October 2008
1 post
Wowza
Post-debate polling from Fox News:
In a “text your vote” poll (which I for some reason felt obliged to text in to):
86% thought McCain won the debate.
12% thought Obama won the debate.
I don’t think you’ll find that kind of polarization on any other network or in any poll. As if it were necessary to emphasized Fox News’s bias - and more prevalantly, biased...
September 2008
18 posts
WatchBenjamin Button looks great, no doubt, but this just overtook Quantum of Solace for my favorite trailer of the year, if not longer. The tone is just so twisted, hilarious, and depressing, and thus perfect.
This looks like Oliver Stone’s return.
Say hello to the best movie of the year. →
At least the best one without the words Beverly Hills Chihuahua in the title: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Both trailers really, are kind of awe-inspiring. My vote for best of last year, by the way goes to The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, in case anyone’s still reading.
It's The End Of The World
There is not a drop of gasoline in the city of Atlanta.
Seriously, I pulled up to the one gas station I found that had gas, and as each car pulled away from the pump, an attendant covered that pump with a plastic bag. I managed to snag the last five gallons of gas at the station.
It’s very creepy to drive around and see every gas station sign boarded up, no prices, no cars, bags over...
Late Emmy Post
So the Emmys were pretty much an atrocity, sans us having to pay 700 billion for it. I say pretty much because while the show was mostly a giant display shitty Howie Mandel/Heidi Klumtron5000 banter and more instances of Why The Terrorists Hate Us (DAMN YOU TWO AND A HALF MEN), there were two segments of comedic gold, bordering on transcendence: Josh Groban singing a TV theme song montage, and...
Unjust Execution →
Really sucks to live in a state that ignores the concept of reasonable doubt.
“All across the spectrum of people’s views on criminal justice, there’s near unanimity that this trial was not reliable,” [Yale Law professor Stephen Bright said. “We can’t say with certainty that this man is guilty of this crime. In fact the probability is he is not guilty.”
...
Long Love The House That Ruth Built
That’s it. As of tonight, there will never be baseball played again in Yankee Stadium. Not the real Yankee Stadium. I can’t completely understand why it’s being replaced, but this building has housed arguably as much history as any building in this country (with the exception of, y’know, the White House and Congress).
From Papal Visits to Maris and Mantle, from Joe...
TVOTR
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around TV On The Radio’s new album, Dear Science,. I can’t figure out where I stand. Somewhere beyond “I like it” and not quite to “It’s amazing.”
I’m worried it’s their Weekend In The City, Bloc Party’s sophomore effort that featured a few great songs and a lot of clunkers that didn’t seem...
2 tags
Self-Stimulation
Seeing as how I am working at a psychology publication these days, I may be posting more quirky stories on human behavior. To start, check this out:
“A 48-year-old woman with a stimulating electrode implanted in her right ventral thalamus started to compulsively self-stimulate when she discovered that it could produce erotic sensations.”
I mean, how awesome would that be?...
“I am unable to say anything,” the Democrat said, before rattling off his...”
– Charles Rangel, giving the best “no comment” ever.
WatchAmazing. Tina Fey as Palin.
Why You Should Never Google On the First Date →
Excellent article, though I don’t think I’ve made the same mistakes as this writer post-Google. I’m usually better composed. (I’d like to think.)
-S
Last one
I’ve turned this into a politics blog, because nobody else is posting. I promise this will change soon, because TV On The Radio’s Dear Science comes out soon, and that shit will be bomb.
But I just wanted to mention how pathetic it is that the hardest questioning John McCain has faced this election season has been from The View.
THE FUCKING VIEW.
...
Palin, Summarized.
Rosa Brooks fucking nails it.
That is the most succinct, clear, thorough explanation I’ve seen of all the reasons Sarah Palin is an awful candidate.
It’s so scary that most of this country likes her. That whole teaching english in japan thing sounds so much more enticing if McCain wins.
But just in case we are distracted by swine fever (read the article), let’s not forget:
...
We're Coming Back
I promise, Brian.
Liveblogging McCain
Here we go. I’m going to liveblog McCain’s acceptance speech. Trader Joe’s Hefe in hand, this is a first for everyone.
10:14pm:
Man, the dude looks old. Can’t wait to see him fumble around.
10:15pm:
Sarah Palin’s a hottie. A dumb hottie. Cindy McCain? A wants-to-be-hottie-but-isn’t.
10:16pm:
Loving the anti-war sights. Man, that veteran...
RNC
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CVN_FACT_CHECK?SITE=AP
So Palin’s speech exceeded every expectation, it looks like.
Which would be great if the bar wasn’t subterranean.
Before anything else, Giuliani’s speech was vile, a few slurs short of actual hate speech, and it’s kind of fitting that with the sunset lighting, it looked like there was a river of blood on the...
August 2008
21 posts
Unbelievable
First, I wish other people would post. It’s lonely.
Second, I hate John McCain. I hate him more every day.
