Maya serves up her Final Four jumpball.

Maya serves up her Final Four jumpball.
Originally uploaded by emaggie.

Spring's in swing here in Seattle. As much as one can call March in Seattle Spring. Nonetheless, Maya's loving the flowers and getting us outside with alarming regularity. Hope your own longjohns were shed ages ago. Rock on.

"Look - outside candy!"

"Look - outside candy!"
Originally uploaded by emaggie.

Maya more closely checks out this year's crop of purple.

Maya more closely checks out this year's crop of purple.
Originally uploaded by emaggie.

"If it pleases the Chairman, I'd like to request a break to change my shorts for the first time."

Before I offer a few quick thoughts on Gonzo's mess over at the (In)Justice Department, the following Karl Rove clip deserve a quick mention. This guy can't even deliver a scripted joke, much less a legacy for Dubya that doesn't start with mention of Iraq. If you want to throw up in your own mouth just a little, here's the finger for your gag reflex.



Kyle Sampson's getting the knobby end of the bat right about now in front of the Senate's Judiciary Committee. As far as political theatre goes, this is burlesque. The doods over at TalkingPoints Memo are providing the best blow-by-blows that I've seen, especially since they've been way out front on this story from the beginning. After just a handful of questions, Sampson's already complicated Gonzo's future testimony hugely. My lockbox prediction - "You Can Call Me Al" Gonzales will be out within a week. On a related level of almost indigestible irony, it doesn't seem that we'll have a chance to see what sort of legal mind Pat Robertson's "law" (wink wink) "school" (nudge nudge) arms a young Bushie with since Monica "(insert your own Lewinsky joke here)" Goodling is taking the Fifth to avoid testifying. Just pile her on the mountain of felonious lackey roadkill in this scandal. And for those Bushie apologists that say this is a political fishing expedition I offer just one counter - with bait like this, who needs to go fishin'.

Hope your own limit is caught early on. Rock on.

"Popsicles rocksickle."

"Popsicles rocksickle."
Originally uploaded by emaggie.

The butterfly balloon only slightly distracts from the fact that Maya now often chooses her own outfits.

The butterfly balloon only slightly distracts from the fact that Maya now often chooses her own outfits.
Originally uploaded by emaggie.

Maya just took a hunk out of either a ripe strawberry or a squirrel's heart. Both of which she loves.

Maya just took a hunk out of either a ripe strawberry or a squirrel's heart. Both of which she loves.
Originally uploaded by emaggie.

So wait...do we now need updates on the health of every other candidate's spouse?

John Edwards just confused the crap out of me. Politico.com blew the lead with the entirely wrong leak that he was getting out of the race. And then his people manipulated the crap out of the story by pumping the announcement. This is BALLS, people. Can't wait to see where it heads.

I'll offer one Edwards story, with a brief editorial. I saw him in the Student Center on Dartmouth's campus when I was working for Dean in the week leading up to the New Hampshire Primary in '04. He was an hour late. Lame. The people running the show were making excuses to everyone, and I remember one particularly beautiful advance staffer distracting every single reporter in range. Frickin' smart advance work...but that's another story. Eventually, John came on. And SLAYED the crowd. Everyone there left on board. I saw every other candidate in the field that Primary lead-up. John was the best. But that's maybe what is so scary. This guy has known some tragedy. And this guy has an incredibly smart, tough lawyer as a wife (translation: Clinton echo to undercut Hillary). I'd say don't count John out. He smart. And crafty.

Al Gore's got the good press. But Barbara Boxer has balls. The way she smacked down James Inhofe was stronger than anything anyone's offered that doosh to date. Please do yourself a favor and watch it.

Hope all your campaigns continue unabated. Rock on.

"Just when I thought I was out..."

