Life On the Wicked Stage: Act 2

Dear Barack and John

There's that old saying, "stop it girls, you're both pretty" that needs to be slightly modified today it seems for both of our aspiring Presidential candidates. "Stop it girls, you're both patriots." You both are protesting too much, which makes it sound like you've got something to hide, and we know you don't. Can we just move on from this nonsense and get to talking about something that matters, please. I'm becoming disgusted with both campaigns, in the brief time I can pay attention. I'm guessing that because I only have sporadic moments to pay attention currently, I'm like most folks when it comes to focusing on this.

So, Barack and John, quit falling into the same old stupid traps, wasting my time, yours, and the country's. Grow up, gentlemen, and start addressing some real issues soon, please.

That Nagging Osama Question

The one question in our post 9/11 world that no one wants to really ask, sort of got hinted at in The New York Times today. So, George, how come you haven't been able to catch Osama Bin Laden yet? That question is now becoming more and more relevant as it appears that Al Qaeda is making a resurgence in Afghanistan here of late. What's both depressing and almost comical is that this latest resurgence was so predictable that a high schooler could have made it.

With all the talk of what happens if the bad guys hit before the election swirling around, you'd think someone would have the guts to ask both candidates how they would deal with this issue straight up. Yeah, yeah, I know, Obama talks at it when he says we should have kept our eye on the ball in Afghanistan, and he is correct. But, I'd like to see both candidates deal with this issue striaght up. How are you going to deal with a presence that wants to destroy you, that you don't have the military capability or the political will to eradicate?

That said this recent article taken in tandem with Seymour Hersh's recent New Yorker piece offer some great context, if anyone is paying attention.

Switch Hitting and Pitching

I've sort of tuned out of baseball the last few years simply because of the bad taste over the way MLB handled the steroids issue. I may have to reconsider my thinking on this with both the Cubs and the White Sox at the top of their respective divisions, although it is way early for any Chicago fan to get too excited yet. (By the way did you know this was the 100 year anniversary of the last time the Cubs did well in the World Series?)

So, on a baseball note, here's a very funny video of what happens when both the hitter and the pitcher can switch between being a righty and a lefty

Technorati Tags: Baseball,switch hitting

Sunday Morning Reading

Some Sunday morning reading to share.

Seymour Hersh’s Preparing The Battlefield is a long and as usual scary article about the Bush administration’s plans for Iran. Amazing how the media, and we, are letting them get away with this, while we’re distracted by the Presidential Follies, economic woes, and other things.Also amazing how is just how blatant the administration is about this. And we think they are dumb. Heh.

Frank Rich on the “what happens if there is a terrorist attack before the election” issue. Not classic Rich, and he falls into some convenient traps about the issue. He’s right. There is truth to McCain’s surrogate’s statement that this would help McCain, but on some levels the opposite is also true.

Steve Gillmor continues to confound some with his writings on TechCrunch, (latest two posts are here and here) but I find them remarkably entertaining and refreshing, in addition to informative. I also love the waterfall like comments that deride the complexity and humor Steve brings to the table. But then, hey, that’s our country and that’s our culture.

Speaking of the dumbed down, David Broder essays on the dumbing down of the Presidency. Unfortunately we seem to keep aiming at this as a target.

Bill Clinton says “Obama will have to kiss his ass” to get his support. Don’t see why not. Everyone else has.

Thomas Friedman says that the most important issues in the election are economic and that the US is in decline. I love it when the media figures it out after the fact.

Loren Feldman says his campaign against Shel Israel is over. Somehow I doubt it. He’s moving on to other targets.

AT&T makes light of the wiretapping, Telco immunity issue by playing to it. Yeesh.

Francine Hardaway on leaking money. Great piece on how easy it is to lose more than a few dollars a month if you don’t pay attention.

Love That Sound

Tonight’s Always Patsy Cline rehearsal is all about blend. The actors have been working separately through the past week as have the musicians in separate rehearsals.  Tonight we join forces under Steve’s musical direction. That means I get to sit back and enjoy listening mostly tonight, and so far, I’m doing just that. We’ve got a great sound going here. 

Technorati Tags: Wayside Theatre,Always Patsy Cline,Patsy Cline

Is The Twitter Train Leaving The Station?

Been busy this week so I haven't been following Twitter's ups and downs but just paying attention to it is sort of a peripheral way. But it looks like this might have been the week where the exodus started to pick up steam, given that the Twitter folks decided to disable the reply tab in order to keep the service running. Almost like removing the steering wheel in order to keep the car on the road, if you ask me. I notice quite a number of folks are moving to Friendfeed, or at least becoming more active there. Intriguingly they are twittering that they are doing so and asking, on Twitter, their Twitter followers to join them there, which creates an interesting round about.

For what it is worth, you can find me on Friendfeed here.

iPod Stall Surfing Accessories Now on Sale

If you're a stall surfer who uses an iPod or iPhone, this accessory is made for you. Looks like they are on sale at the moment with a 4th of July Special. Is that some kind of play on Independence?



Via Gear Diary

Some Political Goings On

While I've been busy with the run up to re-opening Wayside Theatre on July 12 and 13 I haven't had much time to follow politics the way I like to. I've also cut back on my alone driving time to save a bit on gas. The upside of that is my wife and I are frequently only driving one car to work and we're getting a chance to be together more at the beginning and ending of a day. The downside is that I have up until recently done most of my podcast listening while driving and so I'm way behind on listening to my favorite source of what's going on, NewsGang Live, much less finding any time at the present to call in and participate.

During the last week or so, a couple of interesting items have popped up that are worth linking to.

Scoble has been in Washington DC and has been blogging, twittering, friendfeeding, and videoing everything and everyone in sight. This is an interesting post that contains some interesting info on how the change that Obama is supposedly making in the politicial donation game is ticking off the big donors. It also hints that Obama is going to make tech a key defining point between him and McCain. We'll see how that goes.

Religion and politics got mixed up again this past week with James Dobson dumped on Obama for distorting the Bible. Then one of Bush's go to pastors (he officiated at the Bush daughter's wedding) decided Dobson was too far out of line.

No surprise that the Supreme Court came down 5-4 in favor of owning guns in reviewing a Washington DC law. While I go back and forth personally about this issue, methinks that even before the Supremes ruled this was a decided issue.

The Pentagon, in what appears to be a CYA announcment, says that the Taliban is reforming and getting stronger in Afghanistan.

Obama and Hillary kissed and made up, exhanged some checks, and life goes on with everybody happy. Or does it?

And then there's this take on the Unity fest. Check out the list of backstage amenity requests. Hysterical.

Sweatin' and Bettin'

Last night our theatre company had a little excursion. One of our board members took everyone to the races at Charlestown Races & Slots, in nearby Charlestown, WVA. It was our last opportunity for a bit of relaxation as we continue the sprint to open the show, finish the renovations, and deal with whatever else comes our way. No one won any real money and no one lost that much either, (I came away $2.40 ahead on the evening,) but it was a blast, even though it was quite a hot night as another heat wave settles into the area. That prompted my wife to label the evening last night one of Sweatin' and Bettin'.

More on Economy Woes and no Fireworks

Last night I blogged about the cancellations of some local 4th of July parades here in our area. Looks like there are more cancellations starting to appear and being talked about in other news outlets.

Sad Independence Day trend.