It was White Guy Day on “Here and Now” this week, with interviews featuring congressmen Ron Kind and Paul Ryan, UW President Kevin Reilly, Wisconsin Public Radio reporter Shawn Johnson, and me – coming it to blow the show at the end, Brewer-style. Kidding aside, I thought the interviews were really good – and this show might be the best place in Wisconsin to get actual extended news about state political events. To see this week’s full show, click here.

To see what happens when married guys attempt to dress themselves, you can watch my commentary below. Talkin’ a little universal health care.

Also, I forgot to post my friend Jamie Kuhn’s commentary last week, also about the budget. Here it is:

When news became available that Guns n’ Roses tribute band Paradise City was playing the Club Tavern on Thursday night, word spread between my friends like wildfire. On Halloween of 2003, another tribute band named Mr. Brownstone played Luther’s Blues in Madison, and it went down as one of the more epic nights in Madison music history (meaning my friends all got really drunk and craziness ensued). They actually went on to see Mr. Brownstone two more times before, sadly, the band broke up. (I blame Yoko.)

So it was exciting news that Paradise City was coming to town – and with a Bon Jovi tribute band as the opener, to boot. My friend Jay, an off the charts GnR fan, dusted off his sleeveless “Appetite for Destruction” shirt and rallied everyone in the Capitol to attend. After all, the Paradise City website proclaims they’re the “nation’s #1 Guns n’ Roses tribute.” As if there were some objective standard by which tribute bands are measured – like somehow, if your fake Slash’s top hat isn’t big enough, you get bumped to #3.

A while ago, I had read Chuck Klosterman’s “Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs,” which contains an amusing chapter documenting life on the road with a Guns n’ Roses tribute band. It talks about how shallow of a life these bands lead by driving around the country in a van pretending to be someone else. But tribute bands quickly learned that people are more willing to pay $10 to go see songs they already know by fake celebrities than $5 to see original songs by real beginning bands. Before the show, I went back and looked that chapter up, and lo and behold, the band in the book was called Paradise City. So that added even more excitement for me, given that I thought I knew a little bit about these guys.

I got to the bar at about seven o’clock, as the band was warming up. And they were taking themselves deadly seriously – no note or verse went unchecked. It was like they were warming up to play the Grammys or something. But then I realized an important fact for the night – while we were led to believe that there would be an opening band, it appeared that the Bon Jovi and GnR tribute bands were the same band! That’s right, they would come out dressed as one band, then go back to the dressing room, change, and come out as the other. It’s brilliant – you get paid for two shows.

As show time neared, it became evident that the crowd consisted entirely of people who hang out at the Club Tavern anyway. Everyone knew each other, and we were clearly interlopers. It didn’t seem like the explosive entertainment potential of Paradise City had really brought anyone out other than me and my friends. The women there made sure every tattoo they invested their hard earned infant formula money in was visible. Clearly, shoulder tattoos outnumbered college degrees by at least three to one. There was a fast-spreading rumor that a boob may have escaped the shirt of one scantily clad woman while she was dancing, but upon further investigation, the rumor was never substantiated.

The band eventually came out, and to everyone’s surprise, they started as Guns n’ Roses. This chapped my friend Jay’s ass. He pointed out that on no planet in the universe would Guns n’ Roses be opening for Bon Jovi. So there was one strike against Paradise City right there. I also noticed that there’s no way these guys were the same guys in Klosterman’s book. In the book, the band took pride in not wearing wigs and living the whole GnR lifestyle (except on about $10 a day). These guys were wearing wigs and playing Bon Jovi songs. I’m guessing there’s probably a dozen bands out there called “Paradise City” that move around under the radar playing shows, rocking dentally-challenged bars from coast to coast.

About 20 minutes in to the show, someone noticed that “Slash” was holding a cigarette in the same hand he was picking his guitar with. Jay leaned over to me and said, “see, that’s how you get to be America’s number one GnR tribute band.” Point well taken. In the interest of accuracy, he wondered if a Def Leppard tribute band could ever make it to number one without a drummer with one arm.

Later on, it was observed that the fake “Izzy” kept his cigarette in the fret board of his guitar when not smoking it. My friend Dave pointed out that that right there is an argument against smoking bans – just so guitarists can do cool stuff while smoking in bars.

After finishing up with their rendition of “Paradise City,” the band took a break to go become Bon Jovi. When they came out and started playing, it was determined that the lead singer was a much better Jon Bon Jovi than he was an Axl Rose. At one point, fully in character, “Jon Bon Jovi” told everyone to clap for the opening band. Who, of course, was them. Dead serious.

