The Rock
Wonderful time being had across New England right now. Sysiphus has put the rock at the top of the hill, Tantalus has gotten something to drink. The Red Sox have won. While I admit the series itself was a bit anti-climactic following the Yankee series. 86 years of ghosts and frustrations will take it any way they can get it. If this is a vindication of anyone, its Bill James, because this team, more than any other with the exception of the A's, was put together with Sabermetrics in mind. Guys like Kevin Millar and David Ortiz were cheap, but Boston knew that if they wanted to put together the Sabermetrically perfect team, those would be two guys who could make it happen.
Now everyone's full attention has to turn to another sporting event, well two. One, we all have to root hard for the Packers on Sunday, even though I know a couple people who read this may be doing so anyway. I say this because everytime the Redskins have lost a game before an election, and this goes back almost 70 years, the incumbent party loses. (It also should be pointed out that the last two times the Red Sox won a World Series in an election year, the Democrat won, but the Democrat was Woodrow Wilson). The other is of course, the final race to the pole in the presidential race. Given the topic of discussion this week, and the reporting done by a Minneapolis TV station that you may see being nationally broadcast today, the reports from Iraq and about the missing explosives do not bode well for Bush. This puts him on the defensive in the last week, which I am sure is something he and Karl Rove didn't want to be doing. Meanwhile Kerry's appearing in front of one of the largest crowds in the history of the state of Wisconsin with Bruce Springsteen, just outside Miss Laura Kraly's back window. In addition, you have Rudy Giuliani going off script and, while appearing on behalf of the President, saying “No matter how you try to blame it on the president, the actual responsibility for it really would be for the troops that were there. Did they search carefully enough? Didn't they search carefully enough?” Bush has spent the last 18 hours saying that Kerry was questioning the Troops, which he wasn't, and then his own surrogate goes on the Today show and actually does blame the troops.
Its going to be a fun, and nerve racking, 5 days.
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Monday, October 25, 2004
The Nation
As I watched Game 6 last week, I may have officially become part of Red Sox Nation when I was at the Zone in the ninth inning. The classic shot of Red Sox fans, especially in games 4 and five last week, was of course those people watching the game thru their fingers. That was largely me on Tuesday. During the eighth and ninth I had taken a composite NBA schedule that was available their and nearly wore the ink off by rubbing it together in nervous anticipation. I was awed by what Schilling did, and what he did on Sunday as well. The man obviously has a huge pain threshold and frankly, may be one of the great teammates ever.
I am obviously rooting for the Red Sox, so this weekends two games were great. They do need to get better defensively, obviously, but that will be difficult when they ahve to put Ortiz at first. Manny literally falling all over himself in left certainly doesn't help.
As far as the Yankees are concerned, they just completed what has to be considered one of the freat failures in team sports history. It's not just that they lost 4 straight. They lost 4 straight when it mattered most, and when victory was literally withing the Hammer of God's grasp in the Ninth inning of game 4. My guess is they will go after Beltran, which won't help anything. This is a time when George is letting his ego get the best of him, and is not really looking at the makeup of his team. This team's offense was great, or atleast it was until game 4, but what it needs more than anything is a left handed starter and a reliable left handed reliever.
Horse race stuff is interesting: The Gallup poll was at something like 9 points for Bush last week, and now its at 5. The Washington Post tracking poll now gives Kerry a slight edge. From state to state though, things are not as encouraging. The Zogby polls showed Bush gains in a lot of battlegrounds, which there is not much time to reverse. Still, the story about the munitions dump, coupled with the gaffe from the Hannity interview may hurt Bush yet
As I watched Game 6 last week, I may have officially become part of Red Sox Nation when I was at the Zone in the ninth inning. The classic shot of Red Sox fans, especially in games 4 and five last week, was of course those people watching the game thru their fingers. That was largely me on Tuesday. During the eighth and ninth I had taken a composite NBA schedule that was available their and nearly wore the ink off by rubbing it together in nervous anticipation. I was awed by what Schilling did, and what he did on Sunday as well. The man obviously has a huge pain threshold and frankly, may be one of the great teammates ever.
I am obviously rooting for the Red Sox, so this weekends two games were great. They do need to get better defensively, obviously, but that will be difficult when they ahve to put Ortiz at first. Manny literally falling all over himself in left certainly doesn't help.
As far as the Yankees are concerned, they just completed what has to be considered one of the freat failures in team sports history. It's not just that they lost 4 straight. They lost 4 straight when it mattered most, and when victory was literally withing the Hammer of God's grasp in the Ninth inning of game 4. My guess is they will go after Beltran, which won't help anything. This is a time when George is letting his ego get the best of him, and is not really looking at the makeup of his team. This team's offense was great, or atleast it was until game 4, but what it needs more than anything is a left handed starter and a reliable left handed reliever.
Horse race stuff is interesting: The Gallup poll was at something like 9 points for Bush last week, and now its at 5. The Washington Post tracking poll now gives Kerry a slight edge. From state to state though, things are not as encouraging. The Zogby polls showed Bush gains in a lot of battlegrounds, which there is not much time to reverse. Still, the story about the munitions dump, coupled with the gaffe from the Hannity interview may hurt Bush yet
Monday, October 18, 2004
Wow
I didn't get a ton of sleep yesterday. I stayed up to watch the whole Red Sox- Yankee game, plus in the morning, a car parked near my apartment was having "alarm trouble", meaning it was going off for about thirty seconds for every minute. That pretty much sucked, I have to say.One word about the series. I don't blame Terry Francone. Schilling's ankle was far worse than they obviously expected. The relief pitching all simutaneously melting down in game three is not his fault either. The one move I really fault him for is staying with Mark Bellhorn for so long. I realize that Pokey is not exactly Ryne Sandberg at the plate at second, but he's far closer to Bill Mazeroski defensively, certainly more than Bellhorn. At least two plays last night would almost certainly have been made by Reese, plus a few that were not even attempted at the Stadium. Bellhorn has not produced offensively, so why not improve the defense? Of course, if Bellhorn gets a big hit tonight, I will be the first to agree that I am a moron.
If the Yankees are Pedro's daddy, does that make Bill Mueller Mariano Rivera's?
Rmember, before any potentially Democratic voters get despondent, particularly with the Gallup poll, remember that Gallup showed Bush with a 13% lead last time, on Oct. 26.Now, Gore did not exactly run a terrible campaign, but he didn't run one good enough to make up a 13 point gap in a week and a half either. Besides, if by the weekend the tracking polls show movement to Kerry, then will all the pundits say the race is Kerry's?
I agree with a lot of what John said about the Packers, though they certainly didn't seem to need anything yesterday as the crushed the Lions. I agree that Slowik needs to go. The defense is a gimmick, and gimmicks typically don't work for very long. Right now they are either blitzing everyone or blitzing no one, putting everybody in coverage. There has to be a happy medium. THe secondary is obvoiusly the issue. Darren Sharper has looked like he's been playing in sand so far this year, and the corners are young and need the safety help, and he's not providing it. I would say that they need to invest their next first round pick in either a defensive end, possibly David Pollack or Marcus Spears, or perhaps someone bigger like Dan Cody. Put Kampman and KGB on one side, becasue Kampman is much better against the run, and get KGB going on third down. If none of those ends are available, or they don't want to reach, I would take a safety, and moe Sharper to strong. Keep Bubba Franks. Take the heir to Favre in the Second round, someone like Dan Orlovsky of UConn, Kyle Orton of Purdue, David Greene of Georgia or Alex Smith of Utah. The big names like Andrew Walter, and potentially Leinart and Rogers will be gone already anyway. They also should look at drafting another corner, or adding Depth at DT and along the O-line.
The Lions need to add another defensive end opposite James Hall, since it has become obvious that Kalimba Edwards is not going to be a big time player. They also may need a safety badly, because both their safety's are old and slow. Shazor would look good, but if they end up drafting really low in the first round, I would hope they would take David Baas out of Michigan to play Left Guard.
I didn't get a ton of sleep yesterday. I stayed up to watch the whole Red Sox- Yankee game, plus in the morning, a car parked near my apartment was having "alarm trouble", meaning it was going off for about thirty seconds for every minute. That pretty much sucked, I have to say.One word about the series. I don't blame Terry Francone. Schilling's ankle was far worse than they obviously expected. The relief pitching all simutaneously melting down in game three is not his fault either. The one move I really fault him for is staying with Mark Bellhorn for so long. I realize that Pokey is not exactly Ryne Sandberg at the plate at second, but he's far closer to Bill Mazeroski defensively, certainly more than Bellhorn. At least two plays last night would almost certainly have been made by Reese, plus a few that were not even attempted at the Stadium. Bellhorn has not produced offensively, so why not improve the defense? Of course, if Bellhorn gets a big hit tonight, I will be the first to agree that I am a moron.
If the Yankees are Pedro's daddy, does that make Bill Mueller Mariano Rivera's?
Rmember, before any potentially Democratic voters get despondent, particularly with the Gallup poll, remember that Gallup showed Bush with a 13% lead last time, on Oct. 26.Now, Gore did not exactly run a terrible campaign, but he didn't run one good enough to make up a 13 point gap in a week and a half either. Besides, if by the weekend the tracking polls show movement to Kerry, then will all the pundits say the race is Kerry's?
I agree with a lot of what John said about the Packers, though they certainly didn't seem to need anything yesterday as the crushed the Lions. I agree that Slowik needs to go. The defense is a gimmick, and gimmicks typically don't work for very long. Right now they are either blitzing everyone or blitzing no one, putting everybody in coverage. There has to be a happy medium. THe secondary is obvoiusly the issue. Darren Sharper has looked like he's been playing in sand so far this year, and the corners are young and need the safety help, and he's not providing it. I would say that they need to invest their next first round pick in either a defensive end, possibly David Pollack or Marcus Spears, or perhaps someone bigger like Dan Cody. Put Kampman and KGB on one side, becasue Kampman is much better against the run, and get KGB going on third down. If none of those ends are available, or they don't want to reach, I would take a safety, and moe Sharper to strong. Keep Bubba Franks. Take the heir to Favre in the Second round, someone like Dan Orlovsky of UConn, Kyle Orton of Purdue, David Greene of Georgia or Alex Smith of Utah. The big names like Andrew Walter, and potentially Leinart and Rogers will be gone already anyway. They also should look at drafting another corner, or adding Depth at DT and along the O-line.
