Getting Ready to Go to Barga, Tuscany

Late night at the cafe. We're in the midst of an art show opening for Simon Camp, who is showing photographs of Rwanda in our cafe. It's not a big night. Despite good publicity only a few people showed up. But it made me realize that doing this kind of event pays us back down the road.

I am distracted and so is Cindy. We both are thinking about Barga, and our upcoming visit there beginning tomorrow night. We'll take off at 6 and head over the Atlantic to Pisa, and then drive to the college, artsy town of Barga.

We've enjoyed emailing and getting to know Kerry, our hostess, and we're bringing her Oreos, as requested. And we're packing our Scopa cards, she loves to play that bizarre and fun card game that is popular in Italy.

A few more packing items, and some thing I am forgetting. Oh well time at noon to take the plunge, can't wait to report to you from Tuscany!

Writing is All In the Family on GoNOMAD

It's been a criminally long time---two days without a single post. I actually did try to post on Monday but the photo I wanted to upload of Cindy in front of the MAMBO museum in Bologna refused to comply. She's just had her story about that fine city posted on the website. It's a well-crafted appreciation for a classical, traditional and very old city that most Italians love but most Americans can't find on a map of Italy.

I am proud that Cindy continues to write for us. She's joined by so many of my friends and relatives: My daughter Kate Cosme did a story about family travel in Old Orchard Beach (featuring photos of my adorable grandson Nathan), and Senior Travel Kent St. John's son wrote about Madrid for us just last month.

It's so much fun to have members of my family share their talents with well-written and informative articles for the website. I am working in the cafe again this afternoon, so won't get a chance to crank out my new political story about Colombia, but I hope to get a chance next week.

I'll be truly on vacation then, at our rented apartment on a farm in the village of Barga, in Tuscany, poolside with my laptop and my notebooks. I can't wait!

Bin Laden Kills Fellow Moslems Yet Takes No Rap

It's been a sweltering weekend--one that we should remember next February and try to savor. Sitting outside last night, it never dropped below about 75...what a change, but then, it's August for God's sake.

I'm in the cafe and it's busy...nice to see Sundays finally picking up. I picked up the NYT Week in Review and read Thomas Friedman's well written essay. He makes the point that if Bush et al would only pursue and treat bin Laden with just some of the vigor that they attacked Democrats, we'd be doing much better at the war on terror. They are missing countless chances to paint him as the true bad guy that he is, and so, to some he remains a hero/freedom fighter.

Friedman cites the recent triple suicide bomb murders that killed 500 Kurds on August 14. The heinous act was orchestrated and planned by al Queda. Yet the adminstration did nothing to point this out and to shine a light on the fact that the terrorists are the biggest killers of Moslems by far. He says that Bush is losing a PR war to a mass murderer.

He said that according to al Jazeera's Arab reporters in Doha, Bush would lose badly in a popularity contest with bin Laden. Bush's term, thankfully, ends soon. But Osama goes on forever, or until the Arab world begins to see him as the bad guy that he is.

Turning Jatropha Plants Into Biodiesel=$$$ in India

Have you ever heard of a Jatropha plant? It's a weed that grows in barren landscapes, needing barely any water and surviving tough soil. Today's WSJ reports that in India it's the latest hot topic and thousands of acres are being planted with what was once a worthless weed. It all has to do with biofuels.

Corn, which Iowa is enamored with, produces a barrel of oil for about $80. Jatropha, which has no food value, costs about $43. That's the key, it isn't competing with other uses like feedling livestock. So Indian officials, such as the owners of the state railway ministry, have planted the weed along the length of their tracks, and others are finding huge swaths of unfertile land to transform into Jatropha farms.

Think of all the land that we don't use in the US. India has even more: millions of acres that grow nothing that could grow a crop we can mill into fuel. The pods of the plant have an oil that many Indians used to blow bubbles with when they were kids. People there see this fast-growing weed as a true bridge to tomorrow and are throwing cash into investments in the farms.