In the middle of the set, the singer yelled out “HOW YOU DOIN’ MADISON!!!” At that point, a reserved young man walked over to the stage and told “Jon” that we were actually in Middleton. There was an extended awkward pause, then “Jon” picked up the microphone and screeched “MIDDLETON!!!!!!”

I am not a Bon Jovi fan, and the only songs I know of theirs are from “Slippery When Wet.” So I kind of mingled and observed the crowd. There was one woman who we pegged at 99% as a former stripper, as her dancing alone probably gave everyone in the bar an STD. You just know this woman has served as a human trampoline for the men of Middleton, where everyone gets a turn. Kind of sad, really.

Earlier in the night, I had told Jay that I was going to be on “Here and Now” today talking about universal health care. When “Bad Medicine” came on, he told me I should just go on TV and do an a capella rendition of that song, and that all the viewers would understand the point. And I think he’s right.

“Bon Jovi” finished of the set with “Livin’ on a Prayer,” then left the stage to chants of “one more song!” Ignoring the convincing argument put forward by the two chanters, they ducked back into their dressing room. Many bar patrons left. But then, about five minutes later, they emerged and headed to the bar. Jay went over to “Jon/Axl” to plead for another song. When he began talking to the singer, the guy just turned his back on Jay and walked away. I mean, how awesome is it to get completely blown off by some crappy celebrity impersonator? I almost burst my spleen laughing so hard.

But then, the band took the stage again. It appeared that he may have just ignored Jay because he didn’t want to spoil the “surprise.” But when they got back up there, they weren’t in their costumes – nobody really knew what to make of them. They just became some kind of amalgam of ‘80s bands, playing songs ranging from Skynrd to Ratt. They finished off their 6 song encore by once again playing “Welcome to the Jungle,” to the delight of everyone.

The lesson here is, that one person can do anything if they put their mind to it. Under adverse conditions, Jay put his mind to having that band play an encore, and I’ll be damned if he didn’t make it happen. Goes to show that the strength and determination do pay off. Imagine what would happen if he set out to end world hunger.

Our night having climaxed, we all headed home at 1:00 AM, our hunger for faux-rock satisfied. The real world intruded in my life at 6 AM, when my daughter woke me up by poking me in the face with a stuffed frog. Somehow, rock just isn’t what it used to be.

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Here’s a video-phone clip of “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” released 20 years ago this year. The sound is terrible (you can barely hear the music), but it gives you a glimpse at the genius of Paradise City.

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

Discovered at the High Noon Saloon website:

Sat. October 27, The High Noon Saloon presents:
High Noon Halloween Party
Mr. Brownstone
10:00 PM / $tba cover 21 AND UP

Sick of expensive medications and visits to the doctor?  Upset that the state hasn’t done enough to provide you with the health care you so richly deserve? The New England Journal of Medicine may have found the answer:

 They discovered Oscar the Cat, who apparently has the power to tell when people are going to die.  From a news account:

According to the author of a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, the two-year-old cat has been observed to be correct in 25 cases so far.

Staff now alert the families of residents when he sits down next to their ailing loved one.

“He doesn’t make many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die,” David Dosa, a professor at Brown University who carried out the research, told the Associated Press news agency.

So instead of going to the doctor, we can just have Oscar pay you a visit.  If he’s willing to go into your house, it’s time to start finalizing funeral arrangements.

Seriously, though – has anyone considered that Oscar might actually be killing these people?  It seems pretty coincidental that people he cuddles up to end up dying.  Someone needs to look into possible organized crime involvement here.

This isn’t unprecedented – it follows some research that suggested some dogs may be able to smell cancer, among other things.  I’m skeptical, however, because my dog seemed to find cancer in the rear ends of every other dog he ever encountered.

I imagine we’d have to put together a pretty lucrative package to lure Oscar to Wisconsin.  No word on whether any local hospitals offer domestic cat benefits.

You may have thought it was the drinking, oversleeping, or laziness that’s keeping your kid from getting good grades at the University of Wisconsin.  But, as the Wisconsin State Journal reports today, it’s something much more insidious – it’s the lack of walk-in closets in the dorms.

From today’s article:

The newest multimillion-dollar residence halls on Madison campuses feature semi-private bathrooms, walk-in closets, wireless Internet connections and even spots for professors to hold office hours.

Such perks aren ‘t luxuries these days, university officials say. They ‘re essential for recruiting the best students and helping students to succeed.

