Trick Question

So Barack Obama has your vote, huh? Great. Now what do you admire about John McCain?

And you, Bill the [insert occupation here], you're a John McCain supporter? What's a positive move Barack Obama would make if he's elected president next Tuesday?

I found a blog today on CNN, If you can’t (or can) say anything nice..., that explores the effects of not immediately tearing down, insulting, or calling opposing candidates "way too old" or "palling with terrorists". I've seen way too many chain e-mails and Facebook statuses that demolish opposing candidates with words, further dividing us as Americans. For a change, point something out that you actually can stand about the other candidate. Sure can't hurt.

By all means, point out all the (reasonable) potential flaws you want in the candidate who challenges your own opinions. Just acknowledge that the candidate is worthy of respect, first.

And, please, let next Tuesday get here so I can move on to other topics! Mr. Wyatt Cenac from The Daily Show agrees:

No TV No Internet Make Josh Go Crazy

I had a painful realization last week.

After my cable went out two weeks ago each night after sunset like clockwork (apparently my cable box spontaneously became solar-powered) and TV was no longer an option, I felt a little handicapped. No Colbert Report, no It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, not even ESPN8. ("The Ocho.") Then after a few days, the internet (from the same provider...stupid Time Warner Cable) mysteriously stopped functioning, and Hulu (a very capable substitute for TV), The Onion, and my stupid blog were no longer options.

That night, at like 9:15, I was out of things to do. So I picked up a book and read it a while. Then strummed on my guitar aimlessly. By now it's 9:23.

Which got me thinking that I'm way too dependent on technology for entertainment. And I bet I'm not alone. I wonder what would happen if today's conventional entertainment sources (TV, internet, Wii, whatever) were suddenly unavailable to us during times of leisure. I bet that, after a few days of painful withdrawal, there'd be some kind of Great Awakening. Kind of like that episode of The Simpsons when "The Itchy & Scratchy Show", a comically and sometimes disturbingly violent cartoon to which many children in the show were hopelessly addicted, got canceled -- all the kids stepped outside, kinda rubbed their eyes for a minute, and then invaded the local softball field and did other comparatively productive activities.

But I guess then we'd be short of pop culture references. I've got three already in this entry, two to the same show, in fact. Since such references probably comprise 60% of my everyday dialogue, maybe it isn't such a great thing.

I like to think I'm not as bad about making an ass-groove in my couch in front of the TV as most people (three Simpsons references and counting). I rarely watched TV or mindlessly surfed the net in college, but apparently I am approaching an unhealthy addiction. Probably an hour or so is OK, but I'm thinking it's time to find another nighttime activity. Not really a coffee fan, so Starbucks is out. Getting colder and darker at night, so outdoor stuff is limited. I recently set my kitchen on fire, and I rather enjoy having eyebrows, so that's probably out, too. Don't really know anyone who hits up bars on weeknights, either. (Probably for the better.)

Ah well, guess it's time to start getting creative. Maybe kung fu. Or freelance writing or web development or something. Or maybe working part time pursuing my dream job: bowling alley employee. (Four references...a record.)

Oh crap, I'm missing Sportscenter! Gotta go. That's way too much self-examination for a blog entry anyway. But at least I didn't write about politics this time.

My Thoughts Exactly

Schooled

I still wish the Mavs hadn't dealt Devin Harris last year. But nevertheless, this clip of a very ordinary-looking Englishman schooling the NBA vet is a good watch (wait till about 1:20):

Extinguishing the Flame

'Tis the season to be political. "Look." It's time for at least one more dip into politics, "my friends," because "gosh darn it," even if you "Joe Six-Packs" are as tired of this presidential race as I am, current events dictate that I intervene. (Cheap and unfunny, I know. I need some SNL writers.)

It's inevitable that political campaigns will eventually incite some amount of rancor. They involve issues that all people will get emotional about. Opinions on issues that typically arise in political discussions tend to closely relate to beliefs and feelings rooted deep within our upbringing and life experiences. And if someone comes along and challenges those beliefs, we're quick to get defensive and argumentative. Which can be positive, if kept under control; it's always good to offer alternate perspectives.

But things are clearly getting out of hand, on both sides. It's not about the issues any more, it's about who makes it to the 270-electoral-vote finish line first. And a significant portion of those undecided voters are swayed by sweeping generalizations ("Senator X has voted yes 398 times on bills to dump toxic waste directly into our elementary schools!") and outrageous exaggerations ("Senator Y has a summer home in a cave in Afghanistan!"). The sad fact is, if you want to win, you have to play these games at some point or another.

