Happy November

November 3-Southern Exposure

by Lenny Hughes

We're rolling up the I-85, on our way from Atlanta, Georgia, to Greensboro, North Carolina.

Atlanta was great. The view from my hotel room was breathtaking. With the fiery Fall colors under the smoky sky, you can almost imagine Sherman's army breaking through the trees and laying siege to Chuck E. Cheese.

New Atlanta

Right now, Georgia is Ground Zero for the looming Midterm. Oprah was here Thursday stumping for Stacey Abrams, the Democratic candidate for governor. Obama was to arrive yesterday for the same purpose. And of course Trump is coming soon to warn us against the Infidel.

Lewis and John landed here Thursday night to join the fray with the show at the enormous Cobb Energy Center.

I didn't get to see the show: the crowd was crazy for merch. Or, I should say, Bobbleheads. After John did his hilarious sales pitch and announced that Lew would be meeting the fans at the end, they lined up and didn't stop buying the nasty things til I ran out. I raced out to the trailer for more, twice, during (and after) the show.

We sold 143 of them by the time the fans cleared the lobby.

Bobbleheads

Last month got off to a quieter start. I was off the road a couple weeks when the boys romped through the midwest. Spent a few weeks with my friend Zina's kitties. Sadly, Chloe was injured somehow, but I got her to the vet for some stitches, and she's fully recovered a month later.

Chloe Wounded

I rejoined the crew in Atlantic City for a couple shows at the Borgata casino, which is always a hoot. John ramped up his take on Trump, and Lew reminisced about his mom's 100thbirthday celebration. (She told our small gathering in September, "I've come a long way-now, I can drop dead.")

Welcome to Borgata

John Bowman as Trump

Lew at the Borgata

After the Borgata, we landed in sunny Florida, just as the weather up north finally started cooling down. Oh, it was sunny all right, but don't feel jealous: Fort Myers was the scaldingly hottest city in the country that week, approaching 100 degrees (and humidity).

From Fort Myers, we went up to Orlando, where we were pleased to welcome our old Springbrook buddy Charlie Rock, and of course his lovely wife Susie, and their son Alex.

We wound up in Fort Lauderdale, and next day, I flew out, leaving Lew and Ben behind to play golf all week.

Welcome to Fort Myers

Florida Johnny

Lew and Charlie

I watched the Weather Channel on the way home, and its constant survey of all the environmental disasters that hit the county just that month. Hurricane Florence destroyed North Carolina; a monsoon hit Texas, flooding the state; hurricane Michael destroyed north Florida; and the coastline of much of that state has been plagued by Red Tide, an invasive algae killing thousands of sea creatures, including manatee.

As the Midterm races loom ahead, I find it remarkable that the Democrats haven't taken up the environment as a big part of their platform. While Trump and his cohorts are spreading fear about a caravan of impoverished Central Americans running from drug cartels and corruption, our own country is facing a real threat.

Every day, there is new report about a fresh natural disaster. Obviously, I don't expect Republican politicians to care about it, so that leaves the field open to the Democrats. I think the Dems are afraid that a campaign against corporations will be met with the argument that environmental regulations kill Jobs, etc., etc.

Doomed Planet

But they can take "regulation" off the table for awhile, and just convince voters that they can help repair damage, reform FEMA and insurance policies, and shore up the infrastructure to lessen the effect of storm surges and other floods.

Talk about regulatory laws to curb pollution after they win back the federal government.

You can see, I'm a little rattled about all that.

But I digress: In other news, our Tech-meister James and his lovely wife Starlet have their first baby, born on Halloween, according to Tour Manager Ben, who said, "It was at 11:55."

To which, John said, "That's a BIG baby!"

Anyhow, now that James is off the road for awhile, and Zeke is taking over the filming and broadcasting, I'll be back hawking the bobbleheads and T-shirts solo.

Speaking of Solo, I spent the end of the month with my daughter Liza and assorted grandkids trick-or-treating in my annual disguise as The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (I'm number seven in Section Two, Operations and Enforcement).

Section Two

Happy November,
Illya