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It's good news for Kerry that not only are many moderates and Naderites uneasy about Bush but also some lifelong Republicans. It confirms my theory that there do exist politically motivated Americans who are principled enough not to stay on the bandwagon after they've been misled. Fool me twice, indeed.
07-31-2004 9:43 PM - comments (1)
My new hero and the next president of the United States.
"I will be a commander in chief who will never mislead us into war. I will have a vice president who will not conduct secret meetings with polluters to rewrite our environmental laws. I will have a secretary of Defense who will listen to the best advice of our military leaders. And I will appoint an Attorney General who actually upholds the Constitution of the United States.
...We're told that outsourcing jobs is good for America. We're told that new jobs that pay $9,000 less than the jobs that have been lost is the best we can do. They say this is the best economy we've ever had. And they say that anyone who thinks otherwise is a pessimist. Well, here is our answer: There is nothing more pessimistic than saying America can't do better.
We can do better, and we will. We're the optimists. For us, this is a country of the future..."
07-30-2004 9:01 AM - comments (1)
And you all know how much I adore Zach Braff, right? The new movie he directs, writes and stars in, "Garden State" (my home state, of course), looks wonderful. The soundtrack, which features two of my favorite songs ("Fair" by Remy Zero and "Don't Panic" by Coldplay) looks equally wonderful. The trailer gives me that faint, hollow feeling that so few movies give me and I HAVE TO SEE IT NOW.
Plus, the trailer starts off with "Such Great Heights," which sets the perfect tone for a movie like this, I think.
07-27-2004 9:15 PM - comments (0)
With songs by artists such as Jimmy Eat World, Death Cab For Cutie, Blink-182, Ben Kweller, Bright Eyes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fountains of Wayne, Nada Surf and Elliott Smith, MoveOn.org's Future Soundtrack for America is definitely worth a mere $25 donation. What are you waiting for?
In other totally exciting news, my voter identification card finally arrived in the mail. I was starting to freak out about not being able to vote in the upcoming Missouri primary. I've been calling the board of election commissioners about once every two weeks to check on its status. They like to play the whole "make 'em sweat" game, I guess. Good thing to do in a tense, controversial election year following the most tense, controversial election year in recent history.
Sadly, it is not laminated and does not have my name embossed in gold on it. Actually, it's not really the least bit aesthetically pleasing, as is my American flag Discover card or red and silver Target card. It has a crudely drawn Arch on it with a crudely drawn ballot box in the foreground and a crudely drawn ballot (which conveniently reads "Ballot") poised to drop inside. But ugly as it is, I plan on doing some major damage with it, all the same.
07-27-2004 9:01 PM - comments (2)
An article on so-called brand journalism.
My question is, What happens when the consumer thinks he/she is reading something legitimate? I know for now there's no way one could read this "brand journalism" and not know it came from McDonald's or Harold's, but I worry that this will be less obvious as soon as corporations realize how easy it is to trick the average consumer. "Paid advertisement" or "from our featured sponsor" have been used more and more in "real" journalistic publications, but the fine line is getting harder and harder to read.
(Of course, it's quite interesting from a marketing standpoint.)
07-23-2004 1:33 PM - comments (0)
You all know I have much love for my fellow journalism people, especially those I went to school with.
BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE STOP USING ASTERISKS TO REPLACE LETTERS IN NAMES YOU DON'T WANT GOOGLE TO FIND.
I.E. GE*RGE B*SH
IT DOESN'T REALLY WORK THAT WAY, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ARE NOT DOING IT CONSISTENTLY. I KNOW YOU THINK IT MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE YOU ARE SOMEHOW KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT HOW GOOGLE'S TECHNOLOGY WORKS, BUT IT JUST MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE DUMB JOURNALISTS WHO THINK YOU KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERYTHING. PROBABLY BECAUSE YOU DO THINK YOU KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERYTHING.
