Annecdotally

I get bored when it goes to foreign policy. So I guess that's the end of this blog.

We both love Israel. Yawn.

Oh, no he didn't. Weird. He said they did, but then he said "no, we don't."
But I like how she said "Look, I have gay friends. But I gotta watch it or they'll kick me off the ticket."

Did he say they're gonna let gays marry?

The principle difference in the candidates is their beliefs on what causes global warming? Seriously? That's what we're voting on. Ugh.

"East Coast politicians." Careful there, Sarah. You should only be bashing New England ones there.

I gotta say, I am a fan of her style. And her shoes. I thought Biden would be the best debater of all the original prez candidates. But she's beating him.

He wants to give every American 1000 bucks. Isn't vote buying illegal?

He calls it unpatriotic to take your PO Box off shore. "That's what I'm talkin' about," Biden says. Word

Biden's hand motions are very unnatural. OHHH! Did you see the way he turned to look at her after his catch phrase "The ultimate bridge to nowhere"?

I love when the cut to the other one and you see them giggle as the speaker is making his/her point.

This is WAY better than the presidential debate last week. WAY better. I'd actually be passionate about this race if it was a race.

What's going on with the back of her hair? It's some sort of twisty braidy thing? Also, I thought Biden had hair plugs? Do they fall out, too? I had no idea that would happen.

Did she ask Obama if she could call him Barack? I wonder what the goal of doing that is.

Joe's like "No, you're wrong. Here's why." Sarah says "Look, I'm not gonna answer like you want. Or like that nameless lady in blue wants. But I'm talking to Americans." Both get points for that.

Gwen Iffil trots out once every four years. And once every four years, she wears this jacket.

"Neither of you answered the last question." Brilliant, Gwen!

Shoutout Joe Six Pack!

Do all people from Alaska talk like Minnesotans?

Can I call you Joe? YES! I love a live mic!

Coin toss? Why can't we watch it. Who elected to kick off in the second half?

Liveblogging the debate:

I've been working alongside an old friend on a very important project: Saving Mister Rogers. He died in 2003, but until now, most PBS affiliates have been airing his program daily. Now, PBS has decided to stop including Mister Rogers Neighborhood in its daily feed, and will instead send an episode a week.

I just don't think that's enough. I think Mister Rogers makes kids much better human beings than anything else on children's television today. And I want my children (if I ever find somebody to have them with) to be able to watch it every day. Kids need a chance to learn and grow with a nurturing presence, and Mister Rogers has provided that for generations. That shouldn't stop.

We're asking everyone to contact your local PBS affiliate and let them know how important the show is to you and your family. Visit our site at http://www.savemisterrogers.com and read more.

Also, check out my weekly column in one of the newspapers I'm publisher of. http://www.hamptoncountyguardian.com/articles/2008/07/30/opinion/13.txt

So I remembered that I had a blog. I guess it's been a year or so. I lived in Boston for a while (brilliantly, I was there just for the winter. ) Now I'm back in SC. I'm a publisher of two weeklies in the Lowcountry. Basically that means I work a lot and go to Chamber of Commerce afterhours events.
At those Chamber events, I hear a lot of old man jokes. That's what this blog will be about now. Well, not right now. But from now on.

Another day of driving, this time from around 9:30 a.m. until about 6 p.m. I decided against staying on I95 for the NYC, New Haven and Providence adventures and instead made a last minute detour to stay over with my elementary school best friend and her new husband. (She didn't have an old one; they just got married this summer.)

So I'm now in Northampton, MA. http://stage.pps.org/great_public_spaces/one?public_place_id=184&type_id=4

This town is SO cute. It's what I picture when I thikn "New England." There are a lot of hippies and also hipsters, so living here would be beyond my capabilities. But looking around, it's cute. Like Chapel Hill/Carborro, mixed with something bigger and New Englandier.

Enough of that. You want to know about today's trip.

Here's the basics: Pennsylvania is BORING; Connecticut is awesome.

