My foot is killing me.

I had a great three-day weekend.

The Sox triumphed tonight, as I knew they would. Go Sox! It was a low-scoring affair, but the game was fun to watch.

I bought the "Kill Bill" soundtrack. It's only fairly good. The RZA contributed very little. Tracks 5 and 9 and 10 are nice. The move slices heads, nicely.

I'm too tired to write more. Perhaps tomorrow.

This is scary stuff. Go read it. Then get set to fight for the right (read: left!) side.

So I read this review by Tom Shales several weeks ago about the new show Joan of Arcadia. I didn't really get the review, because it seemed to miss the entire premise of the show, namely, some sort of comparison with Joan of Arc. The review just ignores the premise while dragging up lines like,

"Nevertheless, the premise is loopy and hard to accept even if one has a high tolerance for hokey Hollywood inspirationals."

"And yet a combination of Katharine and Audrey Hepburn would have a hard time putting this material over. For reasons unexplained, Joan is chosen by the Supreme Being to perform a series of tasks apparently designed to improve the lives of those around her --"

Um, earth to Tom: we're talking about someone being compared to Joan of Arc. Of course she's going to see visions and the premise is strange. So was the virgin maid! For a real review, check out this piece which criticizes Joan the right way: by comparing her to the real Joan, and saying that the current material needs to improve. The whole time I read the Shales review I was expecting something like this, and when it ended I thought to myself, "Wow. That Tom guy really doesn't get it, does he?"

I haven't seen the show, but it couldn't reach the Dustin Hoffman level of hilarity of The Messenger or the hotness of Milla, so I probably won't tune in.

So last night I've got a busy schedule of a few events too close to each other for comfort. Walking over to a tony alumni fundraiser, I pass an elderly gentleman clad in what appears to be African clothing. I'm walking on Pennsylvania by the White House and he say "Excuse me."

"Uh, yes?" I reply, taking my radio headphone out. It's difficult to listen to HFS and pay attention to people at the same time.

"Where would I go to talk to the President?" the man asks.

"Well, uh, I guess you would go over to that gate over there and talk to the guards," I helpfully point out. He thanks me and proceeds to do that. Crazy.

I get to the fundraiser and an hour later am instantly transported back to high-school. Back in the day, the big deal for college admittance was "extra-curricular activities". I was already well-heeled in this regard, playing multiple sports and a musical instrument. The one hole in my resume was community service. Not having committed any major crimes recently, I hadn't picked up trash, ladled soup or really much of anything to help my fellow man. Sure, occasionally I'd help out with said activities for church or some other group, but since I didn't belong to any clubs devoted to service, the opportunities were limited.

So I joined the "Key Club", basically a younger version of Kiwanis. The other several service organizations in town, like the "Lions" or the "Eagles" or the "Moose" club (what's up with all the animals? and what the hell is a kiwanis?) the Kiwanians had a significant presence in my high school. There were maybe 5 kids in the Lion's club (maybe it was called the "Cub Club"...maybe not) and no other clubs in school. Everyone who was a goody-two-shoes was in the Key Club. They did stuff like pick up trash, and help seniors.

The organization itself was tightly regulated. There was the usual cast of uber-goody-two-shoes who were officers, plus activities that seemed to serve no purpose except as revenue generation (the annual "pancake day" when volunteers were forced to work in a sweaty makeshift kitchen after they were forced to sell tickets to said event in order to generate money for, that's right, the club!) and weren't all useful to the community, unless you count stuffing yourself full of pancakes as "useful".

The sheer efficiency, the stupid bureaucracy, the idiotic rules all led me to mock the organization itself. Although we did some good, the fact that we were always wasting time on stupid speeches and presentations annoyed me.

So to connect to the original thread, I first look up the club yesterday to see where it's at. The website shows a picture of the club and has a link marked "members only". That's right: the club only allows members to see the website. What kind of web-nazis would do that? Later I learned.

I roll up to the club and the guy at the door looks at me with an odd expression. I tell him I'm here for the event and he notes that I don't have a jacket. I say, "yeah" and wait. He then lets me in and forced me to wear a club jacket. I already don't like the spot, but hey, it's an open bar and free food, right? And I don't have to pay anything, right?

