Author: fifteenkey (Page 44 of 95)

Maybe it’s the part of me that enjoyed the Yankees losing almost equally to the Red Sox winning. Now I don’t really give a shit. Well, maybe a little, but last night, I wanted concession with my victory and I didn’t get it. No white flag. No graceful exit. No class, but talk of “respect.”

I don’t know what this “respect” means now from someone who has no respect for the process, the rules, her opponent, and most importantly, the truth. In the hotly contested elections of 2000 and 2004, I’m certain neither Al Gore nor John Kerry wanted to concede to Dubya, but both did with dignity. Last night the Titanic sank and “she who shall not be named” sat in a lifeboat like Bruce Ismay, pretending it didn’t happen.

Last night as I read the comments of thousands in the blogosphere, this one tickled me. The writer said the whole thing reminded him of a scene from “Waynes World.”

Stacy: “You know Wayne, if you’re not careful, you’re going to lose me.”
Wayne: “I lost you 2 months ago. We broke up. Are you mental? Get the net!”

Democratic voters helped Barack Obama make history.

Some other thoughts on the general election:

• It wouldn’t surprise me if John McCain isn’t the Republican Presidential candidate on November 4, 2008. They cannot win with this guy. Hey, Karl Rove & Co. smeared him out of the running in 2000. Anything’s possible.
• Barack Obama needs to keep accentuating the positive and back off the corporate bashing. Even the oil companies need to be part of the solution if we’re to have real change.
• Michelle Obama is going to get savaged by the right-wing pitbulls of hate like Michelle Malkin. Her husband won’t be spared either. They’ll probably link him with OJ Simpson before it’s all over.
• When are the Republicans going to get John McCain into Toastmasters? Seriously. That lackluster speech tonight in front of those rented cardboard cutouts was pathetic.
• I almost welled a tear tonight seeing footage of Barack Obama shaking hands with hard working Americans… Black Americans. The pride in their faces was touching.
• It looks like millions of Democratic voters are going to be held hostage until they are “respected.” Whatever that means. Their choice now is to vote for the Democrat or screw themselves with apathy or a vote for John McCain. That’s not much leverage for a group that supposedly wants to do what’s best for America.

Sunday’s handy self-help post really inspired me to crank out another…

With gas approaching 4 bucks a gallon, I’m looking for ways to squeeze more miles out of each polluting one of them. It’s easy really:

1. Don’t drag race unless you’re a man dressed as a woman – Hitting the pedal and quickly accelerating might make you feel like Milton Berle (in more ways than one…), but it’s damn wasteful on petrol. Edmunds reports this alone can save you 30% of your precious fuel.

2. Sammy can’t drive 55, but you can – The closer you drive to 55, the better, with a potential 14% savings.

3. Take a Cruise – Using cruise control can save 14%.

Now you can’t add these all up and expect 58% savings because your mix of driving will determine overall savings, but employing these tips is working for me in the real world… Well, my world. Prior to last week, the long term mileage calculated over tens of thousands of miles on my trip computer was 19.1mpg. Not bad for a 1996 Volvo with 227,000 miles, right? Well, for the last tank of gas with a kindler, gentler driver, the score reads 24.1mpg, a 26.2% improvement! Over my 20,000 annual miles at $4/gal., the savings is North of $850! When I calculated mileage the old fashioned way, it was even better:

Those are the numbers for a car that had an EPA sticker stating City 17 / Highway 24 / Average 19mpg when it was new…

4. Bonus tip – Get the body out of your trunk – Seriously, why am I carrying 2 gallons (14lb) of water and golf clubs I use twice a year?

I can’t believe I missed it. The Digg headline was irresistible, and the ecollegetimes.com photo priceless, so with one click of my battery-powered mouse, I read that May was “National Masturbation Month.” OK. Stop. I want to use my imagination on this post and not just lazily pick from this comprehensive list of pud pulling puns. Not that “you know,” is limited to the male population, but unlike it being a “lifestyle” for men, women engage out of necessity, since most men approach making love with a woman like a ferocious game of Whack-a-Mole, present company excluded, of course.

My research soon turned up the Masturbation Hall of Fame and songs dedicated to the handy hobby including the Who’s “Pictures of Lily,” Green Day’s “Longview,” and the Divinyls classic, “I Touch Myself.” The Hall of Fame cited several pop culture references including Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham enjoying hand made pleasure in the shower in “American Beauty” as his voiceover intones, “This is the high point of my day.”

My favorite cultural reference to self-satisfaction is, “The Contest,” a “Seinfeld” stroke of genius written by Larry David. Here’s the opening few minutes…

In spite of its universality among male and female, the subject still comes with a touch of taboo, although I’m sure Republicans would agree Democrats do quite a bit of jerking off and Democrats wish the Republicans would at least once in a while. Of course, it’s still a little embarrassing to be associated with the she-bop, as the family of this spelling bee winner might attest…

Still, you never know what might set your fingers fumbling, and you’ve got to be careful where you bone the bat (Oh, go ahead. Click it.). One poor guy ended up in a Craigslist post and then got his very own youtube vid. Check it out. It’s only 1:39 and then you can, you know, do whatever.

