Bruce Springsteen's Top 10 has absolutely nothing to do with the debt ceiling

By Richard K. Barry and Michael J.W. Stickings

RKB:

For some reason, my mind is in New Jersey today, which is, by the way, a very beautiful, though sometimes maligned, state. I grew up in New York on the Jersey border, and sometimes made it down to the Jersey Shore, so I guess I'm allowed.

Partly, I just can't think about the debt ceiling for another second without driving myself crazy, so I'm surfing today.

While looking for something entirely different, I came across a website that purports to be able to rank Bruce Springsteen's top 10 hits. The site is called ...ology. They appear to cover off a lot of topics, so their sports page is called "sportsology," and the music page "musicology," etc. You get it.

If for some reason you didn't know that Springsteen was from New Jersey, I should make that clear. Hey, I guess some people wouldn't know.

I like Springsteen, though I'm not a huge fan only because I never really turned my attention to him in any systematic way. It's great rock 'n' roll, make no mistake.

But any website that not only has an opinion on his top 10 but goes to the trouble of posting a YouTube clip for every last one gets my attention.

If you have nothing better to do with your time, as we try to outlast this nasty hot summer, and want to enjoy some great videos, the link is here.

Here's their list:

1. Jungleland

2. Thunder Road

3. Born to Run

4. Hungry Heart

5. Dancing in the Dark

6. Atlantic City

7. Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

8. Racing in the Street

9. The Rising

10. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)

Final note: I have no skin in this game of ranking hits by The Boss. If you do, by all means, tell us how the folks at ...ology got it wrong (or right).

And not a word about the debt ceiling, please.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

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MJWS:

Not a word about the debt ceiling here. Of course you're welcome to comment on our many debt ceiling posts.

(But it's good to take a break from it! Political paralysis and possible economic catastrophe -- not so fun.)

Now, I actually lived in New Jersey for several years as a teenager, graduating from West Morris Mendham High School before heading up to Tufts for college. The state has a reputation for being "the armpit of the nation," but that's really only true of parts of the state, the industrial parts across the river from NYC. It's an ugly, smelly part of the country, but probably no worse than many other parts. And much of the rest of the state, including Mendham, in Morris County, in the north-central part of the state, is extremely beautiful, far removed from the reputation.

I lived there but wasn't of there. It's not that I didn't like my time there -- I really did -- but I have more of an affinity for Boston than I do for New Jersey. (Not Boston's sports teams, mind you, just the whole Boston area, a fantastic place to spend four collegiate years.) I don't like Bon Jovi, for example, and don't you have to to be an honest-to-goodness New Jerseyan/Jerseyite? And you probably have to love The Sopranos as well. Me? I never watched it.

As for Springsteen, well, sure, fine. "Born to Run," "Jersey Girl" -- these are songs you just can't avoid there. They are New Jersey. If you're from there, they're part of you. I'd call myself a casual fan. I respect him and admire him as an artist, and he's done a lot that I like, but I can't say I've ever made a point of seeking out his music, beyond a few songs here and there.

Well, okay, I do have the 3-CD Live/1975-85 album with the E Street Band. So maybe I'm more of a fan than I think I am.

For what it's worth, my picks... my Top 20:

1. Streets of Philadelphia
2. Tunnel of Love
3. Secret Garden
4. Brilliant Disguise
5. Human Touch
6. Born in the U.S.A.
7. My Hometown
8. The Rising
9. Born to Run
10. I'm on Fire
11. Atlantic City
12. Devils & Dust
13. Darkness on the Edge of Town
14. Thunder Road
15. Jungleland
16. The River
17. Racing in the Street
18. Dancing in the Dark
19. Badlands
20. Glory Days (a song I occasionally loathe, I admit, but I should tack it on here at the end)

No huge surprises there, I'm sure.

Purists, or rather fans of the more raw Boss of the early years, might object to "Streets of Philadelphia" and "Secret Garden" being so high, or listed at all, but they're wonderful songs. And I suppose I like his 1984-92 period more than the older classics, which is why songs like "Tunnel of Love," "Human Touch," and "Brilliant Disguise" are higher than, say, "Born to Run." And while I have a few more recent songs on here, like "Devils & Dust" and "The Rising," I'm not as familiar with his recent work as I am with the songs I grew up with.

