I Promise Not to Have Sex--Not

Perhaps you've heard of virginity pledges. This is where kids and young adults (well, ok, fundamentalist kids and young adults) promise not to have sex until they get married. Funny story--they don't work. The best part is that four out of five conveniently denied/forgot that they had made such a pledge. I wonder what would make them do that?

The real issue here is the "magic bullet" approach to getting kids to avoid behaviors that may have bad consequences (e.g., sex, drinking, drugs, and tobacco) just doesn't work. Just like DARE is a scam. These programs make adults (and/or law enforcement) feel like they are doing something, when in fact they are trying to alleviate their guilt for their ineffective parenting skills. Raising healthy kids takes a lifetime, not exacting an empty promise or having Officer Donut lecture them.

So, instead of having your kids make a New Year's resolution to not (fill in the blank), talk to them. A lot.

Have a great and safe New Year's.

Hookey!

OK, today was going to be a psuedo work day. The wife needed to go in for a few hours then I was going to work for a bit. Coming back from Vegas I promised the HB that I would take him sledding this week, thinking that Tuesday would be the best day. Well, after looking at our calendar, that clearly wasn't the case. So, I shut down the computer, called one of the HB's best friends (and a kid the wife and I really like, as opposed to the BS), packed some snacks and warm weather gear and headed to the mountains.

Some brief LA jingoism--one of the many things that makes this a great place to live is that we can be in the snow (in the mountains, where it belongs) in 90 minutes or less (usually), even though I'm less than 10 minutes from the beach. However, this being a holiday week, the traffic up the mountain completely sucked, so it took us 2.5 hours (another reason I hate skiing--even the ride to the slopes is a pain in the ass).

But, we made it and and the conditions were perfect. Not a cloud in the sky, mid-50s temps and lots of good sledding. The HB had is obligatory wipe-out (this time into a tree stump, but he only had some scratches and got right back on), but otherwise we had a great time. On the way home we stopped for some food at the world's slowest Del (Hell) Taco (NEVER go to the one at the intersection of CA Highway 138 and Interstate 15), but made good time after that.

The boys were awesome despite the extra car time. In fact, a sleepover at the good kid's house has already been arranged for the Saturday night. This will allow the wife and I to go use a restaurant gift card for the Saddle Peak Lodge, a place we've wanted to go to for a long time.

Tomorrow, I'll definitely have to put the nose to the grindstone. There are a couple of smouldering client issues and end of the year tax stuff that require my attention.

NFL Week 17--Whither Farvre? (Updated)

Whether it was balance in the league or a fluke in scheduling, this year weeks 16 an 17 in the NFL have had meaningful games between playoff contenders. It made for a great day of football watching.

My main preference coming into the game in the NFC was for the Eagles to get in the playoffs. For this to happen they needed some help. First, they needed my RAIDERS to win at Tampa Bay. This wasn't as onerous as it sounded as the Bucs were riding a 3 game losing streak. But still, this was the RAIDERS. Amazingly, and behind some great running by Michael Bush, they won. Next, the Eagles needed either Chicago or Minnesota to lose. The Vikings won a nail-biter against the Giants (whose playoff positioning would not be affected by today's games), but the Bears got beat by Houston. This meant that Philly would still have to beat Dallas at home in what was essentially a playoff game.

It was a laugher. I cannot count the number of ways that the the Cowboys sucked and it was beautiful to watch. I called my relatives in the Philly area and they were jubulant.

In the AFC, my only concern was the cheating Patriots to miss out on the playoffs. For this to happen they either needed to lose to the Bills or have the Jets beat Miami, or have Baltimore lose. The New England beat Buffalo in a gale, so it was up to the 'Fins to beat the J-E-T-S.

This game was filled with intrigue. First, it was the Jets who turned in the cheating Patriots, so it was ironic that the Pats were in a position to root for them to win. Also, the Miami quaterback, Chad Pennington, was given the unceremonious boot when the Jets signed Brett Favre. Pennington has completely outplayed Favre this year, especially during the last month and now had the chance to stick it to New York in their own stadium.

Favre may have taken the Jets about as far they could go this year (rember, they were 8-3 with the first win over the Titans). But, like in last year's NFC championship game, he KILLED his team with his play today (20 of 40 for 233 and 3 interceptions). OK, since the Ravens won it didn't matter what the Jets did, but that's not the point. The Jets tossed aside a perfectly good QB in Pennington and a 3rd round draft pick for Favre and now have basically nothing to show for it, except a whole lot of jersey sales. And they get to go through Favre's annual "Will he or won't he retire" dance. Nice.

But, at least the cheating Patriots got shut out of the playoffs. Karma's been good to them in 2008. Blew their perfect season in the Super Bowl to the Giants, lost Tom Brady for the year in week 1, and missed the playoffs because they team that caught them cheating couldn't win. It doesn't get any better.

The Chargers and Broncos are playing right now for the last spot. I've got in on DVR and will watch it later. I haven't decided who to root for. I just wish I would have invested my good luck in games while in Vegas.

[In an update, the Bolts HAMMERED the Donks, giving Denver the honor of one of the greatest collapses in NFL history. Also, the Jets' head coach is the first casualty of the Favre trade. I'm sure there is more to come.]

A Mormon in Vegas

Well, OK, that's a big of an exaggeration, but it was a fairly pious trip. No sex, no cards and only 3 drinks. Oh well.

Penn & Teller were very good. Most of the act was different compared to the last time we saw them, though Teller did the appearing goldfish trick which is awesome. The wife got us great seats and the NZS loved it. Unfortch, a good chunk of the banter was over the HB's head which he found frustrating and that distracted him from enjoying the magic. We had some good food at McFadden's at the Rio (where we saw the show) as well.

This morning we slept in, grabbed some breakfast and wandered through a few casinos/hotels. By lunchtime the boys had had enough and we drove home. Again, it was a nightmare and took about 6 hours. We picked up Nugz who was as happy to see us as we were to be home.

The NZS loved the trip, which was the primary purpose of going. I can't really see going there with the HB again until he's 21. There's just not that much to do with people who don't gamble, golf or shop (OK, I can go golfing with him there, but it's a bit of a haul).

I am SO looking forward to doing nothing but watch football tomorrow.

The Day After Xmas

It is freezing and windy in Vegas today. Yet, the wife had the gumption to grab some early breakfast and get us tickets to a show. Given her usual indecisive self, I got about 5 phone calls within 20 minutes as to what show to see with the boys. The winner: Penn & Teller at the Rio. The wife and I saw them a few years ago and it was pretty cool (I like their Libertarian politics as well as their act).

Today we wandered up and down The Strip. The NZS loved the different themes and the HB was pretty enthralled as well. The wife ducked away and made some money at the blackjack tables (I've yet to play), the boys got some arcade time, and I had a beer before noon, so it's all good. We even went on the roller coaster at New York-New York.

The worst thing with the weather is that it makes going into the jacuzzi untenable. The cold I don't mind. But the wind is another story.

I hope that your day after is going well.

Xmas in Vegas

Well, we finally made it. Traffic was hell (the normal 4 hour drive took 6) and our hotel is bit too close to McCarran, but we'll live. The NZS and the HB were blown away by The Strip. My wife's going to go in search of show tickets tomorrow. Other than that, I think we're just gonna bum around and go in and out of the cooler hotels.

I'm gonna take a Tylenol PM and crash.

Oh, at least the hotel has free wifi...Woot!

Having Some Water Near Heartbreak Hill

Xmas eve-day at the in-laws has come and gone without serious incident. After calculating how much time it would take to make pasta for 11 people and being informed that we should eat as soon as possible, Plan B was implemented: Make sauce, prepare baked zita and spaghetti out of the box. My s-i-l made some delish bruschetta and salad and we went super-carb. Woot!

Many drinks (diet coke and Jack, cosmos and wine) were served and everyone seemed to like their prezzies. I got Death Magnetic, which is funny since that's what the HB got his mom. I also got come cooking stuff and a book about Andrew Jackson. The HB and the nephew made out like bandits, of course.

We left my s-i-l's at about 5:30 or so. We've been having a nice night at home. We DVRed some xmas movies/shows (A Christmas Carol, It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on Evergreen Terrace) and played some Scrabble. Then, the wife realized that she hadn't baked stuff for the neighbors. So, at 9:15pm on xmas eve, I shit you not, she went to the store and is baking as we speak. So much for packing for our Vegas trip tonight.

The HB is showing odd behavior, well for him, also. This year is by far the most materialistic he's ever been about xmas/hannukah. He's asking how early we can get up to open presents--something he's never done before. We told him 9am and you might think that we took away his birthday or something. I'm thinking that he'll live.

As I mentioned in a previous post, back to the in-laws tomorrow (I'm sensing that we're going to have leftover pasta for lunch) then off to Vegas. Woot!

Let the Marathon Begin

For some reason, xmas with my wife's family has somehow morphed into a two-day affair. This year it's because one of my s-i-l's wants to spend a good chunk of xmas day with her in-laws, which is fine. So, that means today all of us are getting together at 11 until god knows when, then again tomorrow around lunch for a few more hours (theoretically, but I'll get to that later).

Given how much I can't stand xmas, this is gonna suck.

The HB stayed at the nephew's last night, so at least the wife and I got to knock it out last night and sleep in this am (the NZS, like most teenagers, sleeps like the dead). After I got this post up, I'll start getting things together for lunch. We're going to do something we haven't done in a while: make pasta from scratch. Yes, it's a bunch of work, but it will keep me in occupied the kitchen and give the boys something to do in case they are getting squirly. I'll whip up a big, thick sauce as well.

