February 1, 2003: More mundane stuff: we saw CHICAGO yesterday and really enjoyed it. The director should certainly be up for an Oscar, and I'd say the same for Catherine Zeta-Jones. I've never been too impressed with her acting before, but she was great in this, and her songs and dances were zowie. Rene Zellwegger and Richard Gere were also good, and Queen Latifah was terrific in her big number. Probably the most entertaining movie I've seen in a long time.

February 1, 2003: The space shuttle blow-up is the big news today, of course. What a thing to happen, and probably for no good reason. The space program that could put a man on the moon 34 years ago now can't even fly safely. Which proves something or other. Of course there will be all kinds of out-cry about the disaster, and people won't look back to the first days of flight, when no doubt many people were killed. There's risk involved, and we have to realize that. I hope research doesn't stall again because of this.

January 29, 2003: OK, so I watched the State of the Union Address. Sheer torture. Nothing but the same half-baked half-truths surrounded by sound bites and empty rhetoric. The Smirking Chimp strikes again. With a leader like him, who needs enemies? We're doomed.

January 27, 2003: Best Super Bowl commercial: Ozzy's kids morph into the Osmonds. Best Super Bowl vocal performance: The Dixie Chicks. As for the football game: You mean there was a football game?

This is my daughter Angela's 34th birthday. I remember vividly the day she was born, the day we took her home from the hospital, and many of the other details. It's hard for me to believe that 34 years have passed and that instead of being a 27-year old happy-go-lucky guy, I'm a 61-year-old fart. Wow. I don't even want to think about it.

January 23, 2003: So George Bush appointed a guy who said that AIDS was "a gay plague" to his AIDS advisory board. Supposedly, he's now withdrawing, though he earlier accepted the appointment. Here's the latest news: "White House press secretary Ari Fleischer (news - web sites), while neither confirming nor denying the withdrawal, issued a stern rebuke of Thacker's statements. 'The views that he holds are far, far removed from what the president believes,' Fleischer said. 'The president has a total opposite view. ... The president's view is that people with AIDS need to be treated with care, compassion.'" I'm not there, so I can't ask Ari the one question I'd like to have an answer to, which is this: If the president really has that view, why did he appoint Thacker in the first place? I wonder why none of the reporters there thought to ask that one?

January 22, 2003: Can it really havee been more than a week since I wrote? I'm getting really lazy, I guess. I'm inspired this morning by the Drudge Report, in which Drudge is attacking John Edwards for chewing gum. Yes, it's come to this. First it was Kerry's hair, and now it's chewing gum. I can't believe it. Is there no depths to which Drudge will not sink? Apparently not.

January 14, 2003: OK, so it's been a week since I wrote anything here. If anyone were reading it, I'd be worried. I've about given up on the world anyhow after reading about the Knight-Ridder poll in which people were asked how many Iraqis were involved in the World Trade Center disaster. 33% either didn't know or chose not to answer. About 50% said one or more Iraqis were involved. So it's no wonder that George W. Bush is so successful. Repeat your lies long enough and you confuse everyone. And the people are too lazy to read a newspaper or think. Karl Rove is laughing his ass off as we go to war.

As for North Korea, it seems that Dub is now saying we'll give 'em whatever they need: oil, you name it. But we're not "negotiating" or offering them a "reward." I'd like to know what the hell we're doing, then. I repeat: I don't get it.

January 7, 2003: OK, so now the government admits that story about the five guys was a hoax. How much longer are we going to get front-page stories like that one before people get sick of the sham? Can't anyone see through this? And hasn't Dub heard of the Little Boy Who Cried Wolf? Before long, nobody is going to believe any story that's printed because none of the ones so far have been true. How long will they keep trying to scare us this way? They've already taken away so many rights with the Homeland Security Act that there aren't enough left to bother with. We're living under the most repressive government in U.S. history, but no one seems to mind. Except me.

january 5, 2003: A few days ago, newspapers were full of the story of the five terrorists who crossed over into the U.S. from Canada. Their photos were run on all TV newscasts, and the word was out that Dub had a posse going after them. Then, today, we get this, from the Toronto Globe: "But yesterday, the FBI admitted that the most important ingredient in the story -- that is, the proof -- is nowhere to be found: 'There is no border-crossing information that would say they're here,' FBI spokesman Ed Cogswell said. 'And to say they came in from Canada is pure speculation.'" In other words, another Bush Lie, a total hoax on the American people to scare us, to stir things up, to create fear. How long will we let Dub get away with this lying and fear-mongering? Why can't people see this for what it is? As always, I just don't get it!

