&c.

So here we go.

The Redsox start a very important series with the Anaheim Angels tonight.

We're putting a lot of importance on this series here in the Nation. But I'm trying to not get carried away.

I agree that it's important, but it's not critical that we sweep the Angels. If we can win only one or two of the three, then we'll be in good shape. More wins than that will be a bonus. Even if we leave the series only 1/2 games ahead in the Wild Card, that would still be a workable place to be.

Don't get me wrong, I think we can do better than that. But I'm not gonna kill myself if they only hold their own.

Big River

Dave Winer is roadtripping across the country. He's up north near Grand Forks, North Dakota. He came across a different version of a mighty river. Click to see a couple of his pics.

It's only a word

Is it just me? Or do a surprising number of Republican Convention stories the past couple of days use the word "laud". As in, "Bush Lauded as Great Leader".

I'm wondering if this word was used maybe in the GOP's daily talking points memo?

Making 3-d photos

Engadget:

This week’s how-to is a fun one, we’re going to show you how to make 3-D photos with any digital camera and some free software. We’ll also explain how 3-D photography works and as a special treat, we’ve got a gallery of 3-D gadget photos to view along with how to make 3-D photos from NASA images.

It's about making you afraid

George Lakoff, interviewed in the UCBerkeley News:

There are two reasons [why we should never use the phrase "war on terror"]. Let's start with "terror." Terror is a general state, and it's internal to a person. Terror is not the person we're fighting, the "terrorist." The word terror activates your fear, and fear activates the strict father model, which is what conservatives want. The "war on terror" is not about stopping you from being afraid, it's about making you afraid.

Pic from yesterday's new-trail hike

We came to a point in the trail where the signs seemed a little confusing.

It's a Libertarian birthday

Happy, happy, to Gone East pal, MGA.

Exercise, more

I got a little carried away with the exercise thing today.

I had a "playdate" with my friend Jan to go Bike riding this afternoon, but first, this morning my brother Scott wanted to go explore a new trail that was created this summer by the NE Mountain Biking Association.

The Woronoco trail makes a large, twisty, half-circle through the woods between the lake and the Pawtuckaway Mountain. The trail guide says it's 2.5 miles, and there was about .75 miles to return back to the start. We did that from 8:30 to 11:00 this morning.

Then at 1pm, I met Jan and we biked for about 5 miles down by the Dam at this end of the lake.

Later tonight I'll post a couple of pics Scott took of hiking the new trail.

If the season were nine innings

Tonight's win completes the "seventh inning" of the season. Here's the season so far:

Inng  W-L  above .500
1st  12-6  (+6)
2nd   9-9  (+0)
3rd  10-8  (+2)
4th  10-8  (+2)
5th   9-9  (+0)
6th   9-9  (+0)
7th  14-4  (+10)

Obviously, we're playing really well lately. What's of note is that we're playing even better than we did in April, and that was a pretty good month.

Stories vs Reports

I've always said that my Around the Field writing was "storytelling". But is it?

Roy Peter Clark, PoynterOnline:

A wonderful scholar named Louise Rosenblatt argued that readers read for two main reasons: information and experience . Reports convey information. Stories create experience. Reports transfer knowledge. Stories transport the reader, crossing the boundaries of time, space, and imagination. The report points us there. The story puts us there.

Purple is the new Red

Boston Globe:

"If you see a whole paper of red, it looks pretty frightening... Purple stands out, but it doesn't look as scary as red." ... They say focus groups and conversations with teachers have led them to conclude that a growing number of the nation's educators are switching to purple, a color they perceive as "friendlier" than red.

Sore today

Yesterday afternoon I went on a fairly long hike up into the hills (well actually, here in NE they call them Mountains, but in Calif they would only be Hills).

I did one of my patented aerobic hikes, non-stop, to the fire tower. I talked with the fire ranger for about a half and hour.