Right.  Without these new Taj Mahal dorms, good students would just stop coming to the UW.  It continues:

Universities say they ‘re putting up these multimillion-dollar buildings in part because they help students perform better.

No wonder my grades were so average in college – I had to share a bathroom with 20 other guys for a whole year!  Obviously, a more private and serene bathroom experience leads to more relaxed students, who can then retain information more effectively.

In fact, it is well known that Einstein was merely a so-so student.  What is less well known is that he was a lousy student because he had to share a bathroom.  Once he moved and first sat down on his own semi-private toilet, the theory of relativity just popped into his mind.

“Students have expectations now about where they ‘re going to live, and they ‘re a lot higher expectations than they were 20 years ago, ” said Paul Evans, UW-Madison ‘s director of housing. “Many of these students have private bedrooms at home, maybe even their own bathroom, so they ‘re making those kinds of comparisons.”

Ooooh – many of these kids have PRIVATE BEDROOMS at home!  They can’t possibly be expected to live with another smelly person in the room!  That might actually add to the college experience, where they learn to get along with people and actually leave their room every now and then.  Someone should call all the Chinese college students packed 10 to a room and tell them how they’re underachieving as a result.  But do it before China actually owns the United States.

Finally, what does building all these fancy new dorms do to the UW’s line that the state is pricing kids out of a college education?  With the differential housing costs for these posh new places, the system is only going to fuel income based segregation issues.  As John Edwards (not the psychic) likes to say, we’ll have “Two UWs.”  And, knowing a little about how college students actually live, there’s a good chance these fancy new places will be in bad shape in a few years.

Of course, the UW probably has a good case to renovate many of these dorms, or build new ones altogether.  Some of them are falling apart, and most of them are still coated with bong residue from the Vietnam Era.  But spare us the rhetoric about how it makes any actual difference in how students learn.  We’re actually smart people – despite not having walk-in closets in our dorms.

In an age where more and more government proceedings are being aired live, episodes like this are almost inevitable:

This man is offering his support for a San Francisco city supervisor with an impromptu a cappella rendition of Madonna’s “Borderline.” You just know his stoned buddies are sitting at home, pointing at the TV, and laughing their asses off.

I’ve always wondered why more fraternities don’t require their pledges to show up at state legislative hearings to testify on some random bill while wearing giant Borat-style mustaches. Now with WisconsinEye, there will be a record of it for their kids to enjoy someday. (I am not suggesting this, just wondering aloud why it doesn’t happen. And I would absolutely find it funny every time.) You’d be amazed at how many serious people waste the Legislature’s time at hearings – they might enjoy a little comedy from time to time.

Cracked.com also has a list of the “Most Insane Public Access Moments” in TV history. Or at least that have been caught on YouTube. Some of them are classics – but help yourself to clips such as “Goth Public Access” and “Speak Out With Ken Sander” (strong language warning).

My Here and Now bit on college hijinks brought up some pretty funny memories of the old days. Specifically, there was a time when I got a great deal on a new girlfriend:

At the house where I lived, there were these two giant columns in front. From my bedroom, you could climb out the window and actually slide down one of the columns for fun. In fact, this took place fairly often after we had a few drinks.

One time, when I was out of town, this cute girl climbed out my window, started to slide down the column, and let go. She fell about 15 feet and smacked the side of her head on the concrete. They rushed her to the hospital, and thankfully she lived, although she lost all hearing in her left ear.

For me, this was fantastic news – the chance to land a cute girl at a discount. This was finally the break I was looking for. It would be like finding a great pair of jeans marked “irregular” at the outlet mall – or being able to buy a Lexus with three wheels at 80% off. She had everything, except of course the ability to hear out of one ear.

So we went out a few times, but our boyfriend/girlfriend negotiations stalled. Soon, she left for school out of town, and it was over. I tried to convince her to stay, but she wouldn’t listen.

I don’t know if there’s really a life lesson or anything here, except maybe this – maybe it’s time we break the taboo of picking girls up in the emergency room.

If you have some extra time, I would highly recommend watching the series at clarkandmichael.com. I was never an Arrested Development watcher, but Michael Cera is hilarious. Very much within The Office-style of squirmy comedy – complete with awkward pauses. The episodes are only 10 minutes apiece, so you can burn through them pretty quickly.

I’ve been light on the blogging lately, as I have been completely engrossed in director Michael Apted’s “Up” series of documentaries. For those unaware (which was me three weeks ago), they are a series of documentaries that began in 1963, where fourteen seven year old English children were chosen to take part in a study of class in British society. From that point, the series follows the same children through the course of their lives, visiting them for a new documentary every seven years.

