Nick Reynolds, 1933-2008

Once again, as with another former Kingston Trio member, John Stewart, sad news has come to me late. The death of Nick Reynolds at 75 leaves Bob Shane the only surviving member of the Trio from its heyday. (I'll always remember Bob looking out at an audience that included me about ten years ago and saying, "God, but you all look old.")

Here's the original lineup of the Trio doing "MTA", a song that was a big hit when I was in seventh grade. Nick is the short guy in the middle playing the little four-string tenor guitar; Dave Guard is on banjo and Bob Shane on six-string guitar:



This has been a tough year for the folk music generation of the 1950s and '60s, considering also the deaths of Erik Darling (born the same year as Nick), Miriam Makeba, and Odetta.

12/18 update: Sadly, today I learned of an addition to the roster: British acoustic guitar legend Davy Graham.

Mets' bullpen woes over?

A couple of days ago the Mets acquired off free agency arguably the best closer in the Majors, Francisco Rodriguez (I resist calling him "K-Rod" for the same reasons Lisa Swan gives in Subway Squawkers: (1) it's an obvious ripoff of the nickname of a certain Yankee; and (2) his first name is not "Krancisco"). This filled the need arising from the injury to Billy Wagner, but didn't address the greater problem of the unreliability of the Mets' middle relievers last season, especially Aaron Heilman. Yesterday they announced a three way deal with the Mariners and Indians that, among other things, sent Heilman to Seattle and former Mariners' closer J.J. Putz (yes, he'll need a thick skin in Noo Yawk) to the Mets. As Jesse Spector "putz" it in Touching Base, "this trade...gives the Mets quite possibly the most fearsome bullpen in the National League. (They had that this year, but now it's fearsome to opponents instead of their own fans.)"

Whenever the Mets do a multi-player trade, there's always at least one that I regret their losing. In this deal, it's Endy Chávez. He's the kind of journeyman player that I admire because, despite his mediocre batting average that offsets above average fielding skills, I can't forget the occasional spectacular catch or clutch hit. I also like that he has a brother named Ender, who played for a season with my beloved Brooklyn Cyclones. What is it with Venezuelans--remember the Alfonso brothers, Edgardo and Edgar?

12/15 Update: MSNBC's First Read calls Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich "F-Rod".

Fresh Air Fund needs your help this holiday season.

This time of year is when we all get lots of appeals for money. This year is a particularly bad year for many. We have to decide who or what to support, and in what amount. I'm making this appeal for you to consider the Fresh Air Fund, which gives inner city kids an opportunity, for a couple of weeks in the summer, to savor country life and have some experiences they couldn't otherwise enjoy. A donation now will help FAF establish next summer's program, is greatly needed, and will be deeply appreciated. Also, if you have a country or permanent house in a rural area in the Northeast, please consider hosting a child next summer. It's a way to go beyond the giving of money, and to experience firsthand the fruit of your generosity. Please visit FAF's website here.

Chanukah on the Chisholm Trail.

Captain Smartypants and the boys do a little country 'n' eastern, working in a tradition begun by the great Kinkster (caution--lyrics of Kinky's song below are NSFW):


A tip o' the hat to Andy Bachenheimer.

College football: Gator-Sooner showdown.

I was tempted to predict that the Tide would roll over Florida in the SEC championship game this weekend, but with fresh memory of my last prognostication failure, I was fortunate by being reticent. Now I feel the same temptation concerning the BCS championship game against Oklahoma, a team I've never much liked. But I had the same misgivings concerning the Gators in their championship matchup with Ohio State a couple of years ago, and was proved wrong. I used to have an uncanny sense of when Florida was going to go flat, but they seem to have lost their once unfailing ability to break their fans' hearts. Even their one loss this season, to Ole Miss, seems less embarassing now that the Rebels have cracked the top 25 in the BCS rankings.

The Gators are number one and the Sooners second in the AP poll, while their positions are reversed in the USA Today coaches' poll. Does this mean that Bob Stoops is now more popular with fellow coaches, or Urban Meyer less so?

Another sign of a long, cold winter?

Perhaps it's just my imagination, but the local squirrels seem to be putting on weight above and beyond the norm this year. I spotted this one chomping on what appeared to be a bagel remnant scavenged from a trash can at the corner of Montague Terrace and Remsen Street, in Brooklyn Heights, yesterday morning.

Take a look at the sky this evening.

