hello to all in blogland, i have been shaken from my CNN-induced stupor by, as usual, a good shake delivered by Marky, he of the West Coast insatiable-media-diet. i think we could all use a little levity these days....but it's hard to come by, and for good reason. i went to a movie on Friday night, but i felt guilty about it. in the movie, there were scenes of police cars and ambulances, and the audience visibly cringed. (on a more comical note, the guy who plays Dr. Kovach on "E.R.", Goran Vijsnic, total hottie, is in the movie, "The Deep End", and he actually performs CPR on someone, and everyone was tittering because he was shouting, "No! Let me do it! One! Two! Three! Again!" ... hee hee hee, "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV...") i have turned off the TV indefinitely...i cannot wait until the Red Sox play again tomorrow night, but I'm sure there will be nonstop disturbing commentary, not to mention what will probably be the most rousing national anthem sing-along of our lifetimes...and on and on. trying to focus on the little or bizarre details of "these events" sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. to wit, a company in Canada send several thousand pairs of protective dog shoes to NYC, for the rescue dogs, so they didn't hurt their feet in the rubble...a noble effort to be sure, but i mean, they must have a LOT of backordered stock, don't you think? dog shoes?

in oddly more poignant news, here in Boston the small thing that drove home the dislocation the most was that on the front page of the Globe a subtle change appeared. normally in the upper right hand corner there is a short weather summary, headed by a very dopey little pun, which changes every day, something like "SUNNY SIDE UP" on a nice day, or "RAIN AND BOUQUETS" on a showery May day (get it?). but since Tuesday, the little blurb just says "THE WEATHER." how gloomy.

and in slightly hilarious small news, our valiant heroes at The Onion have decided to post the same issue as last week, this Wednesday. there's not a lot of desire, they think, for pointed black humor these days. oh, sadly, not true...the fact that this whole series of events sounds like something cooked up by The Onion just makes me want a fresh dose even more...but until then, stick with The Obscure Store. there's still plenty of Obscure News...as I've just demonstrated.