Then I continued along the ridge to the location of one of Scott's geocaches. It took me about 45 mins to figure out how to cover the last 10 feet to the cache. It's ON TOP of a big boulder with steep sides. I had no climbing gear, and no buddy with me to carry me home if I fell. But I did it.

I then retraced my route by the tower and back down the trail. Duration overall: 4 hrs.

It's the bread

Today is the beginning of my third week on the South Beach Diet. I'm pretty happy with the results. In the past 14 days I've lost almost 11 pounds, and I feel noticeably better, and I actually feel lighter.

It's a bit of a cliche, but it is actually like I had been constantly carrying a 11 lb backpack around, 24/7. And now I've gotten rid of it, and I can notice the difference.

At this point I can add a couple of types of food back into my menu. The item I've missed most is bread. But I'm not returning to my old bread-eating ways. I'll be limiting myself to much less bread, and only whole-grain breads. This is actually OK with me, cause I've always preferred heavier, grainier breads.

This morning I went out shopping and got a loaf of whole-grain bread from a regional bakery called "When Pigs Fly." They're in York Maine. It's a very heavy, thin-sliced bread with wheat grains in the bread and crust. First thing I did was toast up a slice and put some peanut butter on it. That hit the spot.

I also bought a package of whole-wheat pita bread, which will be good for making pocket style sandwiches.

This is going just fine. So now I'm down 11 lbs from my original weight. My next goal is to get to 25 down. That will match the weight I was at just before I left California. And my longer term is to get to 35 down.

Come Visit

20 Reasons to Love New Hampshire, travelandleisure.com:

Eager to portray New Hampshire as a Thornton Wilder-scripted anachronism, reporters neglect to mention that it is also the homeland of Aerosmith, Adam Sandler, and the Segway transporter. Nor do they note how dramatically New Hampshire has evolved in recent years. More than half the state's current inhabitants were born elsewhere, so whatever crankiness they possess was presumably learned, not inherited. The influx of newcomers, coupled with rising incomes among native New Hampshirites, is bringing a newly cosmopolitan outlook to the state.

The "old-tyme" elements, however—those sepia-toned clichés, as familiar as a screened porch or a country store—are what endure, and what make New Hampshire so engaging.

Clear Channel Dangerous

RollingStone.com:

Clear Channel controls roughly 1,200 radio stations and about seventy percent of all live events that are promoted in the United States. The company also is reportedly considering the launch or purchase of a record label.

Rupert!

I've been seeing Survivor: Vanuatu promos with Rupert as the spokesman. Have they ever used a past tribe-member in a commercial before?

A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices

From the author of Writing with Clarity and Style:

This book contains definitions and examples of more than sixty traditional rhetorical devices, all of which can still be useful today to improve the effectiveness, clarity, and enjoyment of your writing.

[Thanks j-walk]

The South Park Creators are making a new movie.

Sharon Waxman, NYT:

"We had the perfect lives making `South Park,' " grumbled Mr. Parker, who seemed to think everything but his current work schedule was a joke — war, world leaders, his peers. A half-incinerated puppet of Tim Robbins lay slumped in a corner. "We had complete creative control. All our friends work on the show. It's great fun." He rolled his eyes. "This movie is so hard."

His partner, Mr. Stone, glumly agreed: "We're so dumb." (Except that he added a four-letter word. Many of their sentences include four-letter words.)

Mr. Parker: "Our whole summer is shot."

Mr. Stone: "It looked easy." Pause. "It's a nightmare."

Sounds like it's gonna be great.

President Hee Hee George Ha Ha Bush

Jason Zengerle, New York Times:

The president has taught the humorless left to be funny again. Now comedians just have to decide if he's a genial dunce or a sinister genius.

Too many choices

As regular readers know, I've been on the South Beach Diet for almost two weeks now, and I'm pretty happy with the experience, and the results.

But I saw this piece over the weekend that makes an interesting case that there is some human nature at work here that may be a problem as time goes on.