The Lions need to add another defensive end opposite James Hall, since it has become obvious that Kalimba Edwards is not going to be a big time player. They also may need a safety badly, because both their safety's are old and slow. Shazor would look good, but if they end up drafting really low in the first round, I would hope they would take David Baas out of Michigan to play Left Guard.
Thursday, October 14, 2004
The Grand Slam
I felt, watching the debate last night, that John Kerry beat President Bush. Granted, I myself am not an objective viewer, but I found Kerry to be both incredibly human, in talking about his mother and in talking about his faith, while simultaneously having a significantly greater grasp of the nuts and bolts of the domestic issues than the President. In listening to the reactions of the people at MSNBC, which have genearally been to the right of everyone else, meaning they went hard saying Cheney won last week and some said Bush won on Friday, and I got the impression that they felt it was a draw, which I think goes for Kerry. He had the momentum, and I think showed very interesting parts of himself. Bush was persona #3, the frat boy with faith, the one Al Gore faced in 2000, not the smirking monkey of #1 or Yosemite Sam we saw in #2. A couple of thoughts on other things:
I've really been surprised by the indignation with which Republicans have gone after Kerry for bringing up Mary Cheney during the question about Homosexuality as a choice. John Kerry did not "out" Mary Cheney. Mary Cheney was onstage at Case Western Reserve last week with her partner, people who follow this race know she is gay. I think Kerry was simply using her as a real life example, especially of someone who might be conflicted because of a conservative upbringing. Check out Andrew Sullivan, a gay man himself, for his thoughts on the subject.
Josh Marshall, as well as David Frum of Washington Monthly, pointed out something very interesting about the Osama Bin Laden quote the President used in 2002 and denied saying last night. Its not that he either lied or forgot that is interesting, instead its the emphasis on the fact that since the Taliban was gone, there was no reason to worry about Bin Laden. In IR at Albion, we learned all about the differences between state and non-state actors. Republicans like Bush, and perhaps the Neo-Cons in the Pentagon and at State seem to believe that states, and only states matter. NSA's- Non-State Actors don't. Bin Laden, without the support of the Taliban, was no longer important, Bush seems to have been thinking. Well, its very possible Al-Qaeda was responsible for the bombing in the Sinai last weekend, that they were responsible for Madrid, and may or may not be plotting something here. Obviously, NSAs do matter. The insurgency in Iraq, whether being carried out by Baath loyalists, foriegn terrorists or simple home-grown guerillas, is proof the NSAs matter. The first question last night was whether our children (meaning people of my generation) and our grandchildren will be safer in the future. The only real way to do that, in my estiamtion, is to acknowledge that the era of states as the only actors in the world are over. This also does explain why Iraq became the focus of the administration so quickly. They needed a state to go after, and Iraq seemed the logical choice. So what if we're engaged in a war against religous extremists, let's attack a secular Muslim state, while the Mullahs brutally rule over Iran, and Saudi royal money flows into Wahabbist schools? The Iraqi's just made an easy target because Saddam had been so arrogantly flaunting the world for a decade.
Fun stuff. Anyone in the Ann Arbor area, stop by Scorekeepers at 310 W. MAynard, across from Borders, tomorrow for the radio show. I actually hit my lock last week, bringing my record to a scintillating 1-5.
I felt, watching the debate last night, that John Kerry beat President Bush. Granted, I myself am not an objective viewer, but I found Kerry to be both incredibly human, in talking about his mother and in talking about his faith, while simultaneously having a significantly greater grasp of the nuts and bolts of the domestic issues than the President. In listening to the reactions of the people at MSNBC, which have genearally been to the right of everyone else, meaning they went hard saying Cheney won last week and some said Bush won on Friday, and I got the impression that they felt it was a draw, which I think goes for Kerry. He had the momentum, and I think showed very interesting parts of himself. Bush was persona #3, the frat boy with faith, the one Al Gore faced in 2000, not the smirking monkey of #1 or Yosemite Sam we saw in #2. A couple of thoughts on other things:
I've really been surprised by the indignation with which Republicans have gone after Kerry for bringing up Mary Cheney during the question about Homosexuality as a choice. John Kerry did not "out" Mary Cheney. Mary Cheney was onstage at Case Western Reserve last week with her partner, people who follow this race know she is gay. I think Kerry was simply using her as a real life example, especially of someone who might be conflicted because of a conservative upbringing. Check out Andrew Sullivan, a gay man himself, for his thoughts on the subject.
Josh Marshall, as well as David Frum of Washington Monthly, pointed out something very interesting about the Osama Bin Laden quote the President used in 2002 and denied saying last night. Its not that he either lied or forgot that is interesting, instead its the emphasis on the fact that since the Taliban was gone, there was no reason to worry about Bin Laden. In IR at Albion, we learned all about the differences between state and non-state actors. Republicans like Bush, and perhaps the Neo-Cons in the Pentagon and at State seem to believe that states, and only states matter. NSA's- Non-State Actors don't. Bin Laden, without the support of the Taliban, was no longer important, Bush seems to have been thinking. Well, its very possible Al-Qaeda was responsible for the bombing in the Sinai last weekend, that they were responsible for Madrid, and may or may not be plotting something here. Obviously, NSAs do matter. The insurgency in Iraq, whether being carried out by Baath loyalists, foriegn terrorists or simple home-grown guerillas, is proof the NSAs matter. The first question last night was whether our children (meaning people of my generation) and our grandchildren will be safer in the future. The only real way to do that, in my estiamtion, is to acknowledge that the era of states as the only actors in the world are over. This also does explain why Iraq became the focus of the administration so quickly. They needed a state to go after, and Iraq seemed the logical choice. So what if we're engaged in a war against religous extremists, let's attack a secular Muslim state, while the Mullahs brutally rule over Iran, and Saudi royal money flows into Wahabbist schools? The Iraqi's just made an easy target because Saddam had been so arrogantly flaunting the world for a decade.
Fun stuff. Anyone in the Ann Arbor area, stop by Scorekeepers at 310 W. MAynard, across from Borders, tomorrow for the radio show. I actually hit my lock last week, bringing my record to a scintillating 1-5.
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Tonight
Ok, so I haven't posted in a week, and I'm sorry, various computer problems kept me from updating Monday and Saturday, so here I am today.
Tonight is the last great event of the campaign, or at least, scheduled event in the campaign. Looking at various tracking polls, especially Slate's election scorecard, this is getting extremely tight as we come down to the wire. The Slate site had neither candidate winning enough for Election, Bush at 270 and Kerry at 268. Ohio and Wisconsin were put in the Kerry column. Still, right now this is all sound and fury. If Kerry wins tonight, decisively or not, he probably wins the election, especially since all the talk over Thursday and Friday, and then going into Sunday morning, will be about how he's won every debate and has massive momentum. That the momentum thing is true is obvious, Bush's rather sizable lead of a few weeks ago has evaporated in nearly every poll. Bush needs a decisive win tonight in order to give himself the appearance of a momentum shift, but because of the moderator format, I don't know that he can get it, short of an enormous Kerry gaffe with no such gaffe on his own part. Both debates last week seem to have crystallized in people's minds as either, a draw in the case of the Veeps, or a slight Kerry win, if you believe the polls now coming in from Gallup and other organizations.
What I find curious right now is who both campaigns seem to be targeting. Bush is rallying the base right now, which may or may not be a sound strategy at this point. By all indications, turnout is going to be very heavy, which traditionally favors Democrats, perhaps the President wants to see if he can't change that paradigm. Kerry seems to be focusing his messages squarely to the undecided voters, hoping to get them in his column now, as opposed to remaining undecided, obviously. It seems that he's been doing a good job of that the last two weeks, so he perhaps should keep it up. I don't know that playing to his own base is really needed at this point either, they seem incredibly motivated.
I think the Red Sox win tonight, thanks primarily to the little man Pedro has now.
I know John will think I'm wrong, but I think the key to stopping the slide of the Packers might come this off-season. The Board of Directors needs to go to Mike Sherman and say "You either relinquish the GM job, or you're fired". With the McKenzie fiasco, the inability to find a competent backup QB, and the rather abymal drafts of the post-Wolf era (save Nick Barnett and Javon Walker), Mike Sherman the GM has failed Mike Sherman- Head Coach immensely. I would use the second rounder thay got from the Saint's for a QB, since, unless Leinart or Rogers come out, there arren't likely to be a lot of QB's in the first. Either that, or sign Drew Brees.
Ok, so I haven't posted in a week, and I'm sorry, various computer problems kept me from updating Monday and Saturday, so here I am today.
Tonight is the last great event of the campaign, or at least, scheduled event in the campaign. Looking at various tracking polls, especially Slate's election scorecard, this is getting extremely tight as we come down to the wire. The Slate site had neither candidate winning enough for Election, Bush at 270 and Kerry at 268. Ohio and Wisconsin were put in the Kerry column. Still, right now this is all sound and fury. If Kerry wins tonight, decisively or not, he probably wins the election, especially since all the talk over Thursday and Friday, and then going into Sunday morning, will be about how he's won every debate and has massive momentum. That the momentum thing is true is obvious, Bush's rather sizable lead of a few weeks ago has evaporated in nearly every poll. Bush needs a decisive win tonight in order to give himself the appearance of a momentum shift, but because of the moderator format, I don't know that he can get it, short of an enormous Kerry gaffe with no such gaffe on his own part. Both debates last week seem to have crystallized in people's minds as either, a draw in the case of the Veeps, or a slight Kerry win, if you believe the polls now coming in from Gallup and other organizations.
What I find curious right now is who both campaigns seem to be targeting. Bush is rallying the base right now, which may or may not be a sound strategy at this point. By all indications, turnout is going to be very heavy, which traditionally favors Democrats, perhaps the President wants to see if he can't change that paradigm. Kerry seems to be focusing his messages squarely to the undecided voters, hoping to get them in his column now, as opposed to remaining undecided, obviously. It seems that he's been doing a good job of that the last two weeks, so he perhaps should keep it up. I don't know that playing to his own base is really needed at this point either, they seem incredibly motivated.
I think the Red Sox win tonight, thanks primarily to the little man Pedro has now.
