Brilliant

Click the truck of fail in the post below this for an additional SNL opening.

It was fun while it lasted.

Sarah Palin is clearly out of her league. I don't even know why I'm blogging about it. Now its being recognized by those in her own party. National Review's Kathleen Parker writes that "Quick study or not, she doesn’t know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion." Hmmmm. One of the most humorous remarks by Parker is "If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself." Online, for the conservative magazine, Parker goes on to say that Palin should bow out - drop from the ticket. "Do it for your country." Parker concludes. Yes, it was fun while it lasted, but its time do it for all of us.

Sister Betty and Burqa Boy!

Sister Betty and Burqa Boy have left Provincetown for their 2008 Great American Roadtrip! They are traveling 10,000 miles and touring 48 states in 100 days - in a Smart car! Follow their adventures at www.sisterbetty.org. Suggest places to stay, give them travel tips, look at pics of sometimes beautiful, sometimes ridiculous, sometimes sublime people and places - and you can win some great prizes! Send them some well wishes from wherever you are in the world...and enjoy the trip with them!

DC

When I was in the sixth grade, my class took a field trip to Washington, DC...our Nation's Capital. I'll never forget running around on the Smithsonian Mall with my classmates, taking pictures with the Capitol or the Washington Monument in the background.

Years later, I landed an awesome summer job working in DC while in between my sophomore and junior years in college. Looking back, I should have appreciated the job and all it had to offer even more. I visited embassy after embassy...afternoon tea at the British embassy, weapons briefings at the Israeli embassy, cultural exhibitions at the German, Brazilian, Chinese, Saudi Arabian and numerous others. There were White House south lawn speeches for visiting dignitaries and briefings at the State Department, Energy, Agriculture, Commerce, the OEOB and the World Bank. There were times I sat in the chair of the Speaker of the House, ate in the Senate dining room - where Jess Helms once commented that we both must go to the same barber. Ha. Obviously just not the same school of thought. Still the most fun was visiting the Smithsonian again, week after week, with an enthusiasm for the culture that didn't exist when I was in sixth grade. Although on nice spring days, I would find some shade under a tree on the Mall, put my backpack under my head and recline without a care in the world. Of course, watching the hot men jog their lunch hour away wasn't too bad either.

Little did I know that after graduating from college, I would spend the next 16 years in Washington. Living first between DC and NYC at Marymount University and NYU, then on Capitol Hill, then Alexandria, and finally Fairfax after a short stint in Manassas. As time wore on, I did tourist things less and less.

Last week, after being out of DC for just over two years, I had the opportunity to go back. There were lots of cars, tall buildings, people and concrete for days - all things that I'm not used to now living in this small seaside village. The work with the client wasn't all that exciting but my new perspective on the city was.

The food, from anywhere in the world, is really something that was appreciated when living there...even moreso with the lack of good ethnic food diversity in Provincetown. I ate Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican, BBQ, some good home-cooked salmon (Thanks Barge and Yurek!) and not once did my feet take me to a Starbucks or Caribu Coffee - it killed me, but it didn't happen!

After landing at National Airport - no thanks Bob Barr, I will not refer to it as Reagan National - my taxi took me up the George Washington Parkway and past the Pentagon where the newly dedicated monument to the victims of the Pentagon attack on 9/11/01. Moving. Then we passed the Air Force monument - wow, very very cool!

And so the week continued...viewing Washington DC thru a new lens - the fresh, new perspective of an outsider...and I liked it. Being back there, albeit for a limited time, the city was fresh and clean, growing and vibrant but most of all, DC is a very beautiful city. Proud monuments, statuesque buildings, rolling fields along the Potomac, traffic jams and some genuinely nice people...I miss it.

Winston...and beer

So, my little pup Winston will be 15 years old come March 2009. That's an eternity in dog...or gay years! He's been with me since he was 8 weeks and 2 days old. Full of piss and vinegar in his younger days, he's mellowed out quite a bit in recent years, although he still likes to wrestle his brother Jeb on the beach some mornings.

Anyway, just since moving up here, Winston has started to freak out when there are loud noises like fireworks or thunderstorms. And I mean FREAK OUT. On July 4th, he pawed open a gate that he never used for two years and ran a good mile away. During thunderstorms, he paces and pants and paws at my leg (or nearest available body part) with the wide-eyed look of horror.

So, a couple weeks ago, during one of the late afternoon thunderstorms passing over the Cape, I was trying to work and once again, the boy was Cr@zY! I turned around from the desk to try and calm him (or maybe to tell him to "relax!") and what to my wandering eyes should appear... but a bottle of Sam Adams Summer Ale. I thought, well, it works for me...Let's give it a shot! After pouring the boy a bowl of the brewski, complete with a big head of suds, he dove right into it like Dad would on a hot summer afternoon at Tea Dance. The beer seemed to relax him a bit. He became less edgy, less hyper and had a mellower look in his eyes - something I learned a long time ago has the same effect on me!

I don't know how much longer the kid will be with me. He's slowing. He's grayed out. His once astounding singing voice coming less frequently and a little more gravelly. But I do know that he likes beer - and it apparently helps him relax. Our time together is surely limited so my spoiled kid will get beer...or anything he wants. Now, if I could only teach him to open the fridge and get Dad another hooch!

Shake the Veep!

Bill Pfeiffer, hot bear and full of talent, sampled Sarah Palin to good use. Sorry if you don't like this photo Bill, but you're handsome in any photo! Download and take a listen! Very nice.

Come on down!!

I don't even know what to say about this but I did laugh my ass off!