Maybe I should give the PonyShow its own category, too.

Tonight’s PonyShow‘s was all about raising money for Hillary’s campaign. We had Hillary volunteers, Hillary’s state field director, Hillary buttons and signs and balloons. I danced to Natacha Atlas’s cover of “It’s a Man’s World,” and NovySan offered to stalk the candidate. All in all, a good night.

I’m in the process of updating News of the Odd, and I’m finding links that no longer lead anywhere (which I won’t burden you with), and links that don’t really belong there, but which I put there because, when I last updated the site, I didn’t have a blog. And so those links, I will burden you with. And here’s one now:

“Project Vote Smart: Presidential Candidates
Not, strictly speaking, odd (though when has the American presidential race not been odd?), but definitely useful. Project Vote Smart has collected issue statements, voting records, and biographical information on all of the candidates, even the ones you didn’t know were running. And navigating through their site, you might even find out who represents you in Congress. (Always assuming, of course, that you live in the United States. If not, you can be pardoned for not caring. If you do live in the US, it’s rather less forgivable. Unless, of course, you are either a Jehovah’s Witness, a recent immigrant, or a convicted felon.)”

I took some time off from work today to hear Barack Obama speak in Culver City. (Or Baldwin Hills, depending on whether you get the address from my cell phone or from the neighborhood signs in the area.)

He’s an excellent speaker, with a strong presence, a refreshingly accurate grasp of the English language, and some very good ideas. But that wasn’t what impressed me the most about him. The thing that impressed me the most is that right after he took the stage, a woman near the front of the crowd collapsed. Not only did he spot it — he shut things down until she got some help. “Can someone please call the medics or 911?” he asked, as half a dozen cops stood by. Should I just go over there?, I wondered. I had a bottle of water, but I was two hundred feet away, with bodies pressed close between us. “We’ve got someone down here — probably just the heat.” We stood in the sun, waiting, until he said, “Are you okay, ma’am? No, we still need some help here. Would someone please give her some water? Are you okay? Okay, you just sit right there on the ground until you don’t feel dizzy anymore.” I watched that, and I thought of Bush, blinking stupidly, reading My Pet Goat while New York burned, and while I can’t say yet that Obama is my choice for the next president, I can say he’s just taken a huge stride closer.