NP: Various Artists, Badass Fusion Drummers playlist (MP3)

I guess I should give the makers of Hi-Lo cereal some kind of credit. The box describes itself as "a natural cereal designed to balance delicious taste with a high protein recipe low in carbohydrates and sugar." Nowhere in that statement do they actually claim that the stuff tastes good. What constitutes a "balance" is subjective, and design doesn't even imply execution. The upside is that I'm more a fan of the Zone diet than Atkins, which gives me the wiggle room to throw some sugar on top to tip that "balance" further toward this alleged delicious taste.

Other interesting truths discovered recently include David Brooks' mild evisceration of John Kerry. The tone is the mild part, the substance of the piece handles the cutting up of the Democratic candidate. I would like to see him win, but he certainly has his flaws. Although, from what I can gather, speaking in circles seems like it would be an asset on the Senate floor. This gets to one of those things I noticed earlier in the primary, which is that senators generally don't become presidents, and this may be a reminder as to why. If Kerry is going win, he has to be able to describe how being president is different than being a senator, and that he can adjust accordingly. Of course, if the jobs situation doesn't improve, he will win, period. I'm starting to believe that more and more every day. The jobless recovery can singlehandedly bring Bush down, and bring him down hard, because he'll try to hype all the other economic indicators that have improved, and all the people who haven't been able to find work for well over a year will get pissed off in a big way and vote for change.

Elsewhere in the news, I was a little startled by both of the wire services calling the massive demonstrations in Spain after Thursday's bombings "protests." Demonstrations, yes. But protests? Of terrorism? I'm not exactly sure who you're trying to convince with a huge outpouring of support for the "violence is bad" platform. I suppose it's possible that they could have been protesting the Spanish government making them a target for terrorism by supporting the American invasion of Iraq, and the victory of the opposition in today's election may have borne that out, but that's not what the articles stated. Repudiation isn't the same thing. I may be quibbling on this, but it just struck an odd chord with me. Saturday's newspapers handled it much better.

Today has been remarkable in that it's the first time the living room has creaked from high winds. That I can remember, anyway. The back porch does it all the time.

At least I've been told it's the wind. Haven't actually set foot outside today, as I'm trying to get the upper hand on this cold. It's moved on from the throat to the sinuses today, hopefully on it's way out of my system entirely. Anto was much further gone last night, and had to give up even trying to sing somewhere in the second set, although I suggested a quick change into an all-Joe Cocker set to fit the sound of his voice. With two gigs next week, I'm hoping he gets over this.

Aside from that, last night went well enough. It forced Tony, Avi and me to wing it a bit, and when you do that with good musicians, it can be pretty fun. There's an element of risk involved, but you know you can bail yourself out, which might wind up being the entertaining part in it's own right.