Got Season 3 Episode 3 in ye olde torrentfeed; I'm still not watchin', as Mark, Kells and I just got through the first season. Lookin' fwd to it though.

Hung out with good old Joe Felice and his traveling companion Jenny the other night here. They were passing through on down from camping up in Shasta. We talk a bit about where our lives are going, Joe pointed back at NYC and being an artist again, and good for him. He's a witty mofo, will do real well for himself if he keeps at it I think.

It's interesting, my relationship to the creative process and how it's evolved. I haven't really tried to make anything in a long time, and I'm finding myself rusty, heasitant and nervous. Some people like to blow smoke at me for my blogging, but I hardly think these chicken-scratching amount to much from an artistic standpoint.

Sure, I turn the odd phrase that's maybe worth keeping, and I find the medium to be a great avenue for self-expression, but I've always been one to observe a wide and gaping chasm between self-expression and something worth paying attention to. This puts a bit of distance twixt me and a lot of other artists in that I think of the audience as final arbiter of worth (if no one "gets" what you're doing, you're not doing very good).

Point is, I try to have high and rarified standards for this here Bachelor of the Fine Arts. I'm playing with my little video camera and suddenly feeling the urge to rehearse. I think this is good, something I should do. Rehearsal is a positive thing, a sound practice and essential part of any quality craft.

Rehearsal starts with some writing off in a room. It needs time and privacy. I should probably get started then, eh?

Hung out with good old Joe Felice and his traveling companion Jenny the other night here. They were passing through on down from camping up in Shasta. We talk a bit about where our lives are going, Joe pointed back at NYC and being an artist again, and good for him. He's a witty mofo, will do real well for himself if he keeps at it I think.

It's interesting, my relationship to the creative process and how it's evolved. I haven't really tried to make anything in a long time, and I'm finding myself rusty, heasitant and nervous. Some people like to blow smoke at me for my blogging, but I hardly think these chicken-scratching amount to much from an artistic standpoint.

Sure, I turn the odd phrase that's maybe worth keeping, and I find the medium to be a great avenue for self-expression, but I've always been one to observe a wide and gaping chasm between self-expression and something worth paying attention to. This puts a bit of distance twixt me and a lot of other artists in that I think of the audience as final arbiter of worth (if no one "gets" what you're doing, you're not doing very good).

Point is, I try to have high and rarified standards for this here Bachelor of the Fine Arts. I'm playing with my little video camera and suddenly feeling the urge to rehearse. I think this is good, something I should do. Rehearsal is a positive thing, a sound practice and essential part of any quality craft.

Rehearsal starts with some writing off in a room. It needs time and privacy. I should probably get started then, eh?

Last night we rolled down into town to see a ballgame, a great all-American summer activity. The hometown heroes are the Humboldt County Crabs, and they're a good crop. 11 and 5 so far this season.

We watched them take down the California Glory, who had a pitcher named "Sandercock," which makes a great crowd-heckle, and his penchant for passed balls gave rise to a great pseudonym:

Spaulding "Dirtball" Zandercock, arch nemesis to the infamous Wiley Weckmen.

One of the things Mark and I like to riff on is names for characters. With the right name, everything else just springs forth. For instance, just think of the possibilities if you had someone enter the scene labeled as Prof. J P Talkertion (and his saucebox of words). Crank up the boombox!

Off to a wedding ceremony for two girls down at the underground music club. No joke.

Bruce's new album (along with the new Hank III, which is pleasantly less-produced) are on heavy rotation at this point in the Summer of Jefferson. Here's Bruce on CNN:

The Seeger Sessions are really great. It's a whole new Boss, I say, both vocally and musically.

Bruce's new album (along with the new Hank III, which is pleasantly less-produced) are on heavy rotation at this point in the Summer of Jefferson. Here's Bruce on CNN:

The Seeger Sessions are really great. It's a whole new Boss, I say, both vocally and musically.

