MORE SENSELESS ACTS OF BLOGGERY

And now, nine (9) random things about my side trip to Tennessee:

1. Full frontal nudity

I went through my very first full-body scan machine. Which means you can now see me naked on the internet somewhere. (Presuming you haven’t already.)

2. Sleepless nights

I had a lot of them, thanks to jet lag, 4:00am pick-up times, and a suicidal deer.

3. Air Force One

We passed it, according to the driver who took me to San Francisco airport at 4am. We were passing Travis Air Force Base at the time. It was dark, and all I saw was what looked like a jumbo jet silhouetted by floodlights, a shadow on the tarmac. I presume it was to do with this.

4. Joe Biden

I didn't see him, but he delayed my connecting flight out of Charlotte. Not personally – he’d arrived at the airport just before we were supposed to pull away from the gate (I presume it was to do with this), and they shut down all air traffic until he was clear of the area. Which took about 45 minutes.

5. More than a feeling

I had no CDs to listen to on the way to Nashville, and there was no iPod port, so I listened to the radio. I heard an awful lot of Boston, for some reason. Also, they're Light Rock now, apparently (though an argument could be made that they’ve always been Light Rock).

6. Used (and new) media

I had CDs to listen to on the trip back, thanks to my traditional stops at the Great Escape and Grimey’s. Now I have a new stop – McKay, which sells used books, CDs and videos. I’d been to the one in Knoxville (and went there this time too), but apparently they recently opened one in Nashville as well. Which means I now have some new Spinrad to read. And I have my old Cheech & Chong records back.

7. The ongoing death spiral of TV news

Why is it that when the US TV news media kicks into high gear and covers a story with hours of in-depth expert analysis, it's about something like Justin Bieber punching a photographer?

8. Pitbull

I saw him perform on the Today Show. The audience screamed for more. I wept for America.

9. Drunk shirtless cowboys and hookers

Spotted hanging out in front of a hotel next to a truck stop outside of Knoxville where I was refueling. I didn’t manage to get a picture, sorry.

To be fair, I don’t know for sure that they were cowboys and hookers. All I know is the guys were all shirtless, drinking beer, wearing cowboy hats, and accompanied by women in halter tops and Daisy Duke shorts. And they were all drinking Rolling Rock. It could have been a graduation party, for all I know. Or an office team-building retreat. Or something.

FWIW, I also saw a Hell's Angel walking a bulldog. 

Anyway, that’s about all I got.

Barbarism starts at home,

This is dF