I'm particularly fascinated with how the notion of "more choices, produces more consumption" applies to other areas of life.

The Dallas Morning News, via Seacoastonline:

Research shows that the more variety of foods offered, the more people eat. For example, in one study, moviegoers ate on average 31 pieces of M&Ms when given a bowl with seven colors. With 10 colors, consumption rose to 52 pieces.

The same phenomenon occurred with jelly beans. With more color, consumption jumped from 12 pieces on average to 23. For whatever reason, choice encourages eating.

Escaped my fate, so far...

A few weeks back I told you how I had earned the wrath of all my community, except for one 8 year old girl who says I'm her hero, when I pushed the girl's mom into the pool.

Yesterday, that gang gathered again around the pool, and I expected to have to pay my debt to society. But the mom wasn't there.

I'm told that the mom said, that even if she had been there, she wouldn't have sought justice yesterday anyway. She says she's waiting for a moment when I least expect it.

I may just move back to California.

You know how to whistle, don't you...

Sheila "Red" OMalley has written a great piece in her blog about the women in the movies of Howard Hawks (eg. Bringing Up Baby, The Big Sleep, His Girl Friday, To Have and Have Not).

Howard Hawks was married to a woman at one point who was known as "Slim". Slim Hawks. (Remember that Bogart called the Bacall-character "Slim" throughout To Have and Have Not). From what I understand, the little I know about her, she was an extraordinary woman. She had everything that Howard Hawks idealized and wanted in a woman - and yet everything that he DIDN'T see being portrayed in films at that time.

If you enjoy this, don't miss the continuation in her comments section.

Yay Lisa!

Today is the birthday of Lisa, absolutely my #1 favorite sister-in-law.

Happy-happy Lisa!

'Cause it feels so good when I stop

All done with my Boston mission. Packing up now to return to NH.

T-storms are forecast for this afternoon. Could be a fun drive.

It's like getting a kid to eat his vegetables, they're good for you.

I've been forcing myself to watch some of the olympics.

I've seen soccer, bike racing, white water kayaking.

The kayaking was cool. They did it on this raging, artificial river that made a big circle, surrounded by bleachers.

The soccer was notable since it was the US womens' team vs Japan. Mrs Garciaparra was on the field and she looked tough. At one point she collided with another player and in the replay you could see her do a nasty twist to her knee. She limped off the field, but returned a few minutes later to finish the game. There's a lesson there for the hubby.

I really want to see the US beach volleyball babes.

Whatever Lola Wants...

There's a rumor going around that the Redsox are negotiating for Roger Clemens to return to Boston. I'm not sure what I think about that.

They say that once you're in the post-season, then pitching is what makes the difference. But I don't think I'm ready to sell my soul to the devil to win. Or am I?

Chuck Lorre

"I believe I'm growing skeptical of cynicism."

-- Chuck Lorre

Girly Boy Bush vs the War Monster

Here's a HunterThompson-esq dialogue on how the Republicans are shooting themselves in the foot.

kenlayne.com:

"Look at you people with this Vietnam boat nonsense. Every day, you're pounding home the fact that Kerry fought in Vietnam. You jackasses started this stuff so early -- with the "Oh he protested the war" and the Jane Fonda photoshops -- that the Kerry people turned the whole Democratic convention into a celebration of the Vietnam War. Nobody even remembers being against Vietnam anymore. The next Vietnam movie will be a buddy comedy starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, and all they're going to do is kill Charlie and win medals and dance with beautiful girls. It'll make $300 million on the opening weekend.

...

That's right, you're reminding people that the other guy fought in Vietnam. Have you become so brain dead that you think this helps your girly boy Bush? Do you honestly believe the coward boy can beat the War Monster?"

[Thanks Jeff Jarvis]

Did you know?

Hey, did you realize that the Olympics are going on?

Ashcroft Jr.

