The McFly

The McFly is Moving

2008-03-31T10:30:00.006-04:00

Attention to my five readers - The McFly is moving. Please redirect your bookmarks to:

http://themcfly.tumblr.com

Why is it moving, you ask? Basically, I never intended this to be a blog in the traditional sense. I only wanted a page where I could post pictures, links, videos, etc. for my friends rather than sending out an email. Very rarely do I offer my own commentary beyond a few sentences. Tumblr is something of a mini-blog service, better built for that purpose. It will be easier for me to post things throughout the day without disrupting my work.

The Tumblr blog is something of a work-in-progress as I work out the kinks. Thanks again for reading this stupid page.

Click here for the new Tumblr page.

Food Court Musical

2008-03-29T13:10:00.003-04:00

Improv Everywhere hits the bullseye again. Read more about it here.

A Fool or a Fraud?

2008-03-26T13:38:00.008-04:00

George Bush, in a March 13th, 2008 meeting with American military and civilian personnel stationed in Afghanistan:

I must say, I'm a little envious. If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed.

It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger.

John McCain, today, in a foreign-policy address delivered to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council:

Not the valor with which it is fought nor the nobility of the cause it servces, can glorify war. Whatever gains are secured, it is loss the veteran remembers most keenly. Only a fool or a fraud sentimentalizes the merciless reality of war.

Photo of the Day

2008-03-26T10:10:00.000-04:00

Futurama!

2008-03-26T09:59:00.004-04:00

Ohmanohmanohman! Is there anything better than old timey film footage predicting what the future will be like? The best part is the end, where they show the man's clothing.

Second String Mascot

2008-03-25T19:55:00.005-04:00

The Huntsville Stars, the Double A affiliate for the Milwaukee Brewers, have offered possibly retired pitcher and suspected steroid user Roger Clemens a job. From their open letter to the three-time Cy Young award winner:

We are the Double-A Affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and are located in Huntsville, Alabama . . . .

We have already designed a new logo for the Huntsville Stars that now includes a rocket (top of page). Since everybody this side of Venus knows you as the ‘Rocket,’ we would like to offer you the position of our team’s official secondary mascot, ‘Rocket.’ As ‘Rocket,’ you will dress as an astronaut and simply interact with fans and assist in on-field promotions during our 70-game home schedule when the primary mascot, Homer the Polecat, is not available.

We firmly believe that you would be a great addition to our organization and are willing to move forward in the negotiation process as soon as possible. Although the position isn’t the most lucrative in Minor League Baseball, we will guarantee that you’ll have the most fun of any team with which you’ve been employed. In addition to your $25 per game, you will receive meal vouchers redeemable at the concession stands for one hotdog and one soft drink each night, and a 15% employee discount at our team’s souvenir store, The Backstop Shop.

Picture of the Day (Part 2)

2008-03-25T12:04:00.003-04:00

That's Jared "Jordan Catalano" Leto, who gained 50 plus pounds to play John Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman.

What, Me Worry?

2008-03-25T11:03:00.002-04:00

From Ben Smith's Politco blog:

When asked why she'd appoint Alan Greenspan to a working group of financial leaders to design a response to the housing crisis, Hillary Clinton told the Philadelphia Daily News:
"Not only that, but the Fed didn't act while he was there. But he has a calming influence still to this day on Wall Street -- don't ask me why because I never understand what he's saying -- but nevertheless people respond to that Delphic oracle approach."

Jeez. You never understand what Alan Greenspan is saying and you're the supposed 'economy' candidate?

Picture of the Day

2008-03-25T10:59:00.003-04:00

In my heart, I know he's an incompetent jerk and everything, but this picture makes me think W. isn't such a bad guy after-all.

Where Have You Gone John Hughes, A Generation Turns Its Lonely Eyes To You. Woo-Woo-Woo.

2008-03-25T10:46:00.002-04:00

Who knew that John Hughes, director of such seminal 80s teen classics as "The Breakfast Club" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is now a J.D. Salinger like recluse?

The L.A. Times has the story.

Black Guy Asks Nation For Change

2008-03-19T15:07:00.003-04:00

Black Guy Asks Nation For Change

CHICAGO—Some residents reported seeing the black guy waving wildly and quoting from the Bible, while others said they spotted him shouting about global warming.

Nails Never Fails

2008-03-19T10:23:00.002-04:00

Lenny Dykstra - financial genius? My brain sort of short circuited when I saw this New Yorker profile on the former Met star.

Obama on Israel

2008-03-18T15:05:00.003-04:00

I missed this line the first time through reading Obama's speech. It is worth repeating, lest it get lost in its larger context:
[Reverend Jeremiah Wright's] remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.

Summing It Up

2008-03-18T11:26:00.003-04:00

There is a lot of talk today about Obama's big speech on race and religion. As stirring as Obama's words may be, I think Tracy Morgan summed it up best this weekend on SNL:

Why is it that every time a black man in this country gets too good at something, there’s always someone come around and remind us that he’s black? First Tiger, then Donavan McNabb then me. Now Barack. I got a theory about that. It’s a little complicated but basically, it goes like this: we are a racist country. The end.

. . . In conclusion, three weeks ago, my girl Tina Fey went on the show, she declared that “bitch is the new black”. You know I love you, Tina. You know you’re my girl. But I have something to say. Bitch may be the new black, but black is the new president, bitch.

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42

2008-03-13T13:36:00.003-04:00

Here's a man who understands storytelling. Damon Lindelof on whether there will ever be definitive meaning behind "the numbers" of LOST:
''There will be more ON the Numbers, yes. But explaining WHY and HOW they are magic is like trying to explain why some magic kids are born to two muggles. The Valenzetti Equation USES those numbers, but trust me, they were around LONG before the early '60s. But for fans waiting for an advanced dissertation on the mythic significance of the numbers, I direct them to Qui-Gon Jinn's speech to Shmi Skywalker regarding midichlorians and pose the following question: Happy now?''

Felt Skin and Googley Eyes

2008-03-13T10:38:00.002-04:00

Jason Segal (Nick from the classic "Freaks and Geeks" and Marshall from the amusing-but-not-as-amusing-as-it-thinks-it-is "How I Met Your Mother) is writing the next . . . Muppet movie? Apparently so. It should be interesting to see what someone around my age will do with something like the Muppets, which have had such a tremendous influence on our generation. I just hope Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem get to play a number.

Judd Apatow is producing Jason Segal's first movie entitled "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." Early screenings have been positive. You can see the trailer here.

2008-03-11T10:32:00.003-04:00

By Jack Ohman.

Gotta Keep The Devil Way Down In The Hole

2008-03-10T10:29:00.005-04:00

David Simon and crew rewarded long time fans of THE WIRE with a finale that neatly wrapped the entire series together. If you're looking for some smarty-pants recap look no further than here, here and here. Also, the New York Times has been running an online series entitled, "What Do Real Thugs Think of The Wire?" You can read that here.

Also, New York magazine did a shot-by-shot (!) commentary of the finale's montage. Read that here.

Kosher Cheeseburger?

2008-03-07T16:38:00.002-05:00

The Jewish community is torn over whether a kosher cheeseburger being served at a NYC restaurant should be considered sacrilegious.

This is like a vegetarian being philosophically torn a veggie burger.

There May Be A Donkey Kong Kill Screen Coming Up!

2008-03-07T11:39:00.005-05:00

The King of Kong was the most absurdly fun documentary of 2007. For those who haven't seen it, the film follows two very different stalwarts of competitive gaming as they attempt to break the high score record for Donkey Kong. There is something bizarrely compelling about people who dedicate themselves to esoteric triumphs. Words cannot do the doc justice.

If you've seen the movie, there's recent news regarding perpetual underdog Steve Wiebe. Check it out here.

If you haven't' seen it, enjoy the trailer here.

Or if you just want to hear Howard Stern discuss the movie, listen here.

Go Already!

