Everybody's Gotta Live

Hoy. One good thing that's come out of the whole Hurricane Katrina mess is that the generosity of spirit of the American people remains alive and well. It's been heartening to see all the fundraisers, large- and small-scale, all the donations, and the general rallying for our fellow Americans in need. Even though the government (federal, state, and local) screwed up royally in its preparation and response to this disaster, it's good to know that people still care.

I'd like to say you can expect to see FEMA Director Mike Brown fall on his sword over his unparalleled ineptitude during this crisis, but judging from the recent past, he'll probably get a medal or a promotion. Check out his spin control memo; this is from a guy who got the job because he was a college roommate of the previous FEMA director. His previous job was as head of an Arabian showhorse association, which let him go because he couldn't handle that job, either. Of course, the prez only cut his vacation short after the storm hit and it was obvious that he had a mess of unbelievable proportions on his hands. Maybe he gets his people skills from his mom. Sheesh.

In other, less weighty, news:

• Apple continues its domination of the portable entertainment space with the release of the first iTunes-enabled phone and the newest wonder device, the iPod Nano. Thinner than a no. 2 pencil, this latest iPod is flash memory-based, instead of hard drive-based, so it won't skip and battery life is longer. It comes in 2 gigabyte and 4 gigabyte models, starting at $199. This thing looks pretty damn cool, although it's so small I'd almost be afraid to snap it in two by accident.
• Even though the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler, I love this time of year. The baseball pennant races are underway, the NFL season starts tomorrow, the NHL finally starts up in a month, and the new fall TV shows are premiering. And I love running in the mornings; the past few days it has been in the 50s, which is perfect running weather for me (things warmed up into the 70s later in the day, which also rules).
• Burger King has ticked off the already pissed-off-sounding doods in Slipknot, who are threatening a lawsuit over the fast-food chain's Coq Roq ads, which feature a fake heavy metal band wearing chicken masks. Y'see, the Slipknot kids wear crazy Halloween masks, so they feel BK is treading on their schtick. I just can't believe BK was able to say Coq Roq on the air; the home of the Whopper also caught some heat for its Coq Roq web site, which featured photos of supposed groupies with the tagline "Groupies love the Coq." The photos have since been removed, but I think this is a pretty funny ad campaign for the most part. Wonder who's actually playing the music?