Goin' round the world, gonna find my girl. On my way, I've been this way ten years to the day.

Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Madison, San Francisco, Da Bronx, Peru, Mexico City, Singapore (twice!), Sunnyvale (CA), Milwaukee, Chicago, Spokane, Denver, Pataskala (Ohio), Edmonton, Minneapolis, Albuquerque, Astoria (NY), Concord (CA), Billings (MT), Bremerton (WA)...

If you guessed "These are the different places from which people have visited The Dude Abides since 5 p.m. today"... you were correct.

Peru?

Mexico?

Singapore... twice?

What must they think of this tomfoolery?

I admit, the visitors from Singapore prompted my Tibet post below.

Interesting, this interweb business.

The judges also would have accepted "What are the lyrics to I've been everywhere, man by Johnny Cash.

If you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow

Tibet, Cry of the Snow Lion was tonight's movie. It tells the tragic story of China's occupation of Tibet, and its systematic oppression, torture and subjugation of the Tibetan people, who pretty much want to be free to lead their traditional lives of prayer, nonviolence and contemplation.

Some atrocious human rights abuses and torture were documented... It was a fairly moving and impressive documentary. It is also depressing to realize that 1300 years of Tibetan culture doesn't stand a chance against the poitical will of China.

If you are unaware of the situation there, this movie gives a good overview.

You could also check out Milarepa.

Substitution, mass confusion, clouds inside your head

I drove past the post office and saw the flag was at half mast.

I noticed the flag at the Chamber of Commerce across the street was at full mast.

I was curious.

I tried to think of who might merit the half-mast flag.

I am ashamed to say the first person I could think of who died was Gilligan, a/k/a Li'l Buddy, a/k/a Bob Denver, who brought joy to millions over the years with his antics on the desert island.

After wrinkling my brow, and thinking some more, I thought "New Orleans?"

No, they don't do that for cities.

Rehnquist?

Oh yeah, him. Mr. Chief Justice.

I thought it was a nice indication of how far removed I am from my former career as a lawyer.

It definitely feels longer than three months and eight days.

Nonetheless, all that time has passed and I still cannot hula hoop or play the didgeridoo. Yes, I actually own a didgeridoo.

That's the anthem, get your damn hands up.

"Oooh. Nice veins. A blind person could take blood from you."

"Well, I am a highly paid arm vein model. You know how it is... nursing assistants want me; junkies want to be me. It isn't easy."

I was getting re-tested for some enzyme that showed up in my last blood test. Either I had a heart attack, or I exercised too hard. Let's hope it was the latter. I had to rest without exercise for four days before this blood test.

You know, there are times when a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I Googled my way into a (hopefully) hypochondriac heart attack.

I doubt I would be able to run 6 miles a day if I had suffered a heart attack, but you never know... Jim Fixx and all that. And I was a little critical of Jesus' acting in High Crimes in the last post.

We shall see. We shall see.