Bike odometer: 2485
Van odometer: 153885
Weight lost (in pounds): 0
Aches & pains: left shin (scab gone)
Current reading: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
Recent listening: The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Box), Fresh Air
Recent viewing:Â The Dark Knight, Airport 77, Rounders, The Player, Igby Goes Down, Meet The Press, Reign of Fire, Last Comic Standing, Garden State, The New World, Olympics
Recent playing: Chain Factor
Recently accomplished:Â Updated LinkedIn profile, updated resume, sent two job feelers, fixed The Doctor, mowed lawn, cleaned cat boxes, installed AC window unit
Imperative To Do: Get rid of junk (couch), buy trailer for van, activate new Tivo, oil change for van, weeds, clean garage, moss, new muxtape
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 2485
Van odometer: 153551
Weight lost (in pounds): 0
Aches & pains: left shin (still healing but stopped oozing), lower back/sciatica
Current reading: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
Recent listening: The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Box), It’s A Shame About Ray by The Lemonheads, This American Life
Recent viewing: One True Thing, Biography, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog, Dazed and Confused, iCarly, Monk, Batman Begins, From Dusk Til Dawn, The Incredible Hulk
Recent playing: Chain Factor
Recently accomplished:Â cleaned cat boxes
Imperative To Do: Get rid of junk (couch, vacuum cleaner), buy trailer for van, activate new Tivo, oil change for van, weeds, clean garage, moss, new muxtape, upload pictures
What is “The Surge”?
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain has been criticizing Barack Obama this week for not supporting “the surge.” In a controversially edited interview on CBS News on Tuesday, McCain took Obama to task for saying that the so-called Anbar Awakening should be credited for helping to decrease violence in Iraq over the last 18 months. According to McCain “the surge” was responsible for the Anbar Awakening:
I don’t know how you respond to something that is such a false depiction of what actually happened. Colonel McFarlane (phonetic) was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that’s just a matter of history.
Unfortunately, as critics would later point out, McCain chose exactly the wrong time to invoke the word “history.” The awakening began in late 2006, at least three months before President Bush went to Congress and the American people in January of 2007 to announce a new strategy in Iraq. This strategy had a working title of “A New Way Forward” but became generally known in the press and with the American people as “The Surge.” Given that it wasn’t announced, much yet implemented when the awakening began, McCain is horrendously wrong, right?
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 2472
Van odometer:Â 153074
Weight lost (in pounds): 0
Aches & pains: left shin (still healing)
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
Recent listening: News from Lake Wobegon, Fresh Air, Science Friday
Recent viewing:Â Numb3rs, Pardon the Interruption, Mo’ Better Blues, Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte
Recent playing: Chain Factor
Recently accomplished:Â sold G4, mowed lawn, cleaned cat boxes, resolved various online purchase problems, ordered replacement LCD for Thomas, attempted to fix The Doctor (GPS), recycling, got rid of junk (bed, mower, microwave)
Imperative To Do:Â Get rid of junk (couch, vacuum cleaner), buy trailer for van, activate new Tivo, oil change for van, weeds, clean garage, moss, new muxtape, upload pictures
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer:Â 2472
Van odometer: 152961
Weight lost (in pounds):Â 0
Aches & pains: left shin (bumped into a fire pit)
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Recent listening: Raising Sand by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, In Rainbows by Radiohead, News from Lake Wobegon, Science Friday, Fresh Air
Recent viewing: Countdown, My Life on the D List, How I Met Your Mother, WALL•E
Recent playing: Chain Factor, Rock Band (Wii)
Recently accomplished:Â cat boxes, bought clothes for business trip, paid bills, packed for two day business trip, haircut, bought new shoes for first time in 10 years, pulled dandelions
Imperative To Do: Sell G4, get rid of junk (couch, vacuum cleaner, mower), buy trailer for van, activate new Tivo, oil change for van, weeds, clean garage, mow lawn, moss, new muxtape, upload pictures
Barack Obama on Father’s Day
Yes, it’s long but even if you watch just a few minutes, it is quite enjoyable.
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 2443
Van odometer: 152647
Weight lost (in pounds):Â 3
Aches & pains:Â none
Current reading: The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, CSS: The Definitive Guide (O’Reilly) by Eric A. Meyer
Recent listening: Chrome Dreams II by Neil Young, Jimmy Buffett, Fresh Air, This American Life
Recent viewing: Lakers vs. Spurs, Celtics vs. Pistons, Doctor Who, Face the Nation, Countdown, Hardball
Recent playing: Chain Factor, Fireflies
Recently accomplished:Â Voted, GPS rebate, cleaned cat boxes, cardboard recycling, new tires for Thomas, fixed flat on little bike, mowed lawn
Imperative To Do: Sell G4, get rid of junk (couch, vacuum cleaner, mower), buy trailer for van, activate new Tivo, oil change for van, weeds, clean garage, mow lawn, pay bills, fix Thomas’ window, moss, new muxtape
The Frustration Continues
Last night I watched in disbelief as Hillary Clinton failed to concede to Barack Obama and hardly acknowledged that she had lost the Democratic nomination for President. This was her opportunity to begin healing all the wounds inflicted during the primary, but instead she chose to merely point them out again. You can read the full text of her speech but let me just summarize for you:
Continue reading “The Frustration Continues”
A Few Disparate Links
- Happy Birthday Little Graham: Tina’s paean to our youngest son on his 9th birthday. She nailed it.
- Oregonian article on Twitter: Steve Woodward profiles my favorite web service and mentions some of the more popular Portland area Twitterers. He also provides a link to a del.icio.us page with more links to Twitter resources.
- 2008 Presidential Election Interactive Map and History of the Electoral College: Predict who will be our next president.
- NameVoyager: Even if you (like me) don’t have a baby in your future, it’s fun to see naming trends over the last century. Note that the y-axis for the chart adjusts each time you change names.
- Brand Tag Cloud Quiz: Identify the brand based on words/phrases other people have used to describe it. The larger the word, the more often it has been used to describe the brand. You can also feed the quiz.
- The World of Chemistry (below)
Keith Olbermann on Hillary Clinton’s RFK remarks
Here’s what Keith Olbermann had to say on Countdown last night: