Edinburgh

Arrived in Edinburgh Wednesday and having been having a ball here the past two days. It's a magical city, full of brogues, bitters, and a castle in the middle of town. On the first night, I went to the opera with my friend Bridget's friend Laura, who is here studying. The evening was slightly sullied when we were caught in the one of the craziest rain storms I have ever seen. We ran all the way to the opera through pouring rain, dodging literal rivers in the streets. We arrived sopping wet, and a bit cold, but we persevered and had a great time. Heading to Paris tomorrow...

Summer Travel

I once read an Aldous Huxley quotation that said, "You never really have to go anywhere. If you look hard enough, you're already there." I thought the line was interesting, so I repeated to my mother. She stared off at the wall for a few seconds, as she often did when I presented her with something she didn't like. Then she replied, "He sounds like one of those writers who took a lot of LSD."

P.S., she was right. Huxley took hallucinogenic drugs, and a wrote a book about it called "The Door of Perception." The book later inspired the name of a rock band called The Doors. So I'm on vacation in New York City over father's day weekend, and here I am thinking about my mother. Fair enough. I left Iowa City last Thursday, flying from Moline to Chicago, and Chicago to Laguardia Airport in New York City. I've spent the past few days here, and I'm headed for Europe tomorrow.

New York has been an exhausting blast. Restaurants, bars, hotels, walking in Central Park in noonday sun. I'm heading back out tonight, but for now I'm content to sit idly and listen to the traffic go by. I walk outside, and a feeling of floating comes over. Unburdened, lightheaded, an unexpected sensation of joy. A feeling of freedom.

Or maybe I took too much LSD. Either way, it's been fun.

I Just Saw a Preview for a New Show This Fall...

Has anyone seen the preview for or heard about a new show this fall on CBS called "Kid Nation"? It takes 40 kids, ages 8 to 15, and drops them off in an abandoned town somewhere in the desert. They have to form their own government, divide labor, and decide who to gang up on. It's being billed as a space with "no parents" and "no teachers," although somehow I doubt they will provide a truly adult-free zone. The camera operators, at least, have to be adults, right? (It's a union thing, I think.)

I have no plans to watch this show. However, it'll be hard to avoid the temptation, because I am 99 percent certain someone is going to die. Comparisons to "Lord of Flies" are hard to miss. It will take about three weeks, I predict, before one of the kids comes up with the idea that Jenny Mitchell's "witchcraft" caused the crop to fail ... or something equally crazy. Then Jenny will mysteriously disappear, and next thing you know, the kids will be eating Osh Kosh B'Gosh flavored mystery steaks.

The saddest part of the upcoming show is that, as a voter, I am so desperate for a new kind of politics that putting kids in charge of a society doesn't seem like a bad idea. If we give them enough time, maybe the kids will figure out a plan for Iraq. The youngest kids on the show will be eight, so they'll probably have a slightly better understanding of geopolitics than the president. Maybe we should skip the show altogether and put the kids in charge of the U.S.

Click here for a preview of CBS' "Kid Nation."

MacGyver Quiz + Answers

On June 1, I included in my online magazine an article about the show "MacGyver." I recommended as humbly as I know how that fans of the show unite and take over the world. Read more about my "ideas" here. Before we do this, however, we have to root out the insincere "MacGyver" fans. If you think you might qualify as a fan, take this brief quiz. You can then check it against the answers posted below. Post your score as a reply to this message.

The Quiz

1. What was MacGyver’s first name?

2. What was MacGyver’s personal motto?

3. What sport did he play?

4. His haircut was a _______

5. MacGyver lived in a _______ until it was destroyed

6. Mac’s friend, the airplane pilot, was named _______

7. Triggering quote from 1989 episode “Brainwashed.” (9 words)

8. Mac never carries a _______

9. He always carries _______ and _______

10. Teri Hatcher played this recurring character on MacGyver

11. This “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” cast member guest starred twice on MacGyver, as two different characters.

12. MacGyver kept killing him, but he kept coming back. Who is he?

13. MacGyver drove this vehicle for the first few seasons.

14. He worked for the _______

15. Mac’s grandfather was named _______

16. Two settings for MacGyver “time travel” episodes.

17. In “The Gauntlet” (episode 1.04) he used this object to patch a hole in a hot air balloon.

18. Pete Thornton was MacGyver’s _______

19. MacGyver’s alma mater, as indicated in the episode “Hell Week.”

20. Lisa Woodman, played by “Blossom” star Mayim Bialik, had this problem in the episode “Twenty Questions.”

And now...








The answers ....

SPOILER ALERT!

1. Angus

2. I’m not perfect … yet!

3. hockey

4. mullet

5. houseboat

6. Jack Dalton

7. From the bottom of my heart, I salute you

8. gun

9. duct tape, Swiss army knife

10. Penny Parker

11. Nana Visitor

12. Murdoch

13. Jeep Wrangler

14. Phoenix Foundation

15. Harry

16. Wild West, Arthurian Britain

17. A map

18. boss

19. Western Tech

20. alcohol abuse