Answer: What makes for an interesting August?
A political convention. As a lifelong political junkie, I drool over conventions like a kid drools over Christmas. We talked politics at the dinner table growing up. I hail from a family of Democrats in a thoroughly red county in Pennsylvania. My parents were bold that way.
My first crush was on Garrick Utley, the NBC floor correspondent for the 1972 conventions. I remember when the news broke that year about Thomas Eagleton – George McGovern's first pick for Veep. I remember going to bed that night thinking how awful it was that anyone would be treated as poorly as he'd just been. I remember thinking Nixon was about to be re-elected.
Flash forward: am giving a thumbs-up to Joe Biden as Obama's Veep pick. A politically savvy choice, creating a pretty well-rounded ticket. Looking forward to seeing Joe debate McCain's choice (Romney?). Still wondering why so many Clinton supporters are behaving with such apparent petulance. Also wondering why Bill Clinton doing the same. Good grief. I know that politics is personal; I know that my preferred candidate is about to be nominated. But I'm quite sure I'd have gotten over my disappointment had it been the other way around. Can we all kindly look past our 18 inches of personal space on this one, kids? Anyway, am looking forward to both conventions...
A small (?) war. The war between Russia and Georgia reminds a number of Americans that political and military differences are not limited to the Middle East. I thought it ironic that a good chunk of Georgia's military (2000 troops) was fighting alongside our troops as the 3rd (2nd?) largest member of the famed "Coalition of the Willing." We can all pray that the cease-fire holds and peace reigns over that oil pipeline (yes… oil rearing it's slimy head again). If nothing else, President Mikheil Saakashvili and his country have the world's attention and are garnering support for the rebuilding of Georgia. And we've looked into the soul of Putin and found... a politician.
The 29th Olympic Games. Yeah, it's a spectacle, and China did an outrageous and spectacular job with those opening and closing ceremonies. The only low point in last night's closing ceremony was actually the nod to the 2012 London games featuring Jimmy Page. Is London considering a rock 'n roll theme for their games? Based on last night's performance, it ain't gonna fly. London, here's a piece of advice: While I'd hate to be in your shoes and have to follow Beijing, I'd suggest placing a call today to the artistic directors of Circque du Soleil. It's probably your best chance…
We were serious couch potatoes and watched a lot of Olympic events, awed by the capacity of the human body. Yeah, as soon as the weather cool's down a bit, I'll be exercising again. Yeah.
My only sadness in thinking about the Olympics is in realizing that only about 1/5 of those viewers will tune into either upcoming political convention. That's actually a national tragedy, imho.
Lots of gigs. A month with eight live shows is a month well lived. Thanks to everyone who came out.
Podcasters. I just discovered the Podsafe Music Network this month. I love podcasts and haven't been able to stomach much commercial radio since I got my first iPod in June 2006. Last year's legislation requiring podcasters and internet radio stations to pay royalties to the Performing Rights Organizations (BMI, ASCAP, SESAC) made the lights go dim. But now the PSMN has provides this extraordinary portal for podcasters and artists to meet. I created a page and loaded songs about a week ago. In the next month, I'll do a little outreach to some podcasters… but in the mean time, I want to give a major shoutout to the few that've already started playing some cuts: Suffolk and Cool, DALECAST and Your Lonely Fella. Thanks, friends!
Season Five of "The Wire" on DVD. We watched 9 episodes this weekend. Things are looking bleak for just about everyone but the politicos and lawyers. I will be so sad when the last credits roll on this amazing series.