Northcoast

Damn sexy pic! Are you wearing a sweater vest? Or is it a full-on sweater? I really hope it was a vest made of sweater.

Is it just you and me, Nolan?

I downloaded "No Cars Go" after your post -- great song. Is the rest of the ablum (or their other album) any good?

I don't know if this blog is dead, but I thought I would post a message anyway. I don't have much interesting to say, but . . .


I'm almost totally inactive when it comes to music nowadays. The latest from the Arcade Fire (track 10, No Cars Go, is probably my most listened to song of the year so far), Ted Leo and Modest Mouse are pretty good. I'm looking to buy the Elliott Smith album and looking forward to Spoon's album coming out in July. I haven't really bought much else recently except a few older CDs. I was thinking the other day that if I actually bought the new Dinosaur Jr. album, I could consider myself an old fart trying to relive my youth through the music of my teenage years.

I've been much more active with MLB this year - if you can call sitting on the couch watching TV, surfing the web, or going to a few games "active." At this point, this season seems too good to be true so far. I'm enjoying the good race in the AL Central, the dominating season the Red Sox are having (big matchup tonight with the Indians - Dice-K pitching), and the fact that the Cubs are not in last place yet. And there's only one thing that could probably make me happier than the Yankees' stinkjob - seeing Clemens stink when he returns. That would, without a doubt, make this season totally rule.

Anyway, I've just about exhausted my lunch break typing this and eating my turkey sub.

Nolan

I like the new Shins album. The lead single (track 4) is exceptional. I listen to tracks 2 and 9 a lot, too. None of the other tracks stick out ... yet. The last album took a while to grow on me ... none of the songs were immediately loveable, but after three listens, I took to a few songs, and after five more listens, I loved the whole album. That could happen again ... I am not ruling it out, but I'm not counting on it, either.

I don't have any music to recommend, (actually, the new Beck, which is kind of old now, is good), but you should spend the money and download the Ricky Gervais Show podcasts ... they're hilarious. Karl Pilkington is funny as hell.

Oh, I guess I do have some music: you can't buy the tracks, but you should checkout the National Skyline mypsace page. The three songs posted there are great (but unreleased).

Finally, I have been following the Twins stadium progress quite closely. I can't believe the latest developments. The Twins are (supposedly) considering a new site for the stadium? Yeah right. They better close the deal and get moving on that thing. The current site completely rocks. Thinking about the new stadium and how it ties in with the LRT and Northstar line makes me want to move back. They were supposed to release the stadium designs on the 15th. I hope this crap doesn't push it back.

What does everyone think about the new Shins album? I've only listened to it a few times, but I'm starting to think it will never grow on me like their first two albums. There are a few good songs, but too much of the album sounds the same - airy, ethereal, and lacking any rock-out moments. Not that I was expecting or want the entire album to sound like AC/DC, but . . .

So, I'm really writing because I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for CD purchases. I've been looking at the releases coming up, and I'm looking forward to both Ted Leo's new album and the new Arcade Fire. But those aren't coming out for a little while, so has anyone bought anything good recently?

Uh, no.

Try this, Nolan:



(photo courtesy of Ethan Buhr)

Adam









Joel









Nolan?

That typo is hilarious. Actually a little sad, if you knew him .... I mean, Mitchell would probably flip his lid if he were alive to see that. Hell, Kevin Chutes IS probably flipping his lid.

Nolan, don't you think that Adam looks A TON like the drummer for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs?

Yeah, I read Mitchell's obit in the Star Tribune. That had to be about 3 months ago. My favorite thing about the obit was the misprint they had in it. It said something like - "Mitchell was known for hanging out late into the night at the Hard Rock Cafe." Obviously, it should have read Hard Times Cafe.

you guys saw that Mitchell died, I assume?

Onion article titled "Frito-Lay Angrily Introduces Line of Healthy Snacks." My favorite line:

"Weren't Sun Chips healthy enough for you, you goddamn hippie bastards?"