I get upstairs and get a name-tag and start chatting with some friends. Later I'm told that before I come downstairs, I have to remove my name-tag because the club doesn't allow them. Now they're name-tag-nazis. I really don't like the spot now. But hey, it's an open bar and free food, right?

Finally this lady comes around and tells us "you have to go into the main" room as if we were cattle to be herded. Not, "the speaking begins in a minute" but "you have to leave here". What nerve! So I walk in and note that they're forcing everyone to sit near the front. Just like good ole' Key Club. I slip between some chairs and sit near the rear of the room, but close to the exit in case my beverage or attention span runs low. Fortunately, another equally irreverent guy sits to my left. The lights dim and it's just like one of those boring lectures from the day, only they're hitting me up for money instead of time. I crack some jokes at their expense, leave twice for drink refills and give the presentation the (dis)respect they deserve. The main speaker was actually fairly funny, so I don't rip on him too much, but everyone before him was taken down a peg. I end up rolling, snagging the free food and then jetting to watch the sox/yanks game, which ended up stinking.

More spirited than ever, I ditch my friends and retreat to catch the Dem debate, which turns out to suck almost as much as the sox game. None of the Dems gets any real time to speak. The format was horrible. And once again nothing of interest happened. Oh, well. I guess my contrarian leanings just want to see some of the Dems really mix it up, like the upper level candidates asking the lower-level ones (read: Joe Lieberman) why they haven't dropped out yet, or any sort of physical combat. Okay, maybe that's a bit too far.

Okay, atrios just put me onto one of the funniest screeds I'd ever read: Margaret Cho's blog. Now, I always thought Ms. Cho was hilarious, back from her early stand-up days on Comedy Central. But this blog is even better. Let's see her in action as she talks about Ann Coulter:

I dove into Ann's writing, which was a cross between bizarre accusations about liberal politicians and psycho babble hyperbolic lies that make no sense. The conservative men love her, because she is a loyal slave to the status quo. She is Cunta Kinte. As well as betraying her gender, as a notoriously anti-feminist woman hater, she is also racist, homophobic, without compassion, inhumane, arrogant, dishonest, contradictory, not funny, has an arguing technique that compares closely to "I know you are, but what am I?", wears red leather miniskirts and is just plain fucking wrong. I cannot even quote her because everything she says is too awful for me to write. All this and she isn't even hot. If you are going to be wrong, at least be hot. I am guilty of some of the biases that Ann is, but in reverse. My prejudice and hatred of the establishment, the judicial system, anti- abortionists, racism, misogyny, the integration of church and state - can spiral downwards out of control, and maybe my facts could be discounted and I could be called a liar as well. But I don't give a shit, because at least I am hot. I know I may not be traditionally pretty, but playas line up around the block to make some time with me, and they aren't even getting it right then. The line is just for the wristband, yo. The hotness is not about age, looks, body type, race - it is about honesty, knowing who you are and being who you are, without trying to front like you are better than you are. It is about the down deep authenticity of self, then living it, loving it and looking it.

You have to read the whole thing because it's too good to read here. I need to meet a woman like that. Damn. We could all use a little more Cho in our lives.

So I'm walking to work this morning, running a little late but not really that bad. Halfway there I run into this guy who asks me a question in Spanish.

It turns out he's a 53-year old worker from Guatemala with a bad knee looking for spiritual guidance. I don't know much (read: any) Spanish and he knew very little English so it was a frustrating conversation. The guy asked if God was there for everyone, or just some people. He said his spirit was hurting (as well as his leg) and that he'd read Darwin and Kant and that he just couldn't believe in anything anymore. I thought about suggesting Kierkegaard, but then I realized I couldn't really communicate that in Spanish. He said he didn't know what the point of confession was and I told him that in my church, we don't have confession.

So after 15 minutes (making me horribly late for work) I tell the guy I can't help him. I don't have any money to give him, because I haven't been to the bank lately, and he doesn't want any anyway. I left feeling kind of down. The guy wasn't crazy...if I just knew some Spanish I feel I could've helped him. As I turned to go he said his name was Carlos. I wanted to say, "My name is..." but I didn't know the right words so I just repeated my name twice and turned away. Not that much fun.

I arrive at work late, hot and down.

In one of the intellectually laziest arguments ever made, Grover "I want to down the government in my bathtub" Norquist has now compared the estate tax to the Holocaust. That's right. Read the article. Read it again.