I'm assuming that after lunch we'll dig into presents. This will be take for fucking ever because my m-i-l will want to tell a story about all of them and we'll have to constantly repeat what things are 'cuz she's so deaf or pass everything around. One good thing is that I'm sure my s-i-l will have plenty of booze around. If not, it will be early enough during xmas eve day that getting in and out of a market/liquor store will be no problem.

After things finally break up, we'll head home and get ready for our trip to Las Vegas! Woot! The NZS went on a great train tour of the US last summer, but they didn't make it to Vegas and he wants to check it out. I don't blame him, the HB hasn't been and we're always up for Vegas. We were also thinking of hitting the Grand Canyon, but it's going to be too cold there for the wife and the NZS. I'm not sure what shows etc we are going to see (my wife's theoretically been checking that out), but just checking everything out and playing some cards will be fun.

So, my wife keeps saying that we'll go back to her mom's around lunchtime on xmas day and leave for Vegas at around 4pm. I'm calling bullshit--the pull of the black jack tables will be too strong for her. But, we'll see.

I hope y'all enjoy the beginning of Santa's birthday tonight.

Holiday Spirit

As an atheist, the "holidays" always present a bit of a conundrum for me (my real holidays are New Year's Day and the Super Bowl). I don't want to be all bah-humbug or a hypocrite. So, my primary goal during the season is to teach the HB about sharing what we have with those less fortunate than us.

In the past, we've put meals together with One-Voice. This year, we had the opportunity to give food and presents to the families and interact with him. Like in most big cities, the geographic distance between those who have and those who don't is not great. All of the families we met were either African-American or Hispanic, or both. To qualify, the family had to have kids enrolled in a Head Start program.

I didn't see any family with only one child and there were several where the mom was pregnant. Why a woman who can't provide for the child/children she has doesn't take the steps to prevent having another one is beyond me. Almost everyone we interacted with was very appreciative, except for a few who were too busy talking on their cell phones.

Regardless, I don't think that the lesson of taking the HB (or the NZS who also joined us) is that there are poor people in LA. When I asked the HB what we learned, he said that a) a few people working together could make things better for a lot of people and b) it's important that we share what we have with others.

I don't think you need a dude on a cross or a "miracle" of lights to understand that.

Metallica at the Forum

The wife and I had a great time at the Metallica concert last night. Sure, fighting rush-hour traffic sucked (especially since we live so close to the Forum), but we had no problems parking or getting to our seats.

We missed the opening band, but we saw the second one, Machine Head. With a name like that, you'd think they'd be doing Deep Purple covers, but they didn't. They did a great job with the crowd and got people into their set. My primary complaint with them, and this current wave of metal bands, is the CONSTANT screaming by the lead singer. And this guy could really sing, as evidenced by their version of Iron Maiden's Hallowed by Thy Name.

The stage setup was very cool. It was a large rectangle in the middle of the floor with mics at each corner and the in between them. The drum setup was in the middle and rotated. There were lights in coffins, per the Death Magnetic motif. They also had both lasers and pyrotechnics (insert WATCH OUT JAMES joke here) in the stage.

What I still love about seeing Metallica is how well they play and control tempo. Speed metal bands tend to want to play even faster live. Except for on Master of Puppets, they avoided that trap. And when they played fast, like on Fight Fire With Fire, they were tight.

The set list covered a big chunk of their career and had plenty of new songs. I like Death Magnetic, so I was cool with that. The wife's not as big on the record, so she would have preferred more older stuff.

There was some of the usual concert experience. A bunch of military dudes in front of us in the "I love you man" stage of drunkenness. The woman sitting next to me puked (but, fortunately, not on me). But, we got out of the parking lot in a jiffy, so we got home at a reasonable hour so I could write about it to y'all.

Have a great Friday.

Cancer's a Cunt

I know, I'm rarely this elegant, but it's one of those days. Today was a friend's funeral. He was 43. He left a wife, and stepdaughter who adored him, a grandchild and another one on the way. His parents, in-laws, and younger brother were all there to bury him.

My friend had lymphoma. He had undergone regular radiation and two clinical trials. Nothing worked. My friend was a kind, gentle soul who had so much good in him. It sucks that he's gone.

This isn't going to turn into a rant against fate or a call to turn one's life around. Rather, I just want to say that miss him and I wish we would have spent more time together.

Off to see Metallica tonight.

Countdown

We've gotten to the point now where the NZS is really counting down his time in the US. As you would imagine, there's a lot more he wants to do and not enough time to do it (he leaves Jan 8th).

Since his football team lost in the playoffs he's back on the soccer team. Soccer is his true sports love and he's very happy to be back on the pitch. On the football field he always looked a bit lost and on ice skates. Playing soccer he's very fluid and comfortable.

Xmas afternoon we (the four of us) are going to do a quick trip to Vegas and the Grand Canyon. After we get back, he's going to head up to the mountains for some snowboarding with some of his HS buddies (one of his other host families has a place up there).

I would imagine that when he gets back from that we'll have to start shipping some of his stuff home (there's not way he could pack it all on a plane). That will be a sad day.

I'm trying not to talk too much about the NZS II who arrives a couple of weeks later. The NZS asks about him and they occasionally exchange e-mail. I try to remind the HB that the two will be very different and to try not to always mention the NZS in front of the NZS II.

But, all of that is in the future. Today the NZS has a soccer game (possibly in the rain) and some end of the semester projects to finish. Time marches on.

Toe Dip Into TV Land

I don't watch much episodic TV (unless you include Monday Night Football). About the only exception is Mad Men. It's mostly a time thing, but also much of what I've seen is cringe-worthy.

Last night the HB slept over at a friends' and the NZS went to a party. The wife and I made plans to maybe hear some music or catch a movie after she got back from a happy hour she and a co-worker were hosting for some people helping them on a project. Well, that whole thing turned out to be a clusterfuck, so she didn't really feel like going out. Besides, by the time she got back we had missed all the movie times. So, we ran out and got some dinner and a bottle of Pinot Noir and hit the video store (there wasn't anything particularly good on PPV).

After perusing the movies, we worked our way towards the TV epdisodes. Every now and then we'll rent a few episodes of shows, particulary ones on HBO or Showtime, just to check them out. Last night we rented some episodes of Weeds.

One thing about watching a few episodes back-to-back is that the theme songs get annoying. I think they're only meant to be heard once a week. I thought the show was only OK. It's well acted and all, but the writing completely lacks subtlety. And aren't there enough shows that skewer the 'normalcy' of suburbia?

With no serious college football on today (except the lower division playoffs) I've put together a list of things to do around here. Also, the wife and I are going to check out a place for my parents' 50th. But, dealing with all of that will have to wait for another post.

The World's Largest Rudderless Ship

Two years ago, the LA Unified School District (LAUSD) made a HUGE deal when it hired David Brewer to be superintendent. Mr. Brewer was an admiral in the Navy, but had never run a school district, though we was responsible for many training initiatives at the Navy College program. Only 2 years into a 4 year contract, it looks like he's on his way out. Why on earth would the board that just hired him be so sick of him already? Let's just say it's not due to great strides being made at LAUSD.

It comes down to a lot of politics. The mayor of LA, Antonio Villaraigosa, has lots of big plans for the city. Outside of helping developers revitalize the area around Staples Center, not much has oe to fruition. One of his big plans was to make the LA schools better. But, the mayor in LA doesn't really have that much impact on schools as they are run by an elected board. It's also tricky because some other cities' schools are part of LAUSD. So, he tried an end run through his friends in the legisature, but only got some crumbs. The next best thing, in his eyes, was to get his friends elected to the school board, which he was able to do. None of these new school board members had any loyalty to Brewer and didn't have much interest in working with him since he's not their guy.

So, some stuff must have been in the works because earlier in the week Brewer said that he wouldn't quit, but if the district bought out his contract (for about $500k) he would just walk. There was more than a little martyrdom in his statement. Then he busts out with, "I don't want to make this a racism thing. That would be too painful for the students, so just pay me." Hunh? He's a black superintendant of a majority Latino overseen by a multi-racial school board. Why in the world would a guy who has achieved so much in his life, and not by making excuses, play the race card? To use as leverage for the buyout?

Let's assume that racism is part of it. Isn't that a last lesson he would want to teach the under achieving students in his district? Or, if black-Latino racism is preventing the district from performing well, shouldn't we know about it?

The fact of the matter is that a school district the size of LAUSD is nearly impossible to manage. The school board's insistence on keeping the district so large so they can keep power while saving a few dollars is preventing it from being effective. The beauracracies are so intrenched and calcified that they greatest school district administrator in the world won't be able to turn it around. And with CA's budget problems, there's gonna be less money to do what needs to be done.

Yes, I'm going to keep writing those private school checks.

Time Marching On

Last night, the NZS's football team had their semi-final playoff game. Their opponent came into it undefeated and was ranked 2nd in the region. It was a close fought game that fit into a pretty easy narrative: The very athletic, but undisciplined squad against the team (them) that plays well together and executes well (the NZS team).

The NZS's team had a 7-point lead with about 5 seconds left in the first half. At this point, everyone's feeling pretty good. The other team throws a Hail Mary pass and the defensive back does exactly what he's supposed to: he knocked the ball down instead of trying to catch it. Well, he knocked it into another player, the ball popped-up and a guy on the other team ran it in for a touchdown. Very bad luck and a tie game.

The 2nd half opened with the NZS's team throwing an interception (their only turnover of the game). The other team converted and kept either a 7 or 14 point lead the rest of the game. Afterwards, the kids were dissapointed, but were able to realize that they had a great season. They have every reason to hold their heads up.

The second biggest reason to recognize today is that it is the anniversary of my dissertation defense. On this day I always call the chair of my committee to thank him, even though we still talk frequently. He gets a big kick out of that.

