..from London to Jerusalem, Newark, Grand Cayman, New Jersey, Scottish Highlands, Geneva, French Jura, London. Seen Al Aqsa, affectionate stingrays, a nor'-easter at Newark, a blizzard blowing in from Skye, the Forth Rail Bridge at dawn, fine cheese for a pittance. Little has changed meanwhile apart from Spitzer's unzipping. I'm still peeved at the awfulness of all the candidates for President, tho the comic potential is ok. Maybe a Clinton Restoration would inoculate America against nannyism for a few decades. Maybe an Obama Assumption would inoculate America against liberal crushes for a few decades. How about 'Obaminable Snowman' as a sobriquet for this privileged, socialist coke-sniffer? Maybe McCain will pick Romney for VP, then explode from a burst blood vessel and Romney will become President and I will win my bets.

I'm agonizing over which Mac should replace my G5 Mac Pro which works fine (apart from mild fan hum compared to the silence of newer machines), but I lust for novelty and I need an Intel machine to work with the compressed video format of my new videocam (Canon HG10 AVCHD 40GB High Definition Camcorder - a miracle for $640). I unpacked an iMac for my mother-in-law recently and it's gorgeous. Form, function, grace, virtually wireless, floats in the air - I think I'm in love. Maybe I'll get a 24" iMac and link it to a 22" screen, tho logic dictates a 15" MacBook Pro so that I just use a single machine wherever I am. That + a large screen is pretty joyful. Mick's struggles wiith Windows may be a professional necessity, but I suggest he get a MacBook to run that baroque software in parallel to OS X so that he can access a modern platform as well.

I'm also impressed with my iPod Touch. It's wi-fiability, synchronicity, sdk and acceptable screen are crucial advances. Apple is taking over. Resistance is futile. Pass the pills.