AN OPEN LETTER TO MY HAIR

People are so concerned about how things begin, but not how they end. One doesn't pay nearly the same level of attention to exiting a relationship as one does to wooing. If employees took the same pains upon leaving a position that they took to earn it, the world would be a better place.

And so, it is with this principle in mind that I say, "Goodbye, my Hair. It's been a great ride."

I remember the deal we made in 1992. We were working in Cleveland and someone mentioned that maybe they saw some scalp. I said, then and there, "Hair -- If you stick with me until I'm 30, you can go your own way. I won't fight you, if you just hold on. No matter the advances in science or efficacy of prayer -- I'll let you go." And Hair, you've been as good as your implied consent.

As I look to my own father for example, I can take heart. A Marine and a CPA, a good husband and a civic-minded citizen, his lack of hair has certainly never curtailed his ability to hold fast the things that are dear to him: family and beer. And Hair, I've found a smart, beautiful, sexy woman who has made me believe that she loves my cranial deforestation. Be it in earnest or just for my benefit, I love her for her a) convincing performance or b) very good sense to see the forest for the lack of trees.

It's been a blast, Hair, but we'd be fools to pretend that everything is the same between us. Times have changed and so have we. I think, frankly, you've just stopped growing. Thanks for all the memories.

Michael Moore

"Shame on you, Mr. Bush. Shame on you! Anytime you've got the pope and the Dixie Chicks against you, your time is up!"

- Come on. That was pretty funny.

THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO

On Day 2, I'm watching the most surreal game of cat-and-mouse. Cops in huge column and motorcades of motorcycles are chasing small groups of protesters (25-75 people) from intersection to intersection. Holy crap they're making the cops look like dolts.

From the SF Chronicle
"It's a cat-and-mouse game," said Deputy Chief Rick Bruce, who heads the Police Department's special operations bureau.

"We're in a totally reactive mode," he said. "We just respond to illegal activity. It's tough. They are moving faster than us. They shut down all of Market Street this morning. As soon as we would reopen a section, they would shut down another one."

WAR, DAY 1

I spent much of today six floors above the biggest protests in the USA, on the corner of Montgomery and Market. Every couple of hours, I'd hear the police announce that all who chained themselves together in the intersection would go to jail. They'd clear people out and others would take their place.

What I noticed was how incredibly disorganized the police were. I expect that of the protesters, but the police certainly didn't show signs of recent emergency training. The protesters shut down the financial district all day. The SF cheif of police called it "total anarchy".They arrested 1,300 people today.

FLYERS

Maggie and I went to Costco this morning. On our way in, as we fought for a shopping cart, I noticed a woman handing out flyers. She was 30-something and wearing an Islamic head-scarf (nice silk, fashionable).

Normally, people will walk out of their way to avoid flyers being shoved in the hands. But in San Francisco these days, people were heading right for her to see what sort of message this was trying to give the world. The flyer read:

No Contracts.
No Credit Checks.
No Catches.
Bay Area MetroPCS: $35/month for unlimited local calling.


Brilliant.

JFK 2003

I heard Massachusetts Senator John Kerry speak at the Commonwealth Club of California today.

Best quotes:
"It was fun to watch C-SPAN on drugs" - on his recent surgery

"When stationed here in '66, I spent a lot of time in the West Fillmore neighborhood. I'd call it an historic time, but in order to be history, you have to remember it" - on his time in SF

"I'd prefer to see statesmanship unify the Iraq efforts, instead of seeing a coalition of bribery and cohesion" - on Bush international policy.

It was easy to slip into imagining a US president who was a decorated veteran and a diplomat, a passionate environments who saw green-policy as pro-business, and a eloquent speaker who could inspire, instruct and match his verb and noun. It's fun to imagine.

BACK IN THE GAME

You build more bombs as you get more bold
As your mid-life crisis war unfolds
All you wanna do is take control
Now put that Axis of Evil bullsh-- on hold.

The Beastie Boys come out of hiding.

Lysistrata Project

So, after a few years on the sideline, I got back in the game today. Tonight was the Lysistrata Project. 1004 theaters participated in a reading/performance/interpretation of this old Greek thing. I stage managed the 14 act cabaret at the Magic Theater, all acts based loosely on Lysistrata (kinda). I was really surprised at the level of performance up there. And it was fun to walk around yelling "FIVE MINUTES, EVERYONE' and saying, "Light Cue 13... Go: in a hushed -but-focused tone.

I have no desire to take over full productions, but I had fun and I'd do a few benefits or maybe a bat Mitzvah again.

JOHN IS NOT DEAD

So we arrested Belushi?

JUROR 142

''Any particular question in Questionnaire 142 that you want to direct me to?'' Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald asked the prosecutors.
''All of them, judge,'' a prosecutor, Daniel M. Gitner, said.


Under previous jobs, the juror wrote President of the United States.
He also offer that he could be fair and impartial, despite his ''unusual experience with the O.I.C.,'' (Office of Independent Counsel.)

President Clinton has jury duty.