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Portico Darwin: We're Cute, But . . .

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Let me say something today that will surprise no one: I like being complimented. My raging insecurities demand attention, and often, in case you've somehow forgotten. So I do enjoy being noticed when out in public. Well, usually, because today I'll share a cautionary tale, one aimed especially at younge...

Portico Darwin: They Don't Call It Stormy Monday

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read Happy Monday, and please stop the world, I want to get off. And no, for a change, I am not talking about global events. Because we raged Thursday. We raged Friday. And yes, we raged Saturday. So instead of drivel by Darwin, today you get (mostly) photos by Portico. I took the picture above last Tuesday ...

Portico Darwin: MasterClass and The Masters Must Be Stopped

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Happy Friday and today's post may make some long for the days of London Calling. Because one of the founders of the company that produces this blogging platform recently reminded me that there's woke, and then there's Madison Wright and the Psycho Woke. There's no better example of the latter than the ba...

Portico Darwin: A Solution for The Middle East

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read As I consider the Middle East powder keg, I believe the time has come to call in our special agents. But first, please ask yourself: If Israel's laws and policies were imposed on Iran, what would happen? Iran would have rule of law, free and fair elections, minority rights, LGBT rights, etc. If Iran's la...

Portico Darwin: What Wealth Inequality Looks Like

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Editor's Note: I wrote this before Iran attacked Israel over the weekend. Given that, perhaps you will enjoy this diversion. 1 Minute Read Happy Monday, and after yet another Travel Guide and the interminable London Calling, how about something other than my usual textual verbosity? How about some pictures? Like a who...

Portico Darwin: London Calling, The Final Chapter

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 6 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the eleventh - and yes, last - installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 We They Did It That's false modesty because I was as critical to the success of this ginormous program a...

Portico Darwin: Bodega Bay Travel Guide

OVERVIEW Sure, I write about this region - the California coast from where we live in SF, north to Mendocino - often. F'ing sue me because if comparison is the death of joy, I am dead. Because I say this part of America, in our beloved California, is as good as it gets. Anywhere. And I'll be damned if I prefer Sonoma, downtown Sonoma, ...

Portico Darwin: The Best Eclipse Blog

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read What was cool about Monday's total eclipse of the Sun was that 1) people I would not have expected to be excited were, and 2) I joined them. All despite not having anything but beautiful - and mostly un-dimmed - sunshine here in SF. So I will put off my usual bullshit and share with you what I was fortun...

Portico Darwin: Now, a Word from Congress

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read Happy Monday and major thanks to Steven Simon for forwarding this Substack newsletter to me. It was written and published by Jeff Jackson, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina. I am leaving his party affiliation out of this, because I don't care if this guy were Martian: Can ...

Portico Darwin: London Calling, Chapter 10

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 8 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the tenth installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Arthur Moves In I don't really know how it worked out, but when we vacated our apartment in SF from May through August, one of my best f...

Portico Darwin: Dumbphones

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Disclaimer: I fully acknowledge I don't have children and thus can't truly understand the challenges faced in parenting. But what follows makes a lot of sense to this outside observer. Many of us of a certain age vacillate between amusement and disgust at how others of a different, younger age must hold ...

Portico Darwin: Did You Like Reagan?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Happy Monday. Put simply, I am not in the Saint Ronnie club. You know, the one consisting of those who deify President Ronald Reagan and insist he's in the league of Lincoln or either Roosevelt, to name three of our greatest leaders. I was and remain no fan and blame him for the shift towards socialism f...

Portico Darwin: London Calling, Chapter 9

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 7 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the ninth installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Git 'er Done Holy shit, now I had to do it. Planning is one thing, execution is something else. Were we ready? Was I ready? Although we had starte...

Portico Darwin: In Tribute to Francis Scott Key Bridge

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read I am an early riser, and one of the first things I do after pushing the Nespresso button is look at The Economist website to see what's happening. I like its international focus: US news only leads if it's something big. Like a major bridge collapsing; I read this around 4AM PDT yesterday, or a little m...

Portico Darwin: Depart Dallas + Censor Sensibility

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Happy Monday and it's been a whirlwind of a visit to Dallas for your author. Many thanks to cool kid Kevin Monza for a Killer long weekend in the Big D. Let's start the week with a reminder of what freedom of speech means. Elon Musk and those like him who wish to confuse us often distort this Constitutio...

Portico Darwin: London Calling, Chapter 8

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 5 Minute Read A quick note: This morning I depart for Dallas for a long weekend with the Metroplex playboy Kevin Monza, returning on Monday. Micro Travel Guide? Perhaps. But for now, Happy Friday, and this is the eighth installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapte...

Portico Darwin: It Was Allen Dulles

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Here is a warning for any flag-huggers reading this: Today's post contains criticism of the United States. And also a lot of photos. With that out of the way, please consider the following from history. • The Cold War • Psychological and Drug Warfare • Richard Nixon • Media Manipulation • Joseph McCarthy...

Portico Darwin: Writing from A Real Writer

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read Good morning and happy Monday. Sure, I fantasize about being a professional writer, vs. whatever it is you want to call this shit show. But that doesn't mean I don't know what real writing is. As evidence, everyone gets a break today. You from my droning, me from having to pretend I can write. Instead, ...

Portico Darwin: London Calling, Chapter 7

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 8 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the seventh installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 This is Hardcore Despite living it, I remain somewhat amazed at what we did in just 3 weeks in March of 1998. We worked, too. But we'll get back to that soon. I fle...

Portico Darwin: The Rolling Stones are Old, But New

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Despite my advocacy for them to now gracefully exit the stage, I will always be a huge fan of The Rolling Stones, for many reasons. Don't worry, I'm only going to cover 34 or 35 of those today. Oh, and Happy Wednesday. Kidding. I only need one reason, and it's the new record from these geriatric legends....

Portico Darwin: Filthy Lucre

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read Happy Monday, and how about some useful information to start your week? A nice break from the font of narcissism typically showcased here 3 times a week? Sorry, not so fast - this is still tangentially about my favorite subject. Indeed, it is a follow-up to The World's Most Expensive Man is Dead post, bu...

Portico Darwin: London Calling, Chapter 6

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <6 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the sixth installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Get Wired And Decide You can see it was time to get to work. And yes, that is what February and March of 1998 were all about. Mostly. I still can picture Julie joining me at R...

Portico Darwin: SF is Leading the Way, But Where?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Happy Wednesday and it is great to be back in San Francisco. As you might have noticed, I tend to be a bit of a cheerleader for my beloved SF. That was never more true than on my recent trip to Hoboken and Tupper Lake. I took every occasion to do my "those that bet against San Francisco always lose" rou...

Portico Darwin: 3 Year Anniversary + Depart Tupper Lake

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read While it probably seems longer, it is 3 years tomorrow that I began this blog. A couple of months later, a companion website. Swag, too. Of course, there is swag! But it wasn't all vile commercialism: I built an AI art gallery, after all. There have been a total of 502 posts in the process, and 476 trac...

Portico Darwin: Lottery Winner

Portico Darwin: Lottery Winner, Part I Portico Darwin: Lottery Winner, Part II Portico Darwin: Lottery Winner, The Electrifying Conclusion

Portico Darwin: London Calling, Chapter 5

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <6 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the fifth installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 It Snows in London and The Royal Horseguards Doesn't Suck I know because, after the Seaco team visited San Francisco, I was soon asked to come to London in December of 1997, and again i...

Portico Darwin: A Free Man Goes Up The River

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Hello Hump Day and not to worry: Julie and I are doing great, nor am I going to prison. Indeed, it feels like just yesterday (albeit in dog years) that we got married. I kid my wife but I think she'd agree occasional time apart is not a bad thing, after almost 35 years together. So that is how I find mys...

Portico Darwin: A Secret at SFO + Depart Hoboken

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Happy Monday, and happy break from the orgy of self-revelation that is my London Calling series. Today's post is about a trick at San Francisco International Airport. I used it just yesterday on my way to Tupper Lake (via Hoboken last night) and it continues to impress. Here it is: The Short-Term Parking...

Portico Darwin: London Calling, Chapter 4

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 6 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the fourth installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 A British Invasion Welcomed by Yanks Seaco's due diligence trip to Genstar's HQ in San Francisco did much to cement me and others into the picture. For one, we drank together, both in SF and also...

Portico Darwin: French Wino in Sonoma

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Some may find it shocking that I am well into a full week here in Sonoma, yet have not bragged nor otherwise gone on about it. That all ends now, but it's not what you think. Motivated by my surroundings, I am pleased to present the virtue-signaling and decidedly pompous: Portico Darwin Simple Guide to ...

Portico Darwin: Regulatory Capture and Scale are Killing Us

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read I had a light, informative post for the start of the week, but that will have to wait until Wednesday. I've written previously about corruption, guns, and election reform in America. I stand by each post. But another mass shooting made me realize the issue isn't the guns. There is also no red or blue ti...

Portico Darwin: London Calling, Chapter 3

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 6 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the third installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Welcome to Our World In between our due diligence trip to London in October of 1997 and Seaco's own to San Francisco a few weeks later, rumors internally at Genstar were running rampant. Although I was not ...

Portico Darwin: What is Dance Music?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Happy Valentine's Day. Let's dance. But before anyone asks, no, I do not know who this happy woman is, although this photo was in my parents' ginormous collection of 35mm slides, the best of which I scanned a while back. Like this one. Because, look: I have been to my share of parties. A shocker, yes, bu...

Portico Darwin: Border Schmorder

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read What Super Bowl? It feels like a bad dream. But happy Monday regardless. And let's take a break from the barrage of me. You're so very welcome, but when you see today's alternative, you might just long for the next chapter of London Calling. And don't panic: Today's post does not signal a return to my "...

Portico Darwin: London Calling, Chapter 2

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 5 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the second installment of London Calling. But before that gets started: OK. Here we go. Upper Ground and Upper Class (Non-Virgin Atlantic Variety) I had worked for Ernst & Young in Houston in the early 1990s (so in both their and client Chevron's fancy towers downtown) and had a...

Portico Darwin: The World's Most Expensive Man is Dead

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Happy Wednesday, and as if London Calling isn't enough, let me today share an outcome of our recent engagement with a certified financial planner, the fiduciary Heather Liston. Here it is: The World's Most Expensive Man is Dead. Or, in other words, the diamond man is now the lab-grown diamond man. Some b...

Portico Darwin: The Middle East Cluster F

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Happy Monday, but I will say I am a bit unnerved by the prospect of a widening conflict in the Middle East. Us attacking Iranian proxies in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen over the weekend, while completely justified in the mind of this diplomat, could still send the region into full-tilt war. With the United St...

Portico Darwin: Introducing "London Calling"

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read Hello, and happy Friday. No witty repartee: There is obviously no one asking me to tell the story of my stint in London, during 1997 and 1998. But I love to write, so recently hearing from a colleague from that time was all of the impetus I needed. Lucky you. 10 Seconds of Seriousness: Lucky me. I will a...

Portico Darwin: SF & California Can Be Crazy

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Happy Hump Day. Yes, I am still basking in the glory of Brock "Playground" Purdy and our Niners being Super Bowl-bound, for the 8th time. But the haters still be hating, and darn if we don't give the rest of the country good reason. And it's not just our perfect weather and even better geography. Or eve...

Portico Darwin: KLUF - The Complete Library

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read plus Ungodly Hours of Listening Happy Monday and let's jam: the Niners are going to the Super Bowl. But I won't even try to pretend: This is a self-indulgent, narcissistic clusterfuck of a blog post. But is it really? Why is having (a lot of) the world's finest music in one spot not useful? Either way, w...

Portico Darwin: It Was the Warren Commission

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read + several podcasts Disclaimer: I've touched on this subject before, but it was two years ago, and there's plenty of new information that's come out since. Plus, this subject is important. Because did you know there was a time - and it was just 60 years ago - that fully 80 percent of American citizens tru...

Portico Darwin: Loungey

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Hello, and Happy Wednesday. So many (fact check: none) have said, "Portico, your recent posts have been brilliant, as usual. But they've been a bit on the heavy side, and too political. And gee, I'm just dying to know if you are still wearing the same loungewear that you documented so wonderfully a while...

Portico Darwin: More Than 10 Seconds of Seriousness

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read + 3 Hours of Podcasts I know I've been heavy on the politics recently, and I apologize. Sadly, our week begins with a continuation, and worse, today I cover Israel, Islam, Hamas, Gaza, and more. But it's not what you think. What follows aren't my opinions or thoughts; instead, I am sharing 4 podcasts wi...

Portico Darwin: World War WTF

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read I think it was the daytime and Textbook Daiquiris he made for us that did it. Because Wednesday afternoon found Arthur and I pondering the potential of a third World War. We even went further: Maybe we're in one already? But a new kind? That's crazy - it had to be the rum, right? You tell me. But you may...

Portico Darwin: Here Comes More Trump

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Don't thank me, thank Republicans. Or at least those in Iowa. Because to the surprise of no one, Trump won the Republican caucus in Iowa on Monday and barring a mass awakening, is destined to appear - again - in a presidential election as the Republican candidate. It's almost February of 2024, and this ...

Portico Darwin: The Travel Issue

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Before beginning the normal nonsense, a reminder that today is a national holiday, honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I say this every year around this time, but what would America look like today if JFK, MLK, Malcolm X, and RFK had lived out their full lives? On to that normal ...

Portico Darwin: Heavy Duty

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read It's Friday, so how about a post on obesity in America? No, wait a moment. Better to let my quasi-hero Scott Galloway do it for me. The relatively brilliant Professor Galloway annually makes predictions regarding the upcoming year in technology and business. This year, and on several of his media platfo...

Portico Darwin: My Effin' Rock Autobiography Post

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read Yesterday, I finished reading Geddy Lee's amazing and Diamond Certified autobiography, My Effin' Life. If you have even a modicum of interest in the band Rush - or are seeking a personal account of the toll of the Holocaust on one family - this is a must-read. It is powerful enough that I found myself in...

Portico Darwin: I Love This Solution For Democrats

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Happy Monday and I wish I could say I came up with the idea presented in today's post. While I joined many a long time ago and urged Joe Biden to announce he would not run in 2024, he's chosen the opposite path. What, he didn't read my writing on the subject? Accordingly, he's now put the Democrats in a...

Portico Darwin: Metro NYC Travel Guide, 2023 Addendum

OVERVIEW A year ago, my first extended stay in Hoboken resulted in this big Travel Guide. This Addendum - a first in the annals of my Travel Guides - is an update to the original and is based on a three week stay during December 2023 and into 2024. As a refresher, Hoboken, New Jersey is located directly west across the Hudson River fro...

Portico Darwin: The Do's and (Really) Do Not's of Travel

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read I hope you're settling into a nice, post-holiday routine, but I'm not ready quite yet. Instead, I'd like to recount some of the bad and worse behaviors I witnessed during our recent trip to the East Coast. Of course I would. In reality, what follows plagues civil people everywhere, and not just while tr...

Portico Darwin: Depart Hoboken + A Boy Becomes a Man

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <4 Minute Read Later today, we leave glorious Hoboken after an amazing 3 weeks and return to equally glorious SF. There's a reason I bang on and on about how fortunate I am. I'll demonstrate that when I publish my first-ever Addendum, providing new and/or updated information to last year's Metro NYC Travel Guide. It's...

Portico Darwin: Closing 2023

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Happy New Year and welcome to the year of the Say Hey Kid. And what better topic on the first day of a new year than closure, and its importance? And specifically, the Zeigarnik Effect. Huh? Today's inspiration came from a spin-off podcast I heard last week from Freakonomics, called No Stupid Questions....

Portico Darwin: 2023 Awards Special Edition!

Without further ado and in response to the clamoring from many (fact check: nobody), here's who will be taking home a prized Portico this year. The award ceremony is very hush-hush and on a need-to-know basis, but I can confirm an event is in the planning phase. More to follow, but for now, here are this year's winners! Trip of The Yea...

Portico Darwin: Calling 911

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read (Plus Gawking Time at Porsche Website) I write about Porsche often, because, well, a guy can fantasize, can't he? And - in 2024 - it might not even be a dream. But if Ol' Purple Label and I ever do that, we'll have to decide which 911 to drive. And that won't be easy because do you realize that for 2024...

Portico Darwin: Goes to The Dogs and the Best Steakhouse in Manhattan

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS A lot of photos today! Try this link if your email seems to be missing photos. 1 Minute Read What? You think it's all just Christmas good cheer? Or worse, only eating and drinking? No - these three weeks have included their share of cultural diversions, including this, which I can only say was one bitch of a place. Ye...

Portico Darwin: An Atheist's Wish at Christmas

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Merry Christmas! I wrote this last year, and plan on using it each year, with an occasional update. As I've mentioned once or twice, I am a proud atheist. But - and let me be clear - I don't care what you believe or don't believe. Are you fair? Honest? Grateful? Curious? Fun? Productive? GOOD ENOUGH! Ple...

Portico Darwin: You Liked My Complaining! Here's More!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read (inc. FROM THE UNWASHED MASSES) Today's post is a bit of a role reversal. And it's long, so there's that, but at least you have all weekend to enjoy it. It's necessary because my writing Wednesday on respectfully handling a bad meal at a restaurant resonated with at least two readers, one in a blog-lengt...

Portico Darwin: We'll Be Going Back to Barbès

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Are you honest when a waitperson or host at a restaurant asks how everything is and the answer should be "really not very good?" Do you go as far as to send food back if it is not as you wish? That was the situation Monday night at Hoboken's Barbès, a French-Moroccan brasserie in the north part of town....

Portico Darwin: Now With Longer Life

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Happy Monday, and don't worry: I rectified my shopping deficiency from a year ago by hitting a grand slam at Belstaff on Saturday, in between pops in the Meat Packing District. Micro Deadhead Silly thought about riding her Hog, but she was pretty buzzed already, so she walked with us to the KillerLavaux...

Portico Darwin: Power Trip

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read No Travel Guide (because there already is one), but of course I still want to wow from Hoboken and Manhattan. So I present to you what I've seen already in terms of power. But there's a twist at the end. Power The Security Council chambers at The United Nations was one of the few places I've visited that...

Portico Darwin: It's Not Just Texas A&M

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Greetings from heavenly Hoboken. The seemingly forever flight here from SF gave me plenty of time to dig deeper into the college sports and money thing. It's worse than I thought. If you'll recall, I recently bemoaned the wrongful elevation of sports within the greater world of large public universities....

Portico Darwin: Clickbait of the Year

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read + Data Review Happy Monday, but I'm sorry: there's just so much here that I find ridiculous and disturbing. And that's even after rolling out my annual Portico Darwin Award nominees on Friday - something ridiculous and disturbing in its own right. To be clear, I have mostly nothing but respect for both T...

Portico Darwin: I'm 60 + 2023 Portico Darwin Award Nominees!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS (Today's post is loaded with photos, as is usual for this edition. You might try this link if you have trouble.) <2 Minute Read Delusions of grandeur! A distorted sense of self! Fake awards for real things! Yes, it's time for the nominees for the 2023 Portico Darwin Awards! And even more so than usual, and in the word...

Portico Darwin: What I Saw

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Let's continue this veritable orgy of Darwin, and why not, I ask? Wrapping up 6 decades, which I do Friday, certainly justifies droning on and on about my favorite subject. Right? RIGHT? What follows is my wildly egotistical version of Ray Dalio's Principles, a book I finished recently. As you may know,...

Portico Darwin: Speechless

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read Yes, it's true. I have been left speechless by a 60th birthday celebration weekend that began with a completely kick-ass party on Friday, and culminated in my Niners destroying Byron Browne IV's Eagles Sunday afternoon. In other words, this weekend was completely and totally Diamond Certified. And thank...

Portico Darwin: Goodbye, Murph & Mac

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read Happy Friday. This one is a bit strange - yes, even for me. It's about a radio show, and it also won't mean much to many, especially those reading this outside of the San Francisco Bay Area. Because there was a major shake-up at the SF radio stalwart KNBR late Wednesday, and I am bummed. KNBR is the fla...

Portico Darwin: Wow, Was I Wrong

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Happy Wednesday. Many consider me arrogant, with an ego the size of Texas. Guilty as charged. But those who know me know that I try to temper these endearing traits by sincerely admitting when I am wrong about something. So let's turn to some recent brilliant prognostications . . . that weren't. CRUISE ...

Portico Darwin: My Take Down of "Love Actually"

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Happy Monday, and whew, please stop the holidays, I want to get off. But of course, even though Thanksgiving is over, we're only getting started. I turn 60 soon (yes, there's a party, and yes, you're invited - ping me), and then there's the matter of a 3-week trip to Hoboken and Manhattan beginning on 1...

Portico Darwin: What if Our Cities had European Transit?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read Here's a fun one for a holiday weekend. Well, fun if you're a transportation geek like me, because today I continue my whining about the dearth of passenger trains in the United States. But to keep the boredom down, I'm expressing my frustration visually. What follows are maps, at the same scale, for ci...