BESIDES, WHO CARES IF SOMETIME FINDS YOUR SITE BY TYPING IN THE NAME OF A PROMINENT WORLD LEADER? ADDITIONALLY, NO ONE WILL EVER FIND YOUR PITIFUL LITTLE BLOGSPOT WEB SITE LOOKING FOR SAID WORLD LEADERS. MOST LIKELY, NO ONE WILL EVER FIND YOUR SITE, PERIOD, SO STOP ACTING LIKE IT CONTAINS THE IDENTITY OF DEEP THROAT OR SOMETHING.
THEN AGAIN, I FOUND YOUR SITE, AND WHAT IF I KNOW THE PEOPLE YOU DON'T WANT TO FIND OUT? GOOGLE CAN'T STOP ME FROM TELLING THEM, CAN IT? IF SO, I MIGHT WANT TO PICK UP SOME OF ITS STOCK DURING THE IPO.
ALSO, STOP DOING THE ASTERISK THING IN COMMENTS. HAVE YOU EVER SEARCHED FOR SOMETHING ON GOOGLE AND FOUND THE RESULTS IN A COMMENT????? DIDN'T THINK SO, SUCKA.
LITTLE SECRET: JOURNALISTS ARE USUALLY FAIRLY BRIGHT, INTERESTING PEOPLE, BUT THEY ENJOY WHISKEY TOO MUCH AND ALWAYS THINK THEY'RE RIGHT. MYSELF INCLUDED ON THE LAST TWO COUNTS.
End of rant. I still love most of you.
07-22-2004 4:49 PM - comments (1)
After our astounding victory over
After our astounding victory over the Cubs 11-8 just now, may I just say how proud I am of the Cardinals and St. Louis? Watching the game last night — when Zambrano beaned Edmonds for a second time and he merely trotted to first with no response — I was struck with how graceful our team is. Weird choice of words to describe a bunch of beefy men, I know. But there's something heartening in seeing a team come together like this with such modesty and humility. We have stars, surely, but Rolen and Pujols don't seem to acknowledge it the way, say, Barry Bonds does. The team plays as such, and it's really just delightful to be a part of it all (conjure Will Ferrell's James Lipton on that one).
When Zambrano acted in such a disgusting, animalistic manner, I was shocked. But I was more shocked to see so many Chicago fans stand up and clap with such exuberance when he did it. I know fans tend to be the same in every city — we all want our guys to win and we think we are the most deserving — but I have a strong feeling there would be less cheer if Carpenter had intentionally hit a batter just because he had given up a run. Actually, I think there's little chance any of our pitchers would have ever done that, which further proves my point.
Cubs fans (and fans of other non-winning teams) have such scorn for megateams like the Yankees; they argue that the huge payroll and the presumed lack of heart that accompanies it make them an evil empire, and of course they can't win pennants when teams like that exist. But look, we've got a team in St. Louis -- a relatively working-class town (compared to the snob appeal of New York, anyway) -- that's got class-act players who respect and love the game and the fans. And now they have the best record in baseball and they still haven't let their egos take over. If that's not baseball at its best, I don't know what is.
07-20-2004 5:17 PM - comments (6)
Another great weekend, the vast
Another great weekend, the vast majority with the boy. Rachel = very lucky girl. (Except for the foiled picnic plans, but we'll do that next weekend.)
I got a copy of the magazine Friday. It's beautiful. It's such a thrill to see the product of five months of hard work. My favorite is the food spread. I work for a damn bridal magazine, and it's the food that has me excited. I'm nuts, I know.
Besides my low funds at present, there is literally nothing to complain about in my life. Too much talk of my good fortune is sure to cause some snarling, so ouranophobe might be quiet for a while.
07-11-2004 9:58 PM - comments (2)
I wondered why the NAACP got involved in this situation...
California education chief calls preschooler 'stupid dirty girl'
Riordan apologizes for remark
Friday, July 9, 2004 Posted: 7:13 AM EDT (1113 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- State Education Secretary Richard Riordan jokingly told a child her name, Isis, meant "stupid dirty girl," prompting the head of the California NAACP on Thursday to call for his resignation.
