The Ideal Piano Bar Date

Someday I'm going to get the bloggers to hold a meeting in Carmel. After the serious biz is done, we'll retire to the Mission Ranch Piano Bar where the Big Trunk will be my date (I hope he's not married).

He'll get the crowd going by doing Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire

I'll keep them soaring as I launch into American Pie

We'll join up in tribute to celebrate Harold Arlen's 100th Birthday with I've Got the World on a String

Maybe Glen Campbell (an avid golfer and friend of Clint Eastwood) will be in the bar and he'll sing By the Time I Get to Phoenix

We'll bring down the house and close out the night with Brother Ray and everyone will join in.

America the Beautiful Ray Charles

Oh beautiful, for heroes proved,
In liberating strife,
Who more than self, our country loved,
And mercy more than life,

America, America, may God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain devined.

And you know when I was in school,
We used to sing it something like this, listen here:

Oh beautiful, for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties,
Above the fruited plain,

But now wait a minute, I'm talking about
America, sweet America,
You know, God done shed his grace on thee,
He crowned thy good, yes he did, in a brotherhood,
From sea to shining sea.

You know, I wish I had somebody to help me sing this
(America, America, God shed his grace on thee)
America, I love you America, you see,
My God he done shed his grace on thee,
And you oughta love him for it,
Cause he, he, he, he, crowned thy good,
He told me he would, with brotherhood,
(From sea to shining sea).
Oh Lord, oh Lord, I thank you Lord
(Shining sea).

What's Up With Bobby Eberle?

Doesn't it seem really wierd?

From Editor & Publisher...

NEW YORK Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was so concerned about Talon News reporter James Guckert's potential ties to the Republican Party that he stopped calling on him at press briefings for about a week in 2003, Fleischer told E&P today.

"I found out that he worked for a GOP site, and I didn't think it was my place to call on him because he worked for something that was related to the party," Fleischer said in a phone interview. "He had the editor call me and made the case that they were not related to the Republican Party. He said they used the GOP name for marketing purposes only."

He said he resumed calling on Guckert, who used the alias Jeff Gannon, after Bobby Eberle, owner of both GOPUSA and Talon News, "assured me that they were not part of the Republican Party." Eberle is a Texas Republican activist and served as a delegate to the 2000 Republican National Convention.

Shocking ... The Grammys

I'm constantly harping about pop culture and the negative images it broadcasts. Perhaps I don't know what I'm talking about.

My friend Mark Sorum's brother, Matt Sorum, is the drummer for grammy winner Velvet Revolver and before that was with Guns N Roses. Now Mark's a proud George W. Bush supporter, so I thought I'd watch his brother on the grammys. I don't think I've watched it in 10 years or so.

I expected to have my bad opinions reinforced, but I was shocked at the songs that won

Song of the Year also Best Male Pop Vocal Performance

Daughters
John Mayerly

So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal

Heaven
Los Lonely Boys

Vamanos!

Save me from this prison
Lord, help me get away
'Cause only you can save me now
From this misery

Tu que estas en alto cielo, hechame tu bendicion.
[translated from Spanish: you that's in a higher place, send me down a blessing]

'Cause I know there's a better place
In this place I'm livin'
How far is heaven?
So I just got to show some faith
And just keep on givin'
How far is heaven?
(Oh, Lord can you tell me)
How far is heaven?
(I just gotta know how far it is)
How far is heaven?
(Oh, Lord, can you tell me?)
How far is heaven?
I just gotta know how far
I just wanna know how far

Best Rap Song and Best Rap Album

Jesus Walks
Miri Ben Ari, C. Smith & Kanye West, songwriters (Kanye West)

Jesus Walk- God show me the way because the devil tryna break me down
Jesus Walk With Me- The only thing that I pray iz that my feet dont fail me now
Jesus Walk-And I dont think theres nothing I could do now to right my wrongs
Jesus Walk With Me-I wanna talk to God but im afraid cuz we aint spoke in so long..