Portico Darwin: Happy Gratitude

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Sure, I published this in late September of last year, but the subject is timeless, especially at Thanksgiving. - - - We were at my favorite hotel, in my favorite place, for 7 nights. During the stay, I came to realize just how absolutely, positively lucky and fortunate I am. But it wasn't the quality o...

Portico Darwin: The Shame at Texas A&M

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Happy Monday and let's get right to it by me saying I have nothing against the professors, instructors, nor students, past and present, at Texas A&M University. Today's title is instead about how a PUBLIC UNIVERSITY can fire the head coach of an athletic team and pay him over $75 MILLION to go away. The...

Portico Darwin: A New Use for Rush!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read One would have to be pretty out of it to be missing the wall-to-wall PR around Geddy Lee's new book, My Effin' Life. He's everywhere, but just in case, here's the cover, which features a nice picture of the handsome devil himself. Mr. Lee was of course the bassist for my favorite band, Rush, and both th...

Portico Darwin: Golf Different

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read + External Article I was really stumped today for a subject. Yes, even Mr. Chatty Cathy runs out of "interesting" topics. But not to worry, at the last minute, golf saved the day. Or at least this post. That's because of this very interesting article I read in The Athletic, The New York Times's sports pl...

Portico Darwin: Climate - The Bad & The Good

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Happy Monday, and today, I'd like to focus on a single column from my primary news source, The Economist. It caught my attention because I was initially discouraged by more news of our ever-heating planet. But then I wasn't, and I thought you might enjoy hearing why. Here is the column, a news summary; i...

Portico Darwin: A Local's Guide to APEC

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read + External Links Holy f'ing shit, this Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference being held in San Francisco 11/11 - 11/17 is one big honking deal. Today's post is mostly for my SF readers, although others may find the dignitary insanity and resulting stormtrooper-esque lockdowns to be of inter...

Portico Darwin: The Times Even Porsche F'd Up

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read It's Wednesday, and what better time than to peer into my inner wannabe? Today, I express my love for Porsche automobiles, but also showcase their miscues. It's a great reminder that not even the best get it right every time. Plus, it was fun grabbing these photos. It's also fun being an elitist snob, so...

Portico Darwin: Why Big Tech Must Be Regulated, Chapter 384

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Happy Monday and let me be the first this week to decry the out-sized power of big tech in the US. Think of Apple ($2.76 trillion). Amazon ($1.43 trillion). Alphabet ($1.58 trillion). Microsoft ($2.62 trillion). Meta (only $808 billion). They have too much money (yes, those are their market capitalizatio...

Portico Darwin: First Khruangbin, and Now This

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read + 20 Minute Video For the weekend, how about less Portico Darwin and more CityNerd? Huh? For those out of touch, Ray Delahanty, A.K.A. CityNerd, is an urban planning expert and runs a wonderfully informative YouTube channel that chronicles the best and worst of our built environment. He covers a lot of ...

Portico Darwin: Secrets of Cabo Pulmo

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read So many have asked (actually, no one has asked), "Portico, won't you share with us the gear you used poolside in Cabo Pulmo? And maybe even share the music with which you wowed your fellow travelers vacationers?" My pleasure. THE SOUND SYSTEM If you know me - at all - you know I don't travel very far wit...

Portico Darwin: Mike Johnson Says "Boo!"

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Happy Monday. Well, yippee, we have a new Speaker of the House of Representatives! Rep. Mike Johnson, from Louisiana! I think he's an asshole! But please judge for yourself - here are some facts regarding Mike Johnson. And when you're finished, perhaps you can tell me again who wants to "destroy our gre...

Portico Darwin: What I Want in The Middle East

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read I took both of these just yesterday. The first, of The Golden Gate Bridge, was snapped a bit after sunrise, during my daily 5 mile walk in The Presidio. The origin of the second photo, of The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, is a bit more nefarious: I snapped it with Miguel Shannon after a boozy lunch ...

Portico Darwin: That Was Quick

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read It is taking a lot of restraint for me not to write or at least ask questions about the fiasco in Israel and Gaza. I find the current "no discussion allowed" environment to be unpleasant and not productive. And while I don't want to piss anyone off, I do wonder if it's healthy to equate any questioning o...

Portico Darwin: It's F'ing San Francisco, Baby!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read On the ride home from SFO last Tuesday after a vacation of contrasts, it was more of the same here. It was hard to avert my eyes from the homeless tents on the recently rebuilt and beautified Van Ness Avenue, one of SF's main promenades. It was something I had never seen before, at least not on Van Ness ...

Portico Darwin: Nuance, Still - Israel/Hamas

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read + 10 minute external podcast First, no more Ukrainian flag. Why? Because what am I going to do? Have 3 flags, one each for Ukraine, Israel, and Palestine? What a mess - everywhere. Maybe China will invade Taiwan soon! Until then (!), I would like to share the single most intelligent and balanced thing I'...

Portico Darwin: Cabo Pulmo Travel Guide

OVERVIEW (Editor's Note: This is full of photos. If it's slow to load, try opening it in a browser using this link.) Cabo Pulmo National Park is a marine sanctuary on the southeastern tip of the Baja Peninsula, on the Sea of Cortez, in Mexico. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and about a 55 mile (m-f'ing fairly gruesome) drive from ...

Portico Darwin: Psycho Woke is The 'R' Word

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read It probably seems like just yesterday that I did what I do here, but it's been a week. I am back. Tan, rested, ready, and bearded. Of course a Cabo Pulmo Mexico Travel Guide is forthcoming, but it may take a while - it's going to be unusual. That's because it was Bogus and Diamond Certified, all at the s...

Portico Darwin: Special Edition - Not Tone Deaf

A car is coming soon to take us to SFO. But I published my "last" post before vacation without acknowledging the horrific situation in Israel and Gaza. Also, my recent Oily post now seems naïve, but who cares? There were and will be so many killed. Hamas revealed itself again to be the savage terrorist organization it is. No matter wha...

Portico Darwin: The Hotel SOPTOC Chain - Longer Stays + Paying For It

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read Today, I will conclude my Soft on People, Tough on Crime proposal for treating ourselves better in America. I believe we have advocates on one side that want to almost always be soft on people, but also soft on crime. And, of course, on the other, those who don't really care about people in the first pla...

Portico Darwin: A Jobs Program for SOPTOC

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read On Monday, I'll be wrapping up my ginormous Soft on People, Tough on Crime program proposal. It's a big post, so today's is short(er), and mostly a summary of SOPTOC. First, the belief that underpins the entire thing: People are most definitely not born with a gene that makes them want to steal and/or s...

Portico Darwin: Oily

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read + External Article Greetings on Hump Day. I am surprised I have not been hearing more about the surge in oil, and thus gasoline, prices. The price for a barrel of Brent crude is now at $90. In California and OMFG especially here in SF, we pay the highest prices in the country, but still - prices are goi...

Portico Darwin: October 2 in One Post

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute or Much Longer Read Good morning and happy Monday. Today's post is as long or as short as you wish, because what follows are my posts regarding October 2. Huh? I was 55 years old on this date in 2019 when an event occurred that set Julie and me on a course neither of us was expecting; I've written about it a...

Portico Darwin: How to Fix Social Media (& America?)

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Happy Friday and consider that only Republicans have caused government shutdowns. Further, if the Republican party were interested in reducing the deficit, they could repeal the Trump tax cuts and also tax capital at the same rate as labor. But you'll be pleased to know that's not what today is about. I...

Portico Darwin: An Epic Fail of Management in SF

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read I often prattle on (bang on and on?) about the state of my beloved SF, including its best and worst. Here's a recent example of the former. But comprising a big part of the latter category are the tent encampments that exist in certain locations here. As you may know, the City and County of San Francisco...

Portico Darwin: Paper Planes and Tim

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Gosh, it's a shame you're not retired like I am. If you were, you could fully utilize today's post. But it's a Monday for you (another Saturday for me!), so you better not pour a Paper Plane and put on Tim. "My God, Portico - even for you, that is obtuse." Well, in the interest of relating to my working...

Portico Darwin: Brandon & Joe, Please Go

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read I could also call today's post "A Refresher in Gratitude". Because, in summary: The San Francisco Giants' Brandon Crawford and The United States' Joe Biden should both retire. Crawford now, and President Biden should say he's not running in 2024. While also being very thankful for their absolutely, posi...

Portico Darwin: My Buffs and Deion Sanders

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Short of a self-imposed media blackout over the past few weeks, you've certainly heard the name Deion Sanders and about what he's doing as the head football coach of the Buffaloes, at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Which, as I've mentioned a couple of times, is my alma mater. I graduated in 1985...

Portico Darwin: The Rolling Stones Should Stop Rolling

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Over the weekend, I read yet another "The Stones Are Back!" puff piece, this time in Culture's Fall Preview 2023 in The New York Times. For your Monday, I give you my response: F'ING ENOUGH ALREADY. Don't get me wrong - me and The Rolling Stones go way, way back, and I have always been a fan, at times ev...

Portico Darwin: It Was ExxonMobil

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read + Article Happy Friday, and lucky you, you're missing out on what was to be yet another rant about SF and its corrupted politics. But then I saw this referenced in yesterday's Dealbook, and well, that post is history. Or maybe the Earth is history? This is the f'ing Wall Street Journal blowing the lid o...

Portico Darwin: Stop Making Sense in IMAX Mini Review

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read First, a rave worthy of the Boomer that I am, and now this. Let's turn to a 40 year-old concert movie, albeit arguably the best of them all. Monday night, I joined Byron Browne IV and Louise Lederhosen (fellow Thievery Corporation board members - so to speak - on Saturday) in attending one of the simult...

Portico Darwin: Why I Hate Cars, Chapter Gizillion

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Today is September 11. I'm sure World War II was something, but 9/11, the 2009 financial crash, the pandemic, and January 6 were quite enough for this blogger. Onward, into an awkward transition . . . For today's post to make much sense, you'll need to first look at this from LinkedIn: https://www.linked...

Portico Darwin: Writers & Actors Should Settle Right Now

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read It is a Friday, a day when many look forward to a couple of days of not working. Except for those that aren't working in the first place. You know: People like the ever-vacationing Hunter Deuce, me, and all of the writers and actors in Hollywood and elsewhere that are presently on strike. It is that last...

Portico Darwin: This Is What I Mean

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read Hello Wednesday and it's great being retired. And also lazy, well-informed, and the editor of my own blog. Huh? Because I can decide to simply re-publish a brilliant article from my beloved Economist magazine as a post. Many of my whines about America stem from our refusal to learn from Europe; increasin...

Portico Darwin: Not Your Average Sound System

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Happy Monday of Labor Day, and what says "holiday weekend" more than a description and review of a recent sound system I installed? OK, virtually anything, but at least it involved "labor." As you might recall, not long ago, I went to Houston to install the WiFi and A/V at Dr. Shelly Murphy's new ginormo...

Portico Darwin: The Rock Albums

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read (+ endless hours of listening) So many have asked (actually, absolutely nobody has asked), "Portico, what rock albums have meant the most to you? Not necessarily your opinion on the best, but what albums could you not shut up about, upon discovery?" Here they are. This is not my list of the greatest albu...

Portico Darwin: Book Bans and You

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Say hello to hump day. As we observe the Presidential candidacy of Ron DeSantis, the Republican Governor of Florida, implode, it is useful to consider his pandering on culture war issues in his state. And some of his worst bootlicking has been providing cover for those who want to ban particular books i...

Portico Darwin: The Hotel SOPTOC Chain - Short Stays

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Happy Monday, and let's make it interesting. If you've been following along at home, you know I've started putting out my (fantastical) ideas regarding addressing homelessness and lawlessness. I've put it all under the umbrella of Soft on People, Tough on Crime, or SOPTOC. I contend that if we make it ea...

Portico Darwin: World Leader Pretend

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Welcome to Friday. I followed through on what I said to Hunter Deuce: I didn't watch Wednesday night's Republican National Committee debate. What follows is all I've read or heard on the subject; it is from The Economist's daily news briefing yesterday. “Eight presidential hopefuls tussled in the Republ...

Portico Darwin: Paso Robles Travel Guide

OVERVIEW We were only here for 3 days, but holy smokes, did we see and do a lot in this easily Diamond Certified area. Diamond Certified for so many things beyond fine wine, which of course we guzzled, too. We visited rad places in and outside of Paso Robles, stayed on a swank ranch in Templeton, went to a wacky museum and even crazier...

Portico Darwin: The Ethos of Neil Peart

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read Happy Wednesday. Upon our triumphant return from Paso (yes, yes - a Travel Guide is coming soon), I finished the last few pages of Neil Peart's excellent book, "Roadshow: Landscape with Drums." It is appropriately subtitled "A Concert Tour by Motorcycle," as it documents the late Rush drummer's decision ...

Portico Darwin: Depart Paso Robles + 90s Movies!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read + A Lot of Binge Watching Happy Monday and greetings from gorgeous Paso Robles. The upcoming Travel Guide will spell it out in all of its Diamond Certified splendor, but for now, here are a couple of tidbits to tide you over. I will say this: Mighty Mississippi played like their last gig was 5 or 6 days...

Portico Darwin: Arrive Paso Robles & Mighty Mississippi

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read OK - let's get right into another long rant about Trump, and the lack of highspeed rail in the US. I will also work in more complaints (or brags!) about SF. Kidding! And happy Friday. Around noon today we are off on a highly-anticipated trip, and one almost certain to be immortalized in a proper Travel ...

Portico Darwin: It Was The U.S. Senate

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read I know, I know: I've regressed and have been writing about policy, if not politics (OK, maybe some politics, too) quite a bit lately. You can blame the United States Senate. Because hopefully we've now come to the final chapters in one of America's worst stories: the criminal melodrama of Donald J. Trump...

Portico Darwin: Platforming

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read For the record, I am thrilled President Biden's Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to further investigate the dodgy Hunter Biden. If Hunter did something illegal, he should be prosecuted. If the criminality involved his father, so be it - he should be impeached and removed from ...

Portico Darwin: The Numbers Are In . . .

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read . . . and they are ugly. Happy Friday, and my apologies in advance for sharing this rather sobering information ahead of your weekend. But Gallup - the polling company - has been doing a big annual survey for 20 years now of how Americans feel on a variety of topics, and the results merit your attention....

Portico Darwin: Barbieland is Real and That's Not Good

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read I mentioned on Monday that we saw Barbie this past Sunday. My God is Margot Robbie f'ing hot. There, that's the post. No, that's wrong. In actuality, she's really f'ing hot, but that's still not what today is about. Since Sunday, I've had a chance to consider 3 different, but related, inputs, and - shock...

Portico Darwin: The End of Everything

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Happy Monday, and how about a touch of Debbie Downer? You can thank the demise of college football's Pacific 12 Conference for the inspiration. Because lately, I've been thinking quite a bit about things that used to be, yet are no longer. Or still are, but rendered irredeemably Bogus. While it is sad fo...

Portico Darwin: Soft Power and You

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read + 8 Minute External Article Here's something to ponder for the weekend. I came across this interesting article from Foreign Affairs Magazine about the United Kingdom's British Broadcasting Corporation, the legendary BBC. I share it today as a reminder of the importance of a nation's soft power. For an ex...

Portico Darwin: Branding Can Hurt

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Let's call this Worst Wednesday. Because today is about the two worst branding decisions I have personally witnessed. And I'm almost 60, FFS! Disclaimer: I am no branding, or even marketing, expert. But by now, you must know there's no correlation between my expertise and my popping off on a given subjec...

Portico Darwin: 1970s SoCal

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read + Great External Stuff Happy Monday. Today's post is short, so at least there's that. I love to write, and I remain amazed by its inspiration. Like today. As you may have heard, a founding member of The Eagles, Randy Meisner, passed on. And there you are - a blog. Meisner's death, and one of my favorite...

Portico Darwin: The One Where I Complained The Most

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <4 Minute Read Happy Friday. Julie and I live in one of the nicest neighborhoods in SF. And with all due modesty, that also (still) implies the world. This is down the street one block. Sorry, but it's true. Which begs the question: how on Earth can a man talk about Xanadu and paradise and winning lotteries and gratit...

Portico Darwin: You are in Section 230

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read A hump day in the middle of summer? What better time for a dry policy discussion! And on the topic of Section 230 to boot! Try to calm your excitement and pay attention, because the adjustments I propose (really, stole, from Scott Galloway) below to this regulation could largely clean up social media. O...

Portico Darwin: Depart Mendocino (Xanadu)

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read + a 13 minute (!) song Actually, this is probably more appropriately entitled "My Most OCD Blog Post Yet". Why? Because our destinations this weekend, Mendocino and personal Happy Place Anderson Valley, are not unlike paradise, and are a big muse. I have visual evidence. We depart in a couple of hours to...

Portico Darwin: Depart SF + Why I Hate Cars

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read + Links Happy Friday. Tomorrow, we leave for a minibreak to the magic of Mendocino, and we're going with Ol' Purple Label and her hubby, K. Helmsley Garfinkel. A visit to the Portico Darwin Happy Place Anderson Valley is a given, so I'm already getting jacked. Indeed, I like the region so much, there's ...

Portico Darwin: RIP, Anchor Brewing?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Not many here saw this coming. Anchor Brewing, an SF institution forever and the makers of our beloved Steam beer, looks like it is going away. Its corporate parent since 2017, the Japanese brewing giant Sapporo, announced last week they are closing it down. I have a couple of personal notes, and then I'...

Portico Darwin: Introducing Catherine Carats

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read In case you haven't noticed (and given that I rarely shut up about it, how could you not?), I have been on a personal quest of sorts since retiring. A part of it has been to develop more patience and also to temper my volatility when things aren't as I wish. Please: laughing doesn't help. But for your en...

Portico Darwin: US National Parks, My Way

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read As you may have noticed, I was recently in Houston. And I was thinking: what is the opposite kind of place, in terms of just about everything? A US National Park. So now, as a service (and for a reason to show fun photos) to my readers, I bring you some great information about what Ken Burns rightly dee...

Portico Darwin: Depart Houston + Someone Needed a Refresher

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read + More at Link I had a typically pithy piece teed up for today about National Parks, and how they remind me of Houston (!). I leave in a few hours after a very successful trip, at least in terms of the installation. You can count on a future article where I sing the praises of the bonkers Monitor Audio ...

Portico Darwin: For Going Outdoors

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Happy Monday. Let's put it this way: where I am and what I am doing is the polar opposite of going outdoors to a picnic or festival. Because you can't really go outside: I'm in Houston and it's July 10. I'm staying at the rapidly-emptying Murphy Villa, yet spending a lot of time at the new-to-Shelly and...

Portico Darwin: Arrive Houston + Why I Say We Can Do Better

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <4 Minute Read In a couple of short hours, I'll be ensconced up front on a nonstop to balmy Houston. Dr. Shelly Murphy has beckoned: it's time to install the tech in her swank, freshly-remodeled and ginormous - shocker - condo. So how about a Friday free of my drivel, as I jet off to a land of big hats and bigger bugs...

Portico Darwin: The Front Desk at Hotel SOPTOC

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Phew. Time to towel off from that shower I'm sure you needed after Monday's post. The navel gazing ends (for now) and I return to envisioning a better world, no matter how far-fetched the ideas. Because today, I would like to add to my thoughts about being Soft on People and Tough on Crime, as a general...

Portico Darwin: Lottery Winner, The Electrifying Conclusion

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS >6 Minute Read Hello, and happy Monday on an Independence Day holiday weekend. If you've been paying attention, you know I recounted the luckiest moments in my life last Monday and Wednesday. Today is different - very different. But hopefully no less entertaining, and maybe even helpful, if you ever must confront what...

Portico Darwin: Let's Play Smart? Corrupt? Both? Neither?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read FFS, even I need a break from that lottery thing! So in honor of America and its 247th birthday Tuesday, let's look at some recent presidents, in an admittedly narrow light. In relative terms, were they smart and/or corrupt? Or none of the above? Full disclosure: I stole this concept nearly in its entir...

Portico Darwin: Lottery Winner, Part II

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 5 Minute Read The reaction to the first post on my life's winning lottery tickets was met with the exuberance I've come to expect. Which is to say, there was basically none. But no matter, here are the rest - except for the last 3, which I'm saving for a special 4th of July post. If you find this all too self-absorbed...

Portico Darwin: Lottery Winner, Part I

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <5 Minute Read Happy Monday. While we certainly had a wonderful time in New Mexico, there is nothing quite like coming back to SF, especially after being away for an extended period. Quite a change from sunny and 100° to foggy and 60°, and while I certainly enjoy my Pool Boy antics, it is nice to feel that clear, cool...

Portico Darwin: Depart Las Cruces + US Health Care

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Well, it's been a wonderful 12 nights here on the desert, and I'd be remiss if I didn't thank our hosts, the marvelous, if rather aged, Davis and Melynda Fladgate. These two were kind enough to give us the complete run of their home for almost 2 weeks, whilst also tolerating my endless plays of M83's Fa...

Portico Darwin: The One Hunter Deuce Wrote, Mostly

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Today, I am publishing, in its entirety, a reply I received from star reader Hunter Deuce about my post Monday on Identity Politics. “I'm pretty sure no one has ever chased you down an alley with a baseball bat looking to cave your head in because you're straight or white. In a perfect world, we wouldn'...

