Tuesday, December 09, 2008
WTF
I have no idea what this movie is, or is about. But I love the trailer. Also, if I went to India (which I hope to do one day), would I see a big stone arch that said "India" welcoming me? Because that would be awesome.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Giving a Man a Crumb
Ok ABC, here's the deal: Lost is over a month away from coming back. That's a long time from now. I've got two holidays, two plane flights, one wedding, one tequila party, and one sister coming home and then leaving to go back to Japan again before I get to see the first episode on January 21st. I mean, that's next freaking year, man! Think about it this way: Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President before Lost premieres. Anyway ABC, I really think you should knock off the teasing. It's really not very nice. Just let us try and forget all about it until after New Year's, then when we start getting psyched about it it won't be so far away. Thanks for listening.
Friday, November 28, 2008
TBA 2008
My lack of posting since the election has had a little to do with the fact that I'm working every day, but more to do with my decision to take all the footage I shot of TBA this year and cut it together into a short retrospective. I'd never done anything like this before, and it took me a little while to figure out what I was doing. Nevertheless, I'm pleased with the result. I've posted it here so you see for yourself the yahoos I play with. Carleton people will recognize Java Fortran, Dr. Evil, Pat Smith and myself (although I'm only in two scenes, since I was taping the rest of the time). Anyone who wants to watch this without straining their eyes can get in touch with me, and I'll see if I can get them the file on cd or dvd.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
O Freaking Bama
I realized it about 30 minutes after Ohio was announced for Obama by CNN. At the time, I was arguing the merits of Obama v. McCain with a friend of my sister's, so I only took time to turn to the TV, yell YES! at the top of my lungs, and then go back to my point. A half hour later, I realized that Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania had all been called for Obama, and he was sitting at 207 electoral votes before CA, OR, WA and HI were counted. When I took the time to add them up (no small feat considering the booze I had consumed), I realized that, barring the most insane of miracles, Obama had just become the President-Elect.
Holy S#*t.
I can't believe it. In 2004 I wanted to be able to vote for this man, and the fact that he's actually going to be the next President blows my mind. The fact that his grandmother died a day before being able to see this must tear at his heart.
I can't remember exactly what the line from his speech was, but I believe it was something along the lines of "a new day has dawned in American leadership." For America, and for the world, I have hope that Obama will deliver on his promise. Today, America decided to act on that hope. Go Obama.
Holy S#*t.
I can't believe it. In 2004 I wanted to be able to vote for this man, and the fact that he's actually going to be the next President blows my mind. The fact that his grandmother died a day before being able to see this must tear at his heart.
I can't remember exactly what the line from his speech was, but I believe it was something along the lines of "a new day has dawned in American leadership." For America, and for the world, I have hope that Obama will deliver on his promise. Today, America decided to act on that hope. Go Obama.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
My prediction
Let there be gloating or mocking.
Obama by 10 points nationally, 350+ in the electoral college.
Franken wins the MN senate seat by 2 points. The Dems get 58 seats, enabling them to burn Joe Lieberman, and not in effigy.
Man, I hope I'm right.
Obama by 10 points nationally, 350+ in the electoral college.
Franken wins the MN senate seat by 2 points. The Dems get 58 seats, enabling them to burn Joe Lieberman, and not in effigy.
Man, I hope I'm right.
Election Eve
I have several posts I want to get to, including a review of Kevin Smith's new film, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and an account of the Blues Traveler concert I went to last night. But I feel I should address the moment we find ourselves at right now.
No one knows the future, and those who guess are wrong much more often then they're right. But I find it hard to shake the feeling that my vote tomorrow may be the most imporant one I'll ever cast. This is far from certain: just about everything is far from certain right now. The economic, military and diplomatic challenges that face the country in general and the next president in particular are staggering-probably the worst since FDR died and Harry Truman took office. Truman met his challenges by combining common sense with an extraordinary dedication to getting the correct information, either by learning it himself or by getting the advice of people he trusted. It is perhaps this that gives me so much confidence in Obama: that he will make his choices based on the best information available and that he will listen to dissenting opinions and take them into account. Neither Obama nor McCain will be able to deliver everything they've promised during the campaign, but no president ever does. The next president will face ridiculous challenges. I'm not sure McCain is up to the task. I believe Obama is. Do I know he is? No. No one does. But I do believe it. Go vote.
You can read The Economist's endorsement of Obama here.
You can read Andrew Sullivan's final pre-election statement here.
No one knows the future, and those who guess are wrong much more often then they're right. But I find it hard to shake the feeling that my vote tomorrow may be the most imporant one I'll ever cast. This is far from certain: just about everything is far from certain right now. The economic, military and diplomatic challenges that face the country in general and the next president in particular are staggering-probably the worst since FDR died and Harry Truman took office. Truman met his challenges by combining common sense with an extraordinary dedication to getting the correct information, either by learning it himself or by getting the advice of people he trusted. It is perhaps this that gives me so much confidence in Obama: that he will make his choices based on the best information available and that he will listen to dissenting opinions and take them into account. Neither Obama nor McCain will be able to deliver everything they've promised during the campaign, but no president ever does. The next president will face ridiculous challenges. I'm not sure McCain is up to the task. I believe Obama is. Do I know he is? No. No one does. But I do believe it. Go vote.
You can read The Economist's endorsement of Obama here.
You can read Andrew Sullivan's final pre-election statement here.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The Youtube Election
With voting (or the end of voting) only a week away, and SNL, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and every other comic about to lose their free-comedy meal ticket, I thought I would post my favorite videos from this election season. I'm not including actual speeches, otherwise Obama's More Perfect Union Speech would be in here, but instead videos that I thought were alternately awesome, hilarious, touching or disturbing.
(Also, I think that if you deconstruct the Hilary For You and Me video you'll come up with a fairly comprehensive picture of why she lost the primary.)
(Also, I think that if you deconstruct the Hilary For You and Me video you'll come up with a fairly comprehensive picture of why she lost the primary.)
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Awesome
See, makers of 17/20ths of the commercials out there? Being good and funny while getting your point across isn't so hard.
