Deadline
The Cubs just traded for Nomar Garciaparra. They didn't have to give up Matt Clement or Carlos Zambrano to do it, that's the advantage of doing a four-way deal. This deal goes down as follows, the Cubs get Garciaparra, the Red Sox get Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientiewicz, the Twins get prospects, and the Expos get Alex Gonzalez plus prospects. E everybody seems to win here. The Cubs get Nomar's fantastic bat, the Red Sox dramatically improve their infield defense, and from a chemistry standpoint, help themselves by getting Nomar out of the locker room. The Twins and Expos were either going to lose the players they gave up, or had their replacements on hand. The prospects they get are like getting free money, they were going to lose them anyway, so they got what they could. This helps the Cubs tremendously, from both a PR standpoint and in their ability to put a team on the field to catch the Padres for the wild card. Their aren't overtaking the Cardinals, but in a short series, with their arms and now Nomar's bat, they are in great shape.
The White Sox really made a move I don't get. They traded Esteban Loaiza to the Yankees (I hate the f*****g Yankees) for Jose Contreras. I don't get this because Contreras has consistently proven he's not a money pitcher, and the White Sox need money pitching to catch the Twins right now. The Yankees settled, once they knew they weren't going to get Unit, they got who they could. This seems like a wash from the Yankees perspective, so I don't get why the White Sox did it.
I need to mention this. Tyson was knocked out in the 4th last night, by Tomato Can Danny Williams. It's over. Finished. Tyson is done, the only reason to watch him is to see if he'll do something crazy, and he is obviously not in any way capable of being a contender for anything. In a way I feel bad for Mike, he's been used by everyone in his life. But now, he has to fight for his own financial solvency, which is no reason to go out and get punched in the head for a living. This story is an incredibly sad one, especially because its no seems sure that the man who was once the Baddest on the Planet is going to end up someplace not good. If we find him in a ditch or under an overpass in ten years, it won't be surprising. Its extremely sad.
Saturday, July 31, 2004
Friday, July 30, 2004
Kerry Defines Himself- And other Convention observations
Sorry about the lack of posts the last couple of days, I will try to catch up with my thoughts on the convention now.
Day Two- If you could fault the networks for anything, and there is a lot you can, its that they didn't show anything of the second night. Listening and watching Obama's speech, the Chicago stations cut away to show the speech, I sensed that I was watching the first black president of the United States, or at the very least, a man capable of holding a part on the political stage for an incredibly long time. He had something, by espousing the conservative sounding values of self-reliance, by using the details of his own life to highlight the stories of those he was telling about others and the rhetoric about the one America, not a liberal/conservative red/ blue state one. The line that really grabbed me was the "We worship an awesome God in the Blue States" line. This was a fabulous appeal to show that the Democrats are not just some atheistic, secularist party. I believe its also a line that a guy like Obama could deliver. Clinton projects empathy when he speaks, Obama has real force and conviction behind what he says.
I was impressed by Ron Reagan. I'm sure that he couldn't go out and endorse John Kerry, Nancy almost assuredly would not have let him go if that had been the case, but what he was implying was clear. I was very disappointed by the response of the people on FOX afterwards, as they kept talking about how disgusted they were with Reagan for doing this. Teresa was ok, I didn't think she came across as the asset she can be. I think a lot of women, particularly single women, probably the most important demographic for the Democrats this year, will be drawn to her intelligence, sophistication, and independence. I do agree with the criticism, though, that she didn't talk enough about her husband.
DAY 3- The immediate thing that stood out to me about the coverage was the way that Al Sharpton's speech was treated. On MSNBC, Matthews, Howard Fineman and Doris Kearns-Goodwin seemed to be turning it into Pat Buchanan '92 redux, that middle America would be rushing out to buy their Bush/Cheney foam hands because of Sharpton's rhetoric and style. Sharpton did riff, for about 15 minutes past his allotted time, but what he was saying can help to bring out the African American vote. By all indications, turning out the African American vote, especially in the swing states, will be crucial. To win Michigan, for example, the Democrats need to have a majority of about 350,000 votes, which is achievable, coming out of Metro Detroit, in order to counter-act the Republican majority on the Westside of the state and Oakland County. The only way to do that, as Jim Blanchard will tell you, is to get out the African American vote. Sharpton was simply reminding everyone that Democrats have been good to and for African Americans. People were more upset about it because it seemed to go against the tone of the rest of the convention. They talked so much about Sharpton, that I missed Granholm, who seemed to acquit herself nicely, though The Daily Show did a nice riff on her speaking style, and her former job as a tour guide last night.
John Edwards' daughter, I have to say, is very attractive.
Elizabeth is an asset, and a big one, for two reasons. She is incredibly articulate and smart. And she looks like America. What Teresa perhaps doesn't have is a connection to Middle American women, Elizabeth thinks like they do, talks like they do, and yes, looks like they do. The fact that she is heavier only adds to this appeal.
I found Edwards a bit disappointing, though the speech worked overall. I felt like the expectations were so high, he couldn't possibly deliver on everything. People make him out to be the modern descendant of Cicero and Demonsthenes, he's not, but he still is effective. The speech worked for me, and I think, for Americans in general. I can imagine Edwards as President and it doesn't strike the same fear in my heart as a Cheney presidency. I didn't feel like Edwards "Two Americas" theme developed enough in this speech as it did on the stump. By the way, he's also attractive, not that that matters...
last night, especially the introduction of Kerry was masterful. His daughters humanized him as a father, and spoke extremely eloquently, the gauntlet has now been thrown down the Jenna and Barbara. Having Andre Heinz out also worked, because it underscores the human qualities of Kerry and Teresa, that they have successfully managed to put together a blended family that seems to care about each other. The "Band of Brothers" and the film, were excellent touches, though it may have been better to use the film to immediately introduce Kerry. Cleland was good, he's become sort of the patron saint of the campaign. People in the party are upset because of the way Saxby Chambliss questioned the patriotism of a man who left three limbs in Vietnam, and they should be.
I felt Kerry did a great job of showing strength last night. The earlier speakers, his family, the Green Beret he rescued, did a wonderful job of humanizing him. He looked and sounded Presidential last night, which is not something that always happens. Dukakis didn't look presidential, Mondale didn't. I didn't really dig the salute, but I understand why he did it. This is a man who views the world, perhaps justifiably, through the prism of Vietnam. It is, and probably remains, the defining time in his life. That came through in the speech, the kind of sense of duty he projected. That was good. The middle portion of the speech seemed to get bogged down a bit more than I would have liked, but he needed to put out policies, and that seemed to be an effective way to do it. The one thing I didn't feel like he did, was to make specific proposals for what he would do in Iraq. The generalities were there, but he has to develop specific, or the Republicans could eat him alive at the end of the month.
I saw Bush's address at SMS this morning. I don't think the speech and message are incredibly effective. He's going after Kerry for not having enough big accomplishments in the senate, and truth be told, there are not a ton of bills that bear his name. What he has done, it seems, has been to be a tireless investigator, which is a perfectly legitimate role to play in the senate. Not everyone can be on every bill, sometimes you have to fill other niches, and Kerry, the ex-prosecutor fills the role of investigator. Also, to make light of Kerry's lack of focus on his Senate record is to potentially invite focus on Bush's lost years. I saw another blogger talk about the potential danger in saying that Kerry hasn't accomplished anything when he's spent most of his adult life in public service, while Bush was, well, we don't know what Bush was doing, other than operating unsuccessful business ventures and "partying".
Oh well.
Good luck tonight John.
Sorry about the lack of posts the last couple of days, I will try to catch up with my thoughts on the convention now.
Day Two- If you could fault the networks for anything, and there is a lot you can, its that they didn't show anything of the second night. Listening and watching Obama's speech, the Chicago stations cut away to show the speech, I sensed that I was watching the first black president of the United States, or at the very least, a man capable of holding a part on the political stage for an incredibly long time. He had something, by espousing the conservative sounding values of self-reliance, by using the details of his own life to highlight the stories of those he was telling about others and the rhetoric about the one America, not a liberal/conservative red/ blue state one. The line that really grabbed me was the "We worship an awesome God in the Blue States" line. This was a fabulous appeal to show that the Democrats are not just some atheistic, secularist party. I believe its also a line that a guy like Obama could deliver. Clinton projects empathy when he speaks, Obama has real force and conviction behind what he says.
I was impressed by Ron Reagan. I'm sure that he couldn't go out and endorse John Kerry, Nancy almost assuredly would not have let him go if that had been the case, but what he was implying was clear. I was very disappointed by the response of the people on FOX afterwards, as they kept talking about how disgusted they were with Reagan for doing this. Teresa was ok, I didn't think she came across as the asset she can be. I think a lot of women, particularly single women, probably the most important demographic for the Democrats this year, will be drawn to her intelligence, sophistication, and independence. I do agree with the criticism, though, that she didn't talk enough about her husband.