2008-03-07T10:05:00.002-05:00

Since it is abundantly clear that Hillary Clinton cannot catch Barack Obama in pledged delegates, the prolonging of the Democratic primary is not going to endure Obama to the voters of swing states:

Not only is the opportunity cost--to wrap up the nomination, and spend John McCain into the ground for four months--uniquely high, but the venue could not be less convenient. Pennsylvania is a swing state that Democrats will almost certainly need to win in November, and Clinton will spend seven weeks and millions of dollars there making the case that Obama is unfit to set foot in the White House. You couldn't create a more damaging scenario if you tried.

The Wire's War on the Drug War

2008-03-06T13:26:00.002-05:00

By Ed Burns, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos, Richard Price, David Simon.

The writers of The Wire - the "HBO drama that tried to portray all sides of inner-city collapse" weigh in on so-called War on Drugs.

Summing It Up

2008-02-29T13:14:00.003-05:00

In campaign news, Hillary Clinton released today this fear-inducing ad currently playing in Texas and Ohio. You can read Obama's response here.

Reminds one of this Bill Clinton quote from 2004, campaigning for John Kerry:

Now one of Clinton’s laws of politics is this: If one candidate’s trying to scare you and the other one’s trying to get you to think, if one candidate’s appealing to your fears and the other one’s appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope.

Well said.

"Garfield" Minus Garfield

2008-02-29T10:23:00.002-05:00

Thank you to Josh M. for sending this site my way:

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against lonliness in a quiet American suburb.

Click here for more.

"Didja know I got my own presidential M&M's?"

2008-02-28T13:14:00.005-05:00

There is a fascinating and informative article in Time Magazine this week by Bob Geldof (the man behind Live Aid) about George W. Bush, Africa and the peculiarities of being the leader of the free world. Highly, highly recommended reading.

I DRINK IT UP!

2008-02-26T14:59:00.006-05:00

I cannot think of a more simultaneously fun and bizarre quote from a recent movie than There Will Be Blood's "I - drink - your - MILKSHAKE!"

The quote is slowly starting to find its way into popular culture. There's even a website dedicated to the line.

New York magazine's Josh Ozersky was the first to weigh in over a month ago:

We have no doubt that “I drink your milkshake,” the volcanically dramatic, mind-bendingly cool line with which Daniel Plainview devastates his enemy in There Will Be Blood's final sequence, will soon enter the pop-culture catchphrase lexicon, nestling alongside such former lazy-writer tropes as “I see dead people,” “Say hello to my little friend,” “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in,” and all the rest. Personally, we would like to see a federal law passed preventing this from happening. “I drink your milkshake” has such Dickensian grandeur that its miniaturization in the mouths of SportsCenter anchors, scab gag writers, bloggers, and their ilk is practically a national tragedy. Nonetheless, if somebody is going to do it, it’s going to be us. The question is, what is its proper use? What situation demands the milkshake treatment?
As a sports metaphor? (“Let’s face it. The Celtics drank the Knicks’ milkshake last night.”) An amorphously obscene double entendre, hearkening back to its Kelis-ian roots? (“I’d like to drink your milkshake!”) Or maybe, in a nod to the godlike venom of its utterer, a taunt: “You best back down before I drink your milkshake, bitch.” In the end, none of these seem quite right, especially as they all omit the special genius of the line’s coda, a burst of half-mad juvenilia that captures the demented feeling of the scene better even than the line itself: “I drink your milkshake! I drink it up!” Because the child is the father of the man, and the milkshake too

USA Today also weighed in, reporting:

[Writer/Director Paul Thomas] Anderson concedes that he's puzzled by the phenomenon — particularly because the lines came straight from a transcript he found of the 1924 congressional hearings over the Teapot Dome scandal, in which Sen. Albert Fall was convicted of accepting bribes for oil-drilling rights to public lands in Wyoming and California.
In explaining oil drainage, Fall's "way of describing it was to say 'Sir, if you have a milkshake and I have a milkshake and my straw reaches across the room, I'll end up drinking your milkshake,' " Anderson says. "I just took this insane concept and used it."

Not to be outdone, SNL devoted a whole sketch to the line, with Bill Hader doing a very impressive imitation of Academy Award winner Daniel Day Lewis's performance:

Hillary-Making Our Dreams Come True

2008-02-21T13:11:00.002-05:00

Do I even need to comment? Make sure you have the volume up.

Science Fair Experiments

2008-02-19T15:20:00.004-05:00

Is there anything more American than school science fairs?

Hillary4U&Me

2008-02-18T15:08:00.001-05:00

We've seen the Obama video and the McCain video. Now here's the Hillary video. Get ready to be fired up and ready to go.

The Two-Hour Star Wars Holiday Special in only Five Minutes!

2008-02-16T10:04:00.003-05:00

From Wikipedia:

The Star Wars Holiday Special was a two-hour television special (including commercials) set in the Star Wars galaxy. It was broadcast in its entirety in the United States only once on Friday, November 17, 1978 on CBS-TV from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST). In it, Chewbacca and Han Solo visit Kashyyyk, Chewbacca's home world, to celebrate Life Day. Along the way, they are pursued by agents of the Galactic Empire who are searching for rebels on the planet. The special introduces three members of Chewbacca's family: his father Attichitcuk, his wife Mallatobuck, and his son Lumpawarrump.

The main storyline of the film, which is set in 2 ABY, transpires on Kashyyyk. During the film, scenes also take place in outer space and in such spacecraft as the famous Millennium Falcon and an Imperial Star Destroyer. The variety-show segments and cartoon introduce a few other locales, such as a cantina on the desert planet of Tatooine and a gooey, reddish water planet known as Panna.

The program also features some cameos (although the cameo actors are listed as stars) by other Star Wars characters, including Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, R2-D2, Darth Vader, Han Solo and Princess Leia (who sings the film's "theme song", set to the music of John Williams's Star Wars theme, near the end). The program is probably best known for an animated cartoon produced by Toronto-based Nelvana that officially introduces the bounty hunter Boba Fett. It was the first film produced of three official Star Wars spinoff films.

The film is notorious for its negative reception. George Lucas had limited involvement with the film's production, and he was unhappy with the results. It has never been re-aired or officially released on video, but has been widely bootlegged by fans, many of whom consider it ironically hilarious or kitschy.

For years I've read about this Holiday Special but have never actually seen it. Somebody recently emailed me this five-minute, abridged version and it lives up to everything I've ever heard:

If you want more, here is the originally included Boba Fett cartoon (marking the bounty hunter's first appearance in the Star Wars saga):

Stuff White People Like

2008-02-14T18:50:00.005-05:00

I came across this website called "Stuff White People Like" which documents...stuff white people like. It's entertaining, but the site name is misleading. It should really be called, "Stuff Hipster Left Leaning Yuppies Like." Here are some samples:

#61: Bicycles
#60: Toyota Prius
#58: Japan
#51: Living by the Water
#48: Whole Foods and Grocery Co-Ops
#39: Netflix
#30: Wrigley Field
#28: Not Having a TV
#22: Having Two Last Names
#11: Asian Girls ("White girls never go for asian guys. Bruce Lee and Paul Kariya’s dad are the only recorded instances in modern history")
#9: Making You Feel Bad About Not Going Outside
#8: Barack Obama

Like Peas in a Pod

2008-02-14T12:42:00.001-05:00

Not to be outdone, the Democrat's have released their Valentine's Day message:

The GOP Wishes You A Very Happy Valentines Day

2008-02-11T19:58:00.000-05:00

Send your own here.

John.he.is

2008-02-11T12:00:00.000-05:00

Not to be outdone by the recent success of the "Yes I Can" Obama anthem penned by will.i.am, John McCain supporters released the below video:

Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain Exchange Letters on Ethics Reform

2008-02-08T16:27:00.000-05:00

No doubt, this and this will be discussed in the next few weeks. A nice little slice of that famous McCain temper.

0.003g = 4 years

2008-02-08T14:26:00.000-05:00

Apparently, Dubai isn't all indoor ski-slopes and man made islands:

A father-of-three who was found with a microscopic speck of cannabis stuck to the bottom of one of his shoes has been sentenced to four years in a Dubai prison. Keith Brown, a council youth development officer, was travelling through the United Arab Emirates on his way back to England when he was stopped as he walked through Dubai's main airport.