I Will Not Back Down

Artist/Band: Worley Darryl
Lyrics for Song: I Will Hold My Ground
Lyrics for Album: Have You Forgotten?
(Darryl Worley/Frank Rogers)

I have never had an easy life
But I'm not complaining
It has taught me how to stand and fight
For what I believe in
I guess that's just how I was raised
I find it hard to walk away

I will not back down
When you push me to the wall
Expecting me to fall
I will not give in
I am not afraid to fight
For what I know is right
I can only take so much
And when I've had enough
It's not in my blood to just lay down
I will hold my ground

I try my best to get through every day
Without confrontation
Stayin' out of everybody's way
But then on occasion
Somebody steps across the line
And it's not too long before they find

I will not back down
When you push me to the wall
Expecting me to fall
I will not give in
I am not afraid to fight
For what I know is right
I can only take so much
And when I've had enough
It's not in my blood to just lay down
I will hold my ground

I will not back down
When you push me to the wall
Expecting me to fall
I will not give in
I am not afraid to fight
For what I know is right
I can only take so much
And when I've had enough
It's not in my blood to just lay down
I will hold my ground

No it's not in my blood to just lay down
I will hold my ground
Yeah I will hold my ground
I will hold my ground
I will hold my ground
I will hold my ground

BREAKING NEWS

California Republican Party Unanimously Endorses Re-Election of Governor Schwarzennegger


As moved by Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa

I would like to speak about the difference the recall makes:

This Governor puts taxpayers ahead of bureaucrats.

This Governor believes that it shouldn't be more lucrative to retire than to work.

This Governor thinks teachers who excel should be paid more than teachers who fail.

This Governor thinks people who work should live better than people who won't.

This Governor thinks workers compensation should go to injured workers, not "slip and fall" shysters.

This Governor thinks an official California Drivers License should be a privilege of citizenship.

This Governor thinks letting politicians draw their own district boundary lines is like giving the town drunk a bottle of scotch for safekeeping.

This Governor doesn't rearrange boxes, this Governor blows up the boxes.

And today, this party wants to tell this Governor, we think he's doin a heckuva job!

Two years ago, this party decided that we couldn't afford 3 more years of Gray Davis. This party couldn't afford to wait and so supported the recall. This party shouldn't wait now.

Mr Chairman, I move that TODAY, we endorse Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for re-election in 2006!

Seconded By Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (who has promised to send me his secondy speech - he was fired up - will post when received)

Wild Cheering and applause commences.

Chairman Duf Sundheim calls for the Ayes and Nos. It's unanimous! We endorse the Governor.

If you go after the King, you better kill him, or you'll be killed yourself.

Did Dr. Dora kill herself?

There was a teeny, tiny bit of controversy at this weekend's California Republican Party convention. The officer's elections were primarily uncontested, so candidates won by acclamation. The speakers were interesting and dynamic and were well received by the delegates. The Governor's speech was spectacular, and was greeted by cheers and multiple standing ovations. Deserving volunteers were honored. Committee work went smoothly.

But Dora Kingsley, longtime GOP activist and volunteer assistant to Gerry Parsky (Friend of the President and Bush/Cheney California Chair), provided a little bit of excitement by lighting herself on fire.

On Friday, Dora sent out a press release and a letter to members of the Rules Committee, resigning her membership on the committee. It was a symbolic move, expressing her strong disapproval of the plan by Party Chairman Duf Sundheim to have the party endorse the re-election of Governor Schwarzenegger.

Was she acting on her own or in collusion with Parsky? What positive result did she hope to accomplish? Would the White House intervene? How mad would the Governor be? Would this be the straw that broke the camel's back?

I was really the only one asking these questions. Most party members were unconcerned. A member of the Rules Committee told me "When you choke on a piece of bread, you don't always die, but it's a possibility", clearly believing that she was already dead.

Word is that the White House did intervene. Parsky flew up to Sacramento on Saturday, but remained holed up in his suite the entire time, meeting with just a handful of people. Dora no-showed the convention on Sunday.

The Contra Costa Times reported on Feb 11, 2005

Resignation over GOP rule for early Schwarzenegger endorsement

DON THOMPSON
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO - A proposal that would let the California Republican Party make an early endorsement of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and allow early party contributions to his re-election campaign led a longtime activist to resign from a key party committee Friday.

Dora Kingsley said the rule proposed by party Chairman Duf Sundheim for consideration at the party convention this weekend in Sacramento could bring criticism of Schwarzenegger.

The state Democratic Party allows such preprimary endorsements, but Kingsley said the GOP rules prohibit them "in order to protect the integrity of the nomination process."

Changing the rule could "lead to loss of the voters' confidence," she said in her resignation letter.

