The Vacationer-In-Chief

Usually when a person sits at home for five weeks not working, that person is unemployed. The exception, of course, is George W. Bush. He is in the midst of his 49th vacation in 4 1/2 years. So, it's been over 1400 days since 9/11, and Bin Laden is still at large -- time for a vacation! I have been "on vacation" now for two weeks, so I have a few more to go to catch up with Dubya. One could think that with Bush away from Washington, there is little he could fuck up. I wouldn't count on that.

So what's new with me? Not much since yesterday. I just got an email from my radio show boss saying that she got me the new Black Rebel Motorcycle Club CD, and that it is waiting for me in my mailbox. Yeah! I'm sure I will be playing the hell out of it for the next few months. These guys are just about my favorite band from the last five years. I heard one new track which had been posted on MySpace as an exclusive and it was excellent -- very different than their previous stuff. I think this could be the band's breakout album. I hope so, anyway. They deserve it.

Beyond that, I don't have much to report. Still chilling (virtually) solo at Mom's office. I'll be here until Friday. I will tell you that I re-watched the new Bill Maher special, "I'm Swiss." It was better the second time, but still not as good as his previous specials. I also re-watched this week's Six Feet Under and am still shocked about how it ended. I mean, Nate is dead! He was the best part of the show! But as anyone who watches the show will tell you, just because you're dead, that doesn't mean you're off the show. It is the last season, so maybe I should have seen it coming. Still....

YOU SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY?
Not a ton of birthdays for today, but the two that I do have are pretty important people. First up is Metallica front man, James Hetfield. It is true that Metallica has not made a decent record since 1991's "Black" album, but those early records (Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, etc.) fuckin' ruled! Hatfield turns 42 today.The other notable birthday belongs to actor Martin Sheen. Sheen, of course, has been in hundreds of movies (most importantly Apocalypse Now in my view), but most people know him now as President Josiah Bartlett on West Wing. Since the actual American President is such a disappointment, at least we have a TV president that we can look up to. I met Mr. Sheen in 2002 in New York. He was a really nice guy.

The Wide World of Politics

• (Financial Times) American Journalist Shot Dead in Iraq. Steven Vincent was murdered in Iraq four days after writing a column for the New York Times on Islamic extremism in the southern city of Basra. Vincent is the first targeted killing of an American journalist since the insurgency began. I don't imagine he will be the last as that country descends further and further into chaos as Bush's war of choice lingers on.

• (WP) Vacationing Bush Poised to Set a Record. Our President is on the verge of setting a new record for Presidents -- most time on vacation of any previous president. Bush will be gone for five weeks, and this will mark his 49th vacation since assuming office in January 2001. Now those on the right will say he deserves a vacation, or that he will be getting a lot done while sitting around swilling near-beer and eating hot dogs. The facts say otherwise. In Bush's first extended-stay at his ranch back in August 2001, he received the infamous memo about Bin Laden being ready to strike in the US. He, of course, was too busy "thinking" about what to do on stem cell research so he blew off the memo. Don't blame me...I voted for Al Gore.
  
• (Reuters) Republican Wins Tight Ohio House Race. Well, Paul Hackett (the Iraqi War veteran running with an anti-war message, called Bush a "chickenhawk") lost the election, but that was expected. He lost by only 3 percentage points in a district dominated by the GOP where the average margin of victory for Republicans is 40 points. This was razor thin, and it shows that a Democrat can run in a heavily Republican district, criticize the President, and still get votes. Despite the loss, I think the closeness of the election shows the Dems should be in good shape for 2006.
  
• (AP) Palestinians Fire on Israeli Protesters. Palestinian terrorists shot three rockets at a crowd of Israelis protesting their country's plans to withdrawal from Gaza. The rockets veered off course and went into Palestinian areas wounding five children aged 4-11, and killing a three year old child. Prepare for some asshole from Hamas, Islamic Jihad or some other terrorist group to claim that the Israelis killed these people; and prepare for Amnesty International and the UN to condemn Israel for the killings. That's usually how these things go. Remember, it was really the Israelis that did 9/11 according to these folks (Hamas, etc. not the UN).
  
• (AP) Man Pays Speeding Ticket in Pennies. This isn't really political, but I thought it was funny. A man in Moorehead, Minnesota decided to pay his ticket with 12,000 pennies, which he brought in a garbage can. The judge was upset, and made him wait until the change was counted before he could leave.
  

From The Onion

THE REST OF THE DARK STUFF
Wanna play poker with Gene Simmons, Dave Navarro and Jerry Cantrell? The second annual Rock Star Poker Tournament and Sweepstakes will be taking place August 25-27 at the Palms Casino Report in Las Vegas. You can sign up now at www.vegasrockstarpoker.com for your chance to win the trip, plus $10K to play with...Did Black Eyed Peas' Fergie piss herself on stage? It's doubtful, but Hollywood Rag has a series of pictures that look like she did. Either she peed her pants or has a serious crotch sweating issue (I don't know which is worse)...Liz Phair played a quick set last night in New York and unveiled three songs from her forthcoming album, Somebody's Miracle. The set was kind of rushed since there was another show scheduled for the same venue later that night. Liz also played songs from her classic debut album, Exile in Guyville, and some from her piece of shit self-titled album from 2003. I used to love Liz Phair, and I hope her new record is good. I am not expecting much. The new album will be released October 4 on Capitol Records...

SHOWS SHOWS SHOWS
TONIGHT: Eyedea & Friends at Sokol Underground
Tonight we have a hip-hop freestyle going on at Sokol! Rapper Eyedea will be bringing along some of his rapping friends to Omaha tonight for a really unique show. He will be battling Camage, Mazta I, Kristoff Krane, J.T. Bates, and Casey O'Brien. There are also three openers: The Crest, Silent Army, and Surreal. To be honest, I don't know any of these guys. Eyedea is on Rhymesayers Records which is one of my favorite labels, but I haven't actually heard him. I do know Surreal because he is local and I have played him on my radio show. At the very least, the show should be unique.

TOMORROW: Planes Mistakes For Stars at Sokol Underground
I missed my chance to see these guys last year hen they were in town. PMFS is a really unique metal band from Colorado. They have toured with one of my favorites, High On Fire, in the past, so I assume they are going to be cool. I wish I had more information, but I don't. Deal with it. Opening the show is Glass and Ashes and Love Me Destroyer.

Today on 'The Factor' we have a new model named Raquel Gibson. She is from my old stomping grounds in Clearwater, FL, and she looks a bit like Jessica Alba. I don't know her ethnicity for certain, but she looks Latina. All I know is that she is gorgeous. Click here to see three pages of pictures of her.