obama, biden, and rock

I've been telling people for weeks that all the talk about obama has reminded me of a classic Chris Rock bit. Some googling reminded me that it was originally about colin powell - how he was always described as "so well spoken." Rock elaborated by explaining this was a compliment intended for a retarded person who surprised you with his ability to form a coherent thought, and not a fellow human being.
Obama is incredible to listen to - he can make you believe all over again. But he's described in such condescending terms you'd think the reporters are surprised to hear him putting letters together to make words. And now, Joe Biden - a man i used to respect - is describing him in terms of a surprisingly articular monkey.
and the big news - i'm going to vegas. i was out hunting airfare tonight, and prices to europe are about $200 more than they were at this time last year. however, i can get round trip from harrisburg plus a week at the excalibur for under $450. And, I already have at least one person on board.

Any other takers? It's vegas, baby! Let's get there!

top 5 part 2

i know i promised it to you, my solitary loyal reader, and here it is... my top five favorite ladies in hollywood. this list is predicated primarily on my sense of how hot each lady is, and i apologize if that offends anyone. I don't see it as objectifying, because i think my sense of someone's hotness comes from more than just skin deep - it's the sense they evoke in me when i see them, and the fire they start in my soul, not just on the surface. So again, in alphabetical order...

ok, so, in the interest of full disclosure i'm not going to edit that first bit. I typed it out, all full of piss and vinegar to get going, and then realized i only have two that i'd put in a top list.

Keira Knightley - This is a girl who glows. I'm only slightly embarassed to admit that i own, and have repeatedly watched, Love Actually, solely because she's in it. The whole bit with the best friend who videotapes his buddy's wedding but then won't give them the tape because he realizes it's all closeups of her face... i get it. i watch her in movies from king arthur to domino harvey and i can believe that people would ruin lives to be with this woman.

Natalie Portman - Perhaps it's saying something that the first person on my list, in her first real break-out role, played the body-guard / body-double to the second person on the list (that was Phantom Menace, for those keeping track). From Garden State, which I've talked about before, to Closer - the closest a movie has ever brought me to actual tears was Natalie crying in that one - to V for Vendetta, when they shaved her head and just stripped her down to her bare, raw-edged soul. There's an honesty to her that warms the cockles of my heart. Maybe even below that, in the sub-cockle area.

I walked away from writing this for a good hour, thinking who else can i really put on this list, and these are the only two. Sure, there are others, but the rest just feel like a physical beauty. There's nothing wrong with that, but this isn't about objectifying. It's about Women That Move Me, and in film these are the only two. Jennifer Aniston, Jacinda Barrett and Rachel Bilson (both most recently seen in Last Kiss), Alyson Hannigan (a.k.a. Buffy's Lesbian Friend), Sarah Chalke (a.k.a. the second Becky on Roseanne and more recently Dr. Reid on Scrubs), Katherine Heigl (of Roswell, and late of The Ringer and Grey's Anatomy). Oh, and speaking of grey's anatomy, Sara Ramirez. I could not come up with the right word for her, until i read a review describing her as "dirty hot" and thought that was perfect. In my estimation, these are all 'a-list' hotties, who manage to reach a crescendo of combining their femininity and talent, while the first two manage to transcend this into a whole new realm.

And now this is just getting objectifying and needs to stop, so i will.

p.s. I think the last sentence in the paragraph listing all the names is one of the silliest pieces of bullshit i've ever written, and freely acknowledge this; however, i like it.

on ownership

I go back to work today after a very relaxing 5 day weekend for the new year, and because i get up waaaaay too early sometimes, i just spent a few minutes with my dvd collection. This wasn't a spur of the moment decision, so much as a need to make room on the tv shelf for the ninth season of the simpsons. I had to make a tough decision to move the british mob films - layer cake, lock stock and two smoking barrels, snatch, and the new version of the italian job (i know, it's not a british gangster film, but it's set in europe and, genre-wise, is a lot closer to the others than anything else i have) to a new spot. This got me thinking, as it always does, about how much i love my dvds. i have something like 150 dvds, and i enjoy that. I could burn copies of the discs i get from netflix, but then i wouldn't have the cases to put on the shelf. It's like a weird geek self-expression thing. How i arrange them, what goes where, says something about it. If you've ever seen high fidelity, you'll know what i'm talking about. and if you haven't, i can let you borrow it. i know exactly where it is on my shelf, with the other rom-coms that i could justify as masculine enough to go on the same shelf as the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Solution to the world's problems.

I think i've written about this before, but it's still a huge thing that will solve everything.

