On not winning the Hugo

After wasting hours at a superbly inefficient ticket-distribution system (and never getting a ticket), I learn today that Hugo Chávez is not coming to New York after all -- so to all those people who persisted in waiting hours longer than I, and got their tickets, Sorry! The official reason is some suddenly discovered mechanical difficulty in the presidential airplane, but I can imagine several other reasons why el presidente might want to stay close to home.