This kind of thing happens quite often:

SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- College students in central China smashed offices and set fires in a riot sparked by administrative changes that made their diplomas less prestigious, students and school administrators said Monday.

Photos of the weekend riots posted on the Internet showed fires set in debris-strewn school courtyards and glass smashed in administrative offices, shops, cars and a bank.

...

There was no mention of the apparent riots in the country's state-controlled media.

Emphasis mine. Interesting to see stuff that finds its way out on the net, even with their American-made "great firewall".

One big reason Republicans win? They cheat:

"In late 1999, the Choctaw paid ATR $325,000. In a 2005 interview with The Boston Globe, Norquist said that ATR had sent $300,000 of that $325,000 to Citizens Against Legalized Lottery (CALL). Norquist explained that he sent the money to CALL because the Tribe wanted to block gambling competition in Alabama. Out of the Choctaw’s $325,000, ATR apparently kept $25,000 for its services. According to Rogers, Norquist demanded that he receive a management fee for letting ATR be used as a conduit."

That's from the the McCain Report, an investigation into Jack Abramoff's thoroughly crooked dealings with Native American gambling interests. The two parties mentioned here are GOP superconnector Grover Norquist, and Christian Conservative wunderkid Ralph Reed. The exposure of all the various fixes will likely cause many heads to roll.

And seriously, check out the brass fucking balls on Grover, demanding a cut of that money he was laundering for good old Ralph! Seems like on their end of the movement everyone gets a slice.

It's interesting that this report comes from Republican John McCain, but it makes sense. McCain doesn't have much to loose by burning down Ralph Reed and Grover Norquest. There's no real public political cost to exposing other people's corruption.

Still, some might ask, isn't it a faux pas for a 2008 presumtive presidential nominee to backstab two starting players on the movement all-star team? Probably, but in this case it's smart politics. Reed and Norquist would almost certainly support some other nominee than McCain in the upcoming primary season. He's taking out the competition

Also, revenge is sweet:

In 2000, Reed was a consultant and senior advisor to Bush-Cheney 2000, and was widely credited with crafting Bush’s victory over Senator John McCain (R-AZ) in the intensely negative South Carolina primary

Reed was “paid to develop the no-holds-barred -- and winning -- South Carolina primary campaign strategy for Bush against Sen. John McCain, which included phone banks branding McCain as untrustworthy on abortion and for being a little too cozy with gays."

Norquist too:

[Americans for Taxpayer Reform] also funded ads during the 2000 Republican presidential primaries questioning the political agenda of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz), and criticizing his push for a campaign finance reform bill. The ad claimed that McCain, who was opposing George W. Bush in the primaries, wanted to make taxpayers pay for political campaigns. The ad also stated that conservative leaders had called McCain's agenda "dangerous, reckless and dishonest.” New Hampshire's GOP chairman called the ads "a disgrace" and a "mischaracterization of John McCain's record and views."

By the way, that "no-holds-barred" primary also included push polling asking questions like, "would you be more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain for president if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?" Payback's a bitch, but this is a guy who was in a POW camp for years. You think he was just going to let you get away with that shit?

McCain is one of the most electable Republicans out there, and he's probably one of the best positioned to benefit from the implosion of the GOP establishment. Interesting to see how the wave of scandal will change the inside-baseball playing field.

Questions from a habitual gap-straddler:

How many different facets can a person have before they become suspect? What's the difference between a renaissance man and a dilettante?

Is it possible for people to be comfortable in many different cultural situations while still essentially remaining themselves?

The eventual question is one of where (assuming you're comfortable in a lot of places) will you invest your energy. There's an upper human limit to that shit, and if you spread yourself thin, where do you truly live?

When is it important to settle down and pick one thing?

"Run the place like Saddam"

He's talking about Iraq, of course, but I'm sure if a bunch of punk teens were out violating curfiew here at home the attitude wouldn't be all that different.