ChuckDoherty.com

The trip to California was wonderful, and I will be posting pictures and information about it here in the very near future. Stay tuned.

Tomorrow morning, I will board a plane in Colorado Springs and fly even further west, to spend the weekend in beautiful Sonoma California in the heart of wine country. I’ll be staying in the same complex as my good friend Tom Mainelli and his lovely pal Filomena. On Saturday we will be joined by another good friend, Bill Anderson, the owner of Genesis Audio in southern California. Between them, Tom and Bill have some great connections in the wine industry which means we will be able to visit many high-end premium wineries that are not normally open to the public.

I am hoping for a weekend right out of Sideways, but without the helmet beating or drunk-dialing.

It’s interesting that by putting otherwise intelligent people in a group, the collective IQ of the group falls dramatically. Yesterday, I happened to witness a classic example of just this kind of group-stupid taking place right outside of my hotel window.

Just before seven last night, a crowd of people waiting for what I later learned to be a rap concert started to gather next to the hotel. A line of people formed at the door of the convention center, and soon reached out to the street. Rather than make use of the very wide and empty sidewalk, people entering the line just stood behind the last person even if this meant they were standing in the street itself (see below – click picture for detail).

Soon the line went into and stretched completely across the street, for no other reason other than that was the way it had formed. Not one person in the crowd (and yes, I am aware this is a group of kids waiting for a rap concert, not a Mensa meeting) had the sense to suggest moving the line along the still empty sidewalk. Making matters worse, as cars came by, those blocking the street would drift out of the way enough to let the car through, then close the line up again rather than stay where they were and leave a path for traffic. Each subsequent car seemed to catch them by surprise, as though the very idea of people driving down the road was unheard of.

These sunny, 70-degree days are having an serious (and positive) effect on my constitution. On the way back from lunch, I found myself looking at motorcycles at a local dealer, and checking into the Rent-a-Harley program offered by another local outfit. They are a bit pricey, but very tempting.

Good heavens, the last two days I had. It started when I took the train down to NYC on Saturday morning where I squeezed into the most crowded subway I have seen in my life, walked through some Noah-grade rain between the subway stop on 72nd and the hotel on 77th, and found myself soaked to the bone by the time I got there. Aside from dealing with that bit of unpleasant weather, the rest of the visit could not have been nicer. Once into some dryer clothes I headed out to dinner by way of The Dublin House (right), a fine bar on 79th Street.

I met up with the rest of the usual suspects at Carmine’s where we dug into a dinner that could easily feed a family of four for six months. Next we braved the rain down to the Beacon Theatre to see the Pat Metheny Group. It was an absolutely stunning show, which began with a non-stop performance of his entire new album, The Way Up; a single 68 minute piece that is divided into four movements but performed as one.

After the show, the call of the Dublin House was once again too strong to resist. It was also nice to run into a bartender there who not only remembered me, but was quite concerned about where I had been for the past 5 years or so.

The next morning, I met with my friends Warren, Sherrie, Guy and Valerie for a brunch that stretched over several hours, followed by a few more hours of catching up at Warren & Sherrie’s place in the East Village. A great day, from start to end.

I try to avoid getting onto any political or moral soapboxes here for several reasons. First, no one gives a rat’s ass what I may think about such subjects (nor should they), and secondly I am afraid that I may get so wound up about something that I would burst into flame while typing. However, I just saw something on the news about PETA, and their recently-announced plan to “target” some performer for whatever reason they may have chosen this time (perhaps eating chicken in public) and I had to climb up on the crate just this once.

Let me be very clear where I stand when it comes to these people; I am convinced that there are few organizations out there that are as inherently evil, dishonest, or downright dangerous as PETA. No matter what you might think, they are not protectors of bunnies. They are actually a destructive and disingenuous group of domestic terrorists that should be arrested and thrown in jail. PETA has used their assets to support criminals who have firebombed medical research facilities while continuing to raise the bulk of their money under false pretenses. Their goal is to impose a radical vegetarian lifestyle on everyone else, and to liberate (to use their own words) all animals. Forget about having pets too – that is akin to slavery in their book.

It is well past time to tell them to get bent, and neither cow (bad pun acknowledged) to their demands, nor should the press give out any more ink to discuss them. I say fuck ‘em, along with whatever companion animal they rode in on. These are BAD people. Evil, lying, destructive people.

Are you a type 1 diabetic?  That’s too bad, looks like you’ll have to die if PETA has anything to say about it. You see, PETA would not allow medical uses for animals, such as for insulin production. Oh, that is unless you are Mary Beth Sweetland, Senior Vice President for PETA. It turns out that Sweetland, a diabetic, has been relying upon insulin developed from animals for years to stay alive. Sweetland’s statement regarding this: “I don’t see myself as a hypocrite. I need my life to fight for the rights of animals.” (emphasis mine) So there you have it; the “rights” of animals supercede those of humans. Most humans, that is. Bitch-ass Senior VP’s of PETA are exempt.

Consider for a moment the absurd: a world in which PETA has achieved all of its goals. Obviously, everyone would then be on a Vegan diet since meat and animal products (including eggs and cheese) would be banned. That would leave farms full of animals which would no longer be destined for entering the food chain. PETA does not support keeping animals behind bars either, so I assume that these former farm animals would be need to be “liberated” from their cruel oppressors and set free into their natural environment. I’m not quite sure what the “natural” environment for domestic hogs is, but if PETA was in charge they would probably be let loose to rummage in your backyard for food. And you had better feed them, mister, if you don’t want to end up in jail.