Tuesday morning

And just a few items.

First, I was sad to see yesterday the passing of comedian George Carlin. I was not a huge fan, but appreciated his originality and intelligence.

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This is not a dream blog, but my dreams have been interesting of late. A while ago, I dreamt I met Obama. Last night, I dreamt that I was at a film screening for John McCain and even gave him some tips on how to be funny. At the table, I was seated across from Cindy McCain, though I was facing away from her and she annoyed me.

I have no idea what that dream means. But the night before saw a recurring dream that I often have over the summer. During this dream, I am meeting my class for the first time. It is a class I have taught numerous times, and in my dream, that appears to be the problem.

I show up with no notes, no syllabus, and no plan. During this particular version of it, students kept getting up and walking out, and several of the senior tenured professors came in to observe. I also remember thinking that this event was a lot like one of my dreams.... I know that this means that I need to get some work done for the fall, but this seems a little early in the summer for this particular stress dream.

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Just saw this morning that James Dobson accused Obama of "distorting" the Bible:

"'I think he's deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology,' Dobson said."

If only Boss Dobson recognized his own distortions, his criticisms of Obama might have credibility. I am reminded of his own hubris here:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Dr. Dobson, ...in the Daily Oklahoman, [you were] quoted saying, "Patrick Leahy is a God's people hater. I don't know if he hates God, but he hates God's people." Now, Dr. Dobson, that doesn't sound like a particularly Christian thing to say. Do you think you owe Senator Leahy an apology?
DR JAMES DOBSON: George, you think you ought to lecture me on what a Christian is all about? You know, I think -I think I'll stand by the things I have said. Patrick Leahy has been in opposition to most of the things that I believe. He is the one that took the reference to God out of the oath.

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I posted last week on some of the music I am listening to from 2008 and meant to note some forthcoming releases. Today, in fact, Alejandro Escovedo releases "Real Animal." I have been looking forward to this for a while and plan on picking it up later today.

July 15th will see the release of The Hold Steady's new album ("Stay Positive") of which I am hearing some good buzz. Their last two albums were pretty impressive, though I will admit to hating them at first. :)

Any other new ones I am missing right now? And this is not music, but I was elated to see that the first season of Get Smart will be released on DVD August 5! I haven't seen the new movie yet, but have always loved the original series. I still refer to the "Cone of Silence" when I am discussing something that should be kept private.