- Nothing but trees on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. There are no signs, no exits. No way to keep up with time or distance basically. You just go unti you get somewhere.

- I did take a few pictures before and during the LeHigh tunnel,http://www.pahighways.com/toll/LehighTunnel.html
but my camera is in the car, so I can't post now.
- New York: Yawn.

- Pennsylvania is mostly mountains in the part I was in today, so I felt carsick. I tried to throw up in New Jersey, but couldn't. I wanted to be able to stay, for the rest of my life "I went threw New Jersey once. Threw up at a McDonald's."

- Connecticut is awesome. Traffic wasn't super in the cities, but I loved how cute all the cities and towns are. And I also loved this, at a rest stop:


- So far, I am a fan of MA. Tomorrow, we're apparently going to drive about 25-ish minutes to Bill Cosby's house. I'm bringing a Pudding Pop to get signed. Also, we may get into Vermont, so I can cross off another state. And tomorrow will also bring a lot more photos to this site.

But here are two signs from Connecticut and MA. Two more reasons I like these states.

After staying in Columbia nearly for some extra time to spend with Grandma and
Grandpa , I am now headed to Boston. I was thinking the trip would be filled with adventures. But nope.
After my 14 hour trip (minus two for lunch with a friend)

here is what I have experienced and learned, in no particular order.

- 7: The number of times I heard Steely Dan's Reelin' in the Years" while scanning ... all 7 of those were within the Virginia borders

- 12: The number of religious stations you can pick up in Delaware.

- Speaking of Delaware, it's now the state I most despise. Why, you ask. Here's your answer:


- Best gas station so far: Sheetz. Here's the latest reason: There's a stall in the ladies' room with a kid-sized toilet included. (Also, while I was in there, the Spice Girls came on.)



- Ikea won't have any catalogues until Aug. 18. There went my bedtime reading.

- My cell phone takes better road-sign photos than my digital camera, which I lost from Ikea until Philly.





- The people of Fredericksburg, Va., are the greatest on earth. I offer two reasons:

1.


And No. 2: (That graffiti says something about Jesus on the left and "Noah is a beast. Rawr." on the right)


And here are a few pictures I took of myself. It's a popular thing for the young people to do:

Remember when Lizard's Thicket had all the billboards with the "country cookin' makes ya good lookin'" slogan? I've always bought into that theory. And finally, I have evidence that I'm right.

I went to the Loveless Cafe in Nashville for lunch a few days ago. If you're unfamiliar with the Loveless, just imagine the greatest biscuits you've ever eaten, topped with the greatest peach preserves you've ever eaten, and multiply it by a billion. Do the same for fried chicken, and that's the Loveless.

When you walk in, there's a gallery of signed photos from famous-for-Nashville stars: Barbara Mandrell, Minnie Pearl, George Strait, Strom Thurmond, etc.

But then, there on the wall, there's the ultimate proof that Country Cookin' Makes Ya Good Lookin'. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Lisa Welchel, TV's Blair:

Seriously, this is brilliant.

I have been working on a simliar idea for a few months. I'll be calling it Joe and Dicks. Get it? Tell me nekkid baristas won't sell some coffee though. It obviously works in Seattle, so you know it'll make it out to the East Coast in a few months.

8:59: Mrs. Pelosi! Who are you wearing? It's bad. I can tell you that. Where is Melissa Rivers, the one day of the year when I need her?

9:01: I wonder if Chief Justice John Roberts is embarrassed to be wearing the same gown as three other party goers? When that happened to Laura Bush, she went upstairs to change.

9:17: I love a good CSPAN joke. Thank you, Mr. President.

9:20: Uncle Teddy? Are you dead? Please don't go now.

9:21: Who are these people, napping in the chambers?

9:23: Who wears a mustard blazer with greyish slacks? Identify yourself and your designer, lady in the audience!

9:24: Barak Obama is sitting right in front of Hilary! And guess what! Nobody gives a damn.

