Month: February 2016

I just got off the phone with my friend Dave.  I’ve mentioned Dave before; he’s a screenwriter, a warrior, a world traveler, and a gigantic intellect.  Dave explained to me that a few years ago his son, Stryker, was gifted a 22 minute video of Dora the Explorer.  In this program Dora was teaching children ...

It happened again.  Yesterday, while enjoying an outbreak of sun and warmth in the pines, and throwing the magic tennis ball for the Special Forces team, I leaned over stupidly and was immediately attacked by the savages who live in my lower back.  This was no hit and run engagement, which I enjoy almost daily, ...

So there I was, prepping to grill a tri-tip for the Big Game–which I now watch less as a fan than for the window it opens into the study of human history–think Coliseums flooded with gladiators–when they hauled out Joe Namath, only recently thawed from the deep freeze where they keep him between games, and ...

I’m not particularly old school.  There are any number of modern conveniences that I use and enjoy and as I’ve mentioned before in these pages, nothing beats modern pain killers and dental care–an option not enjoyed by the Lakota in The Moon of the Cracking Trees on the great plains, where they hovered by tiny ...

For several months I have been receiving letters from the United States Census Bureau demanding that I submit to a supplemental census exam.  These letters have grown increasingly grim, advising me that my “response is required by law,” citing the applicable U.S. Code, and carrying the implicit threat of prosecution.  The letters have also told ...

Post Eagle-Huntress, we have this fantastic news:  Dutch police are training eagles to take down drones.  I am simply in love with this news, and not because I really have anything against drones.  If I could afford one, I might buy one.  In fact, I have seriously considered buying one and flying it over the ...

Yesterday I received an email from my friend Dave Hedges.  Dave is a screenwriter, a damn good one, slugging it out in the movie trenches, and we were once constables together, doing our best to keep the lid on public order.  Dave took the occasion of his email to inform me that the temperature in ...

Praise ignorance, for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed.  Wendell Berry I am a huge fan of Wendell Berry, who has done the hard work, but he’s too dour here.  I get the sentiment:  let’s hunt for meat, not trophies, and couldn’t agree more.  I’ve built my life around it.  But we can ...