Hammer Mill Days

Could have sworn I left it around here someplace. Have you seen it, Marvin? Oh, right. You've deactivated yourself for the holidays. Sounds nice ... enjoy your break. How 'bout you, mansized tuber? Oh, yeah. He planted himself in the courtyard, out of earshot. Smart move. Wish I'd thought of that. What am I searching for? The lost month of June, that's what. It was here a minute ago, seems like, and now, POOF! Gone-zo. And with it, apparently, the June episode of our podcast, THIS IS BIG GREEN . Okay, well ... it's not quite as mysterious as that. Our promised June episode is still in production, and not quite finished. Part of the reason is that we are lazy slags, but aside from that, frankly, it's been a very complicated episode. A full-on, hour long episode of Ned Trek incorporating no less than six original Big Green songs. I am only now finishing out the songs, adding some incidental parts, mixing, etc. Working like a dog over here. (Well, a lazy kind of ...

Another year, another raft of execrable decisions from the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). As each was handed down, one phrase echoed through my mind ... "Thank you, George W. Bush." Sure, I know ... I'm still a victim of Bush Derangement Syndrome, as diagnosed by Dr. Krauthammer not so many years ago, right? Well, I see it more as a case of SCOTUS-itis, brought on by the re-election of a knee-jerk reactionary in 2004 who has locked in an equally reactionary majority on the Supreme Court for the foreseeable future. Lest you think I'm unfairly blaming Bush II, just consider - most Supreme Court vacancies occur according to plan. To the greatest extent possible, a justice now plans his/her (usually his) exit based on the likelihood that his/her successor will be appointed by a president who shares the Justice's general political orientation. (Hence Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's reported election night 2000 angst over the apparent election of ...