You see that despicable ad he ran yesterday? The one Bill O’Reilly naturally called “classy,” but was anything but? Leading up to the ad, the McCain campaign kept highlighting how they were “going to make history,” and it would be a “historic...
“Mark Warner is going to give a classic contemporary Democratic address — careful...”
– -Jeffrey Toobin, CNN.
So true, and so sad.
O'Biden 08
I, for one, am thrilled.
I love Joe Biden. I love the classic Joe is Right youtube video. He owned every debate, and in a just world, would have had John Edwards’s popularity in the primaries. Joe Biden is a smart man, a passionate man, a fighter, and more often right than wrong.
Is he perfect? Of course not. Especially in a campaign such as Obama’s, how could anyone be? You...
WatchMy brother just sent this to me. I think this is simultaneously awesome, hypocritical, and inspiring…but I commend the Washington Post for some bad-ass coverage.
-S
WatchWhat’s funny to me is that there is even an argument that Obama could be wrong here.
Veep Time
The medias are saying that Barack could have his V.P. selection revealed by Wednesday morning, which makes some sense since the convention’s right around the corner.
As far as the expected possibilities go, I’m pulling for Joe Biden. The man is damn smart, has great foreign policy creds, and would be the perfect V.P. attack dog without making personal attacks.
But ultimately, I want...
Watch
# 5
No, seriously.
“I have not decided on a candidate. I am waiting to see the commitments they will...”
– -Angelina Jolie
We have so much in common, her and I.
-S
Vicky Cristina Barcelona...
Was amazing. I’m writing a review for the N&O tomorrow morning, but basically “amazing” is defined as envy for the summer I did not have. I did not have threesomes in Spain this summer, and neither did you. That’s why you are going to watch this movie.
# 4
Alright, somebody just drug test Michael Phelps already.
-S
WatchGuess who is going to a press screening for this in 12 hours?
-s
Sadia just made a comment on a post below about how she’s NEVER SEEN ANY JUDD APATOW MOVIES.
How is this possible?!?!/1!!!!!!13
In September, I’m coming up to the 20th floor and we’re having a movie night. Or movie weekend. It is unacceptable to never have seen Superbad/Knocked Up/40 Year Old Virgin.
Actually, first we’re watching Freaks and Geeks. The whole season. And...
Fern's Other Job
Every Thursday, Fern writes a new column for this blog. This week, she covers Obama’s potentially waning popularity among youth.
You all know how mixed I feel about our options, so I guess I’ll keep my mouth shut.
-sadia
Baby Mama Drama Part 2
Just to keep everyone updated: the paper I work for is still reporting new details on this Edwards “love child” story.
I know covering it at all has been controversial, but I stand by my belief that, especially in North Carolina, this guy is still a major public figure and deserves the coverage. I also think he’s a national figure, and I don’t understand how some people ...
Yo, Attention
We need to spice this up. I’ll be back to posting with frequency later today. If anybody has any ideas, let us know via comments or e-mail.
Also, I just interviewed a mother whose daughter was murdered. She was my age, the child of immigrants, and had an older brother. Oof.
Please stay safe, wherever you are.
-S
Pineapple Express
A pretty spectacular film, and, at least initially, my favorite output from the Apatow Collective so far.
It’s basically America’s answer to Hot Fuzz by way of the writers of Superbad and a director previously known for his tiny arthouse films. It’s basically an action-comedy that happens to feature guys who enjoy lighting up…forever. Basic plot is stoner witnesses...
WatchIf only politics were this easy.
-Brian
Go See 'Em
Are you a fan of the hilarious Ricky Gervais? Do you like Greg Kinnear? Want to see more Kristen Wiig? Are you hoping Tea Leoni will eventually make a good movie?
Your prayers will be answered, no pun intended, on September 19th. Ghost Town is a straight-up hilarious, moving, and energetic movie. I caught a pre-screening last night, and I think this’ll be what finds Gervais an audience...
July 2008
32 posts
in 20 years we will all be fat, and AMAZING view...
By 2030 86% of Americans will be obsese, at least according to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. And they’re typically right. So I’m nervous, I don’t know about you guys
In other sciency related stuff, a spacecraft called deep impact has turned around and...
We talk about it, because the MSM can't
What’s everybody’s take on the Edwards/Rielle Hunter Love Affair story? I’ve been following this for a few months with massive skepticism, but the Enquirer’s account of cornering him in a hotel basement at 3:00am seems tough to talk your way out of.
I understand it’s from the National Enquirer, a new source bested only by Fox, but the story seems too big not to...
The Best Blog You Aren't Reading →
Real Iraqi citizen journalists who help out the McClatchy Baghdad Bureau blog without any sort of editing or censorship. Some of this stuff is deeply moving. It often offers a different picture of what’s being written in the mainstream media (love/hateingly referred to as the MSM, hereafter). I feel like it’s my duty to share this link with you all. Iraq, remember?
-s
