02/12/10 AP reports that Connecticut businessman Ned Lamont will announce his intention to run for Governor of that state next week in Hartford.

Eight term Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy released a video last night indicating he will not run for office again when his term ends. That point will mark the first time in 60 years a member of Kennedy family has not held public office in Washington.

[Candidate Ned Lamont stumping for votes at the Orange, CT Fire Department's carnival in the summer of 2006. He went on to win the Democratic nomination for Senator (spending $16 million of his own money) but wound up losing in the general election to the man he beat in the primary - Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT).]

[05/05/06 Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) leaves the U.S. Capitol where moments before he announced his intention to enter the Mayo Clinic to seek treatment for drug dependency. The congressman crashed into a police barricade at 2:45 a.m. on 05/04/06 "staggered" out of his car, and told officers in "slurred" speech that he was on his way to a vote in the House.]

02/12/10 Last night, I caught a press preview of the musical “Grease” at the National Theater starring American Idol’s Taylor Hicks.

I guess I’m the only person in America to have never seen American Idol because I had to be told that the male lead Ace Young was also a contestant on the show. [CORRECTION: I posted earlier that Young was a winner on the show. That seems to have upset some fans of Hicks. Whoops. Like I said people, I've gone out of my way to avoid watching that program and I hope to die never having seen it. My bad.]  The kids in the audience clearly knew. It was a very polished high energy production and it was good to break the snow bound cabin fever with some light entertainment.

The funny thing about the musical is that they would never write one like it today. The moral of the story seems to be “succumb to peer pressure!” If you think about it – the happy ending the play provides is that “good girl” Sandy D. embraces her inner hottie so she can roll with the gangs at her new high school. Hah!

Taylor Hicks signed copies of his CD post show.  He also did a solo encore after the final curtain.

Lauren Ashley Zakrin, who plays Sandy D in the show, signs autographs for fans outside the stage door. That’s Laura D’Andre, who plays Rizzo, signing autographs in the background. After the play there was a cast party at the Hard Rock Café a couple blocks away.