The Beeb on The Debate

_40130892_debate_afp203body.jpgSpeaking as an adult, I thought that President Bush came off better than I expected… but then I didn’t have very high expectations. He had some facts at his fingertips, and he was able to drop the names of foreign leaders into the conversation to highlight the personal relationships he’s manage to build with some of them. However, his body language was that of an impatient, even angry man who looked like he’d been called on the carpet unjustly. His hunched shoulders and dismissive turns of his head were not very presidential. Several times he stumbled or paused before answering with “um” or “well” or with an overly folksy shrug. He managed to stay on message by endlessly repeating “war on terror,” “mixed message” (once there was a “missed mexage,” I think), “my opponent is inconsistent,” and so on. He also appeared to drink several glasses of water – there must have been a number of glasses stashed under the podium. He also pounded the podium quite a bit more than Kerry did. I wasn’t impressed – he wasn’t exactly flustered, but you could tell when he was answering from something he’d been coached on, and when he was using the shotgun method of bullshitting your way through an unexpected essay question.

Kerry’s demeanor was irritating at first – he was talking to Jim Lehrer all the time, like he expected he’d be receiving a grade from him as instructor in debate tourney. However, he did look directly into the camera a few times and I realized that those times were when he was talking about issues that affect Americans personally, such as whether their kids in Iraq and Afghanistan could expect support or better armor or other relief soon. I was also a little annoyed that he worked the “help is on the way” slogan into the debate, so I marked him down for that.

However, he was much better prepared, and he raised a few issues (the Darfur crisis, for one) that Bush was clearly not prepared to debate. Also, he was far more collected, although he did have the oddest tendency to nod when President Bush accused him of the various times he’s supposed to have reversed his position. And then on rebuttal he’d explain that at the time the facts as he had them led him to take that position, and later when new facts emerged, he changed his opinion in light of the new information. Okay, fine, this is something he should have been saying for a long time, but at least he’s saying it now. I was concerned at one point that Bush would pull some flip-flops out of his back pocket and clap them together, but fortunately the debate (even when it got a little too informal near the end) never sunk quite that low.

All in all, I thought Kerry was far more effective, far more polished, far better prepared, and much cooler under fire than Bush was. The only point Bush made that I agreed with more than Kerry’s was the 5 (or is it 6?) point coalition lined up to negotiate with North Korea over nuclear weaponry. I think a bilateral series of talks will just net the same result as always – empty promises from the North Koreans.

Now, from a twelve-year-old perspective? Chimpy looked remarkably like Marnak the Magnificent, but without the fancy beaded turban. The blinking disbelief, raised eyebrows and turning away as if to egg on Doc Severinson and the guys in the band was just wacky. Kerry looked like a big afghan dog in a power tie, but when he opens his eyes wider (he’s got deepset eyes and craggy brows) he looks a little more human. He should lose the artificially white smile, though, that’s just creepy. However, he seemed like a more credible leadership figure than Bush did with his hunched shoulders, arms on the podium, and endless fidgeting. Kerry looked poised, respectful of the format, believable, and intelligent. Bush looked irritated, bored, disrespectful (the bored look was probably contrived), and he shuffled papers and flipped them over a lot. Both candidates took notes – Kerry evidently underlined something several times, circled something, and looked very attentive. Bush seemed to be scribbling things, but not keeping them in good order, because of all the paper scuffling. Maybe he just wanted to be seen taking notes. I would love for there to have been a Sky-Cam showing what they both wrote down. I wonder…

The funniest thing, though: the whole setup was negotiated so that the height difference between the two men was not immediately evident, so their podia were set far apart rather than close together. But, clever TV news people at ABC, you triple screened both candidates and Jim Lehrer, who faced them. And the screens for each were the same height, and their heads were the same distance from the top of the screen. This had the result of leaving a much thicker portion of the podium visible on Bush’s side of the screen, and only served to highlight the difference more. ::chuckle::

The Beeb had a poll on their website – supposedly Kerry won by 88%, but they also say that their poll is not exact and probably prone to partisan ballot stuffing. ABC’s poll had Kerry at 45%, Bush at 36%, but the “who would you vote for today” question was still evenly split with Bush leading by 1%.