One farmer said he used to grow coconuts, but the trees are suffering from lack of water. Now a hearty crop of Jatropha is springing up and it looks like weeds. It will take some years before the market is set, and the farmers can find people to buy their crops. But one firm, Mission, guarantees a profit of about $250 an acre. That's real money in a place like rural India, and that means we'll be hearing more about this stuff in the years ahead.

Early September in Elba

Elba, oh Elba, I am beginning to love you. Spent time today on the phone with Maurizio. He said he would be our personal guide to Elba, where we are traveling on Sept 9. I love planning ferry rides and rental cars in faraway places...we will be meeting his friend Roberta and her family, so we can get to know more about what life is like living in Elba.

Then we'll rent a scooter to do some more exploring. The island, he said, takes one and a half hours to cross. So a bigger place, with Caribbean style coves like this. We are going fishing and will set out to explore this famous island just off Tuscany's coast.

Does This Blazer Make Me Look Like I'm Worth $1000 an Hour?

The cafe is slowing down after a very busy Wednesday. Today I wore a blazer that I bought in Medellin. It's funny how such a garment elicits so many comments. "All dressed up, eh?....Where Are You Going?....Is that New?
It's my 'get out of jail free' blazer that seems to make me impervious to having my bags searched in airports. The guy at customs in Miami said he knew GoNOMAD, and waved me to the right, out of the airport.

Today I read in the WSJ about $1000 an hour lawyers. You might not have known but this is a big breakthrough. Before, Mssrs. Beattie, Susman and Civiletti could only get $995 or $950. But now, customers like Thomas Sager, general counsel at DuPont, will have to break a grand. "One thousand dollars may be someone's choke point, but mine is actually a lot lower," he said. He agreed to a monthly fee to avoid the per hour tab.

Stephen Susman, one of the guys whose charging this rate, said he went up to $1100 an hour to "discourage anyone from hiring me on that basis." He prefers a contingency basis, which ultimately pays much more than even that.

Where Do You Find $21 Million To Buy a TV Station?

I'm working at the cafe this morning but of course, have to take time to blog---hey, that's my day job! So I picked up BusinessWest and of course turned to the story of the month: Publisher John Gormally's purchase of abc40, the Springfield MA television station.

The news is good. He's buying the station from Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Inc, so this important outlet will again be in local hands. He recalled William L. Putnam, who owned the station in the 70s and his famous and controversial editorials, and commented slyly that he 'wouldn't rule that out.

But the story about Gormally in his own BusinessWest left out a glaring question that's been bugging me since I first read about this purchase. How did he get $21.2 million in cash to buy it?

Nowhere in this long article does editor George O'Brien broach this delicate, yet crucial question. Yeah the magazine sells ads but come on--TWENTY MILLION? Who are the silent funding partners, who put up the big bucks to pull this off? Even the bigger Valley players don't flash that kind of cash, even Eric Suher doesn't make purchases in high double digit millions.

Come on, fess up John....where did all that cash come from?

Bernardo Sips Coffee in El Retiro

This village outside Medellin had long long streets all heading into the square, where we had this cuppa from a cafe that is devoted to the national soccer team.

The end of a busy day at the office. My mom and dad came into the cafe, for the first time since we enlarged the space, and had coffee with Nathan Kate and I. Nice to show them the place.

Ireland Leads the Way in Europe--More Babies

Reading the New York Times on Cindy's patio, I found a story about the fast growing population of The Republic of Ireland. It's Europe's Number one country for population growth--a mean feat on a continent with such stagnating growth rate that no one knows who will change the sheets and take out the trash in twenty years. Italy is the worst, with the 1.2 birthrate that means older and older average age citizens and few babies seen on the streets. In my travels there it was a marked contrast with Denmark and Colombia, where babies are everywhere.

