The Day the Music Died

Today, Feb 3, marks 50 years since that a sudden plane crash took the lives of 3 Rock n Roll up-and-comers, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper. Don McClean's "American Pie" goes on that this was the day the 'music died' and how it influenced an entire generation.

Well, there's a great article here about how the music didn't die, but instead Holly's influence lives on.

----

In other news, those of you paying attention know that Skank, SHEAm, and I routinely ride the 42/43 bus line for our morning/evening commute. Well, apparently we're in somewhat famous company. MSNBC reported yesterday (yes, from that plump pumpkin of a commentator, Keith Olberman. I know, I don't usually like him either...) that former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld attempted to board a crowded 42 last week, just north of Dupont Circle. Instead of boarding he was booed by passengers and told that the bus was too crowded to accommodate him. He reportedly walked instead.

I have personally seen Rummy on 3 occasions in the past few months, sometimes in the Dupont area and sometimes in the Golden Triange south of Dupont. Have you seen Rummy recently??
We are going to start a Rum-Sighting series here on Connetiquette. Email or post anytime you see Rummy!!

----

In Cabinet news, the Senate voted and we now have an Attorney General (whoo hooo!) who doesn't promise to not prosecute the war criminals from the last administrations. Thank God.

Similarly, Republican Judd Gregg was announced today for Commerce Secretary. Though this came at the price of Democratic New Hampshire Governor John Lynch promising to appoint a Republican in Gregg's place, so as to not change the balance of power in the Senate. If the Dems get one more seat they'll have a 60-person supermajority that will be able to withstand a filibuster. As it stands now, on most issues there are one or two moderate senators who can be picked off and convinced to join the majority. But it's still an interesting little dance they're doing.

Finally, HHS nominee Tom Daschle, former Senate Majority Leader, has withdrawn his name from consideratino. He's gotten a lot of flak over the past few days on some tax issues (seriously- this is the 3rd Cabinet nomination to have this prolem. Was nobody looking into this?!). While I personally think Tom Daschle is a great man and would do wonders for this country in the realm of healthcare (especially leading a task force on universal care), I have to agree that these issues are a best a distraction from everything. I just hope that he's still around for a non-cabinet appointment to work on healthcare reform. It would be a waste to not put his experience and relationships with Congress to good use...

---

Finally, just a small note on this weekend. What a game! I'm still surprised it went from snooze-fest to a really exciting, edge-of-your-seat game. I've already commented on my pride in the Steelers and the Steel City, but there were also some great ads. In lieu of posting my own recap of each ad, I'm actually going to defer to fellow blogger-extrordinaire Cocktail and his commentary. I fully agree (be sure to check out his upcoming post on the Emerald City). Some of the best were the movie previews. I'm absolutely obsessed with the fact that this summer so many great movies are coming. We have Transformers 2, GI JOE (so pumped), STAR TREK (even more pumped), and the newest Harry Potter flik (which has been uber delayed). I can't wait. There will be posts on all of this very soon.

That's all for now folks