Aboard the Argia out of Mystic, Connecticut.

While the City has plenty to offer in the summer, even die-hard urbanites need to get away from it all sometimes. For New Yorkers looking to put a little luxe into their weekend travel, we selected eight high-end getaways that are just a stone’s throw (or about a three- or four-hour car ride, max) away from the light pollution and subway delays. From waterfront resorts to luxurious spas and chic country towns, even the most discerning New Yorker can discover the perfect retreat, without resorting, so to speak, to the Hamptons.

Saratoga, NY 

This year, the unofficial horseracing capital of New York, located just three hours from the city, will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of its Saratoga Race Course, complete with fireworks and the special opportunity to place a $15,000 bet. Relax at the end of a hot day at the races by slipping into one of the area’s famous hot spring baths like the Health and Day Spa at the Roosevelt Inn (Rooseveltsuites.com), and even organize a tasting tour of the bitter, medicinal waters. Stay the night at Saratoga Arms—a concierge hotel with the charm of a bed and breakfast (saratogaarms.com). History buffs may want to eat at the historic 18th-century Olde Bryan Inn at Saratoga Springs, with an upscale, continental menu (oldebryaninn.com).

Newport, RI 

Waves lap the rocky shores of this picturesque “Downton Abbey of the Americas” and yachting capital of the Northeast. Known for its Gilded Age mansions, the city by the sea offers the Old World charm of afternoon tea, as well as high-end lodging at the Hotel Viking (hotelviking.com) and at the Vanderbilt Grace Hotel (vanderbiltgrace.com). Dig even deeper into the aristocratic history of the town with a tour of servants’ life at the Elms. Or simply take in the breathtaking scenery along the 10-mile Ocean Drive. Bouchard, Newport’s highest-rated restaurant, will satisfy even discerning New Yorkers’ palates (restaurantbouchard.com). And for something a little more casual, locals swear by O’Brien’s Pub for the classic pint.

Finger Lakes Wine Country, NY

Get the most out of a visit to the popular Finger Lakes region by keeping your wine glass full, and staying at the Mirbeau Inn and Spa (www.mirbeau.com). The peaceful resort, located in Skaneateles, is known for an assortment of therapy treatments, as well as yoga and pilates classes. Most of the architecture, including a footbridge re-creation, is inspired by Monet’s paintings. Guests are welcome to wander the grounds of the resort and even eat in their spa robes. The Dining Room fare at Mirbeau is, of course, French-inspired. The surrounding area? Miles of wine country. Explore a wine trail and experience dozens of food and wine pairings in one visit, or visit during Finger Lakes Wine Month in May.

The Lodge at Woodloch, Hawley, PA

The Lodge at Woodloch combines the natural backdrop of the Poconos with the indulgence of a high-end spa (voted #4 destination spa by Travel and Leisure). It’s hard to believe that the lodge is down the road from the fast-paced Woodloch Pines family resort. But this secluded destination is a decidedly grown-up getaway. The men’s and women’s retreats include quiet pools and treatment areas. And after massages and mud masks, eat at the in-house restaurant or at the gourmet chef’s kitchen, where chefs host cooking demonstrations. Tour the property’s cranberry bogs, and take a painting or yoga class. Blow off some steam with a round of golf or tennis at the adjacent Woodloch Springs Golf Course. New to Woodloch are the unusual beer-inspired spa treatments and the peaceful butterfly garden. Learn more at thelodgeatwoodloch.com.

Summer standby: Picnic at Tanglewood.

The Berkshires, MA

Located in the highlands of western Massachusetts, the Berkshires were originally the go-to second-home destination for wealthy 19th-century New Yorkers. These days, you don’t have to own a home. Guests can stay at The Blantyre in Lenox, a Gilded Age mansion converted into an inn (www.Blantyre.com), or one of the charming bed and breakfasts dotting the area. Apart from the natural beauty, the big draw is the abundance of arts and culture to be enjoyed in the great outdoors in the summer. Watch a Boston Symphony Orchestra concert at their outdoor Tanglewood retreat (the setting is so natural, even the seats are made from logs). Highlighted 2013 concerts include a Jerry Garcia tribute and a performance of West Side Story (bso.org/tanglewood). Dance fans should check out Jacob’s Pillow, one of the nation’s most popular summer dance festivals, in Becket. And get in with the local farm-to-table movement at The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge (www.redlioninn.com).

The Best of Dutchess County, NY

Take the Metro-North to the heart of Dutchess County, where the highlights aren’t just confined to one small town, but are sprinkled throughout the region. Visit the modern art museum at Beacon, and stay at the Roundhouse at Beacon Falls—with rooms and art studios overlooking the eponymous falls (roundhousebeacon.com). Take a visit to FDR’s home and library in Hyde Park. The foodie in you will want to dine at Il Barilotto, a modern Italian eatery in Fishkill (www.ilbarilottorestaurant.com) and rated one of the best in the area. And don’t forget the little places nearby:  Millbrook—an antiquing hotspot surrounded by wineries—or Millerton, voted “one of the ten coolest small towns in America,” where Main Street is still alive.

