Rhino Entertainment released Robert Plant's comprehensive 9 Lives boxed set earlier this week and I'm sure a lot of you will be trampling each other to be the first. The boxed set features all nine of Plant's solo albums remastered and expanded with bonus tracks that include previously unreleased material. The collection also contains a DVD compilation of Plant's solo music videos along with a career-spanning interview and bonus footage.

I may one of the few whose teeth clench when I hear the opening riff of "Stairway to Heaven"--I became the anti-fan when Led Zeppelin appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1969. 37 years later the only Zeppelin song I can stand is "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" and even that was recorded years earlier by Joan Baez.

But, living as I do in a houseful of Zeppelin fans and in the interest of the fair and open dissemination of news, thought you all might want to know. Plus, Rhino Records is well worth supporting.

We have been busy, we have been remiss. Frontline recently aired an important program, "Living Old," which explores the "uncharted territory of Americans living longer than ever -- and what it means for them, their loved ones and our society." Here's a statistic from the program I wish I never read: only those with
three or more daughters or daughters-in-law have a better than 50%
chance of not ending their life in a nursing home or institution. I'm going off right now to interview suitable daughter-in-law candidates since I have only sons.

The show is thought-provoking and the web site is extremely readable and informative. You can watch a video of the entire program, too on the Frontline site.

We occasionally pass on inquiries from writers who want to know what we 75 million or so think. Here's the latest:

I'm writing a book called The Leisure Economy which is to be published next year by John Wiley & Sons. The premise is that we are now a time-crunch economy because all of you hard-working boomers have been going at it all out at work, and driving your Gen Y kids around to stuff too. When you retire, you'll be part of a chunk of the population with time on your hands. and those that follow you in the labor market may well choose a path that leaves them less time crunched at work and at home too.

So here's what I'd love to hear from you...are you in good shape to retire, and what will you do when you get there? Or, do you think you'll have no choice but to keep working longer than you want because you really didn't sock that much away? I'd be interested on people's take on the book too...do you think boomers are a workaholic generation? I don't think the media gives it enough play, but I think there is going to be a lot of inequality amongst retired boomers..some will be sipping wine in Tuscany while others will be figuring out how to cook to save a few bucks after a lifetime of take-out.

You can email me at leisureconomy@yahoo.com, or maybe you can post your views here if you'd rather.

The other day, I was expecting to find my daily dose of Barney and Friends, but to my shock and awe, was treated to a presidential news conference. Apparently no one bothered to tell channel 8 to change the titles on their program listings.

And if that wasn't enough irony, add to that the fact that Bush's dog is named Barney - like I said, I don't make this stuff up.