The Sea and the Rhythm

Greetings to one and all from another breezy porch at the Jersey Shore... on the spottiest WiFi connection of all time (no signal; 2.0mbps, for the curious).

The things I do to say "hey."

Had to escape Philly -- the mercury was topping out past 110F (~41 C) yesterday, and I was about to kill someone. Thankfully, it's a slow day (there was barely a Bollettino this morning), and I got down here in one piece last night... while driving through a lightning and hailstorm.

I didn't plan it that way, it just sprung up on me.

Talked with an Australian friend earlier who was curious about the "campiest nation on earth" bit; "Where did you get that from?" he asked.

And so I started ticking off the Down Under cultural icons: "Woop Woop, Olivia Newton-John, Dame Edna..."

"Oh, right. You may be onto something," he replied, going on to submit another name which supports the thesis -- "George Pell" -- and proceeding to tell me the story of how the archbishop of Sydney (progenitor of the famous Melbourne "Spice Girls" and chairman of Vox Clara) and Barry Humphries (the quotidian identity of Dame Edna Everage) once shared a long flight together, "both in first class, of course."

Moral of the story: long before ICEL tried to claim it, Humphries was the master of the "serene and kindly gaze."

Hope you're all relaxing a good bit. Despite the technical limitations, I am on duty, so if anything
earth-shattering comes in, you'll have it in short order.

As always, stay tuned.

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