I know John will think I'm wrong, but I think the key to stopping the slide of the Packers might come this off-season. The Board of Directors needs to go to Mike Sherman and say "You either relinquish the GM job, or you're fired". With the McKenzie fiasco, the inability to find a competent backup QB, and the rather abymal drafts of the post-Wolf era (save Nick Barnett and Javon Walker), Mike Sherman the GM has failed Mike Sherman- Head Coach immensely. I would use the second rounder thay got from the Saint's for a QB, since, unless Leinart or Rogers come out, there arren't likely to be a lot of QB's in the first. Either that, or sign Drew Brees.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Anticipation
Ok, so I can't tell you what I think about what will happen tonight. I have read a lot of articles suggesting that this format does not fit Edwards style, and I agree with that. The question, though is will it matter. Dick Cheney is the Administration. He is the living embodiment of all this administration is. Extraordinarily partisan and secretive, ruthless beyond anything we've seen from President's not from Whittier College. I don't know if Cheney is the real puppet master or not. I think we on the left underestimate just how smart and how involved Bush really is. Still, Cheney is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the most powerful Vice-President in the modern era, and probably ever. Edwards is going into this battle with six years of experience in Government. He is on the short end of the gravitas stick here. But still, I feel that his skills as an orator are such that he can cut into Bush/Cheney, and make the appeal that way, by talking about Haliburton, by bringing up Valerie Plame, and then Haliburton again. It will be exciting to watch.
The playoffs have opened and it is good. I expect both of the teams that won today to be victorious in their series. I am very interested in the way the Twins compete tonight, a lot of people have picked them in this series, despite a lack of success against the Yankees. If Santana is lights out tonight, wow, good stuff.
Ok, so I can't tell you what I think about what will happen tonight. I have read a lot of articles suggesting that this format does not fit Edwards style, and I agree with that. The question, though is will it matter. Dick Cheney is the Administration. He is the living embodiment of all this administration is. Extraordinarily partisan and secretive, ruthless beyond anything we've seen from President's not from Whittier College. I don't know if Cheney is the real puppet master or not. I think we on the left underestimate just how smart and how involved Bush really is. Still, Cheney is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the most powerful Vice-President in the modern era, and probably ever. Edwards is going into this battle with six years of experience in Government. He is on the short end of the gravitas stick here. But still, I feel that his skills as an orator are such that he can cut into Bush/Cheney, and make the appeal that way, by talking about Haliburton, by bringing up Valerie Plame, and then Haliburton again. It will be exciting to watch.
The playoffs have opened and it is good. I expect both of the teams that won today to be victorious in their series. I am very interested in the way the Twins compete tonight, a lot of people have picked them in this series, despite a lack of success against the Yankees. If Santana is lights out tonight, wow, good stuff.
Monday, October 04, 2004
Kakistocracy
The Vice Presidential debate comes tomorrow. A lot of people remarked, in the days following Edwards' nomination, how interesting a contrast would come in the debate, with Dick Cheney, the dour CEO, against Edwards, the sunny trial lawyer. The important reason the debate will be interesting is the contrast in the jobs of the two men. CEOs and Trial lawyers live in different worlds, and when they collide, you often see extremely interesting debates and conversations. I would expect the same tomorrow. Cheney is incredibly well versed, and his demeanor, well his demeanor is one that conveys seriousness all the time. Edwards is almost Clintonian in his ability to connect with the common man. That's why the Republicans did not want a town hall debate here. Instead, we again have a sit down format, as we did last time.
The polls, predictably, have narrowed a great deal. The shocking shift, is of course, the Newsweek poll, which showed an 11 point Bush lead after the Republican convention, and a 2 point Kerry lead now. While not all that is a result of the debate, a lot of it is simple attrition in the last month. Still its obvious the debate has changed a lot of people's mines about John Kerry. The trick is now to at least get a draw in the next two debates, enough so that momentum does not shift back to the President. After today, there are 29 days til the election. One debate Friday, plus another the following Thursday, and then the final furlong, to use a horse racing term. Its getting into nitty-gritty time. Everyone needs to do what they can, especially in Michigan, Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Iowa, to get Kerry elected. At this point, its difficult to see a landslide for anyone, this is where the ground game becomes important.
The Vice Presidential debate comes tomorrow. A lot of people remarked, in the days following Edwards' nomination, how interesting a contrast would come in the debate, with Dick Cheney, the dour CEO, against Edwards, the sunny trial lawyer. The important reason the debate will be interesting is the contrast in the jobs of the two men. CEOs and Trial lawyers live in different worlds, and when they collide, you often see extremely interesting debates and conversations. I would expect the same tomorrow. Cheney is incredibly well versed, and his demeanor, well his demeanor is one that conveys seriousness all the time. Edwards is almost Clintonian in his ability to connect with the common man. That's why the Republicans did not want a town hall debate here. Instead, we again have a sit down format, as we did last time.
The polls, predictably, have narrowed a great deal. The shocking shift, is of course, the Newsweek poll, which showed an 11 point Bush lead after the Republican convention, and a 2 point Kerry lead now. While not all that is a result of the debate, a lot of it is simple attrition in the last month. Still its obvious the debate has changed a lot of people's mines about John Kerry. The trick is now to at least get a draw in the next two debates, enough so that momentum does not shift back to the President. After today, there are 29 days til the election. One debate Friday, plus another the following Thursday, and then the final furlong, to use a horse racing term. Its getting into nitty-gritty time. Everyone needs to do what they can, especially in Michigan, Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Iowa, to get Kerry elected. At this point, its difficult to see a landslide for anyone, this is where the ground game becomes important.
Friday, October 01, 2004
Style Points...Going Old School
I really want to blog on two things tonight. First is obvious, the debate, second, well, that really doesn't matter in the larger scheme of things, but I think its interesting.
I listened to the whole debate. I came home from Chicago, and at about 7 eastern time, after I had grabbed dinner, I started listening to Hardball on MSNBC on my radio. Most everyone agreed that Kerry had to win , or at least be good enough to slow Bush's momentum. Most everyone seemed to agree that it had to be Kerry's night, or else it was basically over.
As the debate came on at nine I really wanted to listen for the way each person was speaking, to see how much substance they were conveying. One person on MSNBC said before the debate that he felt that Kerry needed to avoid speaking in long drawn out paragraphs and be more down to earth. I don't know that he did that, but then, I don't believe he really needed to do that. I felt, especially early on, as Kerry was speaking in these very articulate and obviously knowledgeable statements, that he was hitting on major points that connected with people. He knew what he was talking about on every issue, and it showed. The president, early on, and this continued throughout, kept fumbling for words, or worse, taking empty pauses that he was unable to occupy with a facial expression that could win him support (I should mention that I've been watching a lot of the post-debate stuff on all the networks, yes, including a little bit on FOX News when nothing else its on, or the other 2 cable networks are just putting on spin people. I thought that the analysis afterwards was right on. Kerry did win. He did not deliver a knockout, but then he didn't have to, he just needed to close the gap effectively, and I think that we'll see in the next few days, as all the Sunday shows put out there new polls, that the gap between Kerry and Bush will tighten, perhaps significantly.
A couple more points on the debate; Kerry looked far more Presidential than Bush did. Its amazing what happens when that seal is gone. Kerry was ram-rod straight throughout, Bush slouched. Bush looked annoyed, pensive or simply like he didn't want to be there in a lot of the shots I saw. Kerry didn't have any obvious Al Gore type of moments, where he was sighing during Bush's responses. He made notes, he smiled, he looked as if he was enjoying himself, but also as if he knew he was, at least for tonight, the better man. The radio test, which is, minus the cameras, I felt that Kerry won purely on substance, and on style. He was far more articulate, and far more substantive than Bush, especially towards the end. Someone on the post-show on MSNBC said that he felt like Bush had come with 35 minutes of material for a 90 minute debate, which I felt was accurate. I think that tonight, providing that Kerry has another really good showing next Friday in the second debate, served notice to the American people that John Kerry is someone capable of leading the war, and that he is worthy of the office. (By the way, The Daily Show grabbed this, but did anyone notice when Bush referred the Al-Qaida as 'a group of folks' . I think they might go beyond that.
The second thing has to do with getting baseball back in DC. I think its great. Major League Baseball's sad and shameful ownership of the Expos will be over soon, as will the fact that DC hasn't had a team in 33 years. Two points about this, a lot of folks, especially the Northern Virginia people keep saying that Washington lost baseball twice. That's not quite accurate. Both times the Senators left, in 1960 for Minnesota, and in 1971 for Arlington, TX, the owners simply got a ton of money to get them there, it wasn't that attendance was bad or anything. Second, they're doing a great thing by putting the new stadium in the Southeast part of the city, which really is the worst part of town. It should push economic development and be a big boost for the area. RFK is within a short Metro ride from downtown, and a really good temporary stadium, too. As for the name, I really like the idea of Mayor Williams' of calling the team the Grays, after the team from Washington that one 9 Negro League titles. The other names I like, as I heard them on PTI today, are the Generals and the Nationals, Federals works the same way. I think maybe they should leave the Senators in the past, besides, they want to make a point that they have no Senators, no voting power in Congress. I have my own suggestion, the Washington Power, that way, members of the team would be "Power players".
That is lame.
Happy Birthday Robert, and also, happy birthday, belatedly, to Karen.
I really want to blog on two things tonight. First is obvious, the debate, second, well, that really doesn't matter in the larger scheme of things, but I think its interesting.
I listened to the whole debate. I came home from Chicago, and at about 7 eastern time, after I had grabbed dinner, I started listening to Hardball on MSNBC on my radio. Most everyone agreed that Kerry had to win , or at least be good enough to slow Bush's momentum. Most everyone seemed to agree that it had to be Kerry's night, or else it was basically over.
As the debate came on at nine I really wanted to listen for the way each person was speaking, to see how much substance they were conveying. One person on MSNBC said before the debate that he felt that Kerry needed to avoid speaking in long drawn out paragraphs and be more down to earth. I don't know that he did that, but then, I don't believe he really needed to do that. I felt, especially early on, as Kerry was speaking in these very articulate and obviously knowledgeable statements, that he was hitting on major points that connected with people. He knew what he was talking about on every issue, and it showed. The president, early on, and this continued throughout, kept fumbling for words, or worse, taking empty pauses that he was unable to occupy with a facial expression that could win him support (I should mention that I've been watching a lot of the post-debate stuff on all the networks, yes, including a little bit on FOX News when nothing else its on, or the other 2 cable networks are just putting on spin people. I thought that the analysis afterwards was right on. Kerry did win. He did not deliver a knockout, but then he didn't have to, he just needed to close the gap effectively, and I think that we'll see in the next few days, as all the Sunday shows put out there new polls, that the gap between Kerry and Bush will tighten, perhaps significantly.
