We had a great trip, but I've been slow to get up and running again. Finally getting back to normal now.

We spent 7 days in the West Highlands of Scotland and had beautiful weather. Saw lots of castles, rode Harry Potter's steam train a few times, and had a great day at Loch Ness.

Afterwards, we bounced around a bit to try and see as much as possible. We drove to Edinburgh (amazing) and stopped at the castle from Monty Python's Holy Grail along the way. After Edinburgh, we took the train down to York and stayed there for a day. York is one of the neatest places I've been to, with the city's medieval walls still standing strong. It's crazy. Then, it was down to London for 2 full days which we mostly spent in the British Museum and the Natural History Museum. Edinburgh had a 2-day run as our favorite city on the planet -- London quickly won out, though. I hope we can go back and spend a week or so there at some point. We just had so much fun.

Getting back home, I was pretty shocked at the news of so many deaths. Tim Russert, Frank Muller, Stan Winston, and George Carlin. Followed shortly by Michael Turner. All mixed together with my iCal's email to remind me of Mike Wieringo's birthday on the 24th. sigh

I'd really gotten to like Tim Russert over the past year of the primary coverage. I was really attached to my man Peter Jennings, so I hate to see another good newsman go down. Russert's death was an unexpected shock, though.

Frank Muller was an "unofficial member" of Artamus Studios back in the day. We were all Recorded Books addicts, and spent SO MUCH time with Frank's breathy readings of our favorite books. I still don't understand people's fascination with motorcycles and especially riding without a helmet. It's just dumb.

Stan Winston was a part of so many classics and just a fixture of Hollywood filmmaking. Just a shame to see him go.

And then there's George Carlin. I heard about Carlin while I was in Edinburgh. It was kind of weird, because I'd been thinking of good ol' Bill Hicks while walking through the streets of Edinburgh that day. While never "breaking out" in the US, Bill had found huge success in Edinburgh and the UK. Bill's early death was so tragic, so at least Carlin got to continue the fight for a good long run. I still wear my Carlin "Simon Says Go Fuck Yourself" t-shirt that I got at one of his shows when I was about 14. Always got in trouble when I wore that to school.

I met Michael Turner a few times through my friends Randy and Tim. Super-nice guy and nice to EVERYBODY. A great ambassador for the industry, and I hate that he's gone. My sympathies to all of his friends and family out there.

All right -- enough rambling for now. Wow, sorry for the long post!

Everybody have a great 4th!