Got a mix of things in the hopper today.

Hi, I’m Mike Wallace

Mike Wallace is back! No, not the crusty ol’ gotchya 60 Minutes reporter. I’m talking about the Steelers’ receiver who has been holding out in hopes of “gettin’ paid!” Count me with those who think the Steelers should take advantage of his final-contract-year performance and then let him go the way of Santonio Holmes. Wallace is valuable as a deep threat, but that’s about it. He’s never going to be a possession receiver who gets open over the middle. It’s nice to have a guy other safeties fear but not for the millions that someone will offer him. We found Wallace deep in the draft; we can find another speed-demon WR.

But I cracked up at his picture when he came back to the team yesterday. I mean, he’s always been a pit of a kewpie doll, but what is it about this photo that makes him look like he’s walking to the bus for his first day of kindergarten? Is it the matching red and black outfit?  His oversized hat with the brim turned up? Or his straight arms that look as if he can hardly carry his lunch box and school supplies? Here’s to ya, Mike. Hope you have a great year so you can go out and get your Benjamins!

I cannot wait for this movie

Forest Whitaker will be playing the lead in The Butler, about the real-life butler who served in the White House from presidents Truman through Reagan. The cast is stellar:

Besides Whitaker, there’s John Cusack playing Nixon. I’m in already.

How about Robin Williams and Melissa Leo playing the Eisenhowers? (Look, there’s Ike →)

Jane Fonda and Alan Rickman as the Reagans?

James Marsden and Minka Kelly as the Kennedys?

Liev Schriber as LBJ?

I know, right? It’s directed by Precious director Lee Daniels. There’s no release date. Probably fall of next year. Let’s do this!

Isaac is a blowhard

Just in time for the political conventions, the nation is subjected to a bunch of hot air. Not making light of this. Isaac veered away from the GOP Convention in Tampa and headed instead for an area that can ill-afford it. Today, it slammed into the New Orleans coast on the exact same day that Katrina hit seven years ago. Ain’t life a bitch?

As I’ve stated before here, Katrina hit New Orleans the weekend we moved to Pittsburgh. Those two events will forever be linked in my memory. During the week of Thanksgiving that year, Jean went down to Biloxi, Mississippi, with a bunch of crazy kids she didn’t know from Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community on the South Side. (I was new at my job and couldn’t get a week off of work.) She had the time of her life mucking out houses and swinging a sledge hammer. Whenever she can get to know people while also taking on a task, she is in heaven. She’d much rather do that than sit around some party making small talk. By spring of the following year, I went down for their second trip to Biloxi. This time, the trip was more about building and painting than mucking and tear downs. I’ll never forget the devastation, even six months later. It looked like a war zone. Numbers were spray painted on abandoned houses indicating how many people once lived there and how many were found dead inside. Each night, we would walk down to the abandoned Biloxi shore by the shuttered Hard Rock hotel and casino. Concrete slabs were all that was left of water front mansions.

I’m thinking about that area again today.

The water is back, but thankfully, it doesn’t look like they had near the storm serge they had with Katrina. But they are getting rain. A lot more rain than even Katrina brought.

I’m happy to report that some vital businesses are still up and running, and serving the area.

And we’re going to have to prioritize this place. We ate here and enjoyed some damn fine B-B-Q.

I’m going to need to know that they are okay.

Seriously, it’s a beautiful area of the country with a vibrant and unique culture all it’s own. They depend on living near the ocean for their livelihood. Hopefully, this storm only brings a few feet of water and the loss of a few shingles.

Get out the vote

Pennsylvania is offering free voting IDs. These are not drivers licenses but merely a state-issued photo ID with an expiration date. They are free at any DMV facility in Pennsylvania. Make sure you let people know who need one. Yes, it’s a pain. Yes, it’s an effective effort by state Republicans to hold down the vote and give the state to Romney. Yes, it is hard for poorer workers to get the time off. Yes, it’s hard to get elderly residents to the DMV. And yes, this is going to end up costing the state an “arm and a leg” at a time when we are already slashing education and municipal budgets. That’s just how it goes in GOP land. We can’t let them get away with it. Talk to friends and family. Make sure they are registered. (THEY HAVE UNTIL OCTOBER 9 TO REGISTER.) If they’re not sure if they are registered to vote, tell them to go here. Make sure they have their ID. Make sure they vote, no matter who it is for.