Day: September 15, 2006

Friday Random 10: So happy that I can’t stop crying

I’m happy it’s Friday; so happy that I’m about to fall asleep sitting up. This week’s Random 10, drawn using iTunes 7 from my full library, has a lot of good time tunes, for whatever reason, but I’m not complaining:

  1. Daniel Lanois, “The Deadly Nightshade” (Belladona)
  2. G Love and Special Sauce, “Milk & Cereal” (Rappin’ Blues EP)
  3. Original Five Blind Boys of Alabama, “Broken Heart Of Mine” (Oh Lord, Stand By Me)
  4. Nina Simone, “Chauffeur” (Pastel Blues/Let It All Out)
  5. John Coltrane, “Witches Pit” (Dakar)
  6. Le Tigre, “All That Glitters (Remix By Rachael Kozak)” (From The Desk Of Mr. Lady)
  7. Sting, “I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying” (Mercury Falling)
  8. Bascom Lamar Lunsford, “Drinking Of The Wine” (Ballads, Banjo Tunes, And Sacred Songs Of Western North Carolina)
  9. Duke Ellington, “The Deep South Suite: Happy – Go – Lucky Local” (The Great Chicago Concerts)
  10. Frank Sinatra, “It Happened In Monterey” (Songs For Swingin’ Lovers)

A rare thing indeed

Boston Globe (yesterday): Panel OK’s 2 rival wiretapping bills. Ok, I’m very unhappy of this trend of the senate to roll over for the Administration’s power-mad citizen surveillance schemes. “What, the covert warrantless wiretaps were illegal? Well, let’s just make ’em legal!!”

But here’s the rare thing, at least where Virginia senator John Warner is concerned: I have a small amount of new respect for a few of those senators, namely the senators from the Senate Armed Services Committee (McCain, John Warner, Lindsey Graham) who announced their continued opposition to proposals from the White House that limit an defendant’s access to evidence if it is classified. I can think of no system more ripe for abuse than one in which the Executive Branch collects evidence without notifying the judicial branch through a warrant application; classifies the evidence; then uses it to convict someone with no opportunities for challenge.

Overall the picture out of judiciary as painted by this article looks like total disarray and a complete lack of inclination for the senate to fall in line behind Bush’s police state measures. Thank goodness, democracy is messy.

Catching my breath

I haven’t really been any less busy in the last week—I was in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Chicago on Wednesday (hence the no blogging), and have been trying to balance my BSO and church choir commitments. Fortunately our kitchen is in a state where I can’t do anything on it until the plasterers are done, or I’d be a wreck.

But for once I’m breathing easily. I managed to arrange a break in my schedule this morning so that I can help manage the contractors for the plaster work, and I have some time off this afternoon. It’s a short respite—in the interim, I have a trio of meetings and then on Sunday I hop a plane for Salt Lake City. But I somehow have the feeling that I’ll survive now.