After last night's game, the wife and I watched The Savages. An interesting and well-acted movie that really hits home given my m-i-l's health. Philip Bosco is particularly good. He plays the father who has dementia setting in. There are several scenes he plays well where you're not quite sure whether he understands what is going on around him. When my dad was in the hospital after his heart attack, it would drive me batshit when people would talk about him like he wasn't even there when it was entirely possible that he was understanding everything.

Tamera Jenkins, the director, casts pretty much everyone and every place in harsh light. The bright and blurry postcard-like colors of Arizona are particularly damning.

The wife's family is coming over for dinner (I hope I can get in some football watching) in a bit, so I'll need to whip up something. Probably pizza and spaghetti.

Small Milestones and Work

A couple of milestones at the Wrecker house on Friday.

First, Nugz the Pug had her 3rd birthday. Yes, we had a doggie cake (OK, wet dog food) with a candle in it. At least the wife has quit inviting over the neighbor kids and their dogs.

Second, we had a family game of Scrabble and the HB won. OK, he had a little bit of help at the beginning, but closed the deal himself. It was all very cool, though the NZS was a tad bent, but he's kinda competitive that way.

As I've mentioned before, one of the things that sucks about having my own biz is that my emotions can really swing depending on whether I get new customers or not. It's usually not that big of deal, but this week was something else.

I heard from a company that's referred me work before about a potential client. So, I work up some numbers for them and take a call with the client. Everything seemed to go OK. So, the dude who referred me calls back a couple of days later and says, "It all looks good, I'm gonna ink the deal tomorrow." Well, he calls back the next day and says that it's off. Fuck, but that kind of shit happens. Then, he calls back two days later and says that we are back on.

At this point, I don't know what to think until I get that first check. I should probably ask for some money down just to be sure they are serious.

In the meantime, I won a project that I submitted a proposal for (something I rarely do) and I sent in a bid for another project today. That one would be a cool entree to a big consulting firm, but we'll see. What they pay me cuts into their profits for the deal, so I'm not getting my hopes up.

A Death in Science

One of the most important people in all of psychology and neuroscience died Tuesday. He wasn't a researcher, therapist or teacher. Rather, he was an unfortunately brain injured man, known as HM, who served as a link to understanding the physical nature of memory.

The Holy Grail of neuroscience now is the understanding of exactly how memories are formed. When HM was first studied, scientists didn't even know where memories were stored.

Among psychology students, the term HM has always been a quick shorthand for someone who can't remember something. So, if my wife can't remember something easy I'll say, "Your car keys are in your hand, HM."

Philosophically, his case is interesting. What would your life be like if you couldn't remember things after a certain point in time? Would life be fascinating or frustrating if everything seemed brand new? On one hand, you'd only have to own one book, but would have to read it pretty quickly for it to make sense. But, it would be impossible to build meaningful friendships.

RIP, HM.

The Big 3 With Hat in Hand

After getting their asses handed to them after begging for dollars a few weeks ago, the CEOs of the Big 3 automakers are back again. Besides the usual, "We're too big to fail" argument, they are saying that they have all of these great technologies right around the corner, and if they only had a few tens of billions of dollars they'll get them to market soon and make tons of money.

There are (at least) two serious flaws with this argument:

1) If you guys were such management geniuses to be able to use all of this money wisely and bring great products to market, you wouldn't be prostrating yourselves right now. GM has been running their business into the ground for 30 years. What's different now? This whole thing about, "Oh, if you give us this money we'll work for $1 a year and we'll sell our jets" has nothing to do with anything. These guys do not know how to run a successful car business in North America. $25,000,000,000 won't change that. Remember, GM came out with the first modern electric car, the EV, then gave up on it.

2) If these new cars are that awesome and they just need capital to get them to the finish line, they should go looking for venture capital (perhaps from their unions?), not taxpayer money. There must be venture capitalists who want to cash in on these great cars of the future. What's that? Oh, yeah, they wouldn't have faith in Detroit to pull it off. Nevermind.

The Big 3 will have you believe that they made American capitalism great. For a time, that might have been true. But their arrogance and stubbornness has contributed to the degradation of our environment and their own demise. Let them sink or swim on their own merits, but not with my tax dollars.

Fantasy Football Upate

I try not to bore people (and readers) with details of my fantasy football team. Either your into it or not, and when your not few conversations can be more insufferable. Shit, I don't like listening to my friends talk about their fantasy baseball teams since I'm not in the league.

The cook think about our league is that we've had it for about 22 years. Obviously, we were ahead of the curve. Back then, it was a good excuse to go out and drink beer in the middle of the week. Then again, none of us had kids (and very few had wives), so we didn't really need an excuse. I was still in grad school for the first couple of years, but it was still going strong when I got back.

We've had a pretty good core of guys the whole time without much churn. The continuity has made things fun and led to some good long standing rivalries. We put in a little money, but it's really about pride and having a good time.

I've won a few championships over the years, but the last two years have been a bit of struggle (poor drafts and injuries), but this year I've made it into the playoffs and have a good chance to win this week (I doubt I'll be able to go all the way).

Key to my playoff run has been Brian Westbrook of the Eagles and making a trade for Philip Rivers of the Chargers. My kickers have been solid as well (Akers of Philly and Bryant of Tampa Bay).

I'll keep you posted on my playoff progress.

In real football news, UT announced the hiring of Lane Kiffin to take Philip Fulmer's place. Fulmer has been loyal and generally done good things for the university and the team over the last 30 years or so. However, the quality of the team on the field is on a downward trajectory an its not like their off-field behavior or graduation rate makes up for it. My biggest complaint with him is that the players are no better as seniors than as sophomores. He recruits good talent but has lost the ability to develop them. All things must come to an end, quite frankly, the writing was on the wall about this last year. I wish him all the best.

Kiffin is a good, but not great hire. I don't know how much he was responsible for USC's offense or recruiting when he was there. I don't hold his short tenure with the RAIDERS against him because Al Davis has lost his fucking mind (but, that's for another post). I would imagine the head coaching experience in the NFL will be a selling point to recruits who see themselves going to that next level. Also, the organizational experience will help.

If he can up the graduation rate and start competing again with 'Bama, Florida and Georgia, I'll be happy. Otherwise, bring on the next guy.

Day After T-Day

I hope that you had a great day with family and friends yesterday. Things here went well.

The whole bird came out better than expected. I'd still do a couple of things differently if I make another one next year (e.g., more seasonings under the skin). All the sides came out great also, especially my mom's cranberry chutney.

No big surprises during the day. My m-i-l told the same stories that no one cares about, though for some reason my parents kept egging her on, thinking they were being polite. Had plenty, but not too much, to drink and also managed to watch a little bit of football, even though all of the games sucked.

Speaking of football, I apparently go to worried too early about Chris Johnson, as one of my key guys, Brian Westbrook of Philly, had an even better game. And one of my opponent's receivers, Anquan Boldin, didn't do so hot. No players in the other game that affects my playoff chances played yesterday.

Today's kind of laid back. The HB slept at the nephew's and my wife left this morning to get a pedicure with her sisters and s-i-l. The NZS is still sleeping and doesn't have football practice for another couple of hours. They have a playoff game tonight at home. He says his knee feels well enough to dress and play. Sitting on the sidelines has been KILLING him, so I hope he can see some action tonight.

I'll have a little bit of work to do as my overseas clients are all working today. But, nothing too serious. I'm guessing that the nephew might sleep over here tonight, which would be a-OK with me.

Happy Turkey Day

Got up this morning with a low grade hangover and started cooking my portion of Thanksgiving dinner (bird, stuffing and gravy). For whatever reason, the wife wanted the full bird this year. So, I had to make the stuffing early (as opposed to with the breast roast I normally make). The 14lb bird is roasting away and now I'm watching a bit of football before doing stage two on the extra stuffing (I'll make it into a casserole).

When everything is all done, the HB, NZS and I will head to my s-i-l's. My wife went with her earlier this morning to pick up their brother and his wife who are joining us today from ABQ on their way to Hawaii.

Football note--I need to win my fantasy football game and have another guy lose his. Unfortunately, one of my opponents running backs, Chris Johnson, is playing against Detroit, the worst defense in the league. Johnson has two touchdowns...and it's only the first quarter. This is not looking good.

I hope that you have a great Thanksgiving and have the chance to reflect on the good things in your life.

Old Friends

Compared to most people, I would say I have a lot of old friends. I mean, I still hang with guys I've known from elementary school and the wife and I started dating 25 years ago. Which isn't to say that I don't make great new friends, but once we're friends, you're stuck with me for a while.

A great old friend, let's call him Duncan, found me on Facebook a couple of weeks ago. When we were kids, Duncan and I were/are HUGE Monty Python fans, enjoyed similar enough music that we played in rock/blues bands together, etc. As I went to college and he didn't, we drifted apart. We lived in different places (though he lives about 1/2 mile from where we grew up now) and just lost touch. One time several years ago he came trick-or-treating with his young son at my parents' house when I happened to be visiting, but I'm sure that was the only time I saw him in the last 20 years.

After exchanging a message or two, we worked it out so we could have lunch yesterday. It was great. The connection between us was still there and we had ample time to get caught up. When I run into people from my past and all we do is talk about the old times, it's pretty obvious that there isn't much there. Duncan and I didn't talk about the old times hardly at all. We talked about our kids, work, music, sports, etc.

The night before Thanksgiving is on of the few times when the guys in my fantasy football team get together for a few beers. There are some guys in the league who know Duncan as well. Hopefully he'll join us.

