Keith Montesano, continuing Kate Greenstreet's first book interview series, has posted the first of his firsts here.  Stay tuned for yours truly's.

Later

I'm heading into the hospital for a much needed tune-up.  I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to post again, so I leave you with some necessary viewing.  Enjoy.

Palin at a pageant:

Palin's SNL interview:

Harryette Mullen reads:

And finally, Chalres Bernstein on the real B=A=I=L=O=U=T plan.

Speaking in Tongues

Even the conservative folks at the National Review want Palin off the ticket. If you haven't read it already, take a look at Kathleen Parker's smack down.

James Fallows on the differences between tactics and strategies.

Sarah Palin making even George W. Bush look articulate.  This is absolutely unbelievable:

 

Untitled Post No. 6

Typo 12 is up.

Ulysses over time.

Together, the McCains own 13 vehicles.  The Obamas, 1.

Even George Will is weary of McCain.

Kristi Maxwell's new chapbook, Elsewhere & Wise, is now out from Dancing Girl Press. 

Katy Henricksen on Nicolas Vernhes' Rare Book Room.

A blog to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

Speaking of blogs, this little tid-bit comes from Paul Krugman's blog:

"OK, a correspondent directs me to John McCain’s article, Better Health Care at Lower Cost for Every American, in the Sept./Oct. issue of Contingencies, the magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries. You might want to be seated before reading this.

Here’s what McCain has to say about the wonders of market-based health reform:

Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.

So McCain, who now poses as the scourge of Wall Street, was praising financial deregulation like 10 seconds ago — and promising that if we marketize health care, it will perform as well as the financial industry!"

Anti-Palin Rally in Anchorage, Alaska 1400 Strong

On September 20 at The Rialto Theatre, hometown heroes Calexico and The Mariachi Luz de Luna will perform. This event, encouraging Americans to vote in the upcoming general election, will also feature Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World and our Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

The free Go Vote 2008 Festival Area, held outside of Rialto, will have information booths from different participating organizations. The concert's proceeds will benefit Giffords for Congress. Tickets are on sale NOW exclusively at GiffordsforCongress.com/Calexico and  The Rialto Theatre box office from 12-6.

The floor will be general admission at $25 (with $10 off for Students). As an added bonus for Calexico-lovers, the band will be selling their brand new album Carried To Dust at the show. Don't miss this all-star event!

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT GIFFORDSFORCONGRESS.COM AND RIALTO'S BOX OFFICE

I Got Nuthin'

A review of Calexico's new album, Carried to Dust.

A new Diagram.

Check out the PoetryPolitics Blog over at Wave Books.  Over the next 50 days the blog will be offering poems, audio and video recording, essays, interviews, and manifestoes that tickle the distinctions between poetry and politics.

Bob Dylan has a poem in The New Yorker.

At the Family Research Council's Value Voters summit in Washington D.C. this month attendees caught speeches by Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, while vendors hawked conservative-minded products and knick-knacks, including a controversial product called "Obama Waffles." The waffles feature multiple caricatures of Barack Obama; on the cover he is drawn with wide eyes and a large grin, on the back of the box, he wears a sombrero, and on the side, he is pictured wearing a turban-like head covering. The waffles were conceived by Bob DeMoss and Mark Whitlock who claim the product is in no way racist, even though the box features a "Bling Bling Waffle" rap, a suggestion that the waffles will taste better if pointed towards Mecca, and a recommended serving size of "four or more illegal aliens."  See the video over at The Nation.

Weekend Politics Round-up

Rich, Friedman and Dowd take down McLame & Palin'

An archive of presidential campaign commercials.

What makes people vote Depublican?

A long piece on Palin's political rise.

Or you can watch her guest appearance on SNL:

David Foster Wallace is dead.

Your Bravest Sentiment is Familiar

Michael Schiavo's first book, The Mad Song, is now available for order from Northshire Bookstore. Read Douglas Crase's forward and the first chapter of the song here.

A look inside Francis Bacon's studio.

George Lakoff on Republican political strategy.

Reginal Shepherd has died.

A few more gems:

A Mote in the Dark of Absolute Freedom

A profile of TV on the Radio.

"There is a middle road between understanding nothing and understanding too much, a juste milieu which poets instinctively respect more than critics." -Eugenio Montale

An interview with Alex Lemon.

"As a child, Fellini named the four corners of his bed after movie theaters. 'The show started as soon as I shut my eyes.'" -from The Book of Dreams by Federico Fellini

The rhetoric of the upcoming debates between Obama and Mclame.

"How does the never to be differ from what never was?" -Cormac McCarthy, The Road

And then there's this little gem:

This Just In

Terry Mcaullife (former DNC chair) and Ted Nuget are the same person.

Punditry Gone Wild

Palin' in Comparison

A first-book interview with Kate Greenstreet.

A short review of Silliman's The Age of Huts.

And then there's this from the NY Times:

Shortly after becoming mayor, former city officials and Wasilla residents said, Ms. Palin approached the town librarian about the possibility of banning some books, though she never followed through and it was unclear which books or passages were in question.

Ann Kilkenny, a Democrat who said she attended every City Council meeting in Ms. Palin’s first year in office, said Ms. Palin brought up the idea of banning some books at one meeting. “They were somehow morally or socially objectionable to her,” Ms. Kilkenny said.

The librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, pledged to “resist all efforts at censorship,” Ms. Kilkenny recalled. Ms. Palin fired Ms. Emmons shortly after taking office but changed course after residents made a strong show of support. Ms. Emmons, who left her job and Wasilla a couple of years later, declined to comment for this article.

In 1996, Ms. Palin suggested to the local paper, The Frontiersman, that the conversations about banning books were “rhetorical.”