Time for some campaignin’

In conservative heartland USA, folks, it’s time for some campaignin’! A new original by the JibJab brothers:

Woody Guthrie: This land is your land

The Aimee Mann contest is over and the winner’s accent reminded me of Woody Guthrie. So here he is, with our real – alternative – national anthem.

No liquids on board

I came to Drummond Island, Michigan via Toronto and Sault Saint Marie, Ontario. My flight from Munich came in late and it took forever to get through customs in Toronto, so I didn’t have time to check in my suitcase again to make my connecting flight. I ran to catch my flight, because taking a later one would have been too complicated: The Sault Saint Marie airport is 2 1/2 hours away from my family’s cabin, and I wasn’t certain I’d be able to get in touch with my brother Larry.

Tom Waits: Hold on

One of my favorite songs of all time. Tom Waits can’t sing worth a dime, but man, can he tell a story! Bittersweet and poignant, his songs leave almost everything to your imagination, just like the video he made up for this song.

Christopher Cross: Sailing

This softest of easy-listening songs, a no. 1 hit in 1980 and later covered by N’Sync, is an anthem for people who love the sport. I’m in Croatia with ABC Wassersport this week, so I thought this might be a fitting message to you.

Elisabeth Gilbert: Stern Men

Before I set off for Croatia and then Drummond Island, I’d like to leave you with another reading tip. “Stern Men” is a first novel by Elisabeth Gilbert. Her heroine is an independent, smart and plucky 19 year-old girl called Ruth who fritters away the summer on a remote island populated by oddball lobstermen who are feuding with the lobstermen on a second island. Ruth is back after four years of boarding school, and in fact the island of her childhood is too small for her. She needs a job, and a lover would be nice, too.