Hey, by the way, there’s a new picture of the forthcoming evil spawn available. (You can also click the “Frields 2.1″ link on the left.)

Ever lectured at a symposium or other large gathering? Then you’re familiar with this feeling.

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p>Now that’s a President you can believe in. The first Presidential visit to Iraq, and it’s to sacrifice his own holiday time with family and friends, and risk life and limb, to support our brave troops overseas. One of the first rules of leadership is that you don’t ask anyone else to do something you wouldn’t do yourself. Bravo, Mr. President!

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p>Can you really see Al Gore or Howard Dean doing this? I thought not.

You have got to be kidding. I suppose I’ll give thanks today that I don’t live in California.

A word about the recent Michael Jackson fracas. It seems pretty clear that the motives (assuming there’s more than just one: greed) behind the accusations leveled at Jackson are suspect. But let’s think about this with just a little common sense. Over the last, say, 15 years, Jackson has probably come in contact with literally thousands of kids in circumstances which would have made it possible for a predator or abuser to take advantage of these innocent children. And in that time only two have done so… and at least one of them, it seems clear, is lying — albeit prompted by a crack-addicted, lawsuit-happy “mother,” if you can call her that. The other? Well, keep in mind the time frame when that happened, when Jackson had a lot more to lose financially and image-wise. I would suspect that his advisors were behind the multi-million dollar settlement, and not out of a sense of compensation, but rather “hush money.”

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p>Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not a raving Jacko fan (although I readily admit I own his “Dangerous” album on CD, and loved “Thriller” when I was a kid, as did so many other people I knew), nor would I let my daughter attend an otherwise unsupervised sleepover with a 42-year-old man. But I believe Jackson’s worst problem is that he is someone who has, in a sense, never grown up, and has a real problem dealing with reality — in short, he has a grave case of arrested development. When he discussed the previous charges in recent interviews and documentaries, he showed none of the telltale signs of a predator — the verbal distancing of oneself from the situation, the inability to use active voice or the first person pronouns “I” or “we,” the shifty glances to the side that can be used to divine a lie. I believe he truly is at heart a gentle, benevolent man who simply surrounds himself with children because they see the world simply and do not bring a great deal of emotional baggage to human interactions — baggage with which Jackson is ill-equipped to deal.

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p>Yet we keep looking to the mass media to give us the truth about this strange, shy faerie King of Pop. But that’s not what they are doing — they would rather trade in gossip and near-slander. Why? Because it provides ratings, which means advertiser dollars. The mass media’s job is not to inform you. They only do that as a beneficial side effect once in a while, if you’re lucky. Their job is to make money by making you think they are informing you. One must apply a modicum of common sense at all times to filter the barrage of crazily slanted information into meaningful conclusions. And in this case, common sense tells us that a man who has had so much contact with children, with the blessing both before and after of all those parents, especially in these cautious times in which we live, simply could not be systematically (or even sporadically) preying on them in any way. I am a parent, as I would suspect some of you readers are, and like almost all parents I can’t think of a sum of money great enough that would cause me to sacrifice my little one’s well-being. Certainly the simple chance to rub shoulders with someone famous, even as famous as Michael Jackson, wouldn’t do it either.

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p>Why then the constant barrage of criticism, of invective, of suspicion against this man? Because for the past fifty years, certain kinds of people in our society have made it more and more a habit to try and tear down those who succeed, or those who are good. They love to find the cracks in our heroes’ armor, or if there aren’t any, to create some. That’s not to say that Jackson is a hero per se, but certainly in the past he has maintained, despite his apparent affinity for unnecessary plastic surgery, a certain goodness and attraction for children and young people in general. And unlike a lot of other idols, he has followed through, spending vast amounts of his fortune on simple, pleasurable pursuits such as Neverland; cheering visits to sick children in hospitals around the world; benefit concerts for the needy; and other charitable works far beyond what most wealthy celebrities even consider.

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p>All this is enough to elevate him to a level that awakens that secret part of these miscreants, that which wants to level the playing field between all people regardless of their intrinsic worth. Jackson has performed more than his fair share of good deeds in his life, and for those who cannot stand to have one person be considered better than another in any way, this is anathema. Thus the seizing on opportunity without a thought to critical thinking; thus the tearing down of the idol.

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p>Is he weird? Certainly. But I believe he is also innocent — perhaps too innocent for the world in which he finds himself daily. But if that is his worst crime — and I believe it is — then perhaps, in the end, he is truly deserving of the “pop idol” appellation.

OK, so this past weekend I went into total Lord of the Rings overload. Between Friday and Sunday at various times (mostly Evie’s naptime) I watched most of the documentary material on the new special extended DVD edition of The Two Towers, about 6-1/2 hours’ worth. The most astounding segment, hands down, has to be the one entitled “The Taming of Sméagol,” where we get to see the incredible lengths to which actor Andy Serkis went to breathe life into this character.

I couldn’t stop rewinding and watching the split-screen demonstration where we see Andy, and his final CGI alter ego, performing the chilling dialogue between the meek Sméagol and the malevolent Gollum. It’s positively the best CGI work ever done for film, and a tremendous piece of theater acting (in the best sense) as well. That particular scene is so memorable because of the way the tone shifts due to the fantastic writing. It starts out with more of a comedic bent, and I remember how in the theater when I saw it, a few people were sniggering at the fact that a character was essentially talking to himself, with one alter ego nagging the other.

“Nobody cares for you,” taunts Gollum.

“Not listening!” replies Sméagol, covering his ears in pantomime. (People snickering in the audience.)

“You’re a liar, and a thief!” Gollum hisses with malice.

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p>”No,” says Sméagol with a wan smile, trying to pacify his worse half. (More snickers.)

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p>

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p>”MURDERER.“

At this point the audience is deathly silent. It’s a chilling moment that literally sucks the breath out of you, and a brilliant piece of filmmaking!

We finished watching the new extended special edition of The Two Towers last night, and the verdict is definitely once again that Peter Jackson & Co. have outdone themselves. The new cut is a marked improvement over the theatrical release (itself an exceptional film), with more character development, backstory and action. Also, I was surprised at the more protracted ending, which did not feel truncated like the theatrical release. It gave the viewer time to “recover” from the emotional climax and the glorious battle scenes, but still retained an element of tension necessary as a leader for Return of the King, out next month in theaters. Highly recommended.

The Two Towers has arrived, so it’s time to take a long, good suckle from the glass teat.

I just happened across some photos of the band performing at Borders in Baileys Crossroads a few months ago. Enjoy!

The show last night at Jammin’ Java in Vienna was great, and we had a nice supporting act in Anousheh Khalili, a lovely and talented young singer/songwriter from my neck of the woods (q.v. “The Boonies”). Turns out her parents live about spitting distance from my house, so I’m sure we’ll be running into each other in the future. Catch her in the coming weeks if you get a chance.