Clear Skies (and Blurry Pictures)

OK, so this did not come out quite as planned. Below is the photo from the plane back to DC tonight. It was a crisp crisp winter night. The plane engine itself was beautiful and slightly fantastic. Add the sparkling cities below and it was really something. OK, maybe I'm just happy to be home, but here's my cell phone camera attempt to capture it:

Horse Race

One of my favorite websites is www.electoral-vote.com. Every day it has updated state-by-state polling data. Admittedly, this tends to focus me on the horse race rather than the issues. But even the kids are into which states are going which way.

Our interpretation of the data today: Obama will win South Carolina handily and then get crushed on Super Duper Tuesday. Of course, that depends on what kind of bounce he gets from his SC win, but with California, New York, Massachusets, and New Jersey (to name a few) trending Hillary's way, she may go a long way to locking up the nomination on February 5.

(Partisan update: Brendan has abandoned his support for Romney, whom he now dubs a liar. He's a Barack man all the way. Jordan is steadfast in her support for Hillary.)

All Hail the Dark Lord

Brendan's quote of the morning:

Mom, I have a new nickname. It’s “Nasty B, the Dark Lord of Awesome."

(I was disappointed to learn that this may have come from the Suite Life of Zach & Cody.)

Did I Mention We Got a Dog?

Master of the Garden

Tonight Dee Miasma will undoubtedly have the dream where it is finals and she hasn't attended class all semester and she can't even find her classroom. That's because she starts school tomorrow. That's right, she's going to become a Master Gardener. (Not to be confused with a Gardner Master, as Maddie is.) If I had thought about it, I'd have gotten her a Trapper Keeper for the first day of school.

Introducing Sadie

We will work on getting better pictures . . ..

Vulgar Past

For some reason, dabbling with my old guitar led me to the Vulgar Boatmen tonight. So, for old times' sake, here is a VB clip:

Romney Convert

The kids are getting wrapped up in the presidential race. Jordan M. stayed up past me watching results, pulling for Hillary. Her little brother even got into the action, watching speeches until 9 pm. We had to send him to bed, though when watching Mitt Romney, he declared "I'm for this guy, even though he's on the bad guys' team!"

Zeitgeist Reunion Part 1

Peter Blackstock, Founder and Publisher of No Depression Magazine writes of the pending Reivers reunion show in Austin:

[I]t looks like February 9 is the date for another big-time reunion, at least from my own personal perspective -- that's the tentative date for the first show by Austin band Zeitgeist (later known as the Reivers) since October 1991. Most folks for whom music is a central focus probably have a band that, at some point or another, changed their life; Zeitgeist was that band for me. Suffice to say that if you're in Austin for the show next month, I'll see you there.

Count me among those for whom Zeitgeist changed their lives. After my first band love, The Commandos, the Reivers gave me a reason to come home to Austin from college every chance I got.

I discovered Zeitgeist when my friends Jeff Kuhn and Josh Ellinger came to the U of C to see me my first Thanksgiving away. Jeff brought Translate Slowly, which we played over and over on the record player.

I remember my first show. It must have been as soon after that Thanksgiving groove as I could make it home. It was at The Beach, now the Crown and Anchor. The stage was about 6 inches tall. All the boys, smitten with Kim Longacre, smashed in front of her, singing her soaring melodies right back in her face. We thought we were hilarious, she may have felt otherwise.

I must have seen them fifty more times. Reivers shows became the organizing principle of my life. Many many times, Mr. Blackstock was there, too. So, anyhoo, I'll see you there, Peter.