Mystic, CT

The well-known boating town and home of the Mystic Seaport museum, this Connecticut coastal town offers a variety of vacation experiences from Mohegan Sun Casino to wineries and art museums. The town of Mystic itself is known for its family atmosphere, but if you are traveling sans kids, you can stay at the tiny Steamboat Inn (steamboatinnmystic.com) and the waterfront Whaler’s Inn (whalersinnmystic.com). Tuck into a meal at the Oyster Club, where the menu changes daily based on what’s fresh and local. Take a course on boating in Mystic Harbor, or just sip some wine and let someone else do the work aboard the Schooner Argia sunset cruises.

Long Island’s Gold Coast

Baz Luhrmann’s Great Gatsby is hitting theaters this month, which may be the perfect excuse to visit the area that provided inspiration for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel. Although the original “Gatsby house” was demolished two years ago, visitors can still tour the remaining mansions and estates left over from the golden age of Long Island’s North Shore, when it, rather than the South Fork, was the setting for summer homes of the very wealthy, including the Vanderbilts, Roosevelts and Whitneys, among others. (Contact Carole Lucca at www.longislandtourguide.com for more information.) Guests can even stay at Oheka Castle or Glen Cove Mansion, two sprawling gold coast mansion estates (glencovemansion.com and oheka.com). For a cultural fix, be sure to visit the nearby Nassau County Museum of Art, and slake your thirst with a ride through the North Shore vineyards (LIwines.com).

editorial@observer.com

The art of New England is far from just portraits of Puritans — "banned" art, performance art and political art make up some of the area's current offerings. In fact, great art cuts a swath through much of the Berkshires and New England this time of year, since urban museums usually skip blockbusters in the hot months, but resort areas pull out all the stops.

"The Christopher Hyland 
Collection of Photography"

The Cape Cod Museum of Art

60 Hope Lane, off Route 6A,
Dennis, Mass.

Through Aug. 8

Interior designer Christopher Hyland is well known in New York for his textile-draped Fifth Avenue apartments and, in the art world, for his art collection. The photography segment alone is eclectic and innovative, stretching from Edward Weston to Herb Ritts by way of the once-banned Robert Mapplethorpe. This Cape Cod show includes some of the past century's most iconic images: Think Henri Cartier-Bresson's silhouetted man midleap behind St. Lazare station in Paris, as well as more recent and experimental shots.
www.ccmoa.org

"Petah Coyne: Everything
That Rises Must Converge"

Mass MoCA

87 Marshall Street, North Adams, Mass.

Through Feb. 2011

In the minimalist setting of Mass MoCA, a former factory, the eerie work of Ms. Coyne, a rising star of contemporary art, has a very big presence. In this installation, she's suspended taxidermied geese above a mesh of silk flowers dripping with wax; the birds seem simultaneously dead-and hungry. www.massmoca.org

The Philharmonic on Fire

The Providence and
Woonasquatucket Rivers

Memorial Boulevard, Providence, R.I.

July 31

WaterFire Providence, Barnaby Evans' half-mile stretch of floating fire sculptures lit annually on Providence's three rivers, is an institution. For one night in July, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra and dancers from Festival Ballet Providence perform for free, providing a classical backdrop to the popular event. www.waterfire.org

The Saint-Gaudens National
Historic Site

139 Saint-Gaudens Road

Cornish, N.H.

To a New Yorker, Augustus Saint-Gaudens' work should look familiar. He sculpted the golden monument in front of the Plaza Hotel that teams Winged Victory with Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, and also cast the monument to Admiral David Farragut in Madison Square Park. Civil War commemorative commissions were the stock-in-trade for the 19th-century star, but he's also known for his U.S. coins. His New Hampshire home, studio and beautiful gardens, filled with dozens of works of art, are open to the public.

www.nps.gov/saga/index.htm

"Picasso Looks at Degas"

The Clark Museum

225 South Street, Williamstown, Mass.

Through Sept. 12

Pablo Picasso was a lifelong admirer of Edgar Degas' innovative technique and his focus on the female form, and he paid homage to the older master throughout his career. By hanging works by both men side-by-side, the top-notch Clark brings out the subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle ways in which Picasso drew inspiration from Degas. In one of the exhibit's most striking paintings, Picasso takes on his elder's much-reproduced bronze sculpture of a ballerina and translates it into his own style with characteristic force.

www.clarkart.edu

The Perseid meteor shower

Surfside Beach on Nantucket, Mass.

Aug. 12, 9 p.m., into Aug. 13

Visual art of a simpler time, the Perseid meteor shower streaks over the country in August. The very finest in East Coast astral-viewing real estate is on Nantucket's Surfside Beach. The Perseid shower, so called because its meteors fall from the Perseus constellation, is one of the brightest astronomy events of the year and will be visible to the naked eye for a day or two from the evening of Aug. 12.

"Anna Hepler: Makeshift"

The Portland Museum of Art

7 Congress Square, Portland, Maine

Through Oct. 17

Later this month, Maine artist Ms. Hepler's The Great Haul comes to the Portland Museum's Great Hall, a wide-open, wood-floored space perfect for the artist's vast experiments. Ms. Hepler is known for weaving mesh fabrics and plastic sheeting together in softened, abstract geometric forms-think delicate, translucent sponges-that leave space for light to penetrate and permeate the sculpture.

www.PortlandMuseum.org

"Forgetting Piece by Piece"

The Shelburne Museum

5555 Shelburne Road, Vt.

Through Oct. 24

This affecting exhibit of quilts made by victims of Alzheimer's disease, as well as by their families and caregivers. a Each quilt is also accompanied by an artist's statement, explaining the personal stories behind the work.
www.shelburnemuseum.org

There, the members of the Fox News Super Tuesday II political team—Brit Hume, Juan Williams, Bill Kristol, Nina Easton and Fred Barnes—were wrapping up another back-and-forth session, chewing over the night’s early returns. Mr. Kristol made an observation about the rationality of voters. A producer announced a break.