A search by customs officials uncovered a speck of cannabis weighing just 0.003g - so small it would be invisible to the naked eye and weighing less than a grain of sugar - on the tread of one of his shoes.

New Iraqi Law Requires Waiting Period For Suicide Vest Purchases

2008-02-08T12:06:00.001-05:00

In The Know: New Iraqi Law Requires Waiting Period For Suicide Vest Purchases

Summing It Up

2008-02-07T21:47:00.000-05:00

I am now officially a cliche. From a blogger over at The Washington Monthly:

When I wrote my Monday post about voting for Obama I got several jokey emails from friends lamenting that I'd finally joined the cult ("Now you'll have to buy a Mac and start blogging about The Wire....").

The Obama backlash is coming, folks. On a related note, I'm about to start catching up on Season Five of the Wire with HBO on Demand.

Angry Green Men

2008-02-07T13:04:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of aaronrutkoff.wordpress.com:

Events That Have Made David Banner Become the Incredible Hulk

I seriously hope these are plot points from the 70s TV series and not Internet humor, but the list itself is too funny to verify. I particularly liked:

23. Being trampled by a crowd AND having the hot coffee spilled on his hand while trying to get to the sniper

24. Being tied up and fed soup by an elderly Japanese woman who doesn’t understand words like “You’ve GOT to cut me loose!”

25. Grabbing the pipe that is below freezing temperature

In other Hulk related news, Edward Norton is set to star in another big-screen adapation coming this summer.

In Brief

2008-02-06T15:10:00.000-05:00

My brother, the Republican, with the line of the day: "The Democrats keep promising change. Well, if either Hillary or Obama is elected, you will earn a dollar, the government will take 60 cents, and you will keep the 40 cents leftover--there's your change."

Express Yourself

2008-02-05T09:45:00.000-05:00

Keep Your Expectations In Check

2008-02-05T09:12:00.001-05:00

There is a lot of excitement over Obama's recent surge and the shrinking gap with Hillary. Still, it's important that supporters keep their expectations in line with the reality of the situation. The Clintons still have an enormous advantage among voters and are still the favorites to win just about every state (save Illinois and Georgia). Winning California, despite the recent Zogby polls, would be a miracle. Keep New Hampshire in mind. As one prominent blogger stated: "Obama has been slowly building up, and has had to overcome huge advantages enjoyed by the Clintons. It's about the calendar, and how it plays to Obama's strengths later in the month. There's no need to bet everything on tomorrow. It's all about how well he loses. The narrower the loss, the bigger his actual victory."

Here's what Obama's staff said yesterday about the situation:

Our path to the nomination never factored in a big day for us on February 5. Rather, we always planned to stay close enough in the delegate count so that we could proceed to individually focus on the states in the next set of contests. We fully expect Senator Clinton to earn more delegates on February 5th and also to win more states.

If we were to be within 100 delegates on that day and win a number of states, we will have met our threshold for success and will be best positioned to win the nomination in the coming months.

Michelle, Maria, Caroline and Oprah on the Hustings in California

2008-02-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

"Forty-eight hours before the closest thing America has ever had to a national primary, four extraordinary women put on the best campaign rally I’ve seen in 20 years of covering presidential politics." That quote is from today's New York Times, referring to Michelle Obama, Maria Shriver, Caroline Kennedy and Oprah Winfrey in Los Angeles.

Michelle Obama is one of the best public speaker's I've ever heard. Her words have an air of authenticity that only a non-politician can possess. Scroll down below to hear a sample.

The Closer

2008-02-03T15:28:00.000-05:00

Obama v. McCain

2008-02-03T11:05:00.000-05:00

Washington Post poll released this morning, February 3rd:

Q: If the election were held today and the candidates were ... who would you vote for?

John McCain 46%
Barack Obama 49%

John McCain 49%
Hillary Clinton 46%

Quick Facts

2008-02-03T01:57:00.000-05:00

Two quick facts:

1. Barack Obama brought in more donations from members of the military than John McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Hillary Clinton. The candidate with the highest number of military contributions? Ron Paul.

2. Hillary Clinton leads all presidental candidates in contributions from federal PAC lobbyists. Obama does not take any federal lobbyist money.

Yes We Can

2008-02-02T16:47:00.000-05:00

No matter what happens going forward, I am immensely proud of those who have supported Barack Obama's message. "Elections are about a lot more than just candidates. Elections are about fighting for a cause larger than ourselves. They're about identifying the great challenges of our time and proposing new solutions. The responsibility of leadership doesn't end with a single campaign. If you believe in a cause, it goes on and you continue to fight for it, and we will."

I'm not generally one for mixing celebrity and politics, but the below video truly captures what this campaign has meant to me.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no
matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the
power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will
only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We've been
asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against
offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been
anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible
odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't
try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a
simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.

Yes we can.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the
destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail
toward freedom through the darkest of nights.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and
pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the
ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and
prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this
world. Yes we can.

And so tomorrow, as we take this campaign South and West; as we learn
that the struggles of the textile worker in Spartanburg are not so
different than the plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas; that the
hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are
the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we
will remember that there is something happening in America; that we
are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people;
we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter
in America's story with three words that will ring from coast to
coast; from sea to shining sea - Yes. We. Can.

Why Obama is More Electable

2008-02-01T12:58:00.000-05:00

My passion for Barack Obama is so strong that at times my emotion gets in the way of being an effective advocate for him. My attitude can be condescending or belittling toward Hillary Clinton supporters. I understand the passion that Democrats feel towards the Clintons and the frustration that's set in from the stinging defeats of 2000 and 2004. There is an intense anger towards Republicans for the incompetence of the Bush administration, the marginalization of dissenting opinion, and most of all the reckless and failed policies in Iraq. A feeling exists among Democrats that they cannot afford to place the fate in the 2008 election in the hands of an untested candidate like Barack Obama. Barack Obama, for all his inspiration and appeal, remains an unknown entity, particularly when contrasted with a name brand like the Clintons. There is merit to Hillary's argument that she's been "tested and vetted" by Republicans, that she has battle scars proving her mettle. Asking Democrats to "roll the dice" on an African American candidate like Obama (as President Clinton puts it) certainly requires some faith. Given that the proposed policies of the Clintons and Obama are strikingly similar, why should Democrats be willing to take that chance against a Republican party that has so successfully undercut the hopes of every Democratic presidential candidate not named Clinton?

Because Barack Obama is imminently more electable than Hillary Clinton and he has the ability to expand the party beyond its traditional base.

In order to win the White House, Democrats must win the votes of not only Democrats, but independents and Republicans. This means we must nominate a candidate whose appeal is larger than the base. We need to win in red states. It's already a given the Democrats will vote for Obama or Clinton, just as they voted for Gore and Kerry in 2000 and 2004. Democrats lost those elections because independents voted for the Repubilcans. What's not a given is that independents will vote for Clinton. Certainly now is a unique moment for Democrats in their campaign against Republicans. The traditional Republican coalition of economic/fiscal conservatives, social conservatives and military hawks is splintering. This has been the glue of Republican dominance since the Regan administration and its demise is an opportunity that Democrats cannot expect to see again. Now is the moment to appeal to those Republicans disillusioned by the failures of their party and their weak pool of presidential candidates. Barack Obama can do this. This is not merely speculation or a haughty, hopeful talk about bridging a partisan divide. The results of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina conclusively show that Obama's appeal among Independents and Republicans is greatly superior to Hillary Clintons. In winning South Carolina's primary Saturday, for example, Obama drew 42 percent of voters describing themselves as independents, compared with 26 percent for Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to exit polls (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j0uMEYpasAyQ4CDIpXsMAbhzSy6QD8UECN4O1). Nevada won 47% of independents versus Clintons 33%. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21225994/. And in NH, Obama grabbed more independents voting in the Democratic primary, 41 percent to 34 percent (http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/08/nh.issues/).

