Categories
Dog Bob Transcendental Bob

Chilling out

I took the dogs up to the lake this morning, despite the 15 degree temperature. I know it sounds completely insane, but I love weather like this — the dogs darting back and forth across the crunchy ground, the heatless sun yellow on the horizon, each icy breath a mix of pain and exhilaration. Once we were walking for 20 minutes or so, it really wasn’t too bad. Good enough, in fact, for Xena to plunge into the lake in pursuit of a flock of geese. Within minutes after she emerged dripping from the water, she turned into the ice Newf.

Now Playing: Nietzche from the album Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia by The Dandy Warhols

Categories
Media Bob

Forget the South

I’ve been watching the Democratic primaries with considerable amusement. What a confederacy of dunces. It was particularly fun watching Dean get tangled in a Confederate flag several weeks ago. An article in Slate says what I’ve been thinking for a long time: Why are the Democrats so worried about the South anyway? Face it. The South is Republican. Now get on with your lives …

To quote:

“Since 2000, many Democrats have questioned quietly why they should expend so much effort trying to win votes in what is now a solidly Republican region. The Democrats’ ceaseless courtship of Southern votes has fostered an unhealthy sense of entitlement. Southerners now consider it their God-given right to supply Democrats with presidential candidates or, failing that, to force non-Southern candidates to discuss Him using an alien evangelical vocabulary.”

Now Playing: Shining Moon from the album Whites Off Earth Now by Cowboy Junkies

Categories
Music Bob Travel Bob

Dancing Bob …

Lots of travel during the past week or so. I flew out to San Diego for a conference, where one night found me with a cigar in one hand and a Maker’s Mark in the other while I was dancing the way only a drunken white boy can dance. Not a pretty sight.

Drove from San Diego to Ventura after the conference and skated through L.A. with hardly any traffic grief. That was nice. Then I got a first class upgrade on the way back to Knoxville. Very cool.

After a brief night back in Knoxvegas, Lara and I flew up to Chicago to see Buddy Guy at his Legends club. It was incredible. And once again, Dancing Bob was unleashed on the unsuspecting masses. It amazes me how all those folks can stand stockstill while Buddy is wailing the blues.

Perhaps the coolest part of the weekend was the return home. We stepped into a blustery Chicago morning looking for a cab and stumbled into a limo that agreed to take us to O’Hare for the same price as a cab. The driver turned out to be a blues harp player who was pretty impressed when he found out we’d flown in to see Buddy Guy. We were talking about the blues, and he whipped out a harp and blew a few notes to explain what a diatonic harmonica is. When I asked who his favorite harp player is, he said Howard Levy . I’ll have to give him a listen.