London Times

Saturday, April 4th.

Flew into Heathrow Airport about 7:30 after about a 10-hour flight. Took a shuttle with about a dozen or so other passengers and we slowly made our way to the city as our very friendly driver proceeded to point out the various sights along the way. Anytime you hear, “Built in the 15th Century”, you realize you ain’t in Kansas anymore.

Arrived at Erika’s flat and really understood the true meaning of a small London flat. I’m not saying this flat is small but,

a) I had to go outside to change my mind
b) All the mice were hunchback
c) I put the key in the keyhole and broke a window.

Other than the size, a lovely place and very well located.

One of the things you notice immediately about London is the fact that it is one of the most walkable cities that I have ever been in. As we walked around the neighborhood, I noticed the many public parks or gardens with people enjoying the beautiful weather, spread out on blankets, walking their dogs or pushing the baby strollers. 

This is St. George's garden. This was two former cemetaries that was converted into a garden.

Some of the actual grave markers line the outside walls.

Of course this stunning weather contradicted the wool coat, gloves, hat, scarf and thermal underwear that I had packed.

After getting the tour of the neighborhood, we walked down to the British museum that is famous for the Elgin Marbles and the Rosetta Stone. Amazing pieces.

After that it was the neighborhood grocery store and home as the jet lag was in full effect and I actually nodded off over my plate of food.

Sunday April 5th,

Beautiful weather once again as we headed to what I think is one of the greatest museums in the world, The Natural History Museum. We had packed a lunch and decided to take the scenic route to the museum. Walking through Trafalgar Square

 

to St James Park (where the sandwiches were consumed), then up to see Buckingham palace, then on to the museum.

Now I had been to London once before many years ago as a child and I remember one of two things: 1) The Tower of London and 2) The Natural History Museum and the impact has never diminished. I love this place.

After the museum, we took the tube (Subway) back to the neighborhood and a visit to one of the many pubs in the area. Did I mention I love this neighborhood? A bottled American beer now feels like a rinse cup your dentist gives you after experiencing the pint. Love the pub.

More later.

s

A true legend.

Well the news just came down that the great Paul Newman has passed away. Stage, live television and film, Newman could do it all. No one played the likable rogue better (not so fast Kevin Costner). Find me an actor today that has his body of work, drives race cars, opens summer camps for ailing children and owns a hugely succesful charitable business. You throw down, "Hud", "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", "Cool Hand Luke", "The Hustler", "The Verdict" and of course, "Slap Shot", then you contributed. He will be missed.

s

wow

I didn't get a chance to watch the Katie Couric / Sarah Palin interview when it originally aired, but because of the wonders of this "internet" thingy I have been able to watch several of the exchanges. Like this one:

It would appear that everyone's favorite beauty queen/

sports reporter/faith healer/vice-presidential candidate had a tough time of it.

So you wanna vote for a guy who voted for her? 

Good luck with that.

s

Bush spoke to the nation last night. Let me give you the breakdown, although by now we should all know the tune.

"If we don't BLANK (fill in hastily thrown together, questionable plan of action) now, then we will most certainly BLANK (insert any fearful image here, mushroom cloud, another 9/11, economic collapse)". 

But like the American auto makers will tell you, you can only sell a crappy product for so long before the public just stops buying.

s

News Flash...

Stop the presses!

That's one more off of my list of unanswered questions...Whew! Now I can get on to the other 700 billion more important issues we have to deal with.

s

Do what now?

Whew...

I've written a few large checks in my life, back taxes, back child support, back massage, but I can only imagine what signing a 700 billion dollar bailout check would feel like. What do you put in the "Memo" line? Do you sign with red ink? So many questions.

Apparently the deal isn't going done as smooth as Bush and Paulson had hoped. One reason could be a small section of the agreement..32 words as a matter of fact.

"Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."

Really? We give you 700 billion dollars and do what, wave goodbye? Hope for the best?  All of this happens on your watch, all the while you're telling us things are fine, and then once the walls start to crumble you not only want a large check but also absolute immunity? Really?

s

le view

You know for a show that quite honestly I cannot stand, "The View" finally did something today that I have to give them props for. John McCain dropped by today for what I can only assume he thought would be the usual fluff fest and a chance to score some easy women votes.

The girls had other ideas. (watch videos)

I love to watch noted right wing nut, Elisabeth Hasselbeck as she grinds her back molars into chalk while her candidate (as well as his wife) are actually being called out right in front of her. Earlier this month, Hasselbeck had hosted a luncheon for Cindy McCain and I'm sure they both thought today's show was going to be more of a cake walk.