Yet in a suburb of Dublin called Swords, the principal of a local school reminisced about the old days, back in 2001, when there were 21 kids enrolled. "Next September, we will have 340. We have children from 40 countries."

"Demographers predict that the population could rise to over five million in about a dozen years. With a growing population, the island could match the number eight million--and that was how many people lived in Ireland before the devastating 19th century famine."

The other phenomena about Ireland is the average age--only 33 years old. There are many Poles, Lithuanians and Nigerians, and they're all allowed to vote. "This has helped immigrants win seats in local councils." One city has a mayor from Nigeria. It makes a lot of sense to allow voting, because this is how immigrants become a real part of a society.

Are You A Member of the Dunkin' Tribe?

Do you really wanna be? Dunkin' Donuts, now owned by Thomas H. Lee Partners, Bain Capital Partners and the Carlyle Group, is big on market research to keep up its torrid growth rate. A story in the WSJ a few weeks ago discussed how they decide which new cities to open locations in, using psychographic studies to gauge people's values etc.

They call their loyal customers members of the Dunkin' Tribe. They say that there is an unpretentious attitude that hates the Starbucks chain. Questions include whether someone has used his or her looks to get ahead, or whether it was important to live an upscale lifestyle.
So far the marketing folks have decided that about one third of the US is in the Tribe.

In Nashville the local manager has been asking workers to remember people's names and drink orders. They even play music in some of their stores...a far cry from the old days when they first began in Massachusetts as a single cafe.

I often go out of my way to find a local coffee shop that's not a Dunkin or a Starbucks. I like to meet the people who own and run smaller, local coffee shops to find out what they're doing and I often bring back ideas for our cafe that I find in my travels.

These Photos Make You Wanna Eat!

At the end of the day I decided to jazz up our GoNOMAD Cafe Myspace page. Click the image to get a mouth-watering close-up!

So we added a whole new photo gallery by Manager and photographer Liz Bagley. They make the food look very good.

Hat tip to my son-in-law Francisco Cosme, who first suggested we put up pictures of the menu items to help people decide...like they do at MacDonalds!

Gibberish...But Relevant, Valuable Gibberish, to Us

Web Pro News is the Bible when it comes to trying to understand the vast web with its many secret rules and algorithms. Often, one of the big decisions a website editor makes is who to link to. Every day emails are received from someone seeking a link. And it's a challenge to figure out which ones to accept, and which to delete. Here is a shaman who can answer, this is from Web Pro News today.

"Bob Masa, whose been in SEO for a decade (making him one of the veterans) says it doesn't matter if you have a million or ten reciprocal links as long as they add value and relevance to your business (he addresses business only, not non-profit):

It is not about reciprocal links or how many is too many. It is about making more money from less visitors with less expense and more profit.

Don't let your self get sucked into wasting your time judging linking opportunities with a yardstick of whether Google will think it is excessive or not. Approach each reciprocal link deal with a single thought. Will this link exchange bring me enough paying customers that I can justify recommending to my visitors to go to his site instead of staying at mine?

So there you have it, from a certified expert: use some common sense when judging reciprocal links."

A Biker Regrets the Bawdy Women Tattooed on his Legs

After our 3:30 am wake-up call in Medellin, we're finally on the last leg of our long voyage home, aboard a 737 bound for Hartford from Miami. In the seat pocket of the jet I picked up a copy of Mountain Biker and read about a tattooed biker who regretted his tats when he traveled to China. It was a column written by Dan Koepell called "Bad Ink."

He was out fetching bread one morning during a bike trip in faraway Xinjiang China, and his calf length pants rose up just enough to expose the 'bawdy ladies" he had tattooed on each lower leg. As he picked out the delicious fresh bread that's roasted in a clay oven in every town in the region, Koepel could feel a chill, and sensed that people were looking at him when he continued on his way, munching the bread in big hunks.