A couple more points on the debate; Kerry looked far more Presidential than Bush did. Its amazing what happens when that seal is gone. Kerry was ram-rod straight throughout, Bush slouched. Bush looked annoyed, pensive or simply like he didn't want to be there in a lot of the shots I saw. Kerry didn't have any obvious Al Gore type of moments, where he was sighing during Bush's responses. He made notes, he smiled, he looked as if he was enjoying himself, but also as if he knew he was, at least for tonight, the better man. The radio test, which is, minus the cameras, I felt that Kerry won purely on substance, and on style. He was far more articulate, and far more substantive than Bush, especially towards the end. Someone on the post-show on MSNBC said that he felt like Bush had come with 35 minutes of material for a 90 minute debate, which I felt was accurate. I think that tonight, providing that Kerry has another really good showing next Friday in the second debate, served notice to the American people that John Kerry is someone capable of leading the war, and that he is worthy of the office. (By the way, The Daily Show grabbed this, but did anyone notice when Bush referred the Al-Qaida as 'a group of folks' . I think they might go beyond that.
The second thing has to do with getting baseball back in DC. I think its great. Major League Baseball's sad and shameful ownership of the Expos will be over soon, as will the fact that DC hasn't had a team in 33 years. Two points about this, a lot of folks, especially the Northern Virginia people keep saying that Washington lost baseball twice. That's not quite accurate. Both times the Senators left, in 1960 for Minnesota, and in 1971 for Arlington, TX, the owners simply got a ton of money to get them there, it wasn't that attendance was bad or anything. Second, they're doing a great thing by putting the new stadium in the Southeast part of the city, which really is the worst part of town. It should push economic development and be a big boost for the area. RFK is within a short Metro ride from downtown, and a really good temporary stadium, too. As for the name, I really like the idea of Mayor Williams' of calling the team the Grays, after the team from Washington that one 9 Negro League titles. The other names I like, as I heard them on PTI today, are the Generals and the Nationals, Federals works the same way. I think maybe they should leave the Senators in the past, besides, they want to make a point that they have no Senators, no voting power in Congress. I have my own suggestion, the Washington Power, that way, members of the team would be "Power players".
That is lame.
Happy Birthday Robert, and also, happy birthday, belatedly, to Karen.
Monday, September 27, 2004
Big Bads
I talked with Coach Hanlon on Friday about the difference between good and bad Michigan fans, suffice to say, I've never seen him as mad as when I even brought up the subject. This certainly makes life easier for me when I write my story for Dave coming up. I have my own thoughts as, well but I'll save those for later. On a weird note, we lost the transmitter right after I got to the studio, and we literally did an hour at Scorekeeper's while we weren't transmitting very well, just for the people at the bar.
We got maybe 6 calls after a big Michigan win on Saturday, very disappointing.
It was my grandmother'sbirthday Saturday, I hadn't seen her in a while. it seems that she's doing ok, but obviously there is a big hole there, one that will always be there. My parents and the rest of my family have done a wonderful job of doing what is best for her and keeping things relatively normal.
I am really looking forward to the debate this week. Both parties have been practicing teh bigotry of lowered expectations in the last week. This race is not over, it really isn't. This week, becasue it is the first debate, and becasue it will focus on foreign policy, which is the heart of this campaign, it is John Kerry's opportunity to close the rapidly decreasing gap with the president. Remember, there is no presidential seal on that platform Thursday, Kerry gets even with Bush on that fact alone. We have two men who have never lost a one-on-one debate. I think Kerry will win, but the 'wingers will spin it that since Bush spun to thoughts together, he held his own. Kerry doesn't need to crush Bush, he just needs to start pulling even. Remember, there are two significant political truths to remember: 1- In races involving an incumbent, late undecideds almost always break to the challenger, 2- Kerry is traditionally a great "Closer" to speak in horse racing terms.
To John- My friend, I realize these aren't great times right now, and I know that you're frustrated with nearly everything in your life. Just remember, there's a lot of people in this world who love you, who can give, and want to give you the support you need. Whatever you want me to do, I can do my friend.
I talked with Coach Hanlon on Friday about the difference between good and bad Michigan fans, suffice to say, I've never seen him as mad as when I even brought up the subject. This certainly makes life easier for me when I write my story for Dave coming up. I have my own thoughts as, well but I'll save those for later. On a weird note, we lost the transmitter right after I got to the studio, and we literally did an hour at Scorekeeper's while we weren't transmitting very well, just for the people at the bar.
We got maybe 6 calls after a big Michigan win on Saturday, very disappointing.
It was my grandmother'sbirthday Saturday, I hadn't seen her in a while. it seems that she's doing ok, but obviously there is a big hole there, one that will always be there. My parents and the rest of my family have done a wonderful job of doing what is best for her and keeping things relatively normal.
I am really looking forward to the debate this week. Both parties have been practicing teh bigotry of lowered expectations in the last week. This race is not over, it really isn't. This week, becasue it is the first debate, and becasue it will focus on foreign policy, which is the heart of this campaign, it is John Kerry's opportunity to close the rapidly decreasing gap with the president. Remember, there is no presidential seal on that platform Thursday, Kerry gets even with Bush on that fact alone. We have two men who have never lost a one-on-one debate. I think Kerry will win, but the 'wingers will spin it that since Bush spun to thoughts together, he held his own. Kerry doesn't need to crush Bush, he just needs to start pulling even. Remember, there are two significant political truths to remember: 1- In races involving an incumbent, late undecideds almost always break to the challenger, 2- Kerry is traditionally a great "Closer" to speak in horse racing terms.
To John- My friend, I realize these aren't great times right now, and I know that you're frustrated with nearly everything in your life. Just remember, there's a lot of people in this world who love you, who can give, and want to give you the support you need. Whatever you want me to do, I can do my friend.
Friday, September 24, 2004
M
Ok, so it has been a while, but not for lack of things happening. Last Saturday we got a lot of rather odd calls, given the rather odd game Michigan played. These games seem to happen to Michigan a lot, especially after losses, they struggle, but find a way to win, you know they will, but you can't help but be nervous.
On Sunday, Robert and I set off early, as we had to pick up Meghan and then make our way back to Chicago. We had a bad patch of traffic on our way out to Indiana, and then I had to take Robert back to school, which adds like 40 minutes to the total trip. Meghan and I made it back fine, I dropped her off, and then went back to my place.
Monday was my very, very long orientation at the Trib. I was there, literally all day, when really, just an hour or 45 minutes with an HR Person would have done it. It really got tedious. I then had class, and hopefully I'll be starting to do a couple of articles at the Torch soon.
Tuesday and Wednesday sort of blend together at work, because I was assigned a really big task right away. I had to verify the numbers on this enormous chart the magazine is running, and physically adding everything together took time. My fellow interns seem nice. One looks a lot like Jean. My dad came out Tuesday night, as he had to supervise the deconstruction of his companies booth at the Tool Show. We had Mexican, which was really good, but not quite Lopez good. I am trying to eat a bit healthier, so my lunches at work are changing. At OCC, I basically just ate fast food everyday. At the Trib, I am trying those Naked Food Juices. I liked the first two I had this week, plus, it cuts down on how much I pay for lunch.
Today I left work early, becasue they didn't have a ton for me to do. I had to track down a couple of books at the Harold Washington Library, one I couldn't find, the other, I couldn't check out. On the way home, my car had some problems, though I think some of that has to do with the amount of traffic there was as I left Chicago. I may take it down to the repair shop my Dad uses. If they think it might be serious, well, things might need to change.
All in all, its been a very hectic and interesting week. I like where I work, and they days seem to fly by. Still, I feel a bit disconnected from the city. I haven't talked to John in forever, and class just seems off. Maybe part of me stays in Ann Arbor every week, while still another part is looking for what is to come ahead, after I finish in December. I hope it works out, obviously.
Ok, so it has been a while, but not for lack of things happening. Last Saturday we got a lot of rather odd calls, given the rather odd game Michigan played. These games seem to happen to Michigan a lot, especially after losses, they struggle, but find a way to win, you know they will, but you can't help but be nervous.
On Sunday, Robert and I set off early, as we had to pick up Meghan and then make our way back to Chicago. We had a bad patch of traffic on our way out to Indiana, and then I had to take Robert back to school, which adds like 40 minutes to the total trip. Meghan and I made it back fine, I dropped her off, and then went back to my place.
Monday was my very, very long orientation at the Trib. I was there, literally all day, when really, just an hour or 45 minutes with an HR Person would have done it. It really got tedious. I then had class, and hopefully I'll be starting to do a couple of articles at the Torch soon.
Tuesday and Wednesday sort of blend together at work, because I was assigned a really big task right away. I had to verify the numbers on this enormous chart the magazine is running, and physically adding everything together took time. My fellow interns seem nice. One looks a lot like Jean. My dad came out Tuesday night, as he had to supervise the deconstruction of his companies booth at the Tool Show. We had Mexican, which was really good, but not quite Lopez good. I am trying to eat a bit healthier, so my lunches at work are changing. At OCC, I basically just ate fast food everyday. At the Trib, I am trying those Naked Food Juices. I liked the first two I had this week, plus, it cuts down on how much I pay for lunch.
Today I left work early, becasue they didn't have a ton for me to do. I had to track down a couple of books at the Harold Washington Library, one I couldn't find, the other, I couldn't check out. On the way home, my car had some problems, though I think some of that has to do with the amount of traffic there was as I left Chicago. I may take it down to the repair shop my Dad uses. If they think it might be serious, well, things might need to change.
All in all, its been a very hectic and interesting week. I like where I work, and they days seem to fly by. Still, I feel a bit disconnected from the city. I haven't talked to John in forever, and class just seems off. Maybe part of me stays in Ann Arbor every week, while still another part is looking for what is to come ahead, after I finish in December. I hope it works out, obviously.
Friday, September 17, 2004
Equivalency
Today was mainly me doing two things- checking in as to how much my ticket would cost, and then going to work at the station. My ticket will cost me 175 bucks, but thankfully I was able to give myself an extension on it until next month. Money is tight right now, especially because I just had to pay for my registration, which was $126. I just need to pay rent for the one month though, and then I'll be fine, especially once my refund comes from Roosevelt.