Knowing how much Adam likes candy, I had to post this link from espn.com. Make sure you click on the links for all 4 regions. Notice that it says to check in tomorrow for the final 2 rounds.

Usually, I pay attention to when the Red Sox are playing. If they have a day game during the week, I'll go to espn.com to see how they're doing. I don't think I can stomach it today though. I was sick all weekend (man, it's so nice to spend an entire weekend on the couch when it's 80 and sunny outside), and I watched 3 of the 4 Red Sox games. I, along with most fans I'm sure, have given up on this season.

At least I can still cheer for the Twins to take the wild card spot away from the White Sox.

I can also say I think I did fairly well in my first fantasy football draft this weekend. Last year I actually won a free league I play in with some relatives, but this year I joined a few money leagues for the first time. I know, I know, why don't I jump on the bandwagon a little later. I was a little surprised at how long people waited to pick their QBs (this is a 10-team league). Is this standard practice in fantasy drafts? I picked Tom Brady with my 4th pick, and I picked Drew Bledsoe as my backup when he was still available in the 8th. A couple guys didn't even pick a QB until after I picked Bledsoe. One guy was able to get an excellent starter for that late I thought - Marc Bulger. But the other guy ended up picking Jake Plummer as his starter. I understand why it's important to have good running backs, but I don't understand why the QB position isn't considered that important in fantasy.

Let's be clear: he is making a personal attack, one that I won't soon forget.

Rob Neyer said something like that a few years ago. He said that he receives more emails from Indians fans than any other group (especially in response to criticism of the team). He added the specific disclaimer that he did not mean that as a criticism -- it was really more of a compliment. Anyone who read between the lines knew that he was annoyed, however.

This article about the chances of each team in the AL winning the World Series is pretty good (although I would pick the White Sox as the favorite at this point instead of the Yankees). My favorite section is about the Indians. Joel, don't you like it when they kick you when you're down?

10. Cleveland

Not sure what happened with these guys. The Indians would have made a much better roto team.
(Note: Normally I'd have more to say, but I'm tired of Cleveland readers complaining every time I write something even mildly negative about one of their teams, no matter how accurate that assessment might be. Now I'm thinking that Cleveland fans are like women -- if they ask you how they look, just tell them, "You look fine, you look great" or else you're in for 20 minutes of pure hell. So to recap, the Indians look fine, they look great. Let's move on.)

Even though I'm sick of the debate going on about whether students should use Wikipedia or not, I think this commentary from Stephen Colbert is hilarious. My favorite caption on the right side of the screen - "The Revolution Will Not Be Verified!" I'm almost tempted to show this clip to instruction sessions I do for incoming students.

DOH!

I love this David Letterman joke:

"Anybody here from New Zealand? They have a big, new attraction. It's a live sex show in New Zealand. They have actual bulls mounting a simulated cow. Good to see Ann Coulter getting some work."

That's pretty funny -- I was aware that people were spending a lot of $ to get those releases -- glad I got in on the ground floor (although $10 for both is a helluva deal).

Here's something else I remember about Mangan: he wanted to be an airline pilot, which I thought was cool. Also, he was a chemistry major, or something, and he was always studying really hard.

Ethan (or anyone else near Chi-town), are you going to the Touch & Go 25th anniversary concert?

Nolan, you don't remember that psycho wrestler throwing me to the ground outside of Anderson Hall? I thought I was with you. Maybe just Adam? Whoever I was with, we were in Anderson (for some reason), and as we left there were three or four wrestlers standing in the doorway. They started calling is skaters and yelling "alternative nation" (god knows why). I said something stupid (I really don't remember what) and one of the dudes charged me and threw me to the ground. I can't believe no one else remembers that.

Merge is putting out reissues of Spoon's Telephono and Soft Effects EP in one double CD package (for the price of 1 CD). This is pretty cool. I have to laugh at the people who spent hundreds of dollars on Telephono on Ebay. They even make fun of this in the press release on Merge's website.

Matt Mangan. The only things I really remember about him - besides the fact that he was a pretty nice guy - was that he played baseball for Augsburg and he liked The Wedding Present.

