...in which people are discussing female body parts? Seriously, am I somewhere else while they're going on? I imagine they go like this:

"... so anyway, reverend, as I was just about to tell the senator here, I really think it's time I got a Brazilian wax; there's a lot of fuzz around my -- um, my, erm ..."

"Around your what, my child?"

"You know, my -- my --"

"Vajayjay?"

"Exactly! Thank you, senator."

Point being, unless one is talking to one's gynecologist, lover or best friend, I can't imagine there are enough occasions for the word to come up in regular daily conversation that we need to debate its appropriateness.

Are there?

It doesn't seem as though New Music Day was such a big deal in the UK; from Bill Drummond's article on the Guardian website on Nov 20, even he thinks it's run its course:

"I do not want to spend every November, for the rest of my life, trying to breathe new life into a concept, that should have been left alone years ago."

Also, whereas music education is still a fairly strong part of the UK curriculum, it is constantly under threat (or nonexistent) in US schools. A day without music in Britain may not be such a big deal. But perhaps in the US we should be agitating for the opposite: a day dedicated to opportunities for people to engage, interact and participate in musical activities?

"... we can be deeply thankful that we live in a land where reason and religion are friends and allies in the cause of liberty ..."

Was Mitt somewhere else during the whole Intelligent Design tragicomedy?

Loved the sideswipe at Europe, too: "they used to be cool, but now all they have is empty cathedrals! That's socialism for ya!"

Sometime last week, I caught a small clip of a Fox News show (accidental, I swear!) in which the topic was Iraq war movies. The consensus of the babbling heads was that audiences were not flocking to them because they weren't cheeeerrful enough.

Reese Witherspoon can usually open a movie, their argument went, yet "Rendition" was no blockbuster, from which we must deduce that people just don't care about negative, depressing movies that bring everyone down.

And then this: "Why can't they make movies about all the good stuff that's happening over there?"

... at which point I changed the channel.

I went into this article expecting a review of the music in the collection and its influence on stateside Brit-music lovers--you know, as described in the teaser. Instead, I found an op-ed piece that basically brands an entire genre with an incendiary charge.

If the musicians are racist, and their music is inherently racist, I guess the audience is racist, too--Reynolds suggests as much with his comments about magazine-reader behavior.

As a small-town teen in the 80s in northeast England, I listened to the rap songs that made the Top 40. But Grandmaster Flash's "White Lines," while great to dance to, didn't resonate with me the way The Smith's "Panic" did. To quote that song, it said "nothing to me about my life." Does that make me racist?

The dangerous thing about claims of racism is that they're difficult to disprove; any evidence to the contrary can seem weak or insufficient. It's the same (though obviously much worse) as someone suggesting, say, that certain music journalists are pretentious gits. How does one prove one's innocence?

I assume Reynold's book about hip-hop discusses the socio-political meaning behind the lack of British Indie influence on the genre. Only seems fair.

Just look at his beady black eyes and his worried little face and his little short legs! Doesn't he look so excited to be outside, having fun, bless 'im!

Barney? Oh, no; I was talking about the leader of the free world.

I've given up reading the comic--I go straight to the letters, because you guys are much more entertaining.

Plus, that's one less visit showing up in traffic stats for the page ... hey, let's try it, people! If we all stop clicking, maybe it'll go away!

"A thinker no longer has any space to think, says Siegel ... 'If you are a blogger, you are being linked to. Search engines pick up on what you post.' [...] Gradually ... on your blog, -- other people -- throng closer to you.'"

I'm so glad Siegel has the courage to warn us that this is happening. It's every blogger's nightmare.

Trying to write a clever post and then screwing up my own damn url.

Siieeeegelllll!!! (waves fist)

I decided to apply for citizenship so I could vote--specifically, so I could do my part to prevent another four years of frightening Republicans in the White House. Tomorrow is my first US primary--indeed, my first US voting experience--ever. And I've been agonizing for months about which way to cast my ballot.

So thanks, Rebecca, for putting into words the quandary in which I find myself. You haven't helped me make a choice, but at least I know I'm not the only one still undecided.

I'm having trouble tracking down stats, but do we know that the global audience for the Superb Owl (TM) is, as you say, in the "hundreds of millions"? I suspect 90-some per cent of viewing households are in the US, with the rest being made up of American expats and Europeans mourning their NFL Europe teams.

Point being, if bad-taste ads like these are broadcast (I saw the panda one--it literally made my jaw drop), at least our already tattered reputation overseas won't be shredded too much further.

Um, will it?

Some will go into savings, for sure. But our tenth wedding anniversary is coming up, and we're treating ourselves to a weekend in NYC. So some will go on a fabulous meal at the most Michelin-ey place that will take us.

Oh, and in the spirit of biting the hand that feeds you, some will go toward Obama's campaign.