Ice Cold!

Well, hello again. I've just returned from dinner here in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and boy am I glad to have done so. Before I sat down at ye olde trusty laptop, I had to peel off the many layers that I was wearing to brave the elements here. Not only did I have on a sweater, gloves and a leather jacket, but also a toque (beanie for us downhome folk, but this head garment is perhaps too immense to remain in the beanie category) that is more befitting of some cat named Vladimir, than a brotha like me. In addition, I had the Under Armour long-sleeved lycra shirt under that sweater. Hey, it's 6 degrees right now (-6 with the windchill).

I ate at a quazi chain restaurant called Biaggi's. I had an outstanding waiter named Bartholomew that managed to talk me out of what I had decided upon and got me to order something far more spectacular in a broiled lamb over spinach and served with red potato wedges and sun-dried cherries. I also learned something cool that I might have to try at some of these type restaurants in the future. Apparently, you can get print outs of certain recipes. I asked about the red wine that he recommended for me and he came back with a printout that described my glass of Masi Valpolicella as a, "..wine aged for 8 months in Slavonian Oak barrels followed by 2 months in the bottle..creating a wine with a lively bouquet of cherry or berry fruits, medium bodied with a clean finish. Perfect for soups, risotto and red meats."

At any rate, a good meal was just what I needed. I had arguably my worst flight in years today from SFO to DFW. Even though I like the big planes, my ride on the Embraer Regional Jet from DFW to Cedar Rapids was much better than my 767 sardine simulation to Dallas. There were no exit seats available, I didn't get upgraded, and it was totally sold out. The only good thing that my Platinum status afforded me today was boarding early so that I got first dibs at the overhead space. This was one of those older 767 that didn't have the head rest that expanded up to help support the necks of people over 5'5". I felt like a giraffe trying to sleep upright during the longest 3.5 hours of my life. I'm glad that it wasn't a flight to Boston. I hadn't even intended to sleep on the flight. I had it all planned. I was going to actually open up my laptop and do some work on the big plane, and read a book and maybe fall asleep on the small plane. I was so cramped in seat 35B that I couldn't even really use my laptop because the screen was too close to see. Obviously, I couldn't sleep either.

But enough of that. I'm in the great state of Iowa and I'm safely nestled in my 3rd floor, "indoor" room at the Marriott Fairfield Inn. Why is that significant? Well, the first 2 floors have doors that face outside. No hallway. Just outside. If I wanted to feel like I was staying at Motel 6, I would've stayed at Motel 6. But this is Cedar Rapids. I guess they wanted to give you a little variety. I've got the blinds closed and the heat cranking, so it's practically like Downtown Oakland up in here.

Here are some fun facts about Cedar Rapids. Did you know that Cedar Rapids is 91.86% white, and 3.71% African American? It's like the Anti-Newark,NJ. Big shots out to my college teammate, Derrick Johnson and my boy Darryn Clanton, both from Newark. They even have an African-American museum here! Imagine that. My hometown, San Jose, CA, a city of almost 1 Million people has no African-American museum. I'm impressed. I just saw a sign for it as I was driving back from dinner. It's at the same exit as the Slovak and Czech museum, which makes more sense to be here as there is a neighborhood called Czech Village in the Southwest part of town. What else? Oh...Ashton Kutcher is from here.

What else is on my mind? Oh...speaking of black folks. Bob Johnson. Yeah, Bob of the Charlotte Bobcats and founder and former owner of B.E.T. This would require an entirely different post for me to get on ol' Bob, but I wasn't happy to see his face first when I flipped on my hotel TV. You know how CNN or some channel like that is inevitably one of the first in the line-up on these hotel tv systems. Race has now become an issue, or at least some people are hell-bent on making it one in the presidential campaign. I saw a clip of Bob, speaking at a Hillary Clinton rally, bad-mouthing Barack Obama. (Apparently, it all got started after Hillary said something about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that could be misconstrued although her intent was probably not malicious.) Did we really have to go there, Bob? Let's not talk about all the positive (yes, sarcasm) images that B.E.T. has brought to the black community and the trash that continues to emanate from that network each day on shows like 106th and Park. Like I said, I won't go there right now. I'm tired. I'm on Central time now, so it's bed time.