Como, as all blues fans know, was the long-time home of Mississippi Fred McDowell, the great bluesman who was first recorded by Alan Lomax on his "Southern Journey" trip in the late 1950s, and then for years brought out albums on Chris Strachwitz's Arhoolie label. Fred died some time back, but now his town is in the news again, and not happily.

Como has the worst grade school in the state of Mississippi, which has the worst schools in the USA, according to an article I read today. I Googled Como and the statistics are just terrible. Its on Highway 51 which runs from Memphis to the Gulf Coast, just below Senatobia, about 45 miles south of Memphis. Cotton is the crop, and cotton farming has been mechanised. The average income is about $22,000 a year, and in almost every index Como is worse off than the rest of the state.

I'd really like to help out, because of the connection with Fred, but can't think of a thing to do. Anyone?

I think I got a Grand Jury indictment against one of my clients dismissed. Its hard to tell for sure. There definitely was a Grand Jury, and they definitely indicted my client. Then I definitely wrote the longest motion of my life explaining why the indictment was improperly obtained. We went to court for the judge to rule on my motion, but the DA beat me to the punch and dismissed the charges before the judge could say anything. I'm going to count it on my life list as a dismissal due to my motion, but it would have been wonderful to hear the judge say so. Well, as the Rolling Stones said, "You don't always get what you want, but you sometimes get what you need." So, I got some Satisfaction and I'm happy.

(By the way the DA can refile charges against my client, this time using normal procedures instead of a Grand Jury, and has announced she will do so. So I've won a battle but not the war, yet.)

The drive back from Yreka was wonderful. You start in high desert country, drop down to the Klamath River, which looks so inviting in that dry terrain. It has dam releases so there is plenty of water in the river, lush fields, and all the trees by the banks are in fall colors. The fir forests are dotted with trees in yellow, too. I tried to photograph it but I don't think its one of those scenes that can be transfered to digital pix. Soon you are out of the desert into the forests, with the river scenes continuing to reveal one visual wonder after another as the car hurtles around the bends of route 96.

Its a cliche that California's roadside is beautified each fall by the brilliant red poison oak. But now add to that the intense yellow of maples and some of the other trees, and you've got some beautiful drives. 101 between Willits and Leggett has some nice trees. And the roads from Alderpoint to Rt 36 (Bluffs Road, Zenia road, Van Duzen Road). Good views of Mt Shasta on Rt 3 climbing down from the mountains north of Hayfork, too. Nothing beats the northbound 101 views of the snowy peak as you climb up the Sacramento River canyon. Great time to take a drive in Northern California.

I had to go to Ukiah to meet a client this evening, and take in an early morning court hearing tomorrow. I'm hoping they'll drop the charges. I had a coke about 11 a.m. and forgot about eating lunch, so as I pulled out of the drive about 5pm I had meals on my mind. Would it be Patrona in Ukiah. Probably closed on Sunday. What about the Purple Thistle in Willits, recently back in my good graces? Perhaps one of those huge and wonderful salads at the Mateel before I leave Sohum? Turned out to be Sweet and Sour Pork at the Cadillac Wok in Garberville. They have chinese and Thai food so I washed down the main disk with a Thai tea. Yummy. Its a nice place. I wouldn't accuse it of being gourmet, but its good food in a pleasant setting for not so much money.

I've been an Apple user since about 1978. My first Apple II had to have the operating system, progams, and data all loaded into it each time you fired it up, from a cassette. It didn't work well. Almost immediately they brought out the floppy disks and away we went.

I just got an intel Mac laptop. I carry a laptop and portable printer with me when I'm on the road so I can do those last minute motions and other legal things that resident attorneys can run back to their office to do. My new Mac is a 17" iBook.

I ordered it on-line, and expected it within a week. Nothing happened in the first week. I got a phone call from the company, back in New York, asking me if I wanted some stuff added to the order to improve everything. I was annoyed. But I did want some stuffl. Extra memory, wireless mouse, you know. Then they suggesed the glossy screen. What for, I asked. They didn't have a clue. So I ordered it. Big plus factor. Its fabulous. Photographs look incredible. The screen as I'm using it has more pixels than the older 17" I had, and the detail is great - except that the focus on a few of my photos is not as clear as I had thought.

It was quite easy to move everything from the older laptop to the newer one. We just tried the same thing with a couple of older OS9 Macs and it was a nightmare. Even hiring someone to help with it left us with problems. Like no printing. The contrast with these two OS10 Macs was astonishing.

So if you've been wondering about moving to the Intel Macs, my advice is to do it, and do it soon before your software becomes obsolete and more difficult to work with. Questions? Email me: edenson@asis.com