This past Friday night my friend/housemate Jen and I won a trip from our local radio station to see the Goo Goo Dolls in concert at Roseland Ballroom in New York City; the trip included free accomodations at one of midtown Manhattan's upscale international hotels, Le Parker Meridien. We had an amazing time, but the hotel was more fitting for James Bond than for two jeans-wearing college kids.

We stuck out like a sore thumb but it didn't bother us one bit. Carrying our own luggage (that is, one backpack each) and with champagne bottles in hand, we strode into the lobby of the hotel as though we were walking on air. Speaking in apropos French accent, the woman at the counter informed me that "all expenses have been taken care of, sir." Music to my ears.

The only part of the evening that surpassed the check-in was when I dialed the front desk for a wake-up call: The woman who picked up the phone addressed me as Mr. Anderson -- before I even had a chance to say hi. You'll never get THAT at Motel 6!

Later in the evening, while retrieving more champagne from the trunk of the car -- which was parked in the hotel's garage -- we managed to drop one of the bottles on the ground; it shattered, I cut my finger trying to clean it up, and we offered our thanks (in the form of his own bottle of bubbly) for cleaning up our mess to the attendant working the night shift. (You may have guessed that our champagne of choice is not of the highest vintage.)

The rest of the night we spent wandering around Manhattan -- up and down Broadway, Park Avenue, the Avenue of the Americas -- and enjoying the excitement of being in the city of cities. (Or, as I often call it, the armpit of America.)

Jen and I had a great time on our big city adventure, but agreed that neither of us could ever live there. Why? Aside from Central Park and sparse trees encompassed by concrete or in roof-top gardens, New York is a city without nature. It's crowded to the brim with loads of people, buildings, and taxi cabs. It's based on the Z-coordinate (that is, everything goes up), exudes a permanent foul stench, and causes a general feeling of claustrophobia.

Overall, I have no problem with New York City; there's no denying that it's an exciting place to visit and has a great deal to offer. But if you ever catch me living there, please slap some sense into me and remind me what trees and grass look like.

Have a great week, and thanks for reading.

-Gabe

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The new governor hasn't even taken office yet, and already people in California -- and across the country -- are looking ahead to 2000. To Capitol watchers, two critical things happen that year: The federal government will release the newest census figures, and in March California will hold a presidential primary.

Those two events will have a profound effect on the nation's political landscape.

The precise form of California's primary has yet to de decided. As it stands now, it will be an open primary, which means voters of any party can vote for a candidate of any party. The two national parties have said publicly that they don't like that scheme, and they will refuse to seat delegates who may be selected through such a system. That means Californians may wind up going to an Iowa-style caucus system to choose delegates for the nationl nominating conventions. But however California's presidential primary election is conducted, it appears likely that the Golden State -- finally -- will have a major say in how the next president is chosen. This is a major departure from years past: Until 1996, California's presidential primary was among the last in the nation, and by the time this state's voters went to the polls the presidential nominees had all but been decided.

The census figures represent a dramatic, long-term political issue for California. Aside from lingering questions about the count's methodology, the political importance of the census stems from the fact that it is the foundation of reapportionment -- the decennial redrawing of legislative and congressional districts. The law says that the Legislature is charged with drawing the new districts' boundaries to reflect changes in population that have occurred during the previous decade. But the reality is that the party that controls the Legislature draws the maps to bolster its own registration and gain as many new districts as possible. That means that the new reapportionment is all but certain to reflect the Democrats' partisan goals. Democrats control both houses of the Legislature.

California currently has 52 members of Congress; the new reapportionment is expected to provide four or five new seats, perhaps even more. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is closely divided, and even a small shift in the number of seats can change the majority in chamber. That means California, already important because of its huge population and the number of electoral votes it commands, is even more critical because of the number of potential Democratic seats. Redrawing the districts' boundaries is a contentitious, tedious task, and it doesn't happen overnight. After the census figures are released in 2000, there will be months of hearings and discussions before the legislation is crafted and sent to Democratic Gov. Gray Davis for his signature. But the new districts will take effect in the 2002 elections, and are all but certain to have a signficant impact on the composition of the House.

Davis has not assumed office yet, but Democrats and Republicans alike are gearing up for the battle over reapportionment. The parties already are beginning to focus on the issue, and the first draft maps will begin appearing in the Capitol in the spring.

The latest reapportionment may be different from its predecessors in at least one respect: Experts believe the use of computers will increase dramatically, as will the number of proposed maps. In 1990, computers were used and a number of maps were produced. But during the 1990s, the power of computers and the sophistication of programs have increased 10-fold, making it easier for anyone with access to a good computer system to come up with a plan. There were a half-dozen major plans in 1990; next year there are likely to be 25 or 30.

In politics, as in nearly everything else, the computers have arrived.

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