Juan Cole, a professor of history at the University of Michigan, has an excellent blog covering the war in Iraq. I remain mystified as to why the mainstream press, especially television news outfits, continues to cover the war in such a cursory fashion. Do they think people aren’t interested? I think most people are interested in what’s happening, but they aren’t actively seeking out information. Blogs can play a role in providing that information, but television still has the most immediate impact on public opinion. If I was the news director of a major network, I’d begin every nightly newscast with stories from Iraq, regardless of my political bent. It’s the biggest story around and yet sometimes it trails behind headlines of the Scott Peterson trial.
Incidentally, ABC’s The Note is a vital election-season resource. It has an exhaustive recap of the day’s political events, important stories from the papers, emerging trends, poll data, etc. A daily must-read.
We FINALLY have new computers at work. I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to have a workstation that doesn’t stutter and hiccup when you try to have more than one document open at a time. Please let me never work on a Windows NT machine ever again. Ick. But I’m not sure why we were upgraded to Windows 2000 instead of XP. Maybe it was a cheaper license.
VSA Arts of Minnesota, a local nonprofit that has me on their Board of Directors, had its first annual fundraiser on Nicolett Island yesterday. I wish I had brought my camera because it was a beautiful location. In the middle of the river and with a spectacular view of downtown Minneapolis and the old mill ruins. If I ever get married (I know, I know, I can’t stop laughing either, but I’m just saying), I think that spot would be my first pick.

Like a good geek, I bought the Star Wars Trilogy on DVD and I’ll probably begin viewing it tonight. I’m not the biggest SW purist, so I don’t get too hung up on the finer points (e.g. whether Greedo or Han shoots first in the cantina scene). But I do hope they took out that wimpy scream that Luke gives when he does his tumble off the railing in Cloud City.
More later. Now, out to enjoy the sunshine.

If you’re into mash-ups, you absolutely must download the Kleptones’ A Night at the Hip-Hopera. It’s a full-length album that seamlessly integrates major songs from the Queen oeuvre and samples of other artists like Eminem, Missy Elliott, Beastie Boys, Peaches, and more. I’m listening to it now and it’s one of the most brilliant things I’ve heard. When I got my first stereo system, I also purchased a CD of Queen’s greatest hits, so these mash-ups have a special appeal to me. Holy crap, they’re even using Queen’s over-the-top theme song from that early 80s piece of cinematic cheese: Flash Gordon. I’ve died and gone to pop heaven. The album is mirrored here. You can thank me later.
And while we’re on the topic of 80s cultural detritus, I see they’re making a musical of…The Last Starfighter? You’re kidding me. I went to see this movie on my twelfth birthday with some friends. The space battles were cool, but I didn’t see much opportunity in the story for song-and-dance numbers. Can somebody in New York check this out for me and tell me if I’m missing something?

