Thursday, September 23, 2004
Just saw a pretty good Russ Feingold commercial on Fox. Missed the first part of the voice-over (he's shaking hands with some scary biker dudes after struggling to get past their bikes), but next:
[Voice-over in italics] With another man, looking at a piece of abstract art that's just a big black dot on a white field: you expect me to be independent. “Seriously, how long did it take you to paint that?”
At a movie theater snack bar: you expect me to dig deeper. “What is your profit margin on this stuff?”
On a football field, the scoreboard in the background shows 'Home 17, Away 20:' you expect me to ask the tough questions. “So, coach, are you sorry you didn’t go for the field goal?”
I like it. If I see it again I'll come back and add in the first part.
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[Voice-over in italics] With another man, looking at a piece of abstract art that's just a big black dot on a white field: you expect me to be independent. “Seriously, how long did it take you to paint that?”
At a movie theater snack bar: you expect me to dig deeper. “What is your profit margin on this stuff?”
On a football field, the scoreboard in the background shows 'Home 17, Away 20:' you expect me to ask the tough questions. “So, coach, are you sorry you didn’t go for the field goal?”
I like it. If I see it again I'll come back and add in the first part.
Worth-A-Chuckle Department:
This international poll: “In today's world, all nations are inextricably interconnected. The United States is the most powerful and influential nation in the world. Everyone everywhere will be affected by the upcoming U.S. presidential election. What if the whole world could vote in this election? " (Via Tim Blair)
Not that I'm taking it seriously, so far it’s not looking good for Bush; as of this writing only 13% support worldwide. [Single-digit support coming from 33 countries, 20 of them in Europe. High mark from Niger (?) at 95%, Low from Croatia at 3%.] However…
Scroll on over to the Koreas. ‘Korea, Democratic Peoples’ Republic of’ is the long version of ‘Korea, North,’ and ‘Korea, Republic of’ is ‘Korea, South.’ Okay? Notice that more people from NK than SK have voted (31 to 21), and that NK voters actually support Bush 58%-41% while SK voters go for Kerry 71%-28%. I smell foul play.
So why would NK be going for Bush? [Bearing in mind that there's like, one internet connection in the whole country, unless you tap into Chinese phone lines which is expensive, unreliable, and RISKY.] I have some theories.
One: it's part of some convoluted, Machiavellian scheme by NK government officials to overthrow the regime and take Kim Jong-Il's video collection.
Two: it's a backdoor (and again, this ain't Wonkette so no snickering) attempt to undermine Bush by making it seem like Kim wants him back.
Three: Kim has multiple personality disorder.
Anybody got any more? 'People are voting dishonestly' doesn't count.
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This international poll: “In today's world, all nations are inextricably interconnected. The United States is the most powerful and influential nation in the world. Everyone everywhere will be affected by the upcoming U.S. presidential election. What if the whole world could vote in this election? " (Via Tim Blair)
Not that I'm taking it seriously, so far it’s not looking good for Bush; as of this writing only 13% support worldwide. [Single-digit support coming from 33 countries, 20 of them in Europe. High mark from Niger (?) at 95%, Low from Croatia at 3%.] However…
Scroll on over to the Koreas. ‘Korea, Democratic Peoples’ Republic of’ is the long version of ‘Korea, North,’ and ‘Korea, Republic of’ is ‘Korea, South.’ Okay? Notice that more people from NK than SK have voted (31 to 21), and that NK voters actually support Bush 58%-41% while SK voters go for Kerry 71%-28%. I smell foul play.
So why would NK be going for Bush? [Bearing in mind that there's like, one internet connection in the whole country, unless you tap into Chinese phone lines which is expensive, unreliable, and RISKY.] I have some theories.
One: it's part of some convoluted, Machiavellian scheme by NK government officials to overthrow the regime and take Kim Jong-Il's video collection.
Two: it's a backdoor (and again, this ain't Wonkette so no snickering) attempt to undermine Bush by making it seem like Kim wants him back.
Three: Kim has multiple personality disorder.
Anybody got any more? 'People are voting dishonestly' doesn't count.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
I watched John Kerry's press conference today, [Finally! A press conference!] which was sort-of billed as a 'response' to Bush's UN speech. Frustrating, hearing Kerry's answers but not the questions they went with. Parsing them, though, they all pretty much came down to 'me good, Bush bad,' so maybe it doesn't matter.