Some things never change. Newsweek:

Rep. Porter Goss, President Bush’s nominee to head the CIA, recently introduced legislation that would give the president new authority to direct CIA agents to conduct law-enforcement operations inside the United States—including arresting American citizens.

[Thanks New Media Musings.]

Can't do that!

I'm down in Greater Boston for a couple days.

For the past few visits this summer I've developed a little habit/tradition of treating myself to pizza from my favorite pizza place down here. Yummy! But I have to keep reminding myself that I can't do that this time.

Ah well, it's the price of fitness.

On the road again...

I met Bob Stepno at a couple of the Berkman Thursday meetings. He's now relocated to Knoxville TN. He loaded his world into a rental truck and drove himself there. I did that a couple years ago when I moved back east from Calif.

Driving that 15-foot yellow rental truck from Massachusetts to Tennessee was fun. ...

There's something about driving a truck, even an itty bitty yellow truck, spending nights on the road and drinking a lot of truck-stop coffee that probably makes any Penske/U-Haul customer feel like he's sharing the life of a professional long-haul truck driver. ...

I took another photo to celebrate the joy of napping in the driver's seat and waking up to an Appalachian dawn.

Avocado knowledge

Here are some fun facts about Avocado.

Mmm mmm good!

One great side-effect of this diet I'm on is that I'm doing a lot of cooking. Good stuff.

Baked chicken, stir-fry, the other night we broiled some steaks with broccoli and corn on the cob, I've been practicing my omelet-making skill..

This morning I reintroduced myself to an old friend.

RickF, my friend from California, who I used to have breakfast with often, may remember that one of my favorite dishes at the Peninsula Creamery was scrambled eggs with ham, avocado, and monterey jack cheese.

It's been awhile since I've had that out here in the east. For some reason they don't have scrambles with mix-ins on many menus, and almost no one has avocado.

A couple days ago I bought an avocado at the Hannafords, and this morning I sliced it up and made my old favorite. Yumm, it's good. Brings back memories.

Of course there's no toast and home-fries to go with it, and that's too bad. But nevertheless it was good.

BTW, today is the start of week two of my following the southbeachdiet. I haven't had any bread, potatoes, rice, or sugar in that time. I probably "cheated" a little on a couple of items that I didn't really realize were against the law: skippy peanut butter... and it turns out that Colby cheese is a fatty-not-really-good-when-dieting kind, so I've stashed away the Colby-Jack for later. Also, I'm unclear on whether baked beans are OK. I think the beans are, but they're probably cooked in sugar.

Anyway, the whole thing is going very well.

River City, Bedford Falls

Cynthia imagines what, I think, would be the ideal neighborhood to live in.

So, I am starting a new film festival so that I can lure all of my friends back to Boston with lucrative and prestigious film festival jobs. They will all move into houses in my neighborhood on my street and we will have dinner at each other's houses every night and shout hello to each other through our kitchen windows and borrow cups of sugar from each other and have yard sales together and hear each other fight with significant others on the phone through opened windows get mad at each other when we don't return each others' cake pans or screwdrivers or saws or lawnmowers and have random hours-long conversations on each other's front steps.

BTW, in the unlikely event that Cynthia reads this, the links in your blog post don't seem to be clickable in my browser (Safari on Mac OS X 10.2). The links in your sidebar work fine, just the blog entry links are inop.

Homebrew Memoirs

Thanks to Dave Winer, here are a couple of great personal memoirs about the earliest days of personal computers, focussing on the legendary Homebrew Computer Club.

From Bob Lash and Steve Williams.

Rudy Rucker

Writing as guest blogger at Boing Boing...

"Working with computers isn’t quite like biting the head off a live chicken, but it’s close."

-- Rudy Rucker

Gilmore vs. Ashcroft

I think this is important:

On the 4th of July 2002, John Gilmore, American citizen, decided to take a trip from one part of the United States of America to another. He went to Oakland International Airport -- ticket in hand -- and was told he had to produce his ID if he wanted to travel. He asked to see the law demanding he show his 'papers' and was told after a time that the law was secret and no, he wouldn't be allowed to read it.