Seems like this fun show is a local phenomena now, but I can see Night At the Rock Opera coming soon to a slick Vegas venue…

In other news, Sloan has a new record coming out June 10th and a local date eight days later at T.T. The Bear’s. Check out some new cuts on the bands myspace page.

Jeff, I’m going…

File under Serendipity… The band also has a show at Chicago’s Double Door June 23rd… I’m there for a conference the 22-24. Sweet!

I’m pretty fatigued at this Democratic primary process that’s now lurching, wheezing and sputtering toward the finish line like the last event of a senior’s decathlon. However, the awards ceremony, or in this case, selection of a nominee, could not be completed until some rules were changed to favor one participant.

Before we get to yesterday’s action, let’s look at how we got here:

• Aug. 19, 2006 – The Democratic National Committee schedules Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina caucus/primaries and rules that other states cannot hold their contests before Feb. 5, 2008, and offending states delegates would not count in the nominating process.
• May 21, 2007 – Florida officially moves their presidential primary to Jan. 29, 2008.
• Aug. 25, 2007 – The DNC strips Florida of its 210 presidential convention delegates.
• Aug. 31 – Sept. 1, 2007 – Democratic presidential candidates including Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama sign a pledge not to campaign in states that hold early nominating contests in violation of party rules.
• Sept. 4, 2007 – Michigan officially moves their presidential primary to Jan. 15, 2008.
• Oct. 9, 2007 – Democratic presidential candidates including Barack Obama withdraw from the Michigan ballot. Hillary Clinton says her name will remain on the ballots.
• Dec. 1, 2007 – The DNC strips Michigan its 156 delegates.
• Jan. 15 & Jan. 29, 2008 – Hillary Clinton wins Michigan and Florida primaries.
• Since then… Barack Obama wins 9 straight contests and takes the delegate lead. Hillary Clinton begins to talk about the “disenfranchised” voters of Michigan and Florida.

May 31, 2008 – The DNC Rules Committee meets to determine the fate of the Michigan and Florida delegations, in spite of the fact that fate was already decided and agreed to by both Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama. The Clinton side wanted each delegation to be seated fully and the votes to represent those on the Jan. 15 & Jan. 29 primaries, even though Barack Obama wasn’t even on the ballot in Michigan. After the public hearing bullied throughout by Clinton supporters, the committee ruled to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan with half a vote each. The compromise gifted Mrs. Clinton a net gain of 24 delegates, but fell far short of what she needs to overcome a now insurmountable Obama lead. Some of her supporters didn’t take the news well:

This ugly contest has been soiled with charges of racism and sexism, and the actual vote counts show overwhelming support of Sen. Clinton by white women and of Sen. Obama by African-Americans. Between now and November, those fissures get healed or the Democrats wake up November 5th wondering what the hell happened. Could “hell hath no fury” cost Barack Obama the White House? Only if most Clinton supporters are like Sister Christian above, and I don’t think they are.

After weeks of anticipation, last night Megan headed into Boston with 3 (natch) girlfriends to see “Sex in the City.” The clickety-clack sound of her heels on the hardwood floors told me she was just about ready. After all, it is a show about shoes, right? I think that’s why guys, well, straight ones anyway, aren’t into the show. I can only speak for myself, but my shallow self rarely gets to the shoes. What I’ve discovered is that women know this, and the shoes aren’t for us. They buy the shoes to impress their girlfriends. As I sat getting a haircut yesterday, Kristie confirmed as she cut. Yeah, she’s a sample of 1, but I’m pressed for time here…

I also don’t know where I’m going with this. I tease Megan about her being “Carrie,” but aside from her physical character portrayed by Sarah Jessica Parker, I don’t really know anything about her (see shallow, above). Time for Wikipedia wisdom…

OK, so Carrie Bradshaw has a shoe fetish and a tendency to dress like a gourmet, pot-luck supper for lunch or cosmo’s with her girls, and is “at heart, old-fashioned and deeply romantic. She is on an endless search for true love, and refuses to settle for, as she puts it, ‘anything less than butterflies.’” Let’s look at her pals…

• Charlotte York “is the most conservative and traditional…”
• Miranda Hobbes has “extremely cynical views on relationships and men…”
• Samantha Jones is “a seductress who avoids emotional involvement at all costs…”

While most women of any complexity probably wear pieces of each character like gold from a jewelry box, my Megan does most resemble the glittering Carrie. She also has the hope of Charlotte and hopefully will never wear the cynicism of Miranda. Of course she’s never had sex, so Samantha… Uhhh… Can I just take a pass on that part? I’ll go with she’s got most of the good and maybe some of the bad of each imperfect character. That makes her beautifully unique.

And don’t ever settle for anything less than butterflies…

Tami Silicio’s photo of flag-draped coffin
By WeMeantDemocracy on Flickr
© All Rights Reserved.