Anyway, I was hoping to find a transcript of the Q&A; somewhere (no luck yet) so I could count the number of times he said '..and I've said this throughout my campaign...' or something similar. It was a LOT.
Hey, maybe it's his new campaign slogan!
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Anyway, I was hoping to find a transcript of the Q&A; somewhere (no luck yet) so I could count the number of times he said '..and I've said this throughout my campaign...' or something similar. It was a LOT.
Hey, maybe it's his new campaign slogan!
Electric Minds has a mirror of Den Beste's blog up. That'll be handy if he ever decides to stop maintaining it.
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Sunday, September 19, 2004
Good News/Bad News Department:
Well, the Brewers stink. [Trust me - baseball expert here.] They've lost 5 in a row to go 11-34 since the all-star break (though they are 8-4 against AL teams). At that rate, they could easily finish behind last year's record. Also, they're last in the league in virtually every offensive category.
The good news? The last-place team in every other division actually has a worse record.
Hey, at least it's footbal season.
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Well, the Brewers stink. [Trust me - baseball expert here.] They've lost 5 in a row to go 11-34 since the all-star break (though they are 8-4 against AL teams). At that rate, they could easily finish behind last year's record. Also, they're last in the league in virtually every offensive category.
The good news? The last-place team in every other division actually has a worse record.
Hey, at least it's footbal season.
Saturday, September 18, 2004
If a Catholic goes on the Adkins diet, can he still eat those little communion wafers? Do they have some kind of Adkins-friendly substitute, like a communion sausage or something? [I could make a joke here about ‘communion sausages’ and ‘Catholic priests’ but really, how bad do I want to piss off my Catholic readers? Besides, this ain’t Wonkette.]
No reason, just wondering.
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No reason, just wondering.
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Please note that, as far as I'm able to determine, Mister Pterodactyl is the first person in the 'sphere to point out that Tuesday Morning Quarterback is back.
Best line: "Detroit won on the road for the first time during the George W. Bush presidency." Look for Michigan to go Democratic this year.
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Best line: "Detroit won on the road for the first time during the George W. Bush presidency." Look for Michigan to go Democratic this year.
I’m continuing to enjoy the show in the ‘Sphere over the CBS memo thing. It’s pure comedy. I wonder, though; is anybody else reminded of the Ted Koppel/Jon Stewart confontation at the DNC in July? Because suddenly (i.e. as of two days ago) it keeps popping into my mind.
"From the start, Koppel made no secret of his distaste for Stewart's show: ‘A lot of television viewers—more, quite frankly, than I am comfortable with—get their news from […] The Daily Show.’
. . . .
Stewart … proceeded to outline his take on Kerry's nomination as the result of a year-long process of corporate branding: ‘John Kerry: now with lemon!’ A pretty standard line of argument for those of Stewart's generation … but to Koppel, it must have sounded like the sheerest nihilism.
. . . .
Stewart was careful to separate The Daily Show's mandate from that of ‘real’ television journalism: ‘I know my role. I am the dancing monkey.’ But that dodge didn't satisfy his broadcast-news interlocuter: ‘The reality of it is—and this is no joke—there are a lot of people out there who do turn to you.’ ‘Not for news,’ Stewart countered, and they were off again."
Stewart is trying to point out how the MSM has fallen for the "prespun narratives" of the left and right, meanwhile Koppel seems to have a problem with nontraditional news sources. [But y'know, I can't even remember the last time I watched network news.] Not certain, but I think the examples of Koppel and Rather say something about Old Media's sense of proprietorship over the news.
Side note: Belmont Club says that blogs are to modern media what the longbow was to medieval warfare. Groovy.
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"From the start, Koppel made no secret of his distaste for Stewart's show: ‘A lot of television viewers—more, quite frankly, than I am comfortable with—get their news from […] The Daily Show.’
. . . .
Stewart … proceeded to outline his take on Kerry's nomination as the result of a year-long process of corporate branding: ‘John Kerry: now with lemon!’ A pretty standard line of argument for those of Stewart's generation … but to Koppel, it must have sounded like the sheerest nihilism.
. . . .
