…Gulp…

It’s hot. Very, very hot. But before you unscrew that plastic top and take a thirst-quenching gulp of bottled water, there are some things you might want to consider.

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Be prepared

“Don’t let John Kerry take your guns!”

You might remember that bumper sticker from 2004. (There are some pickups and SUVs around here that still have it.) It troubled me on several fronts. For one, it cynically assumed a certain level of ignorance on the part of its audience regarding the way that our government works; for another, it didn’t even reflect Kerry’s policies accurately; for another, it was a blatant appeal to fear.

But the most disturbing thing about such messages is this: they work.

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Culture clash

This column isn’t going to be about Andrea Mersits. She wanted it to be. She’s a charming young woman from Australia, working on her citizenship and wanted to get her name in the paper. She e-mailed and called to remind me about a party that she was throwing at K&M in Williamsburg on Friday the 13th.

I even went, drank the free drinks she gave me and was planning on writing about it. This column was going to be about a Halloween party in June; the dry-iced sticky dance floor and the horror films playing on the wall. It was going to be about the bloody tear drop painted on her face that night and the wheelchair she got for free that the bouncer was sitting in when he checked my ID.

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