The team would have a few minutes to stretch its legs. As they backed away from the desk, Mr. O’Reilly approached.

“Throw Juan Williams out of here,” Mr. O’Reilly bellowed with a half-grin.

Mr. Williams and the rest of the Fox politics team chuckled. The longtime NPR contributor gave way to the longtime NPR adversary. A few minutes later, Mr. Reilly was sitting next to Mr. Hume, delivering his five minutes of commentary, before departing for the night.

"NBC News cannot continue to openly root for one presidential candidate, thereby teeing off everybody else in the country, and expect to prosper,” he told his viewers. “Number one, it's corrupt. If they're going to be the Obama network, NBC News should say that we're rooting for Obama."

The Media Mob headed for the elevator. Alexis Glick of the Fox Business Network was waiting in the wings, ready to deliver some commentary on the state of economy. She was dressed in blood red.

Up on the second floor, the Fox News control room was buzzing. There was a much-ignored sign on the door warning no food and drink beyond this point. A man flew by, two slices of pizza precariously stacked on a paper plate.

Marty Ryan, silver-haired control-room warhorse who serves as the network's executive producer of political programming, stood calmly in the heart of the madness, answering questions, giving orders and deciphering the banks of monitors in front of him.

Dotted among the monitors were the faces of correspondents standing at campaign locations across the country—Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont—waiting to be called into action, waiting for some precious airtime.

But just now, they were not playing for the cameras that were trained on them. One reporter was adjusting his seat, another wiped his face with a towel. A blond correspondent ran a brush through her hair. It was like watching a Harry Shearer “Found Object” video, in 10-part harmony. The din of the control room provided the soundtrack—a Robert Altman-like tapestry of densely layered noise.

“Hemmer first.”

“Ninety seconds.”

“Get Brit.”

“Make it tight.”

"Where’s Michael?”

“Is that better?”

“In Ohio.”

“I have him.”

“Sixty seconds.”

Of the hundred or so screens, the Media Mob began fixating on one way down in the corner of the room. The screen was labeled “Future.” It was completely dark.

Time to check in with the prognosticators!

Up on the 14th floor, Fox News had set up their “Decision Desk” in a space adjacent to the dot-com newsroom. There a team of stat hounds hunched over laptops, rifled through bags of mini candies (Tootsie Rolls, Reeses Pieces Peanut Butter Cups) and crunched the numbers as they came in.

Michael Barone, a Fox News contributor and the principal big brain behind the Almanac of American Politics, sat in a nearby fishbowl of an office, looking at numbers and seemingly peering into the future.

At 9:19, a bald-headed fellow, sporting glasses and a goatee, piped up. “Call Rhode Island for Hillary.” Everyone nodded and shifted their gazes to a bank of screens on a nearby wall. Sure enough, seconds later, the announcement appeared that Senator Clinton was the projected winner of Rhode Island. A few minutes later, MSNBC and CNN followed with the projection.

“I think she might get the trifecta,” said the man with the Tootsie Rolls.

The lights in the room flickered. Nearby, Bill Hemmer stood in front of Fox News' latest gadget—a flat, touch-screen monitor capable of displaying voting precincts, delegate counts and all sorts of red and blue bar graphs. The so-called “Bill-Board” got its first test on Super Tuesday. Tonight was its sophomore effort.

Mr. Hemmer, in a sharp navy blue suit, spoke to the camera. Behind him, the Bill-Board displayed the results of an exit poll question: “Is McCain conservative enough?” The Bill-Board gave up the math. Forty-five percent: yes. Forty-six percent: no.

Afterward, Mr. Hemmer came over to say hello. Did the Media Mob want to give the Bill-Board a whirl? The Media Mob did. “Give it a good tap,” said Mr. Hemmer. “O.K., not that hard.”

We began tapping our way through exit poll data, delegate counts, states in play, states out of play, blue states, red states. Another tap: another tool. We began doodling on the screen—à la John Madden—only with our forefinger. We drew a blue smiley face on the state of Texas. Mr. Hemmer seemed only mildly amused.

It was time to keep moving.

Back on the first floor, we entered a brightly lit studio, recently borrowed from the Fox Business Network and renamed “the Strategy Room.” In the center of the studio, a set of stairs descended into a sunken lounge of sorts. The space was round and lined with a padded seating. It was vaguely reminiscent of a 70’s rec room. Dig the red pleather!

Nearby, newly minted Fox News contributor Karl Rove sat at a desk—this one, more or less at sea level—and waited for the end of a break. Throughout the night, the Strategy Room was Web-casting on FoxNews.com.

Kirsten Powers, a Fox News Democratic political pundit, padded into the room and descended into the “Geek Pit.”

“Do you have a doctor of numerology degree like these guys do?” asked Mr. Rove, gesturing at the other political wonks already lounging in the pit. A few minutes later, everyone was deeply immersed in discussing Senator McCain’s possible running mates. “It’s double your trouble with Huckabee,” noted Mr. Rove.

