Oh, there's soooooo much to crank about - China, Iraq, the ever-popular Dumbya and his gang of thieves, McBush... I'm sure things like these are what this nice woman was thinking about, too. But, I'm sure you've seen the same stories I have, so we'll just leave it all, shall we? Sure.

Oh, but wait! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a last cruise of the news before bed produced this. Like the guy's sign says, "It don't Gitmo better". Ah, art. Doncha love it?

So, earlier today I fired up a quick post, just so I could be sure to get this up, just in case the Times's web version buried it later in the day. Sure makes you long for the "good old days", doesn't it? Watching the current crop of politicians grovel to religious nitwits is very depressing. Kind of makes you think, "Gee, nice guys, but not too bright". Well, except for McBush, that is. Definitely not a nice guy. Nor, for that matter, all that bright.

Wouldn't you just about give your left lung for a politician who'd stand up and say, "God? God? What are you - totally insane? There's no such thing. Maybe you'd like me to endorse Santa Claus, too? Now get out of my way, pinhead, I've got real people to talk to". O.K. - I can dream, can't I?

Meanwhile, I'm obviously slow to the party. If you haven't heard of Pizzicato Five, get on out there and find one of their CDs (or download 'em). Too swell for words. I gotta tell ya - I love my local library! Wander in, browse the CD racks....hmmmm....this looks interesting. Take it home and play it. Crappy? Take it back. Like it? Keen - go buy a copy. The only drawback is the rapid outward flow of cash to CDs. Ah, well.

And, now that I'm on a "music" theme, you might consider whipping out to pick up "This Is Your Brain on Music" (the link's just so you can check out the reviews). It's pretty nifty. I've got zero musical vocabulary or sophistication. A friend of mine once said I had "eclectic" taste in music. I think he was just saying, politely, that I have no taste in music, but I could be wrong. Anyway, for those of us who fall into the hideous, "I may not know music, but I know what I like," category, this is a swell book. Lots of neurobiological stuff, too, for the biologists in the class. Anyway, I'm enjoying it so far.

Only if you've signed up at the school of hard knocks.

He moved through Chinatown, only one thought in his mind, "Giddes. I've got to find Jake Giddes." He never did, of course.

Uh-oh. People seem to be creeping into my photographs. Have you noticed? Most of my pictures look like they were taken in a city depopulated by some virus - everything inanimate is intact, but there's nothing alive. But, lately...

Depressed, decrepit, abandoned, crumbling, impoverished.....but it sure is colourful, ain't it?

It's morons like this who ensure that people and places like this don't change. Unless, of course, there's big real estate money to be made.

Ah, summer, and the tourists are in town. Piling off the cruise ships by the hundreds with their lists of "must see"s, marching through the streets, ticking 'em off. Done? On to Alaska!