RAIN AND MEDIA THINGS

* It's still raining outside. In truth we had three fairly lovely days in a row so I can't complain too much. The garden appreciated the sunny interlude.

The entrance to our driveway has partially washed out though and I had to order some gravel today to fill it in. We had two more cords of wood delivered yesterday, for next year, so it will just sit in a big pile until next spring when I will stack it. It's not cheap living in this world.

* I've finished my speeches for Japan after four solid weeks of work on them. Several friends gave good advice and I did about four drafts before the final versions. The schedule for the trip is filling up with stops planned for Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Fukuoka, and Seoul, South Korea. I will be in Japan for three weeks and Korea for one week. Should be a wonderful trip.

* The reviews from the Obama-Medvedev summit are still coming in and virtually all are saying the same thing - a disappointment with no serious disarmament planned.

* Tonight I drive south for an appearance on a public access cable TV program called Out in Left Field produced by my friend Richard Rhames. Richard is a vegetable farmer in Biddeford and a long-time activist in Maine and one of my favorite people in the state. He is a real character who tells it just like he sees it with no frosting on top of the cake. He is always fun to be around, even when we are discussing the most depressing subjects. He's got a fine intellect and an even better sense of humor - that real dry Maine variety. Richard runs the camera and two wonderful guys, Tom Kircher and Matt Hight, do the interviewing and always make it a special experience. These guys get the best out of me and I love them all.

* I'll miss our weekly radio show tonight at the Bowdoin College station that I co-host with friend Peter Woodruff. The show is called TRUE - Truth Radio Underground Experience and we do it every Wednesday night from 6-8 pm (EST). I'll be back on next week with Peter but will then miss a month of shows due to my upcoming trip. We play political music and talk about what is in the news. You can listen to the show via the Internet by clicking here and then hitting the yellow button at the top.

* I take the call to "create our own media" seriously. I also have my regular cable TV show which is now in the sixth year of production. You can see past shows by clicking on the TV just below on this page. I try to do a new show twice a month but sometimes that is not possible with all the traveling. I've just scheduled another edition of the show, called This Issue, for July 20 and will interview Lisa Savage from CodePink in Maine. We are going to talk about Afghanistan war organizing in our state. Lisa has taken leadership of our efforts to get the peace movement working together across the state on Afghanistan and she is doing a great job.

* The cartoons above are by another CodePink friend, Anne Gibbons from New York City. She is very good and I love how she regularly weaves good politics into her syndicated cartoon. There are some good voices being heard out there!