How ironic, though, that in my opinion his best song is about Philadelphia, which, while right across the river from New Jersey, isn't New Jersey. But, then, his art, not to mention his appeal, extends well beyond The Garden State, as much a part of it as he remains.

Out of the loop

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I'll be out of the loop the next few days, due to work and various other commitments, and likely won't do much blogging until Thursday. (I might have time, not sure yet.)

But, fear not, Richard and the gang will keep things moving along at a steady pace. So keep checking back for new posts.

-- Michael

Photo of the Day: Memorial Day 2011 - Stony Point, New York

By Richard K. Barry

 

This picture appeared in The New York Times yesterday. It's a fairly ordinary shot depicting an older veteran and a young boy at a Memorial Day celebration. It could be anywhere, but it happens to be in my home town of Stony Point, New York. I grew up in the area. I still have family there, though I have lived mostly in other places for the past 30 years.

According to the Times caption, the older gentleman is Arnold Rist, who is 86 years old. The youngster is Thomas Cahill, age 3. On Monday, Mr Rist played taps, as, the caption states, he has done hundreds of times at military funerals. In April 1945, it says that he was among the soldiers who liberated the inmates of Dachau concentration camp.

My sister sent the picture and she and I were trying to figure out where it was taken. We are pretty sure it's at the Stony Point Town Hall because that's where the local parades ended when she and I marched in them as part of our high school band when we took part in the annual celebrations many, many years ago.

I mention all of this, in part, because I marvel at how the political right so aggressively claims patriotism for themselves as if those of us on the left couldn't possibly understand what pride in community and the sacrifice of others means. They like to paint all of their political opponents as radically different and therefore wrong about everything.

I do hate to disappoint people like that, but I grew up in a small town. I've worked hard to understand the history, culture, and politics of my country. I take pride in what is good and criticize passionately what needs work, which is not a bad definition of patriotism from my point of view.

If you want to disagree with me, do it on the facts and not on some bogus claim that you are more American than I am simply because you think you are, as you wrap yourself in the flag and refuse to listen to any other voice but your own.

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day and remembered to remember the sacrifices made by people like Mr. Rist and so many others.

(Cross-posted to Lippmann's Ghost.)

Pink Floyd, reunited: David Gilmour joins Roger Waters for "Comfortably Numb"

Music on Sunday @ The Reaction

By Michael J.W. Stickings

This hardly needs an introduction. Pink Floyd fans everywhere know just how significant this was. I am still in awe.

Last year, David Gilmour told Roger Waters that he would join him to perform "Comfortably Numb" on Waters's tour of The Wall. It was a return favour for Waters performing with Gilmour at a Hoping Foundation charity event. It was just a matter of when and where, but London seemed to make sense, and last Thursday, at London's O2 Arena, there was Gilmour atop the wall, and for a brief time, I'm sure, the world seemed perfect.

I heard about it on Twitter and quickly went to YouTube. A clip was up, but it wasn't the whole song. The next day, I went to Brain Damage, my favourite Floyd site, and found what I was looking for, a clip of the whole song along with a second of "Outside the Wall," the show's final song, performed after the wall comes crashing down, the most intimate part of the show. Gilmour was there again, and so was Nick Mason, Floyd's drummer.

These are the three remaining members of Pink Floyd. (Rick Wright, the keyboardist, died in 2008 -- see here and here. Syd Barrett, one of the band's founding members, died in 2006 -- see here.) I cannot really explain what it means to me, and of course to so many others, to see the three of them together again, if only for a short time, if only for a couple of songs. Live8 was incredible, and this... this was what so many of us had dreamed about for so long. Yes, of course, I'd love it if they would reunite for a tour, but that might be hoping for too much. These one-offs seem more likely, and they are amazing.

Pink Floyd has been my music since I was a teenager. I have fairly eclectic tastes and I like a lot of music, a lot of different singers and musicians. I have thousands and thousands and thousands of songs on my iPod. But Floyd has always been much different for me. I love them and their music in a way that goes well beyond anything else. It is deeply personal for me, an indescribable connection that seems to go to my very core.