What is this guy smoking?

Yeah, they killed the evil Yanks tonight. I caught the entire second half of the game, punctuated only by occasional shots of the Cubs demolishing the Marlins. If the series ended up being Sox/Cubs...the entire game of baseball would benefit.

For now, though, I'm simply savoring the moment.

It's a pity that the Dem debate occurs tomorrow near the same time as the Boston/NY game. Fortunately, the debate will be over quicker, so you can watch both!

This was covered before yesterday and Monday but I was busy. So here it is again: the soft bigotry of low expectations.

Here's the entire first couple of graphs which are quite possible the most offensive I've read in awhile:

A couple of years ago, the husband and I were eating out — something you don't do often with four kids under 10 — when he lowered his voice and gestured for me to look at the next table.

I did so, expecting to find something peculiar, such as Karl Rove conspiring with Elvis.

What I saw: A young family of five — father, mother, three young children, well-dressed, well-behaved, enjoying their night out, too. Except for the well-behaved children — mythical creatures with which we have no personal experience with — the family was unremarkable.

But they were black. And my husband whispered that in a nation where 70 percent of black children are born into homes without fathers, it was great to see a picture-perfect black family dining together. "I almost want to go give the guy a high five," he said, somewhat sheepishly.

Damn.

As someone wiser than I pointed out, perhaps Mrs. Graham can head over to her favorite website for support. I guess our current President doesn't care about soft bigotry anymore.

No, not Milbank. The other one: Priest. She's almost as cool and in this chat she exposes many administration lies and spin. Let's roll that tape of one of the more amusing (and less damning) exchanges:

New York, N.Y.: Let's face it, due to 9/11 GW Bush has had the longest "honeymoon" of any U.S. president. Is that finally coming to an end -- is the press beginning to stop handling this administration with kid gloves?

Dana Priest: I never went on a honeymoon with President Bush and neither did The Washington Post.

Check the whole thing out for some lurid details about the ongoing investigation. Ms. Priest rocks!

Not mine, of course, but America's.

First I come home at 11:00 to "watch" the election returns. I really should have "caught" them because they lasted all of 30 seconds. Way to kill the suspense, CNN! It makes me wonder what it would be like if the Presidential Election were announced in 30 seconds. It would stink, quite honestly.

After a few minutes of feeling down, I switch over to the Cubs/Marlins game. I switch at the exact minute with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning when Sammy Sosa steps up to the plate with a couple strikes against him.

Boom.

My spirits are lifted instantly as I watch a riotous mob converge on the ball. The game goes to extra innings. Sure, as I was talking on my phone to a friend the cubs ended up losing, but the game itself was still spectacular, and almost helped me forget the GOP stealing California.

First the exciting Sox victory (hopefully that late game collision won't knock Damon out for the next game) and now it turns out that Senator Graham is pulling out of the Presidential race. This is good for several reasons, the main one being that Graham's seat would be vulnerable should he abandon it. Without running, he's definitely favored for re-election. Unlike earlier, I now think Graham isn't angling for a veep spot. The pre-race buzz was that Graham's biggest anchor would be his odd journals. Now no one mentions his journals, mainly because he's a lousy guy to fire up people. Hardworking, sure. But his speeches just fall a little flat...he seems too nice to serve up red meat.

Given General Clark's announcement of raising $3.5 million in just a couple of weeks, the pressure should increase for at least one other campaign to drop out. Realistically, that campaign should be Joe Lieberman, who's drawing tepid support and falling in every major poll. Edwards at least can hold onto his South Carolina numbers, whereas Joe is in a free fall. Other than those two, everyone else is either already marginalized (Kucinich & Sharpton), irrelevant (Moseley-Braun) or close enough in a key state (Kerry and Gephardt) to stay in. If Clark or Kerry manage to team up with Dean in beating Gephardt in Iowa, he'd be the next campaign to fold up shop. Likewise for Clark & Dean in New Hampshire, only Kerry would have to bow out. But I don't see those dynamics coming true for at least a month.

A special thanks to the the hardworking Boston players who just a few short days ago were about to be eliminated. Now, thanks to a couple good pitchers, the Red Sox are going to go up against the Yankees. The game itself was great, the prospect of showing up the evil Yanks even greater.

Go kill 'em, you wicked crazy Sox!