more completely random and vaguely chronological italy pictures...no flowers, i promise.

I can't resist posting this. There's a new WB show which may or may not make it to the airwaves called "Superstar USA". The basic idea is that it's a competition full of William Hungs. The judges tell them they're good, put through the worst singers, and America laughs.

"But what about the audience?" you're saying. Simple: the producers told the audience the contestants were terminally ill, and that the show was being put on by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

I like this scandal a lot better than the last one.

With no web access to distract me, I actually managed to get some reading done on vacation. How about that! You’ve probably read all of these books already, but I’m plunging onward anyway.

Also, this may be the longest post ever. You've been warned.

Man o man do I ever dislike Mickey Kaus. At the moment, he's arguing that 60 Minutes II shouldn't have shown the Abu Ghraib photos because they will inflame the Arab world and lead to more violence. They didn't have to kill the story completely, he says (although he doesn't rule it out -- "covering up is sometimes the right thing to do"), but CBS should have avoided running the photos.

What a ludicrously patronizing point of view. Does he really think the Iraqi people tune in to CBS to learn what's going on in their own country? That they would discount their countrymen's anecdotal accounts because of a lack of photographic evidence? Let's be just a little bit realistic: released prisoners will relate what happened to them; families will notice when their loved ones don't come home; soldiers will continue leaking photos of atrocities until they find someone who will show them. People will talk. The truth will emerge. Holes in the evidentiary record will simply be filled in by people's imaginations, which is hardly a preferable alternative.

Covering up the photos would have served no purpose -- aside from protecting our leaders from the shame and scorn they're currently facing. It's too bad we've got to lose even more of the world's esteem, but under the circumstances it's tough to call it anything but justice.

I'm getting pretty sick of what seems to be the central idea behind Kaus's commentary: "I'm a Democrat too, guys, but we owe it to the public to own up to what a bunch of weak, duplicitous hypocrites we are!" Fuck you, Mickey. Just change sides already.

does anyone want to go see sloan tomorrow at the black cat? i haven't bought an album of theirs since like first year of college, but i do love them, and i hear they put on a great live show. $12, with the kicks. amg lists them as: Sparkling, Wry, Innocent, Party/Celebratory, Earnest, Sophisticated, Quirky, Amiable/Good-Natured, Aggressive, Naive, Happy, Confident, Witty, Rousing, Sweet, Boisterous, Bittersweet, Sentimental, Passionate, Fun, Rambunctious, Energetic, Cheerful, Springlike, Playful, Gleeful

i hear them called "beatlesque" a ton, too. just poppy and catchy and harmonize-y.

plus, they are beautiful nerdy canadian boys: