A story that didn’t make Tuesday’s edition of b, the paper (for limited space reasons) is this Associated Press article on Levi Johnston, who’s having a baby with Bristol Palin, the 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

AP frames the piece as if it has landed an exclusive, “rare” interview, catching up with Johnston in the driveway of his Wasilla, Alaska, home, with various antlers of the elk and caribou he’s bagged “scattered about his yard.” The report leads with Levi’s take on the rumor mill surrounding his relationship with Bristol, including speculation that he was “held against his will” on the campaign trail and is “being forced into a shotgun wedding.”

For the record, those rumors are not true, he told AP, and by the end of the article, you end up realizing how much this kid sounds like what he is — an 18-year-old, small-town hockey jock who was uncomfortably thrust into the spotlight before dropping out of high school and off the national radar just as quickly. Let’s hope he stays there, because, other than having relations with the daughter of a woman who could be a heartbeat away from the presidency, he really doesn’t deserve to be in the paper. Read the rest of this entry »

From today’s, b the paper

Political buttons? The last time we checked, it wasn’t the 19th century. And bumper stickers? So 2004.

Modernize your candidate support with some of these offbeat options. There’s everything from John McCain- and Barack Obama-friendly dog clothes to condoms (Levi Johnston not available for comment). And we somehow found Joe Biden memorabilia, which proved as elusive as the Ark of the Covenant.

There’s just a few weeks to go before Nov. 4, so show your creative political pride while you can.

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Just got word that 3 Doors Down has set a date for its redo of September’s missed Merriweather Post Pavilion show (because of singer Brad Arnold’s laryngitis).

That concert will now take place at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 18 at the Patriot Center at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. All tickets for the Merriweather show will be honored at the Patriot Center one. If you still need tickets ($29.50-$55), those will go on sale at 10 a.m. Oct. 18 at ticketmaster.com.

In other local live music news, it was just announced Maxwell will perform at 8 p.m. Nov. 22 at Morgan State University’s Murphy Fine Arts Center. Tickets ($60-$150), will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday. at Ticketmaster locations or livenation.com. Jazmine Sullivan is the opening act.

Imagine This: A manifold-colored coalition of people that have been drawn from diverse generations. Their eyes are glued on one man: their democratic prince. As he is being sworn in as the 44th President of these United States of America on the steps of our nation’s capital, the clean January air brims with a sense of new found hope and glory. As Senator Barack Obama takes over the reins from the most infamous President of all time, GWB, he surveys his new hometown with his loving wife and daughters-watching the world consume the allure out of the palm of his hand. Just then, we hear the speakers on those steps envelop the chilly skies with an opus:

This is street ra-di-o/For unsung hero
Ridin’ in the Regal/Tryin’ to stay legal
My daughter found Nemo/I found the new Preemo
’Ye, you know how we do/ We do it for the people

Just imagine Common’s song, “The People”, ringing as an anthem for those gathered here today- with hoary headed political stalwarts and Jigga-cool infused preppy backpackers all moving their bodies in unison. While I sometimes can’t resist letting my imagination and love of music get the best of me, I doubt this song will be tapped as Sen. Obama’s inaugural theme. That’s kind of disheartening, because those four bars I just quoted capture everything that the senator from Illinois has been championing for in his campaign; the struggle, the fight, and the pleas for the common man and woman. It seems as if this song would be the perfect backdrop to the end of a hard fought election (As it looks like the desperate McCain is running out of time to defeat “That One”). It’s the platform that Obama has put his hopes for change on: from choosing between eating a meal or buying gas, to crusading for a higher minimum wage, to wondering if your new born daughter will have reasonable health care, let alone a pension to retire on; to praying that a loved one makes it home safe from war. Barack Obama has heard the cries of the people, and he plans to carry those cries on his eardrums as he moves his family into the White House; looking to cement his status not only as our first Black President, but as our first true Metropolitician in power.

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Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain get their second face-to-face shot at each other in a debate format Tuesday night — this one a town hall-style event from Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. — but a new poll suggests that one presidential candidate needs to speak more directly to a key voting bloc.

Those voters? Probably someone like you. Read the rest of this entry »

From today’s b, the paper

Seventy million Americans, part of Generation Y, have never taken a drink out of a separate water fountain.

They’ve never known a time when interracial relationships were illegal. They’ve only seen photos of lynchings.

For many, the only race riot they’ve ever seen has been on live TV, post-Rodney King verdict. And now a black man, Barack Obama, is a major-party nominee for the presidency.

But is Generation Y, or the Millennials, colorblind?
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A campaign is only as good as its candidates.  And while this election season offers some intriguing back stories, historical precedents, and polarizing rhetoric, there’s always going to be that special brand of voter who simply doesn’t seem to get it: The Undecided.  Generally, I see these folks falling into one of two categories.

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A new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll shows that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama made some gains in Friday’s first presidential debate with his Republican rival, John McCain.

Maybe that can be traced to making eye contact: A lot of people I’ve spoken with about the debate were turned off, or at least a little dumbfounded, by McCain’s unwillingness to meet eyes with Obama during the event, even while the two shook hands. But in this BusinessWeek piece, Dr. William A. Gentry offers an interesting analysis of what he calls “the great nonverbal debate.” He argues that “McCain’s habit of staring straight ahead helped him look Presidential, as if he could take on any criticism, wait his turn, and respond. Some voters may be turned off by Obama’s staring at McCain, which may lead them to see Obama as less likable, much like [Al] Gore’s sighs or eye-rolling when he was ’silently’ awaiting his turn to speak after [President] Bush [in 2000].” Read the rest of this entry »

From today’s b, the paper

We’re all about getting cultured. But the money we usually have to spend to do so — not so much.

Which is why we pray to the altar that is Free Fall Baltimore.
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From todays b, the paper

The return of Fall Out Boy might have some of you excited for new music from the band, but Popeye is a little peeved.

Yes, Popeye. The Sailor Man.
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