A man tracked him down, he was wearing the traditional square Turkic squared hat, and he did not look pleased. This is a very traditional Muslim region, where headscarves are worn and prayers are said thrice daily facing Mecca. The man was upset with Koepell, and his look, while not understood in words, asked a question: how could he depict a mother, a sister, or his wife like that?

For the first time, he said, he felt ashamed of his tattoos. I am surprised this was the first time he's ever thought this, since nearly every time I have seen a person who has huge tats on his legs, I've always shook my head and wondered: "Why? Why would you indelibly mark yourself, like a little kid might do with a magic marker, with unremovable ink?"

Koepell admitted that for a moment, he wondered the same thing.

From Santa Domingo, Looking Out at a New World

The people in the Santa Domingo barrio, at the very top of a mountain overlooking the city, live in a teeming and crowded world, with every street going nearly up and down or squiggling sideways. This area has been reborn with steadfast determination of city officials who realized that part of the problem was how disconnected it was from the rest of the city.

People we passed by were smiling in the streets and in their little houses, cobbled together with bricks with tin roofs. One of the things that I like about Colombia is how busy everyone is. They are selling loose cigarettes and gum, or sugarcane juice, or offering a shoeshine or building a house. Everyone is busy working, and you don't see as many people hanging around and drinking with the dark and lost expressions that I have seen in the Dominican Republic and other places.

There is an energy in Medellin that is contagious...a feeling that people are working hard, and going about their business, and collectively wish that the world would give them a second look. We did and we think this country is bound for a great future.

Getting a Cheap Suit in Medellin

Last night we had a farewell dinner with our Latin American friends, who were meeting in the lobby for a 3:30 am departure. Ugh! Our host was the General Manager of the InterContinental in Medellin, Tony Ruiz.

As he began his little speech to us in Spanish, he looked over at Shoul and I and said "can I speak English?" and we enthusiastically said YES! He is from Miami and has been the GM here for five years. We asked him about what it felt like to go from Salt Lake City to this city in Colombia, and he said he and his wife have enjoyed it. He explained that in the hotel business, you just never know where your next posting will be, it's like the army. Security, while mostly unseen, is a huge part of the job here. He says he has businessmen from the US every week exploring investments here in the booming Colombian economy.

We asked him about the city and one of the things he mentioned was that this is a great textile center. Men's suits, he said, were about $100 for something you would find in the states for $800. He said all of his hotel clients shop at Arturo Calle, in the San Diego Shopping mall. So we are heading over to be suited up and then at 12 we meet Lilian Valez, a travel editor at El Colombiano, the local paper.

Then at 2 we will head out with a new guide into the country to see an authentic old village and drive up and down the mountain roads.

You'll see it all here, and if you're up listen to Tom Vannah's show on WHMP at 7 am Friday for a full report about the trip.

Romance in Medellin's Santa Domingo Neighborhood

We passed this kissing couple on our way up the cable car, sneaking a moment away from little brother, who was climbing a tree around the corner and no doubt was just about to disturb them.

Chatting on a Rented Cell by the Minute

C
This is one way poor entrepreneurs make money in Colombia--Minuto Celular. Just take a phone, put up an orange sign, and your neighbors or passers by can make cell phone calls on your phone for some pesos.

We've seen these as high as 400 pesos, or as low as 200 pesos in the barrios. This was shot in Santa Domingo, a hillside barrio that our guide explained "on a scale of 1-6, with 6 being the richest, the people who live on this mountain are all 1.

The city has built an aerial tram that takes people all of the way up and connects them to the rest of the city down below. Bullets used to fly between FARC and Paramilitaries but today it is calm and residents enjoy a city-built library up at the top as well as many new schools and some of the worst houses have been torn down.

Meeting the Mayor and Hearing His Story

Today was a busy day with our busload of South American journalists, we covered a lot of ground in and around Medellin. The most interesting part of the day was when we went to Medellin's city hall, and met the mayor of the city. After passing through the metal detectors, of course.

