Decelarating

So not too much new going on. That's actually a good thing, since we've been pretty busy since early May. This weekend we've got a Cubs game (possibly our last of the year) and then just relaxing on the agenda. Not too bad.

Christy and I went to the Elton John/Billy Joel concert on Tuesday. Overall it was OK, but I just was not in the right mood for it. I was still tired from the weekend and really would have rather just gone home, watched the Cubs game, and went to bed early. I have been trying to be healthier of late and decided not to drink. I find that I can enjoy a concert sober only if I am really, really into the music and that's only true of a handful of artists for me at this point. And of course with that in mind this concert decided to be the longest one I have ever attended - over 3 and a half hours. Good for getting your money's worth but bad when you're looking at the setlist online and just counting down till it's over. But we mainly went for Christy and she seemed to have a good time so that's all that matters. I have seen Billy Joel before and would see him again but I most definitely will not be going to any future Elton John concerts. Musically, he was fine but man he is just not exciting at all. He's sitting for every song. Obviously he has to do that since he's playing the piano, but it doesn't make it any more exciting for the audience. Then after each song he would stand up, wave his arms a little bit, clap for himself, then sit back down. Repeat. No banter with the crowd at all. By comparison, Billy Joel had the energy of a teenager.

I've been following the health care debate pretty closely. Being a Blue Cross employee, obviously it will affect me more than just about anyone else other than the people currently uninsured that will get insurance. I'm going to refrain from going in depth on it right now because it's still such a work in progress. Suffice to say that on one hand I'm very glad that it's being pushed off till the fall because it still needs a lot of work, and on the other hand I'd be a lot happier to see Republicans take a more constructive approach to the debate instead of continuing to play the socialist card again and again and again.

The only other interesting thing I came upon is a story about the CIA and LSD tests. My brother turned me on to the "Stuff You Should Know" podcasts from howstuffworks.com and one of them was on the CIA's testing of LSD on unsuspecting Americans in the 50s and 60s. This story would seem to be the stuff of conspiracy theories but thanks to the Freedom of Information Act it's now all been verified. I'd advise you to either read the article or listen to the podcast the next time you have 20 minutes free. Frankly (as mentioned in the podcast) I'm absolutely stunned they haven't made a Hollywood biopic about George White (one of the main ringleaders). Of particular interest is that the second stage of their experiments occurred in San Francisco and was one of the main contributing factors to the birth of the counter-culture revolution there.