Weekend notes

This weekend, I missed the first snow in Tahoe this season, but I did unexpectedly catch a speech by one of our Senators. I found the topic somewhat disconcerting, and for awhile I thought I was alone in that thought, but I took comfort afterward in learning I wasn't.

We spent yesterday at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass with about 300,000 of our closest friends, and found Marty Stuart was worth the price of admission, which was free. I always find irony in the fact that Warren Hellman, who pays for the massive three day festival with his own private funds and is often revered by the artists who play there, made his money as a Wall Street financier -- the profile that the same bands often hold in contempt, sometimes in the same set.

But the end result, an arrangement between the public and private sectors, is a great festival and an example of how far private philanthropy can go. I respect Hellman for doing something with his funds rather than hording them to his death.