I have just witnessed the most surreal, mind-blowing music video of my entire life. What makes it priceless is that it is, apparently, a real recording of a real event in Russia.
Timothy Leary couldn’t have made this up. Please – just see this…
Now I can die fulfilled.
Computer issues all morning and into the afternoon. If I were to write anything at this juncture it would be along the lines of #^%%#!%$#^&%$&^$#$!%!
Tomorrow is a new day!
First off, get well wishes to HollyCornblog who is recovering from a bad ankle sprain sustained in a nasty fall at work. Keep it iced and raised … and, as we like to say to Willie (and to Ruby – but with much less effect), “Heel!” [sic]
Between HollyCornblog and Hope Solo, things have been a tad painful here of late. Ouch!
Speaking of Hope Solo, we’ve got another WPS combines coming up on the East and West Coasts next month. “Combine participants include graduating college seniors who will have completed their eligibility following the conclusion of the 2008 season and other national and international talent from top level amateur leagues such as the W-League and WPSL” It’s nice to see Villanova and the University of Pennsylvania represented, along with the usual suspects! It’ll be interesting to see whether anyone from the Aztecs makes the step up to the Breakers!
Alice sent me an amazing video and story about a 5-year-old basketball prodigy. Surely Vivian, Pat, Tara, and Gino will be fighting over her, as she nears college age!
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l25bkqWPAQI
On the politics front, Obama seems to be moving ahead with his Cabinet posts (assuming the vetting all goes as hoped). I like Janet Napolitano for Homeland Security (although the whole”Homeland” thing still really gives me the creeps). Obama might want to think about changing the name. (Consider that some low-hanging friut for your To Do List, Barack, okay?) Wondering how Boltgirl feels about the pick, though. I’ll be keeping an eye out for her assessment – and then changing my view, if necessary. 😉
Looks like Missouri went to McCain – by 4355 votes – remaining red, just barely.
And while we have high hopes for the change that Obama promised to bring, that hope is tempered by realism and perhaps even an occasional smidgeon of paranoia. Will Obama deliver? Can we trust him? Here, from Alternet, is a comprehensive piece about some of the folks who’ll be helping him shape and implement his foreign policies. It gives pause …
“While the verdict is still out on a few people, many members of his inner foreign policy circle — including some who have received or are bound to receive Cabinet posts — supported the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Some promoted the myth that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. A few have worked with the neoconservative Project for the New American Century, whose radical agenda was adopted by the Bush/Cheney administration. And most have proven track records of supporting or implementing militaristic, offensive U.S. foreign policy. “After a masterful campaign, Barack Obama seems headed toward some fateful mistakes as he assembles his administration by heeding the advice of Washington’s Democratic insider community, a collective group that represents little ‘change you can believe in,'” notes veteran journalist Robert Parry, the former Associated Press and Newsweek reporter who broke many of the stories in the Iran-Contra scandal in the 1980s.”
Among those tapped, one of the more disturbing names is that of Jami Miscik. Read on …
“Miscik, who works alongside Brennan on Obama’s transitional team, was the CIA’s Deputy Director for Intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war. She was one of the key officials responsible for sidelining intel that contradicted the official line on WMD, while promoting intel that backed it up.
“When the administration insisted on an intelligence assessment of Saddam Hussein’s relationship to al-Qaida, Miscik blocked the skeptics (who were later vindicated) within the CIA’s Mideast analytical directorate and instructed the less-skeptical counterterrorism analysts to ‘stretch to the maximum the evidence you had,’ ” journalist Spencer Ackerman recently wrote in the Washington Independent. “It’s hard to think of a more egregious case of sacrificing sound intelligence analysis in order to accommodate the strategic fantasies of an administration. … The idea that Miscik is helping staff Obama’s top intelligence picks is most certainly not change we can believe in.” What’s more, she went on to a lucrative post as the Global Head of Sovereign Risk for the now-bankrupt Lehman Brothers.”
Come on, Barack … be who you say you are … mostly … at least … please? Getting nervous here. Really.
With Stevens now officially out (congratulations to Mark Begich), the chances of Sarah Palin continuing to grace the news pages as she had to this point are significantly diminished. Buh bye, Sarah … it’s been real.
Lieberman has been forgiven … in a move that seems at once practical and deep … and that leaves me having to figure out what to do with all my still-festering anger at smarmy Joe. Apparently Obama weighed in and, as Lee Stranahan points out, is following through on his promise to change the “old” politics. As I said – it’s magnanimous, and also kinda crafty, IMHO.
Meanwhile, in the shock and awe category, we read that Barack Obama is taking flack from many quarters for his arguably elitist decision to speak in complete sentences. Fears that he would do this were confirmed by his interview on 60 Minutes this past Sunday. HollyCornblog, CharlieHopbrew and I watched together, and it’s hard to describe the horror we felt, as Obama went on and on, making the rest of us look like idiots. Do we really want a President who makes us feel bad? Badly? Badder? (You get my drift.)
According to presidential historian Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota, some Americans might find it “alienating” to have a president who speaks English as if it were his first language.
“Every time Obama opens his mouth, his subjects and verbs are in agreement,” says Mr. Logsdon. “If he keeps it up, he is running the risk of sounding like an elitist.”