He hasn't flown in his own country since.

On the 16th of August 2004, John Gilmor filed his case before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. At stake is nothing less than the right of Americans to travel anonymously in their own country -- and the exposure of 'secret law' for what it is: an abomination.

UPDATE: Here's an really good subsection from this site.

What does an ID, any ID , do for security?  The honest answer is 'not much'.  If anything, relying on ID for security purposes actually makes things worse.

Showing ID only affects honest people.  If you're dishonest, you can obtain false documents or steal the identity of an honest person.

If a 19 year-old college student can get a fake ID to drink, why couldn't a bad person get one, too?  And no matter how sophisticated the security embedded into the ID, wouldn't a well-financed terrorist be able to falsify that, too?  The answer to both questions is obviously 'yes'.

Comments system under re-construction

For the next day of so I will be converting over to a new comments system for this weblog.

Be patient. It may involve momentary outages, and misbehaviors.

If you come across something that is not working correctly, please send me an email to weblogATda4.com. Thanks.

UPDATE: 1:13pm et -- I've completed the first phase of the changeover. Now I'm gonna let it run for a couple of hours, to see if it's working. Then I'll be doing some more work on it.

Here we go again.

I just saw a commercial for the premiere of the next season of Survivor:

Vanuatu the "wild and wonderful land, with its heat, poisonous insects and hidden predators."

September 16 at 8pm.

Small airports to the rescue

During the California 1989 earthquake, many small airports -- which ironically are always under attack from those who want to see them closed -- played a critical role in the disaster relief effort for the large areas which were cut-off from effective ground traffic.

We're seeing this again as Lakeland's Linder Airports has become a hub for the provision of disaster relief to the hurricane stricken areas of southwestern Florida.

Good thing we didn't close that one.

...to invite dispute.

Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, said that the "function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its higher purpose when it induces a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger."

-- Quoted from a review of the book: "The Shadow University: The Betrayal of Liberty on America’s Campuses"

One of those days

Here's a sequence out out-takes from an industrial video for a motor-home. The actor repeatedly blows his lines and curses like a sailor. I think we can all commiserate cause we've all had one of these days.

Warning it contains the F word a lot, and loud.

Good eatin'

I just took the remaining chicken breast from the other night, cut it into cubes, sliced up some green and red peppers, heated some olive oil in the big cast-iron, stir-fried them all up with some salt, pepper, and a dash of soy sauce.

Yummy.

This dieting thing ain't so hard.

Julia Child dies

How sad.

This woman was the most unlikely of TV celebrities. Yet she defined the genre of cooking shows.

Years ago I worked in the Bob Slate Stationery store in Harvard Square. Julia Child was an occasional customer there. She was always friendly and undemanding, but truly larger than life.

I have two main recollections of her visits. First, that she was very tall. Surprisingly tall, made more obvious by the fact that her occasional companion, a man I believe was her husband, was below average small. They made quite a couple.

My other recollection is from when she spoke. That trademark enthusiastic, raspy, french accent was for real. She'd walk up to the back counter and it was like a scene from her cooking show.

"I need a new Cross Pen. They are the very best you know."

We've lost a one of a kind.

Another one!

I just realized that today is Friday the 13th.

Is it me? or have we had a lot of these over the past few years? More than average? Another sign of the coming apocalypse?

Three in a row

The Redsox just beat the Devilrays in a great performance by pitcher Pedro Martinez.

Complete game, shutout, no walks, 10 strikeouts. Nice work.

The offense was working too. 15 hits, four doubles and a homerun. Bill Mueller was 3 for 3, David Ortiz 3 for 5 with 2 RBIs. Good game.

Seven wins in the last 10 games.

As of right now we're alone at the top of the wildcard race. Anaheim plays Baltimore later today and could regain a tie with a win.

Two steps back

This is such a sad thing.

