as alicia keys said at the rock n roll hall of fame induction: "there are many kings, but there is only one prince." amen. i've seen u2, springsteen, gabriel, DMB, mellencamp, all justifiably renown for their energetic live shows, but the purple one might have put them all to shame last night. he opened with the new title track "musicology," followed in quick succession by "let's go crazy," i would die 4 u" and "when doves cry," he played them all and worked it out. an acoustic set followed with "alphabet street", "rapsberry beret", and "adore". over the 2 and 1/2 hour show prince delved into some of the best work out of his 25-year backlog while playing snippets of beyonce, alicia keys, outkast, and old school hip hop. the band featuring former james brown sax-people, maceo parker and candy dulfer was SO FUNKY! the moment i can't forget: as the fireworks blasted over in the background the band vamped a funky groove and prince seuged into a blistering version of zepellin's "whole lotta love". run, beg, steal, borrow, and get thee to a ticketmaster this show is not to be missed.

so jack ryan is going to drop out of the race for the IL senate seat. sigh. late night comics and his democratic opponent barack obama are ruing the day. i really feel bad for obama. even before this ryan scandal he was trouncing him in all the polls. now he's on the verge of a historical victory and it's going to be tainted by the perceived weakness of his opponents. (hull in the democratic primary, and now ryan).

this scandal is also another blow to the already rocked republican party of IL. after the george ryan scandals they NEEDED to at least look competitive this november. although i disagreed with ryan on most policy issues he was a moderate. i think in an attempt to energize what's left of their base the republicans will nominate someone from the far right.

this has just GOT to be the scariest picture ever taken by a a man accused of sexual shenanigans. not quite what illinois expects of its senate candidates. for those that haven't heard the news today, jack ryan (r) senate candidacy divorce records were unsealed today and they contain allegations by his then wife, jerri ryan that they went to three sex clubs where jack wanted her to have sex in public. racy stuff. if this was a democrat most people would just shrug their shoulders. but when your party claims the divine and moral righteousness your can expect his base is going to dump him from the ticket. i don't think he'll last the next five days.

the baby bears had a huge win last night. cubs hand rocket first loss in other good news i just got a call from xrt. i WON somehthing! 2 tickets to see the cowboy junkies tonight at schubas.

i have three very vivid images of human rights in my lifetime. the berlin wall coming down, nelson mandela's release from prison and this image of a lone man facing down a tank. sigh, the summer of freedom in china that year was not to be. fifteen years ago this week. june 3-4, 1989.
"only time will tell. . ." -bob marley

my favorite movie of all time is casablanca. why? its timeless. beyond the wwii storyline of love there are so many quotes from that movie that just seem to fit perfectly in so many places. take for example recent news about enron and iraq.

when you cash in on people's misery and inflate energy prices through fraud you've gone from capitalist to weasel. check out these transcripts of enron traders caught on tape. this administration has tried to put a lot of distance between themselves enron's scandals and ol' "kenny boy" the former enron ceo.

for it's next "i'm shocked!" amnesia trick the white house will act like they never heard of ahmed chalabi. psst. . . bush it's the guy on your right! i suppose the real moral of the story is once you become a political liablity for the president. don't expect any help.
check out this brilliant old enron cartoon from this modern world.

file this show, pride under who in the hell greenlighted this?! a computer animated family of talking lions living with siegried and roy in vegas. its sad when bad ideas happen to talented people. all i know about tv is just the stuff i read in the occassional ew, but anyone one make a bet this show doesn't last mid-season?

great holiday weekend. topped off by seeing shrek 2 yesterday.
click here to check out pictures of our weekend.