Take Him Out to the Ball Game, Part II

Oh, some things I didn't mention about the Clippers game:

1) Clearly, they have a no visible tattoos/non-ear piercing policy with their dancers. Which I think only leaves about 50 in the city.

2) The enthusiasm in the crows was pathetic. I thought that the Clipper fans had that "Yeah, we're not front running Laker fans" chip on their shoulder. I got the feeling that half the people there were given tickets by people who only wanted to have the seats for the Lakers, and really didn't give a shit about the Clips. Given that Staples holds 20k, it was only half full, and only half of them were pulling for LA, there were only about 5k people cheering. Not good.

Take Him Out to the Ball Game

Yesterday, I happened upon a couple of tickets for the Clippers-Hornets game at Staples Center. The price was right (a nominal charitable donation), the tickets were awesome, and parking was included. Fortunately, the NZS didn't have evening football practice (the HB had no interest in going) so we went to the game.

One good thing about the timing of us hosting the NZS is that he already had a cadre of friends and was well-acclimated to being here. The (minor) bad thing is that he's got a pretty full schedule, so it's hard to fit in all the "LA" things that it would be cool for him to experience. This was a great opportunity to cross something off of the list (see an NBA game).

The NBA is popular in NZ, so he knows a lot of players besides those on the Lakers and Clippers. For some odd reason, he's a Denver Nuggets fan. And it was a treat watching Chris Paul play. He had some great lobs to Tyson Chandler (check this clip out at about the 20 second mark...and that wasn't even his best one).

It was a fun evening and gave us a chance to talk hoops, etc for a few hours. I hoping to get him to the Getty Museum and some other places (Vegas, Grand Canyon) during his last 6 weeks here.

Got Me Some Mangy Pussy

When my wife and the HB were leaving the house this morning to spend a good chunk of Sunday with my mil, they came across a very sad looking black cat in front of our house. It was totally exhausted (could barely keep its head up), had matted fur and ridden with mange. So, I called to find a shelter that was open on Sundays and went and got our rarely used dog carrier. About 30 minutes later (it was tired, but its flight reaction was still operational), we were able to corral the cat into the carrier and off to the shelter.

That was all well and good, but it put me and the NZS about an hour behind in heading to my brewing buddy's house. More on that in a bit. However, the big news was that it gave me the opportunity to take the NZS to Tommy's for the first time. He's had In-and-Out burgers, but, IMHO Tommy burgers are far superior. The NZS now agrees.

So, we grabbed some burgers and chili fries and headed to my brewing buddy's house. I like dark hoppy beers (stouts and porters), he tends to like lighter ones. Since we were at his house, I picked up stuff for a red bitter ale. I'll letchya know how it comes out, in about 2 months.

One cool thing about heading to his house is that he has the DirectTV Sunday ticket for the NFL games. He primarily has it because he and his wife are big Packer fans (she grew up in Oconomowoc, WI). Since the Pack isn't playing until tomorrow night, he wasn't married to any one game in particular. So, we dialed into the Sunday Ticket RedZone channel. Essentially, on this channel they switch to games where a team is about to score. As such, you get to see lots of improtant action and NO COMMERCIALS! It's the first time that I've really wanted to have Sunday Ticket. But, since it's a crapshoot as to whether I'm even home on Sundays, I'll still probably pass. Even with DVR, I still wouldn't get to see most of it.

Should be a good work week. Finally got some client data on Friday that I've been waiting for and I launched another survey in Asia about an hour ago. The HB has school tomorrow and and half-day on Tuesday.

The NZS is off all week, but his football team crushed during their first round playoff game on Friday night, meaning they have another one this Friday, so he'll have practice and physical therapy all week. He called me right after their playoff game and they were very psyched, espcially considering the nearly 3 hour bus ride they had to get there. He really enjoys the comaradarie of being on a team so this was a big thrill for him.

Tutoring

I really enjoy my Rotary Club's tutoring program at a local school. It's fun to do and it makes at least a small difference for the kids and the teacher.

Fortunately, I get to work with the same teacher as I did last year. You can tell the difference a new year makes in her face. A little more makeup and a little less stressed. We'll see how long that lasts.

She sent me this last week after the assignments were made:

"hi chat! i was so happy to see that you were assigned to me, and hadn't requested to change rooms. my kids did fantastically on last year's spring testing, thanks in part to you. 92% passed the math portion, and 76% scored Advanced! that's what i like to see.
unfortunately, this year i have a very low bunch. however, they are low not because they are not capable, instead because they are very, lazy and uninspired. so, just to give you the heads up. i have made some inroads, but is is drudgery.
your son is in 4th this year no?"

Yikes. Forget about the compliments, but a teacher describing a room of 4th graders as lazy and uninspired!? Now, it is entirely possible that this description is spot on and with 30-some students she has a big job. I think it shows the challenges that LAUSD teachers face. Still, the lack of optimism is troubling. I would think that an effective teacher needs to have on at least slightly rose-tinted glasses. Not in terms of a students current ability level, but when viewing their potential to succeed.

I worked with a girl today on negative numbers. She's interested in science, so we did examples of adding and subtracting temperatures to help her understand how it works. Though, I think when we used examples of owing her parents allowance money because she borrowed some to buy a game made a little more sense to her. She seemed genuinely excited when it stated sinking in.

When Intentions Become Clear

I always thought that Hillary Clinton was a carpetbagging opportunist who REALLY just wanted to be president and made this a primary consideration in all of her public actions. If she was that interested in serving constituents in the Senate (as opposed to using it as a springboard to the White House) she would have run in a state where she actually lived, like Arkansas or Illinois (now THAT would have been irony). Instead, she ran in New York because of its higher profile.

Now that it's become clear that she doesn't think that being in the Senate will get her elected president in 2016 and that she thinks what torpedoed her candidacy was her lack of foreign policy experience. So, she's looking to be secretary of state so she can get her overseas bona fides in place in case Obama doesn't get re-elected. My guess is that New Yorkers knew that this kind of big FUCK YOU was coming and won't be too upset about it.

What happened to her passion for health care and women's issues? Wouldn't being secretary of Health and Human Services make more sense? Ah, that position lacks prestige and is less presidential (though no one has gone from the cabinent to president in the last two hundred years). And being Sec of State would make her #4 in succession.

LA's Burning...Again

As I'm sure you've read by now, the LA area has more fires. Lots more. When I got my paper this morning the ground was covered with a film of ash and the air smelled like cigarettes. The sun's now filtered orange through a thick sky.

What makes these fires worse than the ones last month is that they are in populated areas, as opposed to remote canyons. They've been burning everything from over-the-top expensive houses south of Santa Barbara, to middle class housing tracks in Orange County to mobile home parks in north LA. It's bad.

Fortunately, the winds have died down so the firefighters should have the chanced to get a handle on them today. But, it's still going to be hot and windy. They've got a battle on their hands.

With this as a backdrop, the wife and went to the dinner at Spago last night. We rode with my parents, so we were able to chat with them about their 50th anniversary, which is next August and do some planning for it.

At the party, we saw some of my dad's cousins from Philly (very east coast snobby). When I worked for my uncle one summer, I used to stay at one of the cousins' house on some weekends (he had daughters about my age), so it was great to see him and his second wife (the first died several years ago).

The food was great. We had crab cakes (even my wife had some--only the 3rd time I've seen seafood cross her lips), tuna tartar and fancy pizza as appetizers (with some scotch from the open bar). I had butternut squash soup and bass in an awesome sauce. She had a layered beet/cheese and short ribs on polenta. I was sad when I had to poop this morning.

Foodie Nirvana, etc.

Tonight we're going to an anniversary party. It's the 40th for a cousin of a cousin (or some such) and her husband. hey are total foodies, so they are having it at Spago. The wife and I have been to a few of Puck's other restaurants (always great), but this is our first time at the flagship. I'm looking forward to it. In fact, I was telling Lola that I might binge-and-purge while we are there so I can eat more. I promise a full report tomorrow.

In HS football news, the NZS's team won last night, making them co-champs of their league. He was pretty psyched for his mates (his knee still hurts too much to dress) and also excited about the possibility of playing in an upcoming playoff game or two. Right now he has a bug up his ass to go to school in the US, so he's finding colleges that don't require SATs etc with the hope that he can walk on to play soccer and get a scholarship. We'll see about that.

On the home front, my mil is being a complete pain in the ass. She's got BAD emphesema (years of smoking Camels where it didn't matter which end was lit). She's always seen herself as the queen of the family, but she has not loyal subjects. She's a constant complainer and lives in the (60 years) past. Several months ago, my wife and her sibs FINALLY convinced her that she needed live-in help (she's on 24/7 oxygen and doesn't have the strength to cook or bathe). The woman who is with her (let's call her Phyllis) most of the time seems nice enough and competent (keeps my mil clean, fed and on her meds) but all my mil does is bitch about her. And lately she's been getting what my wife says is verbally abuse.

Now, my mil seems to think she can make it on her own when Phyllis takes her every-other-month 8 day vacation. Fat fucking chance. Just what we need right before Thanksgiving. She'd be even crankier and bitchier since she'd be off of her Prozac for a week and she'd stink. Plus, my wife would be miserable since she'd be driving down there every other day as her mom calls because she can't find her shoes or to bitch about something else. I try not to drink too much in front of the HB and NZS, but thatwould put me over the edge on Thanksgiving. Fuck.

Lining Up at the Trough

Let's say that you run a shitty business. It's your own fault. But, suddenly you see other people whose businesses are doing poorly getting government money. What do you do? Line up to get yours, of course.