There is no question that the Clintons are immensely popular among Democrats. One would be hard pressed to think of more beloved politicians within the party. Outside the party however, amongst Independents and Republicans, the story is very, very different. Many of my friends, whose admiration for the Clintons runs extremely deep, have admitted that they have very few Republican or Independent friends. For better or for worse, I have been predominately surrounded by Republicans for the better part of my life. What's unmistakably clear is the vitriol the Clintons inspire in them. Although most of it may be undeserved, it remains a political reality. Obama's appeal to Republicans is not a fairy tale - many have privately admitted to me that between Obama and say Mitt Romney, they would vote for Obama. Yet under no circumstance would these self described Republicans pull the level for a Clinton. The Clintons remain the most polarizing figures in American politics and in Obama we have a candidate who by all accounts transcends our party. What Obama offers is a rebranding of the party, bringing it forward into the future and transforming the way non-Democrats view the party. Essentially, he can be to us what Ronald Regan was to Republicans – a transcendent figure whose appeal reaches beyond the traditional sphere of Democrats. The Clintons, for all their triumphs represent the Democrats of the past that paved the political road for two terms of George W. Bush. We cannot squander this opportunity by nominating a candidate who serves only to unite a broken Republican party.

11 Personalities Guaranteed to Ruin Your Super Bowl Party

2008-01-31T20:56:00.000-05:00

11 Personalities Guaranteed to Ruin Your Super Bowl Party

Courtesy of Cracked (worth clicking the link)

The Guy Who Hasn't Paid Attention to the NFL in a Decade
The Guy Who's in It for the Commercials
The "Tomorrow Should Definitely Be a National Holiday" Guy
The Guy Who's in a Squares Pool at Work
The Guy Who's in a Squares Pool at Work
Obnoxious Girl Who Cheers Way too Hard
The "Is it Cool If I Smoke in Here?" Guy
The "Is it Cool If I Smoke in Here?" Guy
The "Is it Cool If I Smoke in Here?" Guy
The "Told You So" Guy
The "Favored Team Apparel Guy"
The "Fantasy Football Guy"

Cheeseburger in a Can is Both the Best and Worst Thing I've Ever Seen

2008-01-30T10:21:00.001-05:00

"This is a cheeseburger. In a can. It's a cheeseburger in a can. Is it the greatest achievement of mankind thus far, or is it an abomination of foodstuffs that deserves to be hucked back into the gaping maw of whatever food processing plant it was spewed from?"

Courtesy of Gizmodo.

Leadership In Action

2008-01-29T13:29:00.000-05:00

From the Hill:

"In one instance Clinton appeared to gauge Obama's response before showing her own. When Bush warned the Iranian government that "America will confront those who threaten our troops, we will stand by our allies, and we will defend our vital interests in the Persian Gulf" Obama jumped up to applaud. Clinton leaned across Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), seated to her left, to look in Obama's direction before slowly standing."

Courtesy of The Daily Dish (Anderw Sullivan).

Endorsements

2008-01-29T12:04:00.000-05:00

My venom for the Clintons is subsiding, although given their behavior since Iowa I don't feel it was unjustified. I'll soon be posting a final plea to Democrats on why Obama is preferable over Hillary very soon.

After the big Ted Kennedy endorsement, Bill Richardson seems prime to throw his weight behind one of the candidates. Having served in the first Clinton administration, he appears torn:

"I have a history with the Clintons," Richardson said. "And I've always liked her. She always seems very genuine." But Richardson considers Kennedy, who's long been respected by Hispanics, as "a mentor." In 1982, when Richardson ran for Congress for the second time -- he lost two years before -- Kennedy flew to Santa Fe and campaigned for him. "That might have been the reason I was elected," Richardson said. And he said he likes Obama, telling a story about how Obama saved him during one of last year's Democratic debates:

"I had just been asked a question -- I don't remember which one -- and Obama was sitting right next to me. Then the moderator went across the room, I think to Chris Dodd, so I thought I was home free for a while. I wasn't going to listen to the next question. I was about to say something to Obama when the moderator turned to me and said, 'So, Gov. Richardson, what do you think of that?' But I wasn't paying any attention! I was about to say, 'Could you repeat the question? I wasn't listening.' But I wasn't about to say I wasn't listening. I looked at Obama. I was just horrified. And Obama whispered, 'Katrina. Katrina.' The question was on Katrina! So I said, 'On Katrina, my policy . . .' Obama could have just thrown me under the bus. So I said, 'Obama, that was good of you to do that.'"

Hugs and Kisses

2008-01-25T14:50:00.000-05:00

Here's a great quote from Bill Clinton today on the campaign trail regarding Hillary's relationship with Senator McCain:

“She and John McCain are very close,” he said. “They always laugh that if they wound up being the nominees of their party, it would be the most civilized election in American history and they’re afraid they’d put the voters to sleep because they like and respect each other.”

Read the whole article here.

Chicken Phobia

2008-01-25T11:25:00.001-05:00

I'm unsure whether this is highly entertaining or insanely cruel.

Hershey Shelves Cocaine Look-Alike Candy

2008-01-25T10:49:00.001-05:00

The Hershey Co. is halting production of Ice Breakers Pacs in response to criticism that the mints look too much like illegal street drugs, the company's president and chief executive officer said Thursday. ...

"Some community and law-enforcement leaders have expressed concern" about the shape of pouch and the Xylitol sweetener inside, and about the possibility of the mints being mistaken for illegal substances, West said.

"We are sensitive to these viewpoints and thus have made the decision that we will no longer manufacture Ice Breakers Pacs," he said.

This is amazing. I can just imagine the one marketing dude who sat through every meeting giggling to himself. Read more about it here.

On a similar note, Vice Magazine has published an oral history of the infamous Kokie's bar in Brooklyn, where patrons would buy cocaine in the back and snort it behind a curtained corner. I'd heard of its existence through friends but always assumed it was hyperbole. Apparently not. Anyhow, it's a highly entertaining read.

Best Jewish Comedy Since Seinfeld?

2008-01-24T09:34:00.001-05:00

You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do

2008-01-23T08:49:00.000-05:00

My dream of an Obama presidency is growing dimmer by the hour. Like Obama, I'm undergoing something of a Clinton education in smear and distort politics. From today's Wall Street Journal:

One of our favorite Bill Clinton anecdotes involves a confrontation he had with Bob Dole in the Oval Office after the 1996 election. Mr. Dole protested Mr. Clinton's attack ads claiming the Republican wanted to harm Medicare, but the President merely smiled that Bubba grin and said, "You gotta do what you gotta do."

Two Girls, One Cup

2008-01-17T19:37:00.001-05:00

Slick Willie Defends the Nevada Lawsuit to Bar Casino Caucuses

2008-01-17T09:11:00.000-05:00

I am amazed this isn't a big story. For more information, check out the post below. Here's Slick Willie try to bend the facts:

2008-01-14T22:41:00.001-05:00

There are a lot of reasons I'm voting for Barack Obama on February 5th. There are also a lot of reasons why I won't be voting for Hillary Clinton, even if she eventually wins the nomination.

One of those reasons is the business going on in Nevada, where Clinton surrogates, upset that Obama has the support of the powerful Culinary Union, have brought legal action this week to prevent caucuses from being held in nine Las Vegas casinos. These caucuses were specially arranged so hotel employees could participate in the caucus despite having to work that night. Never mind that the state Democratic party approved this plan in March 2007. The amazing part is that four of the six plaintiffs are members of the committee that approved the rules. Of course, that was when it was assumed the Culinary Union would endorse the establishment candidate. One of the suit's plaintiffs is a teacher's union complaining that a similar deal was not brokered for their constituents. Not only does the timing of the action reek of being disingenuous (considering these rules were put in place eight months ago and yet they brought the action 2 days after Obama's union endorsement), but teacher's don't even work on Saturday nights (when the caucus takes place).

You can read about it here and here.

The Ascension

2008-01-07T09:00:00.001-05:00

Two interesting things about Barack Obama:

#1: His favorite show of all time is HBO's The Wire.

#2. This quote regarding his thoughts on the Clinton campaign's attacks against him:

I find the manner in which they’ve been running their campaign sort of depressing lately. It was interesting in the debate, Senator Clinton saying don’t feed the American people false hopes. Get a reality check. You know? I mean, you can picture JFK saying, we can’t go to the moon. It’s a false hope. Let’s get a reality check. It’s not, sort of, I think what our tradition has been.