Martin chimes in
Roland Martin takes a solid shot at Palin for talking a lot of trash without confronting any tough questions of her own. Martin brings up her most egregious statement, that the report on troopergate cleared her of any legal or ethical wrongdoing. Pay attention, now, Sarah: the report cleared you of legal wrongdoing, but stated that you violated the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. I could be insane, but that's pretty much the definition of ethical wrongdoing.
Time's analysis of the troopergate report, which delves into the report in more detail, can be found here.
Time's analysis of the troopergate report, which delves into the report in more detail, can be found here.
Wackjobs
I've never really clips from al Jazeera before, but this is pretty well done, in the sense that if you watch it you get the sense that America is populated by a bunch of dumb, ignorant hicks. I can't believe I share a country with these people.
I have to give major props to the guys waving the Obama signs along the road to the rally. Given the makeup of that crowd, I don't know if I'd have the courage to do that.
I also need to give credit to Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, since that's where I saw this. It's an excellent site, and he posts a lot of interesting political coverage.
I have to give major props to the guys waving the Obama signs along the road to the rally. Given the makeup of that crowd, I don't know if I'd have the courage to do that.
I also need to give credit to Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, since that's where I saw this. It's an excellent site, and he posts a lot of interesting political coverage.
Electoral
First let me say I think the Electoral College is outdated and should be abolished, especially in the wake of what happened in 2000. However, I'm not surprised that it hasn't been, nor am I surprised at the lack of movement in that direction. Earlier this summer I read an article on the possibility of McCain winning the college but Obama winning the popular vote-and not by a little, like Gore did in '00, but by several million. At the time is wasn't hard to imagine: Obama winning big in the states he took and losing only by a little in the states he lost. The article quoted an anonymous campaign (McCain's, I think) source as saying that the American public could take an election like that (meaning 2000) once every hundred years, but not twice in eight. I agreed at the time, and I still do, but it's starting to look more and more like that won't happen.
On and off for the past week or two I've been fiddling with CNN's Electoral Map Calculator. It's pretty cool-it let's you assign the states to either candidate, and starts it out based one what their current poll numbers show: safe Obama/McCain, leaning Obama/McCain, or tossup. Before the market blew up I thought there were four possibilities: Obama wins big, Obama wins small, McCain wins small, or a tie, with Obama winning small being the most likely possibility. But over the last couple of weeks Obama winning with an electorally significant margin has become a greater possibility. While there's a decent bit of time left yet, and victory is by no means assured, the math is starting to look imposing for McCain.
CNN's map (again, guided by their current poll numbers) has 264 electoral votes safe or leaning Obama. This includes Maine, who gives 2 votes to the statewide winner, and then one each to the winner of the two congressional districts. I've heard McCain has a shot at one of the district votes (the 2nd, I think), so let's say 263 for Obama. This includes the western seaboard and Hawaii, NM, MN, IA, WI, MI, IL and everything north of DC (including PA). This is hardly an optimistic projection, and it means all Obama would have to do to win is take OH, FL, VA, CO, NC, IN or MO. CNN lists all of these at tossups, but you can get more detail from pollster on each one of those key races. I would be shocked if Obama didn't come away with at least one.
So the question starts becoming how many electoral votes can Obama get? Fivethirtyeight.com lists the most common Obama totals as 375, 380,383, 338 and 381. Personally, when I go through the map I end up coming out somewhere in the 330s. There's one thing in the back of my mind, though. There's been a lot of talk recently about the Bradley effect, which basically is the fear that people are saying they're going to vote for Obama out of fear of appearing racist. The race that keeps coming back to me, however, is the MN gubernatorial race in 1998, when Jesse Ventura won a three-way race because of his ability to get non-traditional voters to the polls. This meant that going into election day, polls of likely voters that had been put in the field hadn't given him much of a chance. Now, I have no idea if or how the 2008 national polls take likely vs non-likely voter into account. But since Obama's candidacy, backed by an excellent organization, turned a lot of first-time voters out to the polls in the primary, it's a good bet that they'll do so in the general (something backed up by the significant new voter registration numbers that have started to come out across the country). If this gives his election-day numbers an unexpected bump, we could see something even more remarkable than anyone expects.
On and off for the past week or two I've been fiddling with CNN's Electoral Map Calculator. It's pretty cool-it let's you assign the states to either candidate, and starts it out based one what their current poll numbers show: safe Obama/McCain, leaning Obama/McCain, or tossup. Before the market blew up I thought there were four possibilities: Obama wins big, Obama wins small, McCain wins small, or a tie, with Obama winning small being the most likely possibility. But over the last couple of weeks Obama winning with an electorally significant margin has become a greater possibility. While there's a decent bit of time left yet, and victory is by no means assured, the math is starting to look imposing for McCain.
CNN's map (again, guided by their current poll numbers) has 264 electoral votes safe or leaning Obama. This includes Maine, who gives 2 votes to the statewide winner, and then one each to the winner of the two congressional districts. I've heard McCain has a shot at one of the district votes (the 2nd, I think), so let's say 263 for Obama. This includes the western seaboard and Hawaii, NM, MN, IA, WI, MI, IL and everything north of DC (including PA). This is hardly an optimistic projection, and it means all Obama would have to do to win is take OH, FL, VA, CO, NC, IN or MO. CNN lists all of these at tossups, but you can get more detail from pollster on each one of those key races. I would be shocked if Obama didn't come away with at least one.
So the question starts becoming how many electoral votes can Obama get? Fivethirtyeight.com lists the most common Obama totals as 375, 380,383, 338 and 381. Personally, when I go through the map I end up coming out somewhere in the 330s. There's one thing in the back of my mind, though. There's been a lot of talk recently about the Bradley effect, which basically is the fear that people are saying they're going to vote for Obama out of fear of appearing racist. The race that keeps coming back to me, however, is the MN gubernatorial race in 1998, when Jesse Ventura won a three-way race because of his ability to get non-traditional voters to the polls. This meant that going into election day, polls of likely voters that had been put in the field hadn't given him much of a chance. Now, I have no idea if or how the 2008 national polls take likely vs non-likely voter into account. But since Obama's candidacy, backed by an excellent organization, turned a lot of first-time voters out to the polls in the primary, it's a good bet that they'll do so in the general (something backed up by the significant new voter registration numbers that have started to come out across the country). If this gives his election-day numbers an unexpected bump, we could see something even more remarkable than anyone expects.