The series in its totality is a stunning work, especially since DVDs allow us to watch all the chapters in succession. When initially released, fans of the series had to wait seven years for the next episode – yet Netflix allowed me to literally watch people grow into adolescents, then adults, then parents, and grandparents, within the course of two weeks. It’s difficult to describe how shocking this is – you’re just not supposed to watch people grow from seven years old into retirement age before your eyes.

Although the series follows the lives of these specific individuals, the show is really more about life in general. It’s easy to pick out the traits in these people that we see in ourselves – and how much of the ebb and flow of their experiences match our own. At 14, many of them are dealing with the crippling strain of adolescence. At 21, they are full of confidence and vigor – by 35, they are mostly worried about juggling families and careers – and at 49, they all seem to be resigned to the lives they’ve led and the decisions they’ve made.

There’s also a strong theme that deals with predetermination. It really is amazing to see that when these children are interviewed at age seven, many of the same characteristics they display will carry them through their lives (Each installment ends with the Jesuit saying, “Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man”). For instance, when Tony is interviewed as a child, he displays a short attention span, hyperactivity, and a desire to attract attention. As he moves through life, he takes on project after project, never becoming particularly good at any of them (horse back riding, golfing, soccer, acting). But his life is consistent with what you see there before you in 1963.

The whole idea thay you are who you’re going to be by age 7 horrified me. Could it be that my whole life was laid out for me based on my first seven years? Then I thought back to when I was 7, and it is entirely possible that is the case. When I was 7, my parents used to trot me out in front of house guests to do my Richard Nixon impersonation – complete with peace signs, shaking head, and “I am not a crook” speech. Comedy and conservative politics, wrapped into one. How could it be? (Video here)

For me, the star of the show is John, a snooty conservative who, throughout his life, is completely and totally unapologetic about being born into privilege and being able to attend the best schools in England. When interviewed at age 7, he can already say what his career path will be – what schools he will attend, what profession he will have. By age 14, he’s already developed theories on politics and culture that are more sophisticated than most people will ever have (although his speech defending racial discrimination is a bit sketchy). While he recognizes that he has been born into privilege, he strongly argues that it’s still up to the individual to make it happen – which the show clearly demonstrates. Rich kids sometimes go south, and poor kids can lead even more fulfilling lives.

Probably the most shocking part of the series is the 28 Up episode, which actually has a local Wisconsin flavor – even though it’s a show about British kids. I won’t give it away, but if you want a clue as to what happens, click here.

There are so many lessons to be drawn from the series, I could go on and on. It’s clear that nobody ever really gets any smarter after the age of 14. Sure, you may learn more things that you can file away in your brain, but the structure of how you think and how curious you are about the world is for the most part set.

It also makes you appreciate your life for what it is – the effect of watching all the shows in succession is to realize how fast your life goes by. One day, you’re 21, the next, you’re 28, and soon you’ll be 49 and 56. And the decisions you make today mold who you are at those later ages.

So get your hands on the series if you can – it’s one of the most fascinating things I’ve ever seen. You won’t be able to pull yourself away from the television – even if some of the subjects want you to throw things at it from time to time.

(Reviews of the “Up” series)

I spent Saturday night at an engagement party thrown by my wife in Milwaukee, the later details of which are somewhat hazy. But I do recall talking to a gastroenterologist from the Duke medical center, who conceded that half of her job is fishing things out of people that they either swallow or.. ummmmm… find their way into their digestive tract by “other means.”

I was a little surprised at the objects she said were most often swallowed:

1. Crack pipes – as in, “oh, sh** the cops are here – what do I do with this crack pipe?” This makes it a little difficult to deny the pipe is yours – you can’t really use the excuse that you grabbed someone else’s esophagus on the way out the door that morning.

2. Toothbrushes – a favorite of bulemics, who use their toothbrushes to induce vomiting. Yet sometimes, they don’t hold on tight enough, and down the hatch they go.

I’m sure most people are aware of the “other” objects that make their way into human digestive systems. She mentioned that just last week, she had to retrieve a 12-inch rubber.. ummmm…. “object” from a young man’s rectum. Apparently, when doctors fish those things out, it goes into some kind of evidence bag – which she then put in the doctor’s lounge for all the other physicians to admire. Apparently this one broke a record (among other things).

Incidentally, these people apparently are the reason we need to pass universal health care – so taxpayers can foot the bill for some dude to get a rubber phallus pulled out of his colon. Admittedly, I have been tempted to check there sometimes when I can’t find the remote control.

As for the rest of the engagement party, it was great – mostly due to my wife’s organization. I’m telling you – Eisenhower didn’t put as much planning into invading Normandy. We got taco and enchilada fixin’s from the El Rey market at 16th and National, and I can’t recommend their food strongly enough. In fact, the quality of the food should be enough to exonerate the cops from raiding the place in 2002 – who wouldn’t use force to get their hands on their chicken fajitas?

The general rule is this: if you purchase your food from a store where nobody speaks a word of English, there is a 100% chance it will be delicioso. Fortunately, there were plenty of leftovers, which means I will be hitting the scales at three Franklins by the end of the week.

Fortunately for me, eating El Rey steak tacos is marginally more pleasurable than putting large rubber objects in my rectum. Good news, although both can put you in an emergency room.

By now, you’ve heard plenty about the Wisconsin Senate Democrats’ government-run health care proposal which was added to the state budget.  News articles to this point have essentially just run the talking points – Democrats promise health care as good as elected officials receive, while Republicans deride the plan as a $15 billion tax increase.

The speed at which the plan was introduced and passed has left little time to ask some important questions about the program.  For instance, one might ask an obvious question – what will poor, sick people in other states do when they find out Wisconsin has universal health care?

Essentially, the program offers free health care to everyone in Wisconsin who has a “substantial” presence in the state, is under 65, and who isn’t eligible for other government-subsidized health care.  There is a provision that requires an individual to live in Wisconsin for 12 months to be eligible for health care, unless any of the following apply:

1.  The person is “gainfully employed;”

2.  The person is a pregnant woman;

3.  The person is under 18 years old and their parent lives in Wisconsin; regardless of whether the parent has been in the state for 12 months.

Deeper in the bill, it grants the newly-created health board the power to define what “gainfully employed” means, although it specifically mandates that farm workers and the self-employed must be included in the definition.

In looking at the eligibility requirements detailed above, does anyone seriously believe that Wisconsin won’t be flooded with the nation’s poorest, sickest patients?  Why would any poor person in Illinois or Minnesota with a serious illness not immediately pick up, move to Wisconsin, and get a job at Dairy Queen?  How hard can it be to claim you’re “self employed” or work for a farm?  OB/GYNs could be flooded with out of state pregnant women seeking free care, as they are immediately eligible.

In fact, if you need free health care, you don’t even have to be the one that gets a job.  Once one person is deemed “gainfully employed,” their entire immediate family is eligible for free health care, funded by taxes on Wisconsin employers.  Think of Wisconsin’s 1990s welfare debacle, times ten.  When people flood our borders to take advantage of the plan, it won’t be healthy people – it will be mobile, sick individuals that use the health care system the most.

Even people with a sincere desire to provide near-universal coverage can’t take this plan seriously.  When Wisconsin opens its arms to the sickest, poorest people in America, it will jam our hospitals and result in rationed care and long waiting lists.  According to the bill, it will then be up to the Secretary of Administration (who usually has no experience in health care issues) to come up with a plan to “control health care costs.”  In other words, it will be up to an unelected bureaucrat with no health care experience to ration care to Wisconsinites – in large part due to the health care that must be provided to out-of-staters. 

This is why even intelligent observers who are committed to a single-payer plan can’t honestly believe that such a plan can be implemented on a state-by-state basis.  Overuse of the system is one major reason why health care plans in states that have tried various permutations of universal coverage have collapsed.  (For a good list, click here.)  If America were to go to any kind of universal plan, it would have to do so nationally – the cost of moving from one state to another just isn’t enough of a deterrent from keeping a state from being flooded with the nation’s sickest individuals. (The Massachusetts plan requiring everyone to purchase health insurance may have the opposite effect – who wants to be forced to buy health care?)

It goes without saying that poor people with serious illnesses need good medical care.  But it isn’t the responsibility of Wisconsin businesses to pay higher taxes to treat Arkansas’ mentally ill.  Senate Democrats pushing the Wisconsin universal plan brag that it will give everyone the same health care as their elected officials.  They may actually be correct.  Unfortunately, it will ensure that everyone’s health care service is equally atrocious.

 UPDATE:  Rick Esenberg adds a little legal perspective to this argument here. 

One strategy that campaign finance reform advocates employ to gain public support for their cause is to stir up hatred of negative campaigning.  Public financing of campaigns, they argue, will lead to more civil discourse and shield voters’ sensitive eyes from the horrors of democracy.

