Back to the Grind(erman)

I guess things are already back to normal around here because I'm back to going to shows. I saw Nick Cave's stripped down (but still very loud) band Grinderman on Wednesday (review up soon). Tonight I see Portland's awesome the Thermals (whose last album was a concept disc about a future Christian-Fascist state that may as well be set in., oh, 2008)and also Bat for Lashes, the latest UK hip thing. Next weekend is Lollapalooza, which is packed with all the usual (boring) suspects and a couple of ringers, most notably the better-with-age French sci-fi house duo Daft Punk, the only dance act that deserves and earns a crowd of thousands.

Welcome, Baby A!

"Bush jokes. Crowd laughs. Girl cries."

What a horrible person.

Worse Than Watergate

This is an op-ed written by a current U.S. attorney. It's disturbing, to say the least, to read this kind of disdain and ire from a longtime public servant, especially his acknowledgment of inevitable reprisal, but what else is new? Clearly there is nothing anyone can do at this point in this lockstep right wing environment, but expect more and more along its lines as President Job runs the country into the ground.

It struck me more than ever this past Fourth of July that there is nothing America stands for or achieves that can now honestly be considered the best the world has to offer (the arts aside, since we still do pretty well when it comes to books, music and movies; science, too, but that's because we poach from other countries, and the quest for more money tends to corrupt even the most noble discoveries). Hopefully in a little more than a year things will start to swing back to reason and hope as opposed the current caustic and cancerous climate.


The sad thing is, we're still a Democracy, and I have a sneaking suspicion the state of things actually reflect the way a (slight) majority of Americans think. In which case maybe we're screwed no matter what.

Still No Baby

No new baby, at least. Obviously Baby Z. is around and kicking - we went to the Shedd Aquarium today. But baby number two? Not yet. Any day now, but not yet. You'll be able to tell she's arrived when I post even less frequently than I do already.

Keep Pleading the Fifth

So why did President Job commute Scooter Libby's sentence but not offer a full pardon? Because a full pardon would free Libby from one side-benefit of criminal scrutiny: pleading the Fifth, which means he can't be compelled to testify against, say, President Job and Cheney. It's clear as day and all the more disturbing for it.

Such audacity. Such sleaze. This administration will be remembered about as fondly as Nixon's. The biggest difference is that this time they're an embarrassment to the entire world.