Kuff will be return soon enough after camping out with Sasquatch, Jason Voorhees, and the wild Basselope of Bloom County. If he were here, these might be things he’d be tempted to remark on. Since he’s not, here’s me running roughshod all over the news …
» Lubbock Av-Journal: Redistricting hearing set in Lubbock
The next hearing on the calendar is McAllen -set for Monday. It’s a bit of a contrast, too. McAllen will almost certainly gain a Congressional District centered on Hidalgo County (rather than the current setup, which splits Hidalgo to a district centered on Laredo, CD28, and another one that picks up 10 other counties, CD15). West Texas, meanwhile, will likely lose a bit of everything – a few State House seats, maybe spread the State Senate seats out more, and it will be very challenging to see how they include Congressional seats centered on Amarillo, Lubbock, and Midland/Odessa without ticking off any more of the surrounding areas (Wichita Falls, San Angelo, and Abilene are already divvied up). All that to say that the mood of these two hearings should be vastly different.
» Wash. Post: Harvey Pekar dead: American Splendor comic writer was 70
I actually never knew of the comics that Pekar wrote until the movie American Splendor was in the planning stages. For the longest time, I just thought he was a cranky guy that Letterman introduced to the world. Beyond that, Pekar can easily be thought of as the original blogger by most modern standards. That a misfit like him could find a voice and an audience is something that I suspect most bloggers can admire.
» NY Times: George Steinbrenner, Yankees’ Owner, Dies at 80
Not a fan of the Yankees, so I’ll leave the hagiography to Kuff. It’s still an important loss in the baseball world. I just can’t help thinking that Steinbrenner has already fired St. Peter from guarding the pearly gates.
—
And the usual news that will lead Kuff to reconsider the wisdom of giving me the keys to this car: Live Aid turned 25 today; Weird Al hits Verizon Theater Saturday night; and Ratt plays the Warehouse Live on the 22nd (unless there’s more drama involving Stephen Pearcy’s hernia). That ought to do it for me … thanks one and all for your patience and forgiving sense of humor!