There was another break in the Strategy Room. Mr. Rove, in a playful mood, repeated the studio’s recently coined nickname. “Welcome to the Strategery Room,” said Mr. Rove.

At the desk nearby, Fox News Washington bureau chief Brian Wilson shook his head in amusement. “Now you have me calling it the ‘Strategery Room,’” he said.

The Media Mob wandered back down the hall to check in on Mr. Hume and company. By the time we arrived on set, Mr. McCain was delivering his victory speech. The Fox political anchors were listening intently on their ear pieces and watching on a nearby screen.

“Ask the decision guys if Ohio is going to be called reasonably soon,” Mr. Kristol said to Mr. Hume, off camera.

“They say it’s a ways away,” said Mr. Hume. “Both states are leaning towards Clinton.”

Back on the air, Mr. Kristol posed a larger question.

“Has Obama peaked?” he asked.

The election stretched into the night. There was still no projected winner in Ohio or Texas. “The models get hinky,” said Mr. Hume, off air. “That’s what holds up the projections more so than anything else.”

The Media Mob grew restless and headed back upstairs. At 10:55 p.m. Fox called Ohio for Senator Clinton. Back in the control room, a few minutes later, a producer announced that Mr. Hume needed to take another bathroom break. “Feel free not to track him,” somebody called out.

“Fuck, they just announced Hillary,” somebody yelled.

On one monitor, Ms. Clinton could be seen taking the stage, waving, clapping, waving, clapping. How much more time until the commercial break ended? The moment of suspense came and passed. Mr. Hume got back to his desk; the break ended. As if on cue, Ms. Clinton began her speech.

Nearly two
hours later, at 12:46:30, FNC announced Texas for Clinton. MSNBC and CNN followed a few minutes later.

It was Hillary’s night, the collective apparatus agreed. The race would continue.

In a hallway outside the control room, executives Bill Shine and Joel Cheatwood were talking politics.

"This is what we live for,” said Mr. Shine. “We’re going all the way to Pennsylvania."

A third possibility—a split decision—will present Clinton the justification to push on if she wishes to, but without any clear way to win.

Let’s say Hillary wins Ohio (as the latest polls suggest she will) and falls just short in Texas (as polls also indicate). For the sake of it, let’s also say she wins Rhode Island, where the lower-income white Catholic voters among whom she has done so well elsewhere predominate, and fails in Vermont, a state rich with the reform-minded progressives who are so taken with Obama. In other words, let’s say Tuesday produces a tie—in states won, total popular votes, and delegates accrued.

For all practical purposes, such a tie would go to Obama, who now leads Hillary by more than 100 delegates. Winning Texas, the second-largest state in the union, would keep Obama’s national momentum going, and to catch him in the delegate race, Hillary would need to win the remaining states by margins of about 30 points. When you’re the front-runner, not losing is just as good as winning.

But Hillary Clinton is unlikely to give up that easily, walking away from what is probably her one and only shot at the presidency. With a win in Ohio, the state that decided the last election and that could decide this one, the temptation to press ahead would probably be irresistible.

Sure, she could reason, catching Obama in the hard delegate count this spring would be out of the question. But if she could roll her Ohio success into a late primary winning streak (starting with Pennsylvania on April 22), maybe she could draw close enough that the 350 or so superdelegates who are still uncommitted would conclude that the primary season hadn’t produced a clear popular verdict for either candidate, thus giving Hillary at least a theoretical chance to win them over and reverse Obama’s pledged-delegate advantage.

The other potential equalizer would be Michigan and Florida. Both states hosted outlaw primaries that Hillary “won” (Obama’s name wasn’t on the Michigan ballot and the candidates refrained from campaigning in Florida, where turnout was substantially lower than in other states). Right now, pushing for these pro-Hillary delegations to be seated at the convention is politically poisonous for her campaign, something they have been slowly recognizing.

But what happens if there’s buyer’s remorse among Democrats who have rallied to Obama? The Democratic convention is still more than five months away, but already Republicans are aiming their attack machine at Obama. What if their broadsides start to dent his armor—if he proves as vulnerable on the “experience” question as Hillary has warned, and if in defending himself he does start making costly rookie mistakes? Maybe then the party would embrace Michigan and Florida as their salvation from handing their nomination to a doomed candidate. Buyer’s remorse could also weaken Obama in the late primary states, giving party leaders even more cover to turn on Obama.

In reality, of course, this isn’t much for Hillary to cling to. Obama has already proven himself adept at responding to her attacks and has only reinforced his supporters’ affection for him in his early skirmishes with John McCain. The notion that he will melt down before the August convention is a doubtful one, judging by the remarkable endurance he has already shown. And many of the uncommitted superdelegates that Hillary would need to help her topple Obama have serious reservations about her own electability. Short of winning the most delegates in this primary season—a highly unlikely proposition by now—the odds of Hillary securing the nomination are slim.

But human nature suggests—and history demonstrates—that candidates in Hillary’s situation will take anything short of complete rejection from the electorate as a license to stay in the race, just in case. History also shows that the consequences of this kind of thinking can be devastating.

In 1980, Ted Kennedy fell desperately behind President Jimmy Carter in the delegate count after an early losing streak in the Democratic primaries, but wins in several big states kept him in the running through the final primary in June, after which Carter led by about 700 delegates.