Portico Darwin: Juneteenth, Identity Politics, and Austin Killips

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <4 Minute Read Happy Monday. We're continuing to ride the Fladgate hospitality train, and I may never get off. But despite the ultra-chill nature of the scene here, I am going to pop-off (again) on race, sexuality and gender. On Juneteenth! You're welcome! Why another third-rail tap dance? Well, there have been a coup...

Portico Darwin: 18 More

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <5 Minute Read Happy Friday. Sure, family is nice, but a highlight of our almost 2 weeks here is Julie's dad's dog, Lucy, who I've mentioned before. I also mentioned bragsnapshots. Can't we have both? Onward to the weekend (!) and as promised, here are the remaining 18 of the 37 Signals, by my management heroes Jason ...

Portico Darwin: Signals

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 5 Minute Read Since I last wrote, we've enjoyed literally all there is of Belen, and had a great visit with Julie's family. Indeed, an event that brings 3 of the 4 Fladgate siblings (Julie, Biff, and G. Robinson - with only the hockey groupie Rhoda missing) together at one table called for the best, and we almost foun...

Portico Darwin: Depart SF + Pool Boy, Triumphant Return Thereof

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Speaking of Ukraine and before indulging in a lovely blog: fingers crossed their pushback works and this madness from Russia can end. But let's (awkwardly) transition to something nearly as important as peace in Ukraine: me, and my life. And a bonus: there's nary a mention of a certain former president w...

Portico Darwin: US Pro Golf is a Disgrace

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read I really thought I had seen it all, in terms of shameless, greedy behavior, with the Saudis. I've certainly written about it here and it always boils down to this: if you have money, why compromise your ethics and credibility to get crazy money (not that Trump has ever had real money or ethics or credibi...

Portico Darwin: How to Prompt ChatGPT

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Happy Monday and let's dive right in with something useful for your week and beyond. As promised, here is a list of 15 pretty darned Killer prompts for getting actual value from ChatGPT (or any other AI text engine). I do wish I could claim credit for these, but I cannot: I grabbed it from LinkedIn, whe...

Portico Darwin: It Could Happen to Anyone

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read As I've mentioned maybe once or twice, I begin most days when we're home with a 5 mile walk in my beloved Presidio. It keeps both me relatively healthy and sane. Right? Right??? But I digress because this is mostly a serious post, as it begins with a tragic death. This past Wednesday, I was on my walk, s...

Portico Darwin: Never Stop Searching

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Before getting rolling, I hope you'll spend 3 minutes watching this post-Memorial Day tribute video I made; it also has some nice music. Memorial Day Every Day 2 Minute Read It was with quite a jolt when I learned recently that my Internet search engine of choice, the subscription-only Neeva, is closing its doors, at ...

Portico Darwin: Shows of Strength

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read + Gallery I am not gay. I have never been gay. But wow did we glorify this phallic weapon stuff, and I have to admit it caught my eye. Oh, and Happy Memorial Day. Yes, that's my snarky (with no disrespect intended) intro to a gallery I am putting together celebrating the 50th Anniversary of my beloved Go...

Portico Darwin: Sonoma Coast Camping Travel Guide

OVERVIEW There have been previous Travel Guides covering trips from one night to 3 weeks in length, in places as near as Carneros and as far as Europe. But none have been quite like this one. First, because it's an itinerary no one will follow: to accommodate the first leg of the journey, you'll either want to or have a reason to visit...

Portico Darwin: Low Ceilings

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Yes, I am back and you can expect a forthcoming Travel Guide full of juicy details of another Textbook getaway. I will say now it began on a fun note at Lauren Ryder's 60th; you'll be able to read about that and a fairly magical camping trip soon. Here's a preview and that's a Fat Head in the popcorn bow...

Portico Darwin: Depart SF + AI Mindblowers

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read + Exploration Tomorrow, we depart for our aforementioned adventure vacation: a daytime, riverside piss-up tomorrow in celebration of a friend's 60th birthday, followed by 3 nights camping on the glorious northern (actually, central) coast of my beloved California. Yes, there will be a Travel Guide, and ...

Portico Darwin: Are You Tolerant Enough for The Future?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read No, this is not one of my hectoring social justice rants. You are welcome in advance. Instead, today is about technology and how our natural avoidance of risk is going to slow the future. I will use two examples, and see if you don't agree that some gee-whiz tech is about to bump against the nuances we ...

Portico Darwin: Arrive SF + Soft on People, Tough on Crime

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <4 Minute Read Happy Monday. I bid my farewell to my wonderful hosts in Oceanside yesterday. A great trip, as always. I am now back in San Francisco, however briefly. Julie and I have a sweet combo adventure trip coming up 5/20 - 5/24 that begins with the social event of the summer, at least on the Sacramento Delta: t...

Portico Darwin: Arrive Oceanside and Presidential Scorecards

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read + Chart Study Time! Super easy trip to San Diego and on to Oceanside. It is Textbook SoCal May weather - foggy morning followed by perfection. My hosts are their typical gracious selves. In fact, it's so nice I am really not noticing the half-finished job on staining the pergola. And it's easy to ignore...

Portico Darwin: Depart SF + 2 Sedans Then and Now

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Tomorrow, I break up this glorious lonely week of bachelorhood with a solo jaunt down to Oceanside, the northern-most suburb of San Diego. I'll be staying at the palatial-esque manse of the corporate wellness titans Andy and Libby Baines Jones until Sunday. My/our visit there is always a highlight of th...

Portico Darwin: A Lesson in False Equivalency

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS < 3 Minute Read Happy Monday. Since Friday, I've had not one but two unexpected communications. The first is important enough that it constitutes the majority of today's post, and the second is hot news from the world of art and appears below in UNWASHED MASSES. While both evoke the concept of false equivalenceto some...

Portico Darwin: Could You Ever Vote for a Democrat?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read + Chart Study Time! If you're a Republican, or lean that way, could you ever vote for a Democrat for President? If not, why not? Because I would happily vote for someone like the former Republican Governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan. I just want someone rational, in favor of American democracy, and prefera...

Portico Darwin Special Edition: Introducing An AI Art Gallery

As is probably obvious by now, I love the Stable Diffusion artificial intelligence graphics engine and its front end, DreamStudio. As a lifelong technologist, I will say it is amazing what $10 can buy you. I wanted a place to put my better-than-bad creations, and here it is. Before visiting, please know the heading above each image is ...

Portico Darwin: Oakland Sports and the Lack Thereof

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <5 Minute Read Happy Wednesday. If you don't care about sports and/or the facilities in which they're played, you can probably skip this one. Plus, it's long! I dedicate this blog to Dallas Money, Kevin Monza, and Tracie Coveropolous. Oh, and Popeye, who chose the wrong team for his pick-up technique business cards. A...

Portico Darwin: The Good and Bad of Regulation

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Today and to complicate your Monday, I am going all nuance-y on you. Like this: • I am overall a YIMBY: yes, in my backyard, when it comes to new housing, infrastructure, etc. • But wow am I glad a development (practically in my backyard) called Marincello got the big-time NIMBY treatment I'll also use t...

Portico Darwin: Things Are Moving Too Fast For Humans

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS < 3 Minute Read Today's post is heavy for a Friday, but it's an important topic, and an extension of one from a couple of weeks ago. In that post, I mentioned the premise that a 1,000 page book covering humanity's 250,000 year history would have everything that occurred from 1773 forward on its very last page. In othe...

Portico Darwin: Size Matters

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS < 1 Minute Read Wouldn't it be nice for a hump day to just have some information, vs. my opinions, however enlightened? Here is a fun graphic I worked up, documenting and contrasting the sizes of the playing surfaces for most major sports. This is to scale, so it reflects the proportionate sizes of each. The full-size...

Portico Darwin: America is Exceptional at Death

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Happy Monday! Let's talk about death! This is another of my posts influenced by the young genius Derek Thompson. He covered this topic on a recent podcast, and I found it interesting. And disturbing. Because America is a great country - even the greatest in some ways. But if a country is to be judged by ...

Portico Darwin: Ride, Captain, Ride

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Happy Friday. This is a bike review, my second product review in as many days. But it's a story, too. Let's acknowledge the irony at the outset. Yes, I get angry at people for trashing my beloved SF. I believe the words du jour are dystopic hellscape? I almost wish it were true so we could afford to buy ...

Portico Darwin: Lowering The Flag

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read I dedicate today's post to the phone snobs Miguel Shannon and Andy Jones. If you buy expensive mobile phones - like my two very dear friends - why? Because unless you're a gamer or a 4K movie producer, are you sure you need a (dark, intimidating background music is playing now) Flagship Phone? Here are t...

Portico Darwin: Black Reparations

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read The subject of reparations is not new, it is again at the fore and this time, it's a right-wing talking point. That's because The Psycho Woke here in SF are wasting time and money on a reparations plan that's beyond fantasy. $5 million per black resident of SF and forgiveness of all debt? Unlikely! But t...

Portico Darwin: I've Invented an AI Game

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read + Game Time And you thought this thing couldn't get any sillier? But maybe it will give you something to do over the weekend. Here is a new game I created, and it's called 3 On 9. The idea is to match what's called a prompt with its result. A prompt is a bit of text that provides an artificial intelligen...

Portico Darwin: Right On Time

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Hooray! Wednesday! How about one of my quasi-deep philosophical posts? Because I recently finished a book and listened to a podcast. Thrilling news, I know, but they both do a Killer job of putting time in perspective. You've Got 4,000 Weeks The book is Four Thousand Weeks, by Oliver Burkeman. The title ...

Portico Darwin: Don't Tread on Me

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Sorry for a somewhat inflammatory post on a Monday, but I am serious: JFC enough with bad-mouthing my beloved SF. Or Chicago. Or Seattle. Or any other radical far left liberal Democrat city. Or state for that matter. Yes - those of us in Democratic urban areas have problems, in some cases, pretty bad pro...

Portico Darwin: And The Survey Says!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Return with me now to the halcyon days of the original Family Feud, with the British charmer and French kiss advocate Richard Dawson at the helm. Because it is he that immortalized the words "And the survey says!" and isn't that just perfect for today's big reveal of the results from the first-ever Port...

Portico Darwin: Art Handsome

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS < 1 Minute Read After the survey, and then this past Monday's extended mirror gaze, you might want a bit less Portico Darwin for a hump day. And certainly no Trump, as I am ignoring the first and all of his many upcoming shit-show arrests. He and everything around him is a national embarrassment So here's a nice break...

Portico Darwin: How The Sausage is Made

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read It's a Monday. And now this. After reading today's veritable font of enlightenment, you might be glad the survey is open until this Wednesday. So you can scream. The Portico Darwin Blog Reader Survey There have been endless references to "my leaving TEECOM". There was the whole blog on my music system at...

Portico Darwin: How The West Was Won?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS The Attached Article is a Long Read Thanks to those of you that completed the survey; for everyone else, there's still time to take your shots. The Portico Darwin Blog Survey I will keep the survey open for a week, and give my thousandshundreds dozens of subscribers plenty of time to tell me what they really think. Th...

Portico Darwin: Introducing Roy Dirwin

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read Before getting started, please take 1 minute and answer 4 questions about how you're enjoying this blog. In other words, enough about me, but what do you think about me? Your responses are anonymous, and you might even enjoy the survey. The Portico Darwin Blog Survey I will take this feedback, and with t...

Portico Darwin: Impromptu Movie Reviews

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Happy Monday and I came down with COVID, for the 2nd time since the pandemic's inception. I knew this already when I made my post on Friday, but hey, why ruin your weekend when I had that covered already? I'm fine already - mostly like a quick cold - but I thought these things were behind us? So line me ...

Portico Darwin: Let's Leave the Rope Ladder Down

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <5 Minute Read Let me virtue signal my way into the weekend by saying that I have a proud history of mentoring, both formally and informally. I enjoy helping others and giving back. And it has the side benefit that I get to hear myself talk - always a plus for me. I have an equally proud history of listening to very s...

Portico Darwin: The Best Value in Men's Clothing?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Truth be told, I kind of enjoy clothes, fashion, and yes, style. You may not notice, but I put a lot of thought and effort into selecting which of the 4 Banana Republic Medium Tall Cotton T-Shirts in Black I own to wear on any given day. So today I share - in a mercifully shorter post for your hump day -...

Portico Darwin: It Wasn't Just Jack Welch

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy Monday and I am just now wrapping up my latest read, Sally Denton's "The Profiteers". It has the exactly correct subtitle of "Bechtel and the Men Who Built the World." Except "Built the World" - while true in the sense you're probably imagining - also reflects something far more sinister. To this writer, in addi...

Portico Darwin: An Entire Post About a Playlist

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read A global pandemic, and then an attempted coup here. The first European ground war since World War II. Now, runs on banks and a looming nuclear war with China over Taiwan? BORING! What's next - supply chain disruptions of Weissβier? Sounds like a great weekend to hang around, and perhaps listen to great m...

Portico Darwin: You Got Lucky Baby

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Yes, it's that time of year again! It's our 3 year Covid-19 anniversary tomorrow! Thank God that's over. It is over, right? Let's just say it is and today turn our attention (again) to the issue of wealth inequality in America. But I am going to approach it from a slightly different angle. First, I will ...

Portico Darwin: The One About Shaving, Headphones and Floss

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Happy Monday. In putting together the word cloud stuff for the 2nd anniversary post, one thing really stuck out. I've been giving short-shrift to the most important thing there is as an American citizen: gear and its corollary, shopping. Let's attempt to right this wrong on a Monday with a looksie at som...

Portico Darwin: Seamus Colonnity Meets a US Congressman!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 5 Minute Read Specifically, Representative Wesley Hunt (R) of Texas. And OK, it was me that met him. He was a guest of Dr. Shelly Murphy in her suite at NRG Stadium this past Sunday night at the Rodeo, and is one of 9 congressional representatives from Harris County, in which Houston is located. He is also the only Re...

Portico Darwin: You've Got a Friend

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Hello and happy hump day. While I enjoyed Houston and its rodeo, it is very good to be back home in SF. A lot of what I write here is influenced by the podcasts to which I listen, and one of my favorites is Plain Speaking by the thirtysomething genius Derek Thompson. Recently, he had as guests two academ...

Portico Darwin: Depart Houston + Ride 'Em Cowboy

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS < 3 Minute Read Happy Monday and we head home to SF today. Despite the clamoring (in actuality, there was no clamoring) for a Houston Travel Guide, there's simply no point, as my experience is not available to the general public. In fact, today's post is fairly brief, and there's almost as much info on Thailand as Hou...

Portico Darwin: 2 Years Old!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Holy smokes, this blog is 2 years old tomorrow! What started as just a pitiful and narcissistic quest for relevance and attention in retirement has turned into . . . an ongoing pitiful and narcissistic quest for relevance and attention in retirement. 10 Seconds of Seriousness: as I've said here and to so...

Portico Darwin: Don't Go There

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Sure, we're in Houston having a crazy time, but why notthrow some cold water on your vacation planning? I'd like to share the contents of Fodor's No List 2023. This is the travel website and publisher's annual attempt at discouraging visits to fragile and typically, over-loved, travel destinations. We'v...

Portico Darwin: The Rolling Stones, Via Their Comeback Albums

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Tomorrow would have been the 81st birthday of Brian Jones, one of the founding members of The Rolling Stones; he died in 1969. (It's also the first day of Rodeo here in Houston, but more on that soon.) When I noticed his birthday coming up, I broke out a beautiful TASCHEN coffee table book we are proud t...

Portico Darwin: Depart SF + I Did Not Produce This

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Editor's Note: tomorrow we depart for 8 nights in Houston, where we will be attending the extraordinary Livestock Show & Rodeo as the guests of the future highriser Dr. Shelly Murphy. So to make it easy on myself, essentially every word that follows and all of the images were created by the artificial in...

Portico Darwin: What It's Like Not Being Seen

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read As I've worked to understand the dynamics of identity politics, one thing that is obvious is the reasonable desire for people heretofore ignored (or worse) by society to be heard. And (although I hate this Wokistan term) seen. I believe that is a major reason people have taken to deeming themselves quee...

Portico Darwin: Is AI 2023's NFT?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS < 3 Minute Read Happy Monday. Yes, I remember. It was just about this time last year when my love and appreciation for the art of my cousin Charles Clough collided with the hysteria around blockchain technologies, and specifically, non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Remember this? Then (as now) I believed in Charlie and his ...

Portico Darwin: Planes and Trains

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Today, for the weekend, we can laugh about the airline business, and cry about trains, or at least, one route in particular. Here's a mercifully short post, but a troubling one, at least to this transportation nerd. As I occasionally do, I am liberally stealingplagiarizing borrowing from two different so...

Portico Darwin: It's Complicated

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read As you might have noticed, I've recently been railing on extreme progressivism, or what I call The Psycho Woke. A lot, and as recently as Monday. It's because I am fed up with the mindless silo-ization of America, and the victimhood that comes with it. Add a few dollops of the woefully ineffective left-w...

Portico Darwin: Woke Me When It's Over

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read It's Monday, but cheer up: we're going to Wokistan! And even better, we're starting at the candy store! These Boots Are Made For Woking By now, you may have heard of the trials and tribulations of that tramp proud woman, the Green M&M. You see, some found her original incarnation misogynist. Of course t...

Portico Darwin: Grammy Cracker

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read (7 hour + listen) I mean, who has the time to wade through the NINETY-ONE categories that made up last Sunday's Grammy Awards? Are you f'ing kidding me? What to do? Well, congratulate yourself for subscribing to this blog. Because I skimmed this list, and then made a playlist of the albums that looked i...

Portico Darwin: Nuke Texas!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Nah, it's not what you think. In fact, I want to nuke Texas so badly, and in such a positive manner, that I almost called in my heavy hitters. But I didn't. Because wanting Texas to be the center of clean energy, and especially the modular nuclear power plant industry, should not be fantasy. Yes, some ba...

Portico Darwin: Construction Zone

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <4 Minute Read Let's dive right in to Monday with me touching two of the third rails in modern America: gender and race. Heck, I even delve into sexuality for good measure. To illustrate, I'll use a term du jour: construct. But not the verb, the noun: Disclaimer: please top reading this right now if you are easily off...

Portico Darwin: Take Your Top Off

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS > 3 minute read Hi! I'm a Californian again! And it's Friday! Along those lines, here are my favorite convertibles, in no particular order. Most, but not all, are vintage vs. something new. I'm not bothering with years, although I do provide the model of the car. And shocker, there's even a pithy comment here and ther...

Portico Darwin: Mind Blown

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Happy hump day. It is back to SF in a short while after a typically glorious, if cloudy and cold, visit with the literal lifesaver, Dr. Shelly Murphy here in busy Houston. If you are in America, alive and anything other than off-grid, you've no doubt heard the wave after wave of hype over AI - artificia...

Portico Darwin: Arrive Houston + A Journalist's Call for New News

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 5 Minute Read (attached PDF) I flew into Houston yesterday, courtesy of my favorite cousin, Dr. Shelly Murphy, and am now ensconced in the palatial Murphy Villa. But the Villa will be just a memory soon, which is why I'm here: I'm spec'ing out the tech for her new digs. "New digs," you ask? Nothing major, unless you c...

Portico Darwin: Geezer Happy Hour

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS < 3 Minute Read It's the weekend, and I'm asking my dear departed parents to serve up the drinks. What drinks? I'm talking late 1960s and early 1970s, and following are what my parents and those around them were tossing back. People like this - my parent's friends Art Hansen, Wally Clarke, and Bill Cameron. All fine w...

Portico Darwin: Cooking Up a Crisis

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS < 3 Minute Read First and foremost: Happy Birthday to my very special wife, Julie. If only she took better pictures. On to less wonderful subjects. My typical disclaimer on days like today: no, I am not returning to my news and social media-fueled hair-on-fire and angst-ridden blog style. Nobody wants that. Or mass sh...

Portico Darwin: Texas Is Energetic

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Happy Monday. Let's start the week some good news about Texas. And perhaps, America. My favored news source The Economist recently published an article I found rather astounding. It is about the adoption of green clean energy in Texas. I love the graphic they used and the article even more. Here's just o...

Portico Darwin: Downtown Sonoma Travel Guide

OVERVIEW Unfortunately, I must begin this wine region-focused Travel Guide by bragging. Because the fact is, I've been to all parts of Sonoma before. And Napa. And Anderson Valley. Santa Cruz Mountains. Livermore Valley. Santa Barbara and the Santa Rita Hills. The Sierra Foothills. Heck, I've been in a wine region in New Mexico. And fr...

Portico Darwin: This is Psycho Woke

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read It's been magical pretending we live in Wine Country. We head back home tomorrow after a great week here. Travel Guide? Certainly and soon, but its scope will be limited to Downtown Sonoma, vs. a vineyard touring thing. But believe me: we went wine tasting. I hope you enjoy today's short rant. Many (OK, ...

