Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Take Back America!


Your turn.

I showed up at 5:55am and there was already a line almost to the street. Once the doors opened, we moved rather quickly. I was in and out in thirty minutes. A guy working there says he has never seen it like this so early. Usually, when they open, there's just a few people. I hope our electoral system can handle an America that votes as it should.

I really only did it for the free coffee at Starbucks.


THE BS NEWS QUIZ OF THE DAY


Yesterday, I asked...

"Recently deceased Chicago author-radio host-actor-activist Studs Terkel once said his epitaph should be what?"


55% said "Not dead. Listening."

11% said "Death? What else ya' got?"

No one went for "Better luck next time."

33% got it right with "Curiosity did not kill this cat."

According to The Chicago Tribune, the author-radio host-actor-activist and Chicago symbol has died. "My epitaph? My epitaph will be 'Curiosity did not kill this cat,'" he once said.

"Studs Terkel was part of a great Chicago literary tradition that stretched from Theodore Dreiser to Richard Wright to Nelson Algren to Mike Royko," Mayor Richard M. Daley said Friday. "In his many books, Studs captured the eloquence of the common men and women whose hard work and strong values built the America we enjoy today. He was also an excellent interviewer, and his WFMT radio show was an important part of Chicago's cultural landscape for more than 40 years."

Studs rocked. If I ever caught him on the radio, I had to stop and listen. The guy made sense, had a great sense of humor and clearly dug whatever or whomever he was sinking his teeth in to. If you have never read any of his works, they are astounding. I read his oral history of World War II called The Good War and I can honestly say it changed how I thought about that war. He puts faces and human voices to personal, yet significant events. He was 96 and quite active up until last year.

Here's a taste of Studs...