It’s been quite a while since I have made an appearance in this august forum. What started as a technical login problem was followed by a major realignment of my day job responsibilities that led to a corresponding shift in my creative priorities. I have nonetheless remained a loyal reader of this blog, as well as (if I may insert a plug) www.powerlineblog.com. Since last posting here, my transformation to the right has continued, with not less than a little assistance from the likes of Senators Kennedy, Boxer, Durbin, et al. Has anyone else noticed a pattern of expression wherein they claim to be troubled, perplexed, disturbed, etc.? The best that I can say for their honesty is that, if one takes those terms out of context, they could be said to be appropriate adjectives.

Also since last posting, I spent some time in Paris on business. I arrived on election day 2004, and was there when Yassir Arafat was greeted by 72 Virginians (yes, to paraphrase a recently circulated joke, I said Virginians – Jefferson, Washington, Madison, Monroe. Allah got it wrong). Paris is quite a place. I spent an entire day walking about 20 miles, seeing the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, and just generally absorbing the ambience. A highlight of my day was encountering a Scottish bagpiper at the Museum of Man playing “Oh Susannah” with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

An added twist to the trip was that I read The Di Vinci Code on the way there, the fictional events of which largely occurred in Paris. I found the stereotype of French rudeness to be fair, although I think it may be a Parisian thing. I was in Toulouse in 1999 and found the inhabitants to be quite delightful.

I am bound for Munich in three weeks. I have scheduled the trip to allow two tourist days, the first of which I plan to spend on a walking tour of the old city. On Saturday I will take the train to Berchtesgaden which, you readers may recall, was the home of the Nazi party that was featured in the last episode of Band of Brothers. Hitler’s summer home, the Eagle’s Nest (Kehlsteinhaus) is now a restaurant but is, unfortunately, closed in the winter. Hopefully the business that requires my presence next month will also require a follow up visit next summer. In any case, my hotel supposedly has WLAN in the lobby, so I hope to post live blogs.

To change subjects, Kevin Connors’ recent post motivated me to check out radioparadise.com. While much of it is REM or Kate Bush wannabees, I have found some great old stuff (does anybody remember Hot Tuna’s “Water Song”?) I am now using a program from stationripper.com which creates individual mp3 files from the audio stream. My next project is to get a program for editing mp3 files in order to clean up the beginnings and endings, which often have part of the preceding or proceeding songs attached.

Radar