Portico Darwin: An Apple Can Rot

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 5 Minute Read Enough heavy talk - JFC I'm in Sonoma! And it's not awful! But for now I will duck out of the many wine salons I am inhabiting this week to talk about America's corporate darling, Apple. I want to remind you Apple people out there - and OMG, there are a whole bunch of you - that Apple, its products, and ...

Portico Darwin: I Also

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Happy Martin Luther King Day. I hope you'll consider and remember what this singular man did for America. And at what cost. It's a holiday, I know, but this topic is important. My apologies for its serious and sexually graphic nature, and a warning that it is about the subject of rape. Please do not read...

Portico Darwin: At The Movies

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read It's the weekend, so maybe you're looking for movie ideas. Yes, I'm going all Siskel & Ebert on you. For you kids out there, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert were among the kingmakers of the movie industry. These gifted dweebs were influencers before the term existed; a "Thumbs Up" meant a film likely made mo...

Portico Darwin: The One About Being Retired

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today I am reflecting on the great fortune of being retired relatively young. I've been in my own private Del Boca Vista since October of 2020, when I was 56; I am now 59. Is it all it's cracked up to be? Better? Worse? Shocker, but I have some thoughts. I think it's important to say at the outset that retiring and be...

Portico Darwin: Are You a Fool, Or What?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy Monday, and let's begin the week with some Shakespeare. Naturally. "A fool thinks himself to be wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool." While often this blog is little more than a personal trough of self-aggrandizement and documentation of my overly-charmed life, I do occasionally seek and then pass ...

Portico Darwin: The Everest of Guitars

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS (No, I'm not back on my political lectern. And Ukraine is still top of mind. But today is January 6th, among the darkest dates in American history, and a big reason are the people above, who refused to certify Biden's election after the riots at The Capitol 2 years ago today. Kevin McCarthy is there, as are those now ...

Portico Darwin: The Final Nail?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS If you watched this past Monday night's football game, you already know about this. If not, you should be aware a player very nearly died on the field of cardiac arrest after a violent hit, but was brought back to life via CPR over several minutes. As I write this early on Wednesday PST, the player, 24 year old Buffal...

Portico Darwin: Jim Morrison Was Right

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy New Year and face it: it's the dead of winter. But winter in SF is arguably the best time here. Sure, there are storms (and we're having some fabulous rain this season and OMFG do we need it - just not too much too fast, please), but boy, do we have some Chamber of Commerce days, too. In fact, New Year's Day in ...

Portico Darwin: Not A Happy Blog

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS There's no way around it: today's blog is a downer. I mean like a real fucking downer. About the only good part is that it hopefully will remind you of how fortunate you are and also perhaps illustrate the dreadful state of America's physical and mental healthcare system, at least if you're poor and/or outside of it. ...

Portico Darwin: 2022 Darwin Award Winners Special Edition

There are acutally actually no typos in today's post. Without further ado and in response to the clamoring from many (fact check: nobody), here's who will be taking home the prized Portico this year. The award ceremony is very hush-hush and on a need-to-know basis. Trip of The Year ·Ormond Beach · Tupper Lake · Italy & Austria: Lake Ga...

Portico Darwin: Travel Guide 2022 Special Edition!

Yes, more me! As so many have been begging for (nobody, actually), here - hot off the presses - is The Portico Darwin Travel Guide: 2022 While not as vast as last year's, there was still plenty of magic. I hope even a tiny bit is useful to someone out there, and I appreciate any and all feedback, and especially if you try my advice som...

Portico Darwin: Pencil Neck Geeks

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I trust you had a great Christmas. Us? Well, Christmas Day itself was fine, but let's just say all good things must come to an end. After a positively Diamond Certified almost 3 weeks in Hoboken and NYC, it all screeched to a halt when, about 20 minutes before boarding, Alaska Airlines canceled our EWR-SFO nonstop Chr...

Portico Darwin: Tupper Lake Travel Guide

Tupper Lake is in The Adirondack State Park of New York State, specifically in its famed High Peaks region. It is a superlative amalgam of mountains, forest, lakes, rivers and wildlife, that surround the nice-but-struggling village of Tupper Lake proper. Let me summarize it this way: Julie and I have been fortunate enough to travel to ...

Portico Darwin: Metro NYC Travel Guide

OVERVIEW Alright - this is another doozy but it provides new perspective, or at least I hope it does. That's because I am now mostly convinced - barring a short trip and/or having big dollars and wanting to splurge - that the smart people stay in Hoboken, vs. Manhattan proper, on a trip here. There are exceptions - it's not convenient ...

Portico Darwin: An Atheist's Christmas

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS A proud atheist, in fact. But - and let me be clear - I really don't care what you believe or don't believe. Are you fair? Honest? Grateful? Curious? Fun? Productive? GOOD ENOUGH! Please continue with your patronage of your synagogue, church, mosque or whatever it might be. I am 100% on board with anything that makes ...

Portico Darwin: Seamus Colonnity Buy Himself Some Trump NFTs

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Editor's Note: Seamus Colonnity is an occasional visitor here, borrowed from Christopher Buckley's hysterical "Make Russia Great Again: A Novel". Imagine a less intellectual Sean Hannity, and you're getting close. If you need a visual image of the mighty Seamus, here is a good start. Here, the proudly ultra-MAGA Colon...

Portico Darwin: It Was St. Patrick's Day

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS What a weekend. Once the rain stopped late Friday, it was Chamber of Commerce weather combined with Textbook or better everything else. Not sure I could swing the cold or heat or chaos, but there is nothing quite like New York City (and Hoboken), especially now. This was yesterday. Still, many (OK, actually none) have...

Portico Darwin: Ferries and Fairies

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS As you'll see in the upcoming Metro NYC Travel Guide, after walking, the mode of transportation of choice around here, at least for this sailor, is the ferry. So, in a mercifully short post for your Friday, I deem the ferries here in Metro NY as magical and will briefly explain why that's so. First, they're magical. L...

Portico Darwin: Outside Tables and Downside Service

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS What better place from which to pass pretentious and privileged judgement on the entire American restaurant scene than New York City? Because I think we've all experienced, in every location large and small, the overall drop in the quality of service at restaurants. And something happened here this past weekend that h...

Portico Darwin: Prime Polluters

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I should be up front about this: Hoboken, my home until Christmas day, is a veritable adult f'ing Disneyland for someone like me - maybe you, too. Bars. Restaurants. Wine boutiques. Bodegas. Delis. Bagels. JFC there's even a German biergarten a few blocks away with . . . Weissβier! Oh, and there's this place called Ma...

Portico Darwin: Arrive Hoboken + Hall of Joke

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Yeah, baby. A not-too-awful flight in steerage across our big country and we're now wonderfully ensconced in an undisclosed location in happening Hoboken. Pro Tip: I like the Oneworld alliance, of which American and Alaska Airlines are a part. We're flying Alaska both ways, but our American Admiral's Club membership g...

Portico Darwin: Another Plane from Fantasy Island

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS China's problems have gotten so bad, I felt I needed to call in my heavy hitters. So in a twist, it's Mr. Roarke and Tattoo that step out of da plane; once off, they jump in to an electric Waymo that awaits. Without a word or a driver, the car transports them to a discreet resort, high in one of the world's most treas...

Portico Darwin: Leave The Writing To Us?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy Monday and let's turn our attention to the gee-whiz world of AI - artificial intelligence - and take a look at a tool that uses it in a way that I find quite disturbing. At least as someone that loves to write the old-fashioned way. You know, with my own brain and emotions. The tool is called Lex, and via its cl...

Portico Darwin: The One About The Kinks & Generation Gaps

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today - shocker - I will reflect back on a part of my life about which I'd like to brag. But it's also kind of fun and a generational story. too. It is also 100% KLUF. It's about when I saw Ray Davies of The Kinks, in London, while I was working there in 1998. Indeed, future blog posts may recount further highlights o...

Portico Darwin: Watch the Watch

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I guess some would call me materialistic. Alright, everyone would, but that's OK, because I know I try to temper that with appreciation and gratitude. Seriously. And there's nothing I own for which I have more appreciation or gratitude than an Omega watch that I inherited from my late father, Bill. It is a 1971 Seamas...

Portico Darwin: Conic Boom

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I trust you had a great holiday weekend. Thanksgiving is easily one of the best times of the year in America, and nowhere more so than here in SF - the peace and quiet are wonderful. In between the wanton piss-ups. But now, we must go back to reality. Because the FTX meltdown is something. It's like Enron or WorldCom,...

Portico Darwin: 2022 Darwin Award Nominees!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS First, a belated Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you had as much fun as we did. But it's also another time of the year, one you've no doubt been eagerly anticipating. Delusions of grandeur! Fake awards for real things! Yes, it's time for the nominees for the 2022 Portico Darwin Awards! Let's take a look at this year's cate...

Portico Darwin: Just a Second

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Let's go into Thanksgiving with the right mindset. I heard this not too long ago and it really puts the whole wealth and greed thing into a new frame of reference. Call me a simpleton raised near a meat packing plant, but a million dollars still seems like a decent amount of money to me. Yet, I observe aghast as 1BR/1...

Portico Darwin: New News

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy Thanksgiving Week Monday, made extra special this year by The World Cup occurring simultaneously. Sportswashed or not, and even without beer, it is an amazing exhibition of sport on the grandest scale. But here, away from the desert and certainly not without beer, I'll say that, if Keith Raniere hadn't ruined th...

Portico Darwin: The Worst Cars

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS You know, I got a lot of push back on the elite nature of my recent post on electric cars. OK, I actually got zero push back, but I need something to justify this list. Because today, I give you the worst cars that I am aware of. I'm talking the real f'ing dogs of the automotive world. I share my own run-in with a bad...

Portico Darwin: Sportswashing, Qatar Style

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I have wanted to write something more about sportswashing for a while. I've touched on LIV Golf before, and that's certainly one example of an awful country (Saudi Arabia) attempting to freshen its tainted reputation via sports. But there's also the sportswashing facilitated by the Olympics and Formula 1; both have be...

Portico Darwin: Now, a Poem

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Recently, I've doubled down on gratitude, cut my news and social media intake, and tried to tame my anxiety. And to make it worse, I've written about it here. Yet, when you thought I couldn't get any more goofy, today, to start your week, I give you a poem. Actually, it's a poem my wife gave me at a low point a few ye...

Portico Darwin: SF is The Best! SF is The Worst!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy Friday. Re: the mid-term elections. My major reduction in news intake and social media means I have little to say that hasn't likely already been said by the pundits I'm no longer reading. You're so very welcome. I will make one comment (shocker) though. Remember that most anything Trump touches, he ruins. Maybe...

Portico Darwin: Music, The Origin Story

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I will defer commenting on the mid-term elections until after the dust settles. Plus, after Monday's Debbie Downer of a blog, we need to lighten it up. And what the heck could be lighter than me providing - with cover art and links to the music - the first 3 albums I ever owned? These records were the beginning of wha...

Portico Darwin: Like Taxes

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS OK - I am sorry to start the week with such a dark subject. But as you know, I occasionally share things in their entirety that I find unusually profound and/or informative. Sometimes even challenging things. I'm doing that today, but jeez, please do NOT read anything tragic or awful in to this. I am fine, as is Julie...

Portico Darwin: Diamond Certified Electric Cars

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS A while back, I advocated an electric future, powered by - yes - nuclear power. And we need that, in large part, because of our reliance on dinosaur ruins for, oh, I don't know, forever? Cars, anyone? While I will always wish we hadn't built our world around cars, the fact is, we did, and cars are here to stay for the...

Portico Darwin: The One About Bowling

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS OK, I know. A post about bowling, bowling shows, famous bowlers and bowling alleys seems a little extreme. Well, I like to live life on the edge. And is there anything edgier than bowling? What drove today's ridiculous topic was this, an article from not too long ago saying that the last bowling alley in my hometown o...

Portico Darwin: The Musk of Trump Hammers Pelosi

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS At least in part, you can blame the East Bay hipster Kevin Monza for this. Today's post was to be a really fun one on bowling; but that will have to wait. My apologies. Because on Friday, Mr. Monza pretty much demanded a comment of some sort on the crazy-town attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of U.S. Representative a...

Portico Darwin: What Retired People Do

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS One question I'm asked often (especially on Fridays) is "What is the meaning of life, Portico Darwin?" Actually, no one ever asks me that. Instead, it's more like "How do you fill all of those lonely, empty hours in retirement?" Or, if it's someone pleasant: "Where do you get the super cool old photos you use in the b...

Portico Darwin: Office Buildings Are The New Pyramids

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Disclaimer: what follows was greatly influenced by thisIn Plain English podcast, and specifically, the research done by the guest on that episode, Nicholas Bloom. A lot of what I say below is backed up by the cold, hard research done by Bloom and his fellow brainiacs. Their stuff is at WFH Research. With that out of t...

Portico Darwin: Where Oil Comes From Sucks

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy Monday and am I the only one pissed at Saudi Arabia? First, we've put up with their anti-Semitic and misogynistic bullshit - forever. Then, there was their involvement in that little ol' thing we call 9/11. A bit later came MBS and his penchant for killing those that protest him . . . killing those that protest ...

Portico Darwin: What Clinical OCD Looks Like

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS My recent post on my life as told via Esquire covers may have struck you as a bit strange. Today's is worse. Or at least obsessive and probably also compulsive. But at least it might give you something to do this weekend, apart from reading books. And perhaps some will see the method in my madness. In fact, you probab...

Portico Darwin: What Price Diamond Certification?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Is this a rant about inflation? I don't think so. Complaints from a dinosaur? Maybe, but this impacts young and old alike. Because today is about how a lot of things I (probably you, too, if you're reading this) enjoy have gotten much more expensive, in some cases prohibitively so. OK, I can hear it now: "Cry me a riv...

Portico Darwin: More Dr. Phil (Darwin)

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy Monday. Let me start your week with a suggestion, in case you're still deciding what to do this Fall. You're welcome, and with that out of the way . . . I was humbled (it's true) by the feedback I got regarding my post on gratitude, and the story behind it. That blog, the one about lowering my news and social me...

Portico Darwin: Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy Friday. If you don't care about sports, you can safely blow off TODAY'S RAMBLINGS. But don't miss FROM THE UNWASHED MASSES or KLUF. My Giants finished in a .500 shade of gray, after 107 wins last year. Our beloved - and champion - Warriors are in turmoil. Yet - despite it all - we still have it very good here in...

Portico Darwin: My Esquire Covers!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS This is the first in a series of pointless - and I mean really f'ing pointless - posts. Pointless? Well, upcoming editions will be about the 13 most recent albums by a band few know of, and another, a complete list of the fake names that I've used in this blog since its inception. See what I mean? They are harmless di...

Portico Darwin: Yes Nukes!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy Monday. Long-time readers know that I 1) occasionally simply repeat an article or podcast from somebody smarter than I, on a subject in which I am (and hope you will be) interested, and 2) love the Freakonomics podcast. Well, what do you know? Today I'm combining the two and pushing a subject whose time I think ...

Portico Darwin: Get Off My Vineyard

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today's blog about wine tasting might be corked. You'll see. But you do have to first skim this PDF. It is a very useful list of what our local paper, The San Francisco Chronicle, deems "the most beautiful wineries in Napa and Sonoma". Wow - those are some bold words. But: the fact is, The Chronicle has always had a r...

Portico Darwin: No (Less) News is Good News

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I am going to run with a complement - backhanded as it may have been - from the senior media critic Max "Madras" Ryder. In response to my recent tongue-in-cheek (but only kind of) essay about our travails in first class on a EuroCity train, Max was nothing but sweetness. “Oh, you don’t realize how amusing that little ...

Portico Darwin: October 2 and Gratitude

Today's post is different. First and foremost, that is because I leave tomorrow for Boulder to attend a memorial for Scott Edwards, to be held this Sunday, October 2. There will be no post on Monday for that reason. A coincidence, but October 2 has taken on some significance for me in recent years. On October 2, 2019, I left TEECOM. On...

Portico Darwin: The One Where I Actually Complain About European T...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS WARNING: TODAY'S RAMBLINGS are nothing but a first-world whine. I hope you like it! As I referenced in arecent Travel Guide, there are few things about which I am more passionate than trains. Passenger trains. Especially, big, beautiful high-speed passenger trains, like the kind we're building all over the US as we sp...

Portico Darwin: Say Hey

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy Monday. Here is some help for setting the right tone for the week. And beyond. One of the books I read whilst away on vacation was "24", which is subtitled "Life Stories and Lessons from The Say Hey Kid". For you non-sports fans out there, it is a kinda biography of the best baseball player of all time, Willie M...

Portico Darwin: Carnac and I Are Back

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Yeah, yeah, I know: Portico, we thought you were going dark for 3 weeks, yet you rubbed our noses in your vacation glory. My apologies, but I'm hopeful you found the information useful. I will tell you we loved discovering Lake Garda and especially Hotel Val di Sogno, as well as really enjoying Innsbruck. And have I m...

Portico Darwin: Innsbruck Travel Guide

(Editor's Note: by now, I hope you know the drill. There are a lot of photos, so if you have any trouble, you can view the post in a browser here.) OVERVIEW This borders on being just a Micro Travel Guide, as we were here for only a short time. But we were impressed enough by Innsbruck that I felt it deserves some attention. This is no...

Portico Darwin: Dolomites Travel Guide

(Editor's Note: again, this one has a lot of photos - it had to. So if it's slow to load on your device or if it seems like some pictures are missing, you may wish to read this post here.) OVERVIEW If you read this blog, you know I have several happy places. Places where even an obsessive like me can let go, and not grind and grind and...

Portico Darwin: Lake Garda Travel Guide

(Editor's note: there are a ton of photos in this one. You might wish to read this here if it's slow to load and/or if it seems like some photos are missing). OVERVIEW Let me be clear right up front: I have no idea what the hell Lake Como is like, but I don't know how in the world it could be more absolutely stunning than Lake Garda, i...

Portico Darwin: Milan Travel Guide

(Editor's Note: I know I promised peace and quiet, but why hold back these treasure troves of valuable information?) OVERVIEW For years, I've never heard all that many great things about Milan, Italy. Sure, it's the fashion and financial capital of Italy, but its reputation is one of gritty urbanity, not of urban splendor. The reputati...

Portico Darwin: Enjoy The Peace + My Predicitions

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS My heart remains heavy, over the loss of Scott Edwards. Thanks to all of you that reached out. Life must go on, but this is an odd day, for sure. (Odd transition, too.) Because later today, Julie and I leave for a nearly 3 week trip to Europe. We're visiting Milan (our inbound gateway) for 3 nights, Lake Garda for 5 n...

Portico Darwin: A Terrible Loss

There is no regular blog today. Yesterday, I received word that Scott Edwards died of a sudden heart attack, at home late Monday night. He was 63. After my own parents and wife, Scott had the biggest impact on me of anyone in my life, which is why I am sharing this here. Our relationship dates to the summer of 1985, when I went to work...

Portico Darwin: Waking Up On a Monday

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS OMG, is there a worse thing today than to be called "woke"? "The woke radical left is coming for your guns and want your children to hate themselves!" And then I saw this online, and I knew a post was going to be necessary. The problem, at least to this older white man of privilege, is that woke simply used be a form ...

Portico Darwin: Loan Sharks

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Like clockwork, out came the Republicans bitching about Papa Joe forgiving $10,000 ($20,000 for Pell Grant recipients) in student loan debt, for middle and lower income people. Shocker, I know. But also a shocker, they are completely wrong. And for a change, I have standing to say so. Here's the story. You see, by the...

Portico Darwin: Maybe a Civil War Would Be OK

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS OK, I've had enough. I am ready to fight for the real America. In the streets, if necessary. This guy and every single other fucking white Christian nationalist can kiss my radical liberal commie pinko San Francisco ass. The photo above was taken recently at the Kentucky State Fair. In today's Republican party, this g...

Portico Darwin: Nicki Vale Goes on Holiday

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS (Editor's Note: this is not an official Portico Darwin Travel Guide, as I must actually do the trip. But this one looks pretty f'ing good.) Our niece, the blossoming marcom empress Nicki Vale of Denver, is heading out for quite an adventure. As she was kind enough to share her plans with me, I thought I'd share them w...

Portico Darwin: Giant Champions

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS This one might not mean much to a lot of you. As I say, you can always start writing your own blog, or go read a book. But if you like baseball, especially of the San Francisco Giants variety, this might bring a smile to your face. The recent anniversary of my 2012 Giants winning their second of three World Series cha...

Portico Darwin: My Man, Barack Hussein Obama

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I think for many, the real heartbreak over Trump being President and all that's come with that is not just what a complete slimeball of a person he is. Or that it may take us decades to recover from the damage he's wreaked. No, the heartbreak is because I thought we had really turned a corner as a nation in 2008, when...

Portico Darwin: Arrive SF and A Taste of The Future

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS My Oceanside inspection complete, I winged it home yesterday. I would be remiss if I didn't thank my Killer hosts: suffice to say, you passed my rather stringent inspection with flying colors. And you're both so nice to invite me to come down each and every month from now on! And speaking of travel: now is the time I ...

