I've always liked Dawn Upshaw when I ran into her adventitiously on Garrison Keilor, or stuff, but damn, this performance will permanently wrinkle your spine from chillin'.

No surprise she has a MacArthur.  (Incidentally, mine seems to be lost in the mail, who do I need to talk to?) 

I love it ...

Raccoon

Residents of a Toronto neighbourhood awoke to horrifying sounds early Wednesday morning after a man allegedly attacked a family of raccoons with a shovel.

"...there will be within the next generation or so a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda, brainwashing or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods

when you're looking for the right image.

They watched the Towers shudder and fall

In disbelief

Those iconic up-thrust symbols of wealth

Melting in shivering cascades of dust and flesh

Keening wails rose up through choking smoke

As hordes of Banshees took wild flight

In shock they toiled, in shock they mustered, in shock found brotherhood

As they rescued all they could

The world stood still and held its breath, even the skies were silent

Except for the planes that were get-aways, filled with Princes of Saud

So many knew how it was

Yesterday for the first time ever, we made it out to one of the upper San Juan Islands, just off the north coast of Washington State.  The Tour de Lopez , was one of the best organized and certainly is up there for the amazing lunch put on by the owner of the Bay Cafe. They limit the numbers of riders on this ride, which is sold out every year.  It came two weeks after the Tulip Pedal which was an outstanding ride.

Jonathan Swift