My thoughts have slowly been turning towards what I wasn't to do, or more accurately, where I want to go after I finish in December. Its not really all that silly, considering that I really should be starting to put together resumes and a portfolio for people. My mom told me that my Uncle Rob knows someone at the Los Angeles Times, which I think would be a lot of fun. Obviously there would be a great change of scenery, but I actually have more friends in LA (Susan, Colleen, Alex, Adam) than in Chicago (John). Besides, it might be fun to do something different. Besides, what I really want to do is be in DC again, because that's where I feel I am most at home intellectually and spiritually right now. Maybe that will change, maybe I'll enjoy my time at Chicago Magazine enough that I will want to stay. Maybe I'll want to work here at home, either in print or radio. We'll see. But right now I have options, and for the first time in forever, I am actually feeling a little bit happy about it.
I've decided what I need to do about something else too...
Today was mainly me doing two things- checking in as to how much my ticket would cost, and then going to work at the station. My ticket will cost me 175 bucks, but thankfully I was able to give myself an extension on it until next month. Money is tight right now, especially because I just had to pay for my registration, which was $126. I just need to pay rent for the one month though, and then I'll be fine, especially once my refund comes from Roosevelt.
My thoughts have slowly been turning towards what I wasn't to do, or more accurately, where I want to go after I finish in December. Its not really all that silly, considering that I really should be starting to put together resumes and a portfolio for people. My mom told me that my Uncle Rob knows someone at the Los Angeles Times, which I think would be a lot of fun. Obviously there would be a great change of scenery, but I actually have more friends in LA (Susan, Colleen, Alex, Adam) than in Chicago (John). Besides, it might be fun to do something different. Besides, what I really want to do is be in DC again, because that's where I feel I am most at home intellectually and spiritually right now. Maybe that will change, maybe I'll enjoy my time at Chicago Magazine enough that I will want to stay. Maybe I'll want to work here at home, either in print or radio. We'll see. But right now I have options, and for the first time in forever, I am actually feeling a little bit happy about it.
I've decided what I need to do about something else too...
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Better By You, Better Than Me
Ok, here's the quick rundown of the last few days.
Thursday- Last Day at OCC. Not really a tearful goodbye, but I was glad for the experience of working there, and obviously, for the money and steady job it provided. I got out of work at 1, went down for my drug screening, and then headed home. I stopped in Albion along the way to see who I could see. I ended up making a night of it. I stayed for the rehearsal of The Country Wife, featuring Andy Groggel, Michael Joseph Bohne, Audrey Coleman, and Karen Green, with Stephanie Mann as SM and Chelsea Sadler as ASM. Bohne then invited me to attend Euphonics rehearsal. Suffice to say, I was very proud of the way they sounded. Obviously, all the work that the founding members put in, especially those night in the first semester when we worked on Crazy Love for two months are being paid back ten-fold.
Friday- Went out to the bar again. I met Andy Mignery, who is married to Anna Fisher, who I went to High School with, see my reunion post. The turnout at the bar wasn't that great. I got eviscerated in NCAA 2005 by a guy named Archie, who came last week too. After the show I went out to Albion, where I got to hang out with some of the people who still knew me, plus I was able to see my nephew for the first time in months.
Saturday- Ok, so this is where the bad stuff happens. As I leave for the studio, I get pulled over by the Sherriff's. My registration expired, and I haven't fixed that yet, so I got pulled over and ticketed. I got to the studio right after Notre Dame's first touchdown, and the same nervous feeling came over me as it did when I watched the Oregon and Iowa games at Karen's last fall. Turned out I was right to have that feeling. We started getting calls in the 4th quarter from people saying Lloyd should be fired, and that he was too conservative. The last part was probably true, but the first part, well, that's for idiots. During the post-game manned the phones, which was akin to manning a suicide hotline. While the network post-game show was on, and then when our own show came on, we got a ton of calls form people who, when they couldn't put their frustrations on the air, aired them to me. I tried to be call, but probably just ended up being condescending, but then, I learned a long time ago not to get upset over things I can't control, obviously some people didn't get the memo.
Sunday- My parents met me in Jackson, as they were returning from Chicago where the tool show was. Also, thank you to them for putting my apartment together. We ate and then they sent me off. I left just in time to hear the Lions game, and basically heard the whole thing, minus the last 2 minutes, on the radio, either the Lions Network, or the Bears' one. I was surprised the Lions won, in that nearly everything they did to beat the Bears, forcing turnovers, blocking the kick, usually happens, to them. I have really been surprised by, and sort of angered with, the treatment of David Terrell by the media the last few days. People are dwelling on the taunting penalty he got in the 3rd, and then forgetting that he caught 5 balls for 126 yards. He was the Bears only real receiving threat most of the game. I think that maybe they all want to perpetuate the idea that he's an underachiever, to the point they are actually downplaying him playing so well.
Monday- Not much today, I went to class, which was ok, and then came home. To day I;m going to go to the Marlins-Expos game at the Cell, seats are general Admission for $15, I'm trying to decide whether to sit behind home plate, or try to get a bleacher seat, thus giving me a better opportunity to catch a home run. The Lions just lost Rogers for the year, but because of Roy Williams and Tai Streets, should still be ok. I was really impressed by the Packers last night, but not really surprised by the way they won. Their line is one of the two best in football, along with Kansas City, and they handled the Panthers D-Line well. I'm not so sure how the defensive strategy of blitzing all the time will work in the long run. I don't know that without Mike McKenzie, they have the corners necessary to shut-down big plays.
Ok, here's the quick rundown of the last few days.
Thursday- Last Day at OCC. Not really a tearful goodbye, but I was glad for the experience of working there, and obviously, for the money and steady job it provided. I got out of work at 1, went down for my drug screening, and then headed home. I stopped in Albion along the way to see who I could see. I ended up making a night of it. I stayed for the rehearsal of The Country Wife, featuring Andy Groggel, Michael Joseph Bohne, Audrey Coleman, and Karen Green, with Stephanie Mann as SM and Chelsea Sadler as ASM. Bohne then invited me to attend Euphonics rehearsal. Suffice to say, I was very proud of the way they sounded. Obviously, all the work that the founding members put in, especially those night in the first semester when we worked on Crazy Love for two months are being paid back ten-fold.
Friday- Went out to the bar again. I met Andy Mignery, who is married to Anna Fisher, who I went to High School with, see my reunion post. The turnout at the bar wasn't that great. I got eviscerated in NCAA 2005 by a guy named Archie, who came last week too. After the show I went out to Albion, where I got to hang out with some of the people who still knew me, plus I was able to see my nephew for the first time in months.
Saturday- Ok, so this is where the bad stuff happens. As I leave for the studio, I get pulled over by the Sherriff's. My registration expired, and I haven't fixed that yet, so I got pulled over and ticketed. I got to the studio right after Notre Dame's first touchdown, and the same nervous feeling came over me as it did when I watched the Oregon and Iowa games at Karen's last fall. Turned out I was right to have that feeling. We started getting calls in the 4th quarter from people saying Lloyd should be fired, and that he was too conservative. The last part was probably true, but the first part, well, that's for idiots. During the post-game manned the phones, which was akin to manning a suicide hotline. While the network post-game show was on, and then when our own show came on, we got a ton of calls form people who, when they couldn't put their frustrations on the air, aired them to me. I tried to be call, but probably just ended up being condescending, but then, I learned a long time ago not to get upset over things I can't control, obviously some people didn't get the memo.
Sunday- My parents met me in Jackson, as they were returning from Chicago where the tool show was. Also, thank you to them for putting my apartment together. We ate and then they sent me off. I left just in time to hear the Lions game, and basically heard the whole thing, minus the last 2 minutes, on the radio, either the Lions Network, or the Bears' one. I was surprised the Lions won, in that nearly everything they did to beat the Bears, forcing turnovers, blocking the kick, usually happens, to them. I have really been surprised by, and sort of angered with, the treatment of David Terrell by the media the last few days. People are dwelling on the taunting penalty he got in the 3rd, and then forgetting that he caught 5 balls for 126 yards. He was the Bears only real receiving threat most of the game. I think that maybe they all want to perpetuate the idea that he's an underachiever, to the point they are actually downplaying him playing so well.
Monday- Not much today, I went to class, which was ok, and then came home. To day I;m going to go to the Marlins-Expos game at the Cell, seats are general Admission for $15, I'm trying to decide whether to sit behind home plate, or try to get a bleacher seat, thus giving me a better opportunity to catch a home run. The Lions just lost Rogers for the year, but because of Roy Williams and Tai Streets, should still be ok. I was really impressed by the Packers last night, but not really surprised by the way they won. Their line is one of the two best in football, along with Kansas City, and they handled the Panthers D-Line well. I'm not so sure how the defensive strategy of blitzing all the time will work in the long run. I don't know that without Mike McKenzie, they have the corners necessary to shut-down big plays.
Monday, September 13, 2004
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Hitting the Fan
Tonight is the interview with Ben Barnes, former Texas Lt. Governor, that I told you about last week. His interview with Dan Rather will be part of a larger package about George Bush's National Guard Service that runs on 60 Minutes. We also had the release of additional documents yesterday, saying that Bush did indeed have a large gap in service, and that he missed a medical exam he needed to keep his Pilot's certification. He said in 2000 that this was because the plane he flew was obsolete, but the plane's continued in operation for more than a year. The Boston Globe details that Bush reneged on Commitments to continue with Gaurd training, but was not punished for it, on two occasions. He also said that he would join a unit in Massachuesetts that he never joined.
The Kitty Kelly profle of the Bush family comes out in a couple of weeks, too. She alleges that while his father was president, W did Blow at Camp David. I don't know if this is true, though presumably, Ms. Kelly has enough evedence that she could win a lible case.
I'll be watching tonight. I have to get my drug screening tomorrow after work, then I'll be on my way home. I am planning on stopping in Albion on the way back, figuring I'll be just in time for people to be at the Theatre, so I'll stop by and he who I see.
Tonight is the interview with Ben Barnes, former Texas Lt. Governor, that I told you about last week. His interview with Dan Rather will be part of a larger package about George Bush's National Guard Service that runs on 60 Minutes. We also had the release of additional documents yesterday, saying that Bush did indeed have a large gap in service, and that he missed a medical exam he needed to keep his Pilot's certification. He said in 2000 that this was because the plane he flew was obsolete, but the plane's continued in operation for more than a year. The Boston Globe details that Bush reneged on Commitments to continue with Gaurd training, but was not punished for it, on two occasions. He also said that he would join a unit in Massachuesetts that he never joined.