Portico Darwin: Arrive Oceanside and Are Republicans Even American...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Yesterday afternoon, I winged it to the SoCal suburban paradise of Andy and Libby Jones. Their little tyke Dean Andrew Jones, Jr. is coming up on his first birthday, so I hand-delivered a gift, and then proceeded to inspect the new pergola that Andy has gone on and on about. Indeed, everything is wonderful, including ...

Portico Darwin: This Is How I Feel About Joe Biden

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I frequently complain about a lack of nuance in our public discourse. Here is an example of how two things can be true at once: I mostly love and am proud of what President Biden has accomplished, yet he needs to be a one-term president. Here is some nuanced thinking, from me, as well as another concerned citizen, on ...

Portico Darwin: The F Around & Find Out Special Edition

This is the FBI entering the South Florida mansion of Al Capone. It popped into my mind yesterday for some reason. Tomorrow, I will be balanced. Today, I bask in an American rebirth, and our greatness. We remain a country of laws. I believe Trump is headed for what he deserves: total and utter disgrace. I will further predict history w...

Portico Darwin: Historically Good, Volume II

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It would be hard to calculate, but I am not sure there's a place where I've ever spent more time in my life than in The Presidio, a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, here in SF. Because since 2014, I've walked 5 miles most every day somewhere in its 1,500 acres of splendor. And before that, Julie and I...

Portico Darwin: Historically Good

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Last Friday, it was a history of concerts - at least my own. Today, I'm going to share some different history, yet keep the focus on my favorite subject: myself (shocker). Because I've found some great historical photos of my beloved SF, and specifically, our own neighborhood here, The Marina District. Sounds exciting...

Portico Darwin: Is It Just Me?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS RIP Vin Sculley. Almost as legendary as Bill Russell. An American Treasure. OK: I look back on the World Trade Center being knocked down on 9/11 as a pretty bad day in American history. A subject that should be respected with the utmost gravity. I also feel the death of a loved one is a serious matter, and likewise, o...

Portico Darwin: The New Beyonce' Album Sucks

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS RIP Bill Russell, amongst the greatest athletic champions, and people, in history. There, I said it, right there in the subject line. I find it funny that anything Beyonce' puts out is automatically considered a monumental achievement in the recording arts. That is fucking bullshit. Yet, I can hear it now. "Oh, the ly...

Portico Darwin: IT'S ALIVE - Volume II

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS (Editor's Note: this is easily the most graphic-intensive post I've made to date. Because of that, it might take a moment or two for all of the photos to load on your device - my apologies for any problems.) Of many, having the time to take on (self-absorbed) hobby-like projects is a big perk of being retired (or in h...

Portico Darwin: Reality Bites

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Sure, it's been fun focusing on what I wear at home, but I return us now to the real world. As you know, one of my biggest gripes with the Republican party is that they don't offer much in the way of policy proposals, but instead seek and retain power via division, gerrymandering, and name-calling. Lately, however, it...

Portico Darwin: GQ Edition

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS "Oh, Portico - your recent blog posts have been so heavy. So political. Can we turn down the doom and have something fluffy and fun?" No problem. But you asked for it. As you may know already, I've pretty much shelved my quest for relevance and have really leaned in to retirement. (OMFG, I LOATHE the term "lean in", b...

Portico Darwin: 187 Minutes And Some Want More?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Do you know how long 187 minutes is? Yes, a bit more than 3 hours, but it is also the amount of time that then-President Donald Trump did absolutely nothing on January 6, 2021. While our Capitol and elected officials and his own VP were under attack, Trump did not call anyone on his National Security team. You know, l...

Portico Darwin: Special Wake-Up Call Edition For Democrats

Tonight's January 6th Committee hearing may be yet another nail in the coffin for Trump and his enablers. Until then, I came across a couple of items that I think merit your special attention. They provide some balance and perspective, something welcome as the drumbeat for Trump being jailed continues. First, here is the cover and lead...

Portico Darwin: I've Been Grinding On The Railroads

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It's been a while, so how about a trip around the world to see how other countries are doing on major infrastructure projects? First, let's visit Asia and see what our Chinese friends are up to. Hint: 400 MPH trains is what they're up to. China Just Unveiled the World’s Fastest Train That means a trip from downtown Ch...

Portico Darwin: SF Gets . . . Better?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Homeless? Everywhere. Car window smash-and-grabs? Naturally. Open-air drug markets? Of course. Yes, my beloved SF has it all. And, it's really expensive! In all seriousness, despite its flaws - and those are only some of them - SF is amongst the best cities in the world. And when you take into account its proximity to...

Portico Darwin: The Hustling Clough(s)

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS If you spend any time around me - any time at all - it won't be long before I start going on (and on) about Casa Integration, a company I started from scratch in late 2001. Suffice to say I take a lot of pride in what I accomplished, including winning over and successfully selling to rich people. And I don't mean just...

Portico Darwin: Jumping The Shark

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Perhaps the older among you will remember when Fonzie went water skiing on "Happy Days" and jumped over a shark? That is where the term "Jumped the Shark" originated: it is the point where something or someone goes too far. I think many today have jumped the shark. We've done so by forgetting how much of what we take ...

Portico Darwin: Memories Monday

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS My recent recent (very) political posts garnered very little reaction. OK, zero reaction. As I always say, I really don't care: I write this blog because I love writing. And I honestly enjoy putting my near-infinite opinions and thoughts out there. You're so very welcome. But still, I know I've been pretty heavy recen...

Portico Darwin: Dollars and Sense

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Breaking Opinion About Breaking News: how long will it take after the assassination of Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe for a gun cheerleader in America to say "See? They have the strictest gun laws in the world in Japan, and yet this still happened. More guns!" For the record, Japan has about 126 million peop...

Portico Darwin: 20 Questions

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Wow. It seems like it was only a couple of weeks ago we had a mass shooting that shocked the nation. Oh. Why can't we do better? On guns or anything? Ask yourself the following questions, and consider which of our two major parties is best aligned with your own beliefs. Seriously. I will publish, without any comment o...

Portico Darwin: Tom Hansen Would Not Have Done This

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Even when I want to keep it light for a holiday, it's difficult. Even the diversionary world of sports brings another sign of what seems our irreversible decline as a nation. Because USC and UCLA are leaving the Pac 12 conference, for the Big 10. Bogus doesn't begin to describe it. What, may you ask, would drive these...

Portico Darwin: From Russia With Love

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy weekend. I guess I should say happy 4th of July weekend, but I'm just not in the mood, at least not yet. To wit: an illegitimate and corrupted Supreme Court gutting our country, now including our efforts to tackle the only problem that really matters, climate change. One-half of our political system completely o...

Portico Darwin: Our Butterfield Moment

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Do any of you old cranks out there remember the name Alexander Butterfield? He was Cassidy Hutchinson before there was a Cassidy Hutchinson. On July 13, 1973, he revealed to a congressional committee the existence of the taping system in then-President Richard Nixon's criminal lair, A.K.A. the Oval Office. That was th...

Portico Darwin: Courting Disaster

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS You know, at least for today, it is America that needs support. In addition to Ukraine. That is because the highest court in our country, The Supreme Court, has been compromised. We now have to face the likely reality of a biased, partisan referee - for decades. The court's radical right wing is the direct result of: ...

Portico Darwin: Daryl and Daryl

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS We all can use a break. A break from my nearly constant political drum banging here. A break from the bottomless font of shitty news (Supreme Court: more guns are what we need! Matt Gaetz: a lifetime pardon is what I need!). So a content-free blog post is clearly in order. And it's a short post, so there's that, too. ...

Portico Darwin: Honor, Code, Loyalty

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS This will be a short-ish blog post, because I am mostly in a state of shock having watched yesterday the highlights of the 4th hearing by the January 6 Committee. Shock again that our country came THIS close to a successful coup. And in a state of shock over people like "Senator" Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Because it a...

Portico Darwin: Your Recession Guide!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It was quite a weekend. After sending the lovely artist Jennifer Michaels and her studly beau - let's call him Doctor Hope - on their way after a great Thursday night visit, we moved on to Andre Aurich's 65th birthday party, held in Tiburon on Saturday. It can be rough there - I almost got hit by 6 different Range Rov...

Portico Darwin: Special Father's Day Edition

I am thinking of the new fathers out there, specifically, Andy Jones in San Diego and Alden Michaels in Steamboat Springs. Enjoy yourselves - like my own father is here. Happy Father's Day, Andy and Alden. But also to Cardi A, Gunther Strobel, Bulleit Bob, Charles Clough, Foster Shula, Ned "Upstate" Darwin, Harrison Heinz (50th anniver...

Portico Darwin: Yep - Another List

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Ukraine: I'm glad we're sending more weapons and money. We can't give up on them now. Like Trump's, Putin's actions must never happen again. I've created a large number of worthless lists for use here in this newsletter. But this? This could be my all-time least-useful. I don't care, because I find it interesting. Plu...

Portico Darwin: The Plane From Fantasy Island

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS This is from my forthcoming children's book entitled Li'l Dean Goes to Washington. It is set in the very near future. “Dean was just a wee lad when his parents first took him to Washington D.C. for the summer of 2022, yet he was still old enough to be wowed by the splendor. And as he had been reading for a few years n...

Portico Darwin: If It's On The Interwebs . . .

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS . . . than it must be true. Nothing less than Trump and his fellow traitors in leg irons will satisfy me. Oh - and there's this little tidbit. One can easily forget the appalling irony that the entire seditionary conspiracy was predicated on the lie that Democrats were doing what some Republicans actually WERE doing! ...

Portico Darwin: It Was Jack Welch

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Elephant in Room I have expressed myself many times regarding January 6: Trump and his fellow seditionists should be jailed, at a minimum, and immediately. The evidence is already overwhelming, and that includes on people like the traitor Ginni Thomas. The Republicans must come to their senses RIGHT NOW and help us re...

Portico Darwin: Del Boca F'ing Vista, Baby

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Thank you in advance for indulging me today. But, OK - I think this is it? October 2, 2019: Leave TEECOM November 2019 - March 13, 2020: 350+ Resumes sent; 1 job offer from LMG rejected (too much driving) March 2020 -> : Global COVID19 Pandemic October 2, 2020: Finish 2nd for dream job with The Presidio Trust October ...

Portico Darwin: Cliches and You

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It has been over 100 days now since Russia invaded Ukraine. This is a terrible transition. My apologies. I am trying to be more positive. Because recently, David Brooks published a column in The New York Times where he compiled some famous tips for good living, from a variety of sources. He also added a few of his own...

Portico Darwin: The REAL Platform is Two Amendments

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Over the years, one of my many daft fantasies has been to start a political party. While I like my Oz friend Damon Hemingway's idea for a name - The Party Party - I came up with The REAL Party a long time ago, and I'm sticking with it. "REAL" is an acronym for: • Rational • Ethical • Actual • Leadership I think anyone...

Portico Darwin: Tippy Top?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Let me be clear, until this past Memorial Day, I had never even seen the original. While I consider Tom Cruise one of America's biggest movie stars (and a fine actor, to boot), I am not a big action movie nor homoerotic guy, so I had made it to 58+ and had somehow missed the glory that is 1986's "Top Gun". But I recti...

Portico Darwin: Another New Pair of Headphones (!)

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS If you pay careful attention to this blog, you know I have a penchant for high-quality headphones. In fact, there's a complete summary of everything I own (at least until just a couple of days ago) right here. There are some real winners on that list, and there's something for everyone, at all price points. My love of...

Portico Darwin: A Parade in Wokistan . . .

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I am really at a loss. I do not just want to move on from Uvalde. But I have offered my proposal for rational gun control before. You can read it here. But please: do not assume me moving to a different topic as any sign this issue is in my - or our country's - rear-view mirror. The fever obsession with the Second Ame...

Portico Darwin: Yawn

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Ho hum. Another mass shooting, and this time, 19 school children and 2 teachers were murdered in cold blood. First black shoppers in Buffalo, and now Hispanic kids in Uvalde, Texas. I lay this directly at the (surely hideous) feet of Donald Trump. It is his normalizing of cruelty and racism that has led us to yet anot...

Portico Darwin: Chesa Chess Game

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS The blog is back. Everyone can now resume their normal lives. My time away brought me to a number of locales, including Chicago, Tupper Lake, and my glorious hometown of Albany. Huge thanks to Steven Simon and his rock star wife, the gorgeous Stacey Moen Simon, for our two nights in Chicago at their Diamond Certified ...

Portico Darwin: Very Remote

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS In a development sure to be welcomed by many, I am taking a short break from publishing this blog. I will be back, tan, rested and ready, on Monday, May 23. While I'm on hiatus, I hope you'll take the time to consider the future of work. (Oh, the irony!) Or more precisely, where knowledge workers, creatives, etc. will...

Portico Darwin: Go Out & Shop!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS First, in honor of yesterday being Mother's Day, I hope you'll check in on the red tail hawk nest in The Presidio. The chicks get bigger every day, and what a privilege it is to witness these amazing animals in nature. Next: when the going gets tough (like now), a good American goes shopping! So, in light of my last t...

Portico Darwin: Woke vs. Wokistan vs. Fox News/MAGA/Trump Enablers

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Why do some (OK, Republicans) say the biggest problem in America is the progress we've made? Or, as some have decided to call it: being "woke"? But what does woke mean? As recently as 5 years ago, a mentee (now a friend) called me that as a compliment, after I said something like "Until one acknowledges the harm thing...

Portico Darwin: Roe v. Wade

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Well, I had a typically wonderful blog all ready to roll for today - there was even a chart! You'll have to wait until Friday. Because, as I'm sure you've heard, the US Supreme Court looks poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, which has stood on the books for nearly 50 years. Shocker, but I have opinions of my own on the ma...

Portico Darwin: Very Goofy

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS This whole go-after-Disney thing in Florida is bat-shit crazy - even by Florida standards. Here's why, in just two data points: 1. Corporations (rightly or wrongly) are treated as individuals in the US 2. As such, they are entitled to freedom of speech and freedom of expression Those items are not debatable. Therefore...

Portico Darwin: Building Blocks

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Two consecutive blogs with no politics or get off my lawn rants? Yes, it's true. You're welcome. Today, I will tell a fun, small-world story. If you ever take the several hours/days/weeks it takes to read my thrilling monograph about entrepreneurship, you'll learn that a big accelerant in my career trajectory was the ...

Portico Darwin: In Praise of The Station Wagon

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I often fret about being too political here too often, and also, unintentionally fomenting (among my thousands of readers) the division in the US that I want so very much to end. But it comes from caring and frankly, just not understanding what is happening around me. Mea culpa, but what to do? I know: how about a min...

Portico Darwin: How Low?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS (Editor's Note: from now until the end of the war, each blog post will lead with the Ukrainian flag, a reminder that there is an active war in Europe, due to an unprovoked, unwarranted and inhuman attack by Russia. Russia must stop the war crimes and withdraw immediately. Putin should be tried in The Hague and execute...

Portico Darwin: On Masculinity, Toxic and Otherwise

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Where they cook up this shit, I don't know, but I've been giggling incessantly - like a little girl - ever since some leading Republican voices have decided that a MAJOR problem in America is that well, men just can't be men any longer. Masculinity is under attack! And you were worried about Ukraine? There was Josh Ha...

Portico Darwin: Behind The Lines

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS In my never-ending quest for relevance in retirement, I'm always looking for ways to channel my energy in to something positive. This blog and porticodarwin.com are one example. I also virtue signal via my volunteer efforts: I am currently with Veterans Launching Ventures. And I walk 5 miles in The Presidio just about...

Portico Darwin: City Boy

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS MAJOR NEWS FLASH: The red tail hawk chicks have hatched!!! If you watch the live stream for any period of time, you'll see the little guys! And if you really want to get emotional, not to mention completely blown away, watch this 8 minute clip of one hatching, while the other is being fed. We now return you to our reg...

Portico Darwin: Friday Grab Bag

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It's So Gay Longtime readers will know I occasionally shut up (shocker - for real) and turn the controls over to someone much smarter than I. And in this case, much more conservative. Here is a great essay by Ross Douthat on the current LGBT hubbub. Here is a link to a PDF if you hit a paywall. This is a superb summar...

Portico Darwin: Being Right vs. Being Effective

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today is an aspirational post, and it's personal. But at least it's pretty long! Ever since my departure from TEECOM, I've been working on a few things: • Getting over my departure from TEECOM (!) • Staying relevant in retirement • Letting go of family baggage • Reducing my political and social pontificating, at least...

Portico Darwin: Oceanside Micro Travel Guide

OVERVIEW With this, I am starting a new Travel Guide flavor, the Micro Travel Guide. These will cover shorter, less dramatic trips - yet ones that are still worthy of a serious mention, and also a place you might just want to check out. Like Oceanside, CA. Our visit was personal in nature - that being, meeting the new son of some close...

Portico Darwin: Depart Oceanside + Today's Rant About Republicans

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I'll be publishing a micro Travel Guide for Oceanside soon. Until then, you've got to see the baby! If you've read this blog even once or twice, you know that I have concerns (OK, grave concerns) about our future. There's the climate crisis. Wealth inequality. Justice inequality. Inflation. Education. Our woeful infra...

Portico Darwin: Arrive Oceanside + Greed Is Not Good

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS This (kind of) just in: major congrats to Ketanji Brown Jackson for her appointment to the Supreme Court. Shame on the 47 Republican Senators who did not vote for this eminently qualified individual; what a disgrace and history will not forget their unjustified disrespect. A friendly reminder that Antonin Scalia was c...

Portico Darwin: Born, Not Groomed

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS As I get my feet back on the ground here in SF, today's post is short (OK, for me) but not on a sweet subject. I lament the signing by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last week of the infamous "Don't Say Gay" bill. The bill prohibits teachers from discussing the sexuality or gender identity of children before the 4th gr...

Portico Darwin: Depart Tupper Lake + Almost 2 Years On . . .

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS In a mountain getaway made unusual by both a touch o' the virus and also the surprise guest appearance of the Manor's namesake, I wrapped it with a great weekend, including a sweet visit to Lake Placid yesterday for lunch. Thank you to Dr. Shelly Murphy for opening up the Manor to me, and what a blast being able to ha...

Portico Darwin: Friday Grab Bag

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Now fully recovered from my time with our friend COVID-19, I give you some random thoughts that came to mind during my quarantine this week in the High Peaks of The Adirondacks. COVID-19 and Me My bout with the virus was not too bad. In fact, if you're going to come down with COVID-19, I encourage you to do it while i...

Portico Darwin: It's Just Steven and Me Now

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Shocker, but being here on the East Coast makes me nostalgic. But having COVID-19 and being quarantined at Murphy Manor all this week has given me some extra time to go on and on even more than normal! I mean like holy shit on and on. Here, in a blog post nobody (and I mean nobody) is asking for, is the story of the b...

Portico Darwin: Taylor Hawkins, 1972 - 2022

No humor this morning. I, as were many, was shocked to hear of the death of Taylor Hawkins, drummer for Foo Fighters. What a tremendous loss. The outpouring of grief from many quarters tells you all you need to know about him. Foo Fighters have, since their beginning as Dave Grohl's solo project in the wake of another, earlier, tragedy...

Portico Darwin: If I Could Turn Back Time

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Sure, many would expect carefree blog posts, what with me visiting the High Peaks of The Adirondack Mountains for the next 11 days. Sorry to disappoint you, but you may be able to relate. Because more and more, I am hearing my closest friends say this or something similar: stop the world I want to get off. I certainly...

Portico Darwin: Arrival Tupper Lake + Supreme Beings

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS (Editor's Note: Better late than never). OMFG the ties are really non-existent now (especially with Jay Howling going full-on cult, but more on that in a later post), but I'll be damned if I don't always enjoy blowing in to my hometown of Albany, New York. I always do the same things - drive by the house in which I gr...

Portico Darwin: Sunshine and Rainbows

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS In this grim (but miraculously mostly unified) world, let's look at how the catastrophe in Ukraine could end positively. While the horrific slaughter of Ukrainian civilians can never be corrected or forgotten, this could all end OK - hear me out. As I've said once or twice before, you've got to dream it before you can...

Portico Darwin: How to Help Ukraine Directly

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS No clever post today. Instead, I am asking anyone that is reading this to send whatever they can to Ukraine. As is nearly everyone, I continue to be extremely impressed by the leadership we've seen from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. His speech to Congress on Wednesday was powerful, as is his country's amazi...

Portico Darwin: Polar Ice Caps

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It was just a short two years ago today (exactly) that I heard Mayor London Breed on my car's radio, ordering all businesses to close immediately, due to this new thing called Covid-19. At the time, I was literally pulling in to Joe's of Westlake for a daytime piss-up with fellow retiree Arthur. I remember being turne...

Portico Darwin: Cuts to The Chase

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS To welcome you to Monday, I will shock you with now two consecutive non-political, non-old man whining posts. Last Friday, it was USB charging nirvana, and today, I will share with you my first experience Saturday at SF's spectacular Chase Center. I was the guest of the very kind Andre Aurich at the Golden State Warri...