Eric Betterman. Man, that photo he has on his myspace site is a little scary.

What's the story about you getting tossed on the ground by the wrestling team? I don't remember that. I harbor resentment toward the wrestling team simply because having so many of them in my history classes made me dumber by the minute.

I tell you what I wonder: who was the kid whose room we abused to play Tecmo Bowl? Matt something, right? I'm totally blanking ... great guy ... wonder where he's at these days.

Want another blast from the Augsburg past? Go here: http://www.myspace.com/ebas95

What an idiot. He says: "I am opened minded for the most part but struggle with those who lack common sense."

Was he or was he not the moron who had sex with one of his students and got arrested for it (which, incidentally, is probably why he's "self-employed," whatever the hell that means)? Lots of common sense there.

I harbor a lot of ill-will toward our wrestling team. Who was there the night I got thrown to the ground?

Do you wonder how many players are still active that appeared in Tecmo Super Bowl? If so, go to this blog. Man, seeing those crappy graphics takes me back to the days of Urness the Furnace.

In case you missed it on SNL this weekend, this is hilarious:

I just found out that my legal assistant's nephew is the drummer for Built to Spill. Anyone heard the new album?

The Star Tribune has an article and 2 sidebars about Mitch Hedberg today. The article is about a tribute for him this weekend at the Orpheum. One sidebar lists what other performers said about him. The last sidebar gives his best bits. My favorite bit is "I bought myself a parrot, and it could talk. But it did not say it was hungry, so it died."

Adam, where is this video from? Who are the drivers? It's amazing.

My new favorite website.

TOP 10 2005

1. CHANNELS Who else? J. Robbins. It's really good alright? They'll probably be on next year's list, too. Their debut album will be released on Dischord this Spring.

2. SPOON I think Adam said it well, they're about as solid as an indie act gets these days. I Summon You is a fabulous song. I will say, however, that I like the first three Spoon albums all more than the last three.

3. TRAIL OF DEAD Excellent. For some reason I discovered these guys in 2005. So I had to go back and by source tags & codes (again, I gave away my first copy because I thought it sucked). Anyhowe, I've listened to "The Rest Will Follow" a gajillion times over the past year.

4. MINUS THE BEAR Thanks for the tip, Adam. The first six songs are awesome. A really excellent album. You could make an argument that this should be #2 on my list. It probably should be.

5. THE LIFE AND TIMES Allen Epley's new band -- not too heavy, really interesting, melodic minor-key guitar rock. Really, really cool, in fact.

6. BLOC PARTY The first four songs are good, although I will admit that I did not spent much time with the album after the first week.

7. WOLF PARADE Very nice album. Surprisingly, it doesn't remind me of Modest Mouse. I don't know why. Frankly, I think there's really only three or four songs that are any good, but that's usually enough for me.

8. BECK Four excellent songs. #12 (Rental Car) is awesome, #3 Girl is great, #1 E-Pro is good, and #6 (?) Hell-Yes is hilarious.

9. WALKING CONCERTGood punk post-rock songs. Try and listen to "What's Your New Thing?" sometime.

10. LOW There are really only two songs that I like: California and Monkey (the songs everyone likes), but those two songs are INCREDIBLE. California, especially. Relatedly, I never ONCE saw Low in Minnesota. How weird is that?

BASKETBALL
Is it too early to Humphries a bust? If not, the Minnesota three (Pryzbilla, Rickert, Humphries -- no idea how to spell any of those names) sure have been busts at the pro level. How weird is that -- three stud white guys from Minnesota -- three total high school phenoms -- all three go to MN for one or two years, all three leave very early, and all three proceed to suck. ALL THREE!!!

Anyhow, I don't watch the NBA at all (except for King LeBron, who ROCKS!), and I don't watch much college basketball anymore, either (regular season is meaningless for everyone but the crappy small conference teams, and the tournament is single elimination, so it's next to meaningless). With respect to the college b-ball that I have seen, however, I can't say that the level of play is any less intriguing. It would make sense (I suppose) that if the top-of-the-top-notch players are in the NBA, that the top-notch programs are just that much more like the middle-of-the-road programs.

