09/09/08 11:43 - 60ºF - ID#45613
McCain: 15-pt. lead among independents
I have to admit, I'm very surprised by this. I expected McCain to get a bit of a bump after the convention, but a 15-point lead? Truly unexpected. There are a variety of factors that contribute to this shift, but it is a fairly obvious statement that Gov. Palin and her appeal has drawn more voters to the GOP. Love her or hate her, obviously she's been effective at getting middle America and political independents on John McCain's side.
Actually, if you read the data you'll see that among voters that are purely independent, McCain has a 20% increase over Obama among those individuals.
At this point the parties are entrenched in their choices, so very little shifting is going to occur. It remains to be seen how many conservative Democrats will shift over - according to this Gallup data the number of conservative Democrats favoring McCain over Obama has increased from 15% to 25%. Also unknown is how much further the numbers will increase on the GOP side as a result of additional enthusiasm among conservatives, who have helped to pull McCain's numbers higher as well.
Former Mayor of SF stokes Democrat Fears of the "Palin Effect"
Willie Brown, former mayor of San Francisco, is one of the most colorful and interesting politicians you'll ever meet. If you ask me, it is too bad that SF term limits allowed Gavin Newsom to slither into office. The man has had a very interesting political career in California that started in the 1960's. Anyway, he wrote a piece that appeared in the SF Chronicle that very much surprised me.
Overall I thought Willie was astute in his analysis of the Palin effect, love it or hate it. The only thing I really would take issue with is Mayor Brown's assertion that the press will treat Palin as the have Obama. Beeeeeeee Essssssss. That has already been proven wrong.
As an aside, Willie has a funny entry at the very bottom, addressing the recent string of restaurant robberies in Oakland (think Pulp Fiction):
By the way, there's a new dining tip for people going out in Oakland.
Be sure to order soup.
That way when the robbery starts, you can slip off your jewelry and drop it into soup so the robbers won't see it.
Ok, now that is funny. I wish we had more politicians capable of social commentary like this. It might actually endear them to us!
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08/31/08 09:55 - 64ºF - ID#45521
PBS HD - Sesame Street
Permalink: PBS_HD_Sesame_Street.html
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08/28/08 02:31 - 64ºF - ID#45486
Contorting My Face
I had to switch into my grody other shirt because I got mustard on the one I wore today. Oh snap.
Josh
Permalink: Contorting_My_Face.html
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08/27/08 05:45 - 76ºF - ID#45472
Lawn Guyland (Take 2)
After work I plugged Trader Joe's into Ye Olde Garmin and went to Commack to get some food. Typically I don't mind eating alone, but I wasn't really feeling it today. Unless I'm in a place I'm really excited about, for me eating alone is a bit of a bummer. Instead I went grocery shopping. I love Trader Joe's - they are all about healthy and sometimes unusual food, at very fair prices. I'd love to have one in Buffalo - sorry Co-op.
My room has a little couch, a king-size bed and all the news channels I can stand! I wonder what Slick Willy will say tonight. Anyway, I got a bag full of stuff, including the bag, for $22.50. The bag is actually made from 100% consumer PET harvested from transparent chips, which originated from plastic bottles. The result? A $0.99 reusable white plastic bag that didn't need to be bleached for its appearance.
From back to front, side to side -
4oz. dried mangosteen (very rarely seen outside of Asia, at least according to the packaging) - $3.79
1 Qt. Mango + Antioxidant drink - $3.69
1 Qt. 1% milk $0.99
Instant Thai Mushroom Noodle Soup - $0.99
1 lb. 3-berry granola - $3.29
4oz. dried dragon fruit - $1.99
4.4oz. dried and sweetened hibiscus flowers - $1.99
8oz. "apocryphal pita" - 8 small pitas - $1.29
8oz. chipotle pepper hummus - $1.79
1 banana
1 apple
1 cool mint chocolate Clif Bar (I don't remember having tried this flavor)
Plus tax, etc.
I can't eat/drink all of this. I'm bringing back the dried stuff, and perhaps the granola.
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08/23/08 02:06 - 81ºF - ID#45423
Jamestown, NY
We are avoiding that this year because it is our grandmother's 80th birthday. We are surprising her with a party at a local restaurant. She thinks she is going out for dinner with her sons and grandsons, but what she doesn't realize is that 30-40 people will be waiting at the restaurant before we arrive. (e:jason) and I did out due diligence and sent her a great looking bouquet and some chocolates from Fowler's. She was very surprised and choked up. Rumor is that she really, really doesn't want a party - apparently my uncle is a terrible listener and organized this dinner event anyway. It should be interesting to see how she reacts.
I've forgotten how hilly Jamestown is - in spots its as hilly as SF and Main St. is probably one of the steepest. They have been renovating some of the downtown buildings - the nicest one now houses the local Brian Higgins Congressional office. Jamestown is one place where mom and pop stores thrive. Last night I went to Johnny's Lunch and had some Texas fries, an orange shake and rice pudding. Johnny's is what Louie's wishes it could be - it is a local favorite and is phenomenal. Actually, Jamestown is home to a few Texas hots spots and all are owned by the same family. I love the shakes so damn much that after I'm done writing this I'm going to another place to get more.
