Random

2 more days of work until vacation starts, 1 more day until the first debate, and tonight Switchfoot is on David Letterman. That's where I stand.

Switchfoot is performing Dare You To Move on Late Night tonight ... one of my favorite songs on The Beautiful Letdown, and my favorite from Learning to Breathe ... they recorded it twice.

Another band I like a lot is The Swift. I just bought their new album, Today, and it's great. Power-pop with a piano up front. Listen to it here, then go buy it.

Vacation beckons soon. San Diego, Sea World, the beach, just taking it easy.

I have nothing else to say.

-Zube.

A very close call

So I almost got into a wreck today on the way in to work. A serious wreck. I'm still a little shaky, so bear with me.

I'm on the freeway. The roof of a camper or something like it flies off a big truck that's being hauled on a tractor trailer. The thing goes airborne and flies 3 or 4 lanes over to my lane, maybe about 2 car lengths in front of me. I have to simultaneously hit my brakes and swerve to miss this thing, about twice the size of my car, that's just landed in front of me. As I swerve, a blue car passes THISCLOSE to me on my right side. I could have sworn it bumped me or something, but there's no mark on my car.

Nobody got hurt, I think, because I didn't see any cars hit as I looked out the rear-view mirror. I think I was closest to it.

I was very conscious of not breathing for about a minute after this ... I didn't stop or anything, I was too stunned. My skin tingled. All kinds of things fly through your mind. First, though, was the disbelief that I didn't get hit. Then the constant replaying over and over in your mind, watching the details you missed the first time.

The only thing similar I can recall happening to me was about 10 years ago, when an aluminum ladder slid off a truck, also on the freeway, and I was able with no problem to change lanes before it slid over to my lane. Looking in my rear-view mirror, I saw at least 1 car drive over it ... major damage.

I said a little prayer. I don't say enough little prayers.

-Zube.

Bloggers lead the way in CBS story

The heat continues for CBS over the Bush memos.

Bloggers were all over this thing as soon as it hit TV, and were discrediting the memos as inauthentic. Not because they're Bush-lovers or closet Republicans ... you'll find many of these guys are stalwart Democrats. They just love tweaking the media!

Here is an article about blogs and how they questioned the original 60 Minutes story so quickly.

Here is an in-depth article from the Washington Post about the inconsistencies in the memos that make it appear faked.

Dan Rather needs to stop defending and do some confessing about who the source is (AP says it's somebody with a long grudge against Bush and the National Guard) and needs to release the papers it has on hand. Any refusal to do so undermines the story.

-Zube.

MS Word to your mother, CBS!

Is this the dirtiest presidential campaign you've ever seen?? Now comes word that documents uncovered by CBS that appear to show that Bush refused to show up for National Guard duty and that pressure was applied upon the Guard to cover up the mess ... were possibly faked.

Here is an interesting follow-up to the Bush documents story. They were produced not on 1970s era typewriters, but on MS Word! How dumb is that?!

If these papers, which appeared so damning at first, are faked ... who is the culprit? Kerry? Kerry supporters? "Texans for Truth"? Michael Moore?!?!! (oh PLEASE let it be Michael Moore!!)

If Kerry is in any way linked to these papers -- would CBS just admit NOW that they may have messed up?!?! -- you can stick a fork in the Senator from Massachusetts.

-Zube.

Catching up on little things

Just following up on some of my previous blogs ...

* In the Olympics, it turns out beach volleyball was a BIG hit ... not MEN's beach volleyball, of course. Do the women in the sport realize how degrading it all is, with the teeny bikinis? But anything for the publicity, right? I mean, that's how the world works, right?

* I found a FREE Bible for my new PDA (which is wonderful, by the way). Go here and you can get any number of free things, like concordances, notes, commentaries. I downloaded both the New American Standard Bible and The Message (free!) into my PDA!

* More on PDA: go here and here for great software ... again free. The first is a nice poker program with 11 games and all kinds of other settings. You can get a trial version and keep playing (although it'll bug you to register to open all the options). The second is a great solitaire set, again free, with 5 games.

* OK, now the REAL football season begins, tonight with Indy and New England. Maybe it's just me, but I think New England is overrated in the Great Pantheon of Football Champions. Then again, I wasn't ever a fan of those 49ers teams, and Joe Montana in particular. So maybe it IS me, huh?

* Expanding on that item about our movie choices, here is an article that confirms what most suspect about TV choices, too. That too much sexual content and teen sexuality are linked. It's probably a chicken-and-egg thing about which comes first, but it still is an indicator of attitudes toward sexual activity. I'm so glad my wife and I monitor what our kids watch. We all watch the same few channels (Disney, Nick, Nick at Nite, History, A&E, Discovery).

OK, that's all for now.

-Zube.

Mike the Crockumentarian

One last Michael Moore item and I'm done.

If you have a couple hours on your hands, read this, about Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" and the problem of truth. Or just go there and print it out so you can read it when you have time.

-Zube.