I flinched and turned to see Erin standing at my table, a half-full glass of a dark amber liquid in one hand. She was leaning on her walker with the other hand. The faint light from the single candle on the table made it difficult to tell whether her hair was still streaked pink or something closer to purple. She wore a black T-shirt over a short denim skirt. There was some lettering made out of tiny beads stitched into the front of the T-shirt, but I couldn’t read it from where she was standing. “Oh, hey, Erin. Yeah, it’s pretty cool, huh?”
She nodded. “Must ‘e nice tuh-to ‘ave rich friends.” Erin gave me a quizzical look. “Why ah you suh-sitting here all ‘lone?”
I shrugged. “It’s been kind of a strange day. I think I wanted to be by myself for a little bit.”
“Oh,” said Erin. She pulled one of the chairs away from the table and sat across from me. The beading on her T-shirt sparkled and now I could read what it said: PORN STAR. “‘Ell, I need to suh-sit down. My ‘eet ‘urt. Jus’ pruh-pruh-pretend I’m n’uh here.”
I chuckled. “It’s okay. I could probably use the company. You having fun?”
The ice in Erin’s glass clinked softly as she raised it to her lips. “Sure,” she said. She set the glass down and she wiped away the few droplets that were running down her chin with the back of her hand. “‘Ots of cute guys here an’ even a fuh-few girls. Did you ‘ee that one guh-girl sitting ‘ith Vic’s parents at dinner?” I shook my head. “Fuckin’ guh-gorgeous,” she said with an emphatic tilt of her head. “‘Oo bad she’s n’uh bi.”
I pushed cake crumbs around my plate with my fork. “Yeah? How can you tell?”
“A girl nuh-knows these things, ‘Ames,” she said with the tone of a teacher lecturing a particularly dense pupil. Her eyes got all dreamy and unfocused. “Course, suh-sometimes all they nee’ is a li’l push in the right duh-direction.”
“And you’re the one to give that push. Is that what you’re saying?”
A coy smile flickered across her lips. “Neh-never hurts to try.” She folded her arms on the table and looked at me intently. “So tuh-tell me. Why ah you ‘aving a ‘range ‘ay?”
I glanced around to make sure Dad wasn’t in earshot and then I told her about the mess I had gotten myself into at Shifting Paradigms, culminating in me quitting/getting fired/whatever that morning. When I finished, Erin reached across the table and patted my hand. “I’m ‘orry, ‘Ames. But it suh-sounds ‘ike you di’n’t want to buh-be there anyway.”
I gave her hand a friendly squeeze and let it go. “I thought I did, at first. After graduation, I thought it would be really difficult to find a job, y’know? And I go in for my first interview and they seem to really like me.” I snorted in disgust. “Well, except for that prick Cy. I keep thinking I could have done something differently to get him to like me. I don’t what, but something.”
Erin frowned. “I ‘oubt it. I don’t th-think it ‘eally had anything to duh-do with you personally. He wanted someone el’ for the job an’ you were in the ‘ay.”
“Yeah, but I made it easier for him to get rid of me.” I rubbed my eyes wearily. “And now I have to start all over. It fucking sucks.”
Erin pushed her glass towards me. “‘Ere, want this? I’ve ‘ad enough tonight.” I didn’t bother to ask what it was. The ice in the glass had nearly melted and what I swallowed was mostly water laced with enough whiskey to warm the back of my throat.
“I ‘ink I saw a job puh-posting for something at Disability Suhvices at the U,” said Erin as I crunched a piece of ice between my teeth. “They ‘ot a new director who’s ruh-really cool. Want me ‘o e-mail it to ‘ou?”
“Sure, I guess.” It came out sounding less appreciative than I had intended and I got a funny look from Erin. “Sorry,” I said. “It’s just that the idea of going back there seems kind of depressing. I stuffed envelopes and answered the telephone in that place for almost six semesters in a row. Going back there to do the same thing as a full-time job would be, I don’t know, like saying I can’t make it anywhere else.”
Erin shook her head. “It’s nuh-not that kind of ‘ob. I ‘ink it ‘as suh-something to do with a grant they ‘ot. I’ll ‘end it ‘morrow.”
“Thanks,” I said. I looked back towards the people crowded around the bar. “You could probably find someone to hang out with who’s a lot more fun than me right now.”
Erin glanced over her shoulder. “Yeah, ‘robably.” She turned to look at me with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes to compliment the glitter on her shirt. “‘Ut it’s more fuh-fun to see ‘ou all ah-angsty and brooding. It’s ‘ind of sexy.”
“I’m brooding because you didn’t bring me a present,” I said with mock-seriousness. I turned my palms up on the table. “What’s up with that, huh? I thought you were my friend.”
Erin leaned forward and I noticed the outlines of her nipples pushing against the tight fabric of her T-shirt. I quickly looked up so it wouldn’t seem like I was gawking. An enigma of a smile touched the corners of her lips. “Ah-all you have ‘o do is ask for i’, Jay’s,” she said in a low voice. “Just ask.”

This AP report points out that massive numbers of young people are registering to vote. Could be good news for Kerry; the last time we had a large turnout of young voters was in 1992. As far as I can tell, neither campaign has done much to reach out to young voters. Drew Barrymore was recently on The Daily Show to promote a documentary she produced about young voters. If our nation has to rely on the likes of Drew Barrymore to get out the under-30 vote, matters are worse than I first thought. Despite her apparent earnestness on the subject of political participation, she reminded me of a pep squad leader trying to teach an introductory civics seminar. Young people need to see how politics affects the concrete things in their lives. My sister told me that her roommate, a bright woman bound for medical school, may or may not vote. I remember the apathy of my early twenties, but it boggles my mind that anyone would choose to sit on the sidelines during this election.
I’m intrigued by the new Green Day album. I was never much of a fan of theirs, but the reviews for Amercan Idiot are comparing it to Radiohead’s OK Computer, one of my all-time favorites. I must find out if the hype is justified.