9:25: Where are you, Alex P. Keaton? All I heard for weeks was about Michael J. Fox and stem cells in the box. But where are you now?

9:26: Who was that guy they were zoomed in on for the past 1.5 minutes? Why can't they identify the people on screen for me?

9:27: And did you notice Dennis Kucinich lining the aisle when Bush and his posse entered? I think he had a little step stool so he could see over the crowd. He's so cute, little D-Kuce. I think he also may have a booster seat.

9:28: John Kerry just stood to applaud! And, might I add, his face has gotten even longer in the time he's been out of the White House race.

9:30: I tell you one thing, there's some seriously red-faced no-name Congressmen at this thing. Must have been a hell of a party beforehand.

9:31: They just spent some time on the ugliest set of elected people on the Hill.

9:34: Have you seen this one woman with the weird ponytail thing? It's like a scarf or a ribbon or something that she's been waiting to debut on national TV since 1988.

9:35: Your next president, if, God forbid, the Capitol were to be swallowed up into the ground, would be Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Traditionally, one member of the Cabinet skips the speech to stay home and watch Veronica Mars. So, if something happens, he's available to be president.

9:40: Did you notice that when they panned back from an applause shot, Dick Cheney and George Bush were both drinking their water at the exact same time? Do you think it's some sort of plot?

9:48: Did you notice Nancy Pelosi turning the page? She's totally reading along. I'm pretty sure her people noted where she should stand, where she should clap, all that stuff.

9:55: Millennium Challenge Account? Seriously? That's a youth soccer team, right?

9:58: I love how the subway hero did the point and nod. "You my dogg."

10:03: BOOB TOUCH! Bush totally just groped Madam Speaker!

And we're out.

Wait, there's more. Dude is signing playbills? WTF? Did he pull that Sharpie out of his sock, T.O. style?

The day we've waited for has finally arrived. IKEA is coming to the Carolinas! This adds so many more options to my job search. It'll be in Charlotte. Get more
here

I was doing some laptopping at Panera Bread today. You know the drill, drinking coffee, looking at people, Googling.

Cute, young-20-something fratish/polysci-major boy comes in. He asks to borrow my plug. Sadly, he was referring to the outlet under my table.

Anyway, so dude has his laptop, listening to some tunes on the iPod, drinking some coffee. Then, he goes over to the Panera microwave. I quit paying attention for awhile. Next time I look over, the dude is eating spaghetti. From Tupperware. They SO don't sell that at Panera.

Since when is this okay?

So Kelly Osbourne says being Ozzy's daughter has kept her from realizing her full potential as a rock star.

Right. It takes one of two things to make it in music: Good voice, good looks. She's got neither. Sorry, honey. The only thing worse than a spoiled brat is a spoiled brat who whines about her status as a spoiled brat.

Tommy Lasorda has finally weighed in on the RFK assassination. His blog entry from last week lets us know he was supposed to dine at The Ambassador Hotel the night Don Drysdale won his sixth straight shutout. He says a friend of his who worked at the hotel said Kennedy wanted to meet him. (Of course a presidential candidate would want to meet a minor league manager from Ohio or wherever.) Anyway. Quality reading. High recommendation. But you dn't have to take my word for it.

Lucinda's next album drops Feb. 13, but you can get an early listen to some of the tracks at Lost Highway

And over at this blog, you can get some tracks from The Arcade Fire and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! and Velvet Underground.

Mr. Blackwell, who like many celeb watchers, terrorists and pop stars goes by only one name, has put out his new Worst Dressed List. Is it really necessary to tell me not to pattern my wardrobe after Britney Spears? Seriously, dude, I had that one figured out. She tied for first with on again/off again BFF Paris Hilton. Coming in at No. 2: Camilla Parker Bowles. Seriously? Yawn! Also, apparently he knows nothing of rankings. If you have a tie for first, you skip to third. Lame!

Also, if you want to see how cool (or old) you are, VH1 has a Pop Culture Quiz.