This long weekend is brought to you by the thousands of American men and women who died carrying out the policy of their government. Policy they neither formulated nor necessarily endorsed. They deserve our acknowledgment and respect. This week I received the following email from a guy I greatly respect:

As we all know Memorial Day is coming this weekend. This is a time when we should remember all who lost their life while serving their country. As has been my custom for the past few years, I go with a few others and place new flags at each Veterans headstone at the cemetery here in Medfield. After we have finished, it’s quite humbling as we look across the cemetery and see so many flags waving in the breeze.

This year you might notice some changes if you attend a Memorial Day parade or ceremony. The President signed into law this past January a slight change in the code of conduct for Veterans as well as active duty service men. It is now proper for all veterans and active duty servicemen to salute the flag while dressed in civilian clothes. You might notice this occurring now.

Another effort that is being promoted is for Veterans to proudly and openly show pride in having served in the Military. They are being encouraged to wear their Medals on their hat, shirt pocket, lapel or jacket on Memorial Day as well as Veterans Day. You may also begin to notice others who will choose one of their medals and wear it daily or on special occasions.

If you can, find the time to attend a Memorial Day Ceremony near you. Attending a ceremony is one way of assuring the perseverance of the true reason this holiday is observed.

I admire Ron’s intent and know it’s genuine. What irks me is the subtle war promotion driven by the chicken hawk Bush administration in the middle two paragraphs. It’s pretty much a subliminal way of manipulating those who sacrificed into promoting the neocon militarism that’s sinking our country. This is Memorial Day, a solemn occasion, not a Soviet style Victory Day of promoting military might.

Rant over. Here’s a list of Massachusetts events honoring those who died following orders.

Memorial Day 2007
Memorial Day 2005

7:42 – Kyle and I just got back from dinner. Veal Parm and Chicken Frances at Il Forno. That place just isn’t the same, and I don’t mean better.

7:43 – That brunette in the Caddy CTS commercial is quite lovely.

7:45 – We’re watching “About a Boy” as a Celts pre-game. A scene just opened with U2’s “Zoo Station” from “Achtung Baby” which Amazon tells me was released over 16 years ago…

8:02 – Cate Blanchett as Russian Irina Spalko was about the best thing in today’s matinee of the new Indiana Jones flick. When’s the last time Stephen Spielberg made a great film?

8:07 – Sir Stevie’s “Munich” (2005) was short of great, so it looks like it’s been a decade since “Saving Private Ryan” (1998). Let’s hope for some magic with “The Trial of the Chicago 7” due in 2009.

8:25 – My Dad just called. He’s got bronchitis, but seems to be doing OK otherwise. He’s planning a visit in late June.

8:34 – I can really do without the “Hollywood” introductions of home teams in the NBA. Although the Pistons Chauncey Billups really can do an entrance…

8:42 – Celts up 8-0. That’s like the old Sox being in first in May…

8:49 – 13-4 C’s, but back to the finish of “About a Boy.” The kid is about to sing Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly.”

8:52 – Poor kid is getting jeered, but Kyle and I agree Kyle is a vastly superior singer to this kid. Now the cheesy Hugh Grant is on stage with a guitar. Kyle just “Avardra Kadavra’d” the Grant character. Not sure why.

8:57 – 15-12 now, plus KG and Ray Allen are both on their asses with 2 fouls. Time for Kyle’s meds a face scrub and bed for the boy…

9:05 – Sam Cassell just threw up a lead brick followed by a Rasheed Wallace second effort bucket. 13-0 run and a 17-15 Pistons lead.

9:43 – While I’ve been searching for a better Johnny Most clip than this, the Green has built a 19 point lead.

9:46 – While the Pistons are hosting the Celtics, the Red Wings are also home for game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. They’re also faring better than the boys from Auburn Hills: Wings 1, the plural of Danny DeVito’s character in a “Batman” flick 0.

9:58 – Just saw a promo for a new ripoff ABC series called “Wipeout,” that’s clearly a fax of the classic MXC, hosted by Vic Romano and Kenny Blankenship. Right you are, Ken.

10:29 – Sweet pass by KG and a 22 point bulge!

10:36 – Isn’t Coldplay just a U2 tribute band?

10:50 – What is up with Ray Allen in these playoffs? Slump or done?

11:09 – Paul Pierce just fell very awkwardly and so will the Green if he’s out.

11:12 – I’ve never seen “Lost,” and the 34 commercials for the “2 hour season finale” won’t get me to.

11:13 – The Celtics are trying to give this one away with poor charity stripe shooting.

11:15 – Nope. They picked a good time to snag their first road win of the playoffs. As the “Couz” would say, they “increased the defensive intensity” to win this one.

11:22 – Wasn’t that an exciting Saturday night? Uh, yeah.

This cool test is from the PerthNow news site Down Under…

Evidently, most people see the woman turning counter-clockwise. Not me. Through my prism she’s spinning in time, an indication I’m Right-Brain dominant.

I see traits on both sides of the ledger, but right rules. The last two italicized entries came from Wikipedia and brought me back to high school. There I struggled to get B’s in Algebra, but easily aced Geometry while most of my peers struggled. That provides a sliver of evidence to the claim that only 5% of right handed people are also right-brain dominant.

But what does it all mean, Basil? I have no idea, but it gave me an excuse to post a hot spinning naked chick. Blame it on my “fantasy based” right brain.