Showered

Now we just need Grommit.

Gosh if they’re that happy about a doll (sorry — action figure) imagine how silly their grins will be when the real thing arrives.

Who knew there was a Peter Sagal action figure?

Wait, we weren’t invited to the baby shower? And we’ve all been knitting* for months!
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*I’m not kidding about this part.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, her credibility at stake, urged Israelis and Palestinians on Tuesday to quickly resume U.S.-sponsored peace talks suspended over Israel’s offensive in Hamas-run Gaza.

Oh, good. That will help.

I’m so glad your (plural) shower was totally hopping. Because those are the best kind.

David Brooks, with whom I seldom agree, offers up an explanation of the Obama appeal that I find very compelling. It’s not like him to be so perceptive, but I think this time he Gets It.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/opinion/04brooks.html

Obama sketched out a different theory of social change than the one Clinton had implied earlier in the evening. Instead of relying on a president who fights for those who feel invisible, Obama, in the climactic passage of his speech, described how change bubbles from the bottom-up: “And because that somebody stood up, a few more stood up. And then a few thousand stood up. And then a few million stood up. And standing up, with courage and clear purpose, they somehow managed to change the world!”

For people raised on Jane Jacobs, who emphasized how a spontaneous dynamic order could emerge from thousands of individual decisions, this is a persuasive way of seeing the world. For young people who have grown up on Facebook, YouTube, open-source software and an array of decentralized networks, this is a compelling theory of how change happens.

Clinton had sounded like a traditional executive, as someone who gathers the experts, forges a policy, fights the opposition, bears the burdens of power, negotiates the deal and, in crisis, makes the decision at 3 o’clock in the morning.

But Obama sounded like a cross between a social activist and a flannel-shirted software C.E.O. — as a nonhierarchical, collaborative leader who can inspire autonomous individuals to cooperate for the sake of common concerns.

Obama wins in Vermont!!! Oh well, I guess I’m not the only one that loves him.

I can just hear all of the malcontents and extremist Sihks railing against the interreligious meeting planned for my visit with President Bush on April 17th. The Secret Service has a problem with the kirpan, or minature sword, that initiated Sihks are required by their religion to wear at all times. The kirpan is a symbol of the Sihks’ vow to resist oppression. Most kirpans are only a few inches long, but others can be as much as 1 foot in length. The Secret Service has tightened the security requirements since 911 and cannot allow the President to be in the same room as a Sihk wearing such a weapon. The Sihks insist that to be true to their religious beliefs, they cannot remove the kirpan, so they have decided not to accept the invitation.

So, I guess religion once again stands in the way of world peace.

Cardinal Bernie has complained that several pieces of silverware seem to disappear with each meal we provide to Father Guido’s friend, Vincente. Cardinal Bernie wants to install metal detectors at all exits from the dining hall and to rebuild the machine gun nest on top of the dormitory facing St. Peter’s Square. I think I will allow Bernie to be in charge of the souvenir stand outside the Hospital of the Miraculous Lifting of the Veil of Blindness. At least that will get him out of town for a while.

Oops, it looks like Ohio goes for Clinton, and Texas is still too close to call.

I’ve noticed a disturbing trend among my fellow Dems: I don’t hear many (any?) BHO supporters saying that they’ll be happy with either candidate. On the contrary, I’ve frequently heard that many young people—who are enchanted with Obama–won’t vote at all if he doesn’t get the nomination.

I don’t think this has anything to do with the qualities of the candidates themselves, but it seems to be an interesting pattern. It would be an appalling situation if the Dems lose because too many people sat out the election!

We voted and caucussed (and cussed a little, too) today. The big story seems to be the crush of Dems that showed up at the polls in FW/D. In our precinct, I though they were going to have to do some clown-car magic to fit everyone into that little bitty Unitarian Church. Still a tie at 11:30 p.m. The big questions for the possible outcomes are: can people motivated to vote by Obama somehow be motivated to at least vote against McCain? Can people who say they are Dems, but are so irrationally anti-Clinton that they say they will vote for McCain respond to common sense? We’ve got to find a way; we second David (and second Sharon’s seconding)–egad, we loathe McCain.
Congratulations, Gillian on the resounding win in Vermont, and WAY congratulations on your sap–yummm.

Could it actually be that a fight–a strong contest between HRC and BHO–might actually be good for the party right now? I know that more than a few people are worried that internal party bickering will wound us severely before the general election, but it occurs to me that, if it stays within reasonable bounds, a fiery next few months might be good for us all. The degree to which people who only cursorily get involved with election process are now engaged is striking. And it might clean things up a bit. For example, I’d like to see the Rezko thing shake out a little more. It all seems okay-ish, but even if everything is on the up and up, the fact that Rezko and Obama were touring the lot together while deciding if Obama should purchase speaks of a closeness between the two that makes me a little uncomfortable. It might be a really good idea for our candidates to work these kinks out of each other, before one of them is the one and only nominee.