Monday, October 13, 2008
"More fun than Shark Week!"
I've liked Nathan Fillion ever since I saw the first episode of Firefly, so I'm pretty psyched about this new cop show that's coming out on ABC. Granted, it looks a little like Bones, but since Fillion's last show got canned before I could start watching it, I'm hoping this one is good enough to hang around. It certainly looks like it.
RS article
If you have 15-20 minutes, take some time and read this article about McCain that's coming out in the latest Rolling Stone. It's long-10 web pages-but it's in-depth and an important look at McCain's behavior during his life. Essentially it's closer look at the biographical story the GOP has made so much of during the campaign. It's a damning article, but well-supported and thoroughly researched. I wasn't voting for McCain before, so it didn't change my vote, but it did change my opinion of him as a public servant. I recommend reading it.
Scary as hell
If you've been paying any attention to election news over the last week, you've heard about some of the stuff McCain supporters have been shouting during his (and Palin's) rallies. Someone will wait for him to pause, then shout "terrorist", "traitor", "off with his head", and other completely insane comments. If you need to see some of the wackjobs I'm talking about, you can check out this, this and this.
For me, the scary part was that the last clip was from a town hall meeting that McCain held in Lakeville, MN, just a few miles north of Carleton, where I went to college. The crazies have invaded my own state. Damn it. Not only that, but this Star Tribune article quoted the Obama-is-an-Arab lady as saying after the meeting
"You can't trust Barack Hussein Obama because he is a Muslim and a terrorist."
Now, I'm a big Obama guy. I have no problem with people supporting McCain, but my hope would be that they do so because of some policy stance he takes or some conception of his leadership skills, despite the fact that I may disagree with them about said policies or skills. However, I am seriously disturbed by these morons who are so willfully ignorant that they believe Obama is an Arab, a Muslim, a terrorist or whatever other totally false, loony charges they level against him. And now, on election day, my vote for Obama will be cancelled out by this crazy woman's vote for McCain. My only hope is that her inability to discern truth from fiction will cause her to spend election day hiding in a field after hearing a rebroadcast of War of the Worlds.
For me, the scary part was that the last clip was from a town hall meeting that McCain held in Lakeville, MN, just a few miles north of Carleton, where I went to college. The crazies have invaded my own state. Damn it. Not only that, but this Star Tribune article quoted the Obama-is-an-Arab lady as saying after the meeting
"You can't trust Barack Hussein Obama because he is a Muslim and a terrorist."
Now, I'm a big Obama guy. I have no problem with people supporting McCain, but my hope would be that they do so because of some policy stance he takes or some conception of his leadership skills, despite the fact that I may disagree with them about said policies or skills. However, I am seriously disturbed by these morons who are so willfully ignorant that they believe Obama is an Arab, a Muslim, a terrorist or whatever other totally false, loony charges they level against him. And now, on election day, my vote for Obama will be cancelled out by this crazy woman's vote for McCain. My only hope is that her inability to discern truth from fiction will cause her to spend election day hiding in a field after hearing a rebroadcast of War of the Worlds.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Skyscraper times a billion
I don't know how many man-made objects can be seen from space, mostly because I've never been there. I'm pretty sure the Great Wall of China is the only one, because the other possibilities have involved someone calling the person who said it an idiot. But I'm pretty sure that this could be seen from space, since it would actually go from earth to space. If they could pull this off it would probably be one of the greatest feats of human engineering of all time, and just the possibility of seeing it happen in our lifetimes is kinda cool.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Branagh's next project
According to this Variety story, Kenneth Branagh is in negotiations to direct Marvel Studio's Thor, which is set for 2010. Presumably the film will introduce the character and set him up for The Avengers, which is due out a year later.
I'm cautiously psyched about this choice. Yes, Branagh hasn't flexed his action chops in awhile, but neither had Bryan Singer before he did X-Men. Branagh has talent. How it will translate to this material is a question, but I'm feeling pretty good about my belief that he won't make a crappy movie.
I'm cautiously psyched about this choice. Yes, Branagh hasn't flexed his action chops in awhile, but neither had Bryan Singer before he did X-Men. Branagh has talent. How it will translate to this material is a question, but I'm feeling pretty good about my belief that he won't make a crappy movie.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Woohoo!
I've been living and dying (mostly dying) with the Twins over the past week as they try to make the playoffs. But in the fantasy baseball world the season ended yesterday, and I pulled out a 1st place finish in both of my head-to-head leagues, despite finishing 4th and 5th in the regular season. So no matter what happens in reality, and least I have those two fantasy victories. Now if I could just figure out how to win a roto league...
Newman
I like movies, but I can't claim to be a film buff. I can't walk you down Newman's imdb page and discuss point-for-point the finer aspects of his lesser-known roles. I've only seen Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid once, I've seen most of Cool Hand Luke but not all of it (and on tv, no less), and I even haven't ever really sat down and watched Slapshot. But after hearing that he died Friday after battling cancer, I started thinking about some of the films I had seen him in. I enjoyed Butch Cassidy the one time I saw it. The Sting is awesome, and probably responsible for my love of the artfully concealed late reveal. The Hudsucker Proxy is my favorite Cohen Bros. movie, due in no small part to Sidney J. Mussburger. And Road to Perdition, his last physical movie role, is a fantastic and massively overlooked film. Newman is notable in all of these films because he stands out, because his character stays with you after the credits. He doesn't steal his scenes, either-his performance make the whole movie better. Obviously he hadn't done a film since '02, and his health made it unlikely that he'd have done any new major films. But it still sucks to lose someone that good.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Why Wait?