Need To Check Security Settings

I need to have my husband David check this out ASAP:

How were they able to do this? So far I think the answer is that my webhost was running suEXEC, yet I hadn’t uncommented the Umask lines in the mt.cfg. See Enabling Security features in the MT Installation manual. Movable Type produces files with permissions set so that people other than the owner have “write” privileges. If you have Cgiwrap or suEXEC you really do need to uncomment the Umask lines in your mt.cfg file. The Umask lines will set more restrictive permissions on the Movable Type files. If you don’t know if you are running Cgiwrap or suEXEC you need to run mt-check.cgi which will tell you if you are.

I think it’s probably not a problem, but my personal tech geek will have a look at it.

The Finale of TAR5

Ah. How good it is to know that in a few short weeks, we start all over again with a brand new season of Wackos Around The World. But for now, here’s Miss Alli’s recap from the best, most nailbitingest finale ever on TAR:

Previously on My Entitlement To Victory Is Broken! This Is Bullshit!: Colin and Christie won practically everything, with the exception of the Mr. and Ms. Congeniality banner. Chip and Kim were “bottom-feeders” who blew the first leg by failing to read the clue. Brandon was all Psycho Jesus Boyfriend Guy, and then he kind of pulled it together and Nicole started to suck, and she didn’t even do funny dances. Linda and Karen screamed a lot. Like, a lot. Scumbag! Bitch! Door-blocker! Taxi-poacher! Jesus-liker! Midget! Hulk! Muppet drummer! Baby! Booby Cooper! Twinkie! She’s not a student! He’s a criminal! I’M PACKIN’ IT! Mine keep having sex! I can’t do the tango with a gentleman! And of course, proving to the world how much you can do. And how annoying you can really be.

Ahhh! 27 pages! And eventually there will be a recap of the party held at Play By Play at Madison Square Garden, where many interesting stories were told and created on the spot.

Such as the fact that Executive Producer Bertram Van Munster’s white Caddy limo ended up in the Trinity River in Dallas while the finish line scenes were being shot. Panic ensued, but no one was hurt (other than the poor Caddy) and the intrepid crew STILL got the shot. Man, I love the crew.

Speaking of which, an editor for the show is graciously answering questions in a thread called “Editing, Schmediting” on TWOP. Interesting details are coming out, but for now it’s a schmoozy funfest as everyone remembers favorite cuts from various episodes.

Highlander rises from the dead… again

The producers of Highlander (the movies, the TV series, etc.) finally get around to licensing a video game with SCi Entertainment.

Davis and Panzer noted that they are excited to be working with SCi Entertainment on a video game to coincide with celebration of the 20th anniversary of the franchise in 2006.

Now, at last, the eternal question of rock band-shirted fanboys everywhere can be answered:

“Conner vs. Duncan – who r00lz?”

And if you’ll note from the above link, the original “Highlander-Official” website redirects automatically to “legendaryheroes.com”… naw, they’re not milking the franchise, are they?

Jeez, I remember when the 10-year anniversary of the original and only good HL movie was met with “meh” in the HL fan community. I feel so very… immortal.

Reminds me of the old days hosting chats in the H I G H L A N D E R chat room on AOL. Good times. But a really, really long time ago – will anybody really be interested in a slice ‘n dice game based on this franchise after all this time?

Chateau De Welch’s 1997

At David’s parents (Sheldon and Leah’s, to the uninitiated) place for a holiday get-together today, many laughs were had. The youngest niece insisted on having only peanut butter and jelly in a hot dog bun – no other bread product would suffice, no other filling was acceptable. Her objection to the regular peoples’ menu was final and non-negotiable, so the substitution was made “on the fly” with the ingredients brought to the table and assembled in her watchful eye. The rest of us made do with turkey, cranberries, pickled herring, kugel, and gefilte fish – the all-purpose, all-American holiday meal on this side of the family.

Anyway, so the youngest nibbles at one end just a tiny bit, but really she’d filled up on snacks earlier (she’s a very picky eater, except when it’s a snack food or a sweet). Then Melissa, the oldest niece, picked up the Welch’s jelly jar that had been brought with the peanut butter jar to the table and said “Grandma, how come it says EXPIRES IN JULY 1997??” I have to say she’s really blossomed in her special ed class… she’s got the damndest eye for odd detail, too. And a really loud voice, so everyone heard her.

