One of the better aspects of Berkeley life is the weather. Cloudy mornings lead to sunny afternoons. Fine by me though I wish it were cloudy all day. But you know, ever since leaving New York, it seems I brought the hot and humid weather with me. The thermometer may say 70 but it feels way too uncomfortable. The lightning last week made things a little weird. I wouldn't know it since I didn't hear any of it, a testament to the tons of insulation that makes my apartment quiet (yeah, right) or I just slept really well. Today was even weirder. Class started at 2 and when I walked out of the apartment, the sky was blue and the sun was shining albeit it was a very small spot of blue. Lots of clouds and fog. The bus wasn't there so I started walking. Here, the clouds dominated. Then it started to sprinkle. A friend of mine told me to bring my umbrella earlier in the day. I didn't understand why. I didn't hear anything about rain. Once I hit Evans, it was a pretty heavy mist. What the hell happened?

Peter Ueberroth, the savior of the 1984 L.A. Olympics and former baseball commissioner, dropped out of the California recall race. While he denies it, reports were that the Republican party was pressuring him and State Senator Tom McClintock to drop out to allow for Team Arnold to lead the way to Sacramento. The latest Field Poll has Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante with a 5 point lead over Arnold, 30-25, with McClintock at 13, Ueberroth at 5, Arianna Huffington at 3 and Peter Camejo at 2. Revealing second choices if McClintock dropped out showed Arnold with a 2 point lead, so the pressure's on. In the meantime, Davis is looking more gubernatorial, signing bills and holding town hall meetings. It remains to be seen how his remark that the governor of California should be able to pronounce California (an obvious remark against Arnold, who makes it sound more like Cauliflower) will affect the campaign. The State Senate voted 19-2 with 19 abstaining, condemning the remark and demanding an apology. And sorry, but to me, signing that bill which allows illegal immigrants to obtain driver licenses is more pandering than effective law, especially after Davis vetoed it twice before and signed it after making the law weaker.

Do you know who the 9 Democratic Presidential Candidates are? Did you know there were 9? Did you know the election is in a short 14 months? Which is why they're holding debates now on their way to the first caucus and primary in Iowa and New Hampshire in late January. Tonight's wasn't particularly noteworthy. First, why was it hosted by Fox News, a network that pretty much caters to Republicans, even with its Fair and Balanced slogan? They were asked about Bush's $87 billion request for military funds and while they were looking for a yes or no answer, nobody would give it to them, many citing the need for more information. That's what's called ducking the question. Interrupting the debate were Lyndon LaRouche supporters, a perennial candidate who has a niche following but never makes any headway in the (at least) 4 times he has run for President. I say niche since I always see the same 3 people trying to give me flyers about him in Sproul. About every 10 minutes, a man or woman start yelling at whoever's speaking, usually Joe Lieberman, and speaks his mind, all of which was amusing especially seeing the candidates' reactions. Last week's was much better, simply to see white people try to speak Spanish.

Spike TV has a new show called the Joe Schmo show, which has an innovative idea but the execution is a bit lousy. One guy believes he has entered a reality show, when in reality, the people around him are all actors in on the joke. It would have been a better show if they were serious about the premise of the show and played more into making fun of other reality shows, but the material has succumbed to being more ridiculous and outrageous than its counterparts. While it may be Spike's mission to see two girls fondle each other or see how long it takes people to take their hands off a porn star, but ultimately it hurts a fairly original show.

It's sad to see the passing of Warren Zevon, 56. A man who put death in the forefront in most of his songs succumbed to terminal lung cancer. Doctors had given him 3 months to live, but lived a year + a few weeks. Werewolves of London was his best song but that Hockey Song was memorable too, especially since there couldn't be more than 8 or 9 hockey songs in the world.

The Restaurant was a fine show, but Mark Burnett wants to try it in a casino. Sorry, won't work.

Finally, happy birthday to my cuz, Trang, up in Davis, enjoying the last few days of summer school.