Fear in Advertising

2008-01-06T21:25:00.002-05:00

Although Fox News, CNN and MSNBC get the bulk of attention when it comes to coverage of the Presidential campaigns, the most balanced and informative media outlet is easily CSPAN (channels 70 and 60 if you have Time Warner Cable in NYC). Besides showing various candidate campaign stops in Iowa and New Hampshire, the channel has a fair number of knowledgeable guests taking calls from bipartisan voters from all over the country. Tonight, CSPAN ran the recent political ads of all the major candidates.

The most entertaining of the bunch was Giuliani's spot where he reminds voters of the perils of the modern world (terrorism, assignations, explosions, etc). Essentially, it is the same exact ad Bill Murray's character in SCROOGED concocts to terrify viewers into watching a live production of "A Christmas Carol". Really, it's uncanny and I wouldn't be surprised if the national media picked up on it:

Here's the Giuliani ad:

Here's the ad from SCROOGED (start watching around 1:30)

Fired Up. Ready to Go.

2008-01-04T08:32:00.000-05:00

Barack Obama's victory speech in Iowa may have been his best yet and it's a speech that gets better as it goes along. From a strategic perspective, it's interesting to hear him define the moment as being a victory for independents and free-thinking Republicans. You can watch it below.

Alllllllvviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!

2008-01-03T09:05:00.000-05:00

David Cross ("Mr. Show" "Arrested Development") wrote a funny post on his blog defending his decision to star in Alvin and the Chipmunks. Apparently his role in the horrible-looking children's movie did not sit well with his fans who value hipster credibility above the mighty Euro (that's right, it's 2008). It's mostly hilarious. You can read an excerpt below and the post in its entirety here:

I am in no way hurting for money but I guarantee you that I have much, much less than you think. The reason I bring this up is because two years ago I decided that I wanted to get a small place upstate. Nothing fancy, a small cottage on at least a couple of acres near some water where I could get out of here, get some fresh air, buy a smoker, make some b-b-q and hang out with my dog on the porch. I looked informally for a long time but never found anything that I liked in my price range. Then finally, after much disappointed searching, I did. It's a small cottage on 5 1/2 acres in the middle of the woods in Sullivan county. It has a largish stream running through it and best of all it's in the middle of nowhere. No town, no nothing. Two hours outside the city and only about a ten minute drive from the Delaware River. Perfect. It was a little more than I had budgeted for but it was definitely worth it. I asked the owner if he'd take some of my credibility as payment. He looked at me as if I was an alien with A.I.D.S. speaking some intergalactic gobbledy-goo. I had to patiently explain to this country bumpkin about my indie hipster cred, and I would now like to cash it in. This rural rube was so backwards and ignorant that he couldn't even conceive of how financial markets work and simple free market capitalism. I tried again to explain the concept of the value of "credibility" and "artistic integrity" but he refused to take it in exchange for the house. This guy was a fucking idiot! But what could I do? He wouldn't take no for an answer. If I wanted that cottage I would have to pay him money. Sigh. So I used my "Alvin and the Chipmunks" money to pay for the down payment. Seriously, I totally did.

The Judd Apatow Backlash

2007-12-27T09:49:00.001-05:00

Happy Holidays, From the McFly

2007-12-26T10:21:00.001-05:00

My Friends Made a Funny Video

2007-12-20T18:03:00.000-05:00

Brought to you by: Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Zack Whedon and Nick Towne. I'm jealous of their talents.

Why Krugman Is Wrong

2007-12-20T11:05:00.000-05:00

Barack Obama and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman have been engaged in something of a public spat. Krugman has criticized Obama's willingness to negotiate with drug and insurance companies over health care reform as willfully naive. In Krugman's opinion, real change necessitates hard-nosed tactics, not compromise. Besides, Republicans and pharmaceutical companies will never compromise. So what good is a touchy-feely Obama, who wants us all to "just get along."

Yesterday I debated with a colleague who leans closer to Krugman on these issues than Obama.

My response? Real change requires a public mandate coupled with compromise; that the Democrats lack a mandate because they have no easily identifiable brand the public supports; that Obama is in a better position than any other candidate (particularly Hillary Clinton) to create a brand of reconciliation and pragmatism; and that a mandate and compromise will cause Republicans and corporate interests to change by public will. By contrast, electing a Democratic bull-dozer to take on the GOP the way George W. Bush has taken on the world will not yield positive results. Only bitterness and temporary change.

To my surprise, these points were made much more intelligently in a recent Newsweek column by Jonathan Alter. Alter authored a book on Franklin D. Roosevelt and provides some history lessons on how FDR successfully implemented the New Deal (note: it was not, contrary to popular belief, by bull-dozing opposition). The full article is here, with some highlights below:

Krugman is a populist. He writes that if nominated, Obama would win, "but not as big as a candidate who ran on a more populist platform." This is facile and ahistorical. How many 20th Century American presidents have been elected on a populist platform? That would be zero, Paul. You could even include Al Gore, who won the popular vote in 2000. Instead of exploiting the peace and prosperity of the 1990s, Gore ran on a "people vs. the powerful" message. It never ignited.

Krugman says that pundits like me who reject sharp anti-corporate rhetoric and prefer cooperation are "projecting their own desires onto the public." We'll see. But last time I checked, millions of Americans still work for corporations or aspire to do so and bashing them wholesale is a loser politically. It works sometimes in Democratic primaries with a heavy labor vote (though not for Dick Gephardt). But not in general elections. The last two Democrats elected president-Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1992-also campaigned during recessions. Both were smart enough to reject populism in favor of a responsive but upbeat message. ...

When I asked [John] Edwards how any agreement could be reached without at least talking to these players in the system, he said he would offer a seat at the table to members of Congress who represent their interests. In other words, it's OK to have the congressional stooges there, but not the interests that pull their strings?

The Edwards alternative-to simply overrun them-is unrealistic. Even a 1932-style mandate at the ballot box (highly unlikely) wouldn't make them capitulate. Look what happened when New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, elected in 2006 with a huge mandate, tried to "steamroll" a bunch of hacks in Albany. He got his head handed to him.

To call Obama "anti-change," as Paul Krugman does, is anti-common sense. Leadership requires a mixture of confrontation and compromise, with room for the losers to save face. "They have to feel the heat to see the light," LBJ liked to say. That heat is best applied up close. In public. Across the big table.

More Huckabee

2007-12-19T17:21:00.000-05:00

I've been amazed at the level of vitriol expressed by certain wings of the Republican party towards Mike Huckabee. Ron Dreher of the Dallas Morning News has written an extremely interesting editorial on the matter. You can read the article in its entirety here, but I've posted highlights below:

The campaign's purest Huckenfreudian moment so far came on Sunday's Meet the Press, when Mitt Romney protested Mr. Huckabee's calling President Bush's foreign policy "arrogant."

"That's an insult to the president, and Mike Huckabee should apologize to the president," Mr. Romney whined.

Or what? He's going to take away the Huck's GOP pledge pin? Mr. Romney's unctuous response brought to mind Doug Neidermeyer, the Animal House brown-noser vexed by the Delta House rabble.

The pathetic Romney plaint is the mournful cry of a Republican establishment in meltdown. Last week, National Review Online blogger Lisa Schiffren, a Giuliani backer, laid into Mr. Huckabee with a screed pithily summarized by Mr. Douthat as, "Go back to Dogpatch, you stupid hillbilly."

Alas for the GOP and for the old guard religious-right leadership, the view from Dogpatch these days is looking up for the populist Huckabee. Could it be that cultural and religious conservatives are fed up with being treated like useful idiots by the Republican establishment? ...

But this populist revolt is not just about religion. Mr. Huckabee calls himself the candidate of Main Street, taking on a party that has become "a wholly owned subsidiary of Wall Street." He's a throwback to a kind of conservatism that had a home in the Democratic Party before it embraced the counterculture – and created Reagan Democrats.

In a time of mounting economic anxiety, Mr. Huckabee could do worse than to position himself as an outsider critic of a party that just last week blocked an exceedingly modest tax increase on big oil companies to fund research into alternative fuels. ...

Anybody Can Paint

2007-12-19T10:32:00.000-05:00

This is a fun waste of time.

