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– ALMANAC SAYS –
Today in history: U.S. space station Skylab, in orbit since 1973, returned to Earth and disintegrated over the Indian Ocean, 1979. (A moment of silence for Skylab.)

– HAPPY BIRTHDAY –
Lydia!

– PICTURE OF THE WEEK –
The Smashing Pumpkins in their new configuration.

So Spin Magazine has linked to Blue Skies Falling about the Smashing Pumpkins. Pretty cool, huh?

Well, not really.

Did they link to my nuanced and rigorous exploration of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness via Holocaust narratives? No.

Did they link to my incisive and penetrating analysis of Zeigeist on the eve of its relase?

– Don’t expect much from me today: I’m Zeitgeisting. Last night Jess and I ibought from iTunes the first episode of Lost Season 2 and watched it on her iPod. Pathetic, huh? I also saw the Pumpkins perform Tarantula on Letterman.

I read more than a couple reviews of the Smashing Pumpkins’ Zeitgeist today, and for awhile they had me in a near panic. About 4 out of 5 thought the piece was better-than-expected-if-still-not-great, and the remaining 1 of 5 would think it was crap-crap-crap.

In July, 2003, I was Jess and I were living on Maryland Ave., on the Eastside of Flint. The neighborhood had changed pretty dramatically since I had last lived there. In the 80s it was poor and crime-infested, in the 90s, it was just poor, and by 2003 it was crime infested again.

This entry will be brief because I’ve spent most of the morning reading (with great anxiety) the misgiven rumblings about Smashing Pumpkins’ Zeitgeist which will be released in twelve hours, give or take. Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my.

– Yesterday I tried to write some, but no dice. I watched some Lost with Jess and read some Aristotle.

– ALMANAC SAYS –
Musician Louis Armstrong died, 1971.

– COUNTRY OF THE WEEK –
Cook Islands

– QUESTION OF THE DAY –
Which country (other than the country you live in) do you think has the coolest flag?

First, I don’t got much this week (fireworks shock), so you should read this.

Second, just because of what week it is, I’m thinking about the age old question of patriotism vs. nationalism. Gemma has written about this a number of times, and I’ve basically agreed with everything she’s said on the subject.

– PROBLEM WITH THIS BLOG –
I’m having a coding problem in Internet Explorer whereby none of the posts appear. I’ve spent about an hour looking for this problem in Blogger and have tried several solutions and have written Blogger Help (they haven’t responded).

– Last night was unremarkable, except that I did get around to writing in my journal, did not get around to cleaning, or writing anything substantial, and did get around to watching an episode of Monk with Jessica. Which was fun.