Schwarzenegger's record-setting fund-raising already has drawn criticism, while his California Recovery Team is joining a lawsuit seeking to overturn limits on how much donors can give to ballot measure committees run by officeholders.

Kingsley's objections are "completely without merit," said party spokeswoman Karen Hanretty. "These are one-time rules that would allow us to support Gov. Schwarzenegger and his reform agenda."

The procedural change "will basically allow the governor's and the party's infrastructure to merge" should Schwarzenegger seek re-election, an announcement he has yet to make. Besides discouraging challengers, Schwarzenegger could take advantage of the party's fund-raising and bulk mailing privileges.

Sundheim raised the idea, which Schwarzenegger supports, Hanretty said. The governor's office declined comment, and Schwarzenegger's political aides did not return telephone messages from The Associated Press.

Hanretty said the party "welcomes Dora Kingsley's resignation," and accused her of "trying to draw attention to herself" by releasing the letter publicly and resigning instead of working within the Rules Committee against a change she opposes.

Kingsley, however, said she was appointed to the seven-member committee by Sundheim and felt it was better to resign than to vote against his proposed change.

"This is not about Gov. Schwarzenegger, this is about Duf Sundheim jumping the gun," said Elizabeth Blackney, a spokeswoman for Kingsley. Kingsley, a conservative, is aligned with former party chairman Gerald L. Parsky, who has been in a yearslong running battle with Sundheim.

Parsky, who is President Bush's point person in California, did not return a telephone message from The Associated Press.

I Love Jimmy Stewart

Did you know how much he loved the GOP? Check it out!

Social Insecurity

Today Chairman Thomas was brilliant on Meet the Press. But somehow his conversation reminded me of this scene from Bull Durham

CRASH: It’s time you started working on your interviews.

NUKE: What do I gotta do?

CRASH: Learn your cliches. Study them. Know them. They’re your friends.

Crash hands Nuke a small pad and pen.

CRASH: Write this down. (beat) “We gotta play ‘em one day at a time.”

NUKE: Boring.

CRASH: Of course. That’s the point. (beat) “I’m just happy to be here and
hope I can help the ballclub.”

NUKE: Jesus.

CRASH: Write, write–"I just wanta give It my best shot and, Good Lord willing, things’ll work out.”

NUKE STARTS WRITING them down.

NUKE: “…Good Lord willing, things’ll work out.”

We all know that the folks in the press aren't the smartest. And if they think that Chairman Thomas is opposed to social security reform, they are not only stupid but they're asleep.

Here's his explanation on Meet the Press this morning

MR. RUSSERT: Let me ask you about a comment you made at the National Journal Forum and give you a chance to talk about it. "I look forward to those discussions [on Social Security reform] and not continual beating of what will soon be a dead horse of their proposal, and I look forward to that."

Many thought you were suggesting the president's proposal had become a dead horse.

REP. THOMAS: No. The phrase for that, as you well know, is dead on arrival. I didn't say it was dead on arrival. What I said was I hope we didn't have our friends on the other side of the aisle attacking the president's proposal once it's introduced, because once it's introduced, it becomes part of the legislative process. Suggest changes or suggest substitutions, but don't continue the arguments against the president's plan because it's now part of the legislative process. That would be beating a dead horse.

Some of these young journalists, I'm concerned. Had I said, Tim, "You're barking up the wrong tree," they may have accused me of being anti-environmentalist. So I've got to watch the old phrases that used to mean something when you say them. The point is we should deal with the legislative process and the president's proposal will then be part of the legislative process. Let's debate the legislative process, not the president's proposal.

Others are musical blogging the social insecurity debate ...

Dick McDonald at the Right Scale says It's Not the Wrong Time or the Wrong Place

What If? Imagines Me and You, She Does, She thinks about it every night, it's only right

Just One Minute guesses some things never change when you're Riding A Dead Horse

It's Alright With Me
(Cole Porter 1953)

It's the wrong time and the wrong place
Though your face is charming, it's the wrong face
It's not her face, but such a charming face
And it's alright with me

It's the wrong song with the wrong style
Though your smile is lovely, it's the wrong smile
It's not her smile, but such a lovely smile
That it's alright with me

You can't know how happy I am we met
I'm strangely attracted to you
There's someone I'm trying so hard to forget
Don't you wanna forget someone too

It's the wrong game with the wrong chips
Though your lips are tempting, they're the wrong lips
They're not her lips, but they're such tempting lips
That it's all right with me