While a hearty majority of the nation is probably debating whether "Dancing With the Stars" will have another vaguely creepy Emmitt Smith character this time around, Alberto "Call me Al" Gonzales continues to simmer in a salty broth. That turkey's almost cooked. My money's on the fact that he'll be compelled to testify before Congress and even the most loyal Bushie has no idea where that might lead. But I must admit that I'm more fixated on Harriet "Greatest Counsel Ever!" Miers. Can you just imagine the Constitutional crisis we'd be facing if she'd not been yanked back from that insanely misplaced nomination to the Supremes? 'Cause ya know the last Congress would have rubber-stamped her when push came to shove. And she'd been involved - pre-nomination, mind you - in the idea of selectively purging the Judicial Branch of folks unwilling to play ball with the hardcore Bushies. Holy. Moly. Even though she's been put back to pasture in Dallas, "Heckuva Job!" Harriet's getting yanked back in "Godfather III"-style (translation: horribly unworthy, unworkable final chapter). I can't see how the White House will be able to quash a Congressional supeona since she's already on the outside - resigned last year to "spend more time with her (selected cover story)." She'll have her C-SPAN moment. Tough timing to have just had the lusciously lucid Valerie Plame before the Members. Don't expect Tony Blankley to make any jokes about the color of Harriet's "roots" as he appallingly did on last week's "Left, Right and Center". Speaking of which - Tony Blankley is the biggest doosh in the entire medicine cabinet of Conservative apologists. My wife, I believe, thinks it's Tom DeLay, based on his "Morning Edition" interview this morning - much dooshiness was to be beheld, no doubt. Regardless, let me know if you've got a nomination for this game.

Hope your own emails are selectively deleted forever and ever when you see fit wink wink nudge nudge. Rock on.

"Could Ms. Plame please repeat that last bit about 'under cover operations'...and just a little slower this time?"

The two stories that have my attention today are obvious yet still surprising. Foremost, Alberto "The President calls me Al" Gonzalez is finally catching the heck he should've received years ago. I simply believe that he's on his way out. Dubya will need to cut bait on Justice and Gonzo's the designated chump there to keep the taint from running all the way uphill. I always thought he was a greasy loyal-to-a-fault Bushie. Now we get to see for real just how comfortable he is lying repeatedly. Not a pretty sight.

But in terms of prettiness, Valerie Plame is pretty much off the charts. I just caught a bit of the opening of her appearance before Henry Waxman's House Government Reform Committee. All the prior photos haven't done her justice. I'm sure she'll be all over the place for the next few newsy cycles. Rawrr.

Hope your own March Madness is easily treated with proper medication. Rock on.

Nothing helps Maya get truly better than some quality playground time.

Nothing helps Maya get truly better than some quality playground time.
Originally uploaded by emaggie.

Proof positive that Maya's mended. Hope your own prognosis is similarly on the upswing. Rock on.

Maya re-imagines her own birth. Sort of.

Maya re-imagines her own birth. Sort of.
Originally uploaded by emaggie.

"What's a kid gotta do to get a racquet around here?"

"What's a kid gotta do to get a racquet around here?"
Originally uploaded by emaggie.

Newt and Joe, showing off their moral compasses.

Two insultingly ridiculous stories caught my eye recently. Number one, Newt "Cancer Divorce" Gingrich was cheating on wife Number Two with lucky future Number Three while he was leading charge for impeachment of Clinton. Them's some massive hypocritical cajones on ol' Newt. But I dearly love having him in the race for the GOP Nomination.

Secondly, Joe "I hold the balance of the Senate in my watertight arsehole" Lieberman took cash for his re-election bid from the big money behind the Swift Boat Vets. I'm not surprised. Just appalled.

In better news, Maya's pretty much back on the job after her pink eye adventure. Can't say that I'll miss dealing with her waking up temporarily blinded by crusted shut eyes. I suppose she'd concur.

Hope all your own senses are ungooped, so long as you need them today. Rock on.

"Daddy, do pink socks go with Pink Eye?

"Daddy, do pink socks go with Pink Eye?
Originally uploaded by emaggie.

We should have known the wheels were about to come off when Maya pleaded to wear her previously-Kryptonite-like Halloween costume.

We should have known the wheels were about to come off when Maya pleaded to wear her previously-Kryptonite-like Halloween costume.
Originally uploaded by emaggie.