Kennedy refused to abandon his effort. While Republicans rallied around Ronald Reagan, Kennedy spent the summer months fighting for an “open convention,” in effect urging delegates to junk the rule that bound most of them to the will of primary voters, a procedural change that might theoretically have snatched the nomination from Carter. The bid ultimately failed, but precious months were lost for the Democrats and Carter entered the fall campaign with a deeply fractured party base. He went on to lose 44 states to Reagan. (It also didn’t help that Kennedy snubbed Carter on national television on the convention dais, or that his attacks on the sitting president were recycled into a brutal general election ad by the Reagan forces.)

Four years later, Gary Hart also refused to give up even when the numbers weren’t adding up. Walter Mondale ended the 1984 primaries in early June about 800 delegates ahead of Carter and, after lining up a few dozen super delegates, promptly declared himself over the magic number.

But Hart spent the next six weeks acting like a candidate, pleading with superdelegates to abandon Mondale and to throw the convention open. He was boosted by polls that showed him running far better against Reagan than Mondale. Only when New Jersey officially put him over the top at the mid-July convention could Mondale and his forces finally let loose a sigh of relief and focus squarely on the fall campaign, which Reagan ended up winning in one of the most thorough routs in American history. Hart’s lingering presence in the early summer helped keep the public’s focus on intraparty politics—and not on the Democrats’ case against Reagan.

Kennedy and (especially) Hart have mostly been given passes for their roles in their party’s ’80 and ’84 defeats, mostly because Carter and Mondale were probably doomed no matter what. But 2008 is a different story. The party faithful expect to win this year, and there will be hell to pay for whoever mucks it up.

After nearly two decades in music, Mr. Leo may be close to having his own star moment, but not because he’s been chasing a rock ’n’ roll fantasy. At age 36, the singer-guitarist originally from Bloomfield, N.J., is poised for a breakout with Living with the Living, his fifth studio album with his band, the Pharmacists. It is perhaps the group’s most stylistically assured album, but also it’s most critical—politically and socially. Hardly didactic, Living’s activism is balanced nicely with more personal tunes. Of course, it also just so happens to coincide very nearly with the fourth anniversary of our nation’s involvement in Iraq.

Mr. Leo said that his last album, Shake the Sheets, was meant to be a “concise statement,” both politically and aesthetically, while the latest offered room to expand his palette, delivering brief, punchy message songs as well as meandering narratives, “so you have two-minute punk songs and seven-minute songs that get a little deeper.” (A taste? From the song “C.I.A.”: “Frankie says that history’s race is run, but we all know, it’s just erased by those who’ve won. / C.I.A., only you know what you’ve done.”)

In the next few weeks, before hitting the road for a tour that stretches into July (so far), the band will be featured on NPR and MTV2. At the same time, Mr. Leo has just begun work as a spokesman for PETA2 (the organization’s hip activist wing), and even showed up at the studios of WFMU (the longest-running non-commercial freeform radio station in the country, based in Jersey City) a couple weeks back to sing a few covers—Adam & the Ants, Queen, the Pretenders, the Jam—and help fund-raise.

Living with the Living debuted at No. 12 on the CMJ (College Music Journal) charts, and moved up to No. 7 in its second week. With a touch of incredulity in his voice, Mr. Leo admitted, “The attention the new album has already gotten has been really insane, to the point I’m a little uncomfortable with.”

That sort of modesty may be typical coming from someone who has toiled for more than a decade in relative obscurity. It has also come to seem status quo that politically charged music will remain marginal, even as the U.S. encounters troubled times. The old rule that tough times create great, socially active—and popular—art just doesn’t seem to apply anymore.

LIVING WITH THE LIVING OPENS AMID A CACOPHONY OF VOICES in various languages, scattered drums sounding like gunfire and guitar squalling through an echoplex, before locking into a quick, high-stepping beat and finally taking off on a deliciously upward-twirling guitar line. That first section is called “Fourth World War,” melting into the first proper track, “Sons of Cain.” Next up on the disc: “Army Bound.” This isn’t a gimmick.

Mr. Leo’s music feeds off of sounds from first-generation punks like the Jam and the Clash, and he is unabashed in regards to his influences, striving to achieve the same “personal authenticity” he sees in his heroes instead of worrying himself over anyone’s notion of originality (which is well-nigh impossible to achieve in guitar-based rock anyhow). While Mr. Leo’s sound can seem derivative, he is expert at folding one influence into another, matching the earnest lyricism of Billy Bragg with the pop hooks of Paul Weller and the hard-charging energy of Joe Strummer. It is political rock any way you slice it, but also as stylized, fun and energetic as those chart-toppers half his age.

“In a weird way, I credit my parents,” Mr. Leo says about his influences. “They had this amazing record collection. I became obsessed with the Who, and I would hear them trying different things out [like] a James Brown cover, and I could tell that those songs were something different. I am exceptionally not religious, but the spirituality of artists like Curtis Mayfield or Al Green has always affected me in a very serious and deep way. I definitely listen to more old music than new music.”

After a childhood across the river, Mr. Leo got neck-deep in the New York hardcore scene as it blossomed in the late ’80s. He played in Citizen’s Arrest and Animal Crackers, both of whom made blistering, brutal music; spent plenty of time at CBGB and ABC No Rio when those places were at the height of their cool; and took a serious interest in social and political issues. That priority among Mr. Leo and his fellow musicians is what he feels has created a gulf between his own experience and the “suburban angst” developing around the same time in the hardcore scene of his home state.

