matthewkappenman.net/blog

I had never purchase Peter Pan peanut butter, until monday night when I picked up two jars as they were on sale for a buck each….needless to say I’m rethinking that plan.

“ConAgra Foods today announced that it has taken the precautionary measure of voluntarily recalling all varieties of Peter Pan Peanut Butter and Great Value Peanut Butter beginning with product code 2111 imprinted on the lid of both brands. Although none of our extensive product tests have indicated the presence of salmonella, we are taking this precautionary measure because consumer health and safety is our top priority.” ConAgra.com

Guess whose jars of peanut butter had product codes starting with 2111? Yep, yours truly. So if you don’t see any posts here after a while call 911, as I might have the dreaded salmonella…that word just sounds scary doesn’t it? Needless to say this is what I get for switching from my beloved jif.

So this kind of slipped under my “cool stuff in Lawrence” radar but the girlfriend happened upon this press release while checking if school was scheduled to be cancelled today (we got some snow again last night).

Long story short, 5 very influential political bloggers will be presenting a round table on the topic of “The Impact of Political Blogs on the 2008 Election.” The event starts at 7:30 at the Dole Center but unfortunately I have a video/sound test until 8. I’m hoping to make it for the second half, maybe see you there?

Oh, and this event isn’t just some joe schmo bloggers, these people are the real deal including:

• Joan McCarter (contributing editor at Daily Kos)
• Scott Johnson (co-founder of the blog Powerline)
• Patrick Hynes (Consultant for Sen. McCain and author of Ankle Biting Pundits)
• Jerome Armstrong (MDD and architect of Dean’s Internet campaign)
• Rick Erickson (Managing editor of RedState.com)

As you can see both sides of the aisle will represented tonight, and it is yet another cool thing that living in a university town offers. For more info check at lawrence.com’s preview of the event.

Update: I didn’t make it last night as the gf has fallen ill with some kind of sore throat/head cold…no fun at all. However, here is a great live blog of the event. It’s almost like being there. I just wanted to add that I don’t support or promote the general content/pov on that site, I just felt that their coverage of the event was to good to pass up.

My overall impression from this year’s self indulgent awards fest was that people who make good stuff, totally bucked their (perceived core) audience, and made the album that they wanted to make cleaned up the awards. Specifically John Mayer and those Dixie Chicks.

Exceptional moments from the show:

• John Mayer/Corinne Bailey Rae/John Legend combo song
• The Dixie Chicks (who knew the guy from Heroes was married to one)
• The cute high school kids who played the classical duet…even if it got away from them a little bit ;)
• James Brown memorial/Placing the cape on the microphone
• The sign on Flea’s amp which read “love to ornette coleman”
• Oh, and the Police reunion

Also, they gave the lifetime achievement award to Ornette Coleman…few people at/watching the Grammy’s have any idea who he is…nor do they like his music, but trust me it is brilliant. (Caution: music snob alert) Most people, including some of his contemporaries are of the impression that his music is noise. Don’t believe me? Have a listen to his most famous work. But inside that garbled mess is pure sonic genius.

p.s. One more thing, recording the show and watching it 30 minutes behind the live broadcast makes it extremely convenient to skip annoying commercials and bad performances. I promise I’ll post more soon on the new DVR setup as it worked perfectly tonight….one hint though, it’s not running XP anymore.