I Am The Walrus. Goo-Goo-Ga-Joob!

2007-12-18T22:17:00.000-05:00

I like Mike Huckabee. I likely wouldn't vote for the man, but I find him the least offensive of all the Republican presidential candidates. I like that he views liberal opinions as undesirable rather than the product of brain damage. I like that he says what he believes rather than what's going to endear him to the party faithful. I like that he's willing to challenge President Bush's foreign policy strategy, even if it means diverging from his party. I like that he hasn't fall to prey to the exploitative, fear-mongering immigration rhetoric of his party's other candidates. I like that he stresses the importance of the arts in society. I like that he understands that harsher prison sentences for poor minorities convicted of the same crimes as affluent Caucasians is unacceptable. I like that he doesn't want to encroach on the educational decisions of state governments, but believes the federal government can influence those decisions through tone and values. I like that he doesn't have an irrational aversion to taxes if the situation calls for it. I like that he's so hated by Matt Drudge and The Weekly Standard.

To be sure, there are lots of things I dislike about Mike Huckabee. I'm aware of his early 1990s, comments regarding sequestering people with AIDS. I dislike his belief in a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. I dislike his stance on abortion. And so on and so on. Like I said, the man's not going to get my vote, but he's the least offensive of the bunch.

Recently there's been some controversy about a Huckabee ad wishing Iowa voters a Merry Christmas. The Catholic league has suggested that a book case in the background of the ad is placed to give the subliminal impression of a floating cross. Huckabee shrugged off the criticism, and responded with this:

"I will confess this: If you play the spot backwards it says, 'Paul is dead. Paul is dead.'"

This is easily the funniest line of the campaign. Anyhow, you can watch the ad and the floating cross here:

How To Spot a Cylon

2007-12-18T19:43:00.001-05:00

Get your favorite nerd a great stocking stuffer here.

Never get caught off guard again! Cylon Safety Information Sheet #8, issued by QMx on behalf of the Colonial Ministry of Information, contains 10 tips that can save your life and the lives of your fellow Colonials, so heed them well:

★Do they ask questions about classified subjects?
★Do they seem unusually strong, smart or self-assured?
★Do they say God instead of Gods?
★Have you seen them before, but you know it's not the same person?
★Do you see them hanging around secured or restricted areas?
★Do they seem to hear music that no one else can hear?
★Do they seem unusually fearless, as if death has no meaning for them?
★Do they exhibit sociopathic behavior around other humans, especially defenseless children?
★Are they unusually adept, almost empathic, with machines?
★Does their spine glow red when they get... excited?

Not Penny's Boat

2007-12-18T12:10:00.001-05:00

1. I'm still waiting to see a number of movies (namely There Will Be Blood, Sweeney Todd, Charlie Wilson's War, The Diving Bell and The Butterfly and Juno) before offering my thoughts for the best of 2007. In the meantime, The Onion's AV Club has offered there thoughts on the worst movies of the year. I'm happy to report that I haven't seen any of the films on the list. Number 1? Norbit. Not on their list but on my list: Dan in Real Life.

2. Here's a very funny review of the upcoming J.J. Abrams' produced movie, Cloverfield (choice line: "I don't know if the movie makers are looking for poster quotes, but this movie is like a pussy that eats YOU out."). For those not in the know, Cloverfield is the upcoming geek movie de jure, about a monster that goes ape-shit destroying New York City. Inspired by real-life footage of the 9/11 attacks, the movie is entirely shot from the hand-held digital cameras of its characters. Cloverfield mashes its way into theaters this January. You can watch the trailer here.

3. Set your DVR's - new episodes of LOST return Thursday, Jan. 31st at 9pm. Due to the ongoing writers' strike, only 7 of the season's 16 episodes have been completed - so we'll have to sit through a hiatus between episodes similar to last season. A preview for season 4 is below, and a link to the ongoing Missing Pieces "webisodes" can be found here. Also for fans of The Wire, the upcoming season will feature actor Lance Reddick (Lt. Cedric Daniels)

Gabe and Max's How To Get the Dreamlife of Your Dreams Using the Interne

2007-12-14T19:39:00.000-05:00

I don't know who these guys are, but they're funny.

Your 2000 World Champion.... New York Mets

2007-12-14T10:06:00.000-05:00

Today's post is brought to you by Seth Oilman, who offers his thoughts following the release of the Mitchell Report. For those who don't know Seth, he's some-what of a Mets fan.

**************************************************************************************
By Seth Oilman

Coming off today's news where a sizeable portion of the 2000 New York Yankees appeared in the Mitchell Report.... For those scoring at home Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Mike Stanton, Denny Neagle, Jason Grimsley, David Justice, Chuck Knoblauch, Jose Canseco and Glenallen Hill- 9 of the 25 active 2000 New York Yankees (36%) have been implicated in the Mitchell Report, so with help of a friend, I did a personalized Elias Sports Bureau study into the performance of these players vs. the other Yankees playing in the series and came away with some ineteresting findings.

1) Half of the post-season Yankee pitchers in 2000 were using steroids against the Mets, and they threw 65% of the innings of the 2000 World Series

2) Users: 30.7 innings, 1.47 ERA, Non-users: 16.3 innings, 4.97 ERA

3) In the 4 Yankee wins, a steroid user was the starting pitcher. In the one Mets win, a non-steroid user (El Duque) was the Yankees starter.

4) Game 2 starter, Roger Clemens, threw a sawed off bat at Mike Piazza in the 1st inning- behavior commonly referred to as "roid rage"

5) Steroid user Mike Stanton played a key role in 3 Yankee wins in this series AND does not allow a baserunner the entire series.

Need more? Game-by-game analysis:

Game 1: Andy Pettitte pitches 6.2 shutout innings, staked to a 2-0 lead thanks to a double scoring two by steroid user David Justice, and is relieved by non-user Jeff Nelson with two out and two on in the 7th. Torre should have gone to roid user Stanton, because Nelson allows 3 runs with two out, giving the Mets a 3-2 lead. The Yankees tie it in the 9th with an RBI sacrifice fly by steroid user Chuck Knoblauch. Then, the suddenly invincible roid user Mike Stanton keeps the Mets at bay with a perfect 11th and 12th and Jose Vizcaino wins it in the 12th on a dying quail to LF.

Game 2: Clemens dominates, only interruption is his roid rage out mentioned above and leaves after 8 with a 6-0 lead and allowing only 2 hits. in the 9th, Torre trusts non steroid users, Jeff Nelson and Mariano Rivera to close it out, but the Mets score 5 on Mike Piazza and Jay Payton HRs and Todd Zeile threatens to tie the game with a 389 ft fly out to the top of the wall in left-center. (I guess Torre should have kept the roid freak Clemens or brought in the suddenly Hulkish Stanton here too?)

Game 3: No roid pitchers available, Mets win 4-2!

Game 4: Nowin a tight series, Torre comes back with steroid user Denny Neagle to start the critical 4th game.Neagle keeps the Mets locked down untilthe roid-proof Mike Piazza, who can not be stopped by cheaters hits a home rundeep into the Flushing night to make it 3-2. The Mets get the tying runaboard with one out, posied to tie the score in the 7th, when the suddenly invincible Mike Stanton, two years after beingdiscareded by BOTH Atlanta and Boston, strikes out the next two batters. Rivera comes in with 2IP to close it out.

Game 5: Mets magic gets to roid abuser Andy Pettitte as the Mets take a 2-1 leadwith someMets magic-an Al Leiter bunt base hit,a throwingerror and a Benny Agbayani RBI single.With the score tied at 2 in the 8th, you guessed it- Mike Stanton comes in and pitches a 1-2-3 inning to allow the Yankees to come up and win it with 2 in the top of the 9th.

