the buzz log

What goes up must come down. That's true of everything, including the Buzz. Take a look at the rises and falls during this past weekend.

Praying for a rise in buzz
The laws of physics dominate buzz as much as they do any natural phenomenon: What goes up must come down. But try to tell that to Barack Obama. His international tour—a trip through the Middle East and Europe, including a buzzy speech in Berlin—dominated headlines throughout the week, and the weekend news clips kept the spotlight acutely focused on the presidential candidate.

The website Politico's attempt to measure the impact of Obama's travels drew a healthy round of interest in the Buzzosphere. Was the trip enough to make the first-term senator appear presidential? It's too soon to see any results in the polls. Even if Obama's prayers at the Western Wall in Jerusalem were supposed to be private, we're sure his supporters couldn't have wished for more buzz.

For every Obama action, one should expect an equal and opposite McCain reaction. Rival John McCain chose to criticize where Obama didn't go on his travels, generating a parallel universe of online views. There's little doubt that the laws of politics hold as strong a sway as those of nature in the Buzz.

Praying for a fall in prices
The rise and fall of fuel kept mouses clicking and fingers typing this weekend as well. Those of us dependent on our wheels kept queries for "cheapest gas" in the list of most sought-after search results. And thanks to a two-day dip, when the price of a gallon of gas dropped below $4, U.S. consumers seem to be wondering if prayers and the teensiest drop in demand may yet have a gravitation pull on the price of petrol.