New Shoes in the Rain

Good morning to all.  Unexpected thunderstorm underway here in central Kentucky.  'Tis the season, you know! By the way, I hope that everyone was able to enjoy the long Memorial Day weekend.  I read about some rather crass suggestions for celebrating the day.  Those who are given to deeper thought appreciate the day off as much as the sacrifices that allow it to occur annually, of course. Did you read about golfer Tiger Woods?  He was found unconscious in his car in the middle of a street in the middle of the night.  The engine was running at the time.  Arrested for DUI. I learned of this while playing golf with some friends on Monday.  My first comment was that, well, let's remember that the guy had back surgery not so long ago and likely mixed alcohol with prescribed pain medication.  The police report is due to be released today, I believe.  I think Tiger has a little more explaining to do, even though he's months from attemptin...

Friends, it's raining here in central Kentucky this morning, which is probably contributing to my mood. I am still so saddened by the recent events in Manchester, England. but I would add to that sentiment that it's powered by some family information.  In the past year both of my granddaughters, aged 11 and 7, have attended pop concerts by performers not that different from Arianna Grande, whose show was marred by this senseless act of violence.  So I have difficulty not thinking about this. But it's becoming so much the norm, isn't it?  Think about it:  the TSA just announced a new pilot program where they'll more closely examine all kinds of things that they used to not look at specifically, like electronic devices larger than a cellphone.  Regular visitors to this space will remember that it wasn't that long ago that I flew for business regularly, and became rather numb to the art of getting through security quickly and without needless delays.  Firs...

Friends, it's Wednesday, so we're at about the halfway point of the work week.  And we're approaching Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer.  School is almost out for the summer, too. Let me first make a general comment about what's happening in Washington.  I don't think anyone who visits here would disagree that we're in for some rough times over the coming weeks and months.  I was a young teen when the Watergate break-in, coverup and investigation occurred, and remember well my mom (who was not working at that time) watching every minute of the Senate hearings on the subject.  I don't know if I understood everything that was happening, but got enough of it to know that it wasn't good for anyone. My take now is that there are now so many media outlets that information is likely leaking from numerous sources, in the executive or legislative branches of our government as well as within some departments.  That's not good, but things...

Good morning, everyone.  And on a Tuesday, too! Our schizophrenic weather continues here in central Kentucky.  Hot, then mild, then downright cool, and now warming up again.  Rain and then dry and then drizzle and so on. Enough about that.  I come to you today regarding a musical oldie-but-goodie.  And unlike so many of my preferred artists, this one is not so old. I refer to the dynamic late-70s to early-90s group Talking Heads. The four members met in art school in New England, as I have read, and combined new wave rock, funk, pop and performance art into a driving form with undeniable rhythm and catchy songs whose words are, well, interesting. I began to think of them recently upon learning of the death of film director Jonathan Demme, better known for directing the acclaimed "Silence of the Lambs" and "Philadelphia," but whose roots were in documentary filmmaking.  Demme collaborated with Talking Heads for a concert movie entitled "Stop Making...

It's Monday, everyone.  Which means, here in central Kentucky, that it's raining again.  At least the rain bookended the weekend, which allowed a steamy round of golf Saturday and grilled dinner last night! I come to you this morning prepared to discuss several aspects of the television industry.  There have been items mentioned in the national media, and locally as well, that made me want to share some of this information. I'll start with ESPN, the self-proclaimed "worldwide leader in sports," a phrase co-opted from ABC Sports, which used to make the same claim.  Last week ESPN very publicly thinned its workforce in announcing layoffs of many recognizable on-air personalities like Andy Katz, Jayson Stark, Ed Werder, Trent Dilfer, Jay Crawford and a number of others, as well as a number of writers who seldom, if ever, appeared on camera. ESPN, and its parent The Walt Disney Company, took this action after a workforce reduction just a year or so ago.  They ...

Happy Monday to you.   Did you get rain over the weekend, as we did here in central Kentucky?  I realize that this IS spring, and it IS routine to see ample amounts of rain this time of year, but why, oh, why, does it have to seemingly ALWAYS rain on the weekend? My wife and I elected to give ourselves a change of pace from our respective routines over the weekend, and traveled to Cincinnati, our preferred getaway destination.  As I've explained in this space before, we love Cincinnati because it's a larger city than Lexington but is only a little more than an hour's drive away, so we can spend less time getting away and more time BEING away! That sounded a little like a tourism commercial, but no matter. We normally visit a specific shopping mall that has some things we don't have, and also better versions of what we DO have, here in my home city.  For instance, we love visiting the Apple Store in the Kenwood Towne Center.  Why?  It's substantially...

Good morning to all.  Nice, warm weather here in central Kentucky is due to be interrupted by some rain throughout today.  But you know what they say about April showers.  My grass is a direct testament to that old adage! Unless you've been completely sequestered from any news sources over the past couple of days, you are aware of the incident that occurred with a passenger on a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Louisville (not far from my home area in Lexington) over the weekend. Anyone who flies relatively often knows that airlines routinely overbook some flights, largely because the no-show rate leaves valuable seats unsold and decreases profit.  The flight in question was such an example, and it was already overbooked when the airline also decided to make some room on board for some of its own employees to be shuttled to Louisville for a flight out the following morning. I've been in situations where the airlines offered as much as $1000, but not in re...