Interesting videos

I came across this video weirdly enough when doing a google search for "magic eye," but it's John McCain clips spliced together. He basically goes back and forth in what he claims in order to suit the current atmosphere.



John McCain seemingly believes that everyone is his friend. He's constantly referring to...well, anyone, as "my friend." Frankly I feel nauseated when I hear him say that. I'm not your friend, buddy; I'm not your buddy, guy...Here's a humorous take on McCain's near Tourette's-like compulsive usage of "my friends."

You just have to laugh sometimes (corny cobby pal, come on!).

You can find almost anything on youtube these days. Here's a compilation of "my friend" from last week's presidential debate (I still can't sit through it).


It would appear that my OCD has latched onto politics. Must. Stop. Posting. About. Politics!

I just voted! Wait, I just voted?

I received my ballot in the mail yesterday. I didn't request this ballot. I was sent it because apparently the precinct of which I'm a member "contains less than 250 voters" and "has been designated a mail ballot precinct."

I thought this sounded a little odd, since I live in a highly populated area. Surprisingly, when I told Nathan what the letter said, he immediately jumped to the conclusion that it's a right wing conspiracy. It does feel fishy. I live in BERKELEY, CA, perhaps the most liberal city in the country, located in the bay area's Alameda county, population ~1.5 million. And I'm being told there are too few voters in my precinct? Admittedly, I don't know how "precinct" is defined, but I can't think of one definition that would equal fewer than 250 registered Berkeley residents.

For the past two presidential elections, there have been odd occurrences with regard to historically blue or swing-likely-to-go-blue voting areas. And it looks like politics as usual this election. Theoretically, whether I cast a mail-in ballot or physically mark my ballot at a polling site should make no difference. But if my ballot gets "lost" in the mail, maybe because it's coming from a liberal locale, then my vote doesn't get counted. Period. If that were to mysteriously happen, I don't suppose it would make a huge difference for CA, because it's nearly guaranteed that CA will go blue. But if a bunch of Berkeley, San Francisco, etc mail ballots get "lost" then what? I dunno.

Opinions welcomed.

Fun in the park!

Nathan and I discovered this really cool park near our apartment over the summer, and have been taking regular walks there ever since. More recently, we've been playing soccer there. Really we just kick the ball back and forth and try juggling. But it's a good work out. I'm hoping to join a neighborhood pick-up game after I buy some cleats and get in better shape. Here are some pictures of tonight's fun.

Really beautiful park.

Juggling the ball. You can see the new bag I just knitted on the ground.

Notice the tight-rope walkers practicing in the background. Berkeley's crazy.

Whatcha doing, Nathan, kung fu fighting?

Nope, he's juggling too.

I was talking to my mom earlier today, and she said I should post more videos. So here are two of us in the park. Unfortunately, I'm still trying to get the videos off of our proper video camera, so this is from our picture camera, which has no microphone. Hence, no sound.



Mom, you should get facebook, because I put a bunch of pics on there.

Palin guilty of abusing gubernatorial power

The republicans tried to delay the release of this report until after the election, but failed (as they do with so many things). Now the public can read all about how Sarah Palin, the vice presidential nominee of the Republican party, abused her gubernatorial powers in Alaska (300 page report). The bipartisan panal found her to be "... in violation of a state ethics law that prohibits public officials from using their office for personal gain."

On an even more disgusting note, attendees of McCain/Palin rallies are turning into future lynch mobs. I use this term literally. They have been heard to chant "Kill him" at the mention of Barack Obama's name. Does this scare anyone else? Palin's response to this, "Boy, you guys just get it!"

Full "The Daily Voice" article:
"Senator John McCain and his running mate Governor Sarah Palin have been accusing Senator Barack Obama of associating with terrorists in recent days, and as a result, audience members at McCain and Palin rallies have called Obama a "terrorist" and threatened to kill him.

"Sarah Palin was on the verge of inciting a race riot in northern Florida" this week, the Nation reported. The paper said Republican audience members "hurled a racial epitaph" at an African American member of the media while other audience members yelled "kill him" and "treason!" when Barack Obama's name was mentioned. Palin did nothing to stop the attacks and reportedly responded: "Boy, you guys just get it!"

Palin began the attack on Monday when she told 8,000 fans at a rally in Florida that Obama "launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist," according to the Washington Post. "This is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America," she said.

The McCain-Palin ticket has become increasingly negative in recent days and some have called their attacks "dangerous" and "racist." But it's not just Obama who has come under attack.

Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank describes the scene at a rally in Clearwater, Florida this week, where he said "arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin blamed CBS News anchor Katie Couric for her "less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media." Palin supporters then "turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse," Milbank reported. "Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, 'Sit down, boy.'""

Just 'cause.

I got my stew on!

I decided I wanted to cook something the other day. So I went to the store and bought random and various ingredients thinking that I would throw them in our slow cooker to make a "stew." I threw together brisket, potatoes, an onion, mushrooms, carrots, a can of beef broth, a Negra Modello beer, some Worcestershire sauce, butter, salt, and pepper and set it a stewin'. Here's what it looked like cooking:

Eight hours later (10:30 at night), we had ourselves some delicious meat and veggies. Yum.

Here's what it looked like after it was done cooking:

On a fluffier note, when I got home from school the other day, George-the-bully was smothering his friend, Grumpy.

Meanwhile, Fred was pompously taking a nap (note the delicately crossed paw-paws).

Do you smell that?

"It's poop again!"

Ok, this is completely gratuitous, but here's Sarah Palin talkin' to Katie Couric about her gosh darn experience in foreign policies 'cause she been golly livin' right next to Russia and doggonit Canada.



I'm not going to watch the debate tonight. I just can't take any more b.s., and it's not like I'm an undecided. If you're watching, feel free to post some highlights in the comments.

In case you missed it, here's SNL's summary of the VP debate last week.

Say what you will about "Friends" but it's hilarious!

I used to consider my enjoyment of "Friends" to be a guilty pleasure. But screw that! This show is full on hilarious. Every episode is consistently funny. Even if you're watching it alone you can catch yourself laughing out loud and then looking around embarrassed.

My beautiful "Friends: the complete series" box set

Pretty people, pretty clothes, pretty apartment, what's not to like? I don't even mind the stereotyped characters. Normally, it's really annoying when a show locks a character into such an outrageous caricature, but these people do it well (alright, it is still annoying sometimes).

Even Nathan loves the show, though I think it is still a "guilty pleasure" for him.

Phoebe's songs are usually a perk. Particularly goods songs include "Little Black Curly Hair" "Blackout" "Two of Them Kissed Last Night" "Barnyard Animals" and "Jingle Bitch". The lyrics for these songs can be found here, though to really enjoy them you have to hear them.

Also well done is the cast addition of Paul Rudd late in the series. Line of particular note, "Why don't we not let the box of rat babies ruin our lives."

My little study buddy

My kitties don't understand the concept of mom working. I'll be reading an article or textbook and they will walk on top of me and lay down for a nice long nap. George likes to lay on textbooks in particular. Here is George helping me study earlier tonight:

And here's my view of his fluffiness:


On a related subject, George was helping his dad both study and eat his lunch earlier.

What a good helper!