The geniuses in Detroit are conniving to get bank bail-out money to help prop up their poorly run dinosaurs because they can. Never mind that US automakers have been losing market share since the 70s. Sure, this downturn is another kick in the teeth for them, but it's their own fucking fault. When gas prices spiked during the Iranian hostage crisis they could have said, "Shit, this ain't the last time this is going to happen. Let's make all of our cars more fuel efficient." Instead, they made a bunch of crappy small cars while Toyota and Datsun/Nissan made good ones and kept grinding out big pig cars. Sure, those made them some money in the short run, but for now they are screwed.

The other thing that kills me is how they are BEGGING the government for money, but cry like spoiled children when the government asks them to reduce emissions or improve fuel efficiency (no matter that their Asian cousins don't seem to have a problem with this). There is no good reason to prop these companies up. The politicians who carry their water will say, "There are too many good jobs in the industry and that support it to let them fail." What a bunch of bullshit. If one of the big 3 goes under, another (profitable) car company will buy their assets and use them more efficiently. It's not like the long term demand for cars in the world is going down. It's just that these people will make cars and parts for another company. And, most likely, without the UAW. I don't think the democrats in Michigan, Ohio, etc want to see one of their biggest patrons go downhill any further.

This also provides prez-elect Obama (or, more specifically, his arm twister Rahm Emmanuel) with an interesting test. Henry Waxman, chief noodge in the House, currently chairs the house oversight committee. They've been spending the last two years slapping the bushies on the wrist for past bad deeds. Waxman has made it known that he would like to head up the energy and commerce committee, which is currently chaired by John Dingell of Michigan. Dingell is a notorious apologist for the automakers and has used his position to consistently block tighter emission and gas mileage standards, or anything else his patrons think might be bad for them. He's been sucking at that tit for a loooooooooooong time and he has seniority on the committee. And congress luhvs their seniority rights.

If Obama is serious about his environmental agenda, Dingell is the wrong person to head that committee. Obviously, the prez-elect isn't going to burn big political capital on a fight that's not really his and piss off half of the democrats he needs to work with. But, it is an opportunity to see how much influence he has over the new congress.

Now We're Cookin'

I swear, it was practically raining money on me today. Four, count 'em 4, projects large and small came through today. Amazing. It means I get to go to Chicago (in the middle of winter, yech) and maybe Kalamazoo (where I guess it's pretty much winter from Labor Day until Memorial Day). So, we'll see.

As I've probably mentioned before, I love cooking. It's a good break in my day and I've always believed that to eat well you need to cook well. This is not to suggest that I'm some sort of FABULOUS cook, but we have more than a 4 meal rotation list and nobody's starving here.

So, I get a bug up my ass to make soup. So, I buy stuff to make vegetable stock (about 90 minutes of prep and cooking) and other ingredients for Pasta e Fagioli (another 45 min). Over two hours later I have some pretty damn good soup. Two hours better than opening up a can. You bet your ass. Fortunately, I don't always have that much time to kill.

Tonight, burritos with guacamole. Maybe some Mexican rice and frijoles negro as well. Wonder if we have any sweet-and-sour for margaritas.

When in Rome

So, you're looking for a dishwasher job in LA. Let's say you're from Nicaragua or El Salvador. So, to get this job, you try to act more like an Angeleno. Bad call. Better to try and pass as Mexican.

It's an interesting article in that it challenges our notion of culture in a pluralistic part of the country. In LA, whites, African-Americans and Mexican-Americans have been exchanging culture for years, so it shouldn't be a surprise that Latino cultures in LA would do the same. However, in LA the implications are larger due to the size of the Latino population. Is a trans-Hispania culture developing in the shadows of the skyscrapers?

Of course, these transformations always occur when cultures mingle (well, perhaps with the exception of the balkan-like city of Boston), but we (I?) always assume it happens between the majority community and a minority one, rather than between minority communities. Then again, who's to say who is the majority community here.

Tienen un gran día.

Award for My Mom

Yesterday, the temple my parents belong to gave my mom what amounts to a lifetime achievement award. You gotta believe me when I tell you that it's well deserved. They've belonged there for over 40 years and she's held just about every volunteer position, including being the first female president of the congregation. Even my brother flew out for it.

There was a nice program and lunch (salmon and talapia) and she seemed generally touched by it all. I hope that I'm as good of a volunteer role model to the HB as my parents were to me and my brother.

Afterwards, we went and saw Madagascar 2, which was surprisingly good. Most kid movie sequels suck, but this one was worth seeing. The HB and NZS enjoyed it as well.

All Night Long

Not what you are thinking. I WORKED all night long (well, till about 3:30am). Had a ton to do and not much time in which to do it. So now I'm operating on about 3.5 hours of sleep and I get to chase the HB around this afternoon as he's off of school for parent-teacher conferences. Yes, they'll continue to cash our checks.

Tonight is Seniors' Night for the NZS and the rest of the football team. He asked me to be his 'parent' on the field. I was truly touched.

In other NZS news, my wife and I talked about bringing in another one next fall. I think she's a tad more into now than when he moved it, but the HB and I are psyched, so we'll probably do it. She is rooting for a girl in 2010, though.

Wednesday was the 25th anniversary of mine and my wife's first date (awwwwwww). We arranged for my parents to watch the HB and we had a pretty good Italian dinner (bruchsetta, pumpkin soup, pasta with salmon in vodka sauce, pumpkin ravioli and plenty of chianti)l 25 years seems very long and very short at the same time.

Fulmer is Out

University of Tennessee head coach Philip Fulmer announced that he had accepted the university's decision not to bring him back next year. Did he really have a choice? He'll probably get an athletic department job to go with his $6,000,000 buyout.

My thought about Fulmer is that he had a great ride and the university should keep him around, but he's just not an effective head coach anymore. In the mid-late 90's UT competed for a national title ever year, which is all you can ask for as a fan. But, he hasn't won the SEC since 98 and the last two years the team has been struggling to compete in the SEC east, let along for a national title. Also, they've had significant off the field problems with the players, which definitely hurts. It's also been frustrating that he hasn't developed the players much after they get there. Their recent quarterbacks didn't seem any better as seniors than they were as sophomores.

The name I keep hearing as a replacement is Will Muschamp, Texas's defensive coordinator as he has deep SEC roots. Given how well Urbn Mayer has done at Florida, I wouldn't mind seeing a guy from a successful non-BCS team (e.g., Boise, Utah, BYU, TCU, etc). I'm not sure it's best for a guy's first head coachiing job to be in the SEC, particularly at a school that expects to win.

Loyalty is a tough nut in college football and there's a lot that makes a program successful. Fulmer dedication and loyalty to the school cannot be questioned, but the overall results can be. It was just time for a change.

The Day After

OK, raise your hands if you thought the presidential election was going to be close. I was telling anyone who would listen last week that it would be a rout, and it was. I'm not going to go on, and on, and on about the election, but a few observations:

1) I love when a campaign is losing in the polls near the end starts saying shit like, "Well, we think the polls are wrong." Really? Those things that you completely used to construct your campaign are now suddenly worthless? Were they wrong when you picked a completely unqualified person to be be veep? Just checking.

2) The "logical" leaps made from the primaries now seem even more ridiculous. Remember when the Clinton supporters were making the argument to the super delegates that they should vote for her because she, and only she, could win in blue-collar states? I'm seeing a lot of blue in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. The only major demographic group that Obama lost were white men and they haven't gone democratic in 40 years.

3) Young people actually voted. Every campaign that lost last time around talks about getting "their" voters to the polls next time. Obama clearly made the democratic pie bigger. If his first term sucks, it will completely turn off a generation of young voters the same way LBJ did to JFK's youth vote.

I'm pissed that Prop 8 failed here. Now comes the court challenges, etc. The only silver lining is that the margin was much smaller than the last time such a thing was on the ballot. Here's the kicker--it was the minority vote that put it over the top. Nothing like people who struggled to gain civil rights denying them to others. Especially on this night.

Halloween Recap

Gheeze...how could I have forgotten this? I'm not one to wax about how I wish the HB stayed a certain age, but I will be bummed when he doesn't want me to trick-or-treat with him anymore.

We started (as we usually do) at our neighbors' for an early dinner. Then we linked up with some of his buddies (one of their moms joined us) and hit the street (I had a red go-cup full of wine). The HB was dressed up as a nerd zombie (had to be seen) and me as a tourist.

There were some cool haunted houses and another neighbor gave the HB a HUGE Hershey bar. He knocked off a bit earlier than usual, which gave me a chance to catch the end of the NZS's football game (the lost in a battle for first place in their league). But, he had a great time, and that's what counts.

With the house decorated, the pumpkins, the dressing up and the lack of presents, I'm still very much of the opinion that Halloween kicks ass over xmas.

California Voting

Shit! A week since I blogged? While I'm obviously not slavish about it, that's waaaaaaaay too long and I apologize.

Ever since I turned 18, I've been very serious about voting. I believe being informed about the issues and casting a ballot is a sacred right in our democracy.

So, here's how I'm voting on Tuesday:

President--Bob Barr. Yes, he's late to the Libertarian philosophy, but better late than never.

In California we have ballot propositions. Basically, anyone who can gather enough signatures can get one of these on the ballot. Oh, and they can only cover one issue. Some of our country's biggest political movements (for better or for worse) have started with the initiative process.