More and more, the internet is where I'm getting my TV from these days. Take the last three days. Monday I bought the season premiere of House from Amazon Unbox. Yesterday I caught up on the summer finale of Burn Notice and the season premiere of How I Met Your Mother, both of which I had missed when they aired. Then today I happen upon the news that the season premiere of Chuck, which will air next Monday, is already online and ready to watch. So I did. Not only is this freaking awesome, but three of the four were free, and those had less commercials than an episode that was traditionally broadcast.
Now that's just good stuff.
Now that's just good stuff.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Chicago Heavyweights
Here are some photos from this past weekend, which I spent in/outside of Chicago playing in a frisbee tournament. I apparently have the tendancy to have funny expressions on my face when I'm playing, which I didn't realize until
I looked back at some of the shots taken of me while playing ultimate. In any case, it was an excellent time. The amazing view is courtesy of Java's aunt, who was nice enough to let five of us occupy her 18th floor condo just north of downtown. I also highly recommend Karyn's Cooked, a vegan-only (or mostly, I'm 
not sure) restaurant that I have now eaten at twice. It's quite good.
I looked back at some of the shots taken of me while playing ultimate. In any case, it was an excellent time. The amazing view is courtesy of Java's aunt, who was nice enough to let five of us occupy her 18th floor condo just north of downtown. I also highly recommend Karyn's Cooked, a vegan-only (or mostly, I'm 
not sure) restaurant that I have now eaten at twice. It's quite good. Thursday, September 04, 2008
Why I love the Daily Show
You won't see this on any network or cable news show. But you should. Because this is what's wrong with politics. Is there any way someone can show these people a tape of this and force them to answer for their idiocy?
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Daily Show in St. Paul
I didn't know the Daily Show was coming to St. Paul early enough to get tickets. Damn. At least I still get to watch it.
In any case, check out this billboard that the Daily Show set up to welcome people to the RNC. Now that's humor.
In any case, check out this billboard that the Daily Show set up to welcome people to the RNC. Now that's humor.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Obama=Palin?
Sullivan makes an excellent point here: comparing Obama to Palin is, at this point, ridiculous. On paper it might work, depending on how you equate her "executive" experience with Obama's legislative experience. But you'd have to ignore two things: First, the fact that since being elected to the Senate (and even before then), Obama has engaged the major issues the country is facing on the national stage. Where are Palin's major policy addresses on...well, anything? From what I've seen so far, she hasn't engaged any foreign policy issues in any meaningful way.
The second thing you'd need to ignore is the last 18 months, that is, Obama's campaign for president. The way he's conducted himself during the primary and the way his team dismantled the Clintons. You want executive experience? Running what may be the smoothest campaign in modern politics and defeating an entrenched opponent with almost every initial advantage takes serious leadership ability. I'm not saying that Palin couldn't have some serious chops (although I'd be surprised if she had anything close to Obama's level of ability), but at this point she's an unknown. Even Obama had four years in DC and some of the best people in the business on his team to get him to this point. And by most accounts it still took him several debates to get to the point where he could compete with Hilary. Palin has the Everest of learning curves ahead of her right now.
The second thing you'd need to ignore is the last 18 months, that is, Obama's campaign for president. The way he's conducted himself during the primary and the way his team dismantled the Clintons. You want executive experience? Running what may be the smoothest campaign in modern politics and defeating an entrenched opponent with almost every initial advantage takes serious leadership ability. I'm not saying that Palin couldn't have some serious chops (although I'd be surprised if she had anything close to Obama's level of ability), but at this point she's an unknown. Even Obama had four years in DC and some of the best people in the business on his team to get him to this point. And by most accounts it still took him several debates to get to the point where he could compete with Hilary. Palin has the Everest of learning curves ahead of her right now.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Who?
McCain's choice of Sarah Palin for VP clearly indicates a desire to gain the vote of my friend Java, who grew up in Alaska and who worked on a commercial fishing boat for two summers (Palin's husband is/was a commercial fisherman). I think that's really the only vote he was looking to pick up here.
That's not true, of course. McCain clearly wanted to accomplish three things with this pick: First, mollify the right. Palin (reportedly) has solid conservative credentials, both socially and economically. Second, he wanted to cement his own position as a maverick. Palin is definitely a non-traditional pick that gives the Republican ticket its own claim on history (but only if they win). Third, McCain wanted to go after disgruntled Hilary voters. Pawlently and Romney don't help McCain with two of those three.
It's a risky move. McCain has essentially sacrificed his ability to make the experience argument against Obama by nominating someone who's younger and has less foreign policy experience. She could get destroyed by Biden in the debates. And I don't buy the argument I heard on CNN about injecting energy and excitement into the convention next week. Curiosity I buy, but not excitement. She's also under investigation for the firing of an official who refused to fire her sister's ex-husband, a state trooper. I have to assume that the McCain vetters looked into that enough to be satisfied that there's nothing actionable there, but the possibility remains of the press corps digging up something on her.
It could pay off, of course. It gives the ticket more outside-the-beltway cred to push the change message, and after watching her speech this morning it's obvious the campaign was looking for her to play the family card. It's kind of funny (but makes a certain amount of sense) that the candidates essentially picked their own party's version of their opponents as running mates.
Overall it seems like McCain has decided the experience argument wouldn't work, and has decided to change the game a bit. Whether or not it works depends on how effective Palin is at bringing in the support McCain needs from her.
That's not true, of course. McCain clearly wanted to accomplish three things with this pick: First, mollify the right. Palin (reportedly) has solid conservative credentials, both socially and economically. Second, he wanted to cement his own position as a maverick. Palin is definitely a non-traditional pick that gives the Republican ticket its own claim on history (but only if they win). Third, McCain wanted to go after disgruntled Hilary voters. Pawlently and Romney don't help McCain with two of those three.
It's a risky move. McCain has essentially sacrificed his ability to make the experience argument against Obama by nominating someone who's younger and has less foreign policy experience. She could get destroyed by Biden in the debates. And I don't buy the argument I heard on CNN about injecting energy and excitement into the convention next week. Curiosity I buy, but not excitement. She's also under investigation for the firing of an official who refused to fire her sister's ex-husband, a state trooper. I have to assume that the McCain vetters looked into that enough to be satisfied that there's nothing actionable there, but the possibility remains of the press corps digging up something on her.