DAY 3- The immediate thing that stood out to me about the coverage was the way that Al Sharpton's speech was treated. On MSNBC, Matthews, Howard Fineman and Doris Kearns-Goodwin seemed to be turning it into Pat Buchanan '92 redux, that middle America would be rushing out to buy their Bush/Cheney foam hands because of Sharpton's rhetoric and style. Sharpton did riff, for about 15 minutes past his allotted time, but what he was saying can help to bring out the African American vote. By all indications, turning out the African American vote, especially in the swing states, will be crucial. To win Michigan, for example, the Democrats need to have a majority of about 350,000 votes, which is achievable, coming out of Metro Detroit, in order to counter-act the Republican majority on the Westside of the state and Oakland County. The only way to do that, as Jim Blanchard will tell you, is to get out the African American vote. Sharpton was simply reminding everyone that Democrats have been good to and for African Americans. People were more upset about it because it seemed to go against the tone of the rest of the convention. They talked so much about Sharpton, that I missed Granholm, who seemed to acquit herself nicely, though The Daily Show did a nice riff on her speaking style, and her former job as a tour guide last night.
John Edwards' daughter, I have to say, is very attractive.
Elizabeth is an asset, and a big one, for two reasons. She is incredibly articulate and smart. And she looks like America. What Teresa perhaps doesn't have is a connection to Middle American women, Elizabeth thinks like they do, talks like they do, and yes, looks like they do. The fact that she is heavier only adds to this appeal.
I found Edwards a bit disappointing, though the speech worked overall. I felt like the expectations were so high, he couldn't possibly deliver on everything. People make him out to be the modern descendant of Cicero and Demonsthenes, he's not, but he still is effective. The speech worked for me, and I think, for Americans in general. I can imagine Edwards as President and it doesn't strike the same fear in my heart as a Cheney presidency. I didn't feel like Edwards "Two Americas" theme developed enough in this speech as it did on the stump. By the way, he's also attractive, not that that matters...
last night, especially the introduction of Kerry was masterful. His daughters humanized him as a father, and spoke extremely eloquently, the gauntlet has now been thrown down the Jenna and Barbara. Having Andre Heinz out also worked, because it underscores the human qualities of Kerry and Teresa, that they have successfully managed to put together a blended family that seems to care about each other. The "Band of Brothers" and the film, were excellent touches, though it may have been better to use the film to immediately introduce Kerry. Cleland was good, he's become sort of the patron saint of the campaign. People in the party are upset because of the way Saxby Chambliss questioned the patriotism of a man who left three limbs in Vietnam, and they should be.
I felt Kerry did a great job of showing strength last night. The earlier speakers, his family, the Green Beret he rescued, did a wonderful job of humanizing him. He looked and sounded Presidential last night, which is not something that always happens. Dukakis didn't look presidential, Mondale didn't. I didn't really dig the salute, but I understand why he did it. This is a man who views the world, perhaps justifiably, through the prism of Vietnam. It is, and probably remains, the defining time in his life. That came through in the speech, the kind of sense of duty he projected. That was good. The middle portion of the speech seemed to get bogged down a bit more than I would have liked, but he needed to put out policies, and that seemed to be an effective way to do it. The one thing I didn't feel like he did, was to make specific proposals for what he would do in Iraq. The generalities were there, but he has to develop specific, or the Republicans could eat him alive at the end of the month.
I saw Bush's address at SMS this morning. I don't think the speech and message are incredibly effective. He's going after Kerry for not having enough big accomplishments in the senate, and truth be told, there are not a ton of bills that bear his name. What he has done, it seems, has been to be a tireless investigator, which is a perfectly legitimate role to play in the senate. Not everyone can be on every bill, sometimes you have to fill other niches, and Kerry, the ex-prosecutor fills the role of investigator. Also, to make light of Kerry's lack of focus on his Senate record is to potentially invite focus on Bush's lost years. I saw another blogger talk about the potential danger in saying that Kerry hasn't accomplished anything when he's spent most of his adult life in public service, while Bush was, well, we don't know what Bush was doing, other than operating unsuccessful business ventures and "partying".
Oh well.
Good luck tonight John.
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Night 1
I did a presentation yesterday on political blogging, and it went very well. I've spent a lot of today looking at opinions about what happened last night, and how it might effect things. I didn't see any of Gore's or Carter's speeches, beyond the highlights later, and I heard snippets on CNN and MSNBC's Radio channels.
I did, however, get to see most of Bill Clinton's speech. He remains the master. His speech, I heard Russert say, and I agree, was more old-fashioned oratory than anything else. He said George Bush was a good man, a good man who happened to be wrong about a lot of things. Clinton did a fabulous job, probably a better one than the "valedictory" speech he made in Los Angeles four years ago, in getting people to look at the new guy as the one to lead us. He didn't do a great job of doing that for Al Gore. He did an excellent job of it for John Kerry. He took self-effacing jabs at himself, and his connections with the administration, on taxes and in comparing John Kerry's war record to that of the Republican ticket and himself. He was vintage Bill, going after every side, Moderate conservatives, liberals, moderates. I don't know how often we will see Bill again at these things. Carter's appearance last night was the first time he had done anything at a convention in a while. Unless Hillary gets nominated, and I strongly doubt that she will, in the next two election cycles, we may not see Bill again for a while. If, however, this was a swansong, he had a beautiful one.
Gore was self-effacing, and he needed to be. If he went crazy criticizing Bush, the Republicans would have painted him as the left's Nikita Kruschev, barely sane, banging his shoe on the podium. He was restrained. He reminded people of 2000 without whining, as he has a right to do. He made soft-peddled appeals to Nader voters. Gore may become an effective campaigner if the Democrats want to use him. I would use him in states like Florida, Oregon or Minnesota, battleground states that might be tipped by Nader voters. He can be a living reminder of what happens when you throw your vote away.
Tonight won't be televised nationally by the broadcast networks. If you have Cable, or live in Chicago, watch Obama's keynote, as it might be the official beginning of a spectacular career. Theresa Heinz-Kerry will speak tonight, as will the old Lion himself, the senior Senator from Massachusetts, Edward Kennedy.
Kerry's people have done a good job of keeping people restrained, of muzzling the anti-Bush rhetoric. Both Dean and Kucinich, and Dean speaks tonight, have promised to keep the rhetoric toned down, because we have to win. We have to. For those of you who want red-meat, understand that this isn't your time. This is Kerry's time to introduce himself to all those people out there who don't know who he is. This is John Kerry's time, not the anti-Bush time. We know that George Bush isn't the one we want, we know he isn't the right man for the job. But lecturing undecideds about it, and being full of vitriol in doing it is not the way to win hearts and minds. Bush is, if nothing else, a decent man. People want to like him. People just need to understand that we need a man of intellectual substance now, one who realizes, as the 42nd POTUS said last night "That Strength and Wisdom are not opposing virtues"
I did a presentation yesterday on political blogging, and it went very well. I've spent a lot of today looking at opinions about what happened last night, and how it might effect things. I didn't see any of Gore's or Carter's speeches, beyond the highlights later, and I heard snippets on CNN and MSNBC's Radio channels.
I did, however, get to see most of Bill Clinton's speech. He remains the master. His speech, I heard Russert say, and I agree, was more old-fashioned oratory than anything else. He said George Bush was a good man, a good man who happened to be wrong about a lot of things. Clinton did a fabulous job, probably a better one than the "valedictory" speech he made in Los Angeles four years ago, in getting people to look at the new guy as the one to lead us. He didn't do a great job of doing that for Al Gore. He did an excellent job of it for John Kerry. He took self-effacing jabs at himself, and his connections with the administration, on taxes and in comparing John Kerry's war record to that of the Republican ticket and himself. He was vintage Bill, going after every side, Moderate conservatives, liberals, moderates. I don't know how often we will see Bill again at these things. Carter's appearance last night was the first time he had done anything at a convention in a while. Unless Hillary gets nominated, and I strongly doubt that she will, in the next two election cycles, we may not see Bill again for a while. If, however, this was a swansong, he had a beautiful one.
Gore was self-effacing, and he needed to be. If he went crazy criticizing Bush, the Republicans would have painted him as the left's Nikita Kruschev, barely sane, banging his shoe on the podium. He was restrained. He reminded people of 2000 without whining, as he has a right to do. He made soft-peddled appeals to Nader voters. Gore may become an effective campaigner if the Democrats want to use him. I would use him in states like Florida, Oregon or Minnesota, battleground states that might be tipped by Nader voters. He can be a living reminder of what happens when you throw your vote away.
Tonight won't be televised nationally by the broadcast networks. If you have Cable, or live in Chicago, watch Obama's keynote, as it might be the official beginning of a spectacular career. Theresa Heinz-Kerry will speak tonight, as will the old Lion himself, the senior Senator from Massachusetts, Edward Kennedy.