Another beautiful thing - Jamestown (well, Lakewood) is home to Southern Tier Brewing Co. It's been a while since I did a beer review - maybe it's time to rejuvenate that tradition. If you haven't tried Southern Tier's Pumpking try it - 9% and you'd never know it. The beer tastes like buttery pumpkin pie! Anyway, the brewery is 10 minutes away and they have a little bar. It is very laid back and informal - you can take tours and buy their beers there for a very fair price.
Also, if you've never spent time around Chautauqua Lake in the summer it is very, very pretty. Many blue-haired rich folk like to spend their summers at the Chautauqua Institution, which I admit is very, very charming and a place (e:matt) would salivate over. The place is littered with Victorian homes in pristine condition and also house concerts/lectures all summer long. The Amphitheater was home to the Jamestown High School graduation ceremony for eons, until recent years. It is a place that makes you feel like you've stepped back in time.
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08/22/08 03:35 - 87ºF - ID#45411
Wireless Networking
Now we have a wireless setup whereby I can get 4-5 bars with my laptop from my room, which I wasn't sure about given the amount of potential for signal distortion. We've configured the 360 with (e:jason)'s computer to allow the use of the Windows Media Center to access media from his HDD. That is huge - now I can watch my downloaded shows while (e:jason) games.
Network security was our biggest concern but we're using WPA2. Now, the only problem - how to get my tower a signal. We found a $10 PCI wireless adapter on Newegg that got seemingly rave reviews. I bet the thing burns out in a year but works great - I'll let you know.
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08/21/08 02:37 - 79ºF - ID#45395
The Honeymoon Is Over
It's a shame, it really is. I've never really had an opinion one way or another about Sam Hoyt, just impressions - he seems inoffensive, he's around, every so often I get mailings from him which illustrate how government in NY moves at a glacier's pace. He is one of the local political class and he owes his current position to his father, who he succeeded as Assemblyman. He is former Chairman (you're going to love this) of the Assembly Oversight, Analysis and Investigations Committee. He currently chairs the Assembly Local Governments Committee, which I expect is a chair he won't hold for much longer.
This is a major disappointment. Now he is blaming his opponents! I have to be honest, I had no idea that he even had an opponent. The guy has been in office 16 years and it is fair to say that he is part of the political class in Buffalo that has been long on talk and short on delivering. Based on that alone he shouldn't be in office, but we all know he'll retain his seat in the Assembly. We've never punished bad politicians and never will. Nor will a Democrat ever get hung out to dry by colleagues or the media for cheating on his wife - even when she is dying of cancer, eh Johnny boy?
God help our city, although I don't pray for Buffalo anymore.
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08/20/08 09:01 - 67ºF - ID#45383
Highest Paid Rapper?
The new king of hip-hop wealth banked $100 million after taxes on one deal alone when his stake in VitaminWater's parent, Glaceau, was bought by Coca-Cola as part of a $4.1 billion deal.
He's a true businessman!
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08/20/08 02:21 - 71ºF - ID#45376
Quick Blurbs
An unfortunate legacy of Heath Ledger's death is his daughter, Matilda, growing up without her father. It turns out that Heath Ledger's will was never updated to include Matilda, so the actors that completed his role in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law) donated their earnings from the film to the little girl. It isn't as if the girl wasn't destined to be a millionaire and wouldn't have lived off of her father's money the rest of her life, but I still think it was a touching gesture from a few heavy hitters in Hollywood.
Here is an ad hoc manga avatar that reflects today's look and general demeanor!
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08/18/08 09:56 - 77ºF - ID#45363
King of Painful Love Songs Pays BIG
No Jacket Required
and Face Value.
Awesome albums that came from the man's soul while dealing with a painful divorce. "If Leaving Me Is Easy?" Only a wounded bird can chirp a song like that my friend.
Well, it hasn't been Phil's year, I have to say. Mr. Collins will now live in infamy as the British record holder for largest ever payout to an ex-wife. Article - Even larger than Sir Paul's payment to that beeotch Heather Mills! That shit hurts. I'd weep too, man. He's paid a total of $84 million to his ex-wives!
Since the songs were so great that came from what he was feeling during his first divorce, one can only speculate as to what kind of record he'd make based on this most recent unlucky mishap.
I'm a dick so I went ahead and speculated for everybody:
OMG! Oh, and by the way, please take note of his innovations in the sport of love. You've heard of the most recent Hollywood trend of dumping people via text, right? Consider this evolutionary precursor to the text dump:
After taking advantage of technological advances and infamously dumping wife No. 2, Jill Tavelman, by fax back in 1994, he was forced to pay $34 million.
That is a special kind of loathe.
Permalink: King_of_Painful_Love_Songs_Pays_BIG.html
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Willie Brown is the consummate politician; as much at home in City Hall as in some mafioso's den.
Oh, and about the press? Last time I checked, Palin was hiding from the press, just like Dick Cheney. Seems like a Republican thing: send someone else out to fight your wars, while you soil your pants in the bunker.