It could pay off, of course. It gives the ticket more outside-the-beltway cred to push the change message, and after watching her speech this morning it's obvious the campaign was looking for her to play the family card. It's kind of funny (but makes a certain amount of sense) that the candidates essentially picked their own party's version of their opponents as running mates.
Overall it seems like McCain has decided the experience argument wouldn't work, and has decided to change the game a bit. Whether or not it works depends on how effective Palin is at bringing in the support McCain needs from her.
Obama Accepts
According to the yahoo pundits, who first critiqued Michelle Obama's speech on Monday for not attacking McCain enough then backtracked and called it an excellent set up for the rest of the week, Obama's acceptance speech last night had to accomplish about 18,000 different things, many of them contradictory. By my estimation, he was able to get almost all of them done (almost-according to one of the idiots, the speech was too long. ugh.).
In any case, I thought he did a fantastic job defining himself, his policies and the way he intends to run his campaign. It wasn't quite as inspiring as the "Yes We Can" speech after New Hampshire, or as historic as the "More Perfect Union" speech in the middle of the Rev. Wright fiasco. But it balanced inspiration with substance, drew a line between attacking policies and attacking the candidate, and laid out a reasonable, bi-partisan approach to some of the biggest cultural problems in the country. The section toward the end when Obama spoke about having differences on abortion, gun control and gay rights but still making progress on the issues was ridiculously good. I heard someone comment on both Clintons' ability to deliver big-game speeches. Obama's performance last night cements his reputation as the best big-game speaker in the business.
In any case, I thought he did a fantastic job defining himself, his policies and the way he intends to run his campaign. It wasn't quite as inspiring as the "Yes We Can" speech after New Hampshire, or as historic as the "More Perfect Union" speech in the middle of the Rev. Wright fiasco. But it balanced inspiration with substance, drew a line between attacking policies and attacking the candidate, and laid out a reasonable, bi-partisan approach to some of the biggest cultural problems in the country. The section toward the end when Obama spoke about having differences on abortion, gun control and gay rights but still making progress on the issues was ridiculously good. I heard someone comment on both Clintons' ability to deliver big-game speeches. Obama's performance last night cements his reputation as the best big-game speaker in the business.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Wanted
I've seen the trailers for Wanted for awhile now, and they looked pretty cool. Although I had heard about the comic series, I hadn't read it. So last Friday I picked up the trade paperback so I could read it before the movie. And after finishing it earlier today, I can safely conclude that the movie will be very, very different from the comic. Not necessarily in plot, but in particulars. In the comics, the plot revolves around a boring, everyday loser whose father, who he's never known, dies. But his father, who was part of a Fraternity of supervillians who killed all the superheroes in 1986 and now secretly run the world, left him a ton of money and a genetic legacy of being able to kill just about anything. However, to collect his inheritance, this kid must become part of the Fraternity, which means he gets to create a trail of rape, murder and mayhem wherever and whenever he wants. Essentially, Wanted takes place in a universe where the bad guys won. And it means they get to indulge in every sick, twisted fantasy they want with repercussions.
I enjoyed the comic quite a bit, and I'm guessing the movie plot will have many of the same elements. But I'm going to go ahead a guess that Hollywood will change the edgier aspects of the comic into something a little more palatable for people. We'll see how well it works-the superhero/supervillian dynamic is kind of what gives the comic its backbone. That and the massive amounts of unPC violence and swearing. I'm now slightly skeptical about the movie.
I enjoyed the comic quite a bit, and I'm guessing the movie plot will have many of the same elements. But I'm going to go ahead a guess that Hollywood will change the edgier aspects of the comic into something a little more palatable for people. We'll see how well it works-the superhero/supervillian dynamic is kind of what gives the comic its backbone. That and the massive amounts of unPC violence and swearing. I'm now slightly skeptical about the movie.
25'
After getting back from the Boundary Waters on Monday night, the first thing I did was to pick up the paper and see what had happened with Puerto Rico and Florigan in the Democratic primary. I was amazed to find out that Obama would be speaking at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul after the end of the primaries on Tuesday, especially since at that point he would have most likely captured the nomination. Being a massive Obama fan since I watched his speech at the 2004 convention I knew I had to go. So at about 3:30 the next day, I headed to St. Paul to stand in line and hopefully get in to see history.As I started walking along the line outside the Xcel at a little after 4pm, it was already huge. I came to the end of the line, but was informed that it reached back across the intersection I was standing right next to, and indeed I could see that stretched many blocks into downtown St. Paul. However, this line was set up along a metal 
fence that had been set up for the event. As I stood at the intersection, I saw people walking on the other side of this fence toward another entrance and forming new lines at the doors there. I knew that two entrances would be opened for the rally, so I just followed the line that was moving. So I ended up in one of six lines, about 20 people from the entry doors. I don't know if I was supposed to be able to do this, but no one told me not to. After two hours they opened the doors. I got in, bought some food and hit the bathroom (which turned out to be a very good decision, as I would have never gotten my spot back if I had had to leave it). In another stroke of luck, I overheard an usher saying that entrance to the floor could be gained from the line to my right. So I went to my right, stood in line, got onto the arena floor and grabbed the best spot I could-right in front of the empty podium, about 25' away.
fence that had been set up for the event. As I stood at the intersection, I saw people walking on the other side of this fence toward another entrance and forming new lines at the doors there. I knew that two entrances would be opened for the rally, so I just followed the line that was moving. So I ended up in one of six lines, about 20 people from the entry doors. I don't know if I was supposed to be able to do this, but no one told me not to. After two hours they opened the doors. I got in, bought some food and hit the bathroom (which turned out to be a very good decision, as I would have never gotten my spot back if I had had to leave it). In another stroke of luck, I overheard an usher saying that entrance to the floor could be gained from the line to my right. So I went to my right, stood in line, got onto the arena floor and grabbed the best spot I could-right in front of the empty podium, about 25' away. 