Kerry's people have done a good job of keeping people restrained, of muzzling the anti-Bush rhetoric. Both Dean and Kucinich, and Dean speaks tonight, have promised to keep the rhetoric toned down, because we have to win. We have to. For those of you who want red-meat, understand that this isn't your time. This is Kerry's time to introduce himself to all those people out there who don't know who he is. This is John Kerry's time, not the anti-Bush time. We know that George Bush isn't the one we want, we know he isn't the right man for the job. But lecturing undecideds about it, and being full of vitriol in doing it is not the way to win hearts and minds. Bush is, if nothing else, a decent man. People want to like him. People just need to understand that we need a man of intellectual substance now, one who realizes, as the 42nd POTUS said last night "That Strength and Wisdom are not opposing virtues"
Friday, July 23, 2004
Goings On...
The Sandy Berger story is completely ridiculous. The chances of actual criminal charges being filed are slim to none, so why exactly are we seeing this covered so hard, especially by conservatives?
Two reasons...1. Sandy Berger is a Clinton guy, and therefore inescapably evil. Even if he did something accidentally, he had to "know" on some level what he was doing. The commission itself has said that nothing of value was taken, that in fact, they had seen the relevant documents already. John Kerry, as a member of the intelligence committee had the security clearances to view the documents himself, so Berger wasn't taking stuff to show him. Conservatives believe there has to be a coverup. He's a messy guy, idiots, people forget things, people are disorganized. His office is probably stacked high with papers and notes, if the Clinton's did something, believe me, we would know by now. 2. The report that came out yesterday may have been though to be more damning than it actually is, and so the Bushies thought they needed political cover.
The Administration is apparently looking for Catholics in Pennsylvania, and presumably elsewhere, to provide them with Parish directories so they know who to target. This is silly. We, speaking for all Catholics, do NOT vote as a bloc, we vote as we want to vote, individually. Most f us are ok with a constitutional right to privacy, meaning a right to choose and the right to get contraception. We believe this at about the same rate as the population as a whole. We are what we are, ourselves, islands. We aren't dictated to by the Pope, and not even by our own Bishops as to how we want to vote. We are more free thinking than that. Mostly.
The Sandy Berger story is completely ridiculous. The chances of actual criminal charges being filed are slim to none, so why exactly are we seeing this covered so hard, especially by conservatives?
Two reasons...1. Sandy Berger is a Clinton guy, and therefore inescapably evil. Even if he did something accidentally, he had to "know" on some level what he was doing. The commission itself has said that nothing of value was taken, that in fact, they had seen the relevant documents already. John Kerry, as a member of the intelligence committee had the security clearances to view the documents himself, so Berger wasn't taking stuff to show him. Conservatives believe there has to be a coverup. He's a messy guy, idiots, people forget things, people are disorganized. His office is probably stacked high with papers and notes, if the Clinton's did something, believe me, we would know by now. 2. The report that came out yesterday may have been though to be more damning than it actually is, and so the Bushies thought they needed political cover.
The Administration is apparently looking for Catholics in Pennsylvania, and presumably elsewhere, to provide them with Parish directories so they know who to target. This is silly. We, speaking for all Catholics, do NOT vote as a bloc, we vote as we want to vote, individually. Most f us are ok with a constitutional right to privacy, meaning a right to choose and the right to get contraception. We believe this at about the same rate as the population as a whole. We are what we are, ourselves, islands. We aren't dictated to by the Pope, and not even by our own Bishops as to how we want to vote. We are more free thinking than that. Mostly.
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Weird, Wild Stuff
I'm the only one in my office right now, and I mean the only one. Everyone else seems to have gone home. It got incredibly dark around 2:30 or 3, it looked like it was 5 or six hours later, but it is lighter out now. I had real trouble getting to sleep last night, mainly because of the heat. I only have an oscillating fan, and it was damn near impossible to get comfortable last night, plus I had a lot on my mind.
I got good news on the internship front, I have an interview next Friday at Ann Arbor's own WTKA. I grew up listening to the station, and it would be a ton of fun to work there. Plus, I could try to get stringing work at the A2 News as well as do my stuff at Roosevelt. I got notice yesterday that my room is going to be shown now, because I am not renewing my lease, funny how fast things go by when you think about them.
I received to bits of mail from my old High School yesterday. Well, actually I "received" them a while ago, but they were sent home, not to me in Chicago. They sort of pull me in two directions in terms of how I look back on my high school life. One was the invitation to my first class reunion, the big Cinco. I'm not that Jim Shilander anymore. I'm not sure how I'm going to react seeing all of these people again, all of these people who made me feel, often through no fault of their own, so insignificant and mediocre. Are there people who might be there who I would like to see, yes. I went to school with a large percentage of them for 12 years, and we picked up people along the way. I always felt like, having graduated with 67 kids, I got to know a lot of those people perhaps more intimately than I would have liked. There are those who I'd like to see if only out of some sense of scientific curiosity, to see what happened to them. And then, there are those who I really do not care about, largely because it was obvious they never cared at all about me or anyone but themselves. I realize that high school and adolescence in general is a time for self-centeredness, and I was as guilty of it as anyone, but still, the people who haven't changed, the people who's college or post-high school lives have not given them perspective on their actions? Those people I don't need to see. I may just go to antagonize as many Opus Dei folk as I can, we'll see.
I also got a letter about the benefit performances of Les Miserables being performed by the Drama Club and various Drama Club alumni. I would have liked to have done it, but 5 hours each way driving time makes it difficult. Robert is doing it, and he has a pretty good part, though he is admittedly not the strongest singer. The Drama Club was sort of my refuge while I wasn';t playing football in the fall. I did eleven out of a possible 12 shows in high school, and I loved every second of it. I feel that as someone who does have self-image issues, who is introverted, that theatre gave me the opportunity to explore. I was often more comfortable as someone else than I was as myself. Ms. Anne Kolaczkowski-Magee has run the program since she's been there, and when she left for two years to get recertified, it was taken over by the very capable and talented Glenn Bugala. Ms. K-M is one of my heroes. I don't think anyone at that school works harder for her students and cares more about their lives. She really does love her craft. Glenn Bugala was the same way, though he was put in a very difficult position because a lot of people didn't want to accept that Ms. K-M had left. The benefit is for a new theatre that they are building at the new school. For the last 15 years, the school has either had to rent out space from Ann Arbor Civic Theatre or find a space for a show. Now they'll have their own shop, their own stage, and their own storage. Ms. K-M joked in the letter about making it the K-M theatre, but frankly, that's what it should be. I can't think of anyone else to name it after (especially cause no one at Richard knows who Bob AuFrance is). There is no one more deserving. I will be there, guaranteed.
I'm the only one in my office right now, and I mean the only one. Everyone else seems to have gone home. It got incredibly dark around 2:30 or 3, it looked like it was 5 or six hours later, but it is lighter out now. I had real trouble getting to sleep last night, mainly because of the heat. I only have an oscillating fan, and it was damn near impossible to get comfortable last night, plus I had a lot on my mind.
I got good news on the internship front, I have an interview next Friday at Ann Arbor's own WTKA. I grew up listening to the station, and it would be a ton of fun to work there. Plus, I could try to get stringing work at the A2 News as well as do my stuff at Roosevelt. I got notice yesterday that my room is going to be shown now, because I am not renewing my lease, funny how fast things go by when you think about them.
I received to bits of mail from my old High School yesterday. Well, actually I "received" them a while ago, but they were sent home, not to me in Chicago. They sort of pull me in two directions in terms of how I look back on my high school life. One was the invitation to my first class reunion, the big Cinco. I'm not that Jim Shilander anymore. I'm not sure how I'm going to react seeing all of these people again, all of these people who made me feel, often through no fault of their own, so insignificant and mediocre. Are there people who might be there who I would like to see, yes. I went to school with a large percentage of them for 12 years, and we picked up people along the way. I always felt like, having graduated with 67 kids, I got to know a lot of those people perhaps more intimately than I would have liked. There are those who I'd like to see if only out of some sense of scientific curiosity, to see what happened to them. And then, there are those who I really do not care about, largely because it was obvious they never cared at all about me or anyone but themselves. I realize that high school and adolescence in general is a time for self-centeredness, and I was as guilty of it as anyone, but still, the people who haven't changed, the people who's college or post-high school lives have not given them perspective on their actions? Those people I don't need to see. I may just go to antagonize as many Opus Dei folk as I can, we'll see.
I also got a letter about the benefit performances of Les Miserables being performed by the Drama Club and various Drama Club alumni. I would have liked to have done it, but 5 hours each way driving time makes it difficult. Robert is doing it, and he has a pretty good part, though he is admittedly not the strongest singer. The Drama Club was sort of my refuge while I wasn';t playing football in the fall. I did eleven out of a possible 12 shows in high school, and I loved every second of it. I feel that as someone who does have self-image issues, who is introverted, that theatre gave me the opportunity to explore. I was often more comfortable as someone else than I was as myself. Ms. Anne Kolaczkowski-Magee has run the program since she's been there, and when she left for two years to get recertified, it was taken over by the very capable and talented Glenn Bugala. Ms. K-M is one of my heroes. I don't think anyone at that school works harder for her students and cares more about their lives. She really does love her craft. Glenn Bugala was the same way, though he was put in a very difficult position because a lot of people didn't want to accept that Ms. K-M had left. The benefit is for a new theatre that they are building at the new school. For the last 15 years, the school has either had to rent out space from Ann Arbor Civic Theatre or find a space for a show. Now they'll have their own shop, their own stage, and their own storage. Ms. K-M joked in the letter about making it the K-M theatre, but frankly, that's what it should be. I can't think of anyone else to name it after (especially cause no one at Richard knows who Bob AuFrance is). There is no one more deserving. I will be there, guaranteed.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Fun Times, and well...