Good for you ladies. Respect.

s

today

You were in charge when it happened.

You avoided responsibility

You promised to capture the man responsible.

You failed.

You now claim that if the other party wins, they would allow it to happen again, only this time, they would be responsible.

You should be ashamed.

You won't be.

s

Drill Baby Drill!

Well now. 

It appears that those crazy cats over at the Interior Department Agency know how to conduct themselves some business. The agency that collects oil and gas royalties has been caught in a wide-ranging ethics scandal, one that includes " allegations of financial self-dealing, accepting gifts from energy companies, cocaine use and sexual misconduct."

Do those guys know how to party or what? The investigation concludes that several of the officials (Government Officials by the way, so the "official" Officials): "frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana, and had sexual relationships with oil and gas company representatives”. 

Now that's what I call horizontal drilling!

And that is what they found out! Imagine the stuff still tucked away..deep in the Alaska wilderness, just like so many of our future energy solutions.

s

"A famous philosopher once said..."

...is a horrible way to start a speech. I hate it. If the philosopher is so famous, then name him. I hear it time and time again and you know the speaker is using this as a way to force the theme of the speech down your throat. What theme you ask? Well just wait for the second sentence, because it is coming. For example:

"A famous philosopher once said, 'you may fool all of the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you can never fool all of the people all of the time'...(pause)...well my friends, Bill Jones never tried to fool anyone...

please stop this. I mean it.

s

brilliant...

If you haven't been watching "The Daily Show" this week, you have really been missing out. The gang is as sharp as ever.




This is why they do what they do and I sell hot dogs all day in the sweltering sun. All right, I don't sell hot dogs all day in the sweltering sun...but I can dream can't I?

s

Conventional wisdom....

As I listen to the Republican National Convention this week, I am left with a few questions.

- If you are the true party of reform and change, my only question is reform what? Change what? Don't you have to admit that something is wrong first? And if nothing is wrong, then why do we need a pair of reformers to try and change something that isn't broken in the first place?

- If this convention is about McCain's military record and the fact that he served his country, then shouldn't that have mattered in '04 when John Kerry was the candidate with the military record? Shouldn't you have been offended when the Bush campaign "Swift Boated" him?

- If McCain is a true "maverick", then why didn't he push for his VP choice, Joe Liberman? Or his other choices, Tom Ridge, Mitt Romney etc.. Instead, he bowed to pressure from the religious right and picked a more hard right candidate.

- Is McCain a POW? I had no idea. They should really talk about that.

- Where is anyone from the current administration? Anyone? How the mighty have fallen.

- If Palin has made more "Executive" decisions than both Obama and Biden, then how many said decisions has McCain made? By that same logic, Palin is the better choice for president.

- Are we still using the same old "Washington Fat Cats/Angry left/liberal left/liberal elite/hollywood elite" line of rhetoric? I know the right needs a Bogey man, but can you not find a new one?

- make no mistake, I like John McCain. I may have voted for him in 2000, when the republican party tried everything they could do to bury him. Then, somewhere along the way, McCain seemed to change. Less "Straight Talk" and more party line.

- I have printed up a few thousand "Drill Baby Drill" T-shirts. Let me know what size. Please hurry.

s 

OMG...HCWNE!

Hello all,

The above photo is from a wonderful time waste of a blog, (other than mine).

http://hotchickswithnoeyebrows.blogspot.com/

Take care of those eyebrows ladies..please.

s

"I lived long enough and I ain't scared of dying."

I walked 47 miles of barbed wire,
Used a cobra snake for a neck tie.
Got a brand new house on the roadside,
Made out of rattlesnake hide.
I got a brand new chimney made on top,
Made out of human skulls.
Now come on darling let's take a little walk, tell me,
Who do you love?
Who do you love?
Who do you love?
Who do you love?

One of the fathers of rock and roll, Bo Diddley died yesterday at the age of 79. Playing a guitar he made himself, Bo Diddley created one of the greatest "beats" in rock and roll. Impossible to describe in text, the "Bo Diddley beat" in my opinion is one of the foundations of rock and roll music. Thanks Bo.

s

Where everybody claims to know my name...

Hello all,

Good news as my favorite watering hole was picked by Esquire magazine as one of the best bars in America.









