectively the very antithesis of the neck tie, of suit and tie, of being "dressed." It truly is absurd. Garcia painted some and was pretty good at it. That said, J. Garcia ties are really decent. I own two. I've never owned a Grateful Dead LP, eight-track, cassette, CD, or MP3. I have never deliberately listened to anything Grateful Dead.
Were the flashers really necessary?: Like millions of other Americans, I watched quite a bit of Ted Kennedy's funeral, both in Boston and in Washington. As the funeral procession made its way through the streets of DC and on over to Arlington, I was struck by the odd fact that all vehicles in the procession had their flashers on. Was that really necessary? Did security types think Senator Kennedy's cortege might be mistaken for something else, that no one would notice it was his funeral?
Butterflies are indeed a no-show: Over the last couple years I've lamented the scarcity of butterflies in my backyard. Now, finally, there is some research to indicate that there is indeed a problem. Cause? As of now, unknown, although a wet summer may be to blame.
Michael Vick: We fielded a lot of "What does the SPCA think?" type questions regarding Vick's return to the NFL and the Philadelphia Eagles. Not being an attorney, the intricacies of NFL by-laws and codified rules and regulations governing "membership" are both unfamiliar and uninteresting to me, but my guess is that Vick could have successfully sued the NFL for reinstatement. It may have taken years and cost millions, and it might have failed, but it was an option. Reinstatement by the NFL didn't mean the Eagles, or any other NFL franchise, had to sign him. Shame on them both. What Vick did was unspeakable. You want tougher animal cruelty laws? Your state senator and your state representative are the people to contact. Tell them how you feel. You should know how we feel.
Research about Facebook: OK, just a dumb question that will likely never be answered - how long does it take the average individual to tire of Facebook and stop posting there multiple times each day? How much time passes before most realize that there really is no substantive benefit to social networking on the internet, that the more you conduct your social life on-line, the less you conduct it in person? If you don't have one-on-one personal contact with others, it's not really a social life. Proud to say, Twitter amused me all of about nine seconds.
Les Paul and Woodstock: Did anyone else catch the irony of Les Paul's death occurring as this country, maybe the world, prepared to celebrate Woodstock's 40th? No Les Paul, no Woodstock. No Les Paul, no electric guitar as it we've known it since the earliest days of that damned rock&roll nonsense. The Beatles, nah, they didn't change music, Les Paul did. Without Les Paul, it's entirely possible that George Martin, Beatles producer, would never have been able to create the sound that even kids in grade school still love today. And, of course, no Les Paul, no eight-tracks. Snicker all you like, but the clunky old eight-track and Les Paul were the very beginnings of sound-on-sound, of multi-track recording. It's likely most legitimate musicians today, especially rockers, all know the importance of Les Paul.
Crop Circles: They're still out there, new ones. Guys with boards on ropes made them all with their feet. That's the scientific dismissal of the phenomena. We just discovered a planet that spins in the opposite direction of all others. Probably guys with boards, too. We are clueless as to who and what we are.
Out of the litter box...