January 4, 2003: So here we are, four days into the New Year. War with Iraq is looking more likely than ever. So it must be that George W. (Dub) Bush has presented the nation with proof that Iraq is a tremendous threat to the United States and possesses weapons of mass destruction, right? Heck, no. And not so long ago I posted here that he'd promised to share with the U.N. inspectors some of our proof that those weapons existed, since the inspectors can't find any of them. But has he shared that proof? Apparently not, since there still haven't been any weapons found. Has Dub proved a connection between Iraq and al-Qaida? No, again. Because there doesn't seem to be one. Has he shown that Iraq is a threat to anyone, much less the U.S.? Nope. North Korea is threatening everybody around, but we're not going to war with North Korea. Maybe Dub is scared of North Korea. Maybe we only pick on the little guys. Frankly, all this makes me sick. How can anyone support Dub? Don't ask me. I just don't get it.

January 1, 2003: Happy New Year to all!

I don't see the Kingston Trio in concert often. I saw them twice in 1959, once in 1960, and once in 1988. On December 30 in Austin I saw them again, in the same building where I saw them perform in 1959. The Austin Symphony did six quick numbers to open the show, and after an intermission the KT came out. They got quite an ovation, because the auditorium was packed. I'd estimate around 3000, but it could have been more (or maybe less, but I doubt it). The audience was predominantly older, but there were a lot of youngsters there, too.

The opening number was "Hard Ain't it Hard," always one of my favorites, and a rousing way to open the show. I thought it sounded great, but I wasn't completely won over until the second number, "New York Girls." I hadn't been expecting that one (it wasn't listed on the program), and it knocked me out. The energy and verve and harmony put to rest any doubts I might have had. I knew this was going to be a great show.

"Chilly Winds" was next, introduced with some nice words about John Stewart, and Bob Shane sounded great, better even than I expected. His voice seemed as strong as ever. Maybe he can go on singing until he's 100.

"Greenback Dollar" got a funny introduction by George Grove, and the song was well received. Obviously a lot of people remembered it.

I'd never heard the Trio do "Jamaica Farewell" on stage, and the audience was invited to sing along on the chorus. Many joined in. Bob sang the verses with feeling.

Bobby Haworth did the lead on "M.T.A.," and I should mention that not only did he shound good but that he plays the heck out of the tenor. Everybody remembered this one.

George's solo was "A Very Good Year." You have to have confidence and a fine voice to do a solo of a song that's associated with both Bob Shane and Frank Sinatra, but George carried it off.

Then we got Bobby's saw solo, "America." Say what you will about saw solos, but I for one enjoyed the heck out of it. So did everyone else, judging from the applause.

Bobby's vocal solo was "One More Town," and he nailed it. I've liked this song since I first heard it, and this rendition is right up there with the best.

Then came "Scotch and Soda." What can you say? Sure, I've heard it a few times (not nearly as many as Bob Shane has sung it, I'm sure), but it's still a great number and he still has the voice for it. This one got applause before he even started to sing.

So did the next one, "Tom Dooley," another one that needs no comment. Did I mind hearing it again? Of course not. This is the song that itroduced me to the KT all those years ago, and I like it even now.

"Worried Man" has been one of my favorites, maybe my overall KT favorite, since I first heard it. This version wasn't quite as great as the original, but it was fun. Bob broke a string on this one.

Bob introduced "Where Have all the Flowers Gone" briefly with the story of how the Trio got the song, and then the guys sang a really powerful version. My sister, who had never seen the group in person and who owns none of the albums, said that she "teared up" during this one. She's not a fan. She just went because she gave me and my wife tickets for Christmas, but she was affected by this performance. As who wouldn't be? You can call the KT a nostalgia group if you want to, but to me it's three guys singing timeless songs, and when they can do them like this, I don't see a thing to complain about.

"I'm Going Home" was next, and the voices were so strong and the harmony was so good on this one that I was practically levitating off the seat. The standing ovation wasn't a cliche. It was deserved.

The encore was "The Reverend Mr. Black." This was never one of my favorites, but hearing the power and the harmonies on the chorus in an actual performance was like hearing a whole new song. I'm pretty sure I was levitating on this one, which got another standing O.

So did I like the show? You bet. So did my wife and my sister, neither of whom was there to recapture lost youth or relive the dead past, blah blah blah, because the KT wasn't really a part of their past or their youth. They were still affected by the music.

I should mention that the orchestra didn't interfere at all. I hardly noticed it for the most part. The world's largest back-up group is about what it amounted to.

Let the nay-sayers say their nays. I say go to a performance. Listen to the music. Maybe it will lift your spirits the way it lifted mine, my wife's, and my sister's.

December 26, 2002: So here's what I'm wondering about on this day after Christmas. North Korea is ramping up its nuclear facilty that can create plutonium, and its ramping up its rhetoric, too. Seems to me that North Korea is a lot more dangerous to the U.S. than Iraq and is blatantly doing what Iraq is merely accused without proof of doing. So what's happening? Is Bush calling for regime change? Not a bit of it. He's off on vacation and not calling for anything. As usual, I don't get it.

December 25, 2002: Merry Christmas to all! I got a lot of nice gifts from Santa, and from my family as well. My son took some of my rapidly deteriorating cassette tapes, cleaned them up and burned them onto CDs. Some of the stuff is very hard to find these days, like the two Billy Ward and the Dominoes tapes from Holland, so I was glad to get it. He also fixed up my Kingston Trio STEREO CONCERT PLUS tape, and it sounds great. I got some DVDs, too, and lots of other great stuff, including a book from my daughter. The book allows me to generate Shakespearean insults. Maybe I can use it somehow in a novel.

