Why I should (or shouldn’t) do TV interviews
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

This morning on the Today show, they had a couple on who had written a book about teaching a youngster to swim.  Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death in the U.S.   The folks who wrote this children's book had a personal experience -- 20 years or so ago, they had a child drown in a pool.

The interviewer was empathetic.  Therefore, she failed to ask the first question that I would have asked:  "So your book pretty much exemplifies the notion that those who can't do, teach, right?"

Currently listening : For Emma, Forever Ago By Bon Iver Release date: 2008-02-19

3:03 PM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Disillusioned by Obama
Category: News and Politics

I just wrote this e-mail to Obama for America.  This is about all I have to say right now:

Watching Senator Obama wrench himself towards the center has been incredibly depressing.  Today's 1-2 gut punches in which he gave an explanation for his support for the new surveillance bill that was weak and unconvincing and his condmenation of the U.S. Supreme Court's latest death penalty decision have me, for the first time, questioning what Barack Obama is all about. 

I thought Obama was a leader with conviction.  But actions like these two reveal that he may be more of the same, but with a hipper marketing campaign.

I'll still vote for Obama -- we can't afford any more Republican rule.  However, after donating $150 or so to the campaign, and planning to donate more, I will refrain and see if the Senator's disappointing march away from principle will continue all the way to November.

Currently listening : Exotic Creatures of the Deep By Sparks Release date: 2008-06-10

8:34 PM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Carlin, Pt. 2
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

After reading my cousin Ty's comment, I was reminded of a Carlin related story.  Back in the '70s, Pacifica Radio was sued by a parent.  One of its stations played Carlin's famous "Seven Dirty Words" routine, the one I referenced in my last blog.  The case made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

We read the opinion in my Constitutional Law class at DePaul.  Our teacher, Professor Blackman, was a big First Amendment guy.  He was also odd, the type of guy you imagined might still live with his mother.  He walked slightly hunched over, his lower lip jutted out a bit and shined with saliva, and he talked in a gruff voice -- he sounded like the older brother of Reverend Jim from the show Taxi.

So as we began to discuss the case, he hobbled up one of the aisles of the lecture hall.  He was apparently searching for the most easily embarrassed person.  [Note -- I am going to change the person's name to protect the truly innocent]

He spied a reticent Yankee, who I'll call Greg Harger.  "Mr. Harger, can you tell me what the seven dirty words are that George Carlin said you couldn't say on television?"  Greg stammered and no words came out.  Blackman said, even louder, "Mr. Harger, what are the seven dirty words?  Say them!"  Greg was truly flustered.  He was blushing bright red.  "Mr Harger, what are they?  Huh? Huh?"

Greg finally got out "Shit", in a high, nervous voice.  Blackman then said, "C'mon, you can do it!"  And Greg slowly went through the others.  It was painful.  Painful because we were trying to hold in the laughter, even as we knew how cruel the professor was being.

That was one of the more interesting moments of my first year of law school.

Currently listening : You Broke My Heart in 17 Places By Tracey Ullman Release date: 2007-04-03

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George Carlin, RIP
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

One of the all-time greats is dead.  Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits!

Currently listening : Doremi Fasol Latido By Hawkwind Release date: 2001-08-27

5:26 AM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

KG
Category: Sports

Because I wanted to see Phil Jackson get the record for NBA titles by a coach, I rooted for the Lakers in the NBA Finals.  But it was pretty apparent that the Celtics were the better team and the Lakers could not match up with the C's physical D.

And I was happy to see a lot of deserving Boston vets get rings.  But nothing was better than watching Kevin Garnett.  He's a quasi-local boy, having played high school ball in Chicago at Farragut Academy.  Moreover, he's one of the all-time great competitors.  His explosive reaction after the final horn sounded was so real.  Scary to some, perhaps, but real.  He's always been a championship quality player, now he has the title to go with it.

One more thing -- as others have said, it's time for the Kobe Bryant-Michael Jordan comparisons to stop.