I saw Gilmour, Wright, and Mason as Pink Floyd at Foxboro Stadium in Massachusetts in 1994. I saw Gilmour here in Toronto several years ago. I saw two of Waters's Dark Side shows, and, last year, two Wall shows, in Toronto and also in Buffalo. There were times at both Wall shows when I felt like I would just break into tears, so intense were my feelings. I could hardly believe it was real, that I was really there, and the sheer enormity of it all really got to me. This music, my music, the music that had been with me for so long, for so much of my life, the soundtrack of my life, that was what was being performed, and it overwhelmed me.

And that was without Gilmour. I can hardly imagine how I would have felt had I been there on Thursday in London. All I can say is that for all that Pink Floyd has meant to me, and for all that Pink Floyd has gone through over the years, it is so wonderful that at long last there is peace, that Gilmour and Waters can perform together, and with Mason as well, briefly reunited, reconciled, making us all so extremely happy.

Here, via Brain Damage, are the clips. Enjoy. 

From Disney to normal

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Well...

I'm back from vacation. I was at Disney World with my family for the past week.

Cynical though I may be, it was wonderful. It's a world without irony, a world of consumerism masquerading as hopes and dreams, a world that is certainly too "good" to be true, a world that is undeniably rigid and not a little fascist in its own way, but... you know what? I loved it. More for my children than for me, but I still had a great time. We stayed at a really nice Disney resort, ate at some super restaurants, and enjoyed ourselves far more than I expected going in.

But it was exhausting. An early-morning flight from Orlando brought us back to Toronto yesterday, and from 93 sunny degrees on Tuesday to darn near freezing here, and I need to readjust. It's awfully tiring, particularly when it's so hot, making your way around the different parks, with a lot of waiting in lines as well, trying to get on the big rides and make sure the kids get to meet as many characters as possible.

I hope to get back to blogging later today.

In the meantime, we've got some new posts going up for your reading pleasure today -- and I'd like to thank my great co-bloggers for keeping us going during my absence.

Oh, one more thing...

Have a magical day!

April break

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I'll be away on vacation for the next week. I may try to blog here and there, but generally I expect to take a much-needed break from writing (and even thinking) about politics.

But, fear not. While I may pop up from time to time, the blog will be in the capable hands of my co-bloggers, who as always will have a great deal to say, and who will say it extremely well.

So keep checking back for new posts.

See you soon.

-- Michael

God is dying: Reflections on science, religion, and the human spirit

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Over at Cosmic Variance, a blog at Discover, Sean Carroll has a really interesting post up on whether the universe needs God. I recommend reading it in its entirety, but here's a taste:

Over the past five hundred years, the progress of science has worked to strip away God's roles in the world. He isn't needed to keep things moving, or to develop the complexity of living creatures, or to account for the existence of the universe. Perhaps the greatest triumph of the scientific revolution has been in the realm of methodology. Control groups, double-blind experiments, an insistence on precise and testable predictions – a suite of techniques constructed to guard against the very human tendency to see things that aren't there. There is no control group for the universe, but in our attempts to explain it we should aim for a similar level of rigor. If and when cosmologists develop a successful scientific understanding of the origin of the universe, we will be left with a picture in which there is no place for God to act – if he does (e.g., through subtle influences on quantum-mechanical transitions or the progress of evolution), it is only in ways that are unnecessary and imperceptible. We can't be sure that a fully naturalist understanding of cosmology is forthcoming, but at the same time there is no reason to doubt it. Two thousand years ago, it was perfectly reasonable to invoke God as an explanation for natural phenomena; now, we can do much better.

None of this amounts to a "proof" that God doesn't exist, of course. Such a proof is not forthcoming; science isn’t in the business of proving things. Rather, science judges the merits of competing models in terms of their simplicity, clarity, comprehensiveness, and fit to the data. Unsuccessful theories are never disproven, as we can always concoct elaborate schemes to save the phenomena; they just fade away as better theories gain acceptance. Attempting to explain the natural world by appealing to God is, by scientific standards, not a very successful theory. The fact that we humans have been able to understand so much about how the natural world works, in our incredibly limited region of space over a remarkably short period of time, is a triumph of the human spirit, one in which we can all be justifiably proud.

This isn't necessarily new to those of us who look to science instead of some mythological faith to answer our questions, including our existential ones, and to provide a comprehensive picture of our world, but it's well put and bears repeating at a time when science is under fire from the right and when religiously-rooted ignorance continues to threaten progress towards greater enlightenment.

I've always described myself as an agnostic as opposed to an atheist but that's only because I recognize that we don't have all the answers. (Okay, I also describe myself as a nihilist, but that's more philosophical, and I do tend to recoil from all-out Nietzscheanism. It's hard to be a nihilist and also a progressive liberal who tries to advance the cause of freedom and human dignity.) And I think such doubt with respect to absolutism, with respect to any claim to absolute certainty, to the Truth, is healthy. (Nothing has all the answers, and if you think you have them, or believe in something that has them, you're wrong. About that I am absolutely certain.) Indeed, I think such doubt is also what drives my appreciation for science, which, by the way, does not claim to have all the answers and which, contrary to, say, Christianity, is about recognizing that there's a lot we just know and that only through further investigation can we ever know more.

Anyway, I don't necessarily hold organized religion in quite the degree of contempt that Christopher Hitchens does, though it's close, but I can say I wasn't unhappy to read about a new study suggesting that religion may actually die out in the nine countries under investigation, including Canada. This makes sense, given the broad secularization that western countries have been undergoing for a long time. No, religion won't die out entirely, not unless all of our deepest existential questions are somehow answered for good, but we could certainly do with a lot less of it in the world.

American enough?

Guest post by Hamid M. Khan

Hamid M. Khan is a Rule of Law Adviser with the U.S. Institute of Peace in Kabul, Afghanistan, and a fellow with the Truman National Security Project in Washington D.C.

(Ed. note: This is Hamid's fifth guest post at The Reaction. You can find his previous posts here (on Pakistan), here and here (on Obama's Cairo address), and here (on revolution in Iran). -- MJWS)

**********

Recently, Rep. Peter King, with much fanfare and consternation, launched the House Committee on Homeland Security's hearings regarding "The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response." While the fanfare for these most recent hearings has largely dissipated, given the past furor over the Islamic center in Manhattan, the approach of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and, of course, the upcoming presidential campaign, it is unlikely this issue will die out, and American Muslims will likely have to stand up to answer questions about whether they are American enough.

Disheartening as it is, this ongoing inquisition represents nothing novel in our history. In fact, America's story is replete with chapters where politicians take pains to prod an entire polity to test whether they truly belong. Just ask African-Americans, the Irish, Italians, Jews, Catholics, or even the Japanese. More sadly perhaps is the fact that these same inquisitors will reflexively wrap themselves in the flag and swear an oath upon the Constitution, but fail to recognize them as living testimonials to a nation that has spent centuries, sometimes through great bloodshed, striving to recognize equality and unity despite diversity.

The blame, however, does not squarely rest with politicians. Another accomplice to the recent phobia rests with the media, which often fail to promote the stories of ordinary Muslims with as much effort as those extremists who sit on the fringes of both society and religion. Finally, American Muslims deserve some of the blame, not because they are somehow predisposed to extremist views (as if it were a pathogen only Muslims are susceptible to) but perhaps because we as a community have not shared our own unique experiences of being both American and Muslim with our friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens.

For example, what can be more American than being raised in rural Wyoming? Add to that biography an early childhood dedicated to watching cartoons, eating copious amounts of McDonald's, playing Nintendo, riding one's bike and considering Superman one's hero? How much would it matter if the same person happened to be the son of Pakistani immigrants and instead of going to Sunday school read the Qur'an, learned the five daily prayers, and did not eat pork? What would you think of this person if his classmates elected him twice as their high school class president or if he was a state champion in speech or a member of the National Honor Society? Would it still matter if he also fasted during Ramadan?

How would you would judge someone, who because of his parents' successes in United States, decided he would dedicate himself to a career in public service and, to that end, pursue degrees in politics and later earn a law degree? Would you consider this person an asset to the cause of America if Congress had awarded him a Truman Scholarship and he had worked in the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, or even the British House of Commons in London? What if I told you this person worked for a federal appeals court judge and later served as an assistant United States attorney? Is that proof enough, or does the fact that he drinks a Coke rather than a beer make him less American?