Portico Darwin: It's Been a Year (+ a Week)

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS (Editor's Note: yes, I am aware there is a war taking place, an awful war. I'm sure I'll write more about it and I mean no disrespect to the entire situation by the trivial subject matter today or at any time in the future. What a fucking disaster for the Ukrainians and the world.) To those of you that imagine my self...

Portico Darwin: Seamus Colonnity Drops By

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today, I will try to divert our attention at least for a few minutes from the all-too-real horrors of Ukraine with a visit from the (thankfully all-too-fake) conservative pundit, Seamus Colonnity. For those not paying close attention to this newsletter, Mr. Colonnity is an occasional visitor here, borrowed from Christ...

Portico Darwin: Texas Trans Step

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS In a switch sure to disappoint many, there will be no proper Travel Guide for our trip to Houston, which ended yesterday with a nice flight home in the big, beautiful Polaris seats United has on their refurbished widebody planes. Because sadly, it would be extremely difficult for anyone to duplicate our experience in ...

Portico Darwin: Arrive Houston + NFTs and Me

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS We flew in for what can only be described as a Texas-sized event, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. It is 28 days, and each day is like a Super Bowl. Do some poking around at their website if you don't believe that. Plus, being in the warm embrace of my cousin Dr. Shelly Murphy (who disguises herself as Kelly J. L...

Portico Darwin: Fun Fun Funston

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Well, it's a wrap. My first and likely only art exhibition was held last night at The Funston House in our beloved Presidio. For a change, I'll be brief and limit my comments to just two things. Gratitude and thanks. The event came off as we had hoped it would. Frankly, it came off far, far better than I had hoped. Th...

Portico Darwin: All The World's a Stage

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS This being the eve of the big Clufff & KLUF art event, I figured many would like a detailed description and critical essay of each of the 82 of Charlie's works we'll be exhibiting. But then Dr. Doreen Downs came over to dinner and I decided to write this instead. Today, I'd like to share - in alphabetical order to tam...

Portico Darwin: Foot in Mouth Disease

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Leave it to me to publish something that could be construed as supportive of Putin the day before he invades Ukraine (!). I want to repeat: his invasion is illegal and wrong, full stop. These are dark days and the tone here reflects that. But . . . I will stand by the point I was trying to make. We expanded NATO right...

Portico Darwin: Red Scare

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I don't believe in the invasion of one sovereign nation by another, and I certainly don't condone the actions of Trump's puppetmaster, Vladimir Putin. I also think this will go down as a large blunder by the Russian dictator, and that he's going to find himself bogged down by both the war and the economic sanctions th...

Portico Darwin: Return to Sender

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today, I will vent on something that's bothered me for years. Before, I didn't have a forum where I could publicly air these sorts of grievances. That's no longer an issue - lucky you. OK - what has bothered me for years? Junk mail. Why does the United States government, A.K.A. you and me, subsidize junk mail? At leas...

Portico Darwin: Oh, Canada?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS The word for today is schadenfreude. As most know, it's a German word that refers to the emotion of taking pleasure in another's misfortune. Like the jolt of joy most will feel when Trump and his family are led away in leg irons. But I digress. Instead, today I am referring to the perverse pleasure I'm getting seeing ...

Portico Darwin: Boom!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS There's been an interesting thread on Twitter, I believe started by my quasi-hero Joe Scarborough, regarding what years "The Baby Boom" generation were born. More precisely, the latter years. For certain, there can be no debate about when the Baby Boom began - it's based upon when our boys came home from World War II ...

Portico Darwin: If The New York Times Says It . . .

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS . . . in this case it is absolutely, positively true. I woke up Saturday, and was greeted by this gift: After Pak and Beeple, What’s Next for NFT Collectors? Art Made With a Paintbrush I mean, like, wow. This is precisely what my cousin, Charles Clough is doing. He is offering real paintings with his NFTs. Here's a li...

Portico Darwin: Gets High On Facebook

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Anyone that knows me and/or reads this blog is likely aware I do not like Facebook, nor its subsidiary tentacles Instagram and WhatsApp. No, that's not right. I just don't like them: I believe they are amongst the most dangerous companies to have ever existed. The damage they've done to the commonwealth is immeasurabl...

Portico Darwin: OK, Boomer!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS My old man-ness knows no bounds. I will prove that, yet again, today. But there's some value-add, too, although in a decidedly niche subject. I came across this photo - it is from early 1978, and was taken as part of the CBS Network's 50th anniversary celebration that year. In case you have a hard time making out the ...

Portico Darwin: If You're Going to Steal . . .

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS . . . steal from the best. I occasionally like to share things I find impactful, from people far smarter than I. Perhaps you can read this and ponder its points this week? Because with the Republicans censuring Kinzinger and Cheney on Friday, something's gotta give. The January 6, 2021 insurrection and attempted coup ...

Portico Darwin: Joe, Whoopi, and Jeff

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today, I'll traverse various areas of the oft-treacherous cancel culture region of the US. Are these proverbial offings specious? I would love to hear your own thoughts on one or all 3 of these situations. Joe Rogan The recent dust-up over Joe Rogan, his misinformation regarding vaccines, the fallout from it, and the ...

Portico Darwin: Just The Facts, Ma'am

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Some (OK, none) were curious as to my new, rather strident attitude, re: the virus. Well, I can tell you exactly what did it. It was the first of these two podcasts, on The New York Times "The Daily". I listened to the first last Friday on my last beach walk in Ormond By The Sea. The second came out on Monday, which i...

Portico Darwin: Travel Guide 2021

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today's post will be mercifully short (you're welcome), but the subject thankfully was not. As some of you know, Julie and I had what can only be described as a crazy-town travel year in '21. We decided we were going to take full advantage of Julie's ability to work remotely and my retirement, and we went nuts. 10 sec...

Portico Darwin: Ormond By The Sea Travel Guide

OVERVIEW You may be asking yourself, "Why?" Or, "Really?" You're wondering if my ego is so large that I'm actually going to trumpet a week in a Mafia stronghold just north of Daytona Beach in Florida? Yes, and while I have no idea about Ormond By The Sea (or Ormond Beach, or Daytona Beach, or Daytona Beach Shores, or New Smyrna Beach) ...

Portico Darwin: Depart Ormond By The Sea + Rocco Pacelli

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Let me begin by poking at the hypocrite police out there. I'd love for you to read and then fall all over yourself about my LinkedIn post yesterday. Commercial over. For a few minutes, at least. It's been a nicely chill week here, in more ways than one. The weather, except for a glorious Sunday and Monday, has been co...

Portico Darwin: Robert Conrad and Me

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It's been interesting to participate, albeit in a tiny, tiny way, in a Gold Rush in the Wild West. It is 1849 all over again here in early 2022 in the NFT world. Based on what I've observed thus far, it's the same, but different. It's not decentralized. At the core of the blockchain concept is a decentralized, permiss...

Portico Darwin: Arrival Ormond Beach + I Am Shamed as A Hypocrite

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Our flight was only 2.5 hours late, and Julie and I both made it safely to our respective destinations. Julie sounds very happy at her recently refreshed room at Disney's Contemporary Resort, and my Airbnb is ideal. There will be some kind of brief Travel Guide of my escapades on the Atlantic Coast published upon my r...

Portico Darwin: Depart SF + The Best Albums

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS A Clufff & KLUF update: we've concluded week one of our 6 week media campaign related to the launch of my cousin Charlie's first NFTs. In fact, the campaign bore a tiny, itsy-bitsy piece of fruit just today - but I'm not jinxing anything. Going in to the weekend, it would be a big help to us if you'd friend him or lik...

Portico Darwin: The Streets of San Fransicko

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I love to read almost as much as I like to write and also talk. So yes, I like to read. I occasionally highlight books here, and I'm kind of doing that, but not really. I can't really recommend the book, because the author spends most his time citing statistics. It gets dull at times. I am talking about the recent boo...

Portico Darwin: The Artist Speaks

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS The artist Charles Clough is a smart ass. But a correct smart ass. He sent this to me last Thursday night. “"The scale of my audience has, until now, been of the 'bespoke' dimension. Frankly, I’m ready for Beeple’s 40 million eyes to behold my treasure."” MIC DROP, beeyatches! Because today, we're launching Charlie's ...

Portico Darwin: A Rose By Any Other Name . . .

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS . . . would still stink to high heaven. I'm very much in a business state of mind this week, and that leads me to go off on shitty - or even not that shitty - companies that try to change the conversation by going nuclear. They opt to dump a well-established (but perhaps tarnished) corporate brand and come up with . ....

Portico Darwin: I Am Not an Art Dealer, But I Play One on TV

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Just when you thought I'd hit peak pretension! I will now take it to the next level - shocker. Because I am now an art dealer! I am proud to announce a partnership I am calling Clufff & KLUF. You may have noticed references I've made to my first cousin, the artist Charles Clough, in the past, here in this newsletter (...

Portico Darwin: The One Where We Lost Belief and Trust

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS When did we stop believing in America? I would like to have faith when the cheerleaders say "Anyone's that ever bet against America has lost!" But really? Bin Laden bet against us and while he himself is dead, his attack on the US in 2001 worked to a degree he couldn't have dreamed. And while 9/11 and its aftermath ar...

Portico Darwin: Hold The Hungarian Goulash, Please

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS After seemingly months of overblown hype, the gala 2021 Darwin Awards are TOMORROW! Ask yourself: what's stopping you? Walk, bike, taxi, BART, drive, or fly: it will be worth it. Well, this gala event may not justify flying to town, but still . . . be sure to watch the video clip attached to this to see what you'll be...

Portico Darwin: January 6 Special Edition

I find the events of January 6, 2021, an insurrection and coup attempt predicated upon Trump's Big Lie, more disturbing than those of September 11, 2001. Because it was/is a deep, deep self-inflicted wound. So I must remind you today of another time when the majority ignored the warning signs. I learned of it at the single most impactf...

Portico Darwin: Easy Breezy

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today, I will be lazy. Just a few random notes, although I do have a Special Edition coming tomorrow. 2021 Darwin Awards Are This Saturday, January 8! The countdown has begun and the energy is palpable. If you are reading this, you are invited, as are your friends and other assorted hangers-on. I'll be there early, bu...

Portico Darwin: Update On My Ongoing Affair . . .

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS . . . with SF. You see, as earlier, I continue to struggle in my love affair with San Francisco, even at the dawn of this new year. Despite some glorious rain, and with now over a full year without wildfire smoke fouling our pristine coastal air, I am still pissed off. Yeah, I know: shocker. But seriously, and now it'...

Portico Darwin: IT'S ALIVE!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I've always liked live albums, from the earliest days. I have vivid memories of Frankie Huttner (that's his real, non-newsletter name) bringing over his new copy of Frampton Comes Alive. We were 12 - gosh, am I dating myself? I prefer the energy of a live album and they often give one a more exciting greatest hits col...

Portico Darwin: Los Angeles Travel Guide

OVERVIEW Although we're not (despite being in SF for 30 years), we like to consider ourselves nearly natives. As such, or at least so the schtick goes, we're supposed to hate LA. But we don't, and as evidence I give you the fact that this Travel Guide is based upon our 5th visit, completed over Christmas in 2021. LODGING For our visits...

Portico Darwin: This Is The End of Baseball

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS If you think I've written dark and foreboding newsletters in the past, this will top them all. That's because today, I am declaring baseball dead. Sure, there may be some sort of agreement hammered out to settle the current lock-out by the team owners, and there may be games for a few more years. But the days of baseb...

Portico Darwin: Exit LA + I'm Still Here

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS No doubt you've been worried, but rest assured we've been luxuriating and dedicating ourselves to decadence. There will be a full Travel Guide published soon, but for now, here is a tidbit from our Christmas holiday in Los Angeles. This was after lunch yesterday at The Getty Center. There is nothing beyond Diamond Cer...

Portico Darwin: 2021 Darwin Award Winners Special Edition

Without further ado and in response to the clamoring from so very many, here's who will be taking home a Portico on January 8th. A reminder that the winner must be present to claim their award - if a winner is not present, I will arbitrarily assign their Portico elsewhere. But who wouldn't show? Airbnb, Etc. Of The Year Nominees • Cove...

Portico Darwin: Arrival LA + Santa Claudiophile

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I know: two newsletters on audio gear within just a week or two is a bit much. Of course, you could always go outside or volunteer to help sick children. But we leave for LA later today for 3 nights, so I had to keep it easy. In fact, I am being responsible, and recycling. Because a recent outing with the esteemed bre...

Portico Darwin: Huntley/Brinkley Didn't Joke Around

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS You can file this under "Portico Darwin is doing his Jerry Seinfeld thing again". Or, "What a Scrooge!". Because today, I will rant about people being too nice and too friendly. In other words, they're on my lawn again. Specifically: enough with every TV chat show implying that everyone on it are real PALS, and just h...

Portico Darwin: Writers Write

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It's Monday, and I am recovering nicely from a wonderful holiday party at the home of Emery and Nib Riddle. Thanks, guys - great job - it was very festive and oh, those gin fizzes. Today will be a touch on the serious side, but not in a dark way. If you're reading this, it's probably obvious by now that I enjoy writin...

Portico Darwin: Color Me Tired of Color

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy Friday. In what could be my single most useless newsletter ever (and that's definitely saying something), today I take the time to note a troubling trend. The trend is that every commercial now seems to feature someone wearing a shirt or shoes that match the color of the sponsor's logo. I will start with the com...

Portico Darwin: The Definitive Christmas Movie List

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS My predilection for lists knows no bounds, and that doesn't change during the holidays. Here are the Christmas movies we watch each year, in roughly my order of preference. Nightmare Before Christmas Although it's more of a Halloween movie, we still like to kick off the season with this one, especially Julie. Has anyo...

Portico Darwin: Health & Conservatism & Brian Williams

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Last Friday's epic post on music streaming and music hardware took a lot out of me. Probably you, too. So Happy Monday and Happy Mostly No Portico Darwin Writing Day. I will say that I'm not sure I've ever seen a more exciting finish to a sporting event than yesterday's conclusion to the Formula 1 race in Abu Dhabi. W...

Portico Darwin: Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About KLUF...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS . . . but didn't think you'd ever be bored enough to ask. Warning: this is one of my insanely long (but very informative!) newsletters. Like "Julie, is he OK?" long. Not to worry: it is on a subject that was once a hobby, then a profession, and now a hobby again. If you're not a music person, you can safely skip this ...

Portico Darwin: No Laughing Matter

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today, I give you the brilliant Heather Cox Richardson. Dr. Richardson is an acknowledged expert on American history; I am not. “Senate Republicans will not issue any sort of a platform before next year’s midterm elections. At a meeting of donors and lawmakers in mid-November, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R...

Portico Darwin: The Dinosaur Awakens

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy Monday. Should we all be dusting off our copies of the ultimate Stephen King novel "The Stand"? Sadly, "It's not over until it's over" never felt more real? On that note, I just got a booster vaccine dose last Wednesday, Julie gets hers this Wednesday, and I sure hope you're getting yours. Here is the CDC's guid...

Portico Darwin: Now Arriving at Central Station

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It's not all rock bands and parties. Today, I'm going to stake out middle ground on the headlines. I've included links to some supporting information for those of you that would like to go deeper. (I've probably touched on one or more of these in other writings. My apologies. Of course, you could always be reading som...

Portico Darwin: You're Invited to The 2021 Darwin Awards!

You are cordially invited to this year's 2021 Darwin Awards! Seriously! You simply won't want to miss how little of the party (none of it!) will have anything whatsoever to do with me or this newsletter! The 2021 Darwin Awards and the Portico private jet statuettes that go to the winners are simply a figment of my overly vivid imaginat...

Portico Darwin: Just Let It Be Already

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS First I dump on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame show, and now I slam The Beatles? Over the recent Thanksgiving holiday weekend, we screened the just ServiceableThe Beatles "Get Back" documentary in its entirety. Yeah, all 8 hours of latter-day Liverpudlian lad glory. But was it actually glorious? Well, there is nothing...

Portico Darwin: Don't Tell My Wife

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Here's another entry in the occasional series I call "Plans No One Asked For". Previously, I featured lists of the real National Parks of the Eastern US, and also my ideas for the ultimate travel year. Not to mention my commuter rail plans for that vital Albuquerque - Santa Fe passenger train corridor. Today, I give y...

Portico Darwin: Rock and Roll Hall of Same

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS As we luxuriate in the grip of America's favorite holiday weekend of the year, I will reflect on the latest entry in the lengthy canon of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. HBO recently telecast a recording of the event, held in late October in Cleveland, which we screened earlier this week. Let me say r...

Portico Darwin: Introducing Seamus Colonnity

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS As I mentioned Monday, my dear friend Steven Simon - we go back to the 6th grade and grew up together in Albany - asked that I don my MAGA hat, and address the Culture War topics I raised recently, from that perspective. And not be nasty or sarcastic doing so. Wow - not easy! So, for inspiration, I turned to my copy o...

Portico Darwin: The Shortest Post Ever

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Enjoy your Monday, completely free of my opinions, apart from the fact that SF is gorgeous, the debacle at Union Square over the weekend notwithstanding. I just love this photo, which I took last week in The Presidio. FROM THE UNWASHED MASSES One reason for the brevity of today's post is that I am hard at work on resp...

Portico Darwin: It's Cultured

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Said no one: "Portico, would you be so kind as to comment upon the raging Culture War in America?" My pleasure, and thanks for asking. And "Culture War" is so much nicer-sounding than "Civil War"! I often point out that there's a dearth of policy ideas coming from what is currently the Republican party. Instead, they ...

Portico Darwin: 2021 Darwin Award Nominations

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS From the serious to the ridiculous. Today, we'll turn away from my usual sturm und drang regarding our country's state of affairs and steer towards the fun and the light. Very fun and very light because it can't be much more of either when the topic is the 2021 Darwin Awards. Here are the people, places and things vyi...

Portico Darwin: Don't Get Violent

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I really wanted to kick off Monday with a cheery, fun newsletter about a light topic. But no. First was Bill Maher on his show on Friday night chatting up the story that the 13 House Republicans that voted for the recent infrastructure bill have each received death threats. Over an infrastructure bill that will benefi...

Portico Darwin: It's Both of Us, Kind Of

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It dawned on me that the USA and its sorry state is all of our faults. After a recent post, where I asked what Republicans are so afraid of, I realized if you replace "Electoral College" with "Elite Universities" and "Multinational Corporations" with "Big Media", we're both afraid of the same things. That is, we're af...

Portico Darwin: Houston, We Have a Problem

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS This is a good time for me to let others do the talking. I may or may not explain why later. This is a stunning video from The New York Times regarding states where Democrats control the legislative and executive branches. It's not pretty, but I hope you'll watch, if for no other reason than to dispel the notion that ...

Portico Darwin: Why So Angry?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It's great to be back home in SF. But it will be a while before we forget about Santa Fe and the special time we had there. Big thanks again go to Arthur and Mrs. Crup, and to Elizabeth "Polly" Michaels and Primo Harvey, PhD., for joining us. I will now take the cold plunge back in to reality. As I watch Trump support...

Portico Darwin: Santa Fe Travel Guide

Most people either understand why Santa Fe is a big deal, or they don't. Put me in the former camp, and maybe this Travel Guide will inform the latter. My experience in Santa Fe dates to the mid-1980's, when Arthur and I would pretend to be grown-ups and come down from Boulder to party. That was then but this is now, and this is a Trav...

Portico Darwin: Exit Santa Fe + The Ultimate Travel Year

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Newsflash: the legendary Giants catcher Buster Posey has announced his retirement. I literally get choked-up when I think of all of the memories this great man conjures. Like in 2010 when, as a rookie, he replaced the seasoned catcher Bengie Molina and led them to their first World Series championship in SF. Or The Bu...

Portico Darwin: I've Been Working On The Railroad

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS What a wonderful visit from our great friends Elizabeth "Polly" Michaels and Primo Harvey, PhD. Thank you for the proverbial cherry on top of an amazing 3 weeks. Much love and we can't wait to see that Killer painting in its final location! But of course, even in this idyllic Land of Enchantment and surrounded by my w...

Portico Darwin: Let The Art Do The Talking

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I want to start by thanking Arthur and Mrs. Crup for joining us here in Santa Fe for an excellent 3 nights. We didn't do it all, but almost. They left mid-day Friday and headed to Taos to hang with Julia Roberts. We had an incredible weekend, and it ended in a magical fashion. The weather is breathtakingly perfect and...

Portico Darwin: The Filibuster is Eating Democracy

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS What with Arthur and Mrs. Crup in town, it's a miracle I could find the time or sobriety to write this, but I did (or at least I'm telling myself that). The lovely Mrs. Crup has, as always, exquisite taste in clothing. Although I cannot take credit for much of today's post: I borrowed a lot of it from Joe Scarborough'...

Portico Darwin: Hunter Deuce Movie Review Special Edition

He denies it, but the social justice warrior Hunter Deuce sure seems like he's attempting to establish some kind of alternative to this newsletter. That's because he recently started going beyond the typical "went to a concert at a Sonoma winery and it was fun", or "went to the movies yesterday, and I liked 'Heaven's Gate'" kind of new...

Portico Darwin: Tear Down That Wall

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS First, a quick highlight from our visit Monday to the ethereal Ten Thousand Waves spa in the foothills above Santa Fe. It was a Chamber of Commerce late afternoon in a Diamond Certified private spa - ours had a superb hot tub, a perfectly frigid cold plunge, a sauna, two showers, a bed and a comfy Adirondack chair. Th...

Portico Darwin: This Is Called Anthem

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Greetings on a Monday from the high desert of northern New Mexico. Santa Fe is . . . gorgeous. Everyone in town, certainly including us, is saddened by the Alec Baldwin accident, but it's time to move on. RIP Halyna Hutchins. If you watch "Real Time" with Bill Maher, you'll recognize this rant from a few weeks ago. Li...

Portico Darwin: Rest in Peace

Out of respect for the terrible loss of life yesterday that occurred here in Santa Fe, I am going to hold my planned newsletter post until Monday. Thanks to those of you that sent along the news. Alec Baldwin Discharges Prop Gun and Kills One Colleague, Injures Second What a horrible accident and tragedy.

Portico Darwin: It's Time for A Statue of Responsibility

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Santa Fe is proceeding as planned, big-time. Weather? Perfect. Condo and its location? Perfect. Every meal? Perfect. Halloween spirit? Also perfect. P.S. We had dinner last night at a trick Japanese resort in the foothills outside of Santa Fe proper. As we were leaving, Julie flirted innocently (as only she can) with ...

Portico Darwin: Arrival Santa Fe and I'm Not Elite

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Yesterday, we arrived for our 3 week stay in stunning Santa Fe, New Mexico. In case you're worried, our condo for the 3 weeks is Killer. I'll be mentioning highlights here, and sharing a photo or 7, but most of my reporting on Santa Fe will be via a Travel Guide when it's all over. In other words, don't worry: my inte...

Portico Darwin: A Walk In The Park

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS We're off on Sunday for our second longest trip of the year, 3 weeks in Santa Fe, so this will be a short and fun post, focused on the wonderful outdoors. In fact, it's so light and airy, I will again fly this newsletter's Happiness Flag. Even after last night's crushing defeat of our beloved Giants by the hated Dodge...

Portico Darwin: I Alone Can Fix It

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS On Monday, I bemoaned the capture of our state and federal legislatures by money. I will remind you of my broad indictment: When the downstream impacts are considered, the US is the most corrupt country on Earth. Today, I will explain the 3 solutions I proposed on Monday, Federally Funded Federal Campaigns, Open State...

Portico Darwin: The Problem is The Money

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS A while back, I went off on one of my tangents and rattled on about a lot of dreamy solutions to the major issues we all face. As I looked at my list, I realized that, while imagining it all happening together is pure fantasy, many/most/all of the individual items have at least some merit. You yourself may agree with ...

Portico Darwin: Let's Play "Unintended Consequences"!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS We interrupt this broadcast for an important announcement. We now return you to our regularly scheduled broadcast. This is a purely fun post. No, really - look at those shirts! But it's mostly about games, especially if you consider jillion-dollar war planes to be "games", as I do. Tonight, our kick-ass SF Giants begi...

Portico Darwin: Tupper Lake and The Adirondacks Travel Guide (Winter)

I flew from the gorgeous, new-ish (and nearly empty) Harvey Milk Terminal 1 from SFO to ALB on Saturday. For an airport, T1 at SFO is wonderful. Plus, the new AA Admiral's Club there is about as good as it gets (domestic benchmark = Alaska Airlines at SEA). Easy-peasy into ALB via a packed ORD, and in to the Serviceable Homewood Suites...

Portico Darwin: Palm Springs Travel Guide

It's Friday afternoon, and we're poolside after another wonderful sunrise visit to Joshua Tree National Park. We're reminiscing. • I give a whole-hearted Textbook assessment to the wonderful Jake's Palm Springs. It is where we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary, with dinner there on April 13. What a great dinner spot, right in the...

Portico Darwin: How To Watch TV

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Do you still watch TV? I will date myself among the cool kids that read this newsletter when I say: yes, I do. But much less and differently than I used to, of course. On-demand and live streaming changed everything. Today,I am going to explore alternatives to our current TV subscriptions, all streaming services: • Yo...

Portico Darwin: The Sea Ranch Travel Guide

It had been a long time - so long, in fact, Ol' Purple Label was still on husband #2, she and Fi Deuce still worked at Gap Inc., and I was just starting Casa Integration. Early aughts. It had been that long since we had visited The Sea Ranch, an extraordinary master-planned community dating to the mid 1960's. Here's a wonderful article...

Portico Darwin: Four Freedoms Then and Now

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Sorry folks, today's newsletter is of the long - very long - variety. But you might not hate it. Plus, there are pictures! At least the upcoming Travel Guide for The Sea Ranch will be mercifully short. I bet you're familiar with President Franklin Roosevelt's January 6, 1941 State of The Union speech. No? I think you ...

Portico Darwin: Goodbye to All of That Special Edition

Today, October 2, will always be a big day for me. For one, today, in London, is the day of our close friend Joanne Rutter's wedding. What a catch! But 10/2/19 is also the day I left TEECOM. And 10/2/20 is the day I learned I finished second for a dream job at The Presidio. So I am now 2 years to the day from the most humiliating exper...

Portico Darwin: This Music Sucks

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS UNWASHED MASSES SPECIAL BULLETIN OMFG congratulations to Andy Jones and Libby Baines Jones: Libby gave birth last night to Dean Andrew Jones, Jr.! 10 seconds of seriousness: it's the first baby for these two and wow. These are two of the greatest people in the world and they've wanted a baby for a long time. Congratul...

Portico Darwin: On Mental Health

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS You might recall that earlier this year and joined by some close family, I sprinkled my mother's ashes at the grave site of her Aunt Ruth and Uncle Don Smith. It served as a degree of closure for me, as my relationship with my mother was complex - even more so than with most mothers and sons. While it's been 10 years ...

Portico Darwin: Not a Kodak Moment

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I had taken to using "Tr***" when referring to Donald Trump, mostly as a pithy way of demonstrating my rejection of the man himself, as well as his mendacious and catastrophic presidency. The joking and humor is over. There is nothing funny about the evidence now out. If you are not familiar with "The Eastman Memo" (d...

Portico Darwin: We Want Something Else

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It's the weekend, so pull up a glass (after 10AM, please), and then, watch this. We want something else. Like Hawkeye Pierce, I can rant with the best of them, but I tend to focus on our problems as a country, vs. angst over having eaten a river of liver and an ocean of fish. So for a change, I present nothing but sol...

Portico Darwin: Double Feature

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS As we climb the week together, I thought I'd give you a well-earned break from my typical sturm und drang. Today, we're going in to the Casa Integration media room in my mind, and screening in vivid meta the best movie of all time, and then, my favorite movie of all time. And for a special, super-duper break, apart fr...

Portico Darwin: Cool Racial Talk

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I was going to catalog all of Biden's missteps since taking office, but I don't have enough computing power here at the house. But as we're all throwing darts at Papa Joe, remember the French lost $90 billion when Oz decided to go with our nuke subs vs. their diesel ones. That may have something to do with their rathe...

Portico Darwin: Nattering Nabob of Negativity?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS (For my many younger readers: today's title is a quote from Spiro Agnew, who was Richard Nixon's vice president. Until he resigned in disgrace over . . . corruption. Read on to see why I chose that for today's post title.) As part of his big push to get me to open up a proper reader's forum for this newsletter (done!)...

Portico Darwin: The Forum Special Edition

No, not this. And definitely not that nutty cult group. Instead, and at the request of several kind readers, but especially Bob Scarf and Raymond Michaels, I present to you: The Portico Darwin Forum It's at my website - there's a lot of stuff there that doesn't make it into the newsletter, and now there's this. But this time it's reall...

Portico Darwin: Nudge-y McNudge

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Let's go through midweek with a short post and some smart, fun stuff from two very smart people. Plus, I've got a new feature I'll introduce in a special post tomorrow. How exciting for you, I know. I read and pushed this book on friends early and often upon its initial publishing in 2008 and now it's back. It was and...

Portico Darwin: Predatory Capitalism

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS (Yes, I did publish essentially the same article on LinkedIn over the weekend. Hey, I'm multi-platforming, but apologies to my friends that might have seen this already.) Required disclaimer so I don't get somehow canceled as a wannabe communist: I love capitalism. I've read some about the alternatives, and shocker: c...

Portico Darwin: The Costs of War (and I'm Trying to Pay Some)

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Before I start, I must comment on the hysteria over President Biden's new vaccine mandates. Many are pointing to the fact that Biden and some on his staff had said previously they wouldn't impose them. Since then: • the Delta mutation of the virus exploded, and it is far more contagious and also impacts children • the...

Portico Darwin: Running Amok

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS And you thought it was over? Our most insane of any travel year (actually, it started in July of 2020)? No, it's decidedly not over, and in fact, it's spilling (sloshing?) wildly into 2022. Warning: this is no humble brag post. This is a full-on, beg-from-the-rooftop "Look at me!" explosion of attention-seeking bragga...

Portico Darwin: Is The Earth Flat?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy Labor Day. I hope you'll get out enjoy yourself, as we will. The main parade ground at The Presidio may never be the same again. Despite the new SF resident Ol' Purple Label saying Adam Grant is not that cool (the big-shot executive met him personally - of course she did), I still enjoyed his book "Think Again" ...

Portico Darwin: Lost (Labor Day) Weekend

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Following is the fun, holiday-focused part of the blog, but I must first comment on the new Texas law outlawing abortions beyond approximately 6 weeks into the pregnancy. Texas mandates that a private business can't require a patron to don a mask, because that's too much of an intrusion on personal liberty. At the sam...

Portico Darwin: Guest Starring Primo Harvey, PhD

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Who says it's always about me? I will demonstrate it isn't by turning over the reins today to the astute prose critic Primo Harvey, PhD. That's in honor of some excellent writing he did on a subject that needs more reflection by us as a country: the myth of American Exceptionalism. But it's also because he and fellow ...

Portico Darwin: Not A Downer Blog

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Enough with the bad vibes in the world and let's start the week with an easy puzzle. What's unusual about this photo? And be specific, beyond the obvious . . . the answer is below KLUF. And now for something no one - and God, I mean no one - was asking for. Here is a slideshow of the first cars I ever owned, right up ...

Portico Darwin: Afghanistan Ills

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I had a typically pithy post all written and ready, but that seems stupid and disrespectful now, in light of yesterday's terrorist attack in Kabul. At this point, how or why we're surprised at the barbarism of these zealots escapes me. We're leaving with our empire's tail between our legs and that still warrants suici...

Portico Darwin: Special Reply Edition

I am truly grateful whenever any reader cares enough about what I write to truly engage. When that occurs, it is my privilege to share the conversation. On Tuesday, a friend and faithful reader of this blog (it's really a newsletter) sent me an email. This was in advance of yesterday's post regarding California's recall election, which...

Portico Darwin: California's Stupid Recall Election

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Before another bitch session (however warranted), I mourn the death of Charlie Watts, drummer for The Rolling Stones. He died Tuesday in a London hospital. Their only drummer, over a career with them that began on January 12, 1963, he is considered the backbone of The Stones and their sound. RIP Mr. Watts, and sadly i...

Portico Darwin: In Defense of Jimmy Carter + Other Untold Stories

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I recently read this excellent article in the Associated Press about how scholars are reevaluating the presidential tenure of Jimmy Carter. I had forgotten these highlights of his presidency, which the article describes: • It was Carter, not Reagan, that began the deregulation of airlines, trucking and other major ind...

Portico Darwin: Travel Dreams, Travel Reality

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS First, there's a new fun feature at my website. Through the marvels of automation and cloud databases, there's now a live archive at my website. It is a searchable/sortable list of my posts, with links to each and it includes the all-important KLUF music section. I hope you'll give it a whirl: Portico Darwin Archive O...

Portico Darwin: The Department of Defense Did It

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I know I ranted recently about Afghanistan and our pointless defeat at the hands of a bunch of fanatically religious primitives. But the speed of the total collapse at the hands of The Taliban of a government we've spent 20 years and $1 trillion + propping up riles me again. First, I place the onus of responsibility o...

Portico Darwin: Arizona Biltmore Travel Review

Which trite phrase should I use? "A legend reborn"? "Come stay again for the first time"? In fact, neither, because the completely reinvigorated Arizona Biltmore speaks for itself. It was Killer and your stay likely will be Diamond Certified. Ours wasn't - with reasons that are funny now, not so much then - but we'll be coming back, ho...

Portico Darwin: Exit Arizona Biltmore + Hotel Brands Run Wild

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today, we fly home to SF after an epic stay here in stormy Phoenix. There will be my full take on the again-magic Arizona Biltmore in a Travel Review I'll publish tomorrow, but for now, here's a snapshot of two happy guests. Staying at The Biltmore motivates me to write about something that's been on my mind for a whi...

Portico Darwin: Arrival Arizona Biltmore + High Speed Rail

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It's Friday, so why not a super long post? Later today, we fly to the convection oven of Phoenix for 3 nights. Now, some/many/all may question the wisdom of heading there in August. To that I say you should see the nice ski jacket I bought for summers here in SF. So, yeah, it'll be hot, but that's what the AC, pool, W...

Portico Darwin: Baby, It Is Not Cold Outside

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS While we thankfully have not had this yet here in SF, the wildfires and extreme heat are all around us. It's been a typically foggy and cold summer here, which is very welcome when compared with the smoke of the last two years. But I've still become really alarmed about climate change, and it's not just the recent new...

Portico Darwin: I Don't Fly Delta

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS A fine weekend home in SF, our second in a row. For those keeping score, it was the first time I had been home for two consecutive weekends since . . . February. Queue the Emerson, Lake & Palmer. And what a weekend it was. Exploding virus numbers? They won't get me, Geddes! Friday, right out of a picture book. Saturda...

Portico Darwin: Bands of Bobos

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy weekend. Here are two things that might not seem related, yet are. In the first part, I virtue-signal my coolness, and then in the second part, explain why that's been so damaging to America. Try to follow me here. First, my classic list of The Best Rock Albums of All Time: 1. The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" 2. The ...

Portico Darwin: Reply Special Edition

Here, in response to my recent Teddy Roosevelt post, is the medical engineering wunderkind Raymond Michaels. Thank you, Raymond, for this rejoinder from the inside. Other than removing references to his company, his reply is unedited. “"I agree the dynamism of America is waning but see the flip side of the coin of you. I know in the me...

Portico Darwin: I Melted Down

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS If you've been reading this blog and paying much attention, you might recall I am a big fan of a book by Dr. Adam Grant, "Think Again". In a recent post, I highlighted the book's advocacy of the role of the inquisitive Scientist, vs. Preacher, Prosecutor, or Politician, especially when interacting with those whose opi...

Portico Darwin: Teddy, Where Art Thou?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS What a great weekend. Thank you to Arthur and Mrs. Crup for hosting the Killer BBQ party on Saturday, and it was then a musical Sunday, spent with the inestimable Joan Jett & The Blackhearts in the supernatural Stern Grove here in SF. I Love Rock & Roll, indeed, and thanks Fi and Hunter for the invite! FYI the 62 year...

Portico Darwin: Comedies

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today, and for a refreshing change, I'll keep it light. I can feel America's and the world's problems disappearing, as I simply choose not to pay any attention to them! Plus, it's the weekend. There have been a lot of great comedic movies. There are classics from the earliest days of film, and throughout movie history...

Portico Darwin: Afghanistan and The Forbidden Question

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS After the encyclopedic ("verbose" is likely the better adjective) Front Range Travel Guide, both you and I could use a short blog post today. No problem. (Warning: disclaimer only applies to this section) On Monday, I read a very powerful and also disturbing article, in the current issue of Esquire. I want to share it...

Portico Darwin: Front Range Travel Guide

This part of the world, consisting of Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Boulder, some real mountain towns, and then the Rocky Mountains that are due west of it all are referred to as "The Front Range", short for "The Front Range of the Rocky Mountains". While Denver is a worthy and wonderful city, our focus this time was Rocky Mo...

Portico Darwin: Exit The Front Range + The American Creed

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Well, it was one for the ages. Friday's kick-off party was wonderful, at a venue as cool as it was unique. The wedding itself? It deserves its own blog post, which may or may not happen. I will say my affection for this entire mob of Michaels has never been stronger. Love was certainly in the air, but rather than emot...

Portico Darwin: An Entrepreneur's Tale

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS We are very close to the family of the bridegroom at this weekend's wedding in Boulder. As I've mentioned recently, his parents, "Polly" and Neumann Michaels, now divorced, are long-time friends of ours. While the dynamic and dimension of my relationship with the two of them has changed greatly over nearly 40 years, t...

Portico Darwin: Vaccination Street

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I am frankly at my wit's end (no cracks) regarding this whole vaccination thing. I think if I were given a magic wand and allowed to change any one thing in America, it would be to eliminate the politicization of science and expertise. I'm fed up. Of course, the biggie is Climate Change. The fact that some (although i...

Portico Darwin: Arrival Estes Park + Stakeholder Capitalism

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS After a pretty easy flight to DEN,we made our way to Estes Park yesterday, the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was via a Killer luncheon at the posh Niwot home of Primo and "Polly". Their new outdoor lounge and spa, as expected, were gorgeous, and it's a good thing, too, what with all of the leisure time n...

Portico Darwin: Exit SF + Front Range Plans

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS On Sunday, we head to Colorado: the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, to be more precise. It's another week+ trip for us, and for a change, Julie is not working during any of it. And by any definition, it's a nice itinerary. But it's extra special because it's built around the wedding of the Steamboat Springs indust...

Portico Darwin: I Love Government

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS While I am in favor of a safety net closer to Norway's than Alabama's, I believe there are limits to how much the Federal government can (or should) indebt our future generations to create that net. But we also have a wealth inequality situation here in America that is without modern precedent. Something's gotta give....

Portico Darwin: Exit Oceanside + Be a Scientist

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS We're back in SF after a superb long weekend in Oceanside, which is about a 45 minute drive north of downtown San Diego. Major thanks to our very gracious hosts, the speed racer and noted TV installer Andy Jones, and the increasingly pregnant Libby Baines Jones. We ate, we drank, and we toured the surrounding area, bu...

Portico Darwin: The Ultimate in Virtue Signaling?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS We are off to San Diego later today to visit the posh new digs of dear friends Andy and Libby Baines Jones. These guys bailed on our beloved SF for what? The best weather in the US? More room for less money? No homeless people outside your door? Sure, they're having a baby and all, but what's so wrong about the kid gr...

Portico Darwin: Cookbook Volume II!

In response to the deafening clamor from exactly nobody, I give you the eagerly anticipated (also by exactly nobody) next edition: Portico Darwin: The Cookbook Volume II. You can view and download the Cookbook at the link; it will take 15 pages if you print it out. If I don't mind saying so (and you know I don't), it's another winner, ...

Portico Darwin: The New Old Normal

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS This past Monday afternoon and evening, The Pandemic ended. Yes, it's over. At least for me. No, not because I've been vaccinated (I have) or because we hit some arbitrary number by July 4th set by Papa Joe or even my man Dr. Anthony Fauci (we didn't). And no, it's not because I live in San Francisco, which has a supe...

Portico Darwin: The GOP

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS (Note to self: don't write blog posts after partying at Mad Oak. My post Friday morning had more typos than you deserve. Apologies. Here's a copy hopefully free of boo-boos.) No politics on a holiday Monday. Instead, the GOP to which I'm referring is coverage of the pretty much non-stop Grand Old Party that went on in...

Portico Darwin: Do You Love America? I Do!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS One of the many clichés I often employ is that two (or even more!) things seemingly in conflict can be true at once. Call it nuance, and I've even written a post on it previously. Loving America is all about nuance, not dogma. Here are 3 vivid examples of that. Bill Maher and The Progress We've Made I hope everyone wi...

Portico Darwin: Southern New Mexico/West Texas Travel Guide

Let's clear up a couple of things right away. This Travel Guide sounds grand in scope, but it really covers only Las Cruces, New Mexico, El Paso, Texas, and 3 National Parks, two of which are located in southern New Mexico, the other in, yes, west Texas. So apart from its copious length, it's not that grand. Next: it's doubtful many ar...

Portico Darwin: Exit Las Cruces + A Question

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS You are in for a real treat: as today is a travel day - we are heading back to SF - my post will be short. But first, some brief-ish housekeeping: • Here is our photo album from the trip, for those that have too much time on their hands. I would be remiss if I did not thank Dr. Davis Fladgate and Mrs. Melynda Fladgate...

Portico Darwin: There Is Still Hope

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Portico Darwin Special Coverage: The Big Lie

If you remain concerned that there were nefarious activities by the Democratic party or anyone to steal the 2021 election for Joe Biden, I urge, no beg, you to read this article, published at The Atlantic's website yesterday. I read it last night, and thought it so important, I almost sent it then. Here is the link, and a PDF of the ar...

