This weekend is the annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass free concert at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
Aerial view of Golden Gate Park
Elvis Costello is playing tomorrow at 2:30, but we're not going to be able to go. I'm stuck grading midterms, analyzing EEG data, reading articles, and trying to get to my fMRI book a little, and Nathan always has loads of reading for his school. Boo! In lieu of said concert, I will have to gaze at this picture whilst listening to a cd.
First off, thank you to PBS for broadcasting the debate so people like myself who don't have cable could watch it. There are two more Presidential debates coming up, October 7th and 15th, don't miss them.
Second off, I needed a beer to get through listening to Palin talking period, but especially her talking through that plastered on smile.
Third off, Ugh! I pray that the Republicans don't take the White House!! If you didn't catch the debate, here are some of the things I pulled out of it.
First, it was nice to have the split screen view of the candidates. It was nice to see them react to each other's claims, something I would have liked to see in the Presidential debate last week and will hopefully be changed for the two upcoming.
Palin rarely addressed the questions asked by the moderator at the beginning (got better at this as the debate continued), even went so far as saying [paraphrase]: I may not answer the questions the way the moderator or you (Biden) want... NO CRAP!! First, because you aren't answering the questions, and second because you've got some outrageously poor/dangerous views.
Palin constantly pulled her responses back to energy. I can't blame her much for it, because it's one of the few, or only, topics she can speak intelligently on, but enough is enough. I was glad to see that one of the analysts speaking after the debate was just as sick of that as I was (former female VP candidate, I think).
Palin spoke at the beginning in such broad generalities and sound bytes without any substance. She got more focused through out, but still offered few concrete plans and facts.
I am soooo sick of hearing her, and everyone, call McCain a "Maverick"!!! I started keeping count of the times she used the word, it was between 6 and 7. Thankfully, nearing the end, Biden finally called her out on the "maverick" claim pointing out numerous and specific instances when McCain was lock-step with the Bush administration. And as was pointed out by an analyst post debate, calling McCain a maverick is looking back; something that Palin consistently criticized Biden for doing with the Bush admin.
I'll show you a Maverick...
...complete with Iceman (though admittedly, you need to subtract current Scientology insanity).
Also, I hate hearing Palin say "hockeymoms" and "Joe six-pack" reminding everyone that she's a hockeymom. THAT DOES NOT QUALIFY YOU TO BE THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!!!!! I was listening to NPR a couple of weeks ago when the Republican National Convention was going on, and the reporter asked one of the attendees what they thought of Palin. The woman responded that she loves that Palin was a woman with a family, that she was a hockeymom. Thankfully, the interviewer (gently) followed up by asking the person which of Palin's policies and political beliefs the attendee agreed with, and again the response was something along the lines of "Palin's a mom." It is so frightening that this woman could become President of the United States if McCain is elected and passes away during his term.
Is the woman who likes hockeymom Palin actually the kid who likes turtles in disguise?
I like how Biden's style was in stark contrast to Palin's in that he spoke in facts and solid numbers. I don't know enough of the facts myself to know whether everything he was was true, but the fact checkers will be looking into that tonight and tomorrow. Post debate, I did hear that some of the "facts" that Palin stated where FALSE, while some of the facts that Biden stated were just less strong (e.g., Biden said McCain was reported in a large magazine to be against regulating Wall Street. One of the fact checkers on PBS said that it wasn't really a large magazine. Eh, not too bad).
In the beginning, Palin frequently and vehemently bad mouthed our government. I bad mouth our government too, but I'm not working within that government and campaigning to be even more deeply entrenched in that government. It's scary because, HELLO, you're trying to become government, lady.
Palin joked about how short a time she's been on the campaign. It's not funny, it's scary. Get some experience!!! In fact, here's a video of her asking just what it is a VP does (during the debate she claims it was "a lame attempt at a joke," but jokes have a grain of truth).
