That's all I've got for now.

I voted for Jordin. A lot.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I disagree with critics that this season was boring. If boring means less scandal, fewer annoyances and more talent, I choose boring. I'll buy albums from this year's finalists, and if I lived within 100 miles of anywhere, I'd go to an Idol concert. This batch was fun, carefree, courteous and mostly skilled.

Now that it's all said and done, I think ihearttexas is right. Blake will sell the albums because he has a niche. What kind of an album is Jordin going to cut? Tom Jones covers? Hansen duets? She'll be hard to market.

Melinda, on the other hand...

Filed Under: I Wish

You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice. You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of silliness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed.

Take the Quiz here

Once Again, Americans Get it Wrong

I am counting on Blake to win.

This will be the second year in a row that a moderately talented guy who excels at making love to the camera, but little else, wins the title.

Foolish me. I thought it was a talent search.

Then I remember that Idol's voting population is dominated by teenagers and college students.

But who votes for Taylor and not for Melinda?

And how could that terrible "I (Who Have Nothing) have won the day over Melinda's "I'm a Woman?"

If you'll vote for a gray-haired poseur like Hicks and not Melinda Doolittle then...I guess you're an Idol viewer. And I don't understand you.

Great article at MTV. "Sometimes being the best isn't even good enough." But if you're going to be clicking away from here to read something, see the Professor's comments here.

Postscript: "Blake is so risk-taking. Blake is so original. Blake is so fearless."

If that's true, Blake should try ditching his signature beatbox, select a song with a strong melody, and sing it deliberately and with conviction; like he knows the words and they mean something. Otherwise he's a one-trick pony and the trick is tiresome.

Melinda Doolittle Way

It is almost prophetic, that Tennessee town naming a street after her.

I can't shake the feeling that she is music history in the making.

I hope you voted for her America.

She can't beat-box, but then, oh yeah, she can sing.

A Movie Review. Take What You Will; Discard the Rest

I know how uninteresting movie reviews by amateurs are, so I'll keep this brief.

We saw Spider Man 3. Fortunately my hopes had been severely dashed by critics' reviews (see Ann Hornaday in the Washington Post). Expectations were low.

Like Bubblehead, and rather in spite of myself, I liked it. Contrary to how it was marketed (which would have you believe there was an interesting, more organic evolution of Spider Man's alter ego), it is primarily a love story, with a lot of silly sub-plots contrived to move the narrative along. Sandman and Venom were expendable and the CGI was a distraction. (Entire scenes were cartoonish and just plain annoying.) And the director seems to be mistaking our hero for the more formidable Super Man. There is only so much abuse a spider-man hybrid can take before our ability to suspend disbelief is severely taxed!

Yes, there were awful moments. The director made some bad choices, and the writers didn't help. But as a mechanism for uncovering and developing the more serious themes of humility, personal responsibility, friendship, forgiveness, and redemption it worked.

I am a great Spidey fan but I was not a reader of the comic books. My suspicion is that this installment is a vehicle for telling a part of the tale that must be told if we are to understand the real dynamic between Spider Man (or more correctly, Peter Parker) and M.J.

I expected a finale, but this does not feel like the end of the franchise.

Putting it Into Perspective

We've been working all day, all of the basement that isn't carpeted is dry, and it felt good to sit in the living room in the quiet of the evening absorbing the pink and blue dusk, grateful that the heavy lifting is over.

There is much to be said for the kindness of strangers. My neighbors were strangers this morning, but disaster (however minor) is a great equalizer. They marched through the water and into our basement with introductions as they passed. Together we hauled our belongings out of the wet rooms and into the garage or the dry spots in the basement. They've done it before--some of them today. Bound by a double need for support and the desire to help, we are friends.

One neighbor lived in Grand Forks in 1997 when the town suffered a devestating flood and evacuated for two months. She was upbeat and helpful in more ways than one. She hauled wet cardboard boxes upstairs and told stories about the damage from the flood in Grand Forks; she brought sandwiches and cold pop; she gave and took orders; she saved my books and priceless LPs.

At one point she mentioned Hurricane Katrina and how the memory of what happened there helps her put thing in perspective. It helped me too.

We're safe; we've eaten a hot meal; we know how to use our sump pump; and tonight we're going to sleep really, really well.

And this is not our car.

9:38 AM, Sunday, May 6, 2007My Street

My in-laws are in town visiting. Their car was parked in the street during the storm.

The neighbors come out to talk about the storm and the flooding.

It was the longest storm I've ever been through. Large and slow-moving, it hovered over Aberdeen. There was thunder and lightening for at least five hours. When we went to bed at 12:30 a.m. the sky was still flashing.

Providentially we don't have any water in our house and we didn't lose our electricty. A lot of our neighbors' basements are wet and the guys are down the street using the sump pump to try to clear out some of the water on the street.

Speaking of the street, the word is police are ticketing drivers to discourage traffic. One of the schools is flooded and the main street is apparently under water. There is a question about whether or not we will be in church today.

UPDATE: I spoke too soon. Three hours, 3 neighbors, 2 in-laws, 2 sump pumps and 3 shop vacs later we have a moment to breathe. Will there be a second round?

ADDED: Here is an incredible photo of downtown Aberdeen courtesy of the Aberdeen American News. The Prof has a good post here and he and Ken Blanchard have posted additional pictures since then. The Argus Leader has a story on the James River flooding its banks. Apparently we had more rain in one hour than we usually get in a month.

ADDED:

We had to run to the store and took a few pictures along the way. The water has receeded and some areas were dry as a bone. Others were still afloat.

A Zeal for the Law

But other than that, no clue.

"Canoeists who pulled Perrine Bridge suicide victim to shore ticketed for no life vests."