Well, not everything, but a huuuge chunk. Here's the thing - for all the fighting in the middle east, and all we can talk of humanitarian aims and a desire for the betterment of man-kind, what really concerns us is the oil. The reason we can't run harder on saudi arabia and iran is a concern about mucking up the oil flow, so we gotta play nice to make sure they don't give it all to china. but here's the kicker - something like half of all the oil ever on this planet is in western Colorado. Not the middle east, not siberia, not even alaska or northern canada or antartica, but western Colorado. The catch is that it costs a little more than oil coming out of the desert on the other side of the world. it's only profitable at $30+/ barrel. this shouldn't seem like a problem, with oil running at $70 a barrel. the problem is, the oil companies that would solve this problem have no incentive to start producing something that they only make $20 each when they're making $60 a barrel under the current system.

The easy solution here? Targeted tax credits. Make it cheap enough to do. Tax the heck out of imported middle-eastern oil. Those taxes, along with the money we'd save by not having to care about the middle east, would more than pay for any incentivizing paid out to get companies to mine for oil in colorado. jobs at home, money at home, no more worries.

well, except for global warming. but still, you can't have everything.

Need a place?

If you know anyone who's (a) living alone or wanting to live alone, and (b) looking for a place, my neighbor is moving out and they're looking for a new tenant. It's a one bed room, right here on market street in Lemoyne. Let me know if you know anyone who might be interested and I'll get them more information.

Also, merry christmas! can't wait to head south to spend it with the brother and his family, although I hope my Roboraptor is here in time. Aside from that, for the first time ever, my christmas shopping is done and it's still a week before christmas. well, ok, not done actually, but spiritually speaking it's done. I know exactly what i'm getting all around, i just haven't actually gotten all of it yet.

and the damn ps2 is kicking my ass. for some reason, i broke out final fantasy x over thanksgiving, and now i can't put it down. the ff games are worse for me than gta. i can't stop. at work today, someone told me i should start playing wow. i explained to this person that it's bad enough with finite games like ff and gta. if i started playing wow, i would lose my job. That's not hyperbole, or sarcasm, or anything else. If i started playing wow, or second life, or evercrack, or (god help me) the star wars or firefly mmorpg, i would lose my job within a month. i've gone more than three years with a total of two tardies and two times i called off work. any of those damn games, and i would be fired within a month and the worst part is - i wouldn't actually care for like a month more because i would still be playing the damned game 20 hours a day.

i'll just stick to my crack-lite. maybe after i win the lottery and don't need to worry about anything.

On repetition, and baking.

First - the repetition. I've said it before, but i'll say it again because it bears repeating. Studio 60 is the show that you must watch. Why aren't you watching this show? Are you going to watch this show? Why haven't you watched this show yet? and so on... And props to aaron sorkin for the new orleans musicians on the christmas episode.

Prior to three days ago, i had heard of but never actually known what a snickerdoodle was. Then the roommate brought some home that her mom made, and i thought "ah ha. I can make those." I found Emeril Lagasse's recipe and suddenly I've been voted the King of Snickerdoodles at work.

two quick things

first, I think this season's Simpsons are the funniest they've been in awhile. Tonight, Ralph smashing an ice cream cone onto his forehead and saying "I'm a unitard!" makes this the fourth episode in a row that's gotten an honest to god out-loud laugh, and that hasn't happened in a very long time.

Second, a discussion point. Is it racist to acknowledge that, generally speaking, there are differences between black people, white people, asian people, hispanic people, etc, as long as you aren't making value judgements about those differences but are simply acknowledging that they exist?

putting it out there

I'm going to say this again. Studio 60 is the best new show this season. The writing is sharp, the acting is better, and I cannot say enough good things about this show. Monday nights, 9 PM, NBC. Watch it. TIVO it. iTunes it. I don't care. Just make sure you are watching this damn show.

On Simpson Quotes

In the interest of helping me remember what I found to be one of the funnier Simpsons lines in awhile, I'm going to save it here for posterity. This past Sunday, Homer was driving through the "covered bridges" of Vermont. He mistook a house for a bridge and, after driving through it he said the home-owner stuck to his hood "We should exchange insurance information -- I have none."

Ok, so... typed out, it loses something. But in context, in Homer's voice, it was very droll.

And yes, I just used the word droll. Deal.

On lyrics

I've always seen blog posts of song lyrics as sort of juvenile, until I started blogging myself. Now, I understand that sometimes you hear something and just want to post it to share. This is one such moment.

(Edit)
After further consideration, I decided that while I now understand the drive to post lyrics in a blog, I don't actually want to be part of it. I'll just encourage everyone to get the Garden State soundtrack and enjoy.


Also, on a completely unrelated note, I've added a new TV series to my line-up. Fortunately, this one is a BBC import that I can only get on DVD so it won't actually take up more time. It's called Manchild... think Sex and the City, set in London, with four men. It's not quite as funny as I was hoping for when I picked it out on netflix, but eminently watchable and fun.

On choices that don't really matter, and those who have passed on.

