40 hours

We made it back from Zambia, and the trip was great. 39.5 hours of travel to get home was a nightmare (2.5 hour flight to Jo-berg --> 6 hour layover --> 11 hour flight to London --> 3 hour layover --> 11 hour flight --> 2 hour ride in a SuperShuttle to get home), but I am showered and not waking up at 330am every morning any more so life is good. And no I didn't finish "Fool's Gold" on the way home -- instead I watched Son of Rambow (awesome!), Be Kind Rewind (so-so), Flawless (pretty good), and Drillbit Taylor (not that great). And that was all on one leg, because our in-flight entertainment was out for the Jo-berg to London stretch. 11 hours crammed in coach without video-on-demand totally sucked! I was pretty much miserable while THE WIFE took a breath every 25 seconds in a Lunesta-induced coma. But I totally made up for it on the next flight, as I watched all 4 movies (and a "My Name is Earl" episode) back-to-back-to-back-to-back on our way to L.A. (That's a cinematic 4-peat! I am a movie-watching machine, and I expect that I'll finally be able to peel the contacts off my corneas any day now.) Incidentally, has anyone noticed how Kate Hudson has turned into a carbon copy of her mother, Goldie Hawn? From the teased hair to her vacant stare to their frequent on-screen histrionic fits... as a society, we really didn't need this. It's only a matter of time before they do a "first time on screen together!" mother/daughter project where they're both hapless/sexy victims of elaborate criminal escapades. (Or has this already happened? Please don't tell me if it has.)

I haven't heard any updates on the Zambian presidency situation, and I can't find anything in the news about him since 7/4/08 (when he was still in "stable" condition). Isn't it wonderful how isolated we are from international news here in the U.S.? We're sprayed with a constant stream of which brainless heiress hates which self-proclaimed Hollywood diva, but when it comes to matters of international politics we never hear about it unless it affects oil prices or Apple stock. Blame the media if you want, but they're just serving up what sells (i.e. what people will hand over their money for). If more people were buying The Economist than Us! Weekly, the paparrazi would dissolve & the overprivileged would have to do real things in the world to get noticed. I am proud to say that I have never purchased any of the following magazines: Star, In Touch, People, or Us! (Although I did read one today at lunch -- did you know Jake just moved in with Reese?? OMG!!!) I guess I've never bought The Economist either though.