I had to laugh yesterday, a friend called from Michigan to ask how we were doing. I told her we could use some rain and Ike probably wasnt gonna deliver. She was kinda stunned, she was certain we were preparing to climb in a rowboat any time. The reason for the chuckle is I had just finished an entry here earlier and she hadnt yet read it but had just gotten home from work and of course had heard all the media coverage on the devastation Ike was creating. Pam and I went to a friends house for dinner and they had the weatherchannel on, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to watch a 24/7 weather channel. Thats really the world we are in now isnt it? News is 24/7 and there is a lot of it available You could sit there and literally watch Hurricane all the the time. Before my Mother in law passed on she would do little more than spend hours watching Sattelite TV and she would get caught up in the drama that was some skirmish at the far ends of the earth or the inevitable catostrophic flood in Bagladesh. I wonder when news actually crosses the line and becomes enternaiment what that says about us as people and a society. We as a people do love to watch a train wreck and have a fascination with other peoples distress, I guess it has really always been that way, only now if some poor woman in Bangladesh has to climb a tree during a flood and then has a baby while in the tree, millions hear about it before the baby is born. I ask again what that says about us, I guess I really shouldnt, one need only look homeward and the purely performance art that is our presidential election to get a great example of who we are and want we want for entertainment.

Always with love,
Tony.