Sergio Fajardo is a handsome man with long hair, dressed in a blazer and blue jeans, he spoke to us in a big conference room and addressed head-on the challenges that face his city. He said that journalists have focused for so long on the drugs and violence, that's it's been a tough road to show the good. But there is so much that has been accomplished, as evidenced by the New York Times story a few weeks ago praising the changes. "We've gone from fear to hope," he said, and he's hosted mayors from Brazil and elsewhere to help them succeed as Medellin has done.

I spoke with a vendor who was selling sugar cane drinks and he said bullets used to whizz over his head, and he knew many people who were killed in the battles between the FARC and the paramilitaries. Now his business is thriving and it was very safe--enough for 18 journalists to walk the streets and chat with the locals as we toured the new library that Spain helped build up here. No way, said our guides, could we have done that 10 years ago.

The Mayor was once a mathematician at the local university. He said that part of his success came from the fact that he wasn't an insider, not a politician but a citizen. His cabinet too, are not from the inside, and that's made people feel better about them. He's built dozens of new libraries and community centers and has battled the corruption that stifles progress. The city's motto is 'don't look back, look forward,' and 'compromise for the public good.' It's called social intervention, providing for the people and maintaining a hardline on security, that has made the big difference.

The city is basking in the glow of a wave of foreign tourism, including Americans, and it's sad that the great and hard working mayor's term ends in October. Then again, he might be a great candidate for a much higher office in the years ahead.

Eating Criolla in Plaza Major, Medellin Center

We had lunch yesterday in the Plaza Major...while the PA announcers repeatedly tested the mikes booming out over the squares, in preparation for the 50th anniversary of the Feria de las Flores, a huge flower parade. The group was seated at a very long table...with TV crews and journalists from Venezuela, Peru, Mexico, Dominican Republic and the UK. Our guides sat on our end and told us some more about Colombia.

"The rich subsidize electricity for the poor," said Juan Jose Del Real Ibanez, a big man who speaks animatedly and easily in English. "Most of the city has internet connections...the government sells computers very cheaply and lets people pay for them in installments like their electricity bills. "Most poor people here pay about $5 for all their utilities. All of the public services are available as pay-as-you-go, people can put $10 down like they do for cellphones. So we don't have the problems of stealing electricity you see in other countries."

We ate Criolla--Colombian food. One dish was a large yellow colored soup served with an avocado and a banana which you slice up and put in with the meat and broth. "You can drink the tap water here," Juan said proudly.

On the way from the airport, our guide waxed enthusiastically about her President, Uribe. "He works so hard, gets up at 4 in the morning and works till 11." The President himself was in the stands when we watched the Silleteros, or flower bearers, trudge by with their burdens of racks of flowers. We saw the helicopter over head dumping flower petals, and on the way out, we saw the official Presidential bano, a portapotty cordoned off for Uribe's use only.

Viva Medellin! Viva Antioque! A Heartfelt Cheer Here

I've spent a whole day and night in this mysterious and misunderstood country. And I love it already! Colombia truly has gotten a bad rap, and over and over again, we got a chance by meeting friendly people and seeing wonderful sights to prove that it deserves a second look.

Of course, I'm not saying there aren't problems here. A newspaper story was headlined "Three Days with No Homocides," celebrating a dubious milestone for Medellin. But then I thought, what is New York or Chicago's record? How many US cities go very long without any murders?

There are some interesting changes that have come with the state of extreme security now in place here. Motorcyclists must wear vests that have their plate number prominently displayed on the back, and on the helmet. That's because of the large number of murders committed on the backs of speeding motorbikes.

The police, army and private security presence is extreme. It's hard to walk that far without seeing some sort of a guy with a gun. Guardhouses are manned all over the place, and there are even men who wear jackets with Vigilancia on the back, these are sanctioned private neighborhood security forces who back up the cops. Roadways are full of police cars pulling over motorists and barriers and blockades are common.

Our guides told us that the last pockets of regular FARC and drug cartel problems are down by the Venezuelan and Ecuadoran borders. The bad guys run over the border and cannot be hunted down by Colombian forces. People here are angry with many Scandinavians who somehow confuse the FARC rebels with freedom fighting heroes, and actually give them money. There is no way these murdering drug dealers deserve any support--the list of horrors is long and proven.

The exhuberance that we felt today at the Flower Parade, when the crowd cheered Viva Medellin! Viva Antioque! was heartfelt. It was like we were hearing them cheer eachother on, and to the rest of the world, all they can do is try harder to solve their security problems and invite them to come and see what Colombia is really like.

Down, Down, Down, into the Valley of Medellin

I am lying on a very hard bed at the Intercontinental Hotel in Medellin. We landed at about 9:30 pm and were met by Alejandra, a 20-something young woman with a lovely smile and a shapely figure. One of the first things that she told us was that this city is home to the most beautiful women in the world. And that the city is known for flowers and fashion, and that partly explains the many good looking women. We couldn't disagree.

The route to Medellin from the airport is down, down, down. The city unfolds in a dramatic sweep. I cannot recall ever landing at an airport at such a high altitude, nor descending so far down to get to a city. It was dramatic! Alejandra pronounces the city like the pilot on the plane--Meh da JEAN.

We checked into our hotel and then found the restaurant. Alejandra asked us more than once if we'd like her to take us out to some nightclubs, but we (Paul Shoul, Jason from California, and I) were tired and hungry and so we passed. But she gave us her cell and I'm sure we'll get the chance to see the nightlife with her some time during the trip.

We got to know each other a bit during dinner. The food came on big plates in huge heaping portions, I had Trilogy of Aves, or chicken, turkey and duck chunks with veggies. Paul chose the traditional fare, rice, beans, fried egg and a Flintstone-sized piece of bacon. Jason is an editor for the E channel, splicing and dicing Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton footage and shoots video and writes for In the Know Traveler.

Tomorrow we'll get to see the city center and the famous Silleteros parade, men who come down from the hills bedecked with thousands of flowers, and we'll see some other city highlights.

South Beach Is Further from the Airport by Bus

We are in South Beach, Miami, at Jerry's Famous Deli. I was happy to find a WiFi signal and we have such a long layover, there was no way we were going to stay in the airport for five hours. But Paul the nervous nellie was right about one thing--taking a bus all the way to South Beach was more of an ordeal than we expected.

We caught the J Bus, and stopped at every bus stop we could find. More and more poor Miamians boarded the bus, some with laundry, some toting suitcases on wheels, muttering in Spanish. We met a compatriot named Calypso who works for American Airlines and also wanted to escape the airport, so we joined up with her and took a bus ride for 90 minutes...then a second bus to get to South Beach.

The heat here is stiffling....that famous Miami humidity mixed with such clear and blazing sun. Most of the people we watch pass by on the street are wearing bathing suits and cover-ups, and outside on the terrace a couple with a cute little girl making faces in the window.

We'll leave in a bit....and wait in the airport for our 6pm flight to Medellin.

Saturday Night, I'll be at the Intercontinental in Medellin

The hotel is in Medellin's El Poblado residential area, the Intercontinental rests on a hillside, overlooking the valley. Paul Shoul and I should arrive there around 9 pm.

Will keep you as posted as I can!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Bella Goes Under the Bed

BOOM! BOOM! That's how Robin Jaffin punctuated her letter to the Amherst MA board of selectmen when she complained about her neighbor the farmer. In order to keep away unwanted birds, he's been shooting off a propane-powered gun that makes a boom boom noise in frequent intervals all day long.

Jaffin's cocker spaniel, Bella, has refused to come out from under the bed. An article in today's Daily Hampshire Gazette by Nick Grabbe quotes Jaffin. "It's persistent, like water torture. And the noise seems louder when its humid. You can almost feel it in your body."