The Kitty Kelly profle of the Bush family comes out in a couple of weeks, too. She alleges that while his father was president, W did Blow at Camp David. I don't know if this is true, though presumably, Ms. Kelly has enough evedence that she could win a lible case.
I'll be watching tonight. I have to get my drug screening tomorrow after work, then I'll be on my way home. I am planning on stopping in Albion on the way back, figuring I'll be just in time for people to be at the Theatre, so I'll stop by and he who I see.
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Fighting
I haven't received my things from the Tribune yet, they sent me forms via email today, and they said they are sending me form so I could get a necessary drug test.
I am a bit torn as to what to do for an important thing coming up, I know I want to do something though.
I talked to Susan on Sunday, it was really good to talk to her, as we haven't been able to connect with each other for a really long time. Its good to know that she and Laura are doing so well in the Theatre work. Its also good to know that Colleen is doing well and that Adam, despite a setback, is going to be fine.
Kerry seems to be fighting back, which is good. I read a Newsweek article online that lacked about the tension in the campaign recently, because Mary Beth Cahill, his campaign manager, made a big mistake regarding the Swift Boat Vets, thinking it would blow over and the Kerry needn't concern himself with it. This, combined with a lot of other things, contributed to a bad August. Now the question is, can Kerry, a man who's best when his back is against the wall, and is among the finest closers in politics, get momentum back before and after the debates? He is a skilled debater, and Bush is unlike anyone he's faced. The Republicans won't be able to do what they did last time, which was lower the expectations so much that if Bush forms a complete sentence it's a great accomplishment. He's the President, he has to show a grip on policy.
I haven't received my things from the Tribune yet, they sent me forms via email today, and they said they are sending me form so I could get a necessary drug test.
I am a bit torn as to what to do for an important thing coming up, I know I want to do something though.
I talked to Susan on Sunday, it was really good to talk to her, as we haven't been able to connect with each other for a really long time. Its good to know that she and Laura are doing so well in the Theatre work. Its also good to know that Colleen is doing well and that Adam, despite a setback, is going to be fine.
Kerry seems to be fighting back, which is good. I read a Newsweek article online that lacked about the tension in the campaign recently, because Mary Beth Cahill, his campaign manager, made a big mistake regarding the Swift Boat Vets, thinking it would blow over and the Kerry needn't concern himself with it. This, combined with a lot of other things, contributed to a bad August. Now the question is, can Kerry, a man who's best when his back is against the wall, and is among the finest closers in politics, get momentum back before and after the debates? He is a skilled debater, and Bush is unlike anyone he's faced. The Republicans won't be able to do what they did last time, which was lower the expectations so much that if Bush forms a complete sentence it's a great accomplishment. He's the President, he has to show a grip on policy.
Sunday, September 05, 2004
Zig-Zag
The above refers to "Democrat" Zell Miller and the vitriolic and demagogic speech he gave last Wednesday. Zell has a propensity for switching positions and if you read Joe Conason in Salon, which is linked to the right, you'll find he also has a refined ability to stab his allies in the back. This was Zell Twelve years ago, the man who introduced Bill Clinton before his nomination. Zell is a lot of things. He was a segregationist. What he is now is the last of a breed. He's the last Dixiecrat, about the only one who has stayed in the party after most, Trent Lott, Phil Gramm, Fred Thompson left the party, or died like Strom Thurmond and George Wallace. Zell says the Democratic party has left him and the values he represents. I say, good for the Democratic party. By the way, when Zell got appointed to the Senate, he called a John Kerry "a true American hero".
The Republicans are what they are, incredibly disingenuous and hypocritical. They tell us that John Kerry attacks George Bush at every opportunity. Yet George Bush's name was barely mentioned at the Democratic convention. Republicans went after John Kerry's patriotism at their convention and all but said that he'd be the greatest disaster in the history of the nation if elected. Meanwhile, record deficits, huge increases in the cost of health care and the loss of over a million jobs, with far less paying ones substituted in their place, the Bush record, doesn't get talked about. Republicans are the first to charge the Democrats with playing class warfare, but no one stirs up more resentment and ill feeling on class than Republicans, and in a far more insidious way. They turn people against the defenseless, the poor. I don't think anyone would argue, other than the really radical left, the people who call veterans "baby killers", who don't represent 99.9% of liberals, would say that the War in Afghanistan was unjustified, and that its good Saddam is gone. I disagreed with the Iraq war, but when I met a veteran at my class reunion I thanked him, because Lord knows I wouldn't go. That being said, in both Afghanistan and Iraq, we are, at best, struggling to win the peace. I believe John Kerry would do a better job than what has been done, and I think that his time in Vietnam, however brief it was, makes him, by definition better able to understand what happens in combat than men who have never heard a shot fired in anger.
The last Two days have been pretty interesting. I went down to TKA on Friday at around 1. Me, Dennis and Mike went out for the remote broadcast at Scorekeepers, which was the same bar I went two a week and a half earlier with my reunion. I basically just hung up banners for the radio station. I didn't really do much else. But I did get to meet more people from the station, as well as meet some of the callers/listeners who came out. Next week, if I go back on the remote, should be a lot more crowded, because it will be Notre Dame week, as opposed to Miami of Ohio.
Yesterday, I went down to the studio at halftime of the Michigan game, to prepare for the post game show. I must say, listening to the product of the post game show, as I had for a really long time, and actually seeing it done, the amount of effort by so many people is absolutely amazing. Me and three other people worked to get callers and stats, put together the highlight show, and to edit and put together press conference tape. I should say, in fairness that I had the easiest job, answering phones and getting stats. The other people have been there a lot longer than I have and do a great job.
I have to say that last night, along with Thursday, have really made me appreciate the importance of quality kickers in football. Northwestern lost in 2 overtimes because their kicker went 1 for 6 on Field Goals. At the Albion game yesterday, Butler's kicker missed 2 extra points and a chip-shot field goal. And last night, Oregon State was denied an upset of LSU because their kicker missed three extra points. It was painful to watch his reaction because I know that he had to feel so guilty about losing his team the game.
As far as the Michigan game is concerned, the defense looked tremendous. If I had my way, and assuming that his injury was real and not just some creation of Lloyd's to fool Miami, Matt Guttierez should start next week at Notre Dame. I just have this weird feeling that we are seeing Brady vs. Henson again, as people don't seem to count time within the program as experience and just want to see the Golden Boy with the Golden Arm. I would advise those people to remember how wrong they were before. There was no way then, and no way now, that Henson was the better QB, despite the accolades.
I know there are Notre Dame fans who read this blog, and suffice it to say, I don't know that next week is going to be very pretty. I don't mean that to be mean, there just looks to be, after watching Michigan and Notre Dame yesterday, a real difference in the physical talent level of the two teams. Notre Dame will play very hard next week, as they always do. They could summon enough to beat Michigan. But it also wouldn't surprise me if it got real ugly, real quick.
The above refers to "Democrat" Zell Miller and the vitriolic and demagogic speech he gave last Wednesday. Zell has a propensity for switching positions and if you read Joe Conason in Salon, which is linked to the right, you'll find he also has a refined ability to stab his allies in the back. This was Zell Twelve years ago, the man who introduced Bill Clinton before his nomination. Zell is a lot of things. He was a segregationist. What he is now is the last of a breed. He's the last Dixiecrat, about the only one who has stayed in the party after most, Trent Lott, Phil Gramm, Fred Thompson left the party, or died like Strom Thurmond and George Wallace. Zell says the Democratic party has left him and the values he represents. I say, good for the Democratic party. By the way, when Zell got appointed to the Senate, he called a John Kerry "a true American hero".
The Republicans are what they are, incredibly disingenuous and hypocritical. They tell us that John Kerry attacks George Bush at every opportunity. Yet George Bush's name was barely mentioned at the Democratic convention. Republicans went after John Kerry's patriotism at their convention and all but said that he'd be the greatest disaster in the history of the nation if elected. Meanwhile, record deficits, huge increases in the cost of health care and the loss of over a million jobs, with far less paying ones substituted in their place, the Bush record, doesn't get talked about. Republicans are the first to charge the Democrats with playing class warfare, but no one stirs up more resentment and ill feeling on class than Republicans, and in a far more insidious way. They turn people against the defenseless, the poor. I don't think anyone would argue, other than the really radical left, the people who call veterans "baby killers", who don't represent 99.9% of liberals, would say that the War in Afghanistan was unjustified, and that its good Saddam is gone. I disagreed with the Iraq war, but when I met a veteran at my class reunion I thanked him, because Lord knows I wouldn't go. That being said, in both Afghanistan and Iraq, we are, at best, struggling to win the peace. I believe John Kerry would do a better job than what has been done, and I think that his time in Vietnam, however brief it was, makes him, by definition better able to understand what happens in combat than men who have never heard a shot fired in anger.
The last Two days have been pretty interesting. I went down to TKA on Friday at around 1. Me, Dennis and Mike went out for the remote broadcast at Scorekeepers, which was the same bar I went two a week and a half earlier with my reunion. I basically just hung up banners for the radio station. I didn't really do much else. But I did get to meet more people from the station, as well as meet some of the callers/listeners who came out. Next week, if I go back on the remote, should be a lot more crowded, because it will be Notre Dame week, as opposed to Miami of Ohio.
Yesterday, I went down to the studio at halftime of the Michigan game, to prepare for the post game show. I must say, listening to the product of the post game show, as I had for a really long time, and actually seeing it done, the amount of effort by so many people is absolutely amazing. Me and three other people worked to get callers and stats, put together the highlight show, and to edit and put together press conference tape. I should say, in fairness that I had the easiest job, answering phones and getting stats. The other people have been there a lot longer than I have and do a great job.
I have to say that last night, along with Thursday, have really made me appreciate the importance of quality kickers in football. Northwestern lost in 2 overtimes because their kicker went 1 for 6 on Field Goals. At the Albion game yesterday, Butler's kicker missed 2 extra points and a chip-shot field goal. And last night, Oregon State was denied an upset of LSU because their kicker missed three extra points. It was painful to watch his reaction because I know that he had to feel so guilty about losing his team the game.
