Two Gents' Worth
November 22, 2024
Now that I’ve returned from my summer-long sojourn to the Midwest, my attention has turned to Fresno’s Next Big Thing: the re-opening of Fulton Street. I’ve spent quite some time over the past few days, walking up and down what used to be the Fulton Mall and what — within days — will officially be…
Read More about Ah, Yes. Fulton“We sit by and watch the Barbarian, we tolerate him; in the long stretches of peace we are not afraid. We are tickled by his irreverence, his comic inversion of our old certitudes and our fixed creeds refreshes us; we laugh. But as we laugh we are watched by large and awful faces from beyond;…
Read More about Las Vegas
My almost summer-long stay in this great Heart of the American Heartland — Ames, Iowa — has nearly ended. In a few days, I’ll be trekking back to California to resume “the rest” of my life. But while I’m regretfully leaving behind this quintessential Midwestern university town, I’m going West with some indelible memories. The…
Read More about Memories of the Midwest
Autumn made its annual trek to our small part of the Great Midwest a few days ago. Not officially, of course — the calendar shows that summer still has a few play days left — but anyone who has lived in Ames for any period of time recognizes “the signs” that fall is here. For…
Read More about Autumn in the MidwestThe other day, I read a newspaper story about the great Vin Scully, who is enjoying Year One in retirement after 67 years — 67! — as the Voice of the Dodgers — and who is universally recognized as the greatest baseball announcer ever. With the Boys in Blue heading for another playoff run, a…
Read More about Once Upon a Time
Please permit me a random thought or two on another gorgeous Sunday night in the heart of our great American heartland. For starters, one of the joys of living — even temporarily, as I am now — in a really smart town is that you don’t encounter a whole lot of stupid talk. And that…
Read More about Smatterings from Smart Town
Things are different here in the Midwest, and those differences are almost all good. Yes, I’m back once again in the heart of the great American heartland — Ames, Iowa. I’m spending a few weeks hanging out with old friends, eating a ton of that great Midwestern beef at the best barbecue spot anywhere (Hickory…
Read More about Musings from the MidwestJack Schwartz celebrated a birthday on Saturday – 102 years old. So, they threw him a little party – The Sequoia Woodturners Club of Central California, a collection of mostly senior citizens who love to repurpose beautiful chunks of dead trees into objets d’art — fruit bowls and weed pots (flower pots) and rolling pins…
Read More about Memorial DayI don’t know about you – but I’m looking forward to flying United Airlines again. I mean, think about how United has changed its ways for the better – in the aftermath of that horrible incident where authorities dragged a doctor off a plane earlier this month. The airline has now reached a settlement with…
Read More about United, We Fly!The recent unpleasantness over the forced removal of a paying customer from an overbooked United Airlines flight 3411Chicago to Louisville was necessary and predictable. Necessary because United had aggressively sold and then maliciously packed people like sardines into each and every available seat aboard the plane, and predictable because brutish corporate policy these days dictates…
Read More about Bump This!