I enjoy going to the gym, but the crowds really get to me. From about 3:30 to 9:00 p.m., it’s wall-to-wall people. And it seems that the average age of a person there is trending downward. I’ve seen kids as young as eight or nine years old working out. What the hell does an eight year old need to be… Read more →
Pirates of Silicon Valley
I’m not a big television watcher. My father wasn’t one of those dads said things like “TV rots your brain!”, but we all know it does. When I do watch television, it’s often CNN, The Discovery Channel, or The History Channel. But there’s something coming up this weekend on TNT that I’m looking forward to. It’s a film called “Pirates… Read more →
Annual Inspection
I haven’t been at the computer much lately, which has been a relief. I swear, I can practically feel the carpal tunnel syndrome backing away like reprimanded dog. Where I have been a lot is out at the airport, working on the Cherokee. Are you sick of reading about Ron and his plane yet? What can I say. It’s what… Read more →
Air Sickness
I’ve learned a lot from flying. And not just about flying, either. Today was one of those didactic experiences, and I think my first aerobatics passenger will also be my last. From now I’m doing a solo show. My good friend Steve is turning 40, and I offered to take him up to do a bit of aerobatics. I probably… Read more →
Three California Moments
Class Exiting Interstate-5 and Jeffrey, I came to a stop at the light and my eye caught something large off to the left. It was a car, specifically a late ’60’s Pontiac Elektra. This thing was huge. So huge, in fact, that some serious pretzeling was necessary to get a glimpse of the back end. A rolling work of art… Read more →
Postcards from the Edge
I’ve been away from the House of Rapp for a while. Probably you have too. Life has a funny way of and overtaking you like you’re an old lady leisurely cruising on Interstate 5 at midnight. If you can’t relate to what I’m talking about, then you should consider yourself lucky to have internet access in that hermetically sealed bubble.… Read more →
The Art of the Chase
In the olden days, when I was a little snot-nosed punk, I used to love to play tag. I could run fast, so whoever was “it” would usually get one whiff of my superhuman speed and go after one of the other kids. I almost went on to become a teen-aged comic book hero, but the name Flash and skin… Read more →
Lunch in Vegas
Since I bought my plane earlier this year, I’ve been itching to really go someplace. I don’t mean a quick jaunt to a nearby locale. I mean a serious trip. Chicago, New York, Mexico, Texas, Alaska. Now that’s a flight. Since my niece Joann recently had her second kid and I hadn’t visited my brother Howard in a while, I… Read more →
Gun Control
This whole Littleton, CO high school shooting incident is spawning some ugly things after the fact. It’s not enough that something terrible happened, we have to pollute the healing process too. Or maybe it’s me. Perhaps the things that help other people just sit wrong with me. Today I was visiting someone’s web site. It wasn’t a very good one,… Read more →
The Wet Burrito
One of the unfortunate things about the passing of time (besides hair loss) is that my college friends get together less and less often. Oh, there are still parties here and there, but it’s just a reality of life, I guess, that people go their own way. My good friend Greg, who is the WBA/WBC heavyweight Quake II champion of… Read more →