As far as the Michigan game is concerned, the defense looked tremendous. If I had my way, and assuming that his injury was real and not just some creation of Lloyd's to fool Miami, Matt Guttierez should start next week at Notre Dame. I just have this weird feeling that we are seeing Brady vs. Henson again, as people don't seem to count time within the program as experience and just want to see the Golden Boy with the Golden Arm. I would advise those people to remember how wrong they were before. There was no way then, and no way now, that Henson was the better QB, despite the accolades.
I know there are Notre Dame fans who read this blog, and suffice it to say, I don't know that next week is going to be very pretty. I don't mean that to be mean, there just looks to be, after watching Michigan and Notre Dame yesterday, a real difference in the physical talent level of the two teams. Notre Dame will play very hard next week, as they always do. They could summon enough to beat Michigan. But it also wouldn't surprise me if it got real ugly, real quick.
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Timing
Today, thankfully, has been a bit of a break from the stresses of the last few days. I haven't done a ton, I had a project earlier in the day for work but I finished it in about 45 minutes, so since then I've been doing nothing. Which is fine by me. I decided I'm going to go out to the Sprint Store tonight and then just look for a parking space, rather than waiting tomorrow and then going home. I need to write a pitch for my Journalism Project for Tomorrow.
I haven't kept as close a tabs on the Republican convention as I did the Dems. Part of this is stress and part of it is that nominating conventions of incumbents are incredibly boring, even more than those of challengers. I did, however, see a bit of the twins' "speech" last night. The speech that one site, probably only half-jokingly, said might have lost the Republicans the election. They came off as arrogant WASPS and spoiled rich girls with absolutely no direction and no desire to find it. And by the way, anyone who says they're hot is an idiot. They're not. Jenna looks like a female version of her father, which is just bad to think about. Barbara looks exactly like 10-15 girls currently at any high school in America. Chelsea they certainly are not, and they certainly don't seem to have the same head on their shoulders as Alexandra and Vanessa. By the way, I saw that they were booed at the VMA's Sunday. I know part of this may have been the crowd not wanting to hear political messages or being pro-Bush, but I also have another thought. While the two of them are both attractive, they aren't their step-brothers, who, and I say this as a heterosexual male, are both jaw-droppingly handsome.
By the way, watch 60 minutes next week. After the Woodward interview, there was extensive coverage on the aftermath for a week and a half. Next week, 60 Minutes will have an interview with the man who got Bush into the National Guard, and now says he is ashamed that he did.
Today, thankfully, has been a bit of a break from the stresses of the last few days. I haven't done a ton, I had a project earlier in the day for work but I finished it in about 45 minutes, so since then I've been doing nothing. Which is fine by me. I decided I'm going to go out to the Sprint Store tonight and then just look for a parking space, rather than waiting tomorrow and then going home. I need to write a pitch for my Journalism Project for Tomorrow.
I haven't kept as close a tabs on the Republican convention as I did the Dems. Part of this is stress and part of it is that nominating conventions of incumbents are incredibly boring, even more than those of challengers. I did, however, see a bit of the twins' "speech" last night. The speech that one site, probably only half-jokingly, said might have lost the Republicans the election. They came off as arrogant WASPS and spoiled rich girls with absolutely no direction and no desire to find it. And by the way, anyone who says they're hot is an idiot. They're not. Jenna looks like a female version of her father, which is just bad to think about. Barbara looks exactly like 10-15 girls currently at any high school in America. Chelsea they certainly are not, and they certainly don't seem to have the same head on their shoulders as Alexandra and Vanessa. By the way, I saw that they were booed at the VMA's Sunday. I know part of this may have been the crowd not wanting to hear political messages or being pro-Bush, but I also have another thought. While the two of them are both attractive, they aren't their step-brothers, who, and I say this as a heterosexual male, are both jaw-droppingly handsome.
By the way, watch 60 minutes next week. After the Woodward interview, there was extensive coverage on the aftermath for a week and a half. Next week, 60 Minutes will have an interview with the man who got Bush into the National Guard, and now says he is ashamed that he did.
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Apis mellifera and Castor canadensis
The last 5 days have been among the most stressful, though ultimately rewarding of my life. Here's a quick run down:
Friday: After calling place for sublets, and finding that I had received no replies to my Craigslist emails, I went to Apartment People at 2. We found a few places that had what I was looking for, meaning a short term (3 month) lease. All were owned by the same company. Needless to say, I was kind of stressed because I was limited in choice to three places owned by one company, and they held all the power over me, because otherwise I had no place to live come Monday. I found a place I liked, only to find out that I have to pay a non-refundable $250 fee for a short-term lease. I had to give apartment people some of my deposit plus money for a credit check. I overdrafted. Anyway, I fretted about having no control, but still, I had to have a new place and this one seemed to fit me. I ended up having to pay first months rent along with $35 for the credit check, and then had to pay the $250 plus my last months rent when I signed my lease. I went down to see Laura at 8 and then we both went to see John's final performance at 10. I t was a good show, and it was really good to see the both of them again. I also gave Laura her present Slapshot and Slapshot 2. When I left John's at around 1:45, there was no sign of the 22, which runs up and down Clark at night, but does so only every half-hour. So I preceded to Lake Shore Drive to pick up the 151. Only it didn't come. For a while I just stood at the bus stop, marveling at the number and the size of the spiders that surrounded me. Then the rain came. At first it was just drizzling, then came down a little harder. I stepped back to find cover under a tree. I t afforded me good protection for a while, and then well, the rain started coming in extremely heavily, including coming in horizontally. The tree was useless. I just kind of stood there for a minute not thinking, in a kind of shock brought on by the amount of rain. After about 3 minutes, which seemed like thirty, of being pounded by rain, I ran across the street under the carport of an apartment building. My phone was in my pocket and got completely soaked. I was able to call John, who thankfully came and got me. We drove, and sometimes waded, through the streets as he got me home. When I got there, my phone was acting kind of funny...
Saturday: This was probably one of the most frustrating days of my life. I found out I had overdrafted in the morning. However, when I tried to call her back my phone said it had no signal strength, despite being at a pretty high level on my screen. I tried again several times, sometimes getting through for a few seconds and sometimes not. I went down to the Sprint Store down my block, and they said they had no technician, so they couldn't test my phone, I had to go to the store on Devon to do so. I paid the remaining part of my deposit and then headed North. Devon is where the 36 ends and where some 151's do to. I figured it was probably close. It wasn't. It took almost an hour and a half to get out there, plus the time I spent in line and waiting for the testing, which too a half-hour, and I didn't know when my parents would be arriving. I ended up having to call my grandmother to tell my parents where I was, and had to do so when I came back as well. When my parents got there about a half-hour after I did, around 3:30 we were all tired. my dad suggested we put my phone number on his phone, which we did. But we ad to go up to the Devon store again, though it took less time because we were in the car, and I didn't have to wait for testing like I had to the first time. We ate, though we had to wait a really long time for our food, and then went back to my apartment. We cleaned up and then went to bed.
Sunday... We got most of the heavy stuff into the van dad had brought from work, that's all my parents took. The rest of the stuff I figured I would move myself. My parents left around 1, and I went back, picked up a bit and then just sort of spent the day hanging out and getting stuff ready to move.
Monday... Woke up at 8:30, thinking I would just go down to my new management company, sign my lease and get to moving in. No, they couldn't have me in until 11. Ok, I started moving stuff into the hallway in the meantime. At around 10:50, I left to sign my lease, and a call came for me. It was Cassie from Chicago Magazine, They offered me the internship, and I most gleefully accepted. It was especially sweet given that I had basically given it up for dead. I told them I would start the 13th, so I could give OCC two weeks notice. I went and signed my lease, everything is cool. I find out my carpet hasn't been cleaned yet, so I have to avoid the carpeted areas. I start stacking the load in my car in the kitchen and bathroom. John came around about 1:30 and we took my mattress over. I then had to get the component parts of the bed in the car, which proved more difficult than I had anticipated. I took that stuff over. Then my battery died. I got the building engineer to jump me, but I had to drive around for a few minutes to charge the battery. I loaded as much of the stuff from the hallway as I could and took it down to the new building (which is only 1 1/2 blocks from my present one, me and John were able to physically take the mattress to it) only to find a truck blocking the door. I took what I could in, but it was almost time for my class, so I parked the car, which still had a bunch of stuff in it, and left for school. Both the car and the belongings were there when I got back, and I went back for the last bit of things in my old room. The table which my uncle gave me proved to be very hard to deal with, I actually had to leave it sitting in the alley as I dropped my other stuff off. I found a parking space a block away from my building and physically carried it there, which was very awkward. Finally, I got in at around 10:30, exhausted, sweating and grateful for the end of the day.
Today...
My hands are aching, especially the inside of my hands. I'm sore. But I'm happy, because I'll have an in at the Tribune Company and the print internship I wanted. I still am going to do TKA, which means I'll be pretty busy, but I was busy this summer and thrived. I just want to say thank you to my parents for helping me so much this weekend. Thank you to John for helping me move the Mattress. I don't know what I want to say about my old place, only that I have been both extraordinarily happy there, but I also succumbed to self-pity and depression while there. Still it was a great experience.
Happy Early Birthday to Miss Laura Kraly.
The last 5 days have been among the most stressful, though ultimately rewarding of my life. Here's a quick run down:
Friday: After calling place for sublets, and finding that I had received no replies to my Craigslist emails, I went to Apartment People at 2. We found a few places that had what I was looking for, meaning a short term (3 month) lease. All were owned by the same company. Needless to say, I was kind of stressed because I was limited in choice to three places owned by one company, and they held all the power over me, because otherwise I had no place to live come Monday. I found a place I liked, only to find out that I have to pay a non-refundable $250 fee for a short-term lease. I had to give apartment people some of my deposit plus money for a credit check. I overdrafted. Anyway, I fretted about having no control, but still, I had to have a new place and this one seemed to fit me. I ended up having to pay first months rent along with $35 for the credit check, and then had to pay the $250 plus my last months rent when I signed my lease. I went down to see Laura at 8 and then we both went to see John's final performance at 10. I t was a good show, and it was really good to see the both of them again. I also gave Laura her present Slapshot and Slapshot 2. When I left John's at around 1:45, there was no sign of the 22, which runs up and down Clark at night, but does so only every half-hour. So I preceded to Lake Shore Drive to pick up the 151. Only it didn't come. For a while I just stood at the bus stop, marveling at the number and the size of the spiders that surrounded me. Then the rain came. At first it was just drizzling, then came down a little harder. I stepped back to find cover under a tree. I t afforded me good protection for a while, and then well, the rain started coming in extremely heavily, including coming in horizontally. The tree was useless. I just kind of stood there for a minute not thinking, in a kind of shock brought on by the amount of rain. After about 3 minutes, which seemed like thirty, of being pounded by rain, I ran across the street under the carport of an apartment building. My phone was in my pocket and got completely soaked. I was able to call John, who thankfully came and got me. We drove, and sometimes waded, through the streets as he got me home. When I got there, my phone was acting kind of funny...
