Great Weekend; the Bloviators!

Thanks to the folks who put on the SPI Music Festival. A great time was had by all, after maybe a slow start on Friday. I hope it worked out well enough to do it again next year. Interestingly, I liked the bands I had never heard before - perhaps our expectations for headliners like Robert Earl Keen were a little too high. Anyway, taking it easy on another beautiful "Chamber of Commerce" day. Let's just say it wasn't just a few bees that were a-drinking!

Then there's the Bloviators, which no, was not a music group that performed this weekend (but what a name for a big horn band, huh?). This is a real word invented in the U.S., most likely a combination of "blow-hard" and "deviate." It basically means to pompously rant at length and is often used in terms of describing politicians. I ran across an excellent column in the LA Times entitled 'Things have never been better for kick-ass bloviators' (LAT, November 3, 2007, by Meghan Daum).

Is it just me, or has it become super-cool to be a blowhard? Everywhere I turn, it seems someone's speaking a bit too loudly, going on slightly too long and imparting ideas dressed up with dropped names, self-serving anecdotes and sanctimonious chest-thumping. And you should hear what I run into when I leave my house.

Hey, sounds like some folks over at Jason's political SPI forum? Oops, did I find myself guilty of bloviating too? Ayiiieeeee! Perhaps I need to catch the last of the waves today and enjoy a few days of flat water in the surf for fishing before the next front comes in Tuesday evening.