This isn't the first time an Amherst resident has stared down the face of a noisemaker and blinked. In fact the Town Meeting voted to exempt agricultural noises from bylaws, making the owners of a North Amherst sawmill very happy. A resident complained about being woken up ten times and after a court summons, the farmer was found not guilty. Too bad--farming trumps sleeping in Amherst.

The story provided more information about the gun that's making Bella so unhappy. The propane cannons can be programmed to make the sound of a motorbike, the clatter of cans, barking dogs or even a Huey helicopter. But her neighbor has stuck with the boom of the gun. She is considering putting Bella on Prozac.

And there is little sympathy in town for those former city dwellers who have chosen the quiet countryside. The old farmer's catch-all stop 'em in their tracks line was trotted out by Jim Pitts, farmer and member of the Farm Committee: "If you're going to complain about farmers, don't do it with your mouth full."

Uneasy is the Head that Is Denied the Crown

I remember once telling a woman acquaintance who had just begun a fundraising job at a local college to pursue the richest woman in Massachusetts--Abigail Johnson. She's the scion of the Johnsons who run Fidelity, the world's largest mutual fund. But at 45, she's already been passed over by dad Ned to run the firm. With billions in the bank, she hardly needs the job, but it must be tough having a dad who rejects you as the heir apparent.

Fidelity watchers thought they had it figured out when Ned promoted Ellyn McColgan. But today's NY Times reports that Ellyn has flown the coop. Maybe it's because Ned put a layer of management between her and himself. I've always been fascinated by the succession struggles people go through in big companies. It's never just as simple as passing it on to your kids any more. "There is a long history of people who want the top job [at Fidelity] and are capable of doing it, said one observer. "But they are never given the opportunity to show they can run it."

One bright spot for Abby--even if her future position as chairman is in doubt. By McColgan leaving, she's just doubled the value of her Fidelity stock. That's gotta count for something, right?

Movin' On Up--To the New York Times Travel Show

Once more, GoNOMAD reaches high and scores! We have been exhibiting at a major New York Tradeshow for four years, and every year we have gotten more out of it. While we've loved our January shows at the Adventure Expo, the time has come to move up.

So I'm proud to announce that GoNOMAD will join hundreds of other travel businesses as exhibitors at the New York Times Travel Show at the Javits Convention Center from Feb.29-March 2, 2008.

Aim high, we always say...and this is the premier travel trade show in the country. We can't wait to meet our new friends in high places...and we'll bring the whole gang to the show and make valuable connections and promote our brand.

Comings and Goings in the GoNOMAD Cafe

We've got some interesting events coming up in the cafe and today it was time to figure out the details. First I got a visit from Attorney Bill St. James, who lived in Deerfield before moving south a few years ago. We are working with Bill to offer a 'Procrastinator's Workshop,' where cafe customers can set up a will and other documents and meet all at once in the cafe to have them signed and notarized. Since it is one of the things I've been putting off for years, I figured I'd have this event in the cafe.

Tomorrow we host Hidden Tech again, a group of people who work at home and like a chance to get out and socialize and network with other such workers. So we're having a Hidden Tech social at the cafe on Tuesday night. It's always fun to see who turns up and many of these folks are doing very interesting, albeit hidden projects. Having the computers gives us a chance to have them show us what they do.

I worked most of the day on author Peter Heller's new website. He's an old chum with a lot of adventures to tell about, and his site was designed by my artist friend Dave Chouinard. Watching the site come together is fun because Pete is so enthusiastic about it, and I'm quite pleased with the result.

Finally, Chip Ainsworth stopped into say hello. He looked dapper and told us some stories about his job as a Sheriff's process server. He writes a weekly column in the Recorder that I almost never miss. It's funny and full of great quotes.