RACE
I was thinking about that GA senator -- the woman who (allegedly) hit the Congressional cop -- race is pretty much the most polarizing issue in America, huh? I saw her attorney on Hannity and Colmes, and he was repeatedly calling Tom Delaya "rich white boy" (I think Delay had called the Senator a "long-time racist," or something). As you might imagine, Hannity had a field day with that -- i.e., "if Tom Delay had called you a "black boy," you would have been all over him calling him a racist, wouldn't you?"

Here's the thing, I see where the atty is coming from, but that smack-talk just gives white idiots like Hannity more ammunition and one more reason to dismiss legitimate concerns of racism. It's a real dillema, because I think there is something to the argument that it's okay (or at least not as bad) for minorities to say things like that (because of the power difference and all that), but it gives joe-blow-racists a lot to hang their hats on.

Sorry ... just ranting.

There is a pretty good website out there that lists the underclassmen and high school players who declared for the NBA draft. The 2005 list is here. 2004 is here. And 2003 is here. Look at the bottom of the 2003 page, and you can see the numbers of players who left early all the way back to 1997. This article has a sidebar listing the 36 American high school players who entered the NBA draft since 1995 (the year K.G. broke the mold). And here is the Wikipedia entry on high school players going straight to the NBA.

Personally, I think that the current rule (the player must be 19 and at least one year removed from high school) is stupid. However, I don't think there is any doubt that underclassmen leaving early and high school players skipping college has lowered the quality of play in college. Just look at all of the players on those lists. Imagine what teams would look like if players were forced to play 4 full years (or even just 2 or 3). Think of all of the Gophers who have left early in the past few years. Joel Przybilla as a sophomore in 2000. Rick Rickert as a sophomore in 2003. Kris Humpries as a freshman in 2004. But, like I said, I'm not in favor of banning players from entering early. If I was in their position, you can sure as hell bet that I would be taking the millions.

I also think parity has increased because early entry of players has hurt the bigger schools more. Big-time programs are struggling to keep their talent for more than a year or two, and mid-level and smaller schools are more likely to keep their good players there for all 4 years. I don't think there are as many totally dominant teams (or conferences) as in the past, and the success of mid-major teams in the tournament this year only further proves this. The best example of this was North Carolina vs. George Mason in the 2nd round. George Mason put out a team full of mediocre talent, but they were a veteran team. North Carolina, on the other hand, was full of young talent, but they had lost their 4 best players from their 2005 championship team (all drafted in the first round).

Problems with the Pop-Ups

Thanks for posting that article, Nolan. Gergen's comments are inexplicable, and I think they go to the weight his essay should be afforded.

Regarding Reagan, this may be what you're thinking of:

"Ronald Reagan himself was a committed Christian Zionist and his support for Israel had both strategic political and loosely articulated premillennial dispensationalist underpinnings. Reagan seemed to have a fascination with Israel's role at the end of history and often referred to it, both in private and on at least eight public occasions. One of the private instances was embarrassingly reported in the press and claimed that the President was engaged in a telephone conversation with Tom Dine, Executive Director of the Likud-oriented Israeli lobby AIPAC. Reagan said: "You know, I turn back to your ancient prophets in the Old Testament and the signs foretelling Armageddon, and I find myself wondering if - if we're the generation that is going to see that come about. I don't know if you've noted any of these prophecies lately, but believe me, they certainly describe the times we're going through." The remark was published in the Jerusalem Post and picked up across the country by papers subscribing to the Associated Press.(27) This stunning expression of Presidential intimacy with the chief lobbyist for a foreign government was "benignly" garbed in dispensational Christian images, but the political overtones could not be missed."

From this article.

Also, Dershowitz is going after the authors of that study with everything he's got:

In the New York Sun:

"What we're discovering first of all is that the quotes that they use are not only wrenched out of context, but they are the common quotes that appear on hate sites," Mr. Dershowitz, who is identified in the paper as part of the "lobby," told The New York Sun yesterday."

