Because everyone else is doing it

At least I'm admitting right off the bat that I'm only doing this whole 'blog' thing because everyone else is doing it. And that "at least" is the most eighth-grade-comeback way to start a sentence.

On the subject of eighth graders -- or people who were in eighth grade several years ago: They were all outside the Irving Theatre in New York this morning, several of them having slept in line overnight. But what for, you ask??

Just think: band they were obsessed with five (more than that?) years ago.. Who they still lust for even though one or two of them is married.. That's right, it was Hanson! mmm-bop-alicious! And if you missed it tonight, I think they're playing again tomorrow or the next day.

On Tuesday night I went to the world premiere of 'Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism', at the New School University. It's the new documentary sponsored by MoveOn and the Center for American Progress (CAP) and all them about how Fox News Channel sucks (right, because we needed CAP to come in and save the day with that timely new analysis).

Michael Tomasky of the American Prospect welcomed the crowd and gave a "special welcome to the News Corporation lawyers in the audience" -- who gave a warm holler back. Or maybe it was someone else yelling back; I didn't quite get that. Well, they haven't filed suit yet for the copyright infringement. Anyway, the film was preceded by a panel discussion, in which Arianna Huffington opined that "we Greeks gave you democracy, and you screwed it up!".

Arthur Schlesinger Jr. was apparently in the crowd, but I wouldn't know what he or the other hot-shots looked like. Al Franken, though, was unmistakable -- from the way he walked. Not that I've ever seen video of Al Franken walking before, but he walked in that goofy way you'd think Al Franken would walk. You know what I mean.

The film featured FNC internal memos that were revealing of the way the channel sets out its agenda and then finds footage and commentators to try to construct that pre-made story-line. But a lot of the movie was filled with garbage that tried to re-inforce a notion that the rest of the media is just dandy. For example, the movie criticized the way FNC followed the RNC line in labeling Kerry a "flip-flop-er". What the movie didn't say was that just about every major American media outlet did the same thing. It was the Times, not Fox, for example, that had the gall to imply that Kerry flying over the Continental Divide (get it, like, two sides?) had something to do with him flip-floping.

Anyway, in other news, even Republicans drink from Nalgenes! See it for yourself:
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2004/07/13/politics/campaign/14WARRready.html

My question is, why does he have a Dasani, too? Multiple identify disorder?? Conflicted politics?? Could it be he's an infiltrator from the left who just added the Dasani to try to fit in? Or is it that Nalgenes are a phenomena of a somewhat broader range of young people, and not just outdoorsy / liberal arts collegey young people?

Finally, I couldn't help but notice an article in Wednesday's Boston Globe about traffic changes around the DNC. You see, I-93 is going to be completely closed in the city, so they decided that they'd also bring it down from 3 lanes to 2 just outside the city, which they say makes sense for various reasons. Fair enough. Here's what the state police spokesman has to say about the changes south of the city:

[[South of the city, Mucci said, State Police will be monitoring traffic flow at Exit 20, where drivers can go either east or west on the Massachusetts Turnpike (Interstate 90), or take Frontage Road to downtown. If gridlock develops, troopers will divert traffic off I-93 further south, possibly at Columbia Road, where drivers can be turned around and sent back southbound on I-93, Mucci said. North of the city, planners..."]]

Wait, hold up!!! What happened to the northbound drivers who were forced to exit, and TURN DIRECTLY AROUND at the Columbia Road exit? Is that not, like, a problem? What, are they just supposed to go home for the day at that point? What would you do?