Riordan, the wealthy former Los Angeles mayor known for his support of public schools, startled even friends last week with the comments at a promotional event for summer reading at the Santa Barbara library.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, his longtime friend, called Riordan's statement to the girl "unacceptable in any context" but gave no hint his job was in danger.
But Alice Huffman, president of the California chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Thursday that Riordan "is not suitable to lead education in our state" and should be removed.
The conversation, videotaped by KEYT-TV, took place July 1. The girl, 6-year-old Isis D'Luciano, asked Riordan if he knew her name meant "Egyptian goddess."
Riordan replied, "It means stupid dirty girl."
After nervous laughter in the room, the girl again told Riordan the meaning of her name.
"Hey, that's nifty," he said.
...Democratic state Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, who had scheduled a protest by civil rights organizations, canceled the demonstration after an apparent mix-up over the girl's racial background.
Dymally was quoted in the San Jose Mercury News Thursday saying the child was "a little African-American girl. Would he (Riordan) have done that to a white girl?"
The girl is white, with blonde hair.
07-09-2004 7:53 AM - comments (0)
This girl has a good, Sarah-Hatter-like voice and similar observations. I'm only copying and pasting her most recent post here because I worry not a lot of you will actually visit her site (at least not if you share my sheer laziness). It reminds me of the many times I've been lonely and makes me desperate to appreciate what I have.
when my last relationship ended, i wanted to take my time. to rediscover myself. to strengthen my sense of self. i was determined to feel at ease with myself. alone, but not lonely. strong. capable.
i've been alone for almost two years now. and i feel proud of the changes in myself. the progress i’ve made. the way in which i have come to appreciate things about myself i had long since forgotten. now, more than ever, i feel able to be a partner. i know who i am. i know what i want. what i need.
but, now...lately...increasingly...i ache for the comforts of a relationship. the support. the partnership. the sense of peace that comes from knowing that there is someone waiting at the end of the day.
someone to be my cheerleader. my honest critic. the spencer tracy to my katharine hepburn. the one who gets my monty python references. my obscure movie quotes.
and, of course, there are the other things i miss. the intimacy of being with someone else.
i long for someone’s shirt to slip into while the two of us sit in bed on a rainy sunday morning working the times crossword.
someone who knows about the spot on my back. just below my right shoulder blade. the spot where, if he puts his mouth there everso softly, i’m putty in his hands. and he knows not because i told him. he knows because he found it himself.
someone who looks into my eyes and smiles as his fingertips slowly trace along the curve of my ribcage until it becomes the soft slope of my breast.
someone to put his hand on the small of my back when he leans over to kiss me good-bye.
someone to fall asleep with his head on my stomach and my hands in his hair.
someone to put his fingers on my lips so i can kiss them softly.
someone to tell me that, while he adores my hands, and he gets lost in my eyes, that it’s really me – my smell, my taste, my synergy, the sum of my parts, my eclectic collection of imperfections that makes him lightheaded.
i've worked hard to make myself forget. forget what it feels like to long for someone. forget how good it feels for someone to long for you. i won’t let myself think about how long it's been since someone held my hand. since i buried my face against the side of someone’s neck and breathed in deeply to smell him. since someone put his hands on the side of my face and kissed me.
and then, when you least expect it, someone comes along. out of the blue. with no warning. and he looks at you and your breathing gets shallow. and you fumble with your answers to his questions. and he makes you feel as though it’s just the two of you talking. that you’re not in the middle of a loud and crowded room.
and then, he’s gone.
but not before he has made you ache just a little more.
not before he has reminded you of all those things you’ve worked so hard to make yourself forget.
07-08-2004 4:29 PM - comments (1)
One of Rivers Cuomo's favorite
One of Rivers Cuomo's favorite shows as a child was Guiding Light. Great minds, eh?