Shortly after sunset this evening, those of you afforded with clear skies (the forecast for the New York area is favorable) can see a conjunction of the moon, Jupiter and Venus in the western sky (see here). Viewers in Europe will be treated to an occultation of Venus, i.e. the moon will pass in front of the brightest planet.

A fearless prediction: FSU 33, Florida 28

Why? The Gators are 10-1, second in the BCS ranking, and expected both to win the SEC and play Texas for the national championship. The 'Noles are 8-3, ranked 23rd in the AP poll, and could play in a BCS bowl provided they win the ACC championship. Trust me, this situation is custom-made for an upset. Look for State to take an early lead, then find ways to contain Harvin and disorient Tebow long enough to withstand a late Gator rally.

Shame-faced 11/29 update: It looks like I've lost my touch. I used to be able to see clearly when a Gator upset was coming, and when it wasn't.

For what it's worth, I'm glad I was wrong.

Tuck in!

Whether you're having traditional turkey, vegetarian or vegan alternative, or spaghetti carbonara, Calvin Trillin's favorite Thanksgiving dish, enjoy!

(Photo taken at about 2:30 P.M., November 26, 2008, at Trader Joe's, Atlantic Avenue and Court Street, Brooklyn.)

Planxty: "Sally Brown" and "The Frost is All Over".

Planxty was, along with the Bothy Band (see also here), one of my favorite traditional Irish groups. I never saw any version of the whole group perform live, though I did see Paul Brady and Andy Irvine, sort of a rump Planxty, at Town Hall in the early 1980s, and, since my date knew them, got to meet them backstage. In the late 80s I saw Andy performing solo at the Eagle Tavern, and, since my date (not the same one as at Town Hall) knew him, got to have a beer with him after.

Some time ago I posted a YouTube clip of Planxty doing "The Jolly Beggar". Unfortunately, that clip is no longer available, but I've found another of the same 1980 lineup: Donal Lunny on bouzouki (a Greek instrument which Andy, following Johnny Moynihan, championed the use of in Irish music), Andy Irvine on mandolin and lead vocal, Liam O'Flynn on Uilleann pipes, and Christy Moore (who introduces the song) on guitar, doing a sea chantey, "Sally Brown", first made popular by Sweeney's Men:



I also found a clip of a different, 1974, lineup, with Irvine, Moore (who here plays bodhran), O'Flynn, Paul Brady on guitar, and Johnny Moynihan on fiddle and lead vocal, doing one of my favorite Planxty numbers, "The Frost is All Over":

QE2 arrives at her final berth.

Forty years to the day from the beginning of her maiden voyage, Cunard's magnificent Queen Elizabeth 2 (photo above from her penultimate visit to New York, last January) docked today at Dubai, United Arab Emirates. There she will remain as a floating luxury hotel.

The story and photographs of her arrival are in today's Khaleej Times. I'm sad to learn that her towering red and black funnel will be removed to make way for a "four-story penthouse"; but glad of that which will be preserved, including some of her best-loved interior spaces.

Blog links: I'll take 'em where I can get 'em.

I'm thrilled to have gotten a blogroll link from Fucked in Park Slope, even though it's Heights, not Slope, strollers I have to dodge in my quotidian rounds.

And, yeah, it wasn't so long ago I was pushing one, myself.

Call me breeder.

I love Cajun music: D.L. Menard, Marc Savoy and L'Angelus

A couple of months ago I posted with a link to a YouTube clip of the venerable Cajun vocalist and guitarist D.L. Menard doing his signature song, La Porte d'en Arrière ("The Back Door"). Unfortunately, that clip has now been removed from YouTube, so I've found another (see above) of D.L. doing the same song, accompanied by Marc Savoy on accordion, and by the exciting young group L'Angelus, consisting of four Rees siblings: Katie and Paige on guitar and bass, John on drums, and the youngest (20 as of this past June), Steve, playing very hot fiddle.

Brooklyn gets a visitor from the Great Frozen North.

There's a dock at the Brooklyn Navy Yard that receives crushed rock salt from self-unloading bulk carrier ships. Most of these that call here are of the Norwegian Torvald-Klaveness or German Egon Oldendorff shipping groups. However, a few days ago I spotted (after enlarging my photo enough to read her name off her stern)
Atlantic Superior, of Canada Steamship Lines, docked there.

Atlantic Superior could be considered a new style laker; however, as her name proclaims, she's at home on open ocean as well as the Great Lakes.

Memories of the fall.

