We've been off at the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop this past week. We had a great time learning, playing and jamming. Shelly wrote and performed another of her parody songs, and I got to sing lead on a rock 'n' roll song at the dance. If you've got any interest at all in guitar playing, check out PSGW.

Some tips on the Vancouver Folk Music Festival.

1. Bring sun block, a hat and lip block. And an umbrella.
2. Bring a low-back camp chair and a knapsack.
3. Probably one full day is enough.

I wish I'd thought to bring a tape recorder, as I could have some interviews for my radio show. It was a good festival, beautiful spot, not too crowded.

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U.S. News Online just published their Best Hospitals Honor Roll. The UW Medical Center ranks 13th nationwide and is the top hospital in the Northwest.

Thanks to Arts & Letters Daily for this link to a review of Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph Over Adversity, 1822-1865 by Brooks D. Simpson. The reputation of Grant, both as General and as President, is rising. Sympathizers of the Lost Cause had managed to trash it pretty well. Grant's success as a General was remarkable and influenced military thinking far more than Lee. As a President, he stood staunchly against racism. It was only after Grant left office and the Union army withdrew from the South that the Klan and Jim Crow laws bore down on blacks.
If a detached observer were told that the Union's eastern command fell short of its goal under six commanders, only to succeed under the seventh, that seventh commander's success would appear anything but the inevitable result of a numerical superiority that his predecessors had also enjoyed.

If you're heading to the Vancouver Folk Festival this weekend, be aware that there's a hotel strike affecting seven upscale hotels: the Hyatt Regency, Four Seasons, Holiday Inn Vancouver Centre, Renaissance Vancouver, Westin Bayshore, Delta Vancouver Airport and Delta Pacific Resort.

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Our eleven-year-old dog Plato suffers from hip dysplasia. Arthritis drugs like rimadyl help, as do acupuncture and hydrotherapy, but they aren't a cure. There's not much you can do, short of hip replacement surgery.

We were at my step-brother-in-law Brian's wedding in San Diego and I learned something new - about cigars. I had never understood why you need to cut the end off of a cigar before lighting it. The cheap ceegars we used to smoke in college did not require this (Antonio Y Cleopatra and their ilk, some with the charming warning about "substantial amounts of non-tobacco material"). It turns out that modern day yuppie cigars don't have a hole in the end to suck the smoke through. Here are some web tips on how to cut the end off a cigar before lighting it. It turns out matches are no good either (too much sulpher). But all in all, it's still sometimes amusing to puff on a cigar and emulate a Civil War general.

Some book reviews:

• Good-Bye To All That, by Robert Graves. Written in 1929 (and revised 30 years later) this is the story of the young poet's experiences in the trenches in World War I. It's a gripping tale of loss of innocence, stupidity, bravery, the workings of chance, and personal honor. A great read.
• Cyberselfish, by Paulina Borsook. Reading this book reminded me of why I quit reading Wired (where Borsook once toiled). Subtitled "a critical romp through the terribly libertarian culture of high-tech" it might better be subtitled "a terribly narrow minded view of high-tech from someone who never leaves Palo Alto." She dismisses Microsoft, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard and other companies as not typical, meaning they don't fit her picture of the industry. Well if you make enough exceptions, any rule can be proven.
• Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years, by Sue Townsend. Our English friends Barry and Robin sent me this. It's part of a series of Adrian Mole books which I enjoy. Adrian is a hapless loser who stands on principle while all others around him lose theirs. Lots of laughs, a good one.

63 years ago today, Amelia Earhart disappeared near Howland Island in the South Pacific Ocean.

There's a beautiful, beautiful field
Far away in a land that is fair
Happy landings to you, Amelia Earhart
Farewell, first lady of the air.

-- AMELIA EARHART'S LAST FLIGHT By Dave McEnery, 1937