Saturday: This was probably one of the most frustrating days of my life. I found out I had overdrafted in the morning. However, when I tried to call her back my phone said it had no signal strength, despite being at a pretty high level on my screen. I tried again several times, sometimes getting through for a few seconds and sometimes not. I went down to the Sprint Store down my block, and they said they had no technician, so they couldn't test my phone, I had to go to the store on Devon to do so. I paid the remaining part of my deposit and then headed North. Devon is where the 36 ends and where some 151's do to. I figured it was probably close. It wasn't. It took almost an hour and a half to get out there, plus the time I spent in line and waiting for the testing, which too a half-hour, and I didn't know when my parents would be arriving. I ended up having to call my grandmother to tell my parents where I was, and had to do so when I came back as well. When my parents got there about a half-hour after I did, around 3:30 we were all tired. my dad suggested we put my phone number on his phone, which we did. But we ad to go up to the Devon store again, though it took less time because we were in the car, and I didn't have to wait for testing like I had to the first time. We ate, though we had to wait a really long time for our food, and then went back to my apartment. We cleaned up and then went to bed.
Sunday... We got most of the heavy stuff into the van dad had brought from work, that's all my parents took. The rest of the stuff I figured I would move myself. My parents left around 1, and I went back, picked up a bit and then just sort of spent the day hanging out and getting stuff ready to move.
Monday... Woke up at 8:30, thinking I would just go down to my new management company, sign my lease and get to moving in. No, they couldn't have me in until 11. Ok, I started moving stuff into the hallway in the meantime. At around 10:50, I left to sign my lease, and a call came for me. It was Cassie from Chicago Magazine, They offered me the internship, and I most gleefully accepted. It was especially sweet given that I had basically given it up for dead. I told them I would start the 13th, so I could give OCC two weeks notice. I went and signed my lease, everything is cool. I find out my carpet hasn't been cleaned yet, so I have to avoid the carpeted areas. I start stacking the load in my car in the kitchen and bathroom. John came around about 1:30 and we took my mattress over. I then had to get the component parts of the bed in the car, which proved more difficult than I had anticipated. I took that stuff over. Then my battery died. I got the building engineer to jump me, but I had to drive around for a few minutes to charge the battery. I loaded as much of the stuff from the hallway as I could and took it down to the new building (which is only 1 1/2 blocks from my present one, me and John were able to physically take the mattress to it) only to find a truck blocking the door. I took what I could in, but it was almost time for my class, so I parked the car, which still had a bunch of stuff in it, and left for school. Both the car and the belongings were there when I got back, and I went back for the last bit of things in my old room. The table which my uncle gave me proved to be very hard to deal with, I actually had to leave it sitting in the alley as I dropped my other stuff off. I found a parking space a block away from my building and physically carried it there, which was very awkward. Finally, I got in at around 10:30, exhausted, sweating and grateful for the end of the day.
Today...
My hands are aching, especially the inside of my hands. I'm sore. But I'm happy, because I'll have an in at the Tribune Company and the print internship I wanted. I still am going to do TKA, which means I'll be pretty busy, but I was busy this summer and thrived. I just want to say thank you to my parents for helping me so much this weekend. Thank you to John for helping me move the Mattress. I don't know what I want to say about my old place, only that I have been both extraordinarily happy there, but I also succumbed to self-pity and depression while there. Still it was a great experience.
Happy Early Birthday to Miss Laura Kraly.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Bitter Pill
I still haven't heard from Chicago Magazine, which means it would seem time to pretty much admit defeat on that one. I am going to call In These Times after work, I have all day free tomorrow, and try to see if they have anything that could be considered an internship. It is going to be a challenge to find the hours I need at TKA, as there are only 11 football Saturdays, though I suppose I could see about working nights when Michigan Basketball or Hockey is going on. I figure 9 to 11 hours a day on Saturdays plus 6-7 on Fridays comes to about 200 hours, meaning I need to come up with another 25 somewhere down the line.
I have a lead on an apartment, however, it is only for one month. I would move in Sunday and then stay til October, though I suppose it might be possible to stay there on a month to month basis. At least I have a good idea where I might live now, rather than having to fret about that and work. This whole week I've felt that, as they say in Rocky Horror: "The Sword of Damocles is hanging over my head." Its the end of my lease, and since I was unable to get an internship in print, which is what I would want to do, I any have to get another internship, post-graduation to improve my job possibilities. Its starting to hit me that in 4 months my education will likely be over, and the real world is beginning. I know my parents are scared, I don't know how I feel.
There isn't a lot else going on, though the NCAA did just announce they were denying Mike Williams' appeal, meaning they have no rejected Williams and Jeremy Bloom's appeals in one week, after saying they were trying to be more "athlete friendly". The NCAA sucks, basically.
I'm looking forward to John's show tomorrow, and the day off. I need a break after this week. I also can't wait to see Laura.
Happy Birthday Mom.
I still haven't heard from Chicago Magazine, which means it would seem time to pretty much admit defeat on that one. I am going to call In These Times after work, I have all day free tomorrow, and try to see if they have anything that could be considered an internship. It is going to be a challenge to find the hours I need at TKA, as there are only 11 football Saturdays, though I suppose I could see about working nights when Michigan Basketball or Hockey is going on. I figure 9 to 11 hours a day on Saturdays plus 6-7 on Fridays comes to about 200 hours, meaning I need to come up with another 25 somewhere down the line.
I have a lead on an apartment, however, it is only for one month. I would move in Sunday and then stay til October, though I suppose it might be possible to stay there on a month to month basis. At least I have a good idea where I might live now, rather than having to fret about that and work. This whole week I've felt that, as they say in Rocky Horror: "The Sword of Damocles is hanging over my head." Its the end of my lease, and since I was unable to get an internship in print, which is what I would want to do, I any have to get another internship, post-graduation to improve my job possibilities. Its starting to hit me that in 4 months my education will likely be over, and the real world is beginning. I know my parents are scared, I don't know how I feel.
There isn't a lot else going on, though the NCAA did just announce they were denying Mike Williams' appeal, meaning they have no rejected Williams and Jeremy Bloom's appeals in one week, after saying they were trying to be more "athlete friendly". The NCAA sucks, basically.
I'm looking forward to John's show tomorrow, and the day off. I need a break after this week. I also can't wait to see Laura.
Happy Birthday Mom.
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
remembrances
I have yet to hear from Chicago Magazine. When they talked to me they said "middle of the week" which I suppose could also mean tomorrow. I emailed just in case and have yet to receive a response, but they may be busy putting out their next issue right now, and thus not to worried about me or the internship question. Hopefully I'll hear something soon. The same goes for a sublet/room. I'm starting to get in the panic stage, as I move out Sunday, and after that, I don't know what I'm going to do Monday-Thursday. I know I'll find something, I just need something now.
I talked yesterday about my reunion, I wanted to mention something that I didn't mention yesterday. A classmate of mine had joined the army and had spent a lot of last year in Iraq. He talked about some of the things he had to do, rough up some kids with AK-47's for example, and just what it was like to be shot at, and to be in country where death could be around the next corner. I asked him some questions about what it was like with the people, specifically, whether he hated the Iraqis and whether the Iraqis hated us. He didn't hate them, though he hated those that shot at him. I guess I was not surprised when he talked about how the place was divided. How some would be happy to see them, and others, well, others would stare you down with Kalashnikov's. It was really interesting.
Do want to know what "shady" really is? Its not taking your flight examination because you might well be to hungover to pass or not want to reveal your drug use. Its going months without attending the drills in the Champagne unit your father got you into. Neil Steinberg, who writes for the Sun-Times said this on Monday :
"How the Republicans could have imagined there would be any upside in questioning John Kerry's Vietnam record is a mystery. Doesn't it all boil down to this: Kerry went to war and President Bush didn't? Frankly, if Kerry had responded to combat by flinging away his gun and hiding in tears under a tarp on his swift boat, it wouldn't erase the overarching fact that he put himself in harm's way for his country, while Bush hid behind the privilege that was to eventually deposit him, blinking and amazed, into the White House."
I have yet to hear from Chicago Magazine. When they talked to me they said "middle of the week" which I suppose could also mean tomorrow. I emailed just in case and have yet to receive a response, but they may be busy putting out their next issue right now, and thus not to worried about me or the internship question. Hopefully I'll hear something soon. The same goes for a sublet/room. I'm starting to get in the panic stage, as I move out Sunday, and after that, I don't know what I'm going to do Monday-Thursday. I know I'll find something, I just need something now.
I talked yesterday about my reunion, I wanted to mention something that I didn't mention yesterday. A classmate of mine had joined the army and had spent a lot of last year in Iraq. He talked about some of the things he had to do, rough up some kids with AK-47's for example, and just what it was like to be shot at, and to be in country where death could be around the next corner. I asked him some questions about what it was like with the people, specifically, whether he hated the Iraqis and whether the Iraqis hated us. He didn't hate them, though he hated those that shot at him. I guess I was not surprised when he talked about how the place was divided. How some would be happy to see them, and others, well, others would stare you down with Kalashnikov's. It was really interesting.
Do want to know what "shady" really is? Its not taking your flight examination because you might well be to hungover to pass or not want to reveal your drug use. Its going months without attending the drills in the Champagne unit your father got you into. Neil Steinberg, who writes for the Sun-Times said this on Monday :
"How the Republicans could have imagined there would be any upside in questioning John Kerry's Vietnam record is a mystery. Doesn't it all boil down to this: Kerry went to war and President Bush didn't? Frankly, if Kerry had responded to combat by flinging away his gun and hiding in tears under a tarp on his swift boat, it wouldn't erase the overarching fact that he put himself in harm's way for his country, while Bush hid behind the privilege that was to eventually deposit him, blinking and amazed, into the White House."
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