Autumn doesn't end officially until December 21, but chilly winds have stripped most leaves from trees here in Brooklyn Heights, so it's beginning to look like the long, cold winter predicted by the Old Farmer's Almanac may be setting in. The past month provided some colorful foliage scenes, a few of which are below:

Harry Chapin Playground.

Tree in front of early 19th century house, Cranberry Street.

Decorated stoop railings, Columbia Heights.

Leaves on car, Pierrepont Place.

Your correspondent on the campaign trail.

How I got involved.
This story begins several months ago, when some friends and neighbors invited me to a cocktail party to introduce Daniel Squadron, then a candidate in the Democratic primary for the New York State Senate in my district. I was impressed by him, and volunteered to work on his campaign, which involved some hours of making phone calls to prospective voters, and passing out literature the prescribed 100 feet from my polling place on election day. (I was relieved of this duty long enough to break for breakfast when a lovely woman bearing Squadron literature approached me and said, "Hi, I'm Daniel's mom.")

The result of this campaign was that Daniel defeated a thirty year incumbent, a personable but ineffective fellow who had been ousted as minority leader of the Senate several years before. Victory in the primary virtually assured Daniel of election to the Senate, as the district is heavily Democratic. Consequently, there was little to do for Daniel in the run-up to the general election.

However, there was a bigger picture to consider. For many years, the Republicans have held the majority in the New York Senate. After recent elections, this majority had shrunk to a two vote margin. The Democrats controlled the Governorship and the Assembly (the lower legislative house), so a shift in power in the Senate would give one party a majority in both houses of the Legislature, as well as the Executive, for the first time in many years. Consequently, Daniel contacted people like me who had worked on his primary campaign and invited us to apply for positions as Squadron Fellows, to be sent to places where there were competitive races for Senate seats and where Democrats stood a good chance of taking seats previously held by the GOP, or where Democratic incumbents were in competitive races.

I was assigned to work on the campaign of incumbent Senator William Stachowski, whose district includes the southern portion of the City of Buffalo and several suburban communities to the south of the City. Stachowski, a 27 year Senate veteran who stood to chair the Finance Committee should the Democrats get control, was facing a strong challenge from Dennis Delano, a former police detective with no political experience who, despite refusing to debate or give press conferences, was polling ahead of Stachowski going into the final stretch.

Saturday, November 1 (E-Day minus three).
There were four of us assigned to work on campaigns in the Buffalo area. My companion on the Stachowski campaign was Frances, a St. Louis native and Lower East Side resident, as well as a playwright and novelist. Joining us in the rental car heading west on Saturday, November 1 were Matt, a Vassar alumnus with a degree in classics and considering law school, and Seth, a Chicago native with a freshly minted Columbia baccalaureate in urban studies. Matt and Seth were assigned to the campaign of Joe Mesi, a former heavyweight boxer who was contending for a seat held by a Republican who was retiring.

We arrived at our hotel on Niagara Falls Boulevard in the Town of Amherst early in the afternoon, and contacted our respective campaign headquarters. Mesi's HQ was practically next door to the hotel, but Stachowski's was some miles south, so his volunteer coordinator had to come get Frances and me. Shortly after we arrived at the HQ, we were given a packet of literature, a list of addresses and a map of a neighborhood in Cheektowaga ("Land of the Flowering Crabapple Trees"), as well as keys to a rental car, and were directed to go knock on doors. We spent several hours canvassing a tidy suburban area of small brick or cinder block houses. The people who came to their doors were by and large cordial, though some complained of the volume of literature they'd received in the mail. After finishing our canvass, we returned to campaign HQ and dropped off the results, then were driven back to our hotel.

Sunday, November 2 (E-Day minus two).
On Sunday the Jets were to play the Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium, in Stachowski's district. We gathered at HQ in the morning and were sent out to "do visibility"; that is, to stand by the main road leading to the Stadium holding signs to be seen by those driving or walking to the game. Here I am with my sign (photo by fellow campaign worker Victor):

Shortly before the game, we were taken to the local UAW headquarters, where we were fed chicken wings (natch) and pizza while, along with many other campaign workers, we watched the game on a big screen TV. Frances and I resisted the temptation to cheer for the Jets, who won the game. While we were there, the Senator came in, and one of his workers took our picture with him. I did my best deer-in-the-headlights impression.

After the game, Frances and I were to be sent out to do more door-knocking, but I felt like the bug I thought I had shaken off a day before our departure was trying to reassert itself, so I begged off and went to do phone canvassing at Mesi's HQ instead.

Monday, November 3 (E-Day minus one).
Monday we did more door-to-door canvassing, and had several interesting conversations, including one with a woman in her 90s who had been deported with her family from her native Poland at the end of World War II, and survived imprisonment in a Gulag camp in Siberia. She was very emphatic about what the right to vote meant to her. Back at the HQ, troops of volunteers and some paid canvassers would periodically arrive to get their assignments. Here is campaign worker Sarah rallying the troops before sending them out.


Tuesday, November 4 (E-Day!).
Tuesday morning, election day, saw us up well before dawn, as we were to open polls at 6:00 A.M. Arriving at HQ, we got the glad news that Obama carried Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, by a margin of something like 15-6. Frances and I were sent to a school in Lackawanna, where we checked the machines and made sure everything was ready for the voters, then stood outside to give "palm cards" (lists of candidates, including Senator Stachowski, on the Democratic line for various offices in that district) to voters as they approached the polling place. It proved to be a beautiful fall morning, with temperatures already in the low 60s. Despite the many candidates for various offices (see signs in photo below), we were the only campaign workers at this polling place. If you're wondering why no Obama signs, it's because there was little Obama campaign activity in New York (and virtually no McCain activity, though a woman drove into the lot in a Jaguar with a McCain-Palin bumper sticker) as New York State was considered a shoo-in for Obama.

After the morning rush of voters, we returned to HQ, where we were redeployed to a firehouse in West Seneca to catch the noontime crowd. Here there were workers from other campaigns handing out literature to voters as they approached the polls, including one from Stachowski's opponent, Delano. However, everyone was very cordial. Frances got into a friendly conversation with the sister of a man who was running as an independent (although he also had, but downplayed, the Republican nomination) for the U.S. Congressional seat held by the popular Democrat Brian Higgins, whose campaign HQ we shared. Earlier, when I had been handing out palm cards in Lackawanna that listed Higgins along with Stachowski and the Assembly candidate in that district, Mark Schroeder, several people asked me, "Who's running against Higgins?" I could only shrug.

We broke for a late lunch and to see what was going on at HQ before going out on our final assignments. We heard one report of a worker being harassed at a poll site; a local lawyer who was volunteering his services to the campaign was dispatched to the scene. He returned soon to report that the matter had been resolved. Later, Frances and I were assigned to go to different polling places to hand out palm cards to latecomers (the polls closed at 9:00 P.M.), and to get the final numbers from the voting machines after the polls closed. I went back to the school in Lackawanna. Standing in the parking lot--there were few voters after 8:30--I kept checking my BlackBerry for early returns in the Presidential race. I was sorry to see Kentucky called for McCain early. I expected him to win there, but hoped it would at least be close, and that the Democrats might have a shot at unseating Republican Senator Mitch McConnell. Vermont, God bless it, was the first state called for Obama.

After the polls closed, I went inside to get the vote counts for the State Senate race. This was a bit complicated, as there were something like nine or ten party lines on the ballot, and Stachowski was on several of them: Democrat, of course, and Working Families; but also, as I recall, he had the Conservative line. Delano had the Republican and at least one other line; then, there were a few minor parties that had their own candidates. So, I had to listen carefully and write quickly as the poll workers read the numbers from the backs of the machines. I was gratified to see that Stachowski had done well in the three election districts that voted at the school.

As soon as I had the numbers written down and double-checked against the counters on the machines, Frances arrived to give me a ride back to HQ. We delivered our numbers, then tucked into a buffet of pasta, meatballs, Italian sausage, and salad (Frances, a vegetarian, limited herself to pasta and salad), provided by the campaign. After inhaling my dinner, I joined others clustered around a computer showing results coming in for the Senate race. Stachowski held an early lead of about 52-48. I kept checking my BlackBerry for presidential results, and was thrilled to see Pennsylvania called for Obama early. With Stachowski's lead holding steady, the computer was switched to CNN in time to catch Ohio called for Obama. At this point, I knew it was in the bag.

At about 10:00, Matt and Seth showed up to take Frances and me back to the hotel. They asked if we minded going to the Mesi party for one drink, and we agreed. Things were not going well for Mesi, but they wanted a chance to say goodbye to some people they had worked with. We arrived at the party, at a bar and restaurant in Tonawanda, at about 10:30. While we had our beers, the election results on the TV above the bar showed Mesi falling further behind his Republican rival, while Stachowski's four point lead held steady. More and more states were being called for Obama.

We got back to the hotel in time to see McCain's gracious concession speech in our rooms, after which we gathered in the lobby and toasted Obama's and Stachowski's victories with a bottle of prosecco Frances had bought at a liquor store near Stachowski's HQ. Then we retired to our rooms to watch Obama's victory speech.

Epilogue: the Falls; a gratifying result.
Since some of my traveling companions had never seen Niagara Falls, the next morning we rose early, checked out, and drove there, arriving just after daybreak. The parking lots near the Visitor Center weren't open yet, so we parked a block from the Park entrance and walked to the eastern edge of the American Falls. Then we walked across the bridge to Goat Island and traversed it to the lip of the more spectacular Horseshoe Falls, which extend to the Canadian side. Here are Frances, Matt, and Seth holding our hurriedly made "Squadron FAllows" sign, with a Niagara rainbow in the background.

We learned that morning that the labors of the Squadron Fellows had not been in vain: thanks to victories in Suffolk County (eastern Long Island) and Queens, as well as Stachowski's successful defense of his seat, the Democrats had gained control of the New York Senate. We were proud to have played a part, however small, in this historic transition.

A self-verifying web page.

It's here. (Got it from a link to a commenter on Twiffer's blog.)

Consider also the column of items under "narrow your search" on the right of the page: "About Stupid; Glow Stick; Key Chain; Stress Ball; Gift; Dupont Lighter; Fridge Magnet; Suction Cup; Lighted Ice Cube; Judaica."

Judaica? Has al Qaeda hacked Verizon's search engine?

Just for fun.

County Burnt Cork, maybe?

Sam Cooke, you were right.

I'm sorry you didn't live to see it.

She did, though.

Update: Sam Cooke's great-nephew, Erik Greene, author of Our Uncle Sam: The Sam Cooke Story From His Family's Perspective, weighs in with this comment:

Sam didn't live to see the vision in his song played out, but I know he's smiling anyhow.

For fellow lovers of wordplay.

Friend, neighbor, and fellow blogger E.J. Cory offers this tidbit:

"Wasilla's all I saw" is a PALINdrome.

End of the line for the Rays? Unfortunately, yes.

I've just started watching this bobtail game in the bottom of the eighth, with two out and one on via a walk. Price, my favorite go-to guy, is on the mound. Utley steals second, but Price gets Howard swinging. The Rays have three outs to go. My fingernails are about to become fodder.

Longoria pops out. Down to two.

Navarro singles! We live for now.

Perez, pinch running, steals second, but Zobrist lines out to right. Eric Hinske is our last hope.

Hinske strikes out. Phils win. No more having to watch those damned towels. Lidge, the Philly closer, is awesome.

Say it ain't so!

From Ted Robinson's "At Bat" column on MSNBC, concerning likely free agent signings:

MANNY RAMIREZ AND THE METS: Who else can and will give the dollars and years Manny’s agent, Scott Boras, wants for the 37-year-old? How about a team that needs another star to distract from the memory of a second consecutive collapse. A team that is in dire need of a right-handed power bat for a corner outfield spot. A team that showed an interest in acquiring Ramirez a few years ago. A team that has built a reputation as the best landing spot for Latin players. A team that plays in Ramirez’s hometown. And a team that has built a reputation for landing the superstar player.

No! No! No! Does anyone in Mets' management remember Roberto Alomar? Eddie Murray? Bobby Bonilla? Kevin McReynolds? (Surely you remember Mo Vaughn--you're still paying him.) Spare us.

Has Nirvana changed our language?

This from MSNBC's First Read today:

Stevens' guilty verdict not only all but ended the career of the Senate's longest-serving Republican; it also signaled the end of an era for Senate Republicans. Think about it -- next year, we could see a Senate where there is no Trent Lott (already retired), Pete Domenici (retiring), John Warner (retiring), Stevens (who will most likely lose next week), and possibly Mitch McConnell (who's in the fight of his political life down in Kentucky). And nevermind the possibility that the GOP Senate caucus won't have a Dole, either.

(Emphasis added.)

Update: The good people of Alaska re-elect Stevens. Should "nevermind" be their new state motto?

11/20 Update: Never mind.

Pulse normal; respiration normal.

No, I haven't gone walkabout or joined a contemplative monastic order. I've been busy with other stuff. I'll be back soon.

Autumn bounty.

Brooklyn Heights Greenmarket, October 2, 2008.

The Rays win the pennant! The Rays win the pennant! The Rays win the pennant!

Price, the kid from Vandy, comes through with the crucial outs.

One of the best league championship series for a while. Sorry, Twiffer, and dearest wife.