The seats filled up slowly over the next three hours, and my feet started to hurt as I had been standing for a long time. But when Barak Obama and his wife, Michelle, came out, it was as if the room had exploded. MSNBC had been on the jumbotron earlier, but it had been turned off before Obama had been declared the nominee. Thus, when he came out and began to speak, the line "I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States" almost caused the crowd to riot. The closest thing I can compare it to would be the footage I've seen of Beatles' concerts in the 60's. I couldn't even hear the whole line-everything after "nominee" was cut off.
The speech wasn't long, but that was fine. Afterward I stayed and tried to get as close as I could to the rope line. I didn't get to shake his hand (I was about 2 people back from being able to do that), but I did get within about five feet of him as he worked the line. And that was pretty freaking cool.
Thinking about it later, it occurred to me that this might be the most historic event I'll ever personally get the chance to witness. Something could best it, of course, but for now it's easily at the top of the list. The best five hours standing I've ever spent. 
BWCA
Last weekend I got the chance to go on a very short-notice trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which takes up a decent part of the northern Minnesota boundary with Canada (it extends into Canada as Quentico National Park). I've been several times before, but the last time I went was just before the beginning of my senior year at Carleton, which was the fall of 2001.
I consider the BWCA to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and this trip reminded me just how correct I am in that assessment. I went with my good friend Dustin Allebach and two other guys. We entered through Brule Lake, camped one night (in a bit of rain), then did five portages the next day (totaling 324 rods) to Winchell Lake, where we stayed for two days. Though we fished for most of the weekend, only one fish was caught out of a canoe, a 2 lbs. sucker that was hurriedly thrown back.
I consider the BWCA to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and this trip reminded me just how correct I am in that assessment. I went with my good friend Dustin Allebach and two other guys. We entered through Brule Lake, camped one night (in a bit of rain), then did five portages the next day (totaling 324 rods) to Winchell Lake, where we stayed for two days. Though we fished for most of the weekend, only one fish was caught out of a canoe, a 2 lbs. sucker that was hurriedly thrown back.
However, the guy who had set up the trip (Dan McCarthy by name), had the practice of throwing out smelt on a hook at each campsite, letting it sit on the bottom and wedging the fishing pole into a position on shore such that we would hear the drag going out if there was a hit. Well, I didn't hear the drag, but I did see the rod bending after we arrived and set up camp on Winchell. After about 7 minutes of fighting, I managed to land an 8 pound northern, which I'm pretty sure is the biggest fish I've ever personally caught. It was turned into Saturday night's main course, which was good because we figured we'd catch enough fish for at least one meal. Unfortunately, other than these two incidents the fish were conspicuous by their absence during the weekend.
On Sunday we bushwhacked to the top of a cliff on the south side of the lake, where we saw rain go by off to the north of us, giving us a rare double rainbow effect. Even more rare was the fact that the brighter rainbow split at its apex into a second color spectrum, so we kind of had three. We then proceeded to take the steepest route down the cliff that didn't involve jumping into the lake. No one was hurt.
A fantastic trip. I'm glad I was able to go.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Let Deathball Begin!
I love Futurama. Its best doesn't quite reach the Simpsons' best, but it's more consistent (even during the earlier, good Simpsons seasons) and it's more creative. It sucked when it was cancelled, especially since it was Fox's fault for moving it all over creation. I was a devoted fan for the last season or so, and I couldn't figure out when it was on half the time.
Anyway, that's all in the past, as Futurama is coming out with movie-length dvds. The first offering, Bender's Big Score, was excellent (although with a different tone from the episodes). I eagerly await the next release, The Beast With A Billion Backs.
Look! A trailer!
Anyway, that's all in the past, as Futurama is coming out with movie-length dvds. The first offering, Bender's Big Score, was excellent (although with a different tone from the episodes). I eagerly await the next release, The Beast With A Billion Backs.
Look! A trailer!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Good News/Bad News
The good news is that Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams, the creators of two of my favorite TV series (Firefly and Lost), have new shows coming out next fall. The bad news? They're on Fox, the channel notorious for cancelling shows quickly after FUBARing the marketing. The most notable examples being Firefly, Futurama and Family Guy, all of which have had some form of post-cancellation life.
So on the one side I hope they're good. On the other side, I'm a little afraid of really liking them only to have them cancelled out from under me.
Here's a preview for Abrams' Fringe, and here's a preview for Whedon's Dollhouse.
So on the one side I hope they're good. On the other side, I'm a little afraid of really liking them only to have them cancelled out from under me.
Here's a preview for Abrams' Fringe, and here's a preview for Whedon's Dollhouse.
Hillary Clinton is pissing me off
Yes, I am an Obama fan. But that's not the reason. The race was pretty much decided when Obama won NC big and lost IN small, but I have no problem with her staying in until SD, MT and PR have voted (by the way, isn't it weird that US administrative holdings like Puerto Rico, Guam, etc. vote in the primaries but not in the general? I think it's weird). She might as well, at this point.
What's pissing me off is the Michigan and Florida thing. This used to be a non-issue, until Hillary got behind. Then she suddenly changed her mind about the great injustice that the DNC had perpetrated on the poor states. Here's where I stand on that.
Fine, I get it. FL and MI are two big states come November that the Dems could really use. They don't want to piss them off too much. But for Hillary to seriously suggest that the delegations should be seated according to the voting results is idiotic to the Nth degree. It's dumber than a bag of lombotomized emus. It's dumber than playing golf in a thunderstorm. It's dumber than the movie It's Pat. It's offensively stupid.
Let's look at the facts: the DNC pulled the delegates after MI and FL moved up their primaries to get more national media attention. All the candidates knew it, and no one protested. Neither Hillary nor Obama campaigned in either state before their primaries. The only names on the Michigan ballot were Clinton, Kucinich and Gravel, as Obama and Edwards pulled theirs at the request of the party. This meant Hillary, with one of the biggest brand names in politics, had a massive advantage over Obama, especially among older and lower-income voters who would have limited (or no) access to the internet to research the candidates themselves.