Confoundment. Bedlam. Hilarity. All three ensued. All Leah could say in her defense was that she never had peanut butter and jelly herself – she only had it for when the kids were around. Then Melissa looked at the peanut butter jar – yes, it had expired in April of this year. Raucous laughter and outraged shouts of “Leahhhhh!” from Shel in his highest squeak (for some reason his voice breaks in the cutest way when he’s pretending to be upset).

“Only the best for my grandchildren,” I wise-cracked in my best Leah impression. “We sell no grape jelly before its’ time” and “1997 – a very fine vintage” said (I think) David and Mitch (OWTTE). After many more, even funnier comments, the best of which noted that Naomi was actually 1 year younger than the jelly she’d been eating, Leah quietly picked up the jars and walked casually to the kitchen, obviously pretending no one would notice them behind her back. There was much hooting and finger-pointing. I was crying, I laughed so hard, and then I threw my head back at something Mitch or his dad said and cracked my head on the edge of the counter behind me. Then I was crying for real, but only for a little while.

We started clearing off the table for dessert (my birthday was Friday, and there was a cake – very fresh, we were coached to say) but almost everyone made a beeline for the fridge and the pantry cupboard. There they were, all 3 grown sons and one grandson and one granddaughter, all going through the foodstuffs hoping to discover some more past-pulldate comedy gold. Leah looked a little concerned but she professed masterful indifference.

There were more jokes about the cake, partly because the kids knew that it had been picked up yesterday and not today, and also that the frosting was messed up on one side and they were trying to keep me from seeing it. It actually tasted pretty good, but when I was cutting it I could see that it was really, really smooshed on the one side. I guess there was some story about a transportation disaster that I never heard.

Then we amused ourselves making up “Favorite Desserts” jokes – Leah started it off:

  • Lawyers (Leah, but Gloria is a 2nd year law student): Tortes
  • Prostitutes (also a joke of Leah’s!):Tarts
  • Mathematicians (me): Pie

The 2 older kids looked pretty bewildered at the “tarts” one, so I guess she got that one joke in under the radar. Not next year, though.

Heard In Passing

I was on my normal morning route to work – a little earlier than usual because I’m backing up my team leader, who’s out today. And I was not looking forward to it on a Friday, and on this particular Friday. So I was bombing along passing big-ass trucks on the right because there was a motorcyclist riding along over on the left, and I wanted to give him plenty of room. And he had that body language that big guys on big bikes get: leaning back in a relaxed, uber-macho position with his big engineer boots propped up on top of his footrests and his legs splayed out at approximately 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions. From behind, he looked bad-ass.

His body language said: “I’m so hot, I have an air-cooled crotch!

Then this great song came on WXRT: “Wore Me Down” by Rachel Yamagata.

The chorus went “You wore me down… like a road.” Great stuff. I need to remember to pick that up later. It was a good start to the day.

The Tail of Bob The Rat

BOB.bmp
Gus Openshaw’s Whale-Killing Journal is getting interesting. Everyone ended up in the hospital after the big battle with the fanatical whale-worshiping Conchians, except for Thesaurus the 2nd harpooner, who is MIA and presumed dead. Sybil, the rebellious iconoclastic Princess of Conch, is also MIA, status unknown. The Lucky Sue went down with all hands during the battle (less the one hand Nelson had already lost back in the first installment) and Nelson suffered a head injury. Which means, of course, that he’s fine but not conscious at the moment, which is a positive development. Otherwise, he’d be literally horning in on the keyboard and hijacking Gus’ whale-killing journal for purporses of his own, which consist of being a playa wit da ladies and pestering everyone for “pix.”
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Satisfaction! Not Like Seattle

Eliminated in Hour 1, Leg 11: Bowling Moms. The 4th Place Curse is still undefeated, as a popular team gets the [BOMP!] on the last elimination leg.

Winners in Hour 2, Leg 12: Chip and Kim – and yes, there was much screaming. My throat hurts.

2nd: Colin and Christy – MUCH more satisfying than third place, as far as I’m concerned. Karma, baby. Sweet karma, ass.

