Spent a few days in Austin with relatives over the 4th. This will probably be the closest thing to a vacation we pull off this summer.

The promotional push for the Paul Harvey book officially kicked off on the 4th and I’ll hopefully be doing a lot of radio interviews and such through the end of the month. (I’ll keep you posted as to what, where and when.)

Mrs. Blather starts a new job this week as a design consultant at an upscale Southlake furniture store (this marks the first time in about 25 years she’s had a regular job instead of being self-employed. She may be about to go through autonomy withdrawal shock.)

Also, FOU #2 heads off to Kenya in a couple of weeks. After that we’re just hurtling toward the restart of school–including moving FOU #1 back down to Baylor. It sort of seems like this summer is ending just as it’s getting started.

Now for some links. This is stuff I happen to find interesting. If you don’t, don’t sweat it. I’m a little odd:

• Yet another reason to feel good about my coffee addiction: It’s good for your memory.
• Five new findings about water on Mars.
• A great hi-res photo ofa brakeman on the Sante Fe railway, circa 1943.
• Wonderful shot of the U.S. capital in 1925 featuring a GAO truck.
• Someone’s auctioning off a 1965 Dodge “Deora” concept car. I had this as a Hot Wheels car around 1967.
• Did Israel just receive two critical “green lights” for an attack on Iran? Light #1. Light #2.

I’m in  between seasons of life in which I buy children’s books, but if I weren’t, I’d buy Animal Band by my old friend Christopher Jennings.

I have known Chris since his high school days back when, and he is a ridiculously gifted illustrator and writer. Check it out if you have younger ones in your life.

The press has been positioning the overthrow of the Honduran President by the military as being a big setback for democracy. But it’s actually a victory.

The Heritage Foundation’s Ray Walser explains why here.

It now appears to be safe for canines and humans to enter the backyard once more.  There is no sign of the grounded adolescent bluejay and the over-protective parental units are no longer screeching at and attacking every mammalian that steps out our back door.

Mrs. Blather, ever-positive and faith-filled, is convinced the youngster finally learned to fly and soared off to a happy, productive life.

I have a less uplifting hypothesis but I’m keeping it to myself.

If you’ve ordered and read the Paul Harvey book, would you be so kind as to go to the Amazon page for the book and write a review? (Preferably a favorable one!)

If you hurry, you can be the first.

My thanks!

I’m by nature and habit a news junkie. But this is a morning in which ever item of information I find either infuriates me, grieves me, or pushes me to the edge of despair for our country and culture.

So, I’m either going to have to check out for a while, or begin preparations to move to Costa Rica.

{As posted over at the Stop Worshiping Celebrities blog}

The Times of London featured a brilliant and brutally blunt op-ed piece by Janice Turner today on the maniacal Michael Jackson fan base.

The subhead to the headline quoted above gives you a feel for how Turner feels about the Jackson idol worshipers: “Those who professed to love Michael Jackson were vampires, feeders and jackals – their adulation hastened his end.”

Turner starts her dismemberment of the mindless Michael mourners this way:

Outside UCLA hospital they gather with their candles and their teddies, spooky lookalikes in full Thriller garb, wan teenagers wearing a single lace glove. They sway and sing I’ll Be There with sad faces to disguise the serotonin buzz from their frenzied collective mourn-in. Fans cry now for Michael Jackson, but they killed him. They always do.

Deeper into the lengthy essay we read a paragraph that could serve as the manifesto for this blog:

Fandom is the curse of our age. It has turned from admiration into obsession, respectful homage to idolatory. It is a virus to which no one seems immune. Once in New York, I passed a huge excited crowd outside a fancy hotel. What were they waiting for? Apparently Paris Hilton was inside having lunch.

Turner takes no prisoners but every word rings sadly true. Do read the whole thing.

(hat tip: Fergus!)

So the “King of Pop” is dead.

I’ll save my primary Michael Jackson comments for the “Stop Worshiping Celebrities” blog. I rarely update it but this seems like a perfect time.

Here I’ll just observe that our childish, morally bankrupt culture vainly tries to make gods and kings of celebrities. But they invariably end up being just as frail and flawed as the fools who idolize them, and often more so.

The day’s news also reminded me of the day another “king” died. I wrote about that day on its 30th anniversary, almost two years ago. Read “Summer’s End, 1977.“

The maniacal bluejays continued to terrorize any living creature that ventured into the back yard today. (See blog post below)

Dogs having notoriously bad short term memories, our Abbie apparently forgot about the indigo kamikazes while she slept. She got about five steps into the yard on her way to do her morning business when screeching fury from above rained down upon the unsuspecting pooch. (I’ll try to get some video tomorrow.)

The offspring they’re trying to protect has managed to get himself up on a piece of our lawn furniture and today Mrs. Blather saw the mother feeding the poor thing. This generated no small measure of relief in my bride who has been pretty much obsessed with the welfare of the creature.

Nevertheless, our backyard remains a no-go zone. Abbie categorically refuses to go out there. When I open the back door and point toward the yard, she just looks at me with a face that says, “Are you serious? YOU go out there.”

Some of the most amazing architectural spaces of the last century were American train stations — many of which were torn down to make room for some souless modern piece of dreck. For example, read this and weep:

Demolished! 11 Beautiful Train Stations That Fell To The Wrecking Ball (And The Crappy Stuff Built In Their Place)