Prop 1a

• 1A - California High Speed Rail Bond. S.B. 1856. As usual, transportation propositions sound attractive since our traffic is so bad. My question for this one is, if building high-speed rail through the state is such a great idea (e.g., people will take it and will be self-sufficient), where's the private money to start such a venture? NO
  
• 2 - Treatment of Farm Animals. Again, let the market decide, just like there is now a market for organic food. Besides, the state can't even police working conditions for migrant farm workers. Now we're going to ask it to do the same for farm animals? NO
  
• 3 - Children's Hospital Bond Act. Grant Program. Statute. A favorite strategy of initiative proponents is to float bond measures (e.g., borrow money) instead of raising taxes to pay for their projects. While technically true, money has to come out of the budget to pay the principle and interest on these bonds, and taxes may eventually have to be raised to do so. With very few exceptions, I think that is immoral to pay for our projects with our kids' money. Two hospitals near me have been shut down recently and this bond wants to bill more? I don't think building more is the answer. NO
  
• 4 - Waiting Period and Parental Notification Before Termination of Minor's Pregnancy. Constitutional Amendment. (third attempt at Proposition 73). These anti-choice people just can't take no for an answer. Whether a minor informs her parents about getting an abortion is none of the state's business. Period. No
  
• 5 - Nonviolent Offenders. Sentencing, Parole and Rehabilitation. Statute. Drug use should not be a crime. Putting non-violent drug offenders in jail is stupid and a waste of money, particularly when you consider how crowded CA prisons are. This prop will save money and take a step towards a more rational approach to drug users in the state. YES
  
• 6 - Criminal Penalties and Laws. Public Safety Funding. Statute. This is one of the propositions that gets on the ballot because the state legislature can't effectively do its job of passing important bills (see #11). There are some things I like about this bill and others that I don't. However, since it has written into it that it would require a 3/4 percent vote to repeal, I say NO.
  
• 7 - Renewable Energy. Statute. Normally, I would support this because the big utility companies are against it, so it must be a threat. However, the initiative will drive out smaller renewable energy companies (who are likely to be the most innovative) and would require a 2/3 vote to repeal. NO
  
• 8 - Eliminates the Rights of Same-Sex Couples to Marry. Initiative Constitutional Amendment. The campaign for this initiative is hilarious in that neither side mentions gay people wanting to get married. It's all about whether the school will have to teach about gays and lesbians getting married and crap like that. All of the agents of intolerance in our state (and out of it) are in favor of this proposition. Why? Because they think same-sex sex is gross and they think it goes agisnt the bible. When they start shopping at the kosher butcher I'll start taking them seriously. Everyone should have the right to marry whomever they love. Period. No, NO and HELL NO on this proposition.
  
• 9 - Criminal Justice System. Victims' Rights. Parole. Constitutional Amendment and Statute. This initiative puts emotion into our justice system. Not a good idea. NO.
  
• 10 - Alternative Fuel Vehicles and Renewable Energy. Statute. It's got a great name, but it takes money out of the budget for private purposes. Oh, and by the way, the ports in Long Beach and LA worked out a similar deal for their truckers without there being a law. What a concept. NO.
  
• 11 - Redistricting. Constitutional Amendment and Statute. Every 10 years in CA, sitting members of the lesislature get together and draw up congressional and state voting districts based on the census. What they do during this blatantly political exercise is design "safe" districts for each other (large majorities of dems or reps). This has had several bad effects in Sacramento. First, it allows the extreme views of both parties to win elections because those running know they don't have to appeal to centrists. Second, the reps got themselves enough safe districts so they can obstruct the CA budget which requires a 3/4 majority to pass. The process for choosing this non-partisan group to draw the boundaries may be imperfect, but what we have now sucks. The only official opponents of this measure are those politicians and groups who have a strong intereste in the status quo. YES.
  
• 12 - Veterans' Bond Act of 2008. S.B. 1572. We're in debt with a bad housing market and we're going to give one group of people easy credit to buy houses? Isn't this part of what got us in this mess? NO
  

Whatever's going on in your state, please vote on Tuesday. I'm going to bring the HB and NZS with me to the polls. Teach your children well.

Awesome Football Day

During college football season, some Saturdays are blah. No good teams play each other. This is NOT one of the those weekends. The outcome of today's games won't determine who will go to the BCS bowl games, but it will have a lot to say about who doesn't go.

Right now I'm watching undefeated #8 Texas Tech play #23 Kansas (big bowl game winners from last year. Lots of points are going to be scored in this one. I like the upstart Red Raiders in this one.

The two best teams in both the Big 10 (Ohio State and Penn State) and Pac 10 (USC and Arizona) play tonight. Next to the Vols (and I'll get to them in a minute), USC is my fave college football team (probably because they were so good when I was a kid), so I'll be rooting for them. My dad went to Penn State and I'm tired of watching Ohio State get their asses kicked in the BCS championship game. So, I say go Nitany Lions. Of course, an Ohio State loss would not knock them out of the Rose Bowl (the Rose Bowl loves keeping Big 10 vs. Pac 10 matchups, no matter what, like last year when Illinois was fed to USC). This could setup another USC-Ohio State matchup, which would suck.

The Vols play their biggest rival, #2 Alabama, at home tonight. On paper, 'Bama should crush them. But, like beating Georgia last year, ya just never know with the Vols. Beating the Tide would definitely make their season (and, unfortunately, save Fulmer's job).

#7 Georgia plays at #13 LSU in what is essentially an SEC playoff game. The team that loses will have a tough time making it to the SEC championship game. Georgia hasn't been playing that well, and LSU's gotta be pissed over the ass kicking Florida gave them. I think the Tigers will take are of business at home.

#1 Texas is at #6 Oklahoma State. Texas controls their own destiny for the Big 12 championship game and the BCS championship. OK State become a real player with a win and would throw the BCS rankings into a tizzy. But, right now Texas is just playing too well, and I think the Longhorns will win.

Game 3 of the World Series is scheduled for tonight, but there's a good chance it will be rained out, so there will be more time to watch football and more WS when there's no football--woot!

Hookey Day

The HB and I made it to the golf course today. It was a short, nine-hole par-3, hard against the freeway. He was psyched as he had a new bag of clubs (well, new to him, I got them from a buddy who used them when teaching his son to play) and got to play of a "real" course. He seemed to have a good time and was hitting the ball better until he got a blister on his right hand (which is odd since he's a right handed golfer). So, I wrapped up the last few holes and we got him a golf glove later in the day.

Since the NZS wasn't suiting up tonight, we didn't go to his school's football game (which they won). Rather, we grabbed some dinner and went to the LA County Museum of Art, where they have jazz on Friday nights. It wasn't until we saw the banners than I remembered there was an exhibit of Vanity Fair covers. I figured this would be a good diversion for the HB (he'd recognize at least some of them) as there was not way he was going to sit for the music for more than 30 min at a time.

So, we listened to a set and checked out the exhibit. I promised him I would tell him who all the famous people were. Most were pretty easy, and there were a few "teaching" moments, like when we came across photos of Jesse Owens and Ernest Hemmingway. We listened to a bit more music, then grabbed one of the to-die-for brownies (for the wife after she got home, of course) and headed home.

Sleeping in tomorrow would be nice, but I'm not holding my breath.

More Bachelor Days

The wife's been out of town the last couple of days (she gets back tonight) and the HB, NZS and I have been making the most of it. Catching both World Series games (can someone tell me what happened to the Phillies hitting with runners on base?) and enjoying seafood extravaganzas (grilled salmon with ginger, cumin and garlic last night), etc.

The NZS has tendonosis in his knee, so I think his short-lived high school football career is over. Not because the injury is serious, but because soccer is really his sport and he'll want to get physical therapy and rest it for that season.

To take advantage of a day off, I promised the HB that I'd take him golfing for the first time. We've gone to the driving range a few times and he seems excited about getting on a real (par 3) course. If he likes it, then he'll get to enjoy the lifetime of frustration that is the game of golf.

World Series

Here's my third (and final) post of the night, so you may need to read further down.

By the time this gets posted it will be after the game's over, but right after I get done watching the first game of the World Series on DVR. I do want to go on record saying that I'm pulling for the Phillies. Nothing against the Rays, who vanquished the hated Red Sox, but not only do I have lots of family in Philly, but it's been forever since their sports teams won anything.

Now, you're saying, "But Chat, the Rays have never even BEEN to the World Series. Doesn't that count for something?" and you'd be right. Here's the thing. The Rays have only had 9 years of futility, but the Lightning won the Stanley Cup in 2004, so folks in Tampa are not exactly long suffering for a championship.

Philly has teams in the major 4 professional sports. They have not won a championship since 1983. That's 103 seasons of not bringing home the big prize. Only Cleveland, with probably the most heart wrenching defeats, has more at 158 seasons. The only other cities that can even enter the long suffering argument are Buffalo (80 seasons with two teams), San Diego (90 seasons with 3 teams if you include the Clipper years) and Seattle (92 seasons with 3 teams, and they don't even have the Sonics--who won the only championship--around anymore).

So, you nasty, cynical, we'll-boo-Santa Claus mutherfuckers, I'm with ya in this one. I even whipped up cheesteaks tonight with the HB to lend moral support. If that doesn't work, I'll hunt down some Tastykakes.

Tonight's result: Phillies 3, Rays 2.

What's Important For Nov. 4th?

Now that we are (finally) getting to the end of the campaign season, it is even more interesting (to me, at least) reading the election coverage. Most of what I see, even on right leaning websites/papers, is that McCain's campaign is circling the drain. There aren't any states that Kerry won on '04 that have flipped, while Obama has put several in his category, particularly in the upper midwest. The surest sign of a campaign in trouble is when they start talking about the inaccuracy of the polls, or pretending that relatively large differences (like the 6-8 percentage point spread in PA) don't exist.

So, the media is starting to focus on why the McCain campaign didn't really catch on. Was it him? The economy? People getting sick of the republicans? Or, all of the above? One thing is for sure, the media has not quit getting in their whacks on Sara Palin.

There was a story in today's NY Times about her billing the campaign for her shopping trips in NYC (I guess you gotta go to faux America to buy the good stuff). The story also outlines her habit of getting free family travel courtesy of the Alaska taxpayers.