Now this is strictly entertianment here. I don't believe the Yankees should lose their 4 WS titles, but I do think we are well within out rights to point these details out to Yankee fans next time we are harassed at a bar about the 2000 World Series.The Yankees won it- thanks to the help of 9 steroid userswho played integral roles in ALL 4 WS wins. One last note, the Mets are not innocent either- they did have two users themselves, Todd Pratt and Matt Franco. They had no hits in 3 at-bats :)

We Didn't Start The Fire (Part II)

2007-12-10T08:48:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that I am an enormous Billy Joel fan. Perhaps more than any other artist, he shaped the way I hear music (this is a result less of being raised on Long Island and more of being subjected as a child to my parents' preferences, where the car's tape cassette collection ranged from Frank Sinatra to...Billy Joel. I think my parents may have been the only baby boomers who never owned a Bob Dylan or Rolling Stones record). In my view, he's a significantly more talented song writer than Bruce Springstein (a glorified bar musician with political aspirations) and his craftsmanship is closely related to the rightly revered Elvis Costello. In particular, I've always been impressed with Billy Joel's more socially relevant compositions - songs like "Allen Town" which mythologize the plight of steel workers and "Goodnight Saigon," a song about Vietnam that's as poignant and terrifying to listen to as watching "Platoon" ("we came in spastic / like tameless horses / we left in plastic /as numbered corpses").

After releasing "The River of Dreams" in 1993, he's pretty much retired from writing new pop music, resigning himself to touring with old favorites and dabbling in classical piano. So it was with particular interest that I listened to Joel's new pop song, "Christmas Time in Fallujah." The song is written from the perspective of an American solider in (of course) Iraq. However, Joel does not sing it himself - rather, he gave the song to relative Long Island unknown, Cass Dillion.

Why didn't he record the song himself? According to Joel: "I thought someone with a young voice should be singing this, someone just starting out in life. Plus, you know, I'm 58 years old. My voice isn't the voice I was thinking of when I was writing; I was thinking of a soldier, someone of that age."

So how is it?

It's terrible. Actually, it's beyond terrible - it's embarrassing. It gives credence to every negative critique of Billy Joel you've ever heard (cheesy edgeless hack for fans of safe, soulless rock and roll music). Not only is it musically lazy and derivative, with a cliche Middle Eastern hook, it's lyrically pretentious:

It's evening in the desert
I'm tired and I'm cold
But I am just a soldier
I do what I am told
We came with the crusaders
To save the Holy Land

It's Christmas in Fallujah
And no one gives a damn

And I just got your letter
And this what I read
You said I'm fading from your memory
So I'm just as good as dead
We are the Armies of the Empire
We are the Legionnaries of Rome

It's Christmas in Fallujah
And we aien't never coming home

We came to bring these people Freedom
We came to fight the Infidel
There is no justice in the desrt
Because there is no God in Hell
They say Osama's in the Mountains
Deep in a cave near Pakistan
But there's a sea of blood in Baghdad
A sea of oil in the sand
Between the Tigris and Euphrates
Another day comes to an end

It's Christmas In Fallujah
Peace on Earth Goodwill to Men
It's Christmas In Fallujah

You can watch a performance here and judge for yourself:

We Didn't Start The Fire

2007-12-09T20:31:00.001-05:00

Staged or Amazing Coincidence?

2007-12-07T10:04:00.001-05:00

The Wire: Episode I

2007-12-06T09:51:00.000-05:00

From The AV Club Newswire:

"Somewhat softening the blow of the upcoming, abbreviated season of The Wire being its last, HBO is offering short "prequels" featuring Wire characters for free right now on Amazon.com, beginning Dec. 15 on HBO.com and its On Demand service, and each will air at the close of a fifth-season episode, starting with the third installment. Creator David Simon produced the vignettes concurrently with working on the show's finale, although they don't have any bearing on the season's story lines: Two focus on Proposition Joe and Omar as children (!) and the third follows McNulty and Bunk on McNulty's first day on the job, making them something akin to David Simon's Wire Babies. For people who love The Wire (there are a few of you out there, right?), shiiiiiiiit....Christmas just came a little early."

Seperated at Birth

2007-12-06T09:41:00.000-05:00

I still can't believe SNL's Andy Samberg killed all those people in an Omaha shopping mall. Seriously, I didn't see that one coming. I guess the writers' strike is really starting to take its toll.

More Obama

2007-12-03T13:33:00.000-05:00

The Wall Street Journal has a great opinion piece by Dan Gerstein on how the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are symbolized by the celebrity endorsements of Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Streisand, respectively. At the outset, it recognizes that celebrity political endorsements are generally insignificant (or more precisely, as "just another episode of the Democratic Party's long-running series of superstar superficiality."). However, Gerstein goes on to highlight why in this case there's something larger at play:

More than anything, Oprah is a uniquely transcendent figure in our public life: engaged in serious debates and willing to put her money where her mouth is, yet unsullied by the ugly political and culture wars of the past two decades, and independent in her thinking and affiliations. In this, she personifies the new post-Bush, post-partisan, post-boomer politics Sen. Obama is preaching. She is the way we want things to be (at least those of us outside the narrow margins of the ideological extremes): genuine, unifying, trustworthy, aspirational.

So how did the Clinton campaign respond to the news that Oprah would be stumping for Sen. Obama this coming weekend? Instead of sticking to their core message, and showing the confidence of a true front-runner, they fell into the tit-for-tat trap of countering with the endorsement of the polarizing, '60s-studded Streisand--in essence, the anti-Oprah. In doing so, the Clinton camp did not just fail to blunt or dilute the O-factor, they managed to accentuate it by unwittingly suggesting Mrs. Clinton stands for--like the Streisand anthem--the way we were.

This is a subtle, yet illuminating distinction on how the narratives of these two campaigns ought to be presented by the Obama campaign. Of course, I'm not the only one with advice for Mr. Obama. Karl Rove, the General Tarkin of the Bush administration, recently penned a column for the Financial Times advising Obama on how to handle the Clinton juggernaut.

The Politics of Kindergarten

2007-12-03T13:07:00.000-05:00

Taking a page straight out of The Onion, Hillary Clinton's campaign has attacked Barack Obama over claims that he never had a plan to run for President. From her website:

Today in Iowa, Senator Barack Obama said: "I have not been planning to run for President for however number of years some of the other candidates have been planning for."

Oh really?

"Senator Obama's comment today is fundamentally at odds with what his teachers, family, classmates and staff have said about his plans to run for President," Clinton spokesperson Phil Singer said. "Senator Obama's campaign rhetoric is getting in the way of his reality."

[The evidence is presented, including below]

In kindergarten, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled 'I Want to Become President.'1/25/07 ]

Yes, that's right. The Clinton campaign is using essays Obama wrote in Kindergarten to attack his candidacy.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton responds: "I'm sure tomorrow they'll attack him for being a flip-flopper because he told his second grade teacher he wanted to be an astronaut."

As an aside, if anyone is interested in perfecting their Hillary Clinton impersonation I've provided three easy steps:

1. Deliver your speech in monotones.
2. Intermittently use your right hand to make pointing gestures while angling your head to the right.
3. Gradually bring your monotone, robot-like speech up successive octaves.

Observe:

Ready For Cute Overload?

2007-11-30T14:58:00.001-05:00

Then click here.

VICE: Dos and Don'ts

2007-11-28T16:42:00.000-05:00

In Milan, the hot new style for men this season is to look like a male prostitute in his boxer shorts calmly leaving the scene after brutally murdering an enema-obsessed priest who took it too far this time.
(Courtesy of Vice Magazine)

Zogby Poll: Obama Strong but Clinton Slips Against GOPers

2007-11-28T13:41:00.000-05:00

Here is an interesting Zogby poll for those Democrats who believe Hilary Clinton is the only candidate who can beat the Republicans. In fact, when voters are given a choice between Clinton and each of the Republican candidates, she loses each time. When a similar question is presented with Barack Obama, he beats each of the Republican candidates.

Green Team!

2007-11-28T12:36:00.000-05:00

Enviro-Tips from the driving force behind the environmentalist movement (Will Ferrel, John C. Reilly, Adam McKay):

Hip Hop Power Point

2007-11-28T10:20:00.000-05:00

Plenty more of that here.

2007-11-27T20:16:00.000-05:00

Carrie Brownstein, guitarist/vocalist for Sleater-Kinney, has an article up on Slate.com reviewing the new video game Rock Band (which I recently purchased). The article is predictable ("wouldn't it be more fun to form a real band?"), but entertaining. I don't feel as though I can offer my feelings on the game until I've had an opportunity to have a few drunken friends over to play. Any takers?