3rd: Brandon and Nicole, who were first to the last Pit Stop, last to the Finish Line. God? Needs a little more hot water and some bath salts, please.

What happened: A flight delay and a bad decision to check baggage, committing Brandon and Nicole and also TexAss to the later flight on American. Chip and Kim had found out about a flight delay hours before the other teams and confirmed themselves on a later flight. The others didn’t find out until they strolled in all confident-like into the Calgary airport, and were thus begging for standby on Chip and Kim’s flight.

One poster on TWOP pointed out quite rightly that Chip and Kim’s great flight resulted from their laggard performance on the mountain, which put them at the airport much later than the other teams. Thus, they found out about the delay and adapted their plans. Just as in the first episode, the slow, lagging teams got on the best flight.

The Chipsters II struggled to get through a puzzle -and-navigating task at the Dallas Stockyards – always a problem for them, navigating. They’re not dumb, but they’re impulsive and tend to charge before thinking. In spite of a lack of a logical attack to the maze (such as Colin and Christie’s whispered “left, left, left” directly to the first piece of the puzzle) the Chip/Kim team somehow managed to keep their lead through traffic to the finish line.

Colin and Christie had an awesome idea – they pre-booked a Town Car and a fast, fast driver named Earl that they used for the whole race once arriving in Dallas. Alas, even Earl couldn’t make up enough time, even driving on the shoulder.

Dammit, where’s a cop when you need him? Thank goodness, it wasn’t enough for them to make up the distance between.

Brandon and Nic never had a chance, they floundered around looking for a cab – they asked the first one “How fast can you go?” and he answered like a shot: “Slow.” Hee! Next cab in line, please!

Best faith-based edit of the night: Brandon pleads “Help me, Lord.” Jump cut to patch of blue sky shining through clouds, but the Lord is silent, for She is in the Tub.

IN THE TUB! Awk Awk! Awk Awk! (doing the Brandon Booty Dance)

Dammit. That reminds me, where the hell is my T-shirt? I earned it tonight! Awk Awk!

Oh – and I just remembered my favorite Stupid Racer Caught On Camera Shot:

Brandon looking through the binoculars for the country flags in the Philippines with one lens cap on, one lens cap off, and the editors cut to a filter shot as if through the single lens, with the flag visible on the left in a round view, and the left is completely black. BWAH!!!

Brandon is really sweet, and really a big ol’ loveable doofus. Heh.

This is much, much, MUCH better than the finale of TAR3, when horrible screeching FLO was dragged around the world whining and crying and quitting all the way, then through my former home city of Seattle to the finish line, while my beloved Oh, Brother team couldn’t find their way around in MY OLD NEIGHBORHOOD. GOD, that was awful. And last seaon, with Chip and Reichen, was good, but would have been better with my beloved Clowns and Chicago ATC in the final 3.

But this? This is sweet. And good. I’m happy with this. I would have been horrified if Colin and Christie had won.

Karma. Shhhhhhhaaaaa-weet.

GOD. I love you. May I scrub out Your Tub?

It Ain’t Over Til The Fat Lady Screams

It’s to-night! The finale for! Amazing Race! At last we get to see! Who’s out leaving just three! To chase a million bucks! Around the world! [BOMP!]

I’m about to start watching the two-hour finale: anyone calling the house will be totally ignored unless there’s blood, tragedy, or it’s Phil on the line calling from TARCon.

As David says every week before he hides in the basement: “Let the screaming begin.”

The Virtual Eleanor Rigby

Sometimes I feel like I’m keeping a few too many faces in the jar by the door. I’ve got my “real” life, with my travel agent face, my commute face, my family face, and my church face (except I don’t mutter “goddamn it, I’ve got too much stuff to do” under my breath while actually in church). They all look pretty much the same; generally, squinched up in a grimace, laughing like a loony, or mugging like an asshat. Then there’s my “virtual” life – way too many faces over the years, mostly laughing and having a good time, occasionally irked but “smiling from the wrists down.”

I sometimes joke at work that I’m wearing a lot of hats, and sometimes they don’t stack up very well. Maybe I should think about whether the hats go with the faces or not. Hmm.