You know your trusty steed is getting old when a team of factory-trained mechanics at the local dealership spends an hour troubleshooting the power steering system (“we couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working”). I should note that the car doesn’t have power steering. You see, my ’93 Eclipse has the dubious distinction of being the oldest vehicle they see… Read more →
Category: Other
Is The Housing Market Cooling Off?
The money mavens at CNN seem to think so. I’m not sure I’d classify a 6.6% year-over-year increase as “cooling off”, especially when inflation is less than 3%. No, I’d put it more into the category of another irrational jump in a real estate market that’s already every bit as crazed as the NASDAQ composite at the turn of the… Read more →
On Ralph Nader and Third-Party Candidates
Hold on to your absentee ballots kids. He’s back! Ralph Nader is once again officially pursuing the presidency of our modest little country. And I say God bless him. He has no chance of winning, of course. You don’t have to be John Zogby to figure that one out. We could start with the fact that this nation will never… Read more →
Getting Cosi With Opera
Could it be that nothing has been added to the House of Rapp for eighteen days? Yeah. By way of explanation, I can only proclaim “Life is short. Opera is long.” Especially when it’s a Mozart opera. Nothing personal, Wolfgang… Speaking of which, it’s a pleasure to report that Opera Pacific’s production of Cosi fan Tutte is finally over and… Read more →
The Dean Tax
An analysis and rebuttal of the Dean campaign BushTax.com web site. Read more →
On Howard Dean
Well, I’ve tried to warm up to Vermont Governor Howard Dean. I’ve waited, watched, and read just about everything posted on his campaign web site and official blog. I’ve tried mightily to reach the conclusion that he’s an exciting new player with fresh perspective ready to fight for the right things. But I just can’t. The truth of the matter… Read more →
Elite Speak
I do believe Rich is onto something with his article on “elite speak”. One undesirable side effect of technology’s march has been the proliferation of abysmal spelling and grammar. We all spend a lot of time at a keyboard dealing with email, instant messages, and other forms of the written word. So it’s tempting to nix things like capital letters,… Read more →
The Patriot Act
I just love that name. It brings to mind images of the Founding Fathers. Or perhaps Mel Gibson defending his home against the British during the Revolutionary War. The very title casts doubt upon the patriotism of anyone who would dare question it. Maybe that’s why this thing has been under my skin since the day it was announced. Maybe… Read more →
Musical Rapps
Check this out: Anthony Rapp is a musician. Melissa Rapp is a musician. Mark Rapp is a musician. Ron Rapp is a musician. And those are just people with their own Rapp domain names. I also found musicians Barry Rapp, Marcello Rapp, Tom Rapp, Michael Rapp, and Sandy Rapp to name just a few. Even those Rapps I found on… Read more →
God Bless the Bellagio
Lesley and I just returned from Las Vegas. It’s such an interesting place. I’ve experienced Vegas so many different ways. I’ve been a resident there. A student there. A bachelor party attendee there. It’s been an Angel Flight destination for me as a pilot. And so on. Vegas can be the most fun you’ll ever have. It can also be… Read more →