The key question is whether Obama, Biden and McCain bill their respective campaigns for equally frivolous things or, it is a better story when a woman bills her campaign for clothes and makeup. Though, to be fair, Bill Clinton's and John Edwards's expensive haircuts made big news as well. Regardless, you get the feeling that the coverage of her is like kicking dirt on a coffin. Then again, she seems to be shovelling as fast as anyone.

Back from Vegas, Baby

I got back from Vegas last night. All I had was dial-up in my room (the high speed was, like most everything else there, ridiculously priced), so blogging would have been tough.

The reason for my visit was to present at a conference. I had a less than desirable spot (3-4:30pm), but still had a packed room. I'm thinking all of these folks got their asses handed to them at the tables (hm...sorta like I did). The talk went well. Lots of good questions and I had a lot of energy. I doubt that I got any clients out of it, but who knows.

I really enjoy the people who go to this conference, so a bunch of us got together for a great dinner at Chinois (where we kept an eye on the Rays beating the Sox...heh) on Sunday night and some gambling on Sunday. After the meeting Monday morning, most of my buds headed out of town. So, I pretty much went solo. I played some cards with some fun folks from the midwest and hung out in a dive bar to watch Monday Night Football. The bartender was smokin' hot and guys were crawling over each other to hit on her...very funny stuff. My presentation was on Tuesday and I left town immediately after as I was able to get on an earlier flight.

The NZS wants to see Vegas before he leaves in January. I can see the interest, but there really won't be much for him and the HB to do there. But, it will be cool for him to see it, so we'll make the trip and then probably go see the Grand Canyon as well.

RIP

I went to the memorial service today for a guy in my Rotary Club. He'd been a member for about 12 years, but there isn't anyone more committed to the youth in our community than him. The large church was jam packed, as I figured that it would be. There were many eulogies, including two wonderful ones by his eldest daughter and a life long friend.

For obvious reasons, when I go, I wouldn't want a big memorial like that. Hopefully, I'll have enough money to my name so that my next of kin can buy all my friends a drink (or three) in my memory.

I guess there's always someone who introduces a food to a community. Sure, it's probably not the person who invented it, but someone has to take credit. Ever wanted to know who brought nachos to the attention of LA? That would be Carmen Rocha (maybe) who died earlier in the week. So, get some chips, jalapenos and queso, OK?

School Daze

Today I spent 3 hours on the campus of the middle school where the HB would attend if we didn't have him in private school. There's a group of local parents who are trying to improve the local schools, including this one, so that more local kids will attend them. I'm here to say that they are failing.

I found a classroom nearly bereft of computers and other learning aids. Not only that, the walls were almost bare. Very few group projects (although one seemed to be based on a local pizza place's menu) or other evidence of creative thinking. When the students got unruly when I was speaking, as the guest I had to bring order as the teacher (who was essentially having a vacation day) couldn't be bothered.

At lunch we ate in the teacher's lounge. Lots of posters about UTLA goings on, but, like the website, nothing about improving the quality of education. OK, if you got to the BOTTOM of the webpage there is some information about professional development.

I'd rather not spend the money on private school, but I think that's going to continue to be in the cards.

Tonight we went to the NZS's football game. I gotta say, the team impressed me. The fell behind 17-0, but came back to win 35-17--on the road. Once they cut down on the turnovers and protected their QB, things really turned. The only bad part was that the NZS didn't play (bum knee).

Tomorrow the HB starts on a new theater production. This is a good thing. He's got a bit too much time on his hands during the weekends. Unfortch, while he's there I need to got to a memorial for a guy in my Rotary Club. We didn't always see eye-to-eye, but he cared about the kids in our neighborhood like nobody else. He's already missed.

Health Care, etc.

As a general rule, I like reading the LA Times. Pretty in-depth, has adjusted well to the electronic age, etc. Sometimes they do some goofy things, like putting an article about Howard Stern on the front page, like they did today. However, they got it right in today's Health Section. It outlines McCain' and Obama's health care ideas and research and commentary around them. Pretty interesting stuff. OK, not interesting, but probably worth knowing.

As you probably know by now, the annual fall fires are burning in SoCal. Some are in LA city proper while others are in the 'burbs. None are close to our house, but you can smell the ash in the air and my throat feels a bit scratchy. It sounds weird, but one of them is in a rural part of the city (Chatsworth) where people raise horses, etc. I'm watching some amazing pictures of people hanging out by huge flames. Very weird.

Ugh...I'm beat and going to bed.

Kid Stuff

Earlier in the week, we decided that we would get the HB some sort of clubhouse for him and his buddies to hangout in. I'm reasonably handy, so i figured if we got some sort of kit we could get it up in a couple of hours. There's a place off of the freeway near here that advertises such shit, so we went to their website to check stuff out. Gheezuhs-fucking christ is that stuff expensive! $3k is just way too much to spend. Then we check out the prices of just buying some wood and doing it ourselves, and that was still a lot of money and had clusterfuck written all over it.

Plan B involved looking for some sort of fancy tent like structure. Camping tents that were tall enough had too big of a footprint, so that was a no-go. So, we found a canopy that fit the bill. We figured we could buy some extra sheets or something to give them more privacy. So, we set the thing about pretty quick yesterday afternoon and it seemed to work fine. It came with HUGE stakes that we didnt' really want to put through our weed guard, so we went without since we live in a place with very little extreme weather. Of course, last night, just as we're starting to have sex ('natch) the wind kicks up and starts blowing the bastard all over the place. I'm going to go buy some small stakes today.

We went to the NZS's football game last night. It was homecoming and the HB seemed to enjoy the whole spectacle, which was kind of surprising. However, the MOST surprising thing was the the homecoming king was the DRUM MAJOR. A band geek as homecoming king? Times have definitely changed since I went to HS.

Oh, and the kitchen remodel guy's coming today. This'll be fun (NOT).

Homecoming

Tonight is the NZS's homecoming football game. Now that his knee is healthy enough for him to play, he's asked the wife and I several times if we're going to the game. I'd go no matter what (I've been to some where he hasn't played), but this is the exchange student-mom test for her as she detests football. But, we'll meet some friends there so it shouldn't be too horrible for her. Although, come to think of it, I don't think she's ever been to a football game and not drank a bunch of vodka. I guess there's a first for everything.

I couldn't get myself to watch the Dodgers-Phillies game last night. I guess I'm still a few days away from watching baseball again.

Work is going fine. So far, no cancellations based on the economy (yet) and a new project keeps chugging along. We'll just keep our fingers crossed.

The Return of Dante

Loyal readers remember that my wife and I talked about remodeling our kitchen. Well, it turns out that a woman my wife works with just got theirs redone, it's of a similar size and it all happened in less than two weeks. She checked it out and was satisfied with the quality and now we have the contractor coming on Saturday.

Now, it's just a matter of time as to how often she changes her mind about what she wants done between now and then and between when he comes and we actually order anything.

Angels Lose to Red Sox...Again

OK, now that some time's passed, I think I can write about this.

FUCK!!!!

When I was a kid, the Angels SUCKED. Less than 10,000 people would go to Fan Appreciation Night. But, my brother and I would always get my parents to take us the games. I loved baseball, and the Angels were my team.

In the 80's, they got moderately good, especially in 1986. Most people remember that year as Bill Buckner letting the ball go through his legs enabling the Mets to win the World Series over the Red Sox. For Angel fans, it's the year Donnie Moore gave up the home run to Dave Henderson in game 4 when the Angels were one strike away from going to the World Series (Moore was so distraught that he later killed himself).

Now, the Angels are good. They go to the playoffs almost every year and they won their first World Series in 2002. However, since that great year, they've flamed out in the playoffs (normally, against the Red Sox). Last year they had a lot of injuries, but this year they had no excuses. They team was healthy and rested since they wrapped up the division so early. And they were playing well the last two weeks of the season.

They weren't aggressive enough at the plate in game one, and their pitching let them down in game two. In game 3 they showed some grit and came from behind to win in extra innings. All they needed was the same kind of effort in game 4 to play the deciding game five at home. They fought and came from behind and had a chance to win in the 9th, but lost in the bottom of the inning. What happend?

It's no accident that they Angels have been this good for this long because Mike Soscia is their manager. He brings a smart brand of aggressive baseball and has been able to teach it throughout the organization. But, in game 4, he made a strategic blunder when he had Aybar squeeze with Willits on 3rd and one out. Why?

Strategically, the Red Sox were better off with runners on first and third and one out, so they were not going to throw Aybar a strike. Terry Francona (the Red Sox manager) also knew that Socscia likes squeeze bunts (the player on third breaking for home while the batter bunts the ball). So, instead of intentionally walking Aybar, he had his pitcher throw pitches high and inside, which are very difficult to bunt. This is what happend for the first two pitches.

Then, inexplicably, since it was obvious what the Red Sox were doing, Soscia puts on the squeeze play. Aybar misses the ball and Willits gets tagged out. So much for the rally and the game's still tied.

So, instead of a one-run lead (assuming that after the walk to Aybar, Chone Figgins would do something good--he was 2-4 in the game and is generally too fast to hit into double-plays) and the best closer in baseball, Frankie Rodriguez, in to pitch the 9th, the Angels have to go with their setup pitcher, Scott Shields, who had pitched 2+ innings the night before. I don't want to recap the rest, but it was the Red Sox celebrating at the end.

I fear that the Angels are turning into the Braves of the 90s--good enough to go to the playoffs each year, but missing that extra spark to win it all. Given how sucky the Angels were when I was a kid, writing that sentence almost seems like heresay. But, when they have the best team in the league as they did this year, another first round flame-out is frustrating.