Recently, I happened to be paging through old copies of the Park Falls Herald from 1960 (don’t ask why).  Park Falls, as many know, is a small town in Northern Wisconsin.  In 1960, there was an election for State Senator in the Park Falls area between Republican Clifford Krueger and Democrat Henry Berquist.  On November 3rd of 1960, an anti-Berquist advertisement appeared in the Park Falls Herald (the last issue before the election) that made some pretty entertaining accusations against the Democrat.

The advertisement accused Berquist of “having close alliance and cooperation with communist Russia,” and being ”against the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”  The ad went on to accuse Berquist of being “Against the Marshall Plan to stop communism in Europe” and being “against our having atom bombs unless Russia has them too.”  (The ad also rips Berquist for being “against the draft,” which means in that respect, he was before his time.)

Here’s a copy of the ad.  You can click on it to make it bigger.

In 1960, McCarthyism may still have been alive and well, and it may have been good politics to accuse your opponent of being a communist.  But this was a state senate race.  In the North Woods.  In 1960.  Weren’t those the days when politicians supposedly all got along, and went out and had beers with each other?  In fact, bitter partisanship and negative campaigning has always been a part of the American political landscape – and it always will be, regardless of who pays for the ads.  These kinds of attacks, while not necessarily any different today, just seem more pervasive, with the advent of so many more types of media outlets.

In the election, Krueger went on to beat Berquist, 55% to 45%.

Much has been written about Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Executive Director Mike McCabe’s recent meltdown, in which he portrays conservatives as being simple-minded and gullible.  Rick Esenberg and Patrick McIlheran have done a good job deconstructing McCabe’s nutty rant, so there’s no need for me to pile on.

However, McCabe’s unhinged diatribe does smack of an old story from former Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson, who many believed represented pure liberal intellectualism.  During his run against President Dwight Eisenhower, one of Stevenson’s supporters approached the candidate and told him that all thinking people supported him.  Stevenson replied, “Yes, but I need to win a majority.” 

As for liberal ideologues that purport to care for ”real” people, they may want to actually go out and meet some.

 (The Stevenson Story can be found in Michael Barone’s “Our Country: The Shaping of America from Roosevelt to Reagan.”)

Strange press release from Lieutenant Governor Barb Lawton today in the wake of Al Gore’s big Environmentapalooza yesterday.  Apparently, one of these global warming events was held in Door County and attended by the Lieutenant Governor.  From her release:

The Door County event was one of six thousand satellite Live Earth concerts going on simultaneously with the major events in eight international cities including Tokyo, Hamburg, Sydney, Johannesburg, Rio De Janeiro, Shanghai, London and New York. The concert was part of former Vice President Al Gore’s campaign to end global warming.

Joining the lieutenant governor were Congressman Steve Kagen and internationally-known geologist Dr. Roger Kuhns of the Applied Ecological Services. Local musicians and the former Wisconsin Poet Laureate, Ellen Kort, entertained the crowd.

And as we all know, nothing gets the party started like a little poetry reading.  I’m sure both attendees were enthralled.  But here’s the money quote:

Artists such as Shakira, Cat Stevens, and Enrique Iglesias showed their support by playing in concerts in other cities around the globe.

So of all the artists playing yesterday, Shakira makes Lawton’s list as the headliner?  No Beastie Boys, Foo Fighters, Madonna, Dave Matthews, or Smashing Pumpkins?  Is this a small peek into the window of Lawton’s artistic tastes?  In her official capacity, she’s taken on the arts as a statewide issue – let’s hope she doesn’t consider Shakira’s ribald belly dances as the gold standard of artistic integrity.

Also, notice she refers to Yusuf Islam by his former name of Cat Stevens – a name he hasn’t used in 30 years.  So she wants us to know she really likes Cat Stevens, but she couldn’t bring herself call him by his Islamic name.  Apparently, the  ”Peace Train” days trump reports that he supported a fatwa against Salman Rushdie.

As it turns out, Shakira, Islam, and Iglesias all happened to be playing in Germany.  Chances are, the Lawton brain trust either only watched one feed or read one regional press release.

For a reason known only to them, the Here and Now show still allows me to show up and provide editorials every now and then. This week, I discussed an underappreciated group in the University of Wisconsin System – complete with a “he just said what?” moment.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gij6aNYOOPU]

Don’t ask me what all the head shaking is about. I should probably try doing one of these sober every now and then.