Barnstorming on an Invisible Segway

For us the political optimism in this particular incarnation was a mixed bag. On the one hand, bawling out "I Don't Want Your Millions, Mister" with the entire crowd was awesome. On the other hand, there were some of the smaller-stage, more specialized songs that went beyond political optimism and into a kind of technical unrealism that made me say to the guys, in exasperation, "Yes, songs can change the world. You know what else can change the world? Doing the math."

Oh, another political note: "I Don't Want Your Millions, Mister," makes reference to the Farmer-Labor Party, and afterwards timprov said to me, "Do you suppose we were the youngest people there to vote for a Farmer-Labor candidate?" And I did suppose exactly that. It's kind of important here in Minnesota that we don't have a Democratic Party, we have a Democratic Farmer-Labor Party. There are members of my family who are still disgusted with JFK for talking to Minnesotans about "the DLF Pahty," on the "get it RIGHT!" axis.