You're gonna be bothered by how cool I am.

Friendly reminder - when you see that "politics" tag like the one in my subject line, you might want to keep in mind that I'm a Democrat and bleeding heart liberal, and that if you are neither it might be best for your blood pressure if you scrolled on past.

As is usual for me on weeknights, I was sleeping during last night's DNC coverage and missed seeing Clinton's speech live, but thank goodness for the internet which allowed me to watch it in full later. I miss that guy, and it was so refreshing after all the blah-blah and posturing (and outright lying) of last week to see someone up there who genuinely knows what he's talking about (and who I think could easily get elected again if there weren't term limits). It was funny seeing my old high school band pals commenting on his speech on Facebook, because he was elected when I was a senior in high school, and I vividly remember all the hubbub coinciding with our last rehearsals of the season. In fact, I distinctly remember us gearing up for the trip to NYC for the Macy's parade when the election results were rolling in, and our color guard instructor said that one of the parents/chaperones (who was a Bush 41 supporter) was crying in a corner (probably metaphorically, but who knows). :D

Some highlights:
- When he made that comment about Michele, all I could think was "Watch it, bruv!"
- LOL at his "alternate reality" comment.
- "We believe that 'we're all in this together' is a far better philosophy than 'you're on your own'." And this is why I'm a Socialist Democrat.
- LMAO "Who's right?" Crowd: "WE ARE!"
- Jed Bartlet would have loved this if he were a real person. Way to give the numbers, Mr. Clinton.
- "We left him a total mess. He hasn't cleaned it up fast enough, so put us back in." Oh snap. Best line of the night.
- It may be an affectation or theatrics or whatever, but Clinton has such a gift for making you feel like he's hurting for you. (Oh wait - wasn't "I feel your pain" one of his slogans back in the 90s?) I think there were a couple of times in that speech where he sounded close to tears. Again, maybe an act, but if so a darn effective one.

- Ugh, is it November yet? Honestly, Facebook for me is becoming what the HP Fandom was in the fall of 2004. A really uncomfortable place to be, and you wish there was a way to just filter out all the political stuff so that you could still be friends with your friends. Or still look your family members in the face at Thanksgiving. (While I'd love to be able to see my parents at Thanksgiving, I'm more glad than ever that there's no way for me to go see the rest of the family for Thanksgiving in Mississippi, particularly as this year it will come just after the election. They're my family and I love them, but I'd foresee a hell of a lot of dramatic getting up and leaving the room when talk turns to politics.)

- I went to see Lawless this past weekend. It was good, but not quite as amazing as I hoped it would be. Shia LaBeouf was rather serendipitously cast, and the be-cardiganed Tom Hardy is the best thing about the whole endeavor (which is nearly always the case with whatever he's in). Gary Oldman is underused, but enjoyable, Jessica Chastain is awesome as always, and the setting and look of the film is really fantastic. I couldn't help but see how the studio must have interfered and kept the movie from being what it was trying to be. I was also disappointed in myself for not thinking to get an MP3 of George Jones's "White Lightning" in time to get myself in the mood for a movie about moonshiners. :P

- I got inordinately excited to run into someone I knew at a random place in the city the other day. That almost never happens to me. Bonus points for it being someone who hasn't seen me in probably over a year, maybe two, and who only knows me from the occasional temp gig where they usually only saw me as I came and left. Go me, making impressions on people. :P

- About six weeks until the application process begins for That Thing. I shall call it That Thing for now, because after not getting in last year I have become super-superstitious and neurotic about it. The good thing is that I am still planning to go to Austin, regardless, and if That Thing is yet again not to be, at least I can have a good time chilling out in QuirkyTown and hopefully running into other people who are in town for That Thing. For that is half the fun.

- I AM READY FOR COOLER WEATHER, PLEASETHANKYOU! I bought some chili fixins the other day, but I just can't bring myself to cook chili while it's still so dang hot! I also have some delicious Land-O-Lakes premium hot chocolate (Irish Cream, whatwhat!) and a lovely TARDIS-shaped mug that angua9 and wahlee_98 bestowed on me for my birthday, but it's just too darn hot for cocoa right now.

- Speaking of food that's inappropriate in certain seasons, I hate that I found this amazing website at the end of summer. It really makes me want to buy an ice cream maker, but ... waaah, it's getting too late in the year for ice cream! My life is a tragedy!

- What else is going on? Oh, Mark Watches has gotten to the final season of Buffy and Season 4 of Angel. This rewatch is bringing out SO MANY SPUFFY FEELS in me. The "chermistry" is "mind-boogling," as some folks used to say. And ugh, whatever at this whole Cordelia-as-a-higher-being thing on Angel. It seems like there's literally no purpose for it except to set up the wackadoo stuff that happens later with Jasmine and everything. I liked Cordy so much better when she was on Buffy and wasn't a lead character. Also, I skipped ahead and watched "Smile Time," which may in fact be the best episode of television in the history of everything. ("I DO NOT HAVE PUPