If you’ve happened by The Drudge Report in the last couple of days, you’ll notice that there has been a flap over Dick Cheney getting a flu shot. To counter, the Bush camp says “but Clinton got one, too!” As per usual, both sides are acting like children because both Cheney and Clinton fit the government’s guidelines of “at-risk” people. Cheney and Clinton both have had heart problems, Clinton’s being most recently, but Cheney really holds the crown here with not one, but four heart attacks since 1978.

Geez folks, bring me something real here in the final weeks of the campaign!

I am no art fanatic. I have been to one and only one “art museum” in my entire life (yes, it is sad). I just saw a photo taken from Joseph Beuys‘ How To Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare (1965), and it struck me.

Beuys and “Hare” are explained in this passage from an Encarta article on Modern Art:

One of the most prominent members of Fluxus was Joseph Beuys, a German sculptor and performance artist. In the spirit of dadaism, Beuys’s gestures were often intentionally absurd, such as his suggestion that the Berlin Wall be raised a few centimeters for better proportion or his attempt to found political parties for animals. In How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare (1965), Beuys tied a piece of felt to the sole of one foot and a piece of metal to the other. He then covered his head with gold leaf and proceeded to explain works of art to a dead hare that he cradled in his arms. Hidden within this apparent absurdity were more serious questions about the boundaries between life and death, human being and animal, the rational and the irrational, and finally between art and audience.

He is also known for his 1974 piece entitled “Coyote, I Love America and America Loves Me” wherein he wrapped himself with felt and stayed in locked room with a coyote for 5 days.

Further reading: Artchive article on Bueys, Beuys’ 7000 Oaks Project

So I enjoy flying radio-controlled model gliders (with our local club), and I also subscribe to a mailing-list for like minded individuals called the Radio-Controlled Soaring Exchange (RCSE). For a while now there have been reports of people crashing their planes due to radio interference whenever the President of the United States was within 50 miles of a flying field. This had happened quite a few times in Ohio, with one incident involving a fly-over of an AWACS surveillance plane over a soaring contest which resulted in the crashing of a model sailplane. There has been a lot of speculation as to the true cause of these radio interruptions, but today I saw a message that would seem to corroborate the suspicions of governmental security:

Hi all,
If you will remember last week I sent out a notice about flying here in the valley, well today an incident happened, Randy’s friend Bruce was ask[ed] very nicely to stop flying his electric powered wing type glider, by none other the US Secret Service. So they do have the ability to seek us out. Must have been by GPS.
President Bush spoke here in Medford/Central Point, OR tonight, landed about 3:25 PM this afternoon. I’m no sure what time Bruce was flying, but he was ask to land and not fly the rest of the day. At least he was not shot down [this is a term for crashing due to radio interference -ed.] by the unknown.

Jerry Miller, SOSS

Anyone involved with a hobby knows that there are some involved that can get pretty bent out of shape when protecting their interests, but so far the reaction has been pretty tame to all of this speculation. Personally, I find it all very intriguing. Makes me wonder how deep security planning goes. Are they watching messageboards and mailing-lists of RC aviators? I’d probably think they would be, just to be safe.

Hey hey, it’s that time of year when I remind all of those Louisvillians that read this blog to go and find out where to vote if you don’t already know. It’s too late to remind you to register to vote if you haven’t already (October 4, 2004 being the deadline). So, go and check it out, and make sure to get out the vote on November 2nd. That is all.

Maybe the greatest “indie” band to rise out of the Derby City, Slint were hailed as pioneers in their day. They released two albums, Tweez and Spiderland, and in one way or another influenced a great number of bands here in Louisville, and helped to spark a great revival of Louisville’s indie scene.

I think my first experience with Slint came from the soundtrack of Kids (1995), the marvelous and chilling tale of a group of Kids in New York. The Slint track on the album was what many would consider their signature track – “Good Morning, Captain”. Trying to explain Slint is like trying to explain why I like looking at the sky at night. You really just have to do it to appreciate it. Go and find some Slint (at least “Spiderland”) through whatever channels you deem ethical.

So, anyway, back to the headline of this post — Slint is re-forming, starting at the first “All Tomorrow’s Parties” festival in England next year. I’m certain they’ll make it to Louisville some time and I hope I’m in the room when they play…

For more Slint-info, check out this site.

In map form!

LA Times’ 2004 Electoral Vote Tracker¹

Rasmussen Reports Electoral College projections²

Electoral-Vote.com’s Electoral Vote Predictor³

ElectoralProjection.com’s Election 2004 Projections⁴

And finally, an animation of the 2004 Presidential Race in map form. See how states have flip-flopped or remained resolute throughout this race.

And one final thought: if two back-to-back very close elections don’t bring about at least some discussion on the topic of reforming the Electoral College system, I don’t know what will…

1: Based on data from PollingReport.com

2: Bill Rasmussen, the Administrative contact on the WHOIS record for rasmussenreports.com is indeed the founder of ESPN and a financeer in Naples, Florida. I have found no indication of his political leanings or any reported bias of the reports. Empirical evidence shows both right and left-leaning sites mentioning their reports.

3: Read their Frequently Asked Questions

4: Their formula is detailed here. On data: “I use the Polling Report and RealClearPolitics for national polls and DC Political Report and RealClearPolitics for state polls.” On objectivity: ” In developing the formula, I made every effort to be objective, rather than biased toward Bush. Yes, I am a huge supporter of the President, but this formula does not, in any way, falsely inflate Bush’s standing.”

And let it be known that regardless of who wins, Jon Edwards is filled with goddamned optimism.

Reading an article today on the Ansari X Prize today, I noticed that SpaceShipOne was sponsored by Virgin — the megagroup that includes wireless phones and record labels. Upon further reading, I found that the new name for their space-ventures is Virgin Galactic. That is awesome. Word on the street that the first CEO will be Galacticus, Eater of Worlds. VP is of course, Silver Surfer.

photo credit: Yahoo News

After Bill O’Reilly (jokingly) referred to The Daily Show’s audience as “stoned slackers”, it would seem in actuality that O’Reilly’s audience is less-educated than the audience of The Daily Show.

I know a college education isn’t everything, but that certain refutes O’Reilly’s joking statement. It’s funny — I was watching “Fox & Friends” for a bit at the gym on Monday, as ESPN’s Sportcenter was showing football (yawn) highlights, and they interviewed Ed Schultz, a liberal talk-radio host, who used to be a conservative. He’s got a book out now, so he’s making the media rounds. They get to talking to him about his book, and quickly after a softball question or two, question him about a section in the book where he talks about his dislike of the Fox News Channel. I can’t find a transcript of that broadcast, so I’ll attempt to paraphrase… (click Read full story below)

Update: Check out this link ‘Daily Show’ viewers ace political quiz, and this quote.

“Daily Show” viewers are 78 percent more likely than the average adult to have four or more years of college education, while O’Reilly’s audience is only 24 percent more likely to have that much schooling.

Plus, the network noted, “Daily Show” viewers are 26 percent more likely to have a household income more than $100,000, while O’Reilly’s audience is only 11 percent more likely to make that much money.

So the guy watching Stewart may not only be smart, but may also be rich.

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“Well, I don’t hate anyone, but you guys have an overwhelming number of conservative/Republic leaning commentators or this network, and you portray yourself as ‘Fair & Balanced’, so what gives?”. Steve Doocy (the co-host) retorts: “Well, you are on the show now, hawking your own book! Why are you here?”. Schultz replies: “You invited me here.” Later, Schultz is speaking to how well Fox News has done in capturing market share, and keep people coming back. Part of which, he believes, is due to Fox News’ portrayal of itself as “Fair and Balanced” and yet having a slate of nearly all conservatives as hosts and commentators, thereby duping the general viewing public. Either Doocy or his co-host Brian Kilmeade come back with: “So you think the American public is stupid, Ed?” Wow. Obviously, that is what he is saying!

It’s that kind of retort that truly disheartens me about the current culture of news media. “Raising the level of political discourse” in this country has been a banner for many people on both sides of the political landscape in this country for a while now, but really they are just feeding the filthy need for drama that “the average American audience” seems to love so much. “Reality shows” really aren&#rsquo;t reality so much as real situtations carefully crafted and put into motion by TV producers, and most politically-charged news media isn&#rsquo;t reality either, I&#rsquo;d say. It&#rsquo;s just as fake, dramatic, and wildly entertaining as any reality show or professional wrestling.

I&#rsquo;m not a fan of either reality shows (mostly) or of professional wrestling, but I know people who are and they are (mostly) not idiots, but they like to be entertained in dramatic and exciting ways. TV has shown that it&#rsquo;s easy and cheap to produce these shows, so I guess it would follow that it&#rsquo;s easy and cheap to make dramatic and entertaining “political discourse” on the same level. But like I said, that&#rsquo;s not reality. It&#rsquo;s dramatized, entertaining reality. Politics shouldn&#rsquo;t be dramatized, sanded-down, simplified, or easy to swallow. It&#rsquo;s our lot in life living in a democracy to be well-informed, and thanks to media outlets like Fox News, you can be fed just about anything and be entertained by some verbal catfights as well! How novel! Some people can see through the slick packaging and tasty morsels of drama, and some don&#rsquo;t. It just so happens that the former are more likely to be better educated than the latter. Go figure!

Geoff and his girl Anne invited Kelly and I to go to the Louisville Science Center on Saturday. Geoff captured lots of photos. We also saw Space Station, the first-ever IMAX film shot in space! It was awesome to say the least. Then we grabbed a bite to eat at Saffron’s a tasty Mediterranean restaurant on Main Street. Thanks Geoff! Thanks Anne!