Currently listening : Pacific Ocean Blue - Legacy Edition By Dennis Wilson Release date: 2008-06-17

9:23 PM - 3 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment

Leadership you can believe in, but not comprehend
Category: News and Politics

John McCain was on the Today Show this morning.  He said a couple of things that screamed for follow up questions, but follow ups are pretty much the province of the now-retired Ted Koppel and comedian Bill Maher, so they weren't asked.

First, McCain was differentiating his views on energy policy from Barack Obama's, particularly with respect to the windfall profits tax on oil companies that the Republicans refused to let get to the floor for a vote.  McCain talked about how this country need to get off its dependence on foreign oil and develop alternative forms of energy.

McCain then noted that the windfall profits tax is a bad idea, because that money could be used by the oil companies to invest in alternative forms of energy.  In fact, he alluded to this notion twice.

Matt Lauer, being Matt Lauer and not Koppel or Maher, failed to ask the obvious question:  if the oil companies are making record profits right now, what incentive would they have to invest these profits in developing alternative forms of energy?  Moreover, when have oil companies ever invested in solar or wind power, for example?

I think expecting the oil companies to solve our energy problems is a pretty foolish idea.  That being said, I don't know if a windfall profits tax will accomplish anything.  I do know that in an environment where oil producers are charging more than ever for a barrel of oil, the oil companies have managed to make more money than ever.  And something is wrong about that.

Lauer concluded with a quick discussion of Iraq.  McCain repeated what he has said before about withdrawal of the troops -- under his administration, we'll get them out when we can be assured there are no more casualties.  You see, we don't have casualties in South Korea, for example.

At this point, Lauer, had he been sipping water, should have been spitting it out and onto McCain in disbelief.  Instead, he concluded the interview.

No one apparently advised McCain that the U.S. never invaded South Korea.  They were our allies and were complicit in our assistance.  Moreover, the standard McCain has set forth will make his 100 years in Iraq comment seem like a very low estimate.

Is there any example of an occupying force basing its withdrawal on a drop in casualties to zero?  If that were the standard, there would be a lot of armies still in a lot of countries. 

When you are an occupier, people will try to kill your soldiers and succeed sometimes.  Can't someone please mention that to McCain.

Currently listening : Tooth of Crime By T Bone Burnett Release date: 2008-05-13

10:24 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Reverberations of a disingenuous candidate
Category: News and Politics

As they say, it's all over but the shouting.  The Democratic Party Rules and Bylaws Committee approved compromises over seating the Michigan and Florida delegations.  And many hardcore Clinton supporters are bitter and clinging to the notion of voting for John McCain.  To them, Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ. 

A reporter for The New Republic went to the protest outside the meeting hall.  There, some supporters lobbed accusations that Obama was a murderer and engaged in gay sex.  They proudly had their pictures taken with a man who has been peddling a story that he had oral sex with Obama in a limo.  Classy stuff.

I wandered over to Taylor Marsh's blog, which is a primary outpost for the Clintonistas.  They are indignant over the notion that every vote should count.  Or rather, every vote for Clinton should count.

Until a couple of days ago, it didn't dawn on me that when you see those stats regarding the so-called popular vote in the primaries, in which Michigan and Florida are included, the only reason that Clinton overtakes Obama is because she gets a 327,000+ vote cushion from Michigan.  Where Obama was not on the ballot.  So her popular vote argument is premised on the notion that not a single person in Michigan would have voted for Barack Obama had he been on the ballot.  On the Disingenuousness Scale, this has to be a 10 (assuming that: a) such a scale exists, and, b) it would only go from 1 to 10).

Of course, as most folks who've considered this issue realize, the whole ginned up controversy here is premised on disingenuousness.  If this delegate issue were a lawsuit, Clinton would not even be able to put forth the arguments made on her behalf.  It would be due to the legal principle of estoppel.

Estopple precludes a litigant from taking one position during litigation and then taking the opposite position later on in the litigation.  Here, Clinton's people, including Harold Ickes, who was breathing fire yesterday, voted to penalize Florida and Michigan.  Consistent with that position, Clinton did not campaing in either state.  As we all know, she was one of the few candidates to keep her name on the Michigan ballot.