I picked up NCAA 2005 on Thursday, so needless to say, I've been playing it quite a lot lately and enjoying it. I started a successful dynasty as Michigan and am presently beginning my third year as head coach at Connecticut, where I just finished #2 in the country. The new features are very cool. For John, the X-Box version is equipped with X-Box Live capability, but since I have a PS2, I don't care. They've added some interesting little tweaks to last years game. EA added a measure of players "composure", for example freshmen are easily rattled while Seniors aren't. Homefield advantage is real, the controller shakes when you have the ball and the crowd is loud, and you can pump up the home crowd on defense. My favorite changes, though, are smaller tweaks. Discipline is now in the game, so if players commit infraction you can choose whether and for how long kids are suspended. Before the recruiting process starts, players can transfer from and away from your school, and you convince those who want to leave to stay. In recruiting, you can now recruit "ATH" or athletes, who have not set position. My favorite tweak of all, though, is the ability to switch player's positions. If I have too many linebackers, I can shift people to End to get them on the field and give myself a more athletic team. This is a really fun feature that I have enjoyed tremendously. Still, all of this is fake.
Obviously my congratulations to Jean and Kelly. I wish you both the very best.
I walked down to millennium Park on Saturday, just to check it out, and to make the walk, its 3 miles each way so its good exercise, no matter how much cheesecake I buy at the Cheesecake Factory. It really is a fabulous place, just this amazingly idyllic spot in the middle of downtown. Cloud Gate was a huge attraction, because apparently people can't get enough of seeing themselves in highly polished metal. I really loved the fountains they have. It's a different take on the fountain, video images of people come up on these large screens built ito the structures with are probably 20' high. Water goes around the sides of the structure when the images are on. Then the faces look like they're spewing water, and they do, because the "fountain" is built into where the mouths are. Then water comes down the front, soaking the kids underneath it. I really loved it, seeing all the kids and their families enjoying themselves at this really amazing and fun place, a place that's open to everyone.
I don't know if anyone saw this from last week's gay marriage debate, I caught it from Andrew Sullivan and Wonkette, but there was a rally of different "celebrities" to promote the amedment. Pat Boone was there, wearing an incredibly fluorescent jacket that made him look like he was the chairman of the Orange Bowl committee, and former Redskins corner Darrell Green was there as well. Most ironically, Dean Jones was there. For those of you saying "Who the F*** is Dean Jones?", well he was the star of the Love Bug Movies and played the evil vet in "Beethoven". The weird, and sort of ironic part is, as few people, other than Sondheim and Alexis Snyder, know Dean Jones was the original 'Robert' in "Company" on Broadway. Obviously, and Alex, Chelsea Sadler and Rob Murdock will attest to this, Robert coming out for discriminating against gay people is just weird.
Still Trying.......
I picked up NCAA 2005 on Thursday, so needless to say, I've been playing it quite a lot lately and enjoying it. I started a successful dynasty as Michigan and am presently beginning my third year as head coach at Connecticut, where I just finished #2 in the country. The new features are very cool. For John, the X-Box version is equipped with X-Box Live capability, but since I have a PS2, I don't care. They've added some interesting little tweaks to last years game. EA added a measure of players "composure", for example freshmen are easily rattled while Seniors aren't. Homefield advantage is real, the controller shakes when you have the ball and the crowd is loud, and you can pump up the home crowd on defense. My favorite changes, though, are smaller tweaks. Discipline is now in the game, so if players commit infraction you can choose whether and for how long kids are suspended. Before the recruiting process starts, players can transfer from and away from your school, and you convince those who want to leave to stay. In recruiting, you can now recruit "ATH" or athletes, who have not set position. My favorite tweak of all, though, is the ability to switch player's positions. If I have too many linebackers, I can shift people to End to get them on the field and give myself a more athletic team. This is a really fun feature that I have enjoyed tremendously. Still, all of this is fake.
Obviously my congratulations to Jean and Kelly. I wish you both the very best.
I walked down to millennium Park on Saturday, just to check it out, and to make the walk, its 3 miles each way so its good exercise, no matter how much cheesecake I buy at the Cheesecake Factory. It really is a fabulous place, just this amazingly idyllic spot in the middle of downtown. Cloud Gate was a huge attraction, because apparently people can't get enough of seeing themselves in highly polished metal. I really loved the fountains they have. It's a different take on the fountain, video images of people come up on these large screens built ito the structures with are probably 20' high. Water goes around the sides of the structure when the images are on. Then the faces look like they're spewing water, and they do, because the "fountain" is built into where the mouths are. Then water comes down the front, soaking the kids underneath it. I really loved it, seeing all the kids and their families enjoying themselves at this really amazing and fun place, a place that's open to everyone.
I don't know if anyone saw this from last week's gay marriage debate, I caught it from Andrew Sullivan and Wonkette, but there was a rally of different "celebrities" to promote the amedment. Pat Boone was there, wearing an incredibly fluorescent jacket that made him look like he was the chairman of the Orange Bowl committee, and former Redskins corner Darrell Green was there as well. Most ironically, Dean Jones was there. For those of you saying "Who the F*** is Dean Jones?", well he was the star of the Love Bug Movies and played the evil vet in "Beethoven". The weird, and sort of ironic part is, as few people, other than Sondheim and Alexis Snyder, know Dean Jones was the original 'Robert' in "Company" on Broadway. Obviously, and Alex, Chelsea Sadler and Rob Murdock will attest to this, Robert coming out for discriminating against gay people is just weird.
Still Trying.......
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Catharsis
My session today was ok, I think it helped me deal with some issues, but I still don't know how to rectify them.
Congratulations to all of you who called and emailed you members about voting against the FMA. It couldn't even get a simple majority, let alone the 60 it would take to put it to a direct vote on the Senate floor. Obviously, thank you to all of the Republicans who crossed the leadership and voted with the Democrats.
The Ditka thing is actually possible. This doesn't shock me, as after Ditka the only viable candidate is Jim Oberweis who finished second in the Republican primary while running an anti-immigrant platform, which played terribly, because it showed him to be a hate monger and demagogue. I think Ditka would be a disaster for the party here, as his politics seem very far out on the right. Republicans win here by attracting moderates. Ditka won't be able to do that all that well, and Obama will beat him, but at least it doesn't "cost" anyone in the party organization politically if an outsider runs and gets beat.
Speaking of Obama, he will be delivering the keynote address at the Democratic Convention later this month. This really could make him a huge star if he plays this right and delivers a great speech. A Cuomo like moment would not only assure him of winning here, but frankly put him on the fast track towards a brighter future, like a spot on a ticket in 2012. 2008, if Kerry loses, would probably be too early, but he does have an extremely bright future ahead of him.
The Shaq thing also happened today. Personally, this is more like Wilt going to the Lakers than Kareem going there, two comparisons that have been made often. Wilt was nearing the end of his career, as Shaq is. Still, he makes Miami an absolutely huge force to be reckoned with next year, especially if they are able to go out and get someone to fill some of the slots vacated by the guys traded for him. I am also getting the funny feeling that Kobe might sign with the Clippers.
Watched the ASG last night. It was amazing to see Ali, as it always is, particularly when he sprang to life as he did, with the Ali shuffle and playing with Jeter and A-Rod. Bob Feller made some idiotic comments about how Ali was a traitor to his country because he refused induction, you know, more than 30 years ago,but he's basically a sad old man at this point. The game itself was disappointing, though I do find the allusions to Bull Durham, with regards to the Piazza/Clemens battery, to be interesting. Carlos Guillen was the only All-Star who didn't play, and I'm not that surprised because Torre took 4 Shortstops and played Jeter for like 5 innings, meaning that Young, Tejada and Guillen would be splitting the final four, which meant two would just get an inning apiece. Guillen didn't sound bitter, and I wouldn't expect him to, though he can get revenge starting Thursday, when the Tigers and Yankees start a series.
My session today was ok, I think it helped me deal with some issues, but I still don't know how to rectify them.
Congratulations to all of you who called and emailed you members about voting against the FMA. It couldn't even get a simple majority, let alone the 60 it would take to put it to a direct vote on the Senate floor. Obviously, thank you to all of the Republicans who crossed the leadership and voted with the Democrats.
The Ditka thing is actually possible. This doesn't shock me, as after Ditka the only viable candidate is Jim Oberweis who finished second in the Republican primary while running an anti-immigrant platform, which played terribly, because it showed him to be a hate monger and demagogue. I think Ditka would be a disaster for the party here, as his politics seem very far out on the right. Republicans win here by attracting moderates. Ditka won't be able to do that all that well, and Obama will beat him, but at least it doesn't "cost" anyone in the party organization politically if an outsider runs and gets beat.
Speaking of Obama, he will be delivering the keynote address at the Democratic Convention later this month. This really could make him a huge star if he plays this right and delivers a great speech. A Cuomo like moment would not only assure him of winning here, but frankly put him on the fast track towards a brighter future, like a spot on a ticket in 2012. 2008, if Kerry loses, would probably be too early, but he does have an extremely bright future ahead of him.
The Shaq thing also happened today. Personally, this is more like Wilt going to the Lakers than Kareem going there, two comparisons that have been made often. Wilt was nearing the end of his career, as Shaq is. Still, he makes Miami an absolutely huge force to be reckoned with next year, especially if they are able to go out and get someone to fill some of the slots vacated by the guys traded for him. I am also getting the funny feeling that Kobe might sign with the Clippers.
Watched the ASG last night. It was amazing to see Ali, as it always is, particularly when he sprang to life as he did, with the Ali shuffle and playing with Jeter and A-Rod. Bob Feller made some idiotic comments about how Ali was a traitor to his country because he refused induction, you know, more than 30 years ago,but he's basically a sad old man at this point. The game itself was disappointing, though I do find the allusions to Bull Durham, with regards to the Piazza/Clemens battery, to be interesting. Carlos Guillen was the only All-Star who didn't play, and I'm not that surprised because Torre took 4 Shortstops and played Jeter for like 5 innings, meaning that Young, Tejada and Guillen would be splitting the final four, which meant two would just get an inning apiece. Guillen didn't sound bitter, and I wouldn't expect him to, though he can get revenge starting Thursday, when the Tigers and Yankees start a series.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
23
I had a pretty good weekend, my family (parents, Robert and Grandma Graham) came down Saturday. It forced me to clean up my apartment, which was most assuredly needed. We also did some much needed work on my internship, which I hopefully will be hearing about soon. Saw Anchorman on Sunday with John, which was a lot of fun, and extremely funny. Still, I couldn't escape the melancholy thoughts I've been falling into over the past few weeks. I have to do something for my therapy tomorrow that is drudging up a lot of feelings and frankly, they are hard to confront. Decisions hat have been made, choices of mine over the past five months need to be looked at, and sometimes these feelings and actions are hard to think about. I hope it helps, because I have had a very hard time the last few days, and its rough to keep feeling like this.
ESPN's ratings of the most tortured sports cities ended today with the one logical candidate, Cleveland. The Ten worst sports moments included Jordan's shot on Ehlo at #5, so you know there are pretty bad things on the way. The Drive and the fumble are there, as is moving the Browns. #1 is pretty obvious though, and from personal experience, I know how painful it was.
I want to thank my parents for going above and beyond in their desire to help me with my internship, thank you both so very much for being willing to help and working so tirelessly for me while I go through this difficult time.
A quick couple of things. Salon has a look at John Edwards' career as a trial lawyer, and finds that he didn't go out of his way to try and destroy the American way of life, but that he represented real people who were wronged by negligent businesses. Second Rob Pelinka, who is carols Boozer's agent, is apparently resigning as Boozer's representative. I grew up watching Pelinka play as a member of Michigan's basketball team. He was on the second unit, the one referred to as the "forgotten five" Eric Riley, James Voskuhl, Pelinka, Freddie Hunter and Michael Talley. They had been expected to start and play the year the fab five got there. They formed a fantastic bench and saved the teams bacon at several points in the season. Pelinka hit a bunch of threes that WON a game against Michigan State in East Lansing. I knew he wanted to be a lawyer. He showed up on ESPN's "The Season" a couple of years ago, as he was representing some players on the Clippers, who were the subject of the show. Now he has Boozer and Kobe. Kobe, who may well end up with the Clippers is less interesting right now than Boozer. From the reports that have come out, it seems that Pelinka wanted to honor the deal Boozer had with the Cavs, but Boozer took Utah's offer of more money. This isn't Utah's fault. They may well be a top contender next year given their newly improved frontcourt and bench. I obviously can't blame Pelinka. The Cavs kind of screwed themselves, and Boozer screwed them. I can't say either was wrong or right, but that's what happened.
I had a pretty good weekend, my family (parents, Robert and Grandma Graham) came down Saturday. It forced me to clean up my apartment, which was most assuredly needed. We also did some much needed work on my internship, which I hopefully will be hearing about soon. Saw Anchorman on Sunday with John, which was a lot of fun, and extremely funny. Still, I couldn't escape the melancholy thoughts I've been falling into over the past few weeks. I have to do something for my therapy tomorrow that is drudging up a lot of feelings and frankly, they are hard to confront. Decisions hat have been made, choices of mine over the past five months need to be looked at, and sometimes these feelings and actions are hard to think about. I hope it helps, because I have had a very hard time the last few days, and its rough to keep feeling like this.
ESPN's ratings of the most tortured sports cities ended today with the one logical candidate, Cleveland. The Ten worst sports moments included Jordan's shot on Ehlo at #5, so you know there are pretty bad things on the way. The Drive and the fumble are there, as is moving the Browns. #1 is pretty obvious though, and from personal experience, I know how painful it was.
I want to thank my parents for going above and beyond in their desire to help me with my internship, thank you both so very much for being willing to help and working so tirelessly for me while I go through this difficult time.
A quick couple of things. Salon has a look at John Edwards' career as a trial lawyer, and finds that he didn't go out of his way to try and destroy the American way of life, but that he represented real people who were wronged by negligent businesses. Second Rob Pelinka, who is carols Boozer's agent, is apparently resigning as Boozer's representative. I grew up watching Pelinka play as a member of Michigan's basketball team. He was on the second unit, the one referred to as the "forgotten five" Eric Riley, James Voskuhl, Pelinka, Freddie Hunter and Michael Talley. They had been expected to start and play the year the fab five got there. They formed a fantastic bench and saved the teams bacon at several points in the season. Pelinka hit a bunch of threes that WON a game against Michigan State in East Lansing. I knew he wanted to be a lawyer. He showed up on ESPN's "The Season" a couple of years ago, as he was representing some players on the Clippers, who were the subject of the show. Now he has Boozer and Kobe. Kobe, who may well end up with the Clippers is less interesting right now than Boozer. From the reports that have come out, it seems that Pelinka wanted to honor the deal Boozer had with the Cavs, but Boozer took Utah's offer of more money. This isn't Utah's fault. They may well be a top contender next year given their newly improved frontcourt and bench. I obviously can't blame Pelinka. The Cavs kind of screwed themselves, and Boozer screwed them. I can't say either was wrong or right, but that's what happened.
Friday, July 09, 2004
Stuff
I frankly don't have much to say today, basically because not much has happened in the last 18 hours. The only thing I find sort of interesting is that people are talking about running Mike Ditka for the Republican senate seat that was vacated by Jack Ryan. My only thought is, "Who wants to watch that train wreck of a debate?" You have Ditka, head foota=ball coach and never the most intellectual guy, facing the former head of the Harvard Law Review and State Senator Barack Obama. Does anyone think Ditka would have anything, and I mean anything remotely interesting to say that would be what he wanted to say, not someone telling him? Does he know anything about any issue? This just might be the answer however for anyone who was hoping for more "Superfans" sketches on SNL or who wanted to know what Senator Ditka would sound like.
My family is still coming down tomorrow. My grandpa Shilander suffered a small stroke earlier this week, but seems to be recovering nicely, he should go home in a couple of weeks, after therapy. He will be 80 later this year. We're putting together and sending out my resumes this weekend, so wish us luck, and wish me luck in cleaning my apartment for when they get there.
I frankly don't have much to say today, basically because not much has happened in the last 18 hours. The only thing I find sort of interesting is that people are talking about running Mike Ditka for the Republican senate seat that was vacated by Jack Ryan. My only thought is, "Who wants to watch that train wreck of a debate?" You have Ditka, head foota=ball coach and never the most intellectual guy, facing the former head of the Harvard Law Review and State Senator Barack Obama. Does anyone think Ditka would have anything, and I mean anything remotely interesting to say that would be what he wanted to say, not someone telling him? Does he know anything about any issue? This just might be the answer however for anyone who was hoping for more "Superfans" sketches on SNL or who wanted to know what Senator Ditka would sound like.
My family is still coming down tomorrow. My grandpa Shilander suffered a small stroke earlier this week, but seems to be recovering nicely, he should go home in a couple of weeks, after therapy. He will be 80 later this year. We're putting together and sending out my resumes this weekend, so wish us luck, and wish me luck in cleaning my apartment for when they get there.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
One long day, for me and Kenny Boy
Today has been really weird, just drawn out and long. For some reason I'm having a real hard time focusing one one particular thing right now, maybe its end of the week stuff. My resume and everythign looks good, me and my family will work on sending stuff out tomorrow, and one of my professor's will look at it tomorrow to see that its ok. Then my family will come down Saturday, we'll get stuff to gether and go out, and then they'll leave sometime early Sunday. It'll be quick, but hopefully we'll get a lot done, grocery shopping, putting out resumes and taking stuff home chief among the priorities. Last night's first class was just a bit off for some reason, hopefully it will get better next week when we get into our real room.
I hope, I think like the rest of America, that Ken Lay goes down and goes down hard. I don't think he believes he's done anything illegal, perhaps just unethical. But I don't know that any jury isn't going to convict. A judge might not, but the grand jury took its time on the indictment, so they should get it right. One potential problem for the White House will be if Lay suddenly feels like talking, about the Energy commission, about Saudi oil money, about giving hundreds of thousands of dollars in money and services to Bush, we'll know soon enough what exactly their reationship was like.
One voting bloc seems to be underestimated by a lot of people, particularly Republicans. That is the voting bloc controlled (potentially) by Howard Stern. There are a lot of young men out there, in their mid to late 20's, and politically disengaged, that will do essentially anything Howard tells them. Since September 11th, Stern has been behind Bush, reflecting the general mood of the country. Since the FCC Crackdown started, however, the tide has turned in Stern's mind. He's been going hard against Bush, and he's been adding affiliates across the country (on Infinity) to make up for the loss of the ones Clear Channel owned, that dumped him. The FCC and Clear Channel are both big Bush supporters, though the FCC just sort of carries out his wishes and can't contribute any money the way CC does. If Stern tells his listeners, especially in places like Florida, Michigan and Ohio to go and vote, and vote for Kerry, they will. They don't know the issues and aren't particularly informed, but they have reason to dislike Bush, Howard said so. That may be enough to pick up some crucial states. Now, if we could just get Single women to vote more, we'd be all set.
Today has been really weird, just drawn out and long. For some reason I'm having a real hard time focusing one one particular thing right now, maybe its end of the week stuff. My resume and everythign looks good, me and my family will work on sending stuff out tomorrow, and one of my professor's will look at it tomorrow to see that its ok. Then my family will come down Saturday, we'll get stuff to gether and go out, and then they'll leave sometime early Sunday. It'll be quick, but hopefully we'll get a lot done, grocery shopping, putting out resumes and taking stuff home chief among the priorities. Last night's first class was just a bit off for some reason, hopefully it will get better next week when we get into our real room.
I hope, I think like the rest of America, that Ken Lay goes down and goes down hard. I don't think he believes he's done anything illegal, perhaps just unethical. But I don't know that any jury isn't going to convict. A judge might not, but the grand jury took its time on the indictment, so they should get it right. One potential problem for the White House will be if Lay suddenly feels like talking, about the Energy commission, about Saudi oil money, about giving hundreds of thousands of dollars in money and services to Bush, we'll know soon enough what exactly their reationship was like.
One voting bloc seems to be underestimated by a lot of people, particularly Republicans. That is the voting bloc controlled (potentially) by Howard Stern. There are a lot of young men out there, in their mid to late 20's, and politically disengaged, that will do essentially anything Howard tells them. Since September 11th, Stern has been behind Bush, reflecting the general mood of the country. Since the FCC Crackdown started, however, the tide has turned in Stern's mind. He's been going hard against Bush, and he's been adding affiliates across the country (on Infinity) to make up for the loss of the ones Clear Channel owned, that dumped him. The FCC and Clear Channel are both big Bush supporters, though the FCC just sort of carries out his wishes and can't contribute any money the way CC does. If Stern tells his listeners, especially in places like Florida, Michigan and Ohio to go and vote, and vote for Kerry, they will. They don't know the issues and aren't particularly informed, but they have reason to dislike Bush, Howard said so. That may be enough to pick up some crucial states. Now, if we could just get Single women to vote more, we'd be all set.
One long day, for me and Kenny Boy
Today has been really weird, just drawn out and long. For some reason I'm having a real hard time focusing one one particular thing right now, maybe its end of the week stuff. My resume and everythign looks good, me and my family will work on sending stuff out tomorrow, and one of my professor's will look at it tomorrow to see that its ok. Then my family will come down Saturday, we'll get stuff to gether and go out, and then they'll leave sometime early Sunday. It'll be quick, but hopefully we'll get a lot done, grocery shopping, putting out resumes and taking stuff home chief among the priorities. Last night's first class was just a bit off for some reason, hopefully it will get better next week when we get into our real room.
I hope, I think like the rest of America, that Ken Lay goes down and goes down hard. I don't think he believes he's done anything illegal, perhaps just unethical. But I don't know that any jury isn't going to convict. A judge might not, but the grand jury took its time on the indictment, so they should get it right. One potential problem for the White House will be if Lay suddenly feels like talking, about the Energy commission, about Saudi oil money, about giving hundreds of thousands of dollars in money and services to Bush, we'll know soon enough what exactly their reationship was like.
One voting bloc seems to be underestimated by a lot of people, particularly Republicans. That is the voting bloc controlled (potentially) by Howard Stern. There are a lot of young men out there, in their mid to late 20's, and politically disengaged, that will do essentially anything Howard tells them. Since September 11th, Stern has been behind Bush, reflecting the general mood of the country. Since the FCC Crackdown started, however, the tide has turned in Stern's mind. He's been going hard against Bush, and he's been adding affiliates across the country (on Infinity) to make up for the loss of the ones Clear Channel owned, that dumped him. The FCC and Clear Channel are both big Bush supporters, though the FCC just sort of carries out his wishes and can't contribute any money the way CC does. If Stern tells his listeners, especially in places like Florida, Michigan and Ohio to go and vote, and vote for Kerry, they will. They don't know the issues and aren't particularly informed, but they have reason to dislike Bush, Howard said so. That may be enough to pick up some crucial states. Now, if we could just get Single women to vote more, we'd be all set.
Today has been really weird, just drawn out and long. For some reason I'm having a real hard time focusing one one particular thing right now, maybe its end of the week stuff. My resume and everythign looks good, me and my family will work on sending stuff out tomorrow, and one of my professor's will look at it tomorrow to see that its ok. Then my family will come down Saturday, we'll get stuff to gether and go out, and then they'll leave sometime early Sunday. It'll be quick, but hopefully we'll get a lot done, grocery shopping, putting out resumes and taking stuff home chief among the priorities. Last night's first class was just a bit off for some reason, hopefully it will get better next week when we get into our real room.
I hope, I think like the rest of America, that Ken Lay goes down and goes down hard. I don't think he believes he's done anything illegal, perhaps just unethical. But I don't know that any jury isn't going to convict. A judge might not, but the grand jury took its time on the indictment, so they should get it right. One potential problem for the White House will be if Lay suddenly feels like talking, about the Energy commission, about Saudi oil money, about giving hundreds of thousands of dollars in money and services to Bush, we'll know soon enough what exactly their reationship was like.
One voting bloc seems to be underestimated by a lot of people, particularly Republicans. That is the voting bloc controlled (potentially) by Howard Stern. There are a lot of young men out there, in their mid to late 20's, and politically disengaged, that will do essentially anything Howard tells them. Since September 11th, Stern has been behind Bush, reflecting the general mood of the country. Since the FCC Crackdown started, however, the tide has turned in Stern's mind. He's been going hard against Bush, and he's been adding affiliates across the country (on Infinity) to make up for the loss of the ones Clear Channel owned, that dumped him. The FCC and Clear Channel are both big Bush supporters, though the FCC just sort of carries out his wishes and can't contribute any money the way CC does. If Stern tells his listeners, especially in places like Florida, Michigan and Ohio to go and vote, and vote for Kerry, they will. They don't know the issues and aren't particularly informed, but they have reason to dislike Bush, Howard said so. That may be enough to pick up some crucial states. Now, if we could just get Single women to vote more, we'd be all set.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Just some quick thoughts going through my head
I just wanted to post one thing really quick. Collegefootballnews.com's (Its linked on the sidebar) preview of Duke mentioned how it would never win an ACC title. Never is a long time, I think they are probably wrong, one year will come when maybe Miami or FSU is down, and Duke will have a bunch of Seniors, and they'll win some games. I've wanted to post what I'm going to now for a while, and now its on my mind, so I will:
Top Ten Football Programs (In terms of how their limited success surprises me)that should be better than they are:
10. Kansas- Seriously, if Nebraska can be a great program, and Kansas State can sell itself as a football school despite being one of the worst programs ever, the school in Lawrence can do better than they are doing.
9. Boston College- I know they've had some success, but its been limited. There is no great football school in the northeast. They can be that. Perhaps, given their move to the ACC and their isolation from everyone else in the conference, they will be able to capture the minds of players in New England and elsewhere in the Northeast.
8. Minnesota- They once were great. Now, without a campus facility, they lack any sort of pull to make kids want to go there. They are trying to build a stadium on campus, which would be the newest stadium in the Big Ten in forever, so they have that selling point.
7. Hawaii- Come on, I realize you play your games at 1 AM eastern time, but you get to play in Hawaii. They are building something now with June Jones.
