On airline in-flight magazines

I have one simple question. Why are airline in-flight magazines filled with only two kinds of ads:

1) Brazilian Steak Houses -- many different restaurants, all of them chains, and all of them with at least one restaurant in the Atlanta suburb of Buckhead.

2) Miami Beach condos or timeshares all built by some company named Turnberry.

Please someone explain this to me.

Dazed and Confused vs. Fast Times at Ridgemont High

I've always thought that Fast Times is the pinnacle of the "life in high school" film genre, but now that I've watched Dazed a few times over the summer it's clear that it is the richer, more complex work. In fact, in light of Dazed, Fast Times seems no more than an simple escapist comedy rather than the richly textured coming of age movie I thought it was. On the other hand, no one can deny that Fast Times has some unbelievable performances from both character actors (e.g. Vincent Schiavelli) and movie stars (e.g. Sean Penn).

On Listening to Iron Man

I just spent a couple of days listening to classic Black Sabbath -- Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Vol. 4, and of course Paranoid. Holy crap has that stuff not aged. I mean, take a new(ish), hot band like Wolfmother that uses similar stripped down instrumentation and I swear you couldn't tell which was released this year and which was released 40(!) years ago. If I were to write in detail about my favorite songs I would need 30 pages, but the biggest surprise to me was how a hoary old cliche like Iron Man --if you take the time to listen to the whole thing -- can sound so fresh. The most comparable experience I can think of -- and I know this is pretty far-fetched, but bear with me -- is visiting Niagara Falls. You think you remember it, you've seen it on countless postcards, it's the butt of many cheesy jokes about newlyweds on their honeymoon, it's way overdeveloped and overvisited, but then when you actually see the thing you go "Whoaaaaa."

Airport Observations

Had to fly down to Charlotte for a meeting. My plan was to leave the liquids at home (wear glasses instead of lenses, buy toothpaste down in Charlotte, etc.), but as it happened I was travelling with a co-worker who brought her toilet kit and had to check her bag so I figured why not check mine too. The line at the check in wasn't too bad, though I did notice that among the travellers checking bags were a large number of business-types who normally would be packing carry-ons in attempt to save time on arrival. A couple of observations, both attributable to the fact that there were very few people with carry-ons beyond small bags and briefcases.

1) The line through security was long but we just zipped right through. In fact, I don't think I've ever gotten through a security line that fast.

2) It was actually less frantic and stressful to board and de-plane than usual, because neither I nor other travellers were worried about boarding late for fear of missing out on free overhead space because of all the jerks who bend the rules and bring bags the size of steamer trunks on the plane.

Once I accepted the fact that my trip would need an extra half hour to wait for my bag at the luggage carousel it was actually the most relaxing business travel experience in a long time!

On Early Morning TV (plus I get to use the word "ouevre")

One disadvantage to getting older is my inability to sleep more than a few hours a night. This has advantages, though, one of which is that I have more time to watch TV. I've discovered that the best TV is on from about 3-5 AM. That is, if you like science fiction and horror movies. I just finished watching, for example, Clive Barker's Nightbreed. What a great film! I would rate it second only to the original Hellraiser in Barker's ouevre. Perfect combination of "B" movie atmosphere along with "A" movie prosthetics (utilized to create the brilliantly imaginative race of mutants that live among us in an underground world called Midian). Highly recommended.

Finally

A recipe I can really use.

Things I've Learned (Part 1)

An intractable problem at 7 pm suddenly becomes trivial at 7 AM the next morning.

On Cleaning the Garage (a haiku)

Eternal question.
Tell me, did I really need
Three broken shovels?

Hudson Highlands Park

Since the weather was beautiful and dry we decided to take a walk in the Hudson Highlands, right above Cold Spring. Just north of the town along 9D you can park the car and enter via one of a number of trails. The trails are not easy; elevations rise above 1,000 feet very fast, but once up top there are incredible vistas along the Hudson. Highly recommended!

Great TV

My wife's favorite show is the monthly broadcast of our town's Zoning Board on public access TV. I used to make fun of her but after finally sitting down and watching an episoded (yes, we actually call them episodes), I have to agree it's pretty great. I mean, if you think people eating worms or having sex with Flavor Flav counts as reality TV, then surely watching real people have meltdowns because a judging panel of petty tyrants turns down their tool shed puts that to shame!