When Crawford's booked, I suggest Santa Barbara

Surprisingly like Dubya and his beloved Bushies in August, we're away from foggy San Francisco for the only occassionally foggy comfort of Santa Barbara on our own version of a "working vacation." Dubya takes 5 weeks. We're taking part of 5 days. The similarities end there. No brush clearing here. No beach time there. I don't expect that Dubya's running with Jenna and Barbara comfortably ensconsed in a double-wide BOB stroller like I've had the chance to share along the Waterfront the past three mornings with Maya in our beloved single Revolution. And here we discuss policy and politics. Such as Dubya's unwillingness to meet Cindy Sheehan and Sludge's willingness to trash this woman who's son was killed in Iraq. Or the importance of teaching creationism, er, pseudo-science, er, intelligent dumbsign as a way to counteract the allegedly corrosive edjumacationism of that dastardly evolutionary theory bunk. Maybe the lesson herein is that no matter where we fall on the political spectrum, our society should encourage everyone to head off and break the cycle for a while when the weather turns summery. Like the French or the Italians or, gawd save us, the Liechtensteinians or Liechish or Liechtenaniacs (whatever they're called - I respect you fully). Hopefully most Americans still get some degree of escape to regroup before the weather turns autumnal, the harvest comes in and we all take a new look at our nation's school systems as classes commence. But if it helps you rest at all easier knowing that I'm just one of the minions of folks paying undue attention to the stories of our time, waiting for the next Novak freakout or the next policy absurdity to arise, I hope I help you enjoy your rejuvenation. Granted, I'm just one voice in the global static. Speaking of which, pay attention to future updates for links to my podcast under development that I want to launch this fall. I'm thinking of calling it "Don't Let Harvey's Wallbangers Raise Your Kids" or "This Week in Shlock." Whatever I settle on for a tagline, I hope you'll give my offerings a listen. That means you - Al Gore. I'm one of the few hundred people checking out CurrentTV. I expect some love in return.

To switch gears, I'd like to offer a brief review of "Hustle and Flow" which Sarah and I saw yesterday after weeks and weeks of saying that we wanted to do so. I've read all the hype since its signing at Sundance this year. And I'm pleased to say that it deserves almost all of the praise that it's received. My rating - a somewhat rare but entirely deserved B+. Terrence Howard is a revelation. He could pimp my hos anytime. So to speak. And the remaining principle cast is masterfully cast and without a clunker in the mix. The rap is inspiring. The storyline is perfectly toned. The portrayal of urban decay in Memphis may be hard for some to stomach. But as Sarah said while we walked to our car, you never really see urban stories set in the South. It works brilliantly in this storyline. Craig Brewster (writer/director) deserves mad praise and I'm sure we'll see much more of this artist in the future. "Whoop that trick!" If you haven't seen it, get there and you'll know what I mean thereafter.

We're planning to take Maya to the Beach for the first time a bit later today. Expect some pics soon thereafter. Thanks for reading. Rock on.