Jason Mraz’s new album came out Tuesday, and I was in line at Target to buy “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.” on Tuesday night. Being iPod-less, I stuck the CD in my portable player, turned off the light and went to bed.

I was not impressed.

How was this possible? Mraz is my favorite artist out there. I didn’t understand it.

The next day, I inserted Mraz into my car CD player, where it’s all I’ve listened to in the car since. As I type, he’s singing to me out of my computer at work. And, in this process, I’ve figured out why the album was so bad on Tuesday night: This music is NOT meant to be listened to in bed. Pre-sleep music should be mellow, sweet and soft. “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.” has mellow moments. It has sweet and soft moments. But as a whole, it is neither mellow nor sweet nor soft.

And that’s OK.

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Miami Herald blogger James Burnett raises an incredibly interesting point in a post he called “Barack Obama is white!” Obama is the black candidate. That’s what everyone calls him, and he doesn’t correct them. Sounds about right, no?

Actually, Obama is biracial — white mom, black dad. To call Obama black is technically incorrect, Burnett writes:

“If my better-paid peers insist on continuing to refer to him as the black candidate, instead of a biracial candidate — on those occasions when his appearance is relevant to the conversation — then I am going to have to start referring to him as the white candidate.”

I have to wonder at the thought-process behind the labeling. Do the media call him black because he looks black? If John McCain’s father was black and McCain looked just like he does, would we call him black?

It appears that people with even the slightest percentage of black in them are identified with that race, even if the other 99 percent is full-blooded Irish or Scandinavian or some other über white nationality. I don’t understand it.

I would have to say we should be called whatever we consider ourselves. After reading “Dreams from My Father,” Obama does seem to identify with his black heritage; however, he was raised by his white grandparents. If Obama doesn’t mind being called black, I don’t know that Burnett or anyone else should care, either.

Does it bother you that Obama is referred to as the black candidate? If not, would you be bothered if others referred to him as a white candidate because, technically, he’s equal parts each?

(Photo: The Associated Press)
Obama is joined by former Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards at a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., Wednesday, when Edwards endorsed Obama.

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BY THE WAY (4:55 p.m.) — An interesting column about Obama’s mother.

When you get a break today head into your local Dunkin’ Donuts for a free iced coffee any time between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Throw in an extra buck for a doughnut, and you’ve got yourself a mighty sweet snack.

That being said, feel free to regale stories of your favorite doughnuts here. I’m a fan of Dunkin’s chocolate glazed ones. Mmmm.

OK, this “man’s POV about the “Sex and the City” film is dumb. I understand the columnist’s hatred for all things Carrie and Manolo, I really do. But does he realize that this movie is not, in fact, targeted toward him? Yes, “summer movie season” often translates into “movies for men,” but truly, this is not the case 100 percent of the time.

If anything, this column proves that there are nowhere near enough films geared toward women only. Even lame-o romantic comedies often try to squeeze a little guy-friendliness in there to appear the appropriate date movie. SATC is not a date movie. It’s a women movie.

Girls, the only way you can get away with taking your significant other to this film is if you are a lesbian. Heteros, if you take your men to see this, be ashamed. Go with a girlfriend. Go with a sister. Go with your mother. Go by yourself if everyone is busy. Mr. The World Revolves Around Me columnist does make a valid point: to drag a man to the film would be cruel. Similarly, gentleman, to act like the film’s very existence is an offense to your manhood is pompous.

All films do not, in fact, have to cater to your enjoyment of blood and guts. Get over yourself, and have a fabulous day.

(Photo: The Associated Press)
Ignoring for a moment the fact that Sarah Jessica Parker appears to have a bridal bouquet on her head, I personally am looking forward to seeing “Sex and the City” … with my girl friends. Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall and Parker arrive at the world premier of SATC at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on Monday.

I got the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly yesterday, and I marveled at the cover: A portrait of an actor and actress portraying the president and first lady for an Oliver Stone film out later this year, “W.” (Say it right: DUB-ya)

The caption pointed out Elizabeth Banks as Laura, and beneath the perfect coif and pink grin, I saw her. (Banks, if you didn’t know, was one of the cuties in “Definitely, Maybe” and also played baby Mama to J.D’s Sam in “Scrubs.”)

George Bush was id’ed as Josh Brolin. I couldn’t place the actor immediately. That couldn’t be the guy in “No Country for Old Men.”

Actually, he could, and he was. For the life of me, I cannot find Brolin in the face of his Bush. Can you?

Take a gander, then tell me about other actors who astonish you in how much they disappear behind a character.

I love road trips. Given the price of gas, one would imagine my interest would wane this summer, but it hasn’t. The Chicago Tribune ran a pretty cool feature in its travel section yesterday that looked at nearby vacation spots — complete with total mileage and average gas cost.

I know a number of DPC readers are fellow Midwesterners, so I have to ask: Where are your favorite Midwestern vacation spots? I don’t have any road trips planned this summer, aside from a Zanesville, Ohio, trip in late August for a friend’s wedding. Where are your favorite stops? On the top of my list currently are Milwaukee and St. Louis, both to see their art museums.

Call me sheltered, but I’ve never seen any of the Indiana Jones movies (unless you count a scene in one of them where Indy has to correctly spell God’s name to cross a bridge … my youth group liked to show that scene as an example of faith).