This is hilarious. If you happen to be a fan of offing evil dictators.

I was going to blog about some really bad art that will mess you up, but the Washington Post took care of it for me.

A wrap up from Tuesday, yet another boring day to work in newspapers:
1. Ford still funeralized. Still dead. Still not buried. Still a former president though, so why shouldn't he get all the funerals he wants? The weirdest part of this whole week-long saga: Somebody liveblogged today's funeral.

2. Oprah opens a school in South Africa so she can indoctrinate millions of young girls on another continent into her evil ways.

3. Two people were stabbed to death at a bar owned by Chris Chelios. What does this prove? The Red Wings suck.

4. People are still talking about Saddam's hanging. And I had been desperately curious to find out how former SNL stars feel about it. Luckily, the ol' HuffPo has helped me out. Also, click here for a soundtrack that's been stuck in my head since I cranked it up in the newsroom Friday night.

5. Our ol' buddy Pat Robertson (not the outdoors guy, the 700 Club guy) is making predictions again. This time, he says God has told him that a terrorist attack on the United States would result in "mass killing" late in 2007. He says the lord didn't say nuclear though, so we're probably gonna be fine.

6. Wolf tells Obama he's sorry. OK. So the interns at CNN ACCIDENTALLY typed "Where's Obama" instead of "Where's Osama." Get over it. Barak's press secretary also added "We really appreciate the people in the blogosphere who brought this to our attention, and act as our eyes and ears." Great. This is exactly what we need. More bloggers.

Yesterday, CSpan officially became cable TV's No. 1 ballsiest network when it decided to air - live - the networks’ challenge to the Federal Communications Commission’s indecency rules. F-bombs were dropped all over the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York.

The highlights mostly involved Supreme Court expert Carter Phillips, who may replace The Osbournes in MTV's lineup. To make sure we all got the point, he said “motherf%#*&@,” “eat s^&*” and “f%#* the USA.” Unlike Ozzy, he was totally unbleeped.

Luckily for CSpan, the FCC said it wouldn't punish anyone for airing the hearing as part of the news. Let's just hope CSpan shows this in their weekend reruns.

So I'm doing some shopping, trying to decide between DVDs of Sex In The City Season 1 vs. Full House Season 2. I discover that not only can you buy Alf, but apparently Diff'rent Strokes is also available on DVD. That means somebody somewhere thought "Hey, somebody else somewhere will totally give us money for this."

I thought that was bad. Then, I got to the M's. You know what's on DVD? Mama's Family! Easily the worst show ever televised (except Small Wonder, but more on that in a future post.) You can buy Mama's Family episodes in mass quantity, take them home and give them a few hours of your life.

But you know what you can't get on DVD? The Wonder Years. The best show ever. Yes, you can watch Vicki Lawrence in an old lady wig but not Kevin and Winnie.

I've heard there are issues with licensing for the music on The Wonder Years. Don't the guys in charges know we'll pay a little more to get the real music? They think people will pay to watch Gary Coleman hanging out with Mr. Drummond, but not Wayne whining about his teenage wasteland at the Arnold's dinner table?

So what can you do? There's a petition circling around. Maybe that will help?

Maybe I'm the last weekend NPR geek to discover this, but at the Wait, Wait site you can take a daily quiz. One of my main goals with the newspaper is to make sure if you read it every day, you'd be able to get Carl Kasell's voice on your home answering machine. Sometimes we fail, though, and this daily quiz should help fill in the gaps.

The Associated Press reports that the original face of evil on The View is not dead. In fact, It seems Star Jones is getting a radio show. She says she's not a diva anymore. Now, she's connected.

Ok. But how does she feel about her former show and former co-hosts? Star doesn't have time for The View, or Today. She's busy. Doing stuff. It's hard being a former TV star, former lawyer and former Payless pitchwoman.

On an unrelated note, here's an update on another person you'd forgotten existed. Shelly Long.