Arnold's New Role

Well, California has a new governor, and we've got mixed feelings about it. One the one hand, we're relieved that our earlier cause for worry has been dispelled. Back in August, in Vol. 5, No. 7 of our newsletter, we pointed out that only roughly 20% of the electorate (which was about 50% of registered voters) turned out for the election last year and we were dreading the possibility that even fewer people would turn out for the recall, thereby allowing a small minority of voters to choose the next governor should the recall succeed. Well, the turnout ended up being at 65 percent to 70 percent of the state's 15.3 million registered voters (which ends up being about 2.5 million more people at the polls than last year) and succeeded not only in their effort to recall governor Davis, but they adamantly voiced dissatisfaction with the status quo.

We're not thrilled about Arnold for governor, but maybe he'll prove to be a nice change for the state. We're willing to give him a shot at least. The ray of hope we really feel is that it's the first election in recent memory that wasn't a gut wrenching 50/50 vote. Maybe some solidarity will arise in this country which seems to have been somewhat divided of late.

But what we're really lamenting is the fact that there won't be any new Arnold movies on the horizon for the foreseeable future. We'd been hoping for a Commando II or maybe a nice family flick; perhaps a sequel to Junior. It doesn't help that the networks have been running what seems to be an Arnold-a-thon lately. Every time we flip the channels we get Total Recall or Predator. Here's a surreal feeling for you: seeing your current governor ogling a 3 breasted prostitute on Mars or smacking Sharon Stone around. Freaky.

Speaking of Freaky

But not as freaky as the possibility of the Curse of the Bambino (Red Sox) and the Curse of the Billy Goat (Cubs) going head to head in the fall classic next week. As of this writing, it could still happen -- and can you imagine if it did? At least for a little while, baseball would become the national sport again and the happiness of one of America's two greatest cities (Boston or Chicago) would know no bounds. We're definitely praying for Red Sox/Cubs -- or at least anything that's not Yankees/Marlins.

New stuff on the site, as usual.

We've got some lovely tunes for you this week. Releases from The Appleseed Cast, Ancient Greeks, Low Skies, Nanang Tatang, Comet Gang, and Steve Von Till are yours for the taking as well as 3 more episodes of Invisible Ink. Episode 6 features an especially comical Porsche experience and a tragic tale of death at David Cassidy's (of the Partridge Family) final world tour from Murder Can Be Fun. Tune in and tell your friends about this great show.