Reuters:

California's Supreme Court annulled more than 4,000 gay marriages in San Francisco on Thursday after finding the city acted improperly in granting marriage licenses earlier this year in defiance of state law.

Adlai Stevenson

"In America, anybody can be president. That's one of the risks you take"

-- Adlai Stevenson, statesman (1900-1965)

Dedication

Just as an indication of how serious I am about this new fitness thing:

I'm giving up caffeine.

...at least for the initial two-week "phase one".

Promising afternoon

Thunder rumbling in the near distance for the past hour.

Radar shows some serious echos headed this way. Hope they hold together long enough to put on a show.

You'd be amazed how much of my life revolves around bread.

The Dude Abides

Time to see this movie again. "The Big Lebowski".

David Edelstein, New York TImes:

Joel and Ethan Coen's 1998 hyperintellectual stoner noir bowling comedy "The Big Lebowski," starring Jeff Bridges as Jeff (The Dude) Lebowski, has the requisite exclusivity of a cult classic: it bombed at the box office; it was met with shrugs by many critics who had arguably overpraised the Coen brothers' Academy Award-winning "Fargo" (1996); and it has amassed an obsessive following on cable and video and by word of mouth. Nowadays, quoting its intricate, absurdist, often riotously profane dialogue earns you coolness points in widely disparate circles.

The cup is three-quarters full

Edward Cossette of the Bambino's Curse weblog is big on positive visualization. So here we go.

Redsox played pretty good last night. The new, post Nomah, team is starting to gel... David Ortiz is back from his time-out... we've won three of the last four games.

This is the beginning of a strong period for the Sox.

Chant after me: "Texas sucks! Anaheim sucks!"

Goodbye love (handles)

Tonight was a major milestone. I ate my last piece of bread.

Ever.

...well, for a long time.

...well, for two weeks at least.

As of the completion of tonight's ham sandwich supper, I'm starting on the South Beach Diet. I've heard good things about it, including the fact that the two-week "phase one" shows real results. And I figure if it works, it will motivate me to carry-on.

Let the flaming begin.

Bush administration PR leak aids terrorists

www.misleader.org:

In other words, the White House blew the cover of a U.S. intelligence mole in order to publicly justify raising the terror alert level one week after the Democratic National Convention. In the process, it allowed terrorists who threaten America to evade capture.

[Via offonatangent, via New Media Musings ]

Another X-Prize team

Gone East pal MGA, pointed out this story about another, not quite so advanced, X-Prize contender. MSNBC News:

A spaceship built on a shoestring budget went up — and down — in flames during its maiden flight on Sunday. But no one got hurt, and the young rocket engineers behind the Rubicon 1 rocket said they were staying in the private-sector space race despite the setback.

Rutan wants to go for the ride

The Register is reporting that Burt Rutan wants to be one of the X-Prize passengers.

Speaking to BBC Online Rutan said that the team hadn't decided whether some of that ballast would be replaced by him during one of the attempts, but that he will be "one of the first passengers, for sure".

Hangin' with Chuck and Harry.

Steve G posted this photo over on Concrete Frog.

It could have happened.

Portsmouth NH in the NYT

I was surprised, pleasantly, to see this on the New York Time's page of Most Emailed stories. There's even a brief plug for the Prescott Park Arts Festival.

NYT:

Driving into town along Market Street, it is hard to miss the fact that Portsmouth is still a working deep-water port, with scrap metal (and other goods) going out, and salt for New England roads (and other goods) coming in. Yet, beyond the state-owned Port of New Hampshire, Market Street leads to a charming downtown filled with eccentric and upscale galleries, restaurants and bars.

My AirVenture Today columns

I've updated the Around the Field archive page. It now lists links to all of my columns from this year.

You asked for it

Many GE readers were disappointed that I didn't snap any pics of Harrison Ford while we were both at AirVenture. Well here's one from the AirVenture website.

BTW, I wonder what Chuck Yeager (that other guy) thought about Ford's earring. "Those Hollywood types!"