Death Rays? Dead Sox?

Don't bet on it. Four times a team has been down 3-1 in a seven game post-season series and come back to win. Three times, that team was the Red Sox.

10/17 Update: Didn't I tell you? Down 7-0 in the middle of the 7th, the Sox come back to get four runs in the bottom of that inning (three of them thanks to Papi's bat), tie it in the 8th, and win in the 9th. I couldn't see them getting swept at Fenway. So, we go back to Florida, where the Rays will, I hope, prevail.

The Amygdaloids: neuroscience and rock 'n' roll.

Back in my idyllic childhood days, I liked to imagine odd combinations of people and things. One of my daydreams about my own future had me climbing out of the cockpit of a hypersonic jet fighter after a joyride in the sky, walking into a building next to the tarmac, and there, after doffing my helmet but still wearing my g-suit, sitting at a grand piano and playing a Chopin étude (I did later learn to fly a plane--a decidedly non-hypersonic Cessna--but never learned to play piano). Another of my fantasies was a record album titled Scientists Sing Rock 'n' Roll, which would have cuts like J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, doing "Don't Be Cruel". The latter has come true, in a sense, with the advent of the Amygdaloids. The clip below, made at New York City's 92nd Street Y on April 3 of this year, begins with a talk about human brain anatomy and its implications for how thought and emotion relate (or fail to relate) by Joseph LeDoux, Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Science at New York University's Center for Neural Science, and a guitarist/vocalist for the Amygdaloids, then follows with the group doing "Memory Pill":



The other members of the group are Nina Galbraith Curley (bass and vocals; PhD candidate in neural science at NYU), Daniela Schiller (drums and vocals; postdoctoral fellow in neural science at NYU), and Tyler Volk (guitar and vocals, with lead vocal on "Memory Pill"; associate professor of biology and science director of the NYU environmental studies program).

Atonement

Yom Kippur ended at sundown yesterday. I'm not Jewish, but I like the idea of a "day of atonement" in which, among other things, you're supposed to make amends to anyone you've wronged in the previous twelve or thirteen (such are the vagaries of the Jewish calendar) months. So I'm trying some atonement here for things I've posted on this blog.

First, Ben Stein. I really came down hard on you. It's largely because I was so disposed to like you. I enjoyed your show, Win Ben Stein's Money. More to the point, we had a friend in common; someone whose judgment I respected and who once did one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. To see you trashing evolution came, to say the least, as an unexpected blow below the belt. Your falling for the canard that Darwin's theory gives support to Nazi racism and the Holocaust had me shaking my head in despair. Nevertheless, I'm willing to allow that, in this matter, you were acting the fool not the knave.

Next, Leon Kass. I made sport of your fuddy-duddy-uncle-ish objections to outdoor eating in general, and ice cream cones in particular. I disagree with you about embryonic stem cell research (I've never cottoned to slippery-slope arguments, so long as reasonable people like me get to decide where the lines get drawn) and some other issues for similar reasons. Nevertheless, I'll confess, I find you fascinating, because you seem to have something I don't (which, my having lived over sixty two years, may be evidence of naivete or even imbecility): what Miguel de Unamuno called the "tragic sense of life". It's something you seem to share with the British philosopher John Gray and my former Fray colleague and fellow blogger IOZ, not that either of them would necessarily want to be put in the same category with you, or with each other, or with Unamuno, for that matter.

Last (and certainly least), Sarah Palin. I was a bit snarky, but I'll give you credit for a couple of things you said during your Katie Couric interview: "Well, I am all for contraception", and "Oh, I think it [evolution] should be taught as an accepted principle." Good for you, though you still don't get my vote.

Last night's debate.

I was going to post something about it, my friends, but I just can't top what's on my favorite sports blog. Yes, that one.

Addendum: Looking at the reader comments on MSNBC's "First Read" (for example, those on this post by Domenico Montanaro), I'm finding them running at least 20-1 pro-Obama. Also, the few pro-McCain comments tend to be poorly written, lacking in coherent argument, or just plain loony (e.g. OBAMA IS THE ANTI-CHRIST! STOP HIM!!!!). I find it hard to believe that MSNBC's readership is, on the whole, that heavily weighted with Democrats or "liberals" (OK, it ain't Fox, but nevertheless...). What this does make me think is that the McCain-Palin campaign has simply flummoxed intelligent conservatives (not a null set), so, like Cubs and Mets fans, they've had to resign themselves to pondering future prospects.