Here in the pacific northwest we’ve been largely spared from the heat that’s been ravaging the rest of the country. So far it’s not gotten over about 85 and it’s actually drizzled a few times. This weekend it’s finally getting into the 90s, but the trees are still lush and green and there’s enough moisture in the air that it isn’t getting too horrific.

I think I’m over the hump on my rewrite, and am now hopefully coasting to completion. We’re leaving for Gencon in about 11 days (I hope to send bulletins and photos for all you benighted folks who are missing it), and I’m hoping to at least have a draft done by then. Maybe I’ll try to placate my dreadful fear of heights by editing on the plane or something.

I met with a neighborhood organizer today and I’ll be participating in a Democratic get out the vote push. I haven’t worked on a campaign since I registered voters in ’88 (and discovered that I was actually unknowingly working for the Church of Scientology — there’s a story I’ll have to tell someday), and I figured it’s time to put up or shut up. I’m pretty pissed off about the way politics has gone over the past few years, with the lunatics apparently running the congressional asylum, and politicians saying things like “Sure I believe in bipartisanship, as long as the other party does exactly what we want them to and doesn’t expect me to compromise on anything.” So, in order to at least hold the line against whackjobs like this guy until people come to their senses, I’m registering Democrats and reminding them to vote in November. It ain’t much, but it’s something.

Also today’s a pretty huge thing for me since we’re going to go see Johnny Clegg (aka the White Zulu) and Ladysmith Black Mambazo at the Washington Park Zoo. I’ve never been to one of their concerts out there, and it looks like it’s going to kick ass.  I have been a fan of the good Mister Clegg for a quarter century or so, since I bought a used copy of the Scatterlings of Africa single (check out the video — damn that man could dance… he could even fall down artfully) while reeling from the aftereffects of divorce and financial meltdown. I pretty much wore out the record (as well as Jefferson Starship’s Find Your Way Back – totally 80s video, huh? I’d love to play that Pete Sears solo, and can anybody tell me what the hell that thing is that Paul Kantner is playing? — which has also been an anthem of mine every since), and finally saw Juluka in concert (the opener was Murray Attaway from Guadalcanal Diary, and damned if I didn’t become a fan of theirs too).

I’ve raved about Johnny Clegg before and I probably will continue to do so until they nail my coffin shut. To see him with Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a real treat, as I consider them all to be heroes of both music and politics, people who stood up for freedom and equality in the face of entrenched authority and showed the rest of us the way. I was particularly happy that when I programmed Johnny Clegg and Juluka into one of my music service programs and it started bringing up related artists, and I saw that there are now many integrated bands from southern Africa, producing music and showing what we can do when we work and live together instead of in separate armed camps. Sometimes I think that some politicians, talking heads and agitators have completely forgotten the saying that united we stand, divided we fall.

Anyway, enough of that for now. It’s a very warm Saturday and I’m going to go pack a cooler full of ice and sodas and dance to the sounds of freedom as the copper sun sinks low. Hope all are doing well. Keep in touch