cherry tree

hue has been winding down the semester, with usc's graduation yesterday. the mayor gave an engaging speech about civility in political discourse while defending his own alma mater, that public school on the westside that susan attends. but the real interesting parts included excessive reverence for the football team by the valedictorian and reference to teach for america, a controversial program for getting teachers out in the schools. susan has also been busy, with classes ending mid-june and the job search ongoing.

kt tunstall was at the henry fonda theatre in hollywood last week, and seeing that we missed other artists at coachella this year, we were eager to catch this one. it's a sketchy area but was worth getting past the arrest at gunpoint outside, for sure. the opening country-western act, micah hinson, was tepid and not really our style. the audience seemed to concur with their conversation overshadowing his act. in contrast, kt has talent, a foul-mouthed scot who can play any instrument and interject classic lyrics at any moment. she snuck in big joe williams 'baby please dont go' into her 'no you're not the one for me' chorus. if you haven't heard of her, you should check out her performance of black horse & the cherry tree.

we finally caught 'thank you for smoking' on the big screen. it doesn't really require a theater for viewing, but it's a good film about spin and the tobacco industry. it's true that there is no actual cigarette smoking in the film, unlike the chimneys in the politically transparent 'good night and good luck'. the boy in 'smoking', cameron bright, can be seen in stargate as samantha's admirer. he's a very likeable, eloquent child.

today was platelet donation day, so we hung out with our new friends at the center and picked up some poke for lunch, which may have led hue to crap his pants. raw fish should be served fresh and it may have been out for a while...