The historian said that if Mr. Obama insists on using complete sentences in his speeches, the public may find itself saying, “Okay, subject, predicate, subject predicate — we get it, stop showing off.”
Finally, as I savor my trip off-line last week, here’s a photo of HollyCornblog, CharlieHopBrew, and ZoeyCornblog-Hopbrew surveying their dominion! 😉
I got home yesterday afternoon (early) after a wonderful visit with HollyCornblog and CharlieHopbrew and am now watching the sun rise from my desk in Canterbury. Catching up is the order of business for today … and I’ll be posting more about my visit as I savor it in the days ahead. For now, as I drink my cup of HollyCornblog-roasted-coffee, I’m trying to come wide awake after a long night of wrestling with a recalcitrant internet connection. (The combination of that recalcitrance with my hopefulness/stubbornness netted me about three hours of sleep when all was said and done.)
Got any more of that coffee, HollyCornblog?
I came upon a great tool this morning as I visited some of my usual spots on the net. This, from The Time Finder, looks to be a great tool for identifying priorities and then setting the necessary boundaries to actually get them accomplished. (As this is more concrete than I have generally liked to get in my life, I’m thinking it may just revolutionize things for me!) I’m going to give it a try. (Am guessing it may be especially helpful for me now, as I’m still on vacation – and unstructured time is pretty easy for me to lose track of … and then have regrets about!)
Later!
I’m hitting the road after a great visit to the lake and to HollyCornblog and CharlieHopbrew. (Since this is being written by JordanCornbot, actual details about the visit are not available at this time … but should be forthcoming shortly – like in a day or so.) 😉
While I travel the back roads of Vermont and climb Hogback for the last time in 2008, here are a few links of interest, shared by friends and colleagues.
First, this excellent review from the NY Times of “La Damnation de Faust” – the latest in the series Live from the Met that’s slated for Portsmouth on Saturday, November 22nd. I’m studying up – and thanks, Beeg, for the info. It sounds like a fascinating experience on tap!
Shifting gears … I am learning about the growing number of food pantries for pets – not just in NH but around the country. Here’s just one example (in NH) – the Rozzie May Animal Alliance.
It makes total sense that, in our failing economy, the cost of pet food would be an expense that many find hard to continue to meet. What that then means is that many families are being horribly stressed by this and potentially deprived of the comfort of beloved animal companions – right when they need that comfort the most. Here’s an article from Vegetarian Times about “foreclosure pets” that includes some useful links.
Heading into the holiday season, I am especially mindful of how tough it is for many friends and neighbors. These food pantries offer another opportunity to give something back in a meaningful way.
And speaking of meaningful responses to the tough economy – you can’t do any better than the NH Community Loan Fund. Really (and that’s a plug)!
Catch ya later!
JordanCornbot
😉
Here’s a video of Hope Solo describing a very scary mishap in goal – @ 10 years ago – down in Mexico.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nvDQ_JSD6A
Glad you’re okay, Hope – and glad you’re checking out those goals, now, to get the lay of the land!
I read, in Sunday’s Washington Post, About Obama’s plans to overturn hundreds of Dubya’s executive orders pretty much as soon as he takes office. “While Obama said at a news conference last week that his top priority would be to stimulate the economy and create jobs, his advisers say that focus will not delay key shifts in social and regulatory policies, including some — such as the embrace of new environmental safeguards — that Obama has said will have long-term, beneficial impacts on the economy.”
Ah, can’t you just feel the fresh air coursing into your lungs? Breathing again – what a wonderful feeling! I can feel like Obama is a liberator for sure … and what generosity of spirit – to rise up out of our country’s dark legacy of slavery – and be a liberator for all of us!
If you’re at all nostalgic for the election season … check out some of these great Obama photos from Callie Shell. They chronicle his journey – from before the primaries, right through Victory in November. Very moving, revealing, everyday stuff! (Keep clicking on “Show More Images” – there are a TON there!)
The captions are excellent and informative, too. Here’s what went with this photo: “Waiting: Obama listens from a back stairwell as he is introduced in Muscatine, Iowa. It was his second or third speech of the day. Unlike many of the politicians I have photographed in the past, I find it is easy to get a photograph of Obama alone. He lets his staff do their jobs and not fuss over him. Nov. 7, 2007.”
Or this one, which I absolutely love! “I loved that he cleaned up after himself before leaving an ice cream shop in Wapello, Iowa. He didn’t have to. The event was over and the press had left. He is used to taking care of things himself and I think this is one of the qualities that makes Obama different from so many other political candidates I’ve encountered. Nov. 7, 2007.”
Just finished bottling a batch of bitter chocolate stout with HollyCornblog. Good stuff! (We also significantly improved Pokey’s Fantasy Football team … but since she never goes on the computer, she’ll never know … unless someone more tech savvy than Pokey tells her!) 😉
More Steven Wright, for your funny bone today!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAmEu0Jdm6A
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IrkXi9qg6E
Meanwhile, I am at the lake.
Think of me huddled in front of the woodstove, stoking the fire and (without internet, etc.) trying not to wonder too much about what the heck is going on in the world.
Each of these days is an exercise in learning to slow down and savor each moment, without the constant distraction of information flying in from every direction.
Yeah … so think of me in front of the woodstove. Oh, and google something for me, will ya!? 😉 Ahhhhhhhhh!
JordanCornblog 