The August newsy doldrums

August is unquestionably a time of general avoidance of important things. C'mon face it people - we all get a bit slack on what's important in August. It's hot (everywhere but here in SF), the Fall crush of renewal is just around the corner, the summer's surprisingly well past half gone, music festivals and fairgrounds are filling up with shortpanted losers of all manner and stripe. But I'm working to break that trend here at and the Family Buick. For example, I've got a new digital camera arriving today to once again obsessively catalog Maya's epic cuteness and our travels. And Maya's got lots to say, so I want to put up a few audio files to accent her development as visually portrayed. So check back in the next few weeks and I promise to be more regular with my daily postings.

As far as the news goes, August is famously a lousy time for real stories. It's all shark attacks and interviews with serial killers and generally shameless filler junk. Such as how I heard yesterday on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" part of an hour dedicated to a segment on the best movie car chases. They even played clips for a few before I couldn't take it anymore and had to switch to a CD (my latest recommendation - the compelling Eels new album "Blinking Lights and Other Revelations"). But if car chase clips on the radio are insulting, Dubya's attempt to address the Cindy Sheehan protest yesterday with a statement that both wouldn't acknowledge her yet still was crafted to insult her validity is the most unworthy audio of this already ugly sounding August. Never mind how much smoke Conservatives are trying to fan back into the face of NARAL for an admittedly dumbassed John Roberts ad - there's essentially nothing but crap out there for political debates at the moment. Dubya comes back to DC to sign a so-stinky-it's-steaming highway bill with over 6300 earmarked pork projects inserted. "Douchebag for Liberty" Novak's claiming that he erupted 'cause Carville pissed him off. Rove is hiding from scrutiny in Florida while Katherine Harris announces her run for the Senate while proudly showing off her new breast implants. Yes, this is the ugly season folks. And with that said, I'm gonna head out for a run with my daughter in the Park and avoid all this static. I've got a bunch of lousy podcasts loaded up and we need to run a healthy loop. The morning's clearing up nicely. Dubya's clearing brush, time for me to clear my head. Rock on.