Back after far too long away. All work and no blog makes Drew a dull boy. Really.

Listening to the fine, fine Black Eyed Peas song "Where is the love" and happy to have hands on the keyboard. This song features Justin Timberlake...I don't have cable at home but it was in my hotel room in Canada and I feel as though I am now fully caught up on the phenomenon that is Justin Timberlake. So here's my feeling about Justin...is he biting Michael Jackson (or as everyone seems insistent on saying "MJ")??? Yeah sure although Michael Jackson doesn't seem interested in being Michael Jackson anymore so somebody oughta be doing it. Also, Justin Timberlake seems as well adjusted as anyone who is an international pop sensation could possibly be. And when the interviewer asked him about the death of pop I thought he very articulately pointed out that 50 Cent sells a lot of records, Nelly sells a lot of records, Eminem sells a lot of records so it isn't that pop is dead, it's that pop is now largely hip hop. Also, unlike Christina Aguilera, he doesn't insist on referring to himself as an artist every other sentence.

Sorry to be so incredibly shallow but I've found a new place to get my hair cut. For the past three years I've been going to Tonya's...I don't know who Tonya was but she's long gone and it's owned by a Palestenian guy. Everyone smokes and they watch Al Jazeera and it's only $6. And for a long time I was cool with the $6 haircut since it was the same haircut I've been wearing since I was 20...buzzed on the sides and short on the top. Not like boot camp but like a military officer who has enough rank to wear his hair slightly longer on top. This is the thing...nobody wears their hair this length anymore. And I decided I was turning into one of those guys who keeps the same hair cut he had when he was twenty...except the GenX version (instead of the dreaded ponytail). And I've tried talking to the guy at the Palestenian barbershop but it's not really sinking in. So I looked on the web and found Big Hair in Roscoe Village, an easy bike ride from my apartment. A little less than an hour's wait made pleasant by conversations with others waiting about Rockabilly (playing on the stereo) and the book I was reading The Devil In The White City which is 1)Excellent and 2)Sure does make you appreciate living in modern times. Haircut wise I look much more modern, at least 1998, and I've learned how to ask for this hair. This is what you say, "I'd like it clippered with a long guard on the back and sides and textured on the top." Bueno.

A little bit about that book...it's set in the Chicago of the 1890s and, among other horrors, it points out that 1,000 trains entered/left the city every day, all of them traveling at street level. What with all those trains, an average of two pedestrians died every day. It wasn't unusual to come across corpses of human beings, not to mention all of the dogs, cats, rats and horses that died all the time (they would freeze in the winter, bloat up in the summer notes the author). I bet I get asked for spare change twice a day...I don't usually stop. Imagine being that blase about dead bodies. I think I would like to hold the line at this level of callousness and I'm thankful I don't have to step over dead bodies every day. Let's hear it for modern times (and crossing gates and elevated tracks).

Today was the first day I had a chance to check out Al Jazeera's english language website. In mid-August the U.S. State Department launched a pop culture magazine aimed at young Arabs around the world called "Hi." The magazine is premised on the sketchy Bushie idea that they hate us because they aren't into our freedom so let's show them how cool we are and then they will realize the error of their ways.

At the time the magazine launched over the summer, one member of the target demographic said that young Arabs are plenty clued into Western pop culture and that rather than try and get Arabs to think even more about Western pop culture than they already do, maybe Americans should try and think about Arabs.

Well, I'm doing my bit, starting today. I imagine paying attention only to Al Jazeera is like getting all your news from the Fox Channel but it's a start. I really like the headline Turkey to prolong dubious pop contest...hey which pop contest isn'tdubious? The contest in question is The Eurovision Song Contest which is hosted each year by the previous year's winner. Since last year's winner Sertab Erener was from Turkey, that nation gets to hold this year's contest. Okay so who held the contest last time? Latvia. If that's not dubious, I don't know what is.

Still if you would like to find out a little more about the apparent international Turkish pop sensation Sertab Erener you can go to the Sertab Erener official website (which plays a bit of music...She's good but, you know, no Justin) and which, at least on my computer, sensed that I was an English speaking poseur and redirected me to the english version which features one pic of Sertab with her dog and a pic of her with a fella.

See? A little bit of Arabic culture each day goes down smooooooooth.

If you are still in a multi-cultural mood, don't forget about last year's winner Latvia. Latvia's currency is The Lat and they boast one of the world's most valuable coins, a $100 Lat coin (worth around $160 according to the BBC). The capital city and home of last May's song contest is Riga and the official Riga Latvia tourist info website asks "Maybe are you asking some questions about this new increasing Metropolis?" I'm particularly partial to the link to Traditional Latvian Party Foods which breaks it down thusly, "Basically, Latvian food consists of chicken & pork fillets battered in egg and deep fried served with traditional dark rye bread and lots and lots of salads and fresh vegetables". Except for the rye bread, this isn't all that different from Tennessee and I'm full of a warm, We Are The World feeling.

To round out the multicultural feeling, can I just point out that Hi Magazine is published by The Magazine Group who also publish the magazine for Jewish Women International.