December 22, 2002: We were told of Laura Higgins' murder last night. She's the youngest daughter of Marjorie and Roy Powell, two members of our Sunday School class, and she was found shot to death at a warehouse owned by Perry Homes. She was a model-home decorator for Perry and had gone by to check on a piece of furniture. Her purse, keys, and cell phone were taken. I don't know how parents ever recover from something like that, and my sister, whose daughter was murdered, certainly never will. I have no idea why someone would have been hanging around the warehouse, but my theory is that he's the kind of guy the death penalty was meant for. I hope they catch him soon.

December 19, 2002: Since I can't call in and get the talk show hosts on the phone, this is were I can express my opinions. I guess it's nice to be able to do that.

Sean Hannity is a guy who drives me nuts. Yesterday he was screaming about the Trent Lott situation by saying "Why isn't anyone asking Bill Clinton these questions?" Well, Sean, nobody is asking Clinton because he didn't make the comments that Lott made. The first think you learn in debate class is how morally bankrupt and intellectually dishonest it is to switch the topic of debate. Sure, we could ask the questions of all 50 senators and all the hundreds of congressmen, and even of the members of the Supreme Court, the president's cabinet, and on and on and on. But they didn't make the comments. Trent Lott did.

I see in the papers today that Hans Blix is asking the U.S. to give him the evidence that Dub claims to have about weapons in Iraq. Dub's message is, "We know they have the weapons, but you can't find them. Therefore we know they're lying. But we're not going to show you any proof they have the weapons, and we're not gonna tell you where they are." You'd think he'd at least say, "You're getting warm." Or maybe "You're getting cold."

December 17, 2002: Once again it's a while between postings here. Not much of interest going on in my life, and the political world mostly just makes me sick. Looks like lots of Bush appointees are abandoning the ship lately, not that I blame them. Why hang around that guy? And of course old Dub is busily appointing perjurers to all kinds of high positions. Thank God we all know that "character counts." People used to say that Reagan was the "Teflon president," but he's not a patch on Dub.

December 13, 2002: Friday the 13th. Oh, boy. The news today is typical. CNN reports the the administration is "downplaying" yesterday's front page report that Iraq gave nerve gas to the al-Qaida. In fact, there's no evidence at all. The report is not credible, in spite of the news yesterday that it was. This is typical of the Bushies. First they give you the Big Lie. It hits the front page. A day or two later they retract it, mainly because there's no evidence at all to support it, but it's already established as fact in the spongey brains of the talk-show crowd, hosts and listeners alike. Limbaugh will probably repeat it as fact for the next ten years.

December 11, 2002: So it's been a while since I posted. So what?

I love it when politicians put their feet in their mouths, and the latest is Trent Lott. It was bad enough that he said it once, and the Republican spinners immediately started in about how "it was said in the heat of the moment, just a tribute to a fine old fella, nothing more." But of course Lott had said it before, more than 20 years before, and in almost exactly the same words. Which would indicate to me (if to no one else) that he really meant it and that he really meant it exactly the way it sounded. But the talk-radio blatherers will spin out of it in some ridiculous way that only the talk-radio audience would believe.

And speaking of the talk-radio blatherers, one of the Houston ones was talking yesterday about sending a letter to the "Hollywood left," advising them never to write open letters to the president again. After all, the "Hollywood left" is composed of morons, as we all know. I suppose the Hollywood right, on the other hand, is composed of geniuses who should be president, like Ronald Reagan. And nobody seems to want ask what the difference is between actors and radio-talkshow hosts, who all proclaim that they're just entertainers, as Limbaugh does again and again, yet who seem to think that their opinions on everything are not only right but the only opinions that anyone should ever hear. What they are is hypocrites of the first water.

December 7, 2002: Pearl Harbor Day. I was a little over four months old when the surprise attack occurred, so naturally I don't remember a thing about it. I do remember the war, though.

I love the little dances that go on when someone is fired in Washington. Of course Bush didn't appear in public yesterday to answer any questions about the firing of his two big eco guns. And of course he'd never admit that his eco policies are flawed. But if they were any good, would his top guns have been fired? Now that he has to think about re-election, maybe Dub will try to do something about the economy. Or maybe he's still hoping the war will divert attention from it.

December 6, 2002: In a brief respite from the "All Iraq, all the time" blather of the Bush administration, the Treasury Secretary and another big economic honcho announced their resignations today, one coming within an hour of the other. Ari Fleischer told the press that "they resigned, and that's all I'll ever say about that." In other words, "Move along, asshats. Nothing to see here. Move along." Another coincidence was the fact that the unemployment rate spiked up to 6%, the highest in 9 years. Of course nothing like that ever happened on the watch of that lucky S.O.B. Bill Clinton, which must gall Dub in the extreme.