So that's what we've been constantly hearing, and these lies are causing the emotions of many Americans to boil over. You've heard the insane oversimplification that connects Sen. Obama to terrorism. People hear it over and over again, and with enough repetition, a sketchy claim all of a sudden becomes a tightly clung-to belief. Exclamations of "Terrorist!" and "Kill him!" (referring to Obama) have been heard at McCain/Palin rallies, according to this very well-written column in last Sunday's Dallas Morning News: Frank Schaeffer: John McCain is fueling a dangerous hatred.

And be sure, Sen. Obama's campaign hasn't exactly been daises and butterflies, either.

Fortunately for the well-being of our country, at least one man has (finally) begun to realize this. Take a look at some clips from McCain's campaign trail:



It scares me that, with a rare and sincere sentiment of sanity in this presidential campaign, you hear angry groans. This is a product of the hatred this campaign has generated. And I am grateful that John McCain had the courage to say what he said, because I, and every American, needed to hear it (even if they didn't want to). This dangerous spark, a terrible side effect from overly negative politics, can ignite into a violent firestorm. We have to make sure we put it out.

Man, it sucks that Tony Romo's out for 4 weeks, doesn't it? The world really is in trouble.

That One

A brief 3-second clip of the second presidential debate:



John McCain probably meant only to discredit his opponent. But that little comment has provided a whole new angle for Mr. Obama to appeal to those last 6% undecided:


More at www.thatone08.com. And by the way, I might add that someone had a lot of time on his/her hands to throw that site (and the products along with it) together in barely 24 hours.

Crystal Ball

So I started looking into my crystal ball, and wondered what life would be like in exactly one month.

1: The Dallas Mavericks will be 4-0, after running and gunning the Spurs out of San Antonio. After growing tired of the extremely long-winded second presidential debate (except for when Tom Brokaw comically chastised both candidates for talking too much), I turned on the radio and listened to part of the Mavs' first preseason game. Too bad it's not on TV, because man, they sound fun to watch this year. It's probably a far cry from the apex of Dallas basketball from the days of Steve Nash, but it can't be that bad, seeing as they have about 30 fast break points halfway through the 3rd quarter, which is 28 more than they had all year last year. Dirk hitting a 3, Josh Howard throwing down an And-1 tomahawk to the tune of "Born in the USA". And we have Diop back! We can't lose! Unless we do. Again. Anyway... Thumbs up.

2: The Dow Jones just might be in the negative. It no longer surprises me when I open up CNN.com mid-day and see that it's down 354 points. And my puny (and I mean puny) little ventures in the stock market have slowly wilted. And these are the first two days after Congress passed the Magic Bailout Bill. Thumbs down.

3: About that aforementioned debate... the election, and this endless quagmire of political finger-pointing, attacking, and self-rightousness (guilty, though I at least try not to be) that comes with it, will be done. No matter who you're for, you've gotta admit this is getting incredibly old, just like how me talking about it in this blog is getting incredibly old. At the very least, you won't have to hear me talk about it anymore. Thumbs up!

4: I recently bought the entire collection of the old 1994-95 TV show The Critic, and have enjoyed some nostalgic entertainment for the last few weeks. No matter how hard I try to stretch it out, I'm running out of episodes. There were only 23 of them before the president of FOX inexplicably hated the show so much, he canceled it in the second season, despite its above-average-and-on-the-rise ratings. By Nov. 7, I will have run out of Critic episodes and all the great Orson Welles impressions that come with it. See the first 40 seconds and last 20 seconds of the following video:



Thumbs down.

5: Daylight savings time will have ended, meaning it stays dark until I get to work and turns dark before I get home. I think there's some condition called seasonal depression which is actually caused by less sunlight. Why don't we just go year-round with daylight savings time? Isn't it supposed to be more energy-efficient anyway? Thumbs down.

6: The American people will have recovered its sanity and run Beverly Hills Chihuahua out of theaters. Forever. Thumbs up.

And finally, my bold prediction: Boston Red Sox beat LA Dodgers in the "We Don't Need Manny Ramirez" Series, a.k.a., the World Series, in a classic 7-game series.

We'll see.

Darned Kids With Your Music and Facebook-ing

Found this blog entry and thought it to be kinda funny, kinda true, and not as gloomy as the economy nor as annoying as politics: Top 10 Most Annoying People on Facebook. In particular, I enjoyed this pictoral commentary on Facebook:


Also, I think number two should also have been applied towards ACL this year. It felt a little odd standing next to three incredibly enthusiastic 13-year-olds on my right and a guy lighting a bong on my left at the Mars Volta show.

But hey, Facebook has supplied me with hours of mindless entertainment and communication with people I, in some cases, said three words to at good ol' LHS. The good outweighs the bad. And I just can't decide if I like the new version. Kinda hated it at first, but it's growing on me... I just don't like how you used-ta-could see everything about one person on one page (unless it had a zillion applications), and now you can't. Seems like a step backward, at least from a software developer's standpoint.

In any case, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook's creator) will one day be one rich dude whenever he finally sells it.