Hewitt Blog

When my wife told me she and her cousin had scored a couple of tickets to a Dave Barry lecture, I had many thoughts, one of which was certainty that middle middle age was defintely upon us. Another was that, given all the hoopla that goes into "events" theses days, Barry's lighting and intro music would be interesting.

And, given that Barry had sold out a pretty good sized hall, I wondered if Lileks could do a couple of hours of stories.

Turns out Barry is a wonderful stage presence, and the proof is that the stories made me laugh in the retelling.

Barry was asked to retell the funniests tory he's ever heard. And he did. And when the fetching Mrs. Hewitt retold it to me, I was laughing hard too.

Turns out there are many, many sites devoted to this true story, one of which I link you to now.

Betsy Newmark details the experience.

The New York Times is offering a 10 day learn-to-be-a-journalist trip to Africa with Nicholas Kristof.

Enter with a 700 word essay on why this trip would be good for you.

I suggest applicants avoid essays on the thrill of big game hunting.

What next for the Times? How will they structure a trip with Maureen Dowd? Frank Rich?

Send me your suggestions for future contests, and we can post them here for the Times' benefit.

I will also consider posting any essays sent to the Kristof contest.

So Lileks goes to pick up a pizza. He brings it home. On the inside cover it has a message scrawled: "Tell Hugh about our pizza!"

Thank you, Lake Harriet Pizza.

I will interview Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele in the second hour today, and as I said on Neil Cavuto's show earlier this afternoon, the Maryland Senate seat is one of the great pick-up opportunities the GOP has in November.

You can (and hopefully will) contribute online at SteeleforSenate.com.

Why MSM has concluded that the Paris riots are of no interest or consequence is beyond me, but here's Colin Randall's account of the bust-up on his blog. Randall is The Daily Telegraph's Paris bureau chief. Here's the story from this morning on last night's clash.

This proposed condemnation pits the City of Long Beach against the Filipino Baptist Fellowship Church. One quick summary:

LONG BEACH, Calif. (BP)--City leaders in Long Beach, Calif., have classified the Filipino Baptist Fellowship’s building as a blighted area and are forcing the congregation out in order to make way for condominiums.

The path for the case was laid when the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 last summer in Kelo v. New London, Connecticut that a city’s use of eminent domain to transfer property from one private party to another may qualify as a “public use” protected by the Constitution.

and me, today.

The topic: Is MSM selling Bush short, again?

Answer: Is MSM bleeding circulation and audience?

Bird flu arrives in Israel. Four hospitalized.

Soxblog's Dean Barnett reviews Crashing the Gates at WeeklyStandard.com.