... and again in the Harvard Crimson:

"Dershowitz, who is one of Israel’s most prominent defenders, vehemently disputed the article’s assertions, repeatedly calling it “one-sided” and its authors “liars” and “bigots.”

Yih-hikes.

In a period of a couple of minutes last night, I heard Pavement's "Spit on a Stranger" on the CBS show "How I Met Your Mother" (don't ask why I was watching it in the first place) and Spoon's "I Turn My Camera On" on a Jaguar commercial. I'm guessing that this is part of the reason why Britt Daniel doesn't need a regular job.

It's funny that you posted that article because I just read a rebuttle of it in U.S. News by David Gergen. You can read the rebuttle online here.

The section of Gergen's article that I don't believe is when he says, "Over the course of four tours in the White House, I never once saw a decision in the Oval Office to tilt U.S. foreign policy in favor of Israel at the expense of America's interest. Other than Richard Nixon--who occasionally said terrible things about Jews, despite the number on his team--I can't remember any president even talking about an Israeli lobby." There are only two possibilities here. One, Gergen was left out of the loop. Or, two, he's not remembering correctly (or lying). Gergen was supposedly a close advisor to Reagan, and he's saying that Reagan never mentioned Israeli lobbies. This is ridiculous. I remember reading somewhere that Reagan believed in Armageddon, and he even mentioned this in his policy-making discussions with his advisors. How could he not mention Israeli lobbies?

Wondering how the US found its way into Iraq? Do yourself a favor and read this article by two political science professors, one from Harvard and the other from the University of Chicago:

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/mear01_.html (digest version)

Long version, here:

http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP06-011/$File/rwp_06_011_walt.pdf

I don't think this is the only reason we're in Iraq, but it's a biggie (if not THE biggie).

Kevin Phillips, on the other hand, thinks oil was the primary motivating factor. Anyone read his book ("American Theocracy")? I saw him interviewed on Russert -- sounds fascinating.

I agree that a steroid user, or a stock broker who knowingly pushes a bad stock, does not escape criticism by virtue of the fact that their transgressions are committed at the direction of their superiors. I simply think that their culpability is much lower than it would be otherwise.

The question, then, is one that you addressed in your initial post is: What is actually wrong with taking steroids?

In your initial post you mention that it is illegal, and therefore wrong. I suppose there is some merit to that, although I hesitate to go down that road (i.e., just because something is illegal doesn't mean it's immoral -- sodomy, marijuana use, etc).

There are the collateral effects of taking steroids. For instance, as many point out, many teenagers take 'roids to get scholarships to major conference schools, and they die doing so. But I am not convinced that there is a causal link -- can we really say with any certainty that teens are taking performance enhancing drugs because professional athletes are? I don't think so. I think they're taking them for the SAME REASON that professional athletes are: to get ahead. Therefore, even if professional athletes stop taking steroids, the incentive for teenagers (i.e., scholarships, winning conference, etc.) will still be there.

Then there is the cheating argument. That has some merit, although it does little for me. Because MLB and the players union all but sanctioned the use of steroids, was it really cheating?

I just can't get mad at Bonds about this.

Finally, I don't know what to say about the racism thing, but I do think that Bonds is routinely and unfairly targeted because he is a difficult superstar who doesn't give easy interviews. I give athletes like that (i.e., Albert Belle) a lot slack and take any news about them (especially bad news) with a grain of salt.

I agree that racism might be playing a part in how Bonds has been treated compared to McGwire. But there are still a few things on which I would disagree with you guys.

I still don't buy the argument that because Bonds was basically given no road blocks to his steroid use (or even given incentives by many to do so), he deserves no public rebuking. Yes, all the stuff about everybody knowing is probably true, but I still don't think that makes it right. To make a similar analogy to the ones Joel made - Are the soldiers at Abu Ghraib 100% at fault for abusing the prisoners held there? No. The higher-ups are also at fault, and maybe even more at fault. But that doesn't mean the rank-and-file who did the deeds are not morally responsible for their actions.