The article also of interest to me because I had something of a crush on Carrie Brownstein as a teenager. Up until that point, my understanding of Jewish women was that 99.9% of them were like the girls I had gone to summer camp with - i.e., JAPs. Carrie was a guitarist for what I then viewed as one of the best bands on the planet (and I still maintain that "Dig Me Out" is one of the best albums of the 1990s). This meant the world to me and my heart still swoons for her.

I recently learned she does comedy videos with Fred Armisen (the best cast member SNL has had for the past few seasons). Speaking of Fred Armisen, he's playing a show at Knitting Factory this Thursday, November 27th. I don't know if that means he'll be doing comedy or music (considering his former career as a musician), but I'll be attending.

Fat Kid Successfully Avoids Ridicule By Swimming With Shirt On

2007-11-27T14:32:00.000-05:00

It's under the radar for most people, but The Onion consistently creates high quality videos in addition to their written stuff. You can subscribe to the video podcast via iTunes. Here's a very funny sample:

Fat Kid Successfully Avoids Ridicule By Swimming With Shirt On

2007-11-27T14:25:00.001-05:00

Here's a very cool picture of Heath Ledger as The Joker in the upcoming sequel to "Batman Begins." Personally, I love the look - it's much creepier than the Jack Nicholson version.

2007-11-27T13:32:00.000-05:00

I read a compelling article today at realclearpolitics.com by Jack Kelly that helps crystallize the problematic relationship Democrats have with the Iraq War. Specifically, the article discusses Democrats' puzzling rejection of Gen. David Petraeus and open embrace of retired Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, who presided over the war's biggest failures (the rise of the insurgency) and disgraces (Abu Ghraib):

It does seem odd that Democrats would excoriate Gen. David Petraeus, architect of the strategy that has turned things around in Iraq, and embrace Gen. Sanchez, especially since it was Democrats in Congress who led the criticism of him during the Abu Ghraib affair.

Historian Victor Davis Hanson puts it this way:

"In all these cases there is a dismal pattern: a mediocre functionary keeps quiet about the mess around him, muddles through, senses that things aren't going right, finds himself on the losing end of political infighting, is forced out or quits, seethes that his genius wasn't recognized, takes no responsibility for his own failures, worries that he might be scape-goated, and at last senses that either a New York publisher or the anti-war Left, or both, will be willing to offer him cash or notoriety -- but only if he serves their needs by trashing his former colleagues in a manner he never would while on the job."

For me, what is depressing is how Democrats choose to embrace those who speak to their instinct rather than their intellect.

The State is Reuniting!

2007-11-21T13:10:00.000-05:00

According to Michael Showalter: "The State is reuniting (though in truth we never broke up) to make a sketch comedy movie. All I can say about it is that we're back together after a brief ten year break and it's going to be about the history of our country. Hopefully, funny."

2007-11-20T18:11:00.000-05:00

One of the perks of jury duty is that it allows me sufficient time to read the New York Times. A few things from today's edition I wanted to share:

1: Bill O'Reily should be pleased to see that the New York Times is reporting "all the great stuff" coming out of Iraq. Today's paper has a cover story about the improving security conditions in Baghdad and the psychological effects its had on its citizens. As an aside, I'll mention that the New York Times and Washington Post - the two newspapers conservative pundits continually argue are rooting for America to fail in Iraq and any other Bush conceived foreign policy issue - are the only two papers in the nation with a Baghdad bureau.

2: Apparently, it is a half-time tradition at Jets games for thousands of male fans to demand that the women in attendance show them their tits:

"At halftime of the Jet's home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, several hundred men lined one of Giants Stadium’s two pedestrian ramps at Gate D. Three deep in some areas, they whistled and jumped up and down. Then they began an obscenity-laced chant, demanding that the few women in the gathering expose their breasts.When one woman appeared to be on the verge of obliging, the hooting and hollering intensified. But then she walked away, and plastic beer bottles and spit went flying. Boos swept through the crowd of unsatisfied men."

Way to go, New York.

2007-11-19T16:46:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, I missed the special writer's strike edition of Saturday Night Live this week, performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade theater. Michael Cera of "Arrested Development" and "Superbad" hosted, with Yo La Tengo as the musical guest. Naturally, I'm extremely jealous that I couldn't be there - it sold out in a blink. I'd hoped my irrational devotion to this show (which I continue to watch without fail) would have paid off with a ticket, but no such luck. Those of us left out in the cold can read about it here.

In other comedy news, I haven't seen much potential in the super hyped group The Whitest Kids You Know. However, this video definitely had me laughing:

2007-11-14T22:31:00.000-05:00

Surprisingly, I've been chosen to serve on the jury of an upcoming civil trail. So updates are going to be a little slower than I'd hope for the blogs return.

There's an interesting article in this week's "New Yorker" about Dieudonne, a French comedian (who the author likens to a cross between Lenny Bruce and Sacha Baron Cohen) who has become a leading voice for that nation's rising anti-Semitism.

What's interesting is the article's articulation of modern anti-Semitism, which I found rather accurate:

"Dieudonne is the spokeman, the godfather, the icon of a new kind of anti-Semitism," Alain Finkielkraut, the philospher and memoirist of jewish identity, told me. "It is an explicility anti-racist anti-Semitism, which inverts traditional anti-Semitism by asserting that the Nazis today are in fact the Jewis. The idiom of anti-Semitism is no longer racism; it is now anti-racism. Diedonne's followers say they don't hate Jews, they hate Jewish racism. They say that Israel is like Nazism, like apartheid." . . .

"In France, being an anti-Semite in the old way does not work. You will not raise a mass movement by saying the Jews killed Christ - nobody cares. Accuse them of having invented Christ, like Voltaire did in the eighteenth century, still nobody cares. As far as being a special race, nobody believes that anymore. But anti-racist anti-Semitism - saying tha tfor the sake of the blacks, for the sake of the Arabs, we must make the Jews shut up - this works. If the Jews practiced "memorial pornography" [a Siudonne quote referring to Jewish commemoration of the Holocaust] - thus exaggerating their own suffering - they became responsible for why the world didn't care enough about the history of slavery and the suffering of blacks. Dieudonne and his followers suppose that the capacity for empathy and the capacity for indignation is limited. But the brain doesn't work like this - you can care about the Holocaust and slavery. The more you are concerned by one, the more you are likely to be concerned by the other.

Phillppe Val, an idiosyncratic hero of the French left and the editor of the biting satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, says that Diuedonne "pushes us to transgress the very basis of our culture and politics - the knowledge that we have constructed on the ruins of Auschwitz. We are constructed upon that. Modern European democracy stated from there. If you want ot tear it all apart, the ultimate destructive anarchist gesture, there is no better place to start."

I would link to Tom Reiss' full article, but unfortunately it's not online. You can find it in the November 19th issue of The New Yorker.

2007-11-14T17:19:00.001-05:00

This sounds like the best speech Barack Obama has made since the 2004 Democratic Convention. Looks like he's saving his best stuff for this final lap. Skip till there's about 3 minutes remaining in the below video.

2007-11-12T09:42:00.000-05:00

It wouldn't be The McFly without a LOST posting. A series of newly-shot three-minute "Lost" minisodes starring the series regulars (i.e., not Nikki and Palo) can be seen online here starting today, and continuing with a new episode each Monday.

Considering the ongoing writer's strike, this may be the last LOST us fanboysandgirls get to see for a while. Season Four was originally scheduled to begin in February.

Swift Kids For Truth

2007-11-09T16:45:00.000-05:00

Republican campaigners are apparently hitting a new low...

The Best Celebrity Mug Shot Ever

2007-11-09T15:51:00.001-05:00

I think this replaces the one of a young Sinatra. Read more about it here. It was snapped in Rochester, New York following the 29 year-old singer's March 1976 arrest on a felony pot possession charge.

Explain THIS Tattoo To Your Girlfriend.

2007-11-09T11:31:00.000-05:00

This is the ugliest tattoo I've ever seen. It is so ugly that I can't even bear to post it on this site, and will make you click the link here.