My sanctimonious column this month is on running, and apparently, how I think that I’m better than you.

Although, I’m not smart enough to figure out how to get rid of that giant space between the title and this first blog item. Something to do with code, I suspect, but completely beyond me. (But not Russ. Space gone. Thanks Russ.)

Smoking ban? What’s a smoking ban?

We went out to a nearby hamlet to hear a band Friday night, although a later-than-posted show time forced me to leave before the music played. I did, however, get to visit two establishments for the first time, and both stirred me with a sense of déjà vu.

Sitting in these bars, the stale smell of exhaled tobacco immediately transported back to 2007, when it was legal to smoke indoors. I won’t be a rat fink and name the establishments, but it’s obvious that ownership isn’t worried about anti-compliance fines.

The smoking wasn’t rampant; I’m sure that there were many smokers who were taking it outside, unswayed to join the lawlessness that surrounded them. But the practice was accepted enough that butt-brimmed ashtrays were on full display.

When the ban passed, I suspected that certain smaller establishments would gradually fill back up with smoke. It was a concession I was willing to make in exchange for getting the filthy air out of the places that I like to go. So smoke away, all you residents of tiny villages east of Springfield and south of Spaulding, but alas I shan’t be returning, at least until you stock some decent beer.

Sunday Beer Blogger

Speaking of beer, frequent commenter, Gish, has started a new blog. He cuts through the usual blogger muckety-muck and concentrates on what matters most – fine beer.

Hair-Pulling Political Punditry

If a were a young Armenian graduate student monitoring the media coverage of the current U.S. presidential election, I would probably conclude that for their highest office, the Americans have nominated two of the most unethical, unqualified and insincere individuals in the land. Stupid westerners.

And why would I get this impression? Because so many of the most vocal participants commenting on the election process have dedicated themselves exclusively to trashing the other side, at the expense of touting their own candidate’s merits. It amazes how partisanship can make people both hateful and narrow-minded.

The media, and bloggers are included in this descriptor, seem to have little to recommend their own choice, but boy can they tell you what’s wrong with the evil other candidate. Every word a candidate utters is criticized and every action ridiculed. Great amounts of time and resources are spent digging into the deepest recesses of their life, hoping to find anything that might be a cause of embarrassment or evidence of the dreaded “waffling.”

It’s not yet October, but I’m more than ready for this embarrassing process to be over.

Curious Hair

One of my favorite authors passed on recently, apparently by his own hand. David Foster Wallace was a writer with a rare wit and a great mind.

He taught for a period at ISU, where one local blogger was fortunate enough to have gotten to know him. Another connection to Springfield can be found in A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, a collection of short non-fiction narratives. The story “Getting Away from Already Being Pretty Much Away from It All” is about a 1993 trip he took to the Illinois State Fair. You can borrow it, if you like.

Although I love his fiction (I’m proud to say that I read his 1,000-page, heavily foot-noted novel, Infinite Jest, although I’m not proud of how long it took me), it was his work for magazines that really showcased his talent. No matter what the subject, from lobster bakes to porn industry award ceremonies, DFW would offer insights and observations that were poignant, unexpected and usually very funny.

I recently purchased, but haven’t yet gotten to, his collection of short stories, A Brief Interview with Hideous Men. It will now be a bittersweet read.

 Blake Baby

On a happier note, my indie rock crush, Juliana Hatfield, has released a memoir, although it’s apparently rather dark at times. I read a couple of reviews and put it in my shopping cart, but more importantly, it prompted me to finally iPod her solo CDs. The heart still flutters when I hear her songs.

Here’s Blake Babies with their ultra-cool cover of the Grassroots’ Temptation Eyes.