Full throttle Friday

Seldom is passion best
as rest is stolen slumber
Nesting when can
soar begets watching when
can do

new eyes for the skies

Flying has always been a passion/fantasy, whether in a airliner window seat, superman style (love those ultra rare exhilirating dreams where you just s o a r), but especially in small planes; solo'd a 1964 Cessna 150 sumthin sumthin years ago, but flown little since; this life stage has me looking upward again, and coupled with my promotion of locals doing eye-opening coastal fly-overs, I've been up a few times lately. My eyesight is a concern, as a ten year old radial kero something or other procedure on my right eye for distance has petered out; Friday last I was fitted with contacts in possible preparation for another eye procedure, and they seemed to help, allowing me to see clearly near and far; important to see the gauges as well as other air traffic, eh? Bolstered by good eye eye news and armed with a spare hundred dollar bill and no bad habits to blow it on, I called for one 23 year old helicopter instructor and commercial fixed wing pilot Jessica, whom I'd met during a recent trip to the airport to oversee the Leadership Terrebonne class of 2008 Coastal Fly-Over; alas, Jessica wasn't available for a flight, so instructor Bryan had to do; after a quick trip to Larose to pick up a customer check, which somewhat justified my flying binge, where I also picked up one Doug Cheramie, who had challenged me to buy him lunch when I had stopped by the local radio station, the Ragin Cajun, to invite on air host and friend Kirk Cheramie to lunch; Kirk couldn't make it, so Doug and I did the buffet at Jenny's Balcony; Doug is a political animal and uber LSU fan, and knows everyone on the bayou, and lunch with him is an elongated affair, as he works the room with small talk and tidbits. Told Doug I was going flying that afternoon, and he acted like he'd like to go, said he'd like to see the Lafourche levee from the air; a call to Bryan to see if the 4 place Cessna 172 was available found it to be, so I invited Doug along; never know when you will need Tiger tickets...

next: Full throttle and damned if the eyes didn't work!

WWL TV news clip (dig the barges in the background)

Check out this link: ttp://www.wwltv.com/video/news-index.html?nvid=259947&shu=1

Maya Me and Windell

30 seconds down on my fifteen minutes of fame...

Was on teevee tonight, Channel 4 6pm news, interviewed by Maya Rodriguez (did I get that right? didn't get a card) as a spokespersonman for the Voice of the Wetlands, voicing my opinion on the FedpondGov short changing Louisiana; Tab was on a rare vacation with his family and out of pocket, so I pulled the short straw; arranged to meet them under the twin span on the hospital side where Bayou Terrebonne intersects the Intracoastal (or is it the other way around...the Bayou was there first) right across from the Coroner's office d/b/a the Morgue; turned out to be an appropriate spot, as tugs and barges passing provided for some good cutaway shots, and I was able to reference the Morgue across the street in answering a question about Terrebonne's vulnerability to a storm surge; as I was waiting in line for a prescription pick up at Walgreen's at 5:55 and didn't get home until 6:08, of course they led with my story and I walked in as it signed off; damn, I even hurried home to change shirts (from a white knit to a blue button down) before the interview, as I certainly didn't start today dressing for success, as this was the Day Before Vacation, when everything that has been procrastinated for 48 weeks gets done, efficiently checked off a list that appears once a year;

VOW Fest 2008 heating up...know for sure Channel 4 will be there!

Pigeon Forge, Dollyworldland and the Biltmore Beckon...

I've got a solution...a couple, actually

Now that the FedPondGov has Big Bertha'd the latest salvation setback salvo by requiring Jindal and his jilted to ante nearly 2 billion to get into the levee game, which coincided with last week's "drill drill drill" energy independence push by the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, it's created an opportunity for the state to one-up the power structures that have both fed and bled us since before that first melding of lard, flour, onions, okra, stock and shrimp in a cast iron pot on an open hearth fire in early September, 1798. Stay tuned.