Both races would have been much closer had the candidates actually campaigned and had Obama's name been on the ballot in MI. Hillary would have stood a good chance of winning both states, but since the delegates are proportionally allocated the margin of victory is all-important. Hillary's assertion that the results should stand as they are is lunacy. Declaring victory over an opponent whose name wasn't even on the ballot is about as un-democratic as you can get.
What's pissing me off is the Michigan and Florida thing. This used to be a non-issue, until Hillary got behind. Then she suddenly changed her mind about the great injustice that the DNC had perpetrated on the poor states. Here's where I stand on that.
Fine, I get it. FL and MI are two big states come November that the Dems could really use. They don't want to piss them off too much. But for Hillary to seriously suggest that the delegations should be seated according to the voting results is idiotic to the Nth degree. It's dumber than a bag of lombotomized emus. It's dumber than playing golf in a thunderstorm. It's dumber than the movie It's Pat. It's offensively stupid.
Let's look at the facts: the DNC pulled the delegates after MI and FL moved up their primaries to get more national media attention. All the candidates knew it, and no one protested. Neither Hillary nor Obama campaigned in either state before their primaries. The only names on the Michigan ballot were Clinton, Kucinich and Gravel, as Obama and Edwards pulled theirs at the request of the party. This meant Hillary, with one of the biggest brand names in politics, had a massive advantage over Obama, especially among older and lower-income voters who would have limited (or no) access to the internet to research the candidates themselves.
Both races would have been much closer had the candidates actually campaigned and had Obama's name been on the ballot in MI. Hillary would have stood a good chance of winning both states, but since the delegates are proportionally allocated the margin of victory is all-important. Hillary's assertion that the results should stand as they are is lunacy. Declaring victory over an opponent whose name wasn't even on the ballot is about as un-democratic as you can get.
Flag pins are stupid
They are. They really, really are. I honestly can't believe so much time and energy has been spent paying attention to this ultimate non-issue.
CNN's Roland Martin, who I find consistently astute and insightful, has a Swiftian solution.
CNN's Roland Martin, who I find consistently astute and insightful, has a Swiftian solution.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
War in Lebanon
CNN and the BBC are reporting that fighting has broken out in Beirut after Hezbollah essentially declared war on the Lebanese government. At this point the fighting mostly seems to between Sunni (who back the government) and Shia (oppose the government/backed by Hezbollah) militias, rather than between the army and Hezbollah itself. Roadblocks have been set up throughout the city and the airport has been effectively shut down.
What apparently set this off was the government's decision to sack the head of security at the airport, after he was accused of allowing Hezbollah to install their own surveillance cameras. The government then followed this up by declaring Hezbollah's "extensive fixed-line telecommunications network" illegal, leading Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, to declare war (kind of) on the Lebanese government.
You know, I've heard Beirut is actually a pretty nice city-modern, cosmopolitan, etc. It's a shame that they've got crazy bastards running half their country. Plus, can't the Sunnis and Shias just figure out a way to play nice?
Given amount of control Hezbollah has in the south and east of Lebanon and its presence in the government, this could go one of two ways: one, the government backs down (or "compromises") and things blow over, or two, it doesn't and the country rips itself a new one.
What apparently set this off was the government's decision to sack the head of security at the airport, after he was accused of allowing Hezbollah to install their own surveillance cameras. The government then followed this up by declaring Hezbollah's "extensive fixed-line telecommunications network" illegal, leading Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, to declare war (kind of) on the Lebanese government.
You know, I've heard Beirut is actually a pretty nice city-modern, cosmopolitan, etc. It's a shame that they've got crazy bastards running half their country. Plus, can't the Sunnis and Shias just figure out a way to play nice?
Given amount of control Hezbollah has in the south and east of Lebanon and its presence in the government, this could go one of two ways: one, the government backs down (or "compromises") and things blow over, or two, it doesn't and the country rips itself a new one.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
We're Nazis on the Moon, We carry a Harpoon...
This is a teaser trailer for a movie called Iron Sky. Nazis are a pretty stock bad guy at this point. So they had to jazz them up a little bit. Therefore: Space Nazis!
Primaries
Right now Obama is projected to win NC by a sizeable margin. I'm hoping it ends up at least 60-40, although it's currently 56-42 with 56% reporting. That's good but expected news. At this point Indiana is the story. With 75% reporting, Hilary leads 52-48 with about a 39,000 vote lead which has been shrinking all night. Several of the counties that have yet to finish reporting are around Indianapolis and have been supporting Obama so far. If Obama can manage to pull even it would be a serious victory for him.
Boundarylessness
I just finished applying for a job. This process, as it often does, required me to register with the company's employment website. When I finished, they sent me an email confirmation to let me know my application had been received. Here's the last line, which I guess is meant to list their corporate ideals:
Customer Focus - Valuing Our People - Passion For Winning - Innovation - Boundarylessness
Wow. Boundarylessness. Now that's bold.
Customer Focus - Valuing Our People - Passion For Winning - Innovation - Boundarylessness
Wow. Boundarylessness. Now that's bold.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
"You think you're the only superhero in the world?"
Before the two days of insanely nice weather, frisbee madness and sunburn that was the weekend, I saw Iron Man on Thursday night at 12:01. First things first: seeing movies at midnight on the day they come out is awesome, especially when you're able to haul a group of your friends who have to work the next day along with you. Second things second: I am not an impartial reviewer. I've read Iron Man comics, and I love superhero movies. I am the target audience. However, I also had fairly high expectations of the flick, given the positive reviews I'd read and the fact that the trailers kicked ass. I was not disappointed.
How not disappointed? Marvel has had (by my count) nine origin films: Blade, X-Men, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Daredevil, Punisher, Ghost Rider and now Iron Man. One is out-and-out bad (Ghost Rider), two have enjoyable elements but are fatally flawed (FF and Punisher), two are decent (Blade and the director's cut of Daredevil), two are pretty good with minor issues (X-Men and Hulk, which is consistently undervalued) and one, while not perfect, is fantastic (Spider-Man). Iron Man is Spider-Man good. That's how good this is. Don't get me wrong, it still has flaws, but it's so easy to look past them you might not even notice the first time you see the movie.
