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J. Scott Applewhite, AP
Look at it quick and they're dancing, with Obama on the mike. Joe Biden and Hillary appear to be doing the Frug before the debate.

J. Scott Applewhite, AP
MSNBC analyst Chris Matthews hugs Elizabeth Edwards after an interview before John's debate.

J. Scott Applewhite. AP
The shake after: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Ct., Sen. Hilary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio.

Jeff Blake, The State, MCT
Where did he come from? Where did he go? Former Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska, (photo by Jeff Blake at right) is the odd man out of the photo above. (The Times says the onetime NYC cab driver "largely eschewed the postdebate handshake, moped around for a few minutes and then headed off.") He was the surprise of the night, and not just because it was the first I'd ever seen of him. See 1:26 of Gravel's debut in the debate last night, at YouTube.

Jeff Blake, The State, MCT
Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich and his wife Elizabeth.

Thanks to the Wayback Machine at the Internet Archive, it's possible to flash back to an earlier election season. In November 2003, Politics New Hampshire launched a contest to find the perfect wife for Dennis Kucinich: "Who Wants To Be First Lady Contest".

But that is not how it happened. Originally published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer (now vanished from that site, but kept alive elsewhere), How Kucinich Found Love by Evelyn Theiss begins:

On May 4, Elizabeth Harper walked with her boss into Dennis Kucinich's Capitol Hill office for a meeting and immediately noticed three things. In the reception area, she saw a visiting nun in white robes. In his inner office sat a shelf bearing an illustration depicting "light consciousness" and a bust of Gandhi.

She studied the lean and intense congressman and felt an attraction.

"Now this is an interesting man," she thought.

Dennis had also closely observed Elizabeth, a statuesque Englishwoman with waist-length red hair.

"I saw her eyes go to the light consciousness picture, then to the Gandhi bust, then to me," he says. "It was like one, two, three. That's when I knew."

Within an hour, he called his friend, actress Mimi Kennedy, best known for playing Dharma's mother on "Dharma & Greg."

"I met her," Dennis said. Kennedy knew exactly what he meant. She gave a little yelp of joy.

Rescue for Net radio? Lawmakers propose reversal of Net radio fee increases: CNet reports,

A bill introduced in Congress Thursday aims to overturn a controversial royalty fee increase that Internet radio advocates say threatens to cripple their services.

The "Internet Radio Equality Act," introduced by Reps. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and Don Manzullo (R-Ill.), would invalidate a March 2 decision by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board that calls for raising royalty rates paid by Net radio operators. ...

In addition to repealing that regime, the new House bill offers a compromise: It would set the rate at 7.5 percent of the Webcaster's revenue "directly related to" its transmission of sound recordings, or 33 cents per hour of sound recordings transmitted to a single listener. It would be up to the Webcaster to decide which model to use. That rate would also apply to satellite and cable radio operators, Inslee's office said in a statement.

SaveNetRadio asks you to enlist your own rep as a co-sponsor.

Background: Web radio clobbered again: David Byrne explains the irrational royalty mess, April 18.

Art that makes you look: Street Installations

Grin and bear it: Quentin Tarantino: I'm proud of my flop. Said flop is Grindhouse, whose trailer is here.