It's the wrong time and the wrong place
Though your face is charming, it's the wrong face
It's not her face, but such a charming face
And it's alright with me

It's the wrong song with the wrong style
Though your smile is lovely, it's the wrong smile
It's not her smile, but a lovely smile
And it's alright with me

You can not know how happy I am we met
I'm strangely attracted to you
There's someone I'm trying so hard to forget
Don't you wanna forget someone too

It's the wrong game and the wrong chips
Though your lips are tempting, it's the wrong lips
They're not her lips, but they're such tempting lips
And it's all right with me

And it's all right, it's all right
It's all right with me
It's all right with me

It's the wrong time and the wrong place
Though your lips are charming, it's the wrong face
It's not her face but a charming face
And it's alright with me


Happy Together
The Turtles

Imagine me and you I do
I think about you day and night
It's only right
To think about the girl you love
And hold her tight
So happy together

If I should call you up invest a dime
And you say you belong to me
And ease my mind
Imagine how the world could be
So very fine
So happy together

I can see me lovin' nobody but you
For all my life
When you're with me baby the skies'll be blue
For all my life

Me and you and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice
It had to be
The only one for me is you
And you for me
So happy together

I can see me lovin' nobody but you
For all my life


Song: Dead Horse
Artist: Guns N' Roses

Sick of this life
Not that you'd care
I'm not the only one with
whom these feelings I share


Nobody understands, quite why we're here
We're searchin' for answers
That never appear


But maybe if I looked real hard I'd
I'd see your tryin' too
To understand this life,
That we're all goin' through
(Then when she said she was gonna like
wreck my car...I didn't know what to do)


Sometimes I feel like I'm beatin' a dead horse
An I don't know why you'd be bringin' me down
I'd like to think that our love's
worth a tad more
It may sound funny but you'd think by now
I'd be smilin'
I guess some things never change
Never change


I met an old cowboy
I saw the look in his eyes
Somethin' tells me he's been here before
'Cause experience makes you wise
I was only a small child
When the thought first came to me
That I'm a son of a gun and the gun of a son
That brought back the devil in me


Sometimes I feel like I'm beatin' a dead horse
An I don't know why you'd be bringin' me down
I'd like to think that our love's
worth a tad more
It may sound funny but you'd think by now
I'd be smilin'
I guess some things never change
Never change


I ain't quite what you'd call an old soul
Still wet behind the ears
I been around this track a couple o' times
But now the dust is startin' to clear
Oh yeah!!!


Sometimes I feel like I'm beatin' a dead horse
An I don't know why you'd be bringin' me down
I'd like to think that our love's
worth a tad more
It may sound funny but you'd think by now
I'd be smilin'
Ooh yeah, I'd be smilin'
No way I'd be smilin'
Ooh smilin'


Sick of this life
Not that you'd care
I'm not the only one
With whom these feelings I share

Help Me Find a Piano Bar in DC

While in DC next week I'm trying to organize a birthday party/piano bar singalong for my pal Stacey. Is anybody out there a piano bar afficianado? We're looking for something as fun as the Mission Ranch in Carmel.

I've been doing a little research and have found a few leade ... any opinions? Perhaps we'll choose one of these.

Kinkeads Restaurant 2000 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC. Directions
Description: Hilton Felton-Piano Ephraim Wolfolk-Bass
Telephone: 202-296-7700


Mr. Smith's of Georgetown
3104 M Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20007



or maybe

The Ritz-Carlton
1150 22nd Street NW
202-835-0500

Two words: sch-wank. This is where you go for The Royal Treatment. The cocktail service is impeccable, and the multiple seating areas surrounding the piano area are dark-walled paradises where you can ensconce yourself, oblivious to others, no matter how crowded the bar gets. A weekend visit found the husband and wife team of pianist David Allen and vocalist Susan Allen, a polished duo who can meet the challenge of filling the rambling space without overwhelming it. "Misty" isn't their strongest number, as they lean toward crisp, jazz-lounge takes on '70s pop. A Carole King medley? "You Don't Bring Me Flowers?" Oh, yes, bring it on. The Ritz-Carlton boasts piano music by a variety of artists seven days a week, starting around 6 p.m. daily. You gotta try this at least once in your life.

Stacey and I are checking in to the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill on Monday.

25,000 by Tommorrow Morning

Who will be my 25,000th visitor? Will you leave a comment?