Robert Downey Jr. makes the film. It's all about Tony Stark, and RDJ does a great job playing a great character. Jeff Bridges makes a great villian, Terence Howard is very good as Tony's friend, and Gweneth Paltrow totally delivers as Pepper Potts (which I was worried about after seeing Sky Captain). The performances are backed up by the fact that Iron Man is probably the coolest-looking superhero yet. The FX are slick as hell, and when Tony finally suits up in the red and gold it is damn impressive.
Iron Man is the first production by Marvel Studios, the production company Marvel started a few years ago when they stopped selling their character rights to Hollywood studios for production. This is important in two ways: first, it gives Marvel creative control over its movies, so presumably we'll never have anything as bad as Ghost Rider of FF:Silver Surfer inflicted on us again. Second, with its charcters under one roof, we can start to see the Marvel Universe as a whole, instead of everyone is separate worlds. If you don't already know, there's a scene at the very end of the movie, after the credits. Make sure you stay for it.
When the movie ended and the lights came on at about 2:30am, my only real problem with Iron Man was that I couldn't watch the sequel right then and there. It's planned for 2010, which is honestly much, much too long to wait. Marvel needs to get its ass in gear on this one.
How not disappointed? Marvel has had (by my count) nine origin films: Blade, X-Men, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Daredevil, Punisher, Ghost Rider and now Iron Man. One is out-and-out bad (Ghost Rider), two have enjoyable elements but are fatally flawed (FF and Punisher), two are decent (Blade and the director's cut of Daredevil), two are pretty good with minor issues (X-Men and Hulk, which is consistently undervalued) and one, while not perfect, is fantastic (Spider-Man). Iron Man is Spider-Man good. That's how good this is. Don't get me wrong, it still has flaws, but it's so easy to look past them you might not even notice the first time you see the movie.
Robert Downey Jr. makes the film. It's all about Tony Stark, and RDJ does a great job playing a great character. Jeff Bridges makes a great villian, Terence Howard is very good as Tony's friend, and Gweneth Paltrow totally delivers as Pepper Potts (which I was worried about after seeing Sky Captain). The performances are backed up by the fact that Iron Man is probably the coolest-looking superhero yet. The FX are slick as hell, and when Tony finally suits up in the red and gold it is damn impressive.
Iron Man is the first production by Marvel Studios, the production company Marvel started a few years ago when they stopped selling their character rights to Hollywood studios for production. This is important in two ways: first, it gives Marvel creative control over its movies, so presumably we'll never have anything as bad as Ghost Rider of FF:Silver Surfer inflicted on us again. Second, with its charcters under one roof, we can start to see the Marvel Universe as a whole, instead of everyone is separate worlds. If you don't already know, there's a scene at the very end of the movie, after the credits. Make sure you stay for it.
When the movie ended and the lights came on at about 2:30am, my only real problem with Iron Man was that I couldn't watch the sequel right then and there. It's planned for 2010, which is honestly much, much too long to wait. Marvel needs to get its ass in gear on this one.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Skip Day
I'm skipping my planned post on Iron Man, which I saw at 12:01am this morning, since I spent nearly the entire day in the hospital with my grandma, who had a heart attack on Thursday. Fortunately she's fine (or as fine as can be expected), so things went ok, but I'm still pretty exhausted.
I'll also just say now that I don't expect to post tomorrow, as it's the day of the GOP alumni game down at Carleton. I expect to be drinking quite a bit, along with playing frisbee in what might possibly be snow. In May.
I'll also just say now that I don't expect to post tomorrow, as it's the day of the GOP alumni game down at Carleton. I expect to be drinking quite a bit, along with playing frisbee in what might possibly be snow. In May.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Jib Jab
For my money, JibJab has some of the best comedy videos on the web. Their Shawshank in a Minute sketch is probably the funniest thing I've ever seen online, but they're most famous for their political animated shorts from the 2004 election cycle. Which is why I'm disappointed that they haven't done anything with the Hilary/Obama mess yet. I'm hoping that once the primary is over, they'll come out with some Obama/McCain stuff (yes, I'm fairly sure at this point that Obama will be the nominee). But since '04 they've only come out with one or two animated shorts a year. Their year in review bits are funny, but I'd really love to see more political bits.
Back on the Blogging Horse
Alright, let's try to get back on this blogging thing again. Ahh, blogging.
My last post promised a review of the RSC's production of King Lear that came to the Guthrie. Since that was awhile ago now, I will merely say that I enjoyed the production immensely and that the audience was given a full view of Ian McKellan's Little Gandalf.
For this post all I wanted to do was provide this link to a website my good friend Mr. Bartley has set up so people can follow his progress as he and his wife Jodi hike the Appalachian Trail. They are currently taking a short break to get their finances back in order after a case of identity theft, but should be back on the trail sometime soon (although not too soon, as I just finished picking them up from North Carolina which took two long days of driving).
If you go to the site, you'll find they're not just hiking the trail, but using it as a fundraiser for the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation, as both Caleb and Jodi have relatives who are breast cancer survivors.
My goal for the blog will be one post a day, on whatever happens to strike my fancy at the time. Let's see how well I keep it up.
My last post promised a review of the RSC's production of King Lear that came to the Guthrie. Since that was awhile ago now, I will merely say that I enjoyed the production immensely and that the audience was given a full view of Ian McKellan's Little Gandalf.
For this post all I wanted to do was provide this link to a website my good friend Mr. Bartley has set up so people can follow his progress as he and his wife Jodi hike the Appalachian Trail. They are currently taking a short break to get their finances back in order after a case of identity theft, but should be back on the trail sometime soon (although not too soon, as I just finished picking them up from North Carolina which took two long days of driving).
If you go to the site, you'll find they're not just hiking the trail, but using it as a fundraiser for the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation, as both Caleb and Jodi have relatives who are breast cancer survivors.
My goal for the blog will be one post a day, on whatever happens to strike my fancy at the time. Let's see how well I keep it up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)