I like to keep my posts short (The Trip posts not-withstanding), and limited to a single topic. But then I run into times like right now, when I have a good six things I want to write about. I'm going to stick with the one that's most prominent in my mind, because I think it's the most important.

I attended Dr. Rabin's funeral this morning. It was a moving tribute, and in the spirit of the man himself was a short and bitter-sweet graveside service. He was a wonderful man, and it didn't start to sink in that he was really gone until they started lowering the casket into the ground. His younger son, Scott, and his brother gave amazing eulogies. I have nothing but respect for them, because if I had been in either of their positions I couldn't have gotten out more than maybe a dozen words before I just collapsed.

This is the third funeral service I've attended in my life, the first two being for my grandmothers, and I'm sad to say that Dr. Rabin was the closest to me of the three. Please, I mean absolutely nothing negative about my grandmothers - they were both amazing women whom I dearly miss, but they lived in Georgia and I grew up in central PA. I knew them as distant relatives and, while I'm sad for not getting to know them as well as some of my friends know their grandparents, I think they live on in their children - my parents - and so I feel I know them, and their actual passing is sort of a distant concept to me.

Dr. Rabin, on the other hand, is much closer to home. One of my earliest clear and vivid memories was going over to his house, and playing with the new mouse he had just gotten for his computer. I must have been six or sever, and I remember telling my dad how much better my art would be if we had a mouse, and he just kind of laughed, because at the time computer mice were rare and pricey propositions. I also found out today that Dr. Rabin was my dad's oldest friend. At the service today, I learned that when my brother Zach was born, not quite 37 years ago, Dr. Rabin was the first visitor my parents had to greet their new son. I was never close to his two his two sons, but i've always considered scott and daniel among my oldest friends. He was always there for me, to provide guidance, support, and firm direction. I didn't always appreciate it, but I always respected him. I will miss him a lot.

Even prior to his passing, I have been thinking about him a lot. My dad was in the hospital this past spring, and for a brief time I will admit to thinking he wouldn't make it. But the odd thing was, when I pictured my dad's funeral, Dr. Rabin was the stoic presense that such events need. I knew I would be a sobbing mess, barely holding some semblence of it together for my mom, but I always pictured Sandy (Dr. Rabin's wife) there actually taking care of my mom while Dr. Rabin made sure I was ok. Of course, I also have very strong opinions on gender roles (although i'm not sure how, considering I was raised unitarian). I've only cried once in the past 15 years. I didn't cry for either of my grandmothers (btw, both of my grandfathers died before I was born). I just cried for my cat, Tommy. I might've cried for Oedie, too, but that doesn't stand out as much as the unrelenting sobs when we put Tommy to sleep. I get choked up a lot. If i could tear down the walls people tell me i've put up, i'd cry like a hysterical hormonal woman about twice a week. I almost cried during the finale to grey's anatomy last year - first when they put the dog to sleep (it was right after tommy died) and then when danny died. but there were no actual tears - just choking up. it's not some macho-manly "boys don't cry" thing. Well, i take that back - it is a deeply ingrained macho-many "boys don't cry" thing. Like i said, i was raised unitarian, and take that liberalism very seriously. but i also have society-produced ideas of gender roles. which leads to wierd moments like this morning... i was fine up until they started lowering the casket. then i felt tears coming. i was surrounded by sobbing people (a whole other level of wierdness to me - people i've met repeatedly before in the context of happy parties were there today just sobbing uncontrollably or, with some of the men, clearly looking like me - wanting to sob uncontrollably but feeling a need to comfort their women) and i felt the tears coming, and some subconscious bit of my brain said "no! you can do the ritual, you can deal with it, but you won't cry!" and even now, typing this, i feel the tears dryly seeping out through my fingers.
maybe this is where art comes from - bizarre and inexpicable confines unknowingly placed on us by society that force themselves out in different ways.

I don't know, but in Dr. Rabin's memory I will continue my life trying to be as contrary as possible - not to be a jackass, but to make sure they're thinking. Because not thinking would be the greatest sin of all.

