Salon's illustrations add a lot to the site, and I'm glad they're finally crediting the illustrator: Mignon Khargie.

Thanks for a lot of fine artwork on a deadline, Mignon. Congrats on the credit.

Unrelated to airplanes but intersting from the "what's that sound?" perspective is the tendency of some New York City subways trains to mimic the opening three notes of "Somewhere" from "West Side Story" (There's - a - Place). Many of us Gothamites thought we were hallucinating when this phenonenom started a few years ago. But apparently it's real, and caused by alternating-current on the third rail. Still, hauntingly apt. You can read about the technical reasons here:

http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2004/04/13/theres_a_train_for_us.php

Part of the problem is the escalating cost of running a campaign in this country. Even the most wide-eyed, public-interest-minded newbie politician (is there such a thing?) must schill for an obscene mount of money to mount a campaign. And the day after they arrive in their state capitol or DC, they have to start drumming up cash all over again. Is there any wonder they respond to the siren call of lobbyists?

Here in the Northeast, we see the fruits of this arms-race style of campaign funding: millionaire politicians buying their way to electoral victory (Bloomberg and Corzine).

How about a modest proposal to put a cap on the total amount that can be spent on a campaign? Let's decide that a gubernatorial election in, say, New Jersey, should cost $8 million dollars. Put in an inflation-adjustment clause, and that's it. That's what it'll cost, forever. Once a candidate reaches that level of fundraising, he or she will have to stop. This may even have the added benefit of limiting the blitz of advertising that precedes election day and encourage more judicious spending (well, I can hope).

I realize this doesn't deal with the advertising by supposed "grass-roots" issues groups that also pop up during election time. But if we don't try to limit what they can spend, we have little hope of limiting what they take in. As long as the other guy can raise the ante, the costs will keep going up, and the business of electoral tit for tat will continue.

Other signs of the apocalypse from the McCormick poll:

"One out of five (21%) Americans also agree that the First Amendment grants citizens the right to own and raise pets"

and

"Finally, almost one out of five (17%) Americans believe the right to drive a car is guaranteed by the First Amendment, although the automobile wasn’t invented until 100 years after the First Amendment was ratified."

Is this a great country, or what?

When we were planning our backyard wedding in 1984, someone recommended a small catering company in Manhattan, which turned out to be the Silver Palate. They were just about to burst into fame, and probably wouldn't have done the event in a few months, but we had a memorable day with great food...I never got to taste the crab-stuffed pea pods, but the bride never does get to eat, does she?

So we've cooked from all three books for 25 (!) years, and maybe we have a soft spot in our hearts based on happy wedding memories, but I still love the recipes.

Try the Vegetable Chili in New Basics, which the ladies called "gutsy"...it is, and I dare you to find better. One year I tried the Mango Salsa from the microwave section, and it is rich, deep, and as easy as they said.

A cookbook gets into your heart not from gorgeous photos but from the way the recipes are introduced and described (and how they taste!). That's one reason why the "Joy" contingent is so adamant here. Both books read like a nice chat with a considerate friend who happens to be a great cook. Who couldn't use a few more of those?

Clearly, Tony was laughing in relief on the floor of the casino, and his revelation while watching the sunset was that he was finally freed of the curse of Christopher.

In his supreme narcissism he's essentially thanking God for this gift...not of time to smell the roses, but of getting his mojo back.

Great episode, though I could have lived without seeing Tony puking in the john.

Did anyone note the website AJ was looking at when Meadow accused him of watching porn? Is this a red herring, or will the "Arabians" and AJ plotlines converge in some ironic and tragic way?

Just a thought.

Tony is (or was) the center of both his biological family and his mob family. Both are disintegrating, and he can't hold either together.

Whether he dies or goes to jail, he leaves ruin in his wake. His crew is decimated. Carmela's cushy lifestyle built on crime and death will crumble away, her daughter will be sucked into the same life, her son is already lost.

The "doors" are closing...whether the last one is a cell door or the Big Door is irrelevant (unless you hope for Sopranos Part II).

It's over, Tony.

Regina Barreca takes it: The ladies, probably the only ones still alive after the carnage, take charge, and not a moment too soon.

And it allows the series to live on: The Sopranos Part II: Hear Them Roar.