What's In a Name? With 'Gambling Men,' Suher Gets Our Attention

At one point this morning both Cindy and I were on our laptops, scanning the local news. I asked her what she was reading and she said it was about Eric Suher's newest purchase. I jumped over to Masslive and read that my old boss has a new scheme, and an intriguing name for the LLC that purchased the land.

The name of the company is Dadgayodoh, with is a Seneca Indian name for 'Gambling Men." Hmmmm.

He's just bought 20.5 acres his 60-acre Mountain Park property. The land comes with 54 condos and open land approved for 123 more. It's called Castle Hill, and it's right near where Eric bought a giant house on Mountain View Road.

In classic Suher style, reporter David Reid of the Republican couldn't get him to talk, but he did include some second hand quotes from a neighbor. Cindy and I agreed that seeing Eric's investments in Holyoke mean good things for the city. The neighbor, Lawrence Lajoie, agreed. "I feel a lot more comfortable dealing with Eric Suher than the former owners of Castle Hill, who were from the Boston area,"

And what better time to again revisit gambling, now that Middleborough has opened the door with its Yes vote for the Wampanoags. Two votes in Holyoke both said yes. I predict that Gambling Men are coming to Mountain Park sooner than we think.

Sneaking Away for A Swim in the Berkshires

On Friday it was sweltering, and I took advantage of the warm weather to play hooky. I met Cindy and we drove out to Lenox, where two friends and their daughter were enjoying a week in the Berkshires by the pool. When we first got there, dreaming of that famous "Nestea Plunge" it began to rain. But I dove in anyway, but jumped out quickly fearing the nearby lightning. Then it cleared up and we spent a lazy afternoon lounging in the pool.

The Berkshires were full of New Yorkers. We met a man who teaches tennis lessons and he said that more than half of his clients are the sons and daughters of city dwellers, who come up for vacation and leave with better strokes.

Later that night I got a call from my son in law Francisco exclaiming about a hailstorm. "You should see it, it's crazy here, trees down, wind, blowing like crazy and these hailstones are falling!" I came by the house today to find a huge pine tree limb covering up the spot where Francisco parks his car, it had missed both my shed and the garage. So after I finish up here at the cafe, it's time to put my new truck to work hauling this pine tree and assorted brush off to the dump.

A Fatal Accident Last Night on Interstate 91

I passed this fatal accident last night at about 6:30 pm on Rte 91. Apparently the driver and passenger, 19 and 43, crossed the median and hit head on a vehicle driving southbound. Traffic quickly backed up for miles in the southbound lane.

I snapped these shots and quickly emailed them to the Republican. You'd think they would want a photo of a fatal accident. But they never made it into today's paper nor Masslive. Then I sent them to Jim Foudy at the Gazette. He replied politely, saying they had too much art already. Why not post this on your news blog? Maybe it's a print vs. web thing, we never worry about space limits. Hint: there is NO space problem. Oh well, I tried.

A Trombonist Who Mixes Mali with Monk

Last night I had trouble sleeping. I tossed and turned and eventually got up. That's when I read about Roswell Rudd, American Trombonist and Renaissance man. A story in the WSJ profiled this prolific musical experimenter, who travels to Mali and the Caribbean in search of new beats. Rudd is one of jazz's greatest trombonists, and he just finished up three weeks in China playing with opera singer Li Xuai. Then he'll fly off to Mongolia to play with a 35-piece orchestra using indigenous instruments.

What I love about this guy is how he is so interested in the music of other countries and how he jumps right in and mixes it up with musicians from everywhere. He made a record called "Malicool" with African star Toumani Diabate, who plays the kora, a stringed instrument from West Africa. He's always been a champion of Thelonius Monk, co-leading groups that play his music. It's a great fit, Monk and Mali.

Like Rudd, I am fascinated by African and Caribbean music. He sums it up well in the story, explaining why he loves these collaborations: "I just sing on the trombone and put all the colors I can into it. [these projects] enable me to bring more of what's possible in terms of melody and rhythm."