When things downtown began to splinter in the early 90’s, with bands losing the plot, crowds getting more violent and unity disbanding, Mr. Leo moved to Washington, D.C. (where the post-hardcore wave was just breaking), and formed the influential punk-meets-supercharged-soul-meets-mod band Chisel. The band became popular, but split after just two albums, in 1997. Mr. Leo bounced between a few projects, even releasing a solo album (very Billy Bragg) before forming the Pharmacists in 1999.

While he hasn’t lived full-time in New York for over a decade, he still pines for the metropolis. Mr. Leo now lives with his wife in Rhode Island, just south of Providence.

“I love the city,” he says, “but the cost-of-living part has forced me to never be able to stay for long. But I always hit a tipping point where I have to come back. Where I live now is beautiful: I’m near the beach, but the lack of stimuli after a while is not for me, and I find I need it back.”

OVER THE COURSE OF FIVE ALBUMS, Mr. Leo has tightened his grooves, streamlined his messages, and pruned what was a sprawling six-piece band—which he likened to “a full-on Dexy’s setup” (as in the Midnight Runners, complete with violin, if not the overalls)—into a taut three-piece. On Living, Mr. Leo is more confident in his guitar solos, and drummer Chris Wilson expands the rhythmic range of the Pharmacists. The sound is still often in the classic mod vein (the Who, the Jam), but it’s tempered by more crystallized ventures into punk thrash as well as blue-eyed soul and even reggae—not exactly the hottest sound in indie or mainstream rock.

Speaking of the hot sound of indie, two weeks ago, critical darlings Arcade Fire scored a No. 2 spot on the Billboard charts—an admirable accomplishment, but with just 92,000 copies sold, the event says more about the splintered state of pop music than about the band’s runaway success (also telling was that the No. 1 spot went to a greatest-hits album from a rapper dead 10 years and with only two albums to his credit). Just like Spin cover boys the Killers or mega-cult success story the Hold Steady, Arcade Fire has been compared to Bruce Springsteen. Yet while these bands have big sounds and all the touchstones of true Americana, there’s a spirit of action—something more than simple suburban dissatisfaction—missing.

Mr. Leo too has been compared to the Boss, and while his actual tunes rarely intersect with Mr. Springsteen’s brand of rumbling roots-rock—always tending to a leaner, faster, louder sound—he does come closer than any of those others to the spirit of resistance that made Mr. Springsteen so iconic. For his own part, Mr. Leo is confounded by the “completely self-obsessed mainstream.”

But if Mr. Leo’s dedication to his scruples might seem to border on the self-righteous, it isn’t simply a measured pose, nor something he and his band mates don’t struggle with. Not having health insurance sucks for them, too.

“I see myself as a kind of dinosaur in relation to all this,” he admitted. “My standing policy is that I probably won’t allow my music to be used in a commercial. But even I want to leave the door open. People always tell me, ‘Someone’s gonna get paid for that, so it might as well be you,’ but that seems pretty specious to me.”

Yet it seems unlikely he’ll find a decent match anytime soon: “I was looking at the Fall Out Boy MySpace page,” he said, adding quickly: “Don’t get me wrong—I wasn’t submitting a friend request or something … but the background wallpaper is all Honda logos, and I just thought that was incredible. I mean, how much identity are people willing to give up for that paycheck? What remains of the band?”

The idea of Chafee changing parties is not new and in some ways makes an awful lot of sense. He's often called a moderate Republican, but he's really a liberal - to the left of many Senate Democrats - and was the lone GOP vote against the Iraq war. He also publicly refused to vote for George W. Bush's re-election in 2004 and, more recently, opposed the Supreme Court nomination of Samuel Alito. Last week, he won the endorsement of Myrth York - a big-name Rhode Island Democrat who has thrice been her party's gubernatorial nominee. Needless to say, if had switched parties a year or two ago, Chafee would probably have had a much easier path to re-election in blue state Rhode Island.

But the timing on this is off. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has poured millions of dollars into Little Rhody this year, fortifying Chafee first from a life-and-death challenge from the right in the GOP primary and now against his Democratic foe, Sheldon Whitehouse. For Chafee now to stick it to the Republican Party - which has cheerfully brooked every one of his apostasies so that he will vote to give them control of the Senate - would take the term 'ingrate' to a new level.

Still, if Chafee hangs on tonight and the chamber ends up split at 50/50, who knows what inducements Democrats might offer Chafee? Actually, the scenario feels a little like the spring of 2001, when Democrats flipped another very liberal New England Republican, Vermonter James Jeffords, to break a 50/50 tie.

(By the way - wouldn't it have saved everyone considerable trouble if at this time last year Chafee and Joe Lieberman struck a deal to trade parties for one year?)

This is the new secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter, sworn in a few months ago. He opened up the Naval War College's conference on strategy that I attended Tuesday in Rhode Island, and when I heard that he was a former VP at Northrop Grumman, I was prepared to write him off.

Then he spoke. Winter is charming, fast on his feet and extremely impressive. He would seem to represent a new spirit in the Bush Administration, of do-good internationalism. For he stressed that a central function of the Navy is humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

At a subsequent press conference, a reporter asked why we should be using the Navy "for the new Peace Corps and new Red Cross around the world."