Stewart was careful to separate The Daily Show's mandate from that of ‘real’ television journalism: ‘I know my role. I am the dancing monkey.’ But that dodge didn't satisfy his broadcast-news interlocuter: ‘The reality of it is—and this is no joke—there are a lot of people out there who do turn to you.’ ‘Not for news,’ Stewart countered, and they were off again."
Stewart is trying to point out how the MSM has fallen for the "prespun narratives" of the left and right, meanwhile Koppel seems to have a problem with nontraditional news sources. [But y'know, I can't even remember the last time I watched network news.] Not certain, but I think the examples of Koppel and Rather say something about Old Media's sense of proprietorship over the news.
Side note: Belmont Club says that blogs are to modern media what the longbow was to medieval warfare. Groovy.
Sunday, September 12, 2004
Too busy mocking CBS News to blog much these days. [Actually haven't been doing that much mocking myself, just been enjoying the show.] And John-John. And certain parts of Europe. Also, the Minnesota Vikings. After last year, I figure I should get an early start.
Speaking of which, aahhh, football season. Here's the Packers' roster. And here's a roundup of last year's achievements. Finally, my reactions to that last game, against the Eagles.
One last thing: raise your hand if you've gone to the dictionary to look up 'kerning' recently.
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Speaking of which, aahhh, football season. Here's the Packers' roster. And here's a roundup of last year's achievements. Finally, my reactions to that last game, against the Eagles.
One last thing: raise your hand if you've gone to the dictionary to look up 'kerning' recently.
Monday, September 06, 2004
Conspiracies R Us Dept.
President Bush appears to be ahead in the polls. The Kerry campaign is imploding. Democrats everywhere are fighting for ledge space. And now Bill Clinton just happens to need heart surgery? Sure he does.
It’s all about the timing, people.
Remember, you heard it here first: Clinton’s operation will be successful, but wait! There’s a complication! He’s slipped into a coma, and isn’t expected to live!
Two days later, at a press conference where she discusses her comatose husband for the first time, a tearful Hillary will reveal that “Bill’s last words to me (sob) before he lost consciousness were (honk) ‘Hillary, you have got to run.’ Therefore I am today announcing my candidacy for President of the United States in 2004.”
Democrats immediately flee from Kerry, who plaintively mutters something about Vietnam. Can the Dems un-nominate a candidate? Doesn’t matter. Efforts to add her to the ballot as an independent erupt in states where there’s still time, huge write-in campaigns where there’s not. Hillary picks either Dick Gephardt or Zell Miller as her running mate. Maybe Mario. They unveil sweeping health care and Social Security reforms and pledge to make the UN respected again (or something). Polls are tight.
Then, the Dems unveil their own ‘October surprise:’ Bill’s pulling through! He’s gonna be okay after all!
The day after Osama bin Laden is captured. Diabolical.
Don’t forget: it’s not whether you’re paranoid; it’s whether you’re paranoid enough.
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President Bush appears to be ahead in the polls. The Kerry campaign is imploding. Democrats everywhere are fighting for ledge space. And now Bill Clinton just happens to need heart surgery? Sure he does.
It’s all about the timing, people.
Remember, you heard it here first: Clinton’s operation will be successful, but wait! There’s a complication! He’s slipped into a coma, and isn’t expected to live!
Two days later, at a press conference where she discusses her comatose husband for the first time, a tearful Hillary will reveal that “Bill’s last words to me (sob) before he lost consciousness were (honk) ‘Hillary, you have got to run.’ Therefore I am today announcing my candidacy for President of the United States in 2004.”
Democrats immediately flee from Kerry, who plaintively mutters something about Vietnam. Can the Dems un-nominate a candidate? Doesn’t matter. Efforts to add her to the ballot as an independent erupt in states where there’s still time, huge write-in campaigns where there’s not. Hillary picks either Dick Gephardt or Zell Miller as her running mate. Maybe Mario. They unveil sweeping health care and Social Security reforms and pledge to make the UN respected again (or something). Polls are tight.
Then, the Dems unveil their own ‘October surprise:’ Bill’s pulling through! He’s gonna be okay after all!
The day after Osama bin Laden is captured. Diabolical.
Don’t forget: it’s not whether you’re paranoid; it’s whether you’re paranoid enough.