No longer desperately seeking a Bird, a Sheep, and an Elephant.

Everyone's stumbling over themselves to snark that Scooter's guilty, minimum security shower stall with body gel style. Sucks for that guy to have at some point sold his soul to the Devil, I suppose. This really piles on another historic bad newzy run for the Bushies. I can't imagine that this story diminishes before the end of June when Scooter get sentenced. My early bet is that even with time off for being a rat, he still does 5 years. But he could get 25. However thinly you slice it, the outcome is a big ouch.

Maya's really got the gunk all up in her lit'l grill. Pink eye (conjunctivitis) is an insidious punk of an affliction. Pesky eye boogers everywhere. Most parents know, I'm sure. Since you can't really efficiently test whether it's bacterial or viral, antibiotics sound as surefire as taking Dick Cheney to a friendly trap shoot where your kids are throwing the clay pigeons. So we're riding it out, enjoying the company of a friend passing through on a book tour, and letting Maya write the stage directions. One of which is worth mentioning, as a recommendation for the youngins. Namely, "Jack's Big Music Show" within the Nickelodeon universe of cable channels. We all dig the show since the music is diverse and the shtick with the puppets is so well done. Maya got obsessively connected to one episode. Which we mistakenly deleted a month ago. Oopsie. Everytime we've allowed Maya to watch TV since, she's asked for this episode of "Jack's" by saying "bird, sheep and elephant". With a thick San Francisco/Seattle two-year-old accent, but that's beside the point. Which is that today that episode of "Jack's" replayed. Not really sure if Maya can see eveything through the sludge. But she was still happy as an elephant with a trunkful of water when we watched it this morning. Karma seems to be on our side. Which is nice.

Hope your own TiVo finds you a longlost love today. Rock on.

Just a bit better than gettin' the stink eye...

Daycare's a scary petri dish, especially in the winter months. Maya's most recent extraction from the mix - pink eye. It started out looking like something flu-ish. Then her eyes got mucked up starting yesterday. Kid needs a steam room. But she's doing aiight. We get to hang and catch up, while I wait for my own infection to arrive. Speaking of which, two personal ratings need a small drumroll with just a little snare.

"Pan's Labyrinth" is fabulous. My rating is a solid A. The cast is flawless and the magic realism is like one of those trips into the crazed suite at the end of the hallway in your college freshman dorm where you knew you'd see most everything. Some may cringe often in the "Labyrinth". There are heaps and heaps of gruesome scenes. Nonetheless, I believe even many of the grossed-out will watch this movie for years and continue to find new details in the mix. Go. You'll enjoy it, I promise.

In the burgeoning field of Iraq War journalistic bombshells, The Walter Reed Hospital scandal and the general malaise in the VA System that simply MUST be headed toward pending scandal is compelling. But I believe that Bob Woodruff's ABC docu-newsie-trip back to Iraq plus his David Letterman appearance was the biggest gutcheck in the most recent "surge" of media insight. Woodruff will become only more impressive as time goes by. Good luck sure didn't hurt. Most importantly, the money to get everything repaired. Still, I give Bob Woodruff's return to the stage another solid A.

Before Maya got to fullblown ickiness, I got to play Seattle tour guide with a college roommate and his wife here for a conference from Madison. If you had any sort of damage to your property or collective soul this weekend - blame it on this rollicking conference full of drunken radiology folks. We did some of what I was sure had been outlawed - the big throwdowns sponsored by drug companies. Like a six-hour open bar at a Coyote Ugly-like jazz bar ("88 Keys" in Pioneer Square deserves in the best of circumstances a snarky C-minus). And a top o' the Space Needle party. Luckily, I could also corral this friend, Mike, to visit a few dives and drive all over the damn place in the afternoons. Our only failure was my inability to re-find the original Soundgarden out in Magnuson Park. You'd think I'd know my own damn park, ya know. Regardless, it was great to see them and to get yet another chance to show off what the City means to me.

Hope your own tours take you both off and on the beaten path, with footwear to match. Rock on.