* I wonder…was NASCAR fully aware that ESPN was going to stick Suzy Kolber in the booth for the pre-race hullabaloo? I used to think that, at best, she was really cute eye-candy. She’s still cute, but no less of a lightweight. I want good ol’ boys talking about getting loose in the corners and how a track drives and how Coo Coo Marlin used to race against Marty Robbins whenever Marty was in town to play the Grand Old Opry. Not that it matters, but I’m pulling for Tony Stewart to pull off three in a row, and I hope he cusses in the interview again.

* Does any other state churn out genuine Guitar Heroes like Texas does? Or am I just a provincial boob? Here’s evidence for the former: skinny albino Beaumontian Johnny Winter doing his trademark slide work on Highway 61.

The Texas guitar tradition runs deep. A gutsy school of blues playing, marked by thick tones, aggressive attack and tons of technique, all delivered in a flamboyant, swaggering style that is endemic to the Lone Star State. From T-Bone Walker and Clarence Gatemouth Brown on through Albert Collins and Freddie King, Billy Gibbons and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, the tradition of the Texas guitar slinger has lived on. The one name that ranks at the top of that exclusive list is Johnny Winter, an international ambassador for rocking Texas blues and still going strong!

Lots of JW on eMusic.com, where you don’t have to overpay for DRM-less musica.

* After three weeks with Windows Vista, I’m lukewarm about it. It’s basically an overpriced XP Service Pack 3, which is a disappointment, since I’d heard a lot of hoo-ha about the databased file system and other goodies that didn’t quite materialize. I’d pass if it were possible, just because I’m older than dirt and don’t feel like learning how to get around all the junk thrown in your way to keep the hausfraus from blowing up their peecees. I do, however, love my Thinkpad T61 very muchly. I’m considering just wiping the disk and installing XP. I don’t need all the flashy crap, and the thinking for me that Mr. Softy thinks I do. If I didn’t have to run Windows apps, I’d probably just go ahead and install a random Linux distro. No, I can’t use an emulator, so don’t suggest it — these are services apps for demo purposes. One day, I’ll be enough of a Big Wheel that I’ll have people who have people to do the demos. Not quite there yet.

All right, then…they’re dropping the green flag. See ya.