Feeling bloggy

Look at me, blogging up a storm all of a sudden. I think this is my fourth post in half as many days. I rule.

I have several nonpolitical observations and thoughts to share with my 4.8 readers:

• This could be my very last blog post ever. I'm going to Colorado for the next week, and have resigned myself to dying on the slopes. All I'm hoping for is that I die cleverly and unusually. Running into a tree is soooo cliche. Instead, I'd like to die in a series of tumbles, rolls, and bounces that culminate in my wiping out some pain-in-the-ass teenage snowboarders before landing so unfortunately on the pointy end of a ski pole, which spears me through the heart. Kinda like how that scientist guy dies in the beginning of the movie Serenity (only without the creepy bounty hunter guy). That's my geek reference for the day.
• I just turned down a free one week trip to Ireland in March. My boss wants to send me an another guy out there to slap some people around. Unfortunately, I have some personal life conflicts that cannot be avoided, so I can't go. SUCK.
• "Sweet Jesus!" is my new catchphrase. Hopefully I can offend a few more crazy God-nuts this way.
• I recorded the two hour premier of Lost last night, but am still debating whether to bother watching it. When a show has gotten so confusing and convoluted that they have to run hints, memory-joggers, and clues along the bottom of the screen so the viewers aren't completely clueless, I can't help but question whether it's still a show worth watching. Besides, having recently become completely addicted to Project Runway, I have enough dramatic television to watch.
  
• Switching from Gay to Manly-Man mode... the Red Wings are freakin' on fire this season! Dare I dream that they'll at least make it to the conference finals? I just hope they don't get too full of themselves during the trading season. The team is kinda perfect just the way they are. Don't mess with a great thing.
• In other sports thoughts, I'm a little disappointed that I'm going to miss the Superbowl this year. I'm not a football fan, but I suspect this game is going to be one of those rare but special historic sporting moments. For what its worth, I hope the Patriots win. They deserve to end the season as perfectly as they've played it all along. (I'm also going to miss out on an even bigger spectator sport: Super Duper Tuesday. But I promised I wouldn't talk about politics in this post.)
  

Debate transcript

I happened to catch most of the Republican debate last night. This was perhaps the worst moderated, most poorly set up debate ever. It just sucked on production value (it was like watching Cloverfield at times) and substance.

However, it was highly entertaining!! It's always so much fun watching two bullies fight each other. Here is the transcript of one of the exchanges (this is verbatim, of course):

Anderson Cooper: "Senator McCain, please tell us why Governor Romney is such a fucking idiot."

John McCain: "Well, Anderson, I'm proud of my record on this issue. I have put my career and reputation on the line in order to ensure that the American people know the truth about Governor Romney. And while I have the utmost respect for him, the facts do not lie, and it cannot be denied that he is such a fucking idiot. I think my unwavering stand on this issue demonstrates my leadership skills, and I would bring those leadership skills to the White House."

Anderson Cooper: "Thank you, Senator, for not actually answering the question. Governor Romney, would you like to respond?"

Mitt Romney: "You bet your ass I would, Anderson. Listen, I'm not the fucking idiot on this stage. We've had 15 debates over nearly 12 months to talk about this issue, but Senator McCain is only bringing it up now? This is dirty politics, Anderson, and I think the American people see right through it."

John McCain: "He's a fucking idiot, Anderson, that's the buzzword."

Mitt Romney: "I only said that I'm a fucking idiot when it comes to automobile mechanics. And let me say again, it's been almost a year since I said that, and we've had 500 debates since then in which Senator McCain could have questioned me about it, but he didn't. He didn't, because he's only using it as a dirty political trick to try and distort my record. Which I'm proud of, by the way."

John McCain: "It was the buzzword at the time, "fucking idiot," everyone was saying that phrase. Except me of course, I have never said it, and I'm proud of my record of never having said it. I've staked my career and reputation on it."

Anderson Cooper: "Congressman Paul wants in on this question. Congressman, you have 2.5 seconds to respond and then I will rudely cut you off and go back to the real candidates in this race."

Ron Paul: "Well this is just nonsense, Anderson! The world is ENDING, and yet here we are talking about who's the bigger fucking idiot! Let's move beyond this childish rhetoric and talk about the real issues at hand."

Anderson Cooper: "Thank you Congressman, now back to Senator McCain. Senator, can you tell us more about your record?"

Mike Huckabee: "Hold on, Anderson, I've got a really masterful metaphor that I've been waiting to share, it will be funny and witty and I promise to smile when I say it."

Anderson Cooper: "Well, the next question is for Senator McCain--"

Mike Huckabee: "Please, pretty please? God thinks its a good idea."

Anderson Cooper: "Can't argue with that, I guess. Go ahead, Governor."

Mike Huckabee: "Thank you Anderson. You know, I had a dog once, who used to bark incessantly. So much so that we named it Hillary. But the difference is, Hillary the dog wasn't trying to destroy this country. That's why I'd be a good president."

Anderson Cooper: "Okay, moving on--"

John McCain: "Fucking idiot. That was the buzzword."

Mitt Romney: "Unbelievable! What a fucking idiot!"

John McCain: "I'm not the fucking idiot. You declared yourself the fucking idiot."

Mitt Romney: "I did not! Let me be perfectly clear on this: I am not a fucking idiot. Never have been, am not one now, and never will be."

John McCain: "Well, if you're not a fucking idiot now, but you were back then, then at the very least we should be able to agree that you're a flip flopper. And I'm proud of my record on flip floppers. I've staked my entire career and reputation on it."

Ron Paul: "Anderson, can we please talk about the END OF THE WORLD?"

Anderson Cooper: "I think we're seeing it start right on this stage."

Bye Bye Rudy

Rudy's a goner. I'm sure that all 3 people who actually felt he'd be a good president are in mourning. I'm not one of them, but I do mourn his departure just because it moves the Republicans a step closer to finding a candidate, and I've really been enjoying this cluster fuck of a Republican primary.

So I guess its down to McCain and Romney. The Fear-mongerer vs The Slimeball. I hope it gets nasty! Maybe Mitt could swiftboat McCain by suggesting that he severed the head of his pet snake and shared its blood with an illegal immigrant, and then McCain could fire back by suggesting that Romney is secretly sleeping between Bill and Hillary each night in an effort to get a taste of their political genius. Hm, I wonder which is more offensive to Republican blowhards: sex with Bill or sex with Hillary?

And is Ron Paul still running? Or, in his quest to dismantle the entire government, has he accidentally dismantled his campaign, too? (Sorry, that was a cheap shot. Its just that the more I read about his domestic policy ideas, the less I think of him. But he still gets it on foreign policy, so I guess I should be nice.)

Okay, I'm done making fun of the Republicans. For now. Back to the Britney Spears story...

Bye Bye Edwards

John Edwards dropped his presidential bid today. It was inevitable, but regretful just the same. For all of Hillary's supposed experience and all of Obama's promises of change, only John Edwards brought real passion and sobering honesty to this campaign.

Four years ago I voted for him at my precinct caucus because he was the only choice left whose name wasn't John Kerry. But this time around I would have voted for him because he earned my respect and, thus, my vote.

So, Barack Obama it is. I'll proudly cast my vote for him.

Time to get my geek on

They've finally released the first official picture from the new Star Trek movie:


How can you not get excited by that??? It looks meaner and badder. It looks kick ass. :)

I Can't Get Behind That (Special Election Edition)

Mike Huckabee: I can't get behind a wackaloon like you.

As I've been talking politics with friends and family of late, I've kind of gone out of my way to defend Huckabee as an intelligent, well-meaning Republican who I disagree with, wouldn't vote for, but wouldn't be entirely offended by if he were President.

And then Mike went and said this:



Key quotation:

"[Some of my opponents] do not want to change the Constitution, but I believe it's a lot easier to change the constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God, and that's what we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards."

That's a rather historic statement to make. Has there ever been a presidential candidate who so blatantly and directly proposed that we so completely unseparate religion and government? You know, I'm a strong supporter of marriage rights for all, but I must make an exception and insist that Church and State should never be wed together.

So forget everything I said about Mike Huckabee. He's a total looney toon. Which finally explains why he has so much support in his party.

Thank you WGA!

I've been loathing the upcoming onslaught of shitty reality programming that will be flooding our TV airwaves this spring and summer thanks to the lack of quality scripted television resulting from the writers strike.

However, I must admit I'm totally excited about this resurrection:

"The Mole" has infiltrated ABC once again. The network announced Tuesday that it's bringing back the unscripted series for a summertime run.

The Mole remains my favorite reality show of all time, and I was so frustrated when it went celebrity and then went bye-bye. I can't wait to see the new season!

Iowans get it right this time

Being an embittered Howard Dean follower in 2004, I have a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with Iowa. But last night, watching as an undecided spectator, I was delighted with the candidates that Iowa chose in their caucuses. Not necessary because I am infatuated with either Obama or Huckabee, but because their very presence and momentum in this race seems a good omen.

While Obama and Huckabee are far apart ideologically on most of the issues, they have two important things in common: sincerity and intelligence. If you haven't already seen them, watch their victory speeches (I've embedded them below). I, for one, am just happy that they can speak above a 1st grade level. I'm kind of excited at the idea of hearing these two candidates debate. They might actually have a real discussion, rather than just flinging mud back and forth. (Although I'm sure there will be plenty of that as well.)

So way to go Iowa, for making this race interesting.