Winter responded with ease and vigor. "I would not tend to characterize it that way. We have a new set of responsibilities around the world. And this is a win/win. We're helping, and I think the sailors love doing this."

Navy people, he said, get a lot more satisfaction from bailing people out after the tsunami than from more traditional functions. Aye-aye, sir.

Gladly, thought Mr. Corrente. After 15 years of salivating over the prospect of making a movie about the superstar mayor who went down magnificently, yet tragically, in a blaze of corruption charges, the 46-year-old director is finally getting his chance. David Mamet has already banged out two drafts of a screenplay based on Michael Stanton's best-selling biography of Mr. Cianci, The Prince of Providence, and Paul Giamatti has all but signed on to play the leading role.

"He is a classic Shakespearean tragedy," said Mr. Corrente over the phone from his production office in Soho. "He's part Falstaff. But he's also a driven man who made a lot of things happen. But the things that made him incredibly successful are also the things that tore him apart-Huey Long to the nth degree."

The project is being shepherded through development at Mr. Corrente and producer Marisa Polvino's production company, GTO Pictures-formerly known as Iridium Entertainment. Beyond Mr. Cianci's character, there are two meaty roles for women: Mr. Cianci's ex-wife Sheila and his former steady girlfriend, Wendy Materna. And like all ambitious producers, they've set their sights high.

"Those two characters are also being written for wonderful actresses," said Ms. Polivno. "Like Uma Thurman," said Mr. Corrente, excitedly. "And Renée Zellweger," Ms. Polvino added. "Renée would probably be great for Sheila. And Uma would be awesome for Wendy." Mr. Corrente, having his own Cianci moment, said, "Buddy was no stranger to a tall, leggy blonde-or two."

The film will follow the mayor's story from boyhood to the big house. While mayor, Mr. Cianci is credited with transforming the once-maligned capital of Rhode Island from an industrial city into a cultural mecca. Mr. Cianci was a talented orator, with an easy sense of humor and impeccable timing. (For a time, he was even lampooned on Saturday Night Live as Jon Lovitz's "The Pathological Liar.") He was elected five times, more than any other mayor. To many, he was a flawed visionary. He was convicted of racketeering in the summer of 2002, and is currently serving over five years in a federal penitentiary. His twisted path is now in the capable hands of Mr. Mamet, whom Mr. Corrente has worked with before on American Buffalo. That 1996 film starred Dustin Hoffman-who for a time was interested in playing Mr. Cianci as well.

"You look at films like The Untouchables, The Verdict, Wag the Dog -a lot of politics, a lot of drama, a lot of intrigue-he deals with those characters really well," said Mr. Corrente of the acclaimed screenwriter. And it bears mentioning that Mr. Mamet's daughter attended Brown, and for a time went around wearing a "Free Buddy" T-shirt.

Mr. Corrente was born and raised in Rhode Island, and knew Mr. Cianci personally. Currently, he is planning a trip to the federal penitentiary to visit him, perhaps with Mr. Giamatti in tow.

"The story is so important to me, sometimes it's hard for me to talk about it because I oscillate between thinking it is one of the most important films I will ever make and who really gives a shit," said Mr. Corrente. "I have to liken it to Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull. I guarantee you if you had read the screenplay to Raging Bull in 1979, '78, you would have said, 'You're kidding me? Who the fuck wants to hear about this mean, nasty, abusive boxer who was nothing but a bully?' Buddy Cianci is far more fascinating than that character, but I think that the characters in the stories are similar in that it is Raging Bull set against the backdrop of politics, where a guy couldn't control his spleen. What made him great, really, was his downfall."

The film fits snugly into the nascent production company's slate of projects. Mr. Corrente will wrap post-production on Brooklyn Rules-formerly known as Nailed Right In-in the next couple of weeks. The film, which takes place in mid-80's Brooklyn, will be distributed by Lions Gate and stars Alec Baldwin as a mobster and Scott Caan, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jerry Ferrara (Entourage) as three Catholic friends dealing with temptation. Also in the works is a rather ambitious project: The producing partners hope to shoot 10 horror films in an abandoned armory in Rhode Island-all for the bargain-basement price of around $8 million. Mr. Corrente is slated to direct two of the horror flicks, and says that other well-known directors have expressed interest, including James Toback and Ed Burns. And they've also got Berkeley Connection, a drama starring Robert Duvall, Jennifer Connelly and Mr. Hoffman, and a suspense thriller, Full Proof, which they are producing along with Phillip Noyce at Warner Independent Pictures. In the end, they hope to have as much success as Mr. Cianci-without the criminality, of course.

Mr. Corrente said, "In jail, locked up, if [Buddy] could run for mayor of Providence, he would win, hands down, no question."

The ostensible purpose of last night's event was to raise money for Rhode Island's boyish Secretary of State, Matt Brown. (Yes, we said "Rhode Island," that small blip of a state between Connecticut and Massachusetts.) Brown is running for U.S. Senate in 2006, and until last week, he was considered the main alternative to Congressman Jim Langevin, the candidate who had been favored by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (i.e., Chuck Schumer & Co.). The difference between the two candidates? Brown is pro-choice. Langevin is anti-choice.

(Langevin, it should be noted, is not the only anti-choice candidate who was recruited to challenge a Republican incumbent. Robert Casey, Jr., Pennsylvania's state treasurer and the son of the state's former Governor Robert Casey, Sr., has been recruited to run against the scary Rick Santorum.)