Portico Darwin: Retirement and El Paso (?)

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Phew! Tupper Lake may have been a social whirlwind, but we're talking about a National Park road trip whirlwind here in southern New Mexico and west Texas since Friday! Of course there's a complete Travel Guide forthcoming, but here are some tidbits to tide you over. Overall, what a great itinerary. We really loved ev...

Portico Darwin: I Like Journalism

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Perhaps it's the desert air or something else here in the beautiful enclave of Picacho Hills, but journalism, or specifically, what is and what isn't journalism, has been on my mind a lot lately. I will repeat something I say often. Journalism is a profession, like any other. Just like people go to MIT to become great...

Portico Darwin: My New Recipe Book

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS What is it like here at the expansive and oft-sumptuous home of Dr. and Mrs. Davis Fladgate? I've summarized my typical day here previously, and I can assure you nothing has changed (I even re-stocked the Weissbier late Monday and my Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2 continues to impress). But I will now add some inside info...

Portico Darwin: I've Figured Out Politics

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today's post will be of the mercifully short variety because it's me simply sharing a revelation. This revelation came to me while listening to The Economist's superlative US news podcast, "Checks and Balance" on Sunday. For the record, it was here, on my walk Sunday morning. This week's coverage on the podcast was on...

Portico Darwin: The Poverty Economy & Me

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS (Editor's note: I am a capitalist, through and through. One of my favorite books is "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. I started a successful business from scratch. In other words, while I may align with Bernie, Elizabeth, Alexandria, and Scandinavia on many things, assuming I do on everything would be a mistake. So with t...

Portico Darwin: Arrival Las Cruces + My New Phone

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today we fly from San Francisco to El Paso, via the important US transportation hub, Las Vegas. From El Paso, and with Julie's father, the noted educator and political commentator Dr. Davis Fladgate somewhat ably doing the driving, we'll head to the good doctor's desert playground in Las Cruces, New Mexico. It's two w...

Portico Darwin: People Not Cars

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS One of my many passions is urban development and transportation. I've read a number of books on the subject (I just posted the list at my website), and I've arrived at this conclusion: The development of our built environment around cars and not people, which began right around the end of World War II, is central to o...

Portico Darwin: Please Delete Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Facebook. Instagram. WhatsApp. That's what I wanted for the title of today's post, but I can't use the strikethrough formatting in the subject line. Whatever today's post is called, I hope you'll consider deleting these apps from your phones and your lives. Dramatic? I don't think so. I believe Facebook has uniquely e...

Portico Darwin: Four Americas

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Last time, Heather Cox Richardson (kudos again to Primo Harvey, PhD for introducing me to this brilliant scholar). This time, the inestimable George Packer. You can't say I'm not trying. Mr. Packer has a new book, and there's an essay based upon it in this month's Atlantic. For those of you without a subscription, the...

Portico Darwin: Sonoma Travel Guide

This was unexpected and it turned out to be a very fun, and also educational, trip. Armed with the musically challenged Hunter Deuce and little else, yours truly decamped for downtown Sonoma in Mr. Deuce's swish new ride. This was an impromptu visit, and about the krijillionith time visiting for both of us. We've shredded it up here to...

Portico Darwin: Leader of Antifa

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Mercifully short! Due to the seemingly nefarious behavior of a famous Silicon Valley microchip executive who shall go completely nameless, the SF residential real estate shaman Hunter Deuce (shown here sadly missing a sunset on a recent vacation) and I had an unexpected Gentlemen's Day (and night) in Sonoma on Sunday....

Portico Darwin: Tupper Lake Travel Guide

Tupper Lake is in The Adirondack State Park of New York State, specifically in its famed High Peaks region. It is a superlative amalgam of mountains, forest, lakes, rivers and wildlife, that surround the nice-but-struggling village of Tupper Lake proper. Let me summarize it this way: Julie and I have been fortunate enough to travel to ...

Portico Darwin: Exit Tupper Lake + More on Consequence Culture

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Later today, we head to Albany for a quick night in a place so similar to Paris that they're often confused. I meant Paris, TX. But Tupper Lake is a place apart - as you can see by the photos and videos summarizing the trip here. Please don't miss Julie's videos of the beautiful loon that visited us Wednesday night du...

Portico Darwin: Social Whirlwind

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS The party season here started slowly, but moved to light speed on Sunday. Try to keep up or at least don't doze off. The Martha Stewart fetish-holder Dr. Shelly Murphy outdid herself with a stylish rager that drew 20+ to The Manor on Sunday, including some well-to-do neighbors (more on these folks below) from a few ma...

Portico Darwin: A Proposal for Tupper Lake

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS This post is in honor of my late mother, Jeanne Anne LaBarge Clough. My mother was born and raised here in Tupper Lake, and today would have been her 94th birthday. With my family that lives here and those that are visiting, we are sprinkling her ashes today at the gravesites of two of her favorite people, the late an...

Portico Darwin: A Modest Proposal for Uniting America

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS First, a few housekeeping items. These would normally go in the "From the Unwashed Masses" section, but they seem important enough to lead with. The networking gear journeyman Byron Browne IV asked if I could provide a link to my voluminous if not precise rating system. He had understandably forgotten whether Killer i...

Portico Darwin: Woodstock Vermont Travel Guide

If you've ever wanted to get out of the real life racket and step into a Norman Rockwell painting, I have your destination. "Arcadian" is one word that comes to mind in trying to describe Woodstock, here in central Vermont. "Gorgeous" and "bucolic" are others. Woodstock is set in a mountainous (for here) region, and it really ticks eve...

Portico Darwin: Exit Woodstock + Arrival Tupper Lake

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS We departed Woodstock, Vermont yesterday. I took a final morning hike in the leafy and serene Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park before we hit the road for The Adirondacks. A brief Travel Guide will be forthcoming, but here's a link to some selected photos from our visit there. A beautiful and certainly...

Portico Darwin: Arrival Woodstock VT + Rule Change!

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS If you've ever wanted to get out of the real life racket and step into a Norman Rockwell painting, I have your destination. "Arcadian" is one word that comes to mind in trying to describe Woodstock, here in central Vermont. "Gorgeous" and "bucolic" are others. Woodstock is set in a mountainous (for here) region, and i...

Portico Darwin: Cape Cod Travel Guide

Cape Cod! Who knew? Well, I guess just about everyone else, but we'd never been there. Wow, were we impressed. Let me say right off the bat, the entire place is Diamond Certified. But first, an important note. We went in the middle of May of 2021. Pre-season, and also kinda sorta post-COVID, but of course, not really. Yada yada the vir...

Portico Darwin: Exit Cape Cod + A 911 Story

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today we depart Cape Cod, for Woodstock, Vermont; the eagerly anticipated Cape Cod Travel Guide will be published soon. Overall, this sojourn to the Cape joins our pantheon of Diamond Certified vacations. We are a lucky and fortunate couple, and not lazy: our last day was spent on Nantucket. You can see our photo high...

Portico Darwin: Shoulder Seasons Forever?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS As our stay continues here on idyllic Cape Cod, and specifically, in the perfectly located Town of Eastham, a recurring theme is that there is hardly anyone here. The many restaurants, that seemingly appear around every turn, are empty or not open at all on some days (yet every one has been Killer, including the very-...

Portico Darwin: Arrival Cape Cod + A Modern Marshall Plan

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Following my rough pattern previously established, I'll be putting the grave details of our Cape Cod, New England, and Adirondack adventures in separate and proper Travel Guides. But I'll certainly hit the highlights here in my normal posts (if one could ever call these thrice-weekly ego explosions "normal", right Mig...

Portico Darwin: The Origin Photo Revealed

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Tomorrow, Saturday, we're departing for our single longest trip of the year. This one will take us to a great Airbnb in Eastham on Cape Cod for 6 nights, a Bill and Jeanne Clough-looking kind of resort in Woodstock, VT for 4 nights, 11 nights at the storiedMurphy Manor in The Adirondacks, and then a night in Albany, b...

Portico Darwin: The Dangers of Driving

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Please sit down - a couple of things are about to surprise you. 1: Today's Rambling will be short. 2: I will make a point quickly. As my anger at the ignorance moves to rage, I'll make an observation about those who refuse to get a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. To understand their sheer lunacy, please consider: 1. These folks t...

Portico Darwin: Do I Still Love SF?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Before I pontificate about living in cities post-Covid, I'd like to share with you a link to the School part of my website. There, you'll see I've added a list of 8 books I hope you'll take the time to read, as I have. Together, they provide a better understanding of the state of America today, and why things are as t...

Portico Darwin: New Headphone Review(s)!

Have you ever heard about Imelda Marcos and her shoes? Truth be told, I'm a bit like that with audio headphones. OK, not a bit: more like eerily similar. While I don't have 3,000, I do have - um - more than most. I don't care: I must be able to reproduce music, on my own terms, in every circumstance, at all times. Obsessive? YOU BETCHA...

Portico Darwin: Tripping the Wine Fantastic

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Our recently concluded sojourn to the Anderson Valley wine region of Northern California made me want to reminisce about the other regions Julie and I have been fortunate enough to visit over the years. (Editor's Note: only places we've visited within the last year make it into a Travel Guide and get ratings. So that'...

Portico Darwin: Please Make It Stop

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS (Editor's Note: as always when I write posts like this, I note important points with links that will take you to an objective arbiter of truth. Like AP Fact Check, Snopes, Politifact, and Factcheck.org. I sincerely challenge anyone that reads this to cite different, equally reputable sources if you disagree with my fa...

Portico Darwin: Mendocino/Anderson Valley Travel Guide

You may not know this, but a scant 3 hours north of SF, there is actually an answer to my question about where else you might point someone to explain California in one shot, other than Montecito and Santa Barbara. That somewhere is the not-quite-real little coastal town of Mendocino, and just to its south, the verdant, unspoiled, and ...

Portico Darwin: Arrival & Exit Mendocino + Race

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS As I listen to my new obsession, Santana’s “Waves Within “ I'm also marveling at the same without on our last morning here in the only-in-California-Mendocino. It was quite a party at the KillerGlendeven Inn: Husky trainer George Valiant Walker and his drastically better half, Sherry Pace. Sherry's sister, the gifted ...

Portico Darwin: Introducing The Website

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Lucky you, because today's post is mercifully shorter than many, because lucky us, we're driving to Mendocino today. I've put together a new website that is an extension of sorts from this blog. There, you'll see some of the same material, but also some new/different stuff. For example, at my website, I have a number ...

Portico Darwin: Exit Bellaire + A Weekend Read

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Time to hightail it out of here before I grow too weary of the gratitude I'm receiving from most here at The Villa regarding the work Dr. Murphy and I did. Since last Friday, we: • Completely replaced the Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi system I had installed in 2013 (!) with 4 Eero Pro 6 access points. These are great and the Wi...

Portico Darwin: Fake News in Real Time

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I can assure you this blog won't devolve into just another partisan piss-up. In fact, I hope you've noticed in my posts that I've tried to present reasoned, fact-based positions. But today, I'd like to share something I witnessed personally and directly - right here at The Villa. This past Monday, the good Dr. Shelly ...

Portico Darwin: Rediscovering Vinyl and Why

Like my Travel Guides, I will occasionally be doing special posts on Gear. Topics might be headphones, clothes, shoes, networking equipment, whatever. And like the Travel Guides, there is no Unwashed Masses nor KLUF sections (normally). I'm going to (naturally) kick it off with music and specifically, vinyl records. But a warning: This...

Portico Darwin: Climate Change Answers from Oil Country?

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I'm sure everyone is just dying formore photos of the Murphy Villa. You're welcome and yesterday my weather mojo returned in force: mid 70's with crystal clear skies and perfectly cloudy weissbier. Yep, it tastes as good poolside here as it does in the desert. So please - please - don't worry about me. I had the place...

Portico Darwin: Arrival Bellaire + Confident Humility

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS My streak of glorious weather on visits to the posh-ish Bellaire district of Houston and Fave cousin Dr. Shelly Murphy's Villa grinds to a halt. Yesterday, Thursday, it was windy and quite cool outside upon my arrival (sidebar: I was impressed by United's Polaris Class seating on the narrow-body 757 which I took here ...

Portico Darwin: Montecito/Santa Barbara Travel Guide

While there is plenty to be said for Santa Barbara proper, we really have come to prefer staying in a town just a few miles south, Montecito. Benignly notorious for its hands-off approach towards the rich and/or famous, Montecito offers the ultimate combo of weather, mountains, trees/greenery, city, beach and ocean. If someone said "Sh...

Portico Darwin: Exit Montecito

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS First, some travel trivia (mixed with my own opinion - shocker): name the 4 world capitals. And by "capital", I don't mean in a governmental sense. Rather, what 4 cities are the premiere hubs of business, culture, food, etc.? My answer - and of course there is no "right" answer - is below. Today we head home to SF fro...

Portico Darwin: Chauvin Verdict + Policing

Phew - somewhat like the last election, I feel America had a near-death experience re: the Chauvin trial. Hard to imagine what our country would look like this morning if the jury had gone all Simi Valley on us. I am hopeful The Blue Line has finally been broken and this is the start, however tiny, of true accountability for the action...

Portico Darwin: Immigration + Arrival Montecito

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS As I occasionally do, I'm going to turn the reigns of this part of the blog over to someone much smarter than I. In this case, it's the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. This past Friday, The Washington Post published an excellent editorial by 43 on his recommendations for a reasonable immigration p...

Portico Darwin: A Conservative Replies

As you'd imagine, it is extremely gratifying (not to mention humbling) when something you write motivates someone to thoughtfully respond. And when that someone is as brilliant as the young man that wrote this is, well, let's just say I'm very happy this morning. But also smarter, from having read his reply to my Calling on Republicans...

Portico Darwin: Exit Palm Springs

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It's Friday afternoon, and we're poolside after another wonderful sunrise visit to Joshua Tree National Park. We're reminiscing. • I give a whole-hearted Textbook assessment to the wonderful Jake's Palm Springs. It is where we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary, with dinner there on April 13. What a great dinner ...

Portico Darwin: Calling On Republicans

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Apologies in advance for this one. It's political and there's no way around it. But it's also a call for help. Albeit from poolside in Palm Springs. America desperately needs a functioning federal government, consisting of at least 2 fact- and reason-based political parties. Today, we barely have one. Consider each of...

Portico Darwin: Anniversary Edition

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today is our 30th wedding anniversary. On April 13, 1991 a small group of friends and family gathered in Boulder at The Hotel Boulderado for our marriage. That's us with our mothers on this very day 30 years ago. The rest has been sheer bliss. Right? Julie, right? And here's a bit later, in the Dolomites. The fact is,...

Portico Darwin: Joshua Tree National Park Travel Guide

Note: there are quite a lot of photos in this blog post - if this doesn't load properly, try this link to view the post online. If you'll recall, the tagline to this blog is "Plans to Enjoy Life". So here's a plan for visiting Joshua Tree National Park when staying in greater Palm Springs. We've enjoyed roughly this same approx. 6 hour...

Portico Darwin: Why I Pay For It

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS About a year ago, the cloud software company Basecamp, started an email service called Hey. (The company's founders also wrote my biz book fave, It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work, and the equally influentialRework) Hey is part of a nascent but growing movement of companies attempting to counter the civically corrosi...

Portico Darwin: Consequence Culture

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS As I will occasionally do, I am going to try and make a point via the brilliance of others. And they don't get much more brilliant than John McWhorter. Some call it "cancel culture", but I do prefer "consequence culture", for many of the reasons Professor McWhorter cites in this podcast. I've read his insightful book ...

Portico Darwin: I Thank You

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Disclaimer: I do what I'm faulting others for in the rant that follows. With that said: enough with the overwrought thank you's to wait staff. To baristas. To the people that wash your car. To any server or laborer that's directly doing something for you. Friends, they're doing their jobs, and our virtue signaling via...

Portico Darwin: Arrival Palms Springs

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS After a harrowing drive down a typically treacherous I-5, and an almost as harrowing meal at a "steakhouse" in the perfectly awful "Town Center" (at least it wasn't "Centre") in Santa Clarita on Friday night, we arrive at the very special Cove House in Palm Springs Saturday afternoon. Will we get over having it only t...

Portico Darwin: Emotional Intelligence

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS This is the third installment of an occasional ongoing series where I'll try to pass on knowledge, etc. that I've found useful and helpful. Here are the first and second in the series. My decision to move on from my own show at Casa Integration led to me being a big consumer of business-oriented self-help and/or impro...

Portico Darwin: Tupper Lake Trip Wrap

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS The last few days in Tupper Lake and The Adirondacks were warm and sunny, in the upper 50's most days. I had a great last dinner in town with Bulleit Bob and his lovely wife Betty at the Tupper Lake stalwart Little Italy. Great way to wrap up a great trip. The food was actually quite impressive - I'd say Textbook, but...

Portico Darwin: Guns

It's awful that the next sentence is a cliché' now. In the wake of yet another tragic mass shooting in the United States . . . I decided to post something that I've mentioned to some of you over the years. It is my proposal for somehow getting a grip on the gun plague in America. 1. Guns are dangerous - even the most ardent gun enthusi...

Portico Darwin: Voices Inside My Head

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I'd like to share with you some of the podcasts to which I listen regularly. These brilliant people make me a bit smarter and/or less crazy (or at least I like to tell myself) with every listen. And they make my exercise routine (daily 4-5 mile walks) much more enjoyable. Here they are. Kara Swisher and her influentia...

Portico Darwin: Bonus Concert

Warning: this may offend some viewers, or at least those with ears. Live Concert Footage from Murphy Manor

Portico Darwin: A Darwin Family Reunion

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Well, you can't say this blog is pointless. In fact, due to these very ramblings, I had the honor of hosting on Saturday the elder of the Darwin family, cherished first cousin and spiritual wunderkind Lally Darwin Heinz Esq. and her uniquely delightful husband, the storied jurist Harrison Heinz, for lunch Saturday her...

Portico Darwin: An Italian St. Patty's Day

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It was just a beautiful St. Patrick's Day here yesterday. Warm and sunny, as you can see below. While I mostly respect and support the regulatory regime in place for decades to keep the Adirondack State Park primarily a wilderness area, and avoid tourist fiascos like Lake George Village, I just do not understand how a...

Portico Darwin: Adirondack Wonders

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I flew from the gorgeous, new-ish (and nearly empty) Harvey Milk Terminal 1 from SFO to ALB on Saturday. For an airport, T1 at SFO is wonderful. Plus, the new AA Admiral's Club there is about as good as it gets (domestic benchmark = Alaska Airlines at SEA). Easy-peasy into ALB via a packed ORD, and in to the Serviceab...

Portico Darwin: Special Bonus Coverage

And this is just a small part of Murphy Manor!

Portico Darwin: Don’t Work So Much

TODAY’S RAMBLINGS As I embark in a few moments on the 3rd (here's the first and the second) of about a zillion wacky things I'm doing this year, I find myself feeling a massive amount of gratitude for being able to retire or at least semi-retire. I'd like to express that gratitude, but in a different way. I think the topic of this blog...

Portico Darwin: Book Suggestion

Housekeeping: I've added headers because I'm OCD! There's today's post, feedback from subscribers, and the music section ("KLUF" is another outcropping of my vivid [drug- and alcohol-addled?] imagination). Thank you for reading. TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Those that know me know that I like to push books on my friends - like all of the time. So...

Portico Darwin: Drives and Drinks at Cavallo Point

While it may seem ludicrous splurging on a fat-cat hotel a scant 5 minutes from one's home, it is not to your inveterate traveler friend, Portico Darwin. This past weekend, Julie, me, and senior exec/real estate mogul Ol' Purple Label spent 3 glorious (and sodden) nights at Cavallo Point: The Lodge at Golden Gate, and I will say after ...

Portico Darwin: Losing a Pet

Sometimes, I'll just let someone much smarter than I carry the load. I give you Scott Galloway, a professor at the NYU Stern School of Business, and a general badass (look him up and listen to his podcasts and/or watch his YouTube vids). To me, his blog post is about the power of love and time - but what did you draw from it? https://w...

Portico Darwin: The Rating System

Obnoxious? Yes. Of course, you could always start your own blog and use your own rating system . . . You can count on seeing these often. About hotels. Headphones. National Parks. Maybe even the occasional scoundrel. I've given examples! Diamond Certified: typically a travel and occasionally, a restaurant or gear, rating. It is the pin...

Portico Darwin: Plans To Enjoy Life

Portico Darwin is back - subscribe at the bottom of this message to my new blog to get the latest on gear, books, music, travel, dining, intoxicants, recipes, and current events. Anything political will be reason-, fact-, and evidence-backed. Every few days, I'll be posting something that caught my eye or ear or more. My ego gone wild?...

Portico Darwin: Who or What is Portico Darwin?

On December 15, 2000, dear friend Arthur, my better half and wife Julie, and I attended an Everclear concert at The Warfield in San Francisco. They were touring in support of the second volume of their "Songs From an American Songbook" albums. Good show, not great (the official term is "Serviceable") but out of it came my nom de plume,...