I was glad to see that Biden/Obama were for same-sex rights. All people are created equal, remember??? I'm more than for gay rights, I'm for gay marriage too. What is it with this archaic notion that marriage is between a man and a woman? People are people. People can love other people. People itself is a noun without sex or gender. I've been cold called twice about California's Proposition 8 which is seeking to eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry. Once by a group for it, and once for a group against it. I was very glad to tell them I'll be voting against Prop 8 and therefore maintaining the right of all peoples to marry whom they choose. While Obama/Biden aren't for gay marriage, they do at least respect the rights of those couples in terms of everyday rights like hospital visitation.
Palin criticizes Biden/Obama for looking back at the Bush administration and laying blame. Ummm...yeah, they're looking back. You know why? Because Bush and his administration are EVIL! Hello accountability and respecting history so that we can learn from it.
I liked how Biden really drove home his points. For instance, when speaking about how the McCain administration would be different (or NOT different) from the Bush admin. He ennumerated example after example of how McCain's policies are no different from Bush's.
I loved to hear Palin state [verbatim] "I am a Washington outsider." No shit! And that's where you belong.
When talking about Vice Presidential powers and being VP, Biden said that he is an "independent judgment, not afraid to disagree" with Obama when he's asked his opinion. It was great to hear that, because he's an experienced politian who can add some valuable perspective to Obama, but it was also nice to hear him describe himself that way without saying the exceedingly overused term "maverick"! Biden also added that Cheney is the "most dangerous vice president we've had, probably in the American history." Yes! There are Constitutional limits on Vice Presidential power. Cheney doesn't give a flying squirrel about these limits, and it's terrifying (here's the terrorism we should be fighting).
Palin explicitly stated that she believes America is a nation about tolerance and equal rights...apparently that is heterosexual America. Where do gay right fit within that ideal, Palin?
It was touching to see Biden get emotional when talking about the death of his wife and daughter and having to raise two sons on his own. It felt honest.
Ironic, or not, Exxon bought up the first commercial spot following the debate. Exxon was brought up many times through out the night, specifically by Biden pointing out that the McCain/Palin ticket are wanting to give them (Exxon) another $4 billion tax cut (I think that was the amount).
One of Palin's factual errors that was immediately pointed out post debate was her calling the commander of the Afghanistan campaign "McClelland," when it's actually McKiernan. Ooops. I am quite sure there will be many more where this came from.
...but I don't really feel like it. So what I'm going to do is put in what I think are some awesome pictures and leave it at that.
A little Star Wars awesomeness. Doesn't Chewbacca look like Keith Moon on the drums? I can imagine him head banging and making crazy eyes.
Must have Star Trek. I've always been a fan of Next Generation and have to admit I don't know much of the original series. But, I have seen most of the movies, The Wrath of Khan most recently (gotta love free movies from the library!). I'm looking forward to the remake (which will suck) because Sylar from "Heroes" will be Spock, and I think he'll do a good job in addition to looking eerily like Leonard Nimoy.
And, if I'm not mistaken, this is a little NPH action via "How I Met Your Mother." It's going to be legend...wait for it...dary, high five! Suit up!
The undergrads in the class I'm GSIing just took their first midterm today. This means I've got hours and hours of super outrageous fun grading!!! {quiet sobs}
Thankfully, they don't have to write a term paper in this class, which are like 3 times harder/longer to grade than tests.
::warning, there's some cursing in this, so it's maybe not school/work appropriate, unless you have headphones::
"Shoes" by Kelly (AKA Liam Kyle Sullivan)
That guy looks so funny when he's Kelly, with his making crazy eyes and valley girl mouth. And don't you get the Canadian vibe off of him? Any way, my new favorite thing is to call people "Betches" and tell them I'm going to "betchslap you, shetbag." By people, I mean Nathan. There are just so many funny things about this video, if you don't enjoy it, I think there's something wrong with you, betch.
Clearly, Fred agrees with me that it's bed time. You don't take my word for it? Ok, then I have to show you this. If you go into shock over the sugary sweetness of this, just remember you made me do it.
"Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer This song really takes me back to high school (middle school? When did it come out?). And Nathan was kind enough to locate it and include in on our Wedding Soundtrack. He did all of the music for our wedding reception. He put a lot of time into it and came up with about 5 or 6 discs of love-related songs that helped to make that day really special.
"Nothing Compares 2 U" Sinead O'Connor
This song also has a lot of memories for me. Especially, for some reason, with me and Darren. One summer I was having a hard time and Darren was really there for me. We would hang out every single night and have the absolute best time. One of our activities was driving around and listening to all sorts of music and singing insanely loud. Our favorite lyric from this song was "all the flowers that you planted, mama" but she says "mama" really fast. We thought that was great fun.
In honor of the Jewish New Year, and because it's awesome, I give you...
Fiddler on the Roof
I really love this movie. It's got a great story and so many awesome songs. And how can you not love Tevye (played by Topol)? My mom and I used to rent movies together fairly regularly, and this is one that we got a few times. I'm not particularly one for the "classics" but I have to watch this movie at least once a year.
I love how even though the men are rushing to get home for the Sabbath, they still take the time to argue about the news, and Tevye kindly gives the beggar some of his milk before leaving.
I love the dance he does during this song with his arms waving in the air with abandon, moving around just completely lost in the song. Those of you who know me well could take a guess at what else I love about this song (hint: it has to do with the content).
I like to study with something on, be it a cd or a movie. This is a great movie to study to, and it's even enjoyable when you have the songs stuck in your head for the next week.
I've always been fascinated with Jewish history and faith. If you are interested in learning more about Rosh Hashanah, you can do that here.
Martin, A., & Chao, L. L. (2001). Semantic memory and the brain: Structure and processes. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 11, 194-210.
Levine, B., Turner, G. R., Tisserand, D., Hevenor, S. J., Graham, S. J., & McIntosh, A. R. (2004). The functional neuroanatomy of episodic and semantic autobiographical remembering: A prospective functional MRI study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 16 (9), 1633-1646.
Ashby, F. G., & O'Brien, J. B. (2004). Category learning and multiple memory systems. Trends in Cognitive Science, 9 (2), 83-89.
I have to read these articles for my Learning and Memory course with Prof John Kihlstrom. It's not my area of research, so it's nice to be exposed to the material. However, much more reading is assigned every week than I'm willing or able to read. For instance, one week there were 4 chapters in a book and 9 articles assigned. That's a lot, but I learned my first year of grad school that there's really no way you can get everything done that you want/need to, at least not at the super-high-absolute-best-of-your-abilities level. So that week I only read 2 of the chapters, which were each 30 pages, and part of one article. Recognizing that you can't spend as much time as you would like on all areas of your work is a grad school life saver. When I was an undergrad, I was a super overacheiver trying to maintain my 4+ GPA. That's just not the way it works in grad school, and grades no longer matter because no one's ever going to look at them, not when you're applying for a job nor when you're applying for a grant. So in that one aspect, grad school is less stressful than undergrad. I've shared this life lesson with Nathan, and I think it's helped him a bit with his recently acquired grad school stress level. But that's enough about this, because I've got reading to get back to.
I love how even though the men are rushing to get home for the Sabbath, they still take the time to argue about the news, and Tevye kindly gives the beggar some of his milk before leaving.
I love the dance he does during this song with his arms waving in the air with abandon, moving around just completely lost in the song. Those of you who know me well could take a guess at what else I love about this song (hint: it has to do with the content).
I like to study with something on, be it a cd or a movie. This is a great movie to study to, and it's even enjoyable when you have the songs stuck in your head for the next week.
I've always been fascinated with Jewish history and faith. If you are interested in learning more about Rosh Hashanah, you can do that here.