When 9/11 happened, like every other American, he witnessed the unspeakable horror as the Twin Towers fell, the Pentagon lay devastated, and the fields outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania were charred by the sacrifice of heroes. Rather than go on as usual, however, he openly challenged extremist positions under Islamic law, and in his spare time taught classes on the Islamic faith at two different universities and later turned away from a lucrative career in private practice for a full-time position teaching law to young students in Afghanistan so that they might avoid harboring a future al Qaeda in their homeland. Does it mean he is less American because he still offers alms to the poor because he sees it as a commandment from God?

Or is one sufficiently American if one were chosen to advise the U.S. Commander of Forces in Afghanistan about how an understanding of Islam and specifically Shari'a might be an advantage to winning hearts and minds to save American lives? How would you judge the same person if he decided to keep his wife and four young children behind in the United States to devote his energy, experience, and understanding of the Qur'an to help bring about peace to war-torn societies?

At the end of the day, there is no quaint definition of what it means to be an American. If our history has taught us anything, there are no set paths, only a shared set of values that are not often easily expressed. And even when they are, it is hard to imagine whether my experiences or the experiences of another could satisfy those who are so eager to declare whole groups of people as not one of us. In fact, these critics, at best, often only ask questions, but without listening to the answers. Perhaps it is in this fact that we find what is best about being American: that sometimes not answering these questions is enough.

Unblogging

By Michael J.W. Stickings 

I'm sorry there's been nothing new from me the past couple of days. I've had to deal with some other priorities that unfortunately have prevented me from blogging.

Thankfully, there have been, as usual, some great posts from my co-bloggers.

I hope to be back at it later today.

In the meantime, I'll just note that the U.N. has approved military action against Libya. This would obviously be far preferable to, say, unilateral U.S. action. I consider myself something of a liberal interventionist, and I could be persuaded to support such action here, but, needless to say, serious questions remain.

I would also note -- though I'm sure you're paying attention to this -- that the situation in Japan continues to be, well, bad. And apparently getting worse. (I've spent some time the past couple of days reading up on nuclear power. We all think we know something about it, but of course most of us don't really know how it works. For a quick overview, both on how nuclear reactors work and what happens during a meltdown, I'd recommend this slideshow.)

Duke Snider (1926-2011)

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I'm much too young to remember the playing days of Duke Snider, the great Hall-of-Fame outfielder for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers (1947-62) whose career ended in 1964, but I remember well his many days as one of the voices of the Montreal Expos, from 1973-86.

As a huge Expos fan growing up in Montreal, his was one of the key voices of my childhood. I was still much too young in 1973, but by 1978 and '79 I was listening regularly to Snider and partner Dave Van Horne (the latest winner of the prestigious Ford C. Frick award), and they were wonderful together, at a time when the Expos were a competitive and successful franchise.

Not showy, not flashy, not sensationalist, they were true baseball men, and they knew their stuff. The fact that I'm still such an enormous baseball fan today owes a great deal to them both.

As for Snider, what can I say? He played on some pretty great Dodgers teams, including some memorable Brooklyn ones in the '50s that would have won more World Series than the one they did win (in 1955) had it not been for the damn Yankees, to whom they lost in 1947 (with Snider mostly in the minors and not playing in the World Series), 1949, 1952, 1953, and 1956. (They moved to L.A. in 1958 and won again, with Snider, in 1959.) He didn't put up incredible numbers by Hall standards (.295, 407 HRs, 1,333 RBI), but he made eight all-star teams (1950-56, 1963) and was a superb player.

Here, watch this:

The weather

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Yes, the weather. I'm under it. Hence my lack of blogging the past couple of days. And I had so much to say about the right-wing insanitarium known as CPAC! Alas.

Well, as it's almost midnight, I'm going to turn in shortly, but I'll be back at it tomorrow. Stay tuned for that, as well as for more from my great co-bloggers.

-- Michael

The Packers win Super Bowl XLV. And yet we Steelers fans can still be proud of our team.

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I don't really have all that much to say about the Super Bowl. (I tweeted a lot during the game, so check out my feed and, if you so desire, follow me.)

I was emotionally invested in the Steelers to an incredibly deep degree and it was a tough loss. And yet I'm not terribly disappointed.