This is the picture that Esquire took, but it may as well be called "Shane's point of view" as I try to sit there whenever I go in. If you are looking for great burgers, drafts and bar staff, and the quirkiest collection of patrons, then this is the place for you.


s

That's Hedley...

Hello all,

Sad news from Los Angeles as news that Harvey Korman died. He was 81.



I was always a fan of Mr. Korman and never felt he received the credit he deserved in regards to his work on the Carol Burnett show as well as his film work with Mel Brooks. But in my opinion, there is no "Blazing Saddles" without Mr. Korman's brilliant work as the character Hedley Lamar. The work he does in each scene is a perfect balance of physical and this intense seething you feel his character has just below the surface. As close to perfect as you can get in my book.









On "The Carol Burnett Show", I always felt that Tim Conway always received far to much credit while Korman received too little as the straight man to Conway's incessant mugging. Gene Wilder and Harvey Korman have always been two of my favorite comedic actors of all time and my guess is that Mel Brooks would agree since he cast them both in almost everything he did. Thanks Harvey, you will be missed.

s

She speaks...

Hello all,

As some of you may already know, Nancy Reagan officially endorsed Republican candidate John McCain. This means that I have once again lost in the "Former First Lady Endorsements" pool. I thought for sure she would endorse one of the other..oh wait, there are no other candidates. So why did she wait weeks after he had the nomination sewn up to speak? Why is this news? Why is this news?

s

SXSW wrap up

Hello all,

Well I've been back home now for a couple of days. Still processing all of the info and events from the past few days. My brain is hurting as it deals with words like "Crowd Sourcing", "Wikis", "Ciphers", R&A", "P&A", "Torrent", "Track back", "Aggregators", "DRMs", "VOD" and "RSS", just to name a few. From my personal experience, a good time was had. This has to be one of the better organized festivals that I've ever been to and I can't imagine a more perfect host city. Thanks Austin!

Now that I'm back in the real world, it's back to political races, prostitution rings, economic recession, taxes and war.

forget this..I'm heading back to Austin.

s

SXSW Day 4

Hello all,

Typing a little slow today gang. After an afternoon of panels and one really good film, I went to a few patties last night.

The first party was the VH1 Rock Docs (I know, cheesy title). This party was to support the documentary featuring Bela Fleck and his trip to Africa. For those of you that don't know, Bela Fleck is a highly respected banjo player and has appeared on many albums. His trip to Africa was to actually trace back the origins of the banjo. The party invite claimed food, drinks and a performance by Bela, so I was really looking forward to it. Well, the line to get in was very long and they moved through that BBQ buffet like a school of piranhas eating whatever it is that piranhas eat. I managed to grab a drumstick and a little potato salad. As I scanned the audience for a place to eat my din, i noticed a familiar face in the crowd. That face belonged to none other than Jeffrey Tambor! I'm a huge fan of his work, going all the way back to his guest spots on "Hill Street Blues". Also in the audience was Morgan Spurlock of "Super Size Me". Bela got on stage and performed a few numbers and he did not disappoint...a true virtuoso. They had a camera locked off on the stage so that they could project on a big screen behind the stag all the monitors in the bar. I was actually standing at the back of the stage, so I could not see the big screen. But I looked over at one of the monitors and realized that from where I was standing I had been on camera this entire time, so on this giant big screen the only two people on the screen were myself and Bela ...rocking the house.

From there I moved to the "Technicolor" party. More food and open bar. Met some nice folks. Did I mention the open bar?

I would like to say the night ended there..it didn't. A friend from home was also in town, so bars were in order. It's like this town is trying to hurt me.

Woke up this morning to a huge storm blowing through. It has been raining all day. So you combine the cloudy weather with late night parties and Starbucks is doing great business today.

Well gang, off to another panel. more later

s

SXSW Day three

Hello all,

It is Sunday in Austin. A little overcast today, but Austin still shines through (Awww..so sweet). I actually broke away from the panels long enough to go see a film. The documentary "Beautiful Losers" was playing at the wonderful downtown theater the Paramount. The Paramount is a beautifully restored old one screen theater in the heart of downtown. If in Austin and a film lover, you have to check it out.

The film was about a collection of artists who all got together in New York in the late eighties and lived together in an abandoned building as they converted it into this alternative art gallery. The artists drew on everything for inspiration, graffiti, skateboarding, punk.all things street. The doc chronicles their initial struggles to survive to their eventual struggles with fame and fortune. A really well done film.

Going to try some more parties tonight, (it never stops for the Shanester..2 beers and zzzz)

more later

s