Hi all.....

I've been away from my Sun-Times blog for a few days: I flew to Costa Rica on Friday for a family wedding and then to Los Angeles for the screening of a new documentary on the Obama campaign, "By the People" by Amy Rice and Alicia Sams, where I am in a few scenes. The movie will be on HBO on Nov. 3. More on "By the People" in later posts.

Yes, I know today, Thursday is the "beer summit" at the White House with President Obama, Harvard Prof. Henry Louis Gates and Cambridge (Mass.) police Sgt. James Crowley. Yes, I saw the Jon Stewart bit featuring my question to Obama last week that got this whole thing started.

I'll be on MSNBC's "Hardball" this afternoon to discuss the "beer summit."

Hope to catch-up with everything very soon.