Maybe the phrase has no currency or meaning anymore, but there was a time when I got together with friends and talked long into the night about, what else, "art and life", which meant pretty much whatever we wanted, clever fellows that we were. One day, maybe, there will be an "Art and Life" web site. I'm curious to see what it will be about.

Had dinner tonight with my cousin Bruce who I don't get a chance to see very often. He's involved in the development of a machine that will process food in the hold of a fishing boat. Fish go in, fish fillets in flat foil packages come out frozen at 40 degrees below zero, ready for the market. The thing that makes them unique is the fact there are no bones. No bones in the fillets whatsoever.

The only totally "boneless" fish you can buy today are grown on fish farms down in South America where they pay people some miserable wage to pull out the bones one at a time with pliers. This is the first time that totally boneless "wild" fish will be available. Taste just a whole lot better, I'm told. Bruce cooked salmon at the family party in December that had been prepared with the process. Tasted like salmon alright.

I haven't much followed the goings on of my extended family. I'm pretty clear what my mother and sister are up to, but beyond that it's spotty. I had no idea that Bruce's son was a skier, ranked something like 10th or 11th in the world at the moment. Does that qualify as "spotty"? I think so.

I think we talked about selling fish over the internet, which, by the way, would probably be a good idea. Have to ship it in overnight boxes that kept in the cold, but I that's probably being done with something else out there now. Two old farts, talking about selling fish over the internet doesn't make it to the level of "art and life", of course, not without a lot more wine and Bruce had an early plane to catch, but it was a start. Art, life and boneless fillets in a Berkeley restaurant. Why not?