A travesty, according to plenty of friends when they find out that this block of cinematic history is missing from my knowledge bank. Even without that background, I still find this to be pretty interesting: Apparently, the most recent installment, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” is based on an actual Mayan legend.

It’s fantastical, to be sure, and it goes to prove that, in some cases, you just can’t make this stuff up.

Tell me about any legends or happenings that you’d like to see made into a film. Make sure it’s one of those stories that others find completely unbelievable. I’d vote for my dad’s ghost story, a freaky incidence that happened to him and a buddy at work 20-some years ago. It involves nooses and two-ton machines moving by themselves in 10 minutes.

(Photos: The Associated Press)
Above, Lancadon priest K’in Garcia kneels over a crystal skull at the Mayan ruins of Palenque, Mexico, in March. There is a legend that the ancient Maya possessed 13 crystal skulls which, when united, hold the power to saving the Earth. The tale inspired the latest Indiana Jones movie, due on May 22.
Below, Shia LaBeouf and Harrison Ford are shown in a scene from “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”

I am so confused with what’s going on with Scrubs. NBC advertised last night’s finale as a series finale, but it didn’t make a huge deal about it, as networks tend to do with series finales. I’ve heard speculation that ABC might pick it up, and after last night’s episode, I sure hope so.

The 30-minutes were told largely through a fairy-tale, which was a cool thing to do — very Scrubs-esque. Kelso in horns was perfect, though Turla was kind of lame.

In any case, as far as series finales go, it was completely lacking. Where did Kelso come from? I thought he had been fired. And talk about stretching for material — the writers had J.D. and Elliott talk about that almost-kiss from the end of last season. It wasn’t believable at all.

For a season finale, the fairy-tale storeline worked fine. To wrap up a seven-year series, it blew. Did you watch it? What’d you think? Do you know anything more than I do about the show’s fate?

There’s only one episode of America’s Next Top Model left, and as happy as I am with the top three, I’m pretty surprised, too.

1) Anya is left. She’s always been a judge favorite, but I dread to hear her Cover Girl commercial. Her accent is too ugly. I guess they made Danielle’s drawl work in cycle 6, but at least that was cute.

2) Whitney is left. Hurray for a plus-size model making it further than any of the others before her — Tocarra, Diane, Sarah, Diana … whom else am I missing? If we’re talking flat out beauty, Whitney is by far the hottest girl left.

3) And then there’s Fatima. Also a judge favorite, I’m sure I shouldn’t be surprised that she’s left. Unfortunately, I absolutely do not like the girl. Yes, the “mean one” got kicked off last night in Dominique, but I respect her — she was upfront about her snottiness. Fatima acts like she’s an angel but is just as rude and judgmental as Dominique. I suppose she’s also a weaker person than Dominique, hence the act. I definitely respect the straight-up girl more.

After I revised my top three, I guessed it would be:

3) Stacy-Ann
2) Whitney
1) Anya

I hope Fatima doesn’t make it to the finale, but I suspect she will outshine Whitney, which could be problematic; I think Anya could beat Whitney in a final run-way walk-down, but I don’t know if she could beat Fatima.

Did you see last night’s episode? What did you think? That photo shoot was terrible. When the top four women all fail, that means the idea behind the shoot is lame. Also, who do you think will be the top two? Who will win?

(Sorry Paul — Your hottie Kat got kicked off last week.)

I am disappointed to say it, but wow, D’Archie blew his competition away last night, no? I’d put his “Stand By Me” and “Love Me Tender” up there with his “Imagine.” The first gave me chills, and the second brought a tear. Good job, D’Archie.

As for the other three … Well … OK, so Syesha did great with both of her songs. As the final girl left in the competition, she should have no problem advancing to the top three. Dave Cook’s “Baba O’Reilly” was wonderful, “Hungry Like the Wolf,” boring.

And then there’s Mr. Castro. I read an Entertainment Weekly behind-the-scenes story yesterday written before last week’s elimination (so Brooke hadn’t been booted yet.) These words actually came out of Jason’s mouth:

‘’What happens happens. I’ll sing, and if people like it, they like it. And if they don’t, they don’t. I’m kind of ready to go home. … It’s been overwhelming. I got 150 balloons yesterday delivered to the studio because people heard I was sick last week. That’s cool, but that’s just weird.'’

Why would voters choose to keep in a contestant who doesn’t want to be there? I have to wonder if he didn’t “forget” his words on purpose so he would get sent home. Heck, if he’s so miserable, why not just drop out? No contestant has done that (has one?), and Lord knows it would make great headlines. I wonder if Fox has the contestants sign that they won’t leave once they make it past a certain point?

In any case, that Jason Castro should leave is a no-brainer. However, whether he WILL leave remains to be seen. Cuttie hippie boy has quite the following. Who do you think will actually go home tonight?

(Photo: The Associated Press)
Something here is not like the others, and yet I have a sneaking suspicion this will be America’s top three idols … From left: AI contestants David Archuleta, Jason Castro and David Cook arrive at the Britweek launch party at the British Consul Generals’ residence in L.A. last month.

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On an unrelated note, I’ve not been shy regarding my lack of interest in Grey’s Anatomy in recent seasons. (When Izzy got annoying, I stopped watching.) I’ve never liked Meredith, but this week’s EW cover is stunning. It’s amazing what a beautiful woman on a magazine cover can do for a show — I’m actually thinking of giving it a watch this week.