On Problems and their Solutions

I read a lot, but sometimes I think I don't think I read what I should. Then i remember, reading is like wine - it's not about what the snobs say, just do what feels right. As I've said before, it was recently pointed out to me that I like the stories in things. I like television, so I gravitate not so much to celebrity stories but more to technical stories - what shows have been picked up, what's cancelled, who's working on what projects, what NBC is trying to do to shore up it's line-up. Same thing for movies. And politics. I'm passionate about public policy. I've been accused of being a hard-core democrat, but that's not true. I like to think that I epitomize the socially-conscious fiscal conservative. But I find myself gravitating more towards the technical stories of politics - how the campaigns are being run, why someone is taking what seems like a bizarre position on the medicare prescription drug benefit, whatever. That might be why I've never seen the following solutions to two major problems actually written down anywhere.
Problem the first: Illegal immigration. I'm a dork, I believe that laws are there for a reason, and following them is necessary to the functioning of society. I think that if a law is unjust, it shouldn't be broken, but rather you should work to change it. With illegal immigration, the activists can talk all they want about the search for a better life, and the immorality of our current system, or whatever. Screw them. The fact is, they're breaking the law. Period. They get no right to complain about anything, because the simple fact that they're here is illegal. Having said that, I think we need more of them. It is an accepted fact of economics that our country's current 4% unemployment rate is as low as a functioning, growing economy can go. Anything lower, and there's no one left to fill new jobs. We need more immigrants. Period. The problem is, we also have a major security concern if we don't know who's coming into our country. The solution: forget the fence. Build a giant wall. No, build two giant walls, with a shark infested moat in between. Start a shoot-to-kill policy in the arizona desert. Do Whatever It Takes to stop undocumented people from entering this country. Couple this with an open-access policy at manned border crossings. As long as you have official ID from your home country, and you aren't on a watch list, you can get in. They'll keep coming as long as there are jobs to do, they'll be legal and documented, which means they'll be paying taxes (solution to social security right there, since most of them will go home when they retire and never collect benefits), we'll know they aren't terrorists, and because they are mostly poorly educated they'll take the house-cleaning, fruit picking, low-skill construction jobs, freeing up more americans to further their education and get better, more skilled, more innovating jobs. This will power our country forward in unimaginable ways, and has been explained further in one of my favorite books, The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman.
Problem the second: Terrorist surveillance. This one is sort of a no brainer, and I'm putting this out there as a basic primary for my mentally challenged republican friends. Repeat this sentence aloud three times: "No American wants more terrorist attacks, even the democrats. Of course it's a good idea to listen to phone calls from known terrorists." Everyone knows this. One reason the repubs lost the last election was that they tried to convince people the dems wanted to let osama call whoever he wanted without listening in. This is disingenuous horse-shit and every one knows it. The problem was never with the pres listening to the calls. The problem was that, in the interest of protecting the constitutional guarantees of privacy and protection from unreasonable searches, congress passed a law creating a secret panel of judges with the express purpose of issuing warrants for domestic wiretaps. They even realized that sometimes, there might not be enough time to get a warrant ahead of time, and allowed for the CIA or NSA or whoever to listen to whatever they want, and then get a warrant after the fact. But after this panel rejected a record number of his requests as not having enough evidence, the president decided it was too onerous to get these warrants, and that is a huge problem. You have to wonder what he was doing, when a court that, prior to Bush, only ever rejected a handful of requests, suddenly started turning down hundreds. This concerns people, and not because we're upset that he wants to listen to Osama calling his buddy in Colorado to plan the next attack.

Thus endeth the lesson.

On predictions

I just made a prediction to my roommate that I want to permanently enshrine. Senator Obama was on the tv, and I said "he's going to be the next president of the US." She declined, saying she thought it would be McCain. After a brief tussle, I explained that while I like McCain, and a lot of other people like McCain, I don't think he can get through a primary to actually make a run in November, 2008.

I'm going to expound on this here. I think that as a party, the republicans have moved too far to the right to pass McCain through the primaries for a national referendum. From the way this election is shaping up tonight, the dems are moving to the middle, or will if they know what's good for them. Assuming they can put forward a reasonable candidate in the mold of what's winning rounds tonight, they should have a walk in two years.

Here's to keeping your fingers crossed.

A Tuesday for drinking

I'm home, i'm watching CNN for the next hour, and then switching over to NBC so I can get my local news with Brian Williams and Chris Matthews yelling in the background.

So far, the numbers look good (knock on wood), and I'm in a happy mood and rapidly approaching a mellowing buzz to get me through whatever heartache might be coming.

Also, sad day here... apparently Britney is divorcing K-Fed, or "K-Fed up" as drudge puts it. awww... i hope they both get what they deserve. :)

More to come...

People must hang!

It would defeat the purpose to say things like this should be illegal, so i'll go one better - those responsible should be tarred, feathered, and kicked out of the country. Maybe we can send them to our newly created paradise in Iraq.

Some points:
1) Everyone wants to get the warm fuzzies by giving Rx coverage to seniors.
2) Anyone who casts a vote against a law to give rx coverage to seniors will get that thrown back at them when they run for re-election.
3) This means that any law that gets to the floor of the house and senate to give rx coverage to seniors, no matter how heinous, was guaranteed to pass.
4) So why not include a provision making it illegal for the government, which is suddenly the largest buyer of drugs in the world, to negotiate lower prices? This makes your pharmaceutical company buddies happy, and you can use the votes your opponents cast against it in a principled stand against them in their next elections. It's Win-Win for everyone. Except, of course, the american people, the budget, seniors, taxpayers, our health care system, etc.

more to come.