6. Rutgers- They are the only D-1 school in a talent rich state, and have easy access to eastern Pennsylvania, given that Temple is terrible. But they stink. Lou Holtz said a long time ago that they should change their name to "The University of New Jersey" rather than have their off-putting, faux-Ivy League name. He may be right.
5. North Carolina- They don't need to worry about Duke. Wake is an afterthought for the kids in state. NC State will always be thought of as second rate. Chapel Hill has everything you might want, it has academics, and a good area. They've produced some good players (LT, Dre' Bly). It just has to be put together, maybe by a guy wearing a visor perhaps?
4. Missouri- (Sorry Kaiman) Two great football cities on either side of the state. Talent in the suburbs of those cities, as well as easy access in the rest of the state and southern Illinois. But they never take advantage. They have a solid history as a program, but it seems thatsince the Big XII was formed they have never put it all together other than working with one great player (Brad Smith). (Speaking of that, Virginia Tech is headed down this road. Since Vick left, they have done nothing but underachieve, entering the new ACC, they can't afford to do that any more, speaking of which...)
3. Virginia- They should own the mid-Atlantic. There is no reason that they and Maryland, and even Virginia Tech, can't be good at the same time. Charlottesville is a beautiful area, not as backwater as Blacksburg is. Virginia has fertile recruiting ground the the Newport News/Norfolk area, and they should get more kids form DC. UVa stands for something academically, but they also underachieve from where they could be athletically, this will sound familiar later.
2. Illinois- Growing up in Big Ten country, at a time when Ohio State was down a bit, Michigan/Illinois was the big game every year. Michigan won, but everyone knew that Illinois would usually be their top competition. Then Jeff George and John Mackovic left, and its all gone to hell. They won the Big Ten title a few years ago, but that was with a big group of seniors who'd been through a lot together. Last year, they failed to win a game against a D-1A opponent (they beat Illinois State, the fighting Starkos). They have an incredible base of talent in Chicago and the suburbs. They have downstate virtually to themselves, they should get more people than they get, and the coaching should be better than it is.
1. The University of California, Berkeley- Every time I see Cal play, I wonder why they have to be a sort of one hit wonder. They do well every few years but they do not stay good over a long period. There is not a public university this side of Penn that can provide the educational advantages Berkeley can, and the Bay Area is a great place to live. They aren't going to be USC, they don't have that tradition, but there is no reason they cannot reach the same level, and surpass, the athletic prowess of the private school they hate so much in Palo Alto. Stanford has the best athletic program in the country. Football is not one of its best sports. Cal could, and if they can keep Jeff Tedford for a while they just might, become dominant in Northern California and start to effectively wage battle with USC for recruits. That would make them a national power in the same way Florida or Florida State has been
I just wanted to post one thing really quick. Collegefootballnews.com's (Its linked on the sidebar) preview of Duke mentioned how it would never win an ACC title. Never is a long time, I think they are probably wrong, one year will come when maybe Miami or FSU is down, and Duke will have a bunch of Seniors, and they'll win some games. I've wanted to post what I'm going to now for a while, and now its on my mind, so I will:
Top Ten Football Programs (In terms of how their limited success surprises me)that should be better than they are:
10. Kansas- Seriously, if Nebraska can be a great program, and Kansas State can sell itself as a football school despite being one of the worst programs ever, the school in Lawrence can do better than they are doing.
9. Boston College- I know they've had some success, but its been limited. There is no great football school in the northeast. They can be that. Perhaps, given their move to the ACC and their isolation from everyone else in the conference, they will be able to capture the minds of players in New England and elsewhere in the Northeast.
8. Minnesota- They once were great. Now, without a campus facility, they lack any sort of pull to make kids want to go there. They are trying to build a stadium on campus, which would be the newest stadium in the Big Ten in forever, so they have that selling point.
7. Hawaii- Come on, I realize you play your games at 1 AM eastern time, but you get to play in Hawaii. They are building something now with June Jones.
6. Rutgers- They are the only D-1 school in a talent rich state, and have easy access to eastern Pennsylvania, given that Temple is terrible. But they stink. Lou Holtz said a long time ago that they should change their name to "The University of New Jersey" rather than have their off-putting, faux-Ivy League name. He may be right.
5. North Carolina- They don't need to worry about Duke. Wake is an afterthought for the kids in state. NC State will always be thought of as second rate. Chapel Hill has everything you might want, it has academics, and a good area. They've produced some good players (LT, Dre' Bly). It just has to be put together, maybe by a guy wearing a visor perhaps?
4. Missouri- (Sorry Kaiman) Two great football cities on either side of the state. Talent in the suburbs of those cities, as well as easy access in the rest of the state and southern Illinois. But they never take advantage. They have a solid history as a program, but it seems thatsince the Big XII was formed they have never put it all together other than working with one great player (Brad Smith). (Speaking of that, Virginia Tech is headed down this road. Since Vick left, they have done nothing but underachieve, entering the new ACC, they can't afford to do that any more, speaking of which...)
3. Virginia- They should own the mid-Atlantic. There is no reason that they and Maryland, and even Virginia Tech, can't be good at the same time. Charlottesville is a beautiful area, not as backwater as Blacksburg is. Virginia has fertile recruiting ground the the Newport News/Norfolk area, and they should get more kids form DC. UVa stands for something academically, but they also underachieve from where they could be athletically, this will sound familiar later.
2. Illinois- Growing up in Big Ten country, at a time when Ohio State was down a bit, Michigan/Illinois was the big game every year. Michigan won, but everyone knew that Illinois would usually be their top competition. Then Jeff George and John Mackovic left, and its all gone to hell. They won the Big Ten title a few years ago, but that was with a big group of seniors who'd been through a lot together. Last year, they failed to win a game against a D-1A opponent (they beat Illinois State, the fighting Starkos). They have an incredible base of talent in Chicago and the suburbs. They have downstate virtually to themselves, they should get more people than they get, and the coaching should be better than it is.
1. The University of California, Berkeley- Every time I see Cal play, I wonder why they have to be a sort of one hit wonder. They do well every few years but they do not stay good over a long period. There is not a public university this side of Penn that can provide the educational advantages Berkeley can, and the Bay Area is a great place to live. They aren't going to be USC, they don't have that tradition, but there is no reason they cannot reach the same level, and surpass, the athletic prowess of the private school they hate so much in Palo Alto. Stanford has the best athletic program in the country. Football is not one of its best sports. Cal could, and if they can keep Jeff Tedford for a while they just might, become dominant in Northern California and start to effectively wage battle with USC for recruits. That would make them a national power in the same way Florida or Florida State has been
Wednesday???
The long weekend has really thrown me for a loop as far as knowing what day it is. I had worked myself into a nice steady routine the last few weeks, and now that's gone, because my class shifted days and venue. Not that I mind, I'd rather come downtown than drive to Schaumburg, but its just going to take some getting used to (the new routine). Ilost my keys on the bus yesterday, luckily I realized it before I got very far. I called the CTA and found out where I needed to go to pick them up. For anyone unfamiliar with it, the Blue Line takes this very weird path, for a rail car, it goes from O'Hare to downtown, meaning it comes east, then it goes under the loop and heads west again. I was really disoriented by the time I got the the Kedzie stop, so it took me longer then I wanted, but still, everything worked out fine.
Looking at the various media reports of the Edwards choice, Nightline and the local station's coverage, the various websites I frequent, Slate, Salon, TPM, Sullivan, MSNBC, and CNN, most feel like Kerry made the right choice, but temper that by parroting back the RNC's talking points that they put out minutes after Kerry made his choice. The "Is he too inexperienced?" and "Can he handle Foreign Policy?" lines were trotted out extremely fast. Salon focused on the contrast the Vice-Presidential debate will be presumably, as there have been some thought that Cheney may be dumped if its clear he's a drain on the ticket, probably replaced by Giuliani or someone like that, with Edwards' charm and prosecutorial debating style against Cheney's scowl and reserved nature. I would echo some concerns voiced by those close to Cheney, however. He can be effective as sort of a straight talking CEO type, as he is straight talking, and was a CEO, and people might respond to that. He beat Lieberman because Lieberman refused to go after him, or he Lieberman. It did seem, though, that Cheney was better prepared and won the debate. Edwards, who by all accounts, is well liked by colleagues of both parties, will have to be an attorney, he will have to present the case as to why Bush/Cheney has failed, then grill Cheney like a defendant.
Edwards is Bill Clinton's equal when it comes to campaigning, and it doesn't seem like he has the drawbacks Clinton did. The personal story, son of a millworker, first in family to go to college, millionaire trial lawyer. His story about losing his oldest son makes him real, especially as a reason to get into politics. His optimism balances the ticket (Can one be a pessimist and be president? I would hope so), because Kerry can come off as dour. What Edwards needs to do is be engaging, to talk to the people in rural Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina (which is in play now), Pennsylvania and even Michigan, and convince them that no matter how much they want to vote for Bush because he's like them, they can't afford too, literally. He, and Kerry too, need to show that Bush's economy isn't helping them, and that he is sending off our, and their, sons and daughters to die for reasons that don't add up or to settle some personal score. Bush is not "their guy" no matter how many times he mispronounces "nuclear" or spouts off simplistic answers and solutions to incredibly complex problems and issues. He's the right guy to do it.