I didn't think they'd make it this far, what with Big Ben's suspension and the injuries to key members of the offensive line, and they lost to a really good team on Sunday, a Packers team that was much better than its regular-season record and low playoff seed, a Packers team that is really quite likeable, much more so than the Ravens and the Jets and Steelers's main rivals in the AFC.

Okay, I'm disappointed. But I'm not bitter. And I'm disappointed because they didn't play nearly as well as they could have, and should have. They got off to a terrible start, turned the ball over three times, and didn't come through when it mattered. But they had a chance to win, long before the final drive. They just didn't do it. And while a Super Bowl loss is hard to take, it's still a Super Bowl loss, meaning the Steelers made it further than 30 other teams in the NFL.

I became a Steelers fan back in the '70s, when I was a kid growing up in Montreal. We didn't have an NFL team, obviously, and so everyone just sort of picked one. There were older Giants and Packers fans, newer Dolphins and Vikings fans, and of course, Steelers and Cowboys fans. I don't remember how it happened. I was four or five. I liked the Steelers even before I liked the Canadiens, who are a religion in Montreal. And I got to see them win a couple of Super Bowls, their third and fourth. And then it was a long stretch through some lean years until they got back on top, and I've seen them win two more Super Bowls in just the past several years. And, really, they've been one of the league's top teams for a decade. So why should I be all that disappointed?

I love the Steelers, and I take ever loss hard. After the game I wasn't angry or bitter. I just felt bummed out. I didn't say much. I had most of the game to anticipate a Packers victory, but that second half was intense, and it looked like the Steelers might just pull it off, an improbable comeback after a miserable first half. But it was not to be.

But I'm proud of what they accomplished this year, and I feel good about their prospects -- assuming there's even an NFL season this year.

And so we move on. It's the agony and ecstasy of sports fandom. The lows, even taken in perspective, are hard to take, but the Steelers have given us many highs over the years, and we Steelers fans, even in defeat, can find not just solace but a certain joy in being fans of such a magnificent franchise.

Congrats to the Packers. They deserved it. But congrats also to our beloved Steelers for a great year.

MJWS @ C&L

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I wanted to let you know that I'm doing "Mike's Blog Round Up" over at Crooks and Liars this week, through Super Bowl Sunday. (I'm not "Mike," I'm just filling in for him.) It's my third time with the gig -- the last time was back in November for two weeks -- and it's a great pleasure to be involved with such an important blog, one of the essential destinations of the political blogosphere.

My first post went up this morning -- just head on over to C&L to find it. Check out the great links, all of them to excellent posts on the situation in Egypt.

Feel free to e-mail tips/links to me at mjwstickings AT yahoo DOT ca. I won't be able to put everything up, of course, but I'll do my best to recognize some smaller blogs that deserve more attention.

2011? Already?

Here's wishing you all a very Happy New Year from all of us at The Reaction. We hope you have a great 2011.

All my love to my loved ones, to all my friends and family.

Be safe out there, everyone, and take care of one another.

-- Michael

Merry Mas!

By Michael J.W. Stickings

See what I did there? I took the "Christ" out of "Christmas" -- literally.

Because I'm a godless liberal waging war on Christmas, I have no choice but to take this step. And I'm not at all sorry to have to do it.

Simply, the right is right. Conservatives talk incessantly, belligerently, about this war on Christmas, and I've come to believe it.

So -- ye liberals, ye progressives, ye socialists, ye leftists of all stripes. To battle!

**********

Actually, back in the real world, there's no such war at all, just greater appreciation for difference and greater celebration of diversity.

And I do celebrate Christmas, just without the religion -- the way it can be in our modern liberal society, and, on those terms, I really like this time of the year, just as I did when I was growing up.

And it's been a nice, quiet day here at home. "Santa" came last night, the kids are happy, I've been watching the Diners, Drive-ins & Dives marathon on the Food Network, and now I'm just about to go make dinner.

So, yes, a Merry Christmas to you all, and Happy Holidays.

Whatever and however you celebrate, I hope you're having a lovely day.

Be safe and take care of one another.

**********

It'll be relatively quiet here at The Reaction over the next few days, but I'm sure we'll get some new posts up now and then, so keep checking back.

Talk to you later.

-- Michael