Hammer Mill Days

Our rocket test failed. Only two weeks to launch date and the thing can't get off the ground. Some kind of rust blight has destroyed our food supply. And the gravity in the Hammer Mill (at least around Mitch's lab) is intermittent and untrustworthy. Sounds like a good time to open the old mail bag! Here's one from fairly close by - a little town called Philadelphia. Dear Big Green: Your music is full of obscure references to old television shows. Why don't you work more historical subject matter into your songs? That might attract a higher quality listener (like me). Respectfully yours, Horton Pompideau (signed in what appears to be grape juice) Well, Horton. I'm glad you asked that question. In fact, if I were to make up a phony listener question, it would likely be something very much like that. (Fortunately, my strong ethical sensibilities keep me from stooping that low.) Actually, we do reference historical events, such as in the song Quality Lincoln, which was ...

Though I didn't intend to do so, I did in fact watch part of the Republican debate at the Reagan Library on Wednesday night. At the outset, I have to say that this election season is front-loaded beyond all comprehension. For chrissake - no one has actually voted in any real sense, and yet we've already seen a major candidate - T-Paw - drop out, seen others alternately being accorded front-runner status, seen the declaration of a "two-man race" for the G.O.P. nomination, etc. What the hell... it's bad enough that we are now in perpetual election mode (i.e. all of last year and much of 2009 was taken up with the mid-terms; all of this year with 2012). Can we just let the voters sort this out? Having said that, on to the debate. The moderator's attention first trained on THE NEXT NEW THING: RICK PERRY, who is, in fact, a very old thing. Perry (no relation) has gotten a lot of pop-culture credit for job creation. Every time I hear this, I think of an Onion headl...