Comments on: Apparently McCain Will Not Be on the Ballot in November

By: bmaz

bmaz — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:50:28 +0000

i used to ski Taos frequently, and always spent a day/night in Santa Fe on the way in or out. It is a VERY long haul to drive from Phx. Crikey, it takes you the better part of a day to fly into Albuquerque and drive up from there

By: 4jkb4ia

4jkb4ia — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:45:28 +0000

After actually consulting The Google, to drive from Phoenix to Santa Fe essentially would take a whole day.

By: 4jkb4ia

4jkb4ia — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:42:28 +0000

I essentially don’t know squat about hockey either. Can Roenick have another game like that against Dallas?

By: bmaz

bmaz — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:49:00 +0000

Boy do I agree with the toxicity part. I have a little different take on the root cause of the toxicity (I think the nature of the news coverage drove the campaign there, but of course the NYT isn’t going to cop to any such thing). I probably didn’t describe it in enough detail, but the turnout part for the Dems here was astounding. The crowd at the Obama thing was mind blowing (I tried to go, saw the line out of the parking lot and down the street, laughed and left – I am too old for that); Clinton drawing 10,000+ to the South Phoenix high school gym, relatively speaking, was every bit, and maybe more, impressive. People were registering to vote left and right and, more importantly, signing up to work for the general. Never seen anything like it in Arizona.

By: bmaz

bmaz — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:16:33 +0000

I don’t know squat about hockey other than our local team is coached and managed by Gretzky, and the most popular player ever here is Jeremy Roenick. The local news is crazy about Roenick’s temporary return to greatness in the game you watched.

By: readerOfTeaLeaves

readerOfTeaLeaves — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:13:53 +0000

I think you’ve hit a moving target here.
This election seems like something that the polls have a very limited ability to describe.

Polls are probably as overpriced as pundits, and losing ‘information value’ at the same rate. Pundits rely on polls; polls need pundits. It’s a closed loop that fails to describe the dynamics or emotional character of what’s happening.

10,000 for Hillary, while McCain attracts 4,000… and Obama is like a political revivalist packing ‘em in. (Apart from which candidate anyone here may support,this suggests Hillary is phenomenally resilient, as is her spouse.)

Not sure quite what’s going on, but the polls seem to be too crude a tool to capture the dynamic that’s happening.

We do live in interesting times.
It’s nice to see people engaged by politics, but I can’t stand to pay attention to very much of the campaigning. The negativity is toxic and corrosive; the Dems would be wise to clean up the emotional tone. (See NYT OpEd today.)

By: 4jkb4ia

4jkb4ia — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:50:18 +0000

I remember that “Elmer Gantry” story, and it slipped my mind that the opera in question was in Nashville.

By: 4jkb4ia

4jkb4ia — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:43:08 +0000

This weekend is “Daughter of the Regiment” with Natalie Dessay! To see it I and my husband would have to walk an hour to the Art Museum. Will not happen.

By: 4jkb4ia

4jkb4ia — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:40:20 +0000

“Street Scene” is by Kurt Weill; there is no consensus on whether it is an opera or a musical.

By: 4jkb4ia

4jkb4ia — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:38:45 +0000

You’ve got the Santa Fe Opera! How far can that be?

I saw “Madame Butterfly” and “Street Scene” at Opera Theater of St. Louis. The opera we will probably end up seeing this year if at all is Una cosa rara because my husband did not want to see another tragedy. This year they are also putting on Walton’s “Troilus and Cressida”. I cannot afford to salivate.
After several years telemarketing for the St. Louis Symphony I suspect I am now allergic to Puccini.