LIKE BATS OUT OF HELL

No, not the Meatloaf album which I have never heard. The Colorado River flows through downtown Austin--the natives who tend to view themselves as "twisted" and "weird" (in fact most bumper stickers say "keep Austin weird") refer to the river as a lake. Which of course makes no sense but is precisely the point. Nonetheless (as I pick up my thread), much like the throngs who watch sunset in Key West's Mallory Square, throngs line up on and around the main bridge over the Colorado. What for, one might ask (or not)? Well, it seems a bazilllion bats live under the bridge and at sunset come out to feed--and amuse all of us as they blast out. There are tours and tour boats, kayaks, canoes, and other amphibious vehicles. There are also those trying to take pictures but those suckers are flying so fast the photos must all be blurred.

The point is we visited Anna a week or so ago in her new digs. A great and healthy place to live. Only problem is that Austin is like an oasis in a desert called Texas with you know who as governor. All sorts of miserable things happen in other parts of the state but Austin, with UT right there, is a runner/bicyclist/foodie heaven. They have more food trucks serving more kinds of food in more vacant lots than any place I have ever seen. And it is good food. On the other hand,(and perhaps I am prone to hyperbole) but in 5 of the 6 restaurants we were in I was the oldest by at least 20 years--and Barbara and I might have been the onliest people with no tats. I will end this section with the important point. Anna is great and quite settled in what with her new car and great apartment. Austin also has a cool movie theatre which serves food at your seat and has the best previews and other preshow shorts that I have ever seen.

ONWARD BUT NOT NECESSARILY UPWARD:

Just finished my first novel about Finland--specifically happening in the cities of Helsinki and Turku. Author's last name is Wagner. Not great but it was good and it does allow me to receive the gold medal for completing the Scandinavian cycle. I am now onto a competitor of Stieg Larsson (thanks to Joan Y.)--a couple who refer to themselves as Lars Kepler and write mysteries about Sweden. The first one I read was terrific.

An ugly week for Obamacare. I have been warned not to take the questions by the justices too seriously but Jeffrey Toobin(who I really like)--Jeffrey apparently does take them seriously and he is seriously worried that the whole thing will be tossed. Not sure what this means politically. But I am sure of the following--at least two pieces of that bill are in place. One allows young adults up to the age of 26 to stay on their parents insurance and the other protects people who have pre- existing conditions. If either of those get tossed, there will be a lot of so called "main street" people who may finally understand what the fuss is all about. And no, Obama is not responsible for the price of gas and those sucky Republicans better watch out because that shit won't stick.

Speaking of Republicans. Santorum can continue to kick and scream but the numbers don't seem to work for him. I think Romney is a tough opponent for Obama but I think he is almost tougher for some of the Conservatives to accept. Will be interesting as we get closer to November.

The death of that young person (Trayvon) in Florida is horrid but what can one expect from that state which more and more is a creation of very conservative forces. I find it subtly ironic that someone named Zimmerman (sounds like a member of my tribe but I'm not sure)is Hispanic. In the mid 60's when I left Miami, tensions were already surfacing between the Hispanic (mainly Cuban at that point) and African American communities. Now 50 years later we have this.

I almost feel like telling Karzai ok we are leaving. Since all he does is steal money we give his country and complain about our troops--maybe we should just say: "you know, you are right, we are leaving". Too many deaths on behalf of a totally inept and corrupt government.

That Rutgers kid who used spyware to look in in on his gay roommate--that kid should get locked up for a while. Yet another child of immigrants who is totally intolerant of the people who are different even though HE IS DIFFERENT. Get it, sucker?

So, more questions about those pesky bicyclists. What is the point of having a bike lane if motorized scooters use it to bypass all of us. I almost clobbered one which
was in that bike lane--are they allowed? And what is your position about the following--young folks on bikes with baskets in the front and those old fashioned horns that you squeeze? Kind of too foo foo for me--kind of like that bike in ET--they are for 10 year olds; not adults with beards.

SPORTS TALK

So, since I declared both the Bruins and the Celtics to be on life support, they of course have both come back and both are playing very well. Still think neither wins it all but am starting to think the Bruins will get further than then Celts. Celtics play the Heat today in Boston--should be interesting.

Too bad for the Saints. I already thought some of the NFL players were thuggish (ever listen to James Harrison of the Steelers?)--and this just institutionalizes it. Payton actually should be in jail with his team and if he were the CEO of a corporation, he would be.

Then we have this: A church in Denver announced they were "mourning" the trade of Tim Tebow to the Jets. How fucked up is that. And how do you think his religiosity will play in the land of Sodom and Gomorrah?

Totally screwed up my NCAA brackets though I do have Kentucky which was a no brainer. I will say Michigan specifically and the Big 10 generally should be embarrassed at their failures.

That's about it.
Sayonara