Stunning defiance for GOP, stunning compliance from Dems

NYT: "The House of Representatives voted on Monday to reject a $700 billion rescue of the financial industry ... in stunning defiance of President Bush and Congressional leaders"

Ah, finally! The Democrats in Congress have found their collective spine and stood up to Bush. They didn't have the nerve to stop him on warrantless wiretapping or torture, but this was a bridge too far. Seven-hundred billion in corporate welfare for reckless Wall St. firms? Finally the populist soul of the Democratic party was awakened.

Or not.

	Yea	Nay
Democrat	60% (140)	40% (95)
Republican	33% (65)	67% (133)

I don't know why I'm so surprised. I mean, it takes effort to get your approval rating down to 14%. You'd have to be deliberately unpopular, which is a good theoretical framework for understanding Reid's and Pelosi's actions.

Why stop there, Democrats? You're only 4 points shy of the record-high disapproval rating. If you keep this up you could hold both records at once.

September Trip, Part 1: Zion

We've been back for a week now, but I finally got around to uploading our pictures. Zion is just a beautiful place, which I think everyone should see at some point. We were only there for two days and two nights but we went on some amazing hikes, had beautiful weather and took in more scenic vistas than you can shake a stick at. It was amazing, but not nearly enough time. We were planning our next trip before we left.

The one thing we couldn't figure out was where to buy groceries on the way to Zion National Park. (Are you listening, GoogleBot?) This, here, is the answer. This is where you buy groceries on the way into Zion:

View Larger Map
Okay, I hope that helps someone.

The whole region is kind of a geographic marvel. Basically, several hundred million years ago, about half the continent was an immense desert. The sand dunes were up to 3,000 feet deep. However, being 3,000 feet tall did not prevent them from later becoming the bottom of an ocean. The ocean was full sea monkeys and other aquatic creatures who died over the years, and saturated the sand below with organic material. The dead sea monkeys acted as cement and the sand dunes became layers of sandstone.

Later, for reasons not explained in my hiking guidebook, the whole area was raised up by thousands of feet. In the midst of all this the Virgin River formed. Gradually it cut its way down through the sandstone, forming Zion Canyon.

Interesting note: At one point Zion Canyon tried to stop the river by dumping a big rockslide on it. It only took the Virgin River a few tens of thousands of years to break through. A mere hiccup on the geological scale.

Seeing something so unbelievably awesome has a way of putting things in perspective. It's easy to get caught up with a lot of stuff that seems important at the time. Water the plants, make money, send thank-you notes, don't forget to stretch before exercising, etc. Yet on the other hand, the most significant thing you can possibly do will not exist for one millionth of the time it took to make Zion, and even that used to be a sand dune.

Check out the pictures. I hope it inspires you to plan a trip there. Plus, when you're in the neighborhood you can do like us and hit the slots. Stay tuned for September Trip, Part 2: Las Vegas.

Befriend me on last.fm

I've been using this last.fm site for awhile now, and I must say it's pretty cool.

Basically it keeps track of what you're listening to, on the site and otherwise, and then takes that information and gives it to the NSA to determine whether or not you're a terrorist.

In addition to that it also lets your friends know what you're listening to, recommends music, and lets you listen to an ungodly amount of music legally for free. There are no ads, and you can fast-forward through the tracks, or ban them outright.

There was a time (college) when I would wantonly download every album by any artist I had remotely heard of. Thus I became fairly well versed in musicology. However since my conscience caught up with me a few years back, my exposure to new music has dwindled.

Along with KEXP and WUFM, last.fm is my solution for staying hip. Bonus, it turns out I'm still pretty much with it. I know a good 75% of the tracks on the Hiphopatitis B playlist.

So check it out, add me as a friend, check out my profile and I'll do the same.

Final note, last.fm can show you all kinds of reports, top artists, top albums, et cetera. I think my list of top artists since I joined last.fm proves that I have nothing to worry about in the hipness department:

1. Randy Newman ~ 473 plays
2. Steely Dan ~ 376 plays
3. Beastie Boys ~ 287 plays

And yes, those really are my top three artists. Join last.fm and see for yourself.

This is what a gay Republican looks like

Thank you, CNN.

Not that there's anything wrong with David Valkema. He looks like a nice fellow, and it must take a lot of guts to be a Log Cabin Republican. I just have this feeling that CNN went out of their way to find a picture of someone who "looks gay," and who they can stereotype. "Oooh, he's the director of a fine-arts institute!"

So far balance, here's a picture of gay rights supporter and masculine icon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, having a sit down with the Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director.

Take that, homophobes!