Rock the casbah, rock the casbah

I was pretty psyched when I saw today's budget and dummies. There was a back color page, and there was little world news going on. Guess who jumped all over the chance to do a one-story color page about rock stars? :) My lead art was Billie Joe (but c'mon, big American band, blah blah blah), and I got in shots from a few different sites (though I regretted using a shot of Will Smith performing "Switch" -- I got that damn song stuck in my head all day :) ). Of course, one of the pictures had to be Bono. You just can't talk African poverty without Bono.

It's funny, though, 'cause as some people have pointed out, while the idea is to pressure world leaders through a loud voice and strength in numbers, if they had just charged admission for the concerts, they could've sent a nice chunk of change to those impoverished Africans. I see why they were free, but still, five bucks, something like that, or even a dollar, that could've raised a bit to help the cause, instead of just bitching about it so someone else will maybe do something about it (that will ultimately come out of our tax dollars, anyway, one way or another).

Meanwhile, I went to Borders on my dinner break to stock up on reading material, 'cause aside from the other half of The Da Vinci Code and that one book I started, got 10 pages into, put down and now can't get into again, I don't have a whole lot that I haven't read. Now, I have four new books to dig into, which will be good, 'cause the parents are talking about going to the park all day Monday for the fireworks, and I'll need something to do for all of that sitting time.

"Where were you" -- a random swiped survey

1. When John F. Kennedy was shot? (11/22/1963) Partly in my mom's ovary, partly nonexistent -- wasn't born yet.

2. When Mt. St. Helens blew? (5/18/1980) Probably in my crib, or something.

3. When the space shuttle Challenger exploded? (1/28/1986) In school, if I had to guess -- I don't remember it, but I would've been in first grade, if my math is right.

4. When the 7.1 earthquake hit San Francisco? (10/7/1989) Probably in school, I don't really remember.

5. When the Berlin Wall fell? (11/7/1989) At home, watching it on TV -- I remember sitting in the living room, watching people break pieces off of the wall and climb on top of it and cheer.

6. When Jim Henson died? (5/16/1990) Hm, fifth-grade, maybe? Don't remember.

7. When the Gulf War began? (1/16/1991) At home, watching the green streaks of tracers on CNN. I remember that there were a lot of yellow ribbons, and I was kind of scared, seeing as this was the first time there'd been a war in my lifetime. That didn't last long, though, 'cause the war didn't last long.

8. When OJ Simpson was chased in his White Bronco? (6/17/1994) I don't remember. I know where I was when the verdict came, though -- I was in French class, freshman year of high school. A lot of classes got to go to the library and watch, but we weren't allowed. One guy had a walkman hidden in his bag with one earphone tucked in, listening to the radio, and when the verdict came, it was whispered excitedly across the room.

9. When the building in Oklahoma City was bombed? (4/19/1995) I don't really remember. Geez, does that make me a bad American?

10. When Princess Di was killed? (8/31/1997) Home, I suppose, watching TV and thinking about starting college.

11. When Bush was first announced President? (11/7/2000) Watching the news. I remember thinking "shit, now we're going to have to go to war in Iraq, I just know it -- of course, he's gonna have to go back and finish what daddy started." I wish I hadn't been right on that.

12. When the 6.8 earthquake hit Nisqually, WA? (2/28/2001) I totally don't even remember that. I was probably at Albany High, teaching.

13. When terrorists knocked over the World Trade Center (9/11/2001) In bed. I'd only been at the paper a month or so, and my mom came in and woke me up when she came home on her lunch break, saying that planes had hit the World Trade Center. I mumbled back, oh, some moron flew into a building? Nooo. Then, it started to sink in, and I panicked. We're under attack. Holy shit. What next? When did this happen? Is it still happening? Are we going to get bombed, or invaded, or something? I'll never forget that feeling, the knowledge that suddenly, everything had been thrown out the window, nobody knew what they were supposed to do. Then, there were the hesitant inquiries -- everyone you saw, the first thing they said, tentative, in hushed tones, was "are you okay? Do you know anybody there?" The answers came back mostly negative, thankfully.