Brown's pro-choice stance has made him something of a cause celebre among well-heeled reproductive rights advocates. Angry that the DSCC was backing Langevin - against the pro-choice Republican senator Lincoln Chafee, no less - they began actively bolstering Brown's campaign, raising money for him at events in Boston, Los Angeles, and points in between.

On March 8th - International Women's Day - Gloria Steinem spoke at an event at the home of Melissa Bomes and Adam Winkler (the son of movie producer Irving Winkler) in Los Angeles. Kate Michelman, former head of NARAL Pro-Choice America, recently held her own fund-raiser in DC. Meanwhile, Victoria Hopper, wife of actor Dennis Hopper, recruited 16 actors, producers and philanthropists to sign a letter urging Democratic women to donate to Brown's campaign - or call the DSCC to "object to their support for radically anti-choice candidate Rep. Langevin."

Robin Duke, a former ambassador to Norway and one of the doyennes of the reproductive rights movement, decided to do both. "I called Chuck [Schumer] on the phone - and I've supported him ever since he ran the first time for the senate," Ms. Duke told The Observer. "Then I called Ted Kennedy. I did not speak to Ted. I spoke to his administrative assistant and told her what I thought."

Last Wednesday, Jim Langevin announced that he would not be running for Senate in 2006. The reason, according to his spokesperson, Mike Guilfoyle, was that "he thinks he can do a better job for Rhode Island in the House." Guilfoyle stressed that Langevin's decision had nothing to do with Matt Brown's growing piggy-bank, and several other political insiders suggested that Langevin would have knocked Brown out in the primary. But that has not stopped women's rights advocates from claiming victory.

"I don't think there was any question that that was a factor in Langevin's decision not to run, that the pressure and the message and the money and the organized effort had an impact," said Kate Michelman, the former head of NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Meanwhile, some 45 big-spending pro-choicers gathered at The Century Club last night to celebrate. Other sponsors of the event included Hearst Entertainment president Bruce Paisner and almost-First Daughter Rebecca Lieberman. Tickets cost $500.

There's a pile of old newspapers on my desk, but I know I'll never get through it, so I'll just assume that the front pages are filled with pictures of Muslim spokesmen smiling over the fate of these murderers. And I assume that the chroniclers of complaint in the Middle East have revised their canon of crimes visited upon Muslims since the fall of Granada to include the antics of Saddam's darlings.

What's more, I assume that all those op-ed pages I'll never read are filled with contributions from Muslims pointing out that Iraqis are now more free to practice their faith than they were when Saddam terrorized them. I only wish I had the time to get through all my old newspapers; I'm sure I'd be delighted to read these wonderful pieces.

One bit of news that did find its way to my self-imposed exile concerned the nation's fine friends in Saudi Arabia, who, according to a Congressional investigation of 9/11, have been gleefully funding Islamic terrorist organizations for years. Of course, I won't find too many further details in the newspapers on my desk, as the specific charges were deleted from the panel's public report. National security, you see.

We do know, however, that a Saudi national by the name of Omar al-Bayoumi apparently gave heaps of money to two of the 9/11 hijackers. The report said that Mr. Bayoumi "had access to seemingly unlimited funding from Saudi Arabia." What's more, this upstanding fellow may have connections to the Saudi intelligence services; in any case, he's back in his homeland and unavailable for further comment. And it appears that he won't be answering the U.S. government's questions any time soon.

Again, I've been quite out of touch for more than a week, so I assume that I missed the nation's outrage and anger upon learning these not especially surprising revelations about our Saudi friends. I'm guessing that if I managed to work my way through the old papers, I'd find stories about the Bush administration's new plan to wean us from imported oil once and for all. I assume that the leaders of America's automotive industry have come forward to pledge that they will no longer shove S.U.V.'s down the throats of consumers, lest somebody brand them as traitors. After all, if big, hairy blond authors can get on television and accuse liberals of treason-not corruption, not stupidity, not arrogance, but treason-well, who's to say that somebody won't file similar charges against General Motors, Ford and Chrysler?

I'm sure these stories must have made their way into the papers while I was gone. I almost wish I had picked up a newspaper or watched a little television, just to hear about the nation's determination to cast aside its four-wheeled indulgences in the name of national security. I spent lots of time on the interstate highways between Virginia and Rhode Island in late July, and I have to believe that the owners of all those unsafe, oil-guzzling monstrosities I saw are now reflecting on the part they've played in making this nation more dependent than ever on the Saudis.

I'm sure that none of this is new to you, who have been able to follow these events more closely than I have. You know all about the billions the Bush administration has set aside to fund the most important national-security initiative since 9/11-the plan to raise standards for fuel efficiency, to eliminate the kinds of loopholes that gave birth to the S.U.V. in the first place and to build-soon, like next year-an inexpensive car that will run on something other than oil. You know about the pledges the auto industry has made to cooperate in making the nation more secure-and not through a wider distribution of the self-indulgent Hummer. You know about the S.U.V. owners who are lobbying the administration to create tax incentives that will allow them to junk their personal national-security threats for more efficient vehicles-even if they're made in Japan.

I'm just sorry I missed it all, and I regret that, given the pressures of time, I'll never even get around to reading that pile of newspapers which contains all this exciting news.