Thank you for the kind words Ms. Kraly and Mr. Sellers.
Talk to you again tomorrow.
The long weekend has really thrown me for a loop as far as knowing what day it is. I had worked myself into a nice steady routine the last few weeks, and now that's gone, because my class shifted days and venue. Not that I mind, I'd rather come downtown than drive to Schaumburg, but its just going to take some getting used to (the new routine). Ilost my keys on the bus yesterday, luckily I realized it before I got very far. I called the CTA and found out where I needed to go to pick them up. For anyone unfamiliar with it, the Blue Line takes this very weird path, for a rail car, it goes from O'Hare to downtown, meaning it comes east, then it goes under the loop and heads west again. I was really disoriented by the time I got the the Kedzie stop, so it took me longer then I wanted, but still, everything worked out fine.
Looking at the various media reports of the Edwards choice, Nightline and the local station's coverage, the various websites I frequent, Slate, Salon, TPM, Sullivan, MSNBC, and CNN, most feel like Kerry made the right choice, but temper that by parroting back the RNC's talking points that they put out minutes after Kerry made his choice. The "Is he too inexperienced?" and "Can he handle Foreign Policy?" lines were trotted out extremely fast. Salon focused on the contrast the Vice-Presidential debate will be presumably, as there have been some thought that Cheney may be dumped if its clear he's a drain on the ticket, probably replaced by Giuliani or someone like that, with Edwards' charm and prosecutorial debating style against Cheney's scowl and reserved nature. I would echo some concerns voiced by those close to Cheney, however. He can be effective as sort of a straight talking CEO type, as he is straight talking, and was a CEO, and people might respond to that. He beat Lieberman because Lieberman refused to go after him, or he Lieberman. It did seem, though, that Cheney was better prepared and won the debate. Edwards, who by all accounts, is well liked by colleagues of both parties, will have to be an attorney, he will have to present the case as to why Bush/Cheney has failed, then grill Cheney like a defendant.
Edwards is Bill Clinton's equal when it comes to campaigning, and it doesn't seem like he has the drawbacks Clinton did. The personal story, son of a millworker, first in family to go to college, millionaire trial lawyer. His story about losing his oldest son makes him real, especially as a reason to get into politics. His optimism balances the ticket (Can one be a pessimist and be president? I would hope so), because Kerry can come off as dour. What Edwards needs to do is be engaging, to talk to the people in rural Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina (which is in play now), Pennsylvania and even Michigan, and convince them that no matter how much they want to vote for Bush because he's like them, they can't afford too, literally. He, and Kerry too, need to show that Bush's economy isn't helping them, and that he is sending off our, and their, sons and daughters to die for reasons that don't add up or to settle some personal score. Bush is not "their guy" no matter how many times he mispronounces "nuclear" or spouts off simplistic answers and solutions to incredibly complex problems and issues. He's the right guy to do it.
Thank you for the kind words Ms. Kraly and Mr. Sellers.
Talk to you again tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
The Veep and the Weekend
Sorry about the length between posts. I wasn't able to post last Thursday or Friday because I was frantically trying to finish papers, and I was tired Friday night and just went home after class. My first summer session is now over, and now I have a huge relief on my time related stress. Now I get the stress of looking for an internship, but I have experience with that from DC, which hopefully should pay off. My class this session is downtown, which will allow me to exercise, walking to campus is about 3.5 miles, as well as walk directly from work. It also meets twice a week, but I'm more used to that downtown from my previous sessions, plus the money I'll save on gas will be nice.
Edwards was the best choice. Previously I argued for John Lewis, but I knew this to be a sort of "outside the box" pick that might not fly with the leadership. Edwards helps Kerry in a lot of ways. He is relentlessly optimistic, his smiling face will be a sharp contrast to the dour visage of Cheney in their debate. He gives the campaign a very human story, he's not the son of privilege the top President and Kerry are, and he worked his way up to riches and political success. The Republicans are already coming out saying that Edwards is the second choice, and that he lacks experience. Its true, Kerry initially wanted McCain, but that's like saying that when an hockey GM hires a great coach but was rebuffed by Scotty Bowman, he had to settle. Kerry-McCain would have been an unstoppable ticket, but it was never likely. The Panthers probably called Scotty Bowman when their opening came up, but he wasn't going to take it. That doesn't mean Jacques Martin is someone they wouldn't have otherwise wanted. By the way Bush's father was also "the second choice". Reagan initially offered the Veep slot to Gerald Ford, which would have been unbeatable and brought America's first "Co-Presidency" with Ford basically operating as the nations COO.
Second, Edwards has just as much experience in government, six years, as Bush did when he ran for President 4 years ago. If Republicans make this argument, and it is incredibly transparent, the Democrats should just reply that Edwards has national experience, which Bush did not 4 years ago.
I saw Fahrenheit 9/11 Sunday. I enjoyed it immensely, the mother from Flint and her encounter with the protestor in front of the White House, and the woman who came after both of them, was heartbreaking, as was her whole story. I never got the feeling the Moore was using her, as he did the "Rabbit lady" in Roger and Me, for comic relief, she brings the war home for anyone who doesn't have anyone over there. I'll write more about it tomorrow.
I saw John on Saturday. I was walking home from Spiderman 2, my congratulations to Karen Green on her performance by the way, and I saw him, Andrea and another guy on a stoop and I stopped to talk. He's been real busy, setting up two new stores as well as having the Writing 5 show, Jean's wedding, and other stuff to deal with. It was still good to see him, though. We haven't seen as much of each other this summer as I thought we might, but we both have our own lives, I guess I just didn't realize how busy his would get. Plus I have put him in a lot of awkward situations lately, so I know I might have been not the funnest person to be with.
Anyone know when Ms. Kraly's birthday is?
I hope everyone had a good long weekend, I'll probably be able to post more often now, so hurrah.
Sorry about the length between posts. I wasn't able to post last Thursday or Friday because I was frantically trying to finish papers, and I was tired Friday night and just went home after class. My first summer session is now over, and now I have a huge relief on my time related stress. Now I get the stress of looking for an internship, but I have experience with that from DC, which hopefully should pay off. My class this session is downtown, which will allow me to exercise, walking to campus is about 3.5 miles, as well as walk directly from work. It also meets twice a week, but I'm more used to that downtown from my previous sessions, plus the money I'll save on gas will be nice.
Edwards was the best choice. Previously I argued for John Lewis, but I knew this to be a sort of "outside the box" pick that might not fly with the leadership. Edwards helps Kerry in a lot of ways. He is relentlessly optimistic, his smiling face will be a sharp contrast to the dour visage of Cheney in their debate. He gives the campaign a very human story, he's not the son of privilege the top President and Kerry are, and he worked his way up to riches and political success. The Republicans are already coming out saying that Edwards is the second choice, and that he lacks experience. Its true, Kerry initially wanted McCain, but that's like saying that when an hockey GM hires a great coach but was rebuffed by Scotty Bowman, he had to settle. Kerry-McCain would have been an unstoppable ticket, but it was never likely. The Panthers probably called Scotty Bowman when their opening came up, but he wasn't going to take it. That doesn't mean Jacques Martin is someone they wouldn't have otherwise wanted. By the way Bush's father was also "the second choice". Reagan initially offered the Veep slot to Gerald Ford, which would have been unbeatable and brought America's first "Co-Presidency" with Ford basically operating as the nations COO.
Second, Edwards has just as much experience in government, six years, as Bush did when he ran for President 4 years ago. If Republicans make this argument, and it is incredibly transparent, the Democrats should just reply that Edwards has national experience, which Bush did not 4 years ago.
I saw Fahrenheit 9/11 Sunday. I enjoyed it immensely, the mother from Flint and her encounter with the protestor in front of the White House, and the woman who came after both of them, was heartbreaking, as was her whole story. I never got the feeling the Moore was using her, as he did the "Rabbit lady" in Roger and Me, for comic relief, she brings the war home for anyone who doesn't have anyone over there. I'll write more about it tomorrow.
I saw John on Saturday. I was walking home from Spiderman 2, my congratulations to Karen Green on her performance by the way, and I saw him, Andrea and another guy on a stoop and I stopped to talk. He's been real busy, setting up two new stores as well as having the Writing 5 show, Jean's wedding, and other stuff to deal with. It was still good to see him, though. We haven't seen as much of each other this summer as I thought we might, but we both have our own lives, I guess I just didn't realize how busy his would get. Plus I have put him in a lot of awkward situations lately, so I know I might have been not the funnest person to be with.
Anyone know when Ms. Kraly's birthday is?
I hope everyone had a good long weekend, I'll probably be able to post more often now, so hurrah.
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