[Click on the pic for bigger.]

I'm rooting for Burt

Another development group has announced that they will attempt to win the X-Prize this fall. Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites has gotten a lot of attention for its pursuit of this, and has announcced their first attempt on Sep 29. If both Rutan and this second group succeed in their first flight, we could have a horse-race for the finish.

Space.com:

The da Vinci Project, led by Brian Feeney of Toronto, Ontario, said Thursday the group plans to loft its Wild Fire Mark VI spacecraft on Oct. 2, just days after the planned launch of another X Prize contender, the U.S-based SpaceShipOne. The balloon-launched Wild Fire event will be followed by a second launch within two weeks to snag the X Prize purse, according to the plan.

AirVenture Today Staff Photo

Here's the annual staff pic. This is a great group of people. I go to OSH these days as much so that I can work, and hang-out, with these folks, as for all the other reasons.

A tool for good and evil

Al Tompkins writes a great daily piece aimed at news writers, about subjects that might by be big stories soon, and resources for researching them.

Today he highlights "527" fundraising groups.

The "527" organizations get their name from a federal tax law that allows groups to collect unlimited amounts of money to spend in support a candidate. However, direct contributions to a candidate are not permitted.

Inconceivable

Really.

28 Hours Later

28 hours after getting into my car and driving away from Oshkosh, I drove down the driveway here at the lake. Home again.

Pretty uneventful trip, but long.

I'll be spending the next day or so unpacking and decompressing. Then it's back to the real world.

Hitting the road

I'm about to pack up and start my drive back to New England.

I'll probably get to upstate NY tonite, and then on to NH tomorrow.

See you back home.

If you squint...

The smoke from one of yesterday's airshow fireworks made a poodle in the sky.

Final Day

Today is the last day of AirVenture 2004.

It's been a great week. We saw lots of great planes, met up with old friends, and the weather was even cooperative.

It's impossible in any publication to "cover" Oshkosh. This event is huge. It stretches out on over 4 miles of convention grounds. There are literally thousands of airplanes here.

If you're interested in airplanes I urge you to make it up here some year. Even if you can only make it for a day. It has to be seen to be believed, and to be truly enjoyed.

I'm hitting the road around lunchtime today. I may post a few more things this morning, but once I logoff I won't be back online until Tuesday nite or Wed morning.

I hope you've enjoyed these posts. I'm glad to be able to share a little of this with you, and I expect to do it again next summer at AirVenture 2005. And I hope you'll check out my blog throughout the year, I write about aviation, as well as other subjects.

I'd love to hear your comments and feedback about all this. You can email me c/o atf2004 AT da4.com. Replace the AT with an @, and take out the spaces.

Big Amphibian

OV1 Mohawk

I've always thought this was a cool looking plane.

Click on this thumbnail to see the sign describing the Mohawk.

Secure Tower

Probably as a result of the heightened threat alert all around the country...

This morning they've blocked off a 30 foot perimeter around the FAA control tower here at OSH, and there are military guards (look closely) standing all around it.

Big Finish

My AirVenture blogging has been a little light these past couple of days. I've been busy on the newspaper column, and just generally seeing the show.

I just turned in my final column for the week, so now I can spend today wandering around and seeing the things I haven't gotten to yet.

And I charged my camera batteries. So there should be some pics later.

Farewell Nomah

In a break from AirVenture coverage...

The Redsox yesterday traded Nomar Garciaparra to the Cubs.

There was a time when I felt strongly that Nomar should spend his whole career with the Redsox. But since last winter it's become clear that Nomar was profoundly unhappy here, and I've suspected that his funk might be affecting the clubhouse. So I've felt that he should move on.

I wish him well. I hope he is happier in Chicago than he's been in Boston recently.

[Oh, and let me repeat -- and this has nothing to do with Nomar playing there now -- I think a Redsox-Cubs World Series would be a terrible thing.]