The BBC has a fascinating report about the anthrax attacks with information generally not being aired in US media. Check it out and be very afraid.
posted by Mad Anne Rackham at 3:26 PM

Here's proof that the Governor's office is a bunch of idiots.

But better to have clueless idiots in charge than malevolent bastards. Here's the Ashcroft administration's policy on 9/11 gay widows. Convenient how it was buried in the news and how they pass the buck to the states, knowing full well that the states basically offer no protection to LGBT families. Hopefully the outrage will rise again soon. I'm so tired.
posted by Mad Anne Rackham at 12:06 AM

Rants and raves from the weekend:

Got really annoyed starting Friday because someone took offense at something that someone else posted on the email list that I run and posted of his offense, beginning with something along the lines of "I cannot condone [this type of post] on the list." This really pissed me off because posts complaining about other people's post are verboten to begin with (it's a news list, not a discussion list), and I felt he was attacking my judgment for letting the original post on the list. So I posted a fairly neutral reminder of the list rules on Friday and figured that would be the end of it, but the guy sent me private email essentially accusing me of having a double standard. He claimed that I had made list rules that I did not make and complained that the post in question violated these rules. He was totally wrong, and I told him so and noted that his opinion of the original post was clearly clouding his perception of what I have stated (repeatedly!) are the list rules. The whole thing really pissed me off. I can handle criticisms in private, but posting them on the list is wrong (not because they offend me, but because they are a form of discussion.) I actually flamed him pretty well in my response, noting that he had never once bothered to post any news about his organization despite news being the purpose of the list. I don't flame for flaming's sake, but my response to him came pretty close. Happily, I received some supportive email from other subscribers as to how I had handled it publicly, so that helped. Hopefully someday I will get to where I don't take these things so personally. As it was, I ended up taking an anti-anxiety pill shortly after the episode began on Friday.

Oh well, enough of that crap. The Great Big Sea show in Boston was this past weekend, so herewith my review. First off, how I wish it had not been held in a club, and particularly not the club it was in. The smoke did not seem bad at first but got much worse as the night wore on. It was bad enough for me but much worse for my other half, the asthmatic who also had a head cold which now has mutated into a chest cold as a result. So there was that, plus this club had hardly any tables or chairs. Of course the theory was that people would dance and that it would be quite crowded, and both of those were true, but nonetheless I was not happy not to have the option of sitting for the show. GBS is the kind of band that really is more suited for clubs where you can dance than for auditoriums with neat rows, I admit. Told the other half that perhaps we'll have to go to California, with their no-smoking law, if ever we decide we want to see them live again.

Another mini-rant on a related topic: there really must be things that one can do to try to minimize the damage done by second-hand smoke. I know cigarette smoke interferes with the body's absorption of vitamin C, for example, so I always take extra when I've been exposed. But there must be other things like that, and I've essentially been unable to find any info about what they would be. One page did also mention vitamins A and E, and there is also a homeopathic remedy whose main purpose is to help people quit smoking which is also suggested for the effects of second-hand smoke. But why doesn't the medical establishment make this info easier to find? Yes, they want people to quit smoking and places to quit allowing smoking, and that's fine, but in the meantime, there are many people who cannot avoid exposure and would probably like to have that info. It's possible that it is out there but that I couldn't find it, but if so, that doesn't detract much from my argument--I should be able to find it.

Anyway, so back to the show. The opening band was Carbon Leaf, and I must say they were fantastic. Their sound is sort of Celtic-rock, but not in an annoying or pretentious way. They hail from Richmond, Virginia though I never would have guessed it from the sound--thought Scottish or Canadian. The lead singer may well be from elsewhere, actually--it doesn't say on his bio, but he did seem to have an accent. Besides being enjoyable in and of themselves, they were an excellent choice to tour with GBS, as much of their music will appeal to the same audience. They even have a version of "Mary Mac" on one of their CDs. The crowd loved them from what I could tell, and I hope the exposure they get on this tour is one of the boosts they need to take off.

And then came Great Big Sea. What a great show! They have so much energy, and the crowd was really pumped too and joined right in (myself included.) The set was a good mix of songs from every album. As is my usual self, I came up with an observation that is interesting to me but probably not to others, but I'll post it anyway because this is my blog. One of the early songs they played was on one of their Canadian albums but was not released in the US. The first US release of theirs was a compilation of songs from their Canadian releases, but this song was not one of them. And yet many people in the crowd did know this song. So that means either they were Canadians or obsessed US fans who ordered the Canadian releases as imports. Actually it's easier to do that now--even Amazon will let you--so maybe it's not such a huge thing. But I still found it interesting. The crowd seemed to be a good mix of people who knew their stuff well and people who were perhaps just now learning about them, so that was good. As I gather is typical, they got the audience to sing choruses and such a lot, which was fun. I enjoyed seeing what each of the four band members did music-wise, i.e., which instruments they played and who sang on which songs. I hadn't realized that each of the four of them sing lead vocals on a verse of "Scolding Wife," but that was enjoyable because one of them did not sing lead on anything else, so it was good to see him take a turn. All in all, quite an enjoyable show. I just wish we hadn't had to deal with the smoke and with standing the entire time.

Not much else to tell from the weekend (isn't this long enough?) except that you should read Julie Hiatt Steele's commentary on Robert Ray's final report. What was done to her was just inexcusable, and I hope that now that the witch hunt is finally over, she can begin to rebuild her life. I knew nothing of her until I started reading BartCop, as I just sort of let my eyes glaze over during the Starr inquisition for the most part. But her story has really resonated with me since I've learned about it.
posted by Mad Anne Rackham at 5:19 AM