Bill Walton, RIP

When I was in grad school at Stanford, Bill Walton had started Stanford Law School (he never finished). There was a rumor going around that he was going to be on a team of lawyers for the three-on-three intramural basketball tournament, so a few of us decided we had better field our own team of Econ PhD students, if only for the opportunity to step onto the hardwood in the presence of greatness. I can't recall if we actually did enter, but for sure we never got far enough to play against Mister W, if indeed he was on a team (I think not). I played a lot of pickup hoops as a youngster, so I would have been able to appreciate getting my ass kicked by this absolute beast of an athlete... even if his feet and ankles were already pretty shaky at that point. I like to think he would have been kind to us. Anyway, it would have been something.

Seas of Downingia

Downingia pulchella, that is, a flower found in California's vernal pools... the perfect mix of gorgeous and cute as a button. The deep blue-violet is the standard color, but obviously various other morphs co-occur. Downingia also have a heady sweet aroma that wafts up from the fields. 

In the background you can see the encroaching distribution centers of Fremont. Thankfully this little patch is preserved as part of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It's sensitive habitat generally closed to the public... but you can sign up for an occasional guided walk with specialists from the Refuge. Humans are excluded, but cattle can be seen grazing there, carefully managed to munch on the European grasses that otherwise would overwhelm the native forbs that used to thrive in these marginal lands.

My wife did it...

I'm not sure what it is, but whatever it is is her fault.... stare decisis, please refer to Sam Alito, op. cit.

Dabney Coleman, RIP

I had kinda forgotten all about him until seeing the obit, but I do remember Buffalo Bill very fondly.

In a 2010 interview with New York magazine, Mr. Coleman reflected with pleasure on the gallery of rapscallions he had played over the years.

“It’s fun playing those roles,” he said. “You get to do outlandish things; things that you want to do, probably, in real life, but you just don’t because you’re a civilized human being.”

Now we have a candidate for president who lacks that basic filter. I wish it were a sit-com rather than real life.