Sally, where I come from, we refer to it as D/FW.

My sister, who still lives in Dallas, was up until at least 1am watching the results. She reports the turnout as follows:

Total Democratic Votes: 2,314,862 74% of precincts reporting

Total Republican Votes: 1,108,832 82% of precincts reporting

The Reptilicans just don’t have the same old enthusiasm anymore, do they?

Congrats on that baby thing Adam. Be sure to take advantage of the last couple of months of sleep. Oh, and don’t make the mistake of hoarding the kid. Pass em off to family and friends as often and soon as possible. Don’t get trapped into thinking that your little one needs only you. You, your marriage, the kid, family and friends are all better off.

Spent the last two days standing in the rain watching Viggo crawl through the mud as they film The Road at the Pike 2 Bike. It’s a closed set but as the trail manager I have to be there to make sure that they don’t wreck the place. Somewhat ironic considering that the attraction of the place is that it is a wreck. The crew is very friendly and my Michigan cap has placed me in with the “Michigan gang” of about 10 guys.
It’s all very interesting.
Viggo is the first person I’ve seen roll his own since Ed worked for my grandparents back in the 60s. For some reason he walked over to where I was standing, got out his can and rolled a sloppy cigarette, he then rolled it in another paper. Ed could roll and lick it in one quick motion, I’m guessing that Viggo’s fingers were cold, as he spent the time between shots hopping around getting his blood circulating.
The cannibal bad guy who gets his head blown off is the actor on Dead Wood who played Jack, Wild Bill’s killer and the psycho prostitute slasher.
They have strewn wrecked cars and trucks around and the school bus that is dead at the tunnel entrance says Everett Area School District on the side. That would be my school district, although it seems unlikely it will be visible in the movie.
There are over 80 people working there, and the catering is a great deal better than any food prepared in the county.
The talent seems to be ignored by the crew.
I talked to one of the boys and his teacher/welfare worker. If you are going to be a teacher that would be the ultimate job.

And Murray, if Viggo asks about me, feel free to give him my contact info.

I read a story a couple of weeks ago about Viggo appearing in a dramatization of portions of Howard Zinn’s book A People’s History of the United States. The story was that they (Viggo and Howard) were out walking around in Cambridge, and a fan stopped them to get an autograph. Not Viggo’s. Howard Zinn’s. Only in Boston!

So GW climbed down off the fence today to endorse John McCain. Does anyone else besides me find this an especially peculiar case of cognitive dissonance? One, because it comes only after McCain has wrapped up the nomination and two, because of the trashing Bush/Rove gave McCain a few years ago.

Oh sure. She already has a Fan Club and now she wants Viggo, too.

Just remember: John McCain’s middle name (which appears exactly nowhere on his campaign website or his official Senate website) is … Sidney.

Yup.

J. Sidney McCain. That is, J. Sidney McCain III to you and me.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that …

At least today’s Washington Post/ABC poll indicates that McCain loses to either Hillary (44-50) or Barack (43-55), which suggests that Hillary can win, but by enough to prevent another electoral theft? whereas it looks like Obama has a crack at a theft-proof margin of victory. Still seems to me the best solution is an Obama/Clinton ticket. Anyone in either camp who hates the other candidate has to be jettisoned when the nominee is finally determined.

Oh yeah, screw the media’s story line of the day. Those people are too damned lazy to do anything besides plagiarize each other (this all too often includes NPR, at least their headline news on the hour waste of air time), as Jon Stewart so effectively demonstrates with those clips of every talking head saying the same thing.

Did anyone else catch Chris Matthews’ admission that the media are McCain’s base?

sharon, love the tidbit about the Bostonian wanting Howard Zinn’s autograph. I’m betting Viggo also loved it.

Viggo wrote, and read at an anti-war rally in DC, a hell of a poem in opposition to the criminal invasion of Iraq. Does anyone happen to know how to get a copy of it?

Sid Vicious. Heh, heh, heh.

As I recall, SV used to wear a pin on his jacket that said, “I’m a Mess.”

Kinda appropriate, no?

Cardinal Bernie tells me that I’m getting spell-checked by some former librarian from California. Of course, she’s right - the religion is spelled Sikh, not Sihk. Father Anselmo says that when a word is underlined by a dotted red line, I may want to consult a dictionary or perhaps even a Higher Power. I stand corrected.