FUCK.

Comrade McCain

I watched the beginning of tonight's debate while exercising. At this point, Obama's strategy is obvious: 1) Play the cool, thoughtful guy 2) Be forceful on foreign policy 3) Make McCain catch you and don't be baited into insults. If doing those three things makes for a successful debate for Obama, then he did his job.

Obviously tired of being tagged as Bush Jr., McCain busted out with a proposed a program that would buy mortgages from homeowners facing financial problems and replace those mortgages with new, fixed-rate mortgages. His campaign said it would cost roughly $300 billion. I'm assuming that this is on top of the $850,000,000,000 that both he and Obama gave the thumbs up to last week. McCain made the point that this thing was his idea.

Note that on March 26th McCain was singing a completely different tune and last week his veep nominee said, "Patriotic is saying, government, you know, you're not always the solution. In fact, too often you're the problem so, government, .... get out of the way and let the private sector and our families grow and thrive and prosper." I guess that's except when your candidate is desperate. Talk about your flip-flopping.

More importantly, one has to ask Mr. McCain whether or not he truly believes in capitalism or central government planning of the economy. On one hand, he thinks that the free market will lower health care costs and improve quality, but on the other that that it won't fix the financial markets. So, if he were president and a lot of hospitals began to shut down, would he have the government buy them and run the health care system?

It amazes me how quickly the republicans run from their principles. Bush was all about choosing judges that strictly interpret the constitution, then looks for as many ways as possible to circumvent it in the war on terror. McCain espouses free markets, until he's behind in an election. Idiots.

Campaign Irony

Those of us of a certain age remember that when Reagan ran for president that he would use Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA at his rallies. That was, of course, until his campaign figured out that it's not exactly the rah-rah U-S-A, U-S-A song they thought it was.

Well, it turns out that McCain's campaign isn't any smarter as they are using the Martina McBride song Independence Day when introducing Sarah Palin. Y'know, the song where the woman's sick of the abuse from her husband and burns down the house with him in it? Yup, so Peters is going to donate her royalties from the song when it's played during election season to Planned Parenthood. Nice.

There's another debate tonight. I doubt that I'll watch it live. But, since the polls are going against McCain for now, I would imagine he's going to be playing the "character" card pretty hard. Of course, Obama's too much of a gentleman (for now) to respond with, "So John, tell me when you decided to quit cheating on your wife who was in a horrific car wreck and just divorce her and leave her with 4 kids?"

Monday Morning

I really mean to post yesterday, but after getting very little sleep while camping (typical), I took a big ol' nap yesterday afternoon and then went to my parents' for dinner (yum....brisket!).

Camping was a blast. The HB had a good time with the other boys and we did some hiking and bike riding. I went mountain biking with a couple of the other dads. The weather was cooler than expected, but one afternoon when we went to the beach we saw some dolphins. We also heard coyotes at night, so it was quite the Mutual of Omaha weekend.

Last week we encouraged the HB to buy the computer game Spore. Installing it was a bitch because the computer he uses doesn't have a DVD reader. So, I had to upload some files and put others on a flash drive just to get it loaded. Then it informed me that the video card was woefully inadequate. So, after getting back yesterday we went to Fry's and got a new video card and now it works fine. He seems to dig it and should be fun for him. It'll allow him to merge the creative and scientific parts of his mind. Keeping him from playing it 24/7 will be a bit more of a challeng.

So, remember last week when congress told us we had to bailout Wall St. to save the economy? I guess the message didn't get through as the stock market is tanking, again. See ya $700,000,000,000.

The Angels showed some backbone last night to beat the Red Sox in 12 innings. I like their chances tonight with Lackey on the mound. Sure, Lester worked his way out of some jams on Wednesday, but I'm thinking that the Halos will make him pay tonight. I hope.

Post Veep Debate

Christ, that was so booooooooooooring and nauseating. Why did they even bother? For being a 'middle-class' mom, she is so condescending. It's obvious that she has no depth of knowledge of any of these subjects. Clearly, she crammed for the exam.

The HB and I are off to go camping tomorrow for the weekend. Should be warm and we'll be by the beach. Hopefully, I'll get a post in. Otherwise, back atchya on Sunday.

VP Debate

Is there anything more inane than a vice presidential debate? Clearly, all either one of them is going to do is shill for the presumptive boss. And even the biggest VP debate zinger of all time didn't affect the election. So, who cares?

So, I'm wondering which one of the following will happen first:

1) Biden will say something REALLY condescending and come off as a bully/prick.
2) Palin will say something so patently false/stoopid the neither Biden or the moderator(s) will know how to react.

Should be a thrill (zzzzzzzzzzzzz).

In other political news, McCain's quitting in Michigan. So much for the argument that Obama can't win enough white blue collar votes. The wolverine state was always a long shot for McCain, anyway. It hasn't voted Republican since 1988 in a presidential election. The bigger impact is what it means for Ohio, which is a more pivotal state this go around.

Bail Out Pork

First thing's first--the Angel game last night was very dissapointing. Lackey pitched great, except for that one pitch to Bey. The Angel hitters just weren't aggressive enough. I told my buddy that letting Lester of of the hook in the 1st and 3rd innings was gonna bit them in the ass, and it did.

So, the senate passed a revised bail-out bill. You would think that the revisions would reduce the amount of the bail-out or give the tax payers more protections. Uh, no. Actually, it's just got $100 billion in mostly unrelated tax sops (though there is extra insurance for bank deposits). So, where's John McCain, Mr. Anti-Pork? Voting yes, of course, even though the price tag just went up with items that have nothing to do with the banking system or mortgages. Apparenly, some pork tastes better to him than others.

I'm writing my congressowoman urging her to vote no. Not that it matters since she voted yes the first time around, and seeing that one of the new giveaways is to movie studios, I doubt she'll change her mind.

Playoff Fever!

In my nearly 40 years of going to baseball games, I've never caught a foul ball or been to a playoff game. The latter streak ends tonight! A buddy of mine has 5 Angel season tickets. Basically, it's a tax-free (for him) bonus from his boss. So, three of us invested in the 5 for the playoffs thinking that we'd use half and the proceeds from the other have on eBay or StubHub would essentially pay for the games we're going to. Since the HB and I are going camping this weekend, I opted for tonight's game against the Red Sox.

Boston has been a pain in the Angels' playoff asses ever since they Angels started going to the playoffs in the 80s. Hopefully, this is the year the Halos stick it to those fuckers.

In more sports news, both of my football teams (Raiders and Univ of Tenn) are in the fucking toilet. The Raiders seem to only want to play for 3 quarters (maybe the new coach can fix that) and the Vols' problems are too numerous to list hear. Perhaps this is the year they are bad enough to fire Fulmer.

The congress starts looking at revised bail-out bills today. I cannot get over the pissiness and name calling. Some house republicrats are saying they didn't vote for the last bill because Pelosi said mean things about shrub in her speech on the house floor? Puhleeeese. Sure, she didn't have to do it, but to use that as a reason not to vote for a bill that you otherwise thought was worthwhile is a bunch of shit. Quit being a whiny bitch and just say you didn't like the bill.

NZS, Day 2

The first day of school with the NZS here went well. He got out of the house just fine in the morning, had school and football practice and was home on time for dinner.

The HB said he got woken up in the morning by the NZS, but he said it with a smile on his face. Go figure. Speaking of the HB, he must have eaten something bad at school as he was puking this evening. Poor pumpkin. Of course, he was feeling well enough to play some Wii with the NZS.

The HB has tomorrow off for rosh hashana (the school has enough at least 2 times a year observant jews that it makes sense). Hopefully he's feeling better so we can do something fun.

The First Debate

Since during the primaries all the candidates do is debate, the presidential debates are a bit anti-climactic. Rather, it's about managing expectations and not making the huge gaffe.

The debate on Friday was about foreign affairs, but they started on the bailout. Interestingly, neither would commit to the bailout plan as currently written. But, they both generally were OK with the idea of tossing away $700,000,000,000 of our money. Gee, thanks.

On actual foreign policy, the differences were predictable. McCain's been all over the world (which I think is a good thing and at least shows some intellectual curiosity) and has a concise Bushian view of working with others (friends=good, enemies=bad). He thinks it's important to prop up dictatorships (Mushareff in Pakistan) to achieve policy goals (war on terror). That worked sooooooooo well during the cold war.

Obama flew the "I was right on Iraq flag," but not nearly empatically enough. He goes through the intellectual exercise about how Iraq prevented us from crushing Al Quada in Afganistan so it wouldn't spread. But, what he needs to do is look at McCain and say, "Listen, you bragging about the surge is like an arsonist bragging about putting out the fires he set (Ok, I stole that from Maureen Dowd). You and W being all gung ho about Iraq tells the American people that next time we have a big problem overseas that you're gonna send in the Marines first regardless of the situation. We can't afford our treasure or American lives with that kind of policy."

When asked about spending priorities in the midst of us giving away $700,000,000,000 to Wall St., Obama couldn't bring himself to pick one. I guess if you're gonna pander, you gotta pander to everyone. McCain kept insisting that $700,000,000,000-$18,000,000,000 (getting rid of all earmarks)+Revenue from Tax Cuts=$0. I don't buy his math.

Overall, the whole thing was a draw. No huge gaffes and only a few out-and-out lies. Obama seemed confident and didn't ramble about the foreign policy stuff and McCain raised some good points about Obama having not gone to key places in the world to see things up close and his presidential run revival on earmarks. My sense is that it didn't change any minds, but I can see how an Obama-leaning independent would be ready to make the plunge now.

Oh, and if you want to see what the current electoral college map looks like, check this out.