In the days leading up to the Michigan primary, Clinton unequivocally stated that the Michigan results would not count.  This is something that no Clinton supporter that I've heard has been able to explain away.  Clinton did not take the same stand on Florida, where Obama was on the ballot, largely because Obama was ahead of her at that point.  She even had a victory rally in Florida, in an attempt to deflect some of the attention from Obama victories in states that held legitimate primaries.

Clinton supporters never offered an adequate response to a point made by some of the spekers for Obama:  the turnout in Florida and Michigan was extremely low in comparison to the record numbers in other states (in the bottom 5, with two of the other states being Utah and Arizona, where Mitt Romney and John McCain, respectively, skewed the vote).  The evidence is quite clear that many simply stayed home. 

This hurts the disenfranchisement argument, because it shows that many voters didn't bother to vote, respecting the Democratic Party's ruling.  It is simply impossible to claim that either primary reflected the intent of all of the voters.

Yes, caucuses always keep people out.  But at least everyone knows that going into the process.  And everyone in every caucus state knew that his or her vote would count.

Regardless, as Donna Brazile put it, her mom told her to follow the rules.  And someone who tries to change the rules midway through or at the end of the game is a cheater.

Currently listening : The Definitive Pop Collection By Al Stewart Release date: 2006-11-07

9:51 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Just when the NBA playoffs were rolling...

Tonight's Spurs-Lakers game was a pretty intense affair.  The Lakers seemed to have the game in hand, when, with less than 50 seconds left and a 4 point lead, Kobe Bryant made a boneheaded decision.  Instead of milking the clock, he foolishly tried to bull his way in for a short jumper and missed the shot.  The Spurs came back and cut the lead to 2 with 28 seconds left.

On the ensuing Laker possession first Derek Fisher than Bryant shot air balls.  The Spurs ended up with the ball with 2.1 seconds left, inbounding at mid-court.  Brent Barry, who had a great night off the bench for the Spurs, got the pass.  Fisher bit on a shot fake and came down on Barry's head.

And there was no whistle.

Barry then launched an errant three and the San Antonio crowd was too stunned to rain down the boos that the ref deserved.  Who was that ref?  Joey Crawford.

The same Joey Crawford who was suspended last year due to his biased conduct towards Spurs star Tim Duncan.  According to announcer Marv Albert, Crawford just shrugged his shoulders.

I'm rooting for the Lakers, but I'm pretty disgusted by the non-call.  Yes, the TNT crew is now saying that Barry failed to sell the foul by jumping into Fisher.  Okay, maybe so.  But the contact here was too obvious.  It was a foul.  And maybe Joey Crawford should be suspended again.

8:59 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Will be reporting on Sparks shows
Category: Music

I'm going to see the first five of the 21 shows Sparks are doing in London -- they are performing all of their albums.  I'll have reports up at http://habloennui.blogspot.com.

4:41 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

New mix

A friend of mine requested a mix CD with some of my faves.  I tried to make one that leaned on some old favorites, but not too many of those songs that I always fall back on for mixes.  The result is Default Settings, Volume 1:

The Zombies -- Come On Time

Eggstone -- The Dog

De La Soul -- Jennifa Taught Me (Derwin's Revenge)

Frisbie -- S.F.B.

Didjits -- Sweet Sweet Satan

Cheap Trick -- Speak Now (Or Forever Hold Your Peace)

Dumptruck -- Back Where I Belong

Judee Sill -- The Kiss

Sloan -- C'mon C'mon (We're Gonna Get Started)

The Spinners -- I'll Be Around

Tubeway Army -- Are 'Friends' Electric?

MGMT -- Electric Feel

Sparks -- Hospitality On Parade

Devo -- Wiggly World

The Move -- Do Ya

Leatherface -- I Want The Moon

Heaven 17 -- (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thing

Buzzcocks -- What Do I Get?

Ted Leo/Pharmacists -- The High Party

XTC -- Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her

China Crisis -- Here Comes A Raincloud

7:26 AM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment