The Dangerous World of Televised Sports

There is a certain peril in leaving a live football game playing in the background when you know there is a high probability that eventually you will look up to find Nascar programming blaring away.

Best Most Non-Shocking Headline Ever

And the award goes to:
"McCain casts ballot in Phoenix, gives thumbs-up"

McCain signed a poster and gave the thumbs-up sign before leaving without speaking to reporters.

Earlier, McCain could be seen on the patio of his high-rise condo, pacing with a cell phone and a large cup of coffee.

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[Make sure not to miss the wonderful video in the upper left, featuring a near-tears Palin and views of Alaska's enormous (I mean the thing is huge!) ballot.]

I want to be what I want to be (circular in all)

I want to start smoking so I can stop thinking about how once I would.
I want to be Mexican so I can speak Spanish in Los Angeles and not be ignored.
I want to move to Italy because it isn’t a home.
I want to move to New Zealand because it seems nice.
I want to move to Chile because I’m in love.
I want to have health care so I can justify being unemployed.
I want to stop the ceaseless beating of my own heart only so that I can hear my lungs.
I want to change things so my life will not stay the same.
I want to do something different that will bring me security.
I want to travel so I can have a valid reason to not live near most of my friends.
I want stop making excuses for drinking alone.
I want security in something that makes me feel good.
I want the people below me to stop crying and slamming doors.
I want to be myself and start doing what I have no ability in.
I want to quit feeling like I want to start smoking again.

what if the world were upside down

Sometimes I question the need for major news sites having so many bloggers with so (apparently) few editors. Today, Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times writing on Obama's new McCain-Bush tie-in:

The White House announced on Friday that Mr. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush cast absentee ballots for Mr. McCain. It would have made for an interesting October surprise – wouldn’t it have extinguished Mr. Obama’s argument that Mr. McCain is tied to Mr. Bush? – if the president had voted for the Democratic ticket.

And how much of a blow would it have been if it turned out Bush actually never supported the war effort in Iraq, that it was all a DNC lie to win the election. OMFG this is really published!

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wtfnytimes

I mean, I know we're talking about state legislatures and all, but what in the world motivated the New York Times to create a graphic assigning red to democrats and blue to republicans?



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the times are

I was never a fan of the Budweiser "Wassup" ad campaign. It obviously catered strongly to another demographic. The kind of regrettable type that provides material for an endless supply "bro" types who never tire of repeating a single phrase at high volumes and in close proximity for months on end. Wonderful lines like "I'm Rick James," "Wassup," and "Yeaya." Individuality is expressed through length, intonation, and choice of emphasized syllable.

It is striking how abruptly times have changed when less than a decade passes and a meme so irritating and intensely devoid of meaning is now able to be a meaningful, dark, and powerful message. Enjoy?

unfocused walkunder

unfocused walkunder

under the 101 on lankershim blvd

This Should Have Been Bigger

I have set upon an odd mission. I don't know exactly where it will go but this is where it stands as of now. The purpose of this is to catalog:
i) Stories I believe should have gotten more attention, yet other circumstances (timing, topic, mass ignorance) prevailed and ended up sending it to the bottom of the bag.
ii) Things and places that I enjoy. Sometimes it might be things at places that I enjoy. Riveting, really.
iii) Photographs I have taken.
iv) Anything.

I hope to do this in a few different ways, depending on how eloquent I'm feeling or how much I actually know about the subject at hand.

i) Links to relevant websites or articles.
ii) Links to relevant websites or articles with some personal commentary.
iii) Photographs (yep).
iv) Anything.

So my mission seems sort of meandering, not to mention how I intend to accomplish it. But if I've learned anything about myself in the last year, something I've had plenty of time to do, it is that my mind is a meandering thing. That's not a philosophical observation, either. It seems that whatever topic may come up, I usually know something and have something to say about it. Not to automatically assume that it is worth anything, I just felt I should catalog it. Maybe then it will have better direction, maybe then also better execution. It's worth it.

I could have just said I wanted to get my writing back up to par. I really could have.