I'm also not sure that race is the only factor. Like I said, I think it is a factor, but don't you think that Bonds's reputation and bad attitude is as much to blame? I mean, everybody knows that Sosa used steroids, but his jovial nice-guy reputation has protected him somewhat (yeah, Sosa isn't African-American, but I don't think most racists care much about the difference). Also, I don't think that McGwire has gotten off scott free. Yes, he hasn't faced the scrutiny of Bonds. But after his debacle during the Senate hearings, I think the opinion of most people has definitely changed for the worse. Do I wish all the players who used steroids would be discovered and then punished equally? Yes. However, we all know that isn't going to happen. So, maybe it's unfair that Bonds is the scapegoat, but he sure has done everything up to this point to make that seem not so bad.

World Baseball Classic
Before I address your topic, Nolan, I just want to say that the WBC has been highly enjoyable. I've been praying for an event like this for years, and now that it's finally here, I can't get enough of it. I truly believe this event will be huge ... maybe in 2010, but definitely in 2014. Today's US v. Japan game was phenomenal -- it was great to see how much the Japanese team cares about beating the US.

Bonds
I'm a Bonds apologist. Partly because I think he gets a bad rap from the media (he's selfish and cranky, don't ya' know?), and partly because he's the best hitter of our generation.

But also because anyone who has watched Barry Bonds recently knows that he has to be injecting some wacky stuff into his ass. I don't hear anyone arguing that he built those monster pecs via traditional weight lifting.

Because this is all too obvious, Bonds should not be bearing the brunt of this negative press.

The Giants surely knew of Bonds' transgressions, yet they rewarded him with a monster contract.

The MLBPA must have been aware of Bonds' drug use, yet they consistently resisted the inclusion of any meaning drug testing in any of the recent collective bargaining agreements.

And, of course, the owners must have known, yet by all accounts they made no concerted effort to insist on drug testing until after they received significant pressure from the US Senate. That's understandable, given the owners' belief that home run totals directly correlate to attendance.

Aren't steroids bad for your body? Geez, it sure sounds like it.

Doesn't that send a horrible message to high school athletes? Absolutely.

Wasn't he breaking the law? Sounds like it.

So he shouldn't have taken steroids, right? I don't know ... other than his own health, which he clearly doesn't care about, Bonds had every other incentive to artificially embolden his body. His prodigious home run totals have resulted in enormous contracts, the steroids may have even prolonged his career, and everyone with the power to do something about it looked the other way. Willingly.

It is true that some of his actions may have been illegal, and if so, I suppose he'll pay the price (whatever that is). Until then, though, I don't see how Americans can continue to focus their anger over steroids towards Bonds when (1) countless other major-leagers are probably guilty (e.g., Mark McGuire), and (2) the powers that be -- the Giants, the MLBPA and MLB -- practically begged him to do it.

To me, it's like the employer that encourages his employees to falsify injury reports, or the investment bank that provides huge monetary incentives to its sales forces to push stocks they know are junk. Can you really blame the guys on the front lines? Well, yeah, to a certain extent, but they wouldn't do it if it wasn't in their best interest, which is, of course, the principle that our economy is built upon.

Of course, I'm a secular moral relativist, so take my opinion for what it's worth.

Ever since the publicity started for the book on Barry Bonds's steroid use, I've been having some interesting conversations that have made me think twice about the situation. I'm not saying that I support Bonds using whatever he did, but doing questionable things to improve performance isn't new to sports. In fact, many MLB teams provided their players with amphetamines in the 1950s, and, although the direct link between the team and players was stopped in the 60s, players have continued to abuse speed up to the present. Tony Gwynn stated a few years ago that speed use in MLB was "rampant."

Where do we draw the line between performance enhancing and cheating? What is the difference between Bonds using anabolic steroids and the hundreds of NFL players who take multiple cortisone shots every Sunday to allow them to play the game? Cortisone, although not an anabolic steroid, is a corticosteroid (a naturally occuring steroid). And repeated use of cortisone can do a great deal of damage to the human body. I must say it's hard for me to say this since the only way Curt Schilling pitched in the 2004 playoffs was by taking cortisone steroid injections in his ankle. That is, unless you really believe that was ketchup in his sock.

There are other types of performance enhancing that nobody seems to be questioning either. It used to be just corked bats and scuffed balls. But what about the batting armor? What about these new contact lenses that Nike is putting out that allow batters to see the seams on the baseball faster? I know these don't really compare to directly shooting yourself up with steroids, but they are all new things that make old records easier to break.

On the other hand, when it comes down to what I actually believe, I don't know if any of those arguments matter to me. I love how Bonds's supporters say, "You know, I don't understand why people are making such a big deal about this. I mean, steroids weren't even banned in baseball until 2003." Well, yes, MLB didn't have a policy banning steroids until a few years ago. And maybe MLB didn't take it seriously because they knew people loved to watch Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa break records, and it brought fans back to the game.

It doesn't really matter if MLB had a policy or not though. Anabolic steroids were still illegal to use during the entire time Bonds reportedly used them (the Anabolic Steroid Control Acts of 1990 and 2004 are the two pieces of legislation making steroids a controlled substance). So, for me, people can go on and on about how MLB, Selig, and baseball fans are being hypocritical, but, in the end, Bonds (and any other player who used) was committing a crime.

Anyways, that's my two cents. What do you guys think?

A Gay Cowboy's Top 10 Movies of 2005.

1. I'm guessing that most guests (at least those with half a brain who actually watched an episode or two before going on) know that they are there to be made fun of. However, you should read this article about Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. After reading the article, I'm not sure I believe it entirely though. I mean, how could his aides not have told him that he was on a comedy show? I'm sure someone told him at some point that he wasn't going to a heavy-hitting interview. If not, his aides should be fired. But, if the story is true, I don't get it. How can you not know what the Daily Show is at this point? Even if you don't watch it, the Daily Show has become a big part of our cultural and political landscape. I know plenty of people who don't even have cable television, but they all know that the Daily Show is a comedy program. It's almost like not knowing that Brokeback is about gay cowboys.

2. Hilarious. I wish I would have been there to witness that conversation. I can't say that I would've said anything differently, but it's funny nonetheless.

1. Are Daily Show interviewees privy to the fact that the show is a spoof, or are they part of the act?

2. I went to the Low show in Portland last night. I ran into a girl I went to high school with, which was very weird. And as I was talking to her, Britt Daniel walked right by me. I stopped him, and we had the following, rather embarrassing, totally regretable conversation:

ME (perplexed): Are you guys in town?

Britt: No.

ME (perplexed): What are you doing here?

Britt: I live here.

ME (perplexed): You live here, in Portland?

Britt: Yeah, for about six months.

ME (perplexed and star struck): What's with you guys, all the indie singers decided to move to Portland -- the Shins, Steve Malkmus, and now you? Why?

Britt: I'm writing new songs.

ME (idiot): Really? It's been less than a year since the last album. You are a total machine, man!

Britt (annoyed): I don't feel like a machine.

ME (finally sensing the awkwardness): Oh, okay. Well, hey, good luck in Portland.

Britt (walking away): Thanks.

Then, later, I was sitting at the bar and he came and sat down next to me (which was odd, because there were a number of other empty seats at the bar). Instead of learning my lesson (i.e., you never really have anything good to say to a musician), I engaged in the following quite embarrassing, totally regretable conversation:

ME: Do you make enough money not to have a second job?

Britt (smiles): Yeah.

ME: How long has that been the case?

Britt: About 3 years ... since Kill the Moonlight.

ME: Huh.

(Britt's very, very hot girlfriend walks over, ready to go ...)

ME: The John McIntire remix is totally cool.

Britt: Yeah, it is, huh.

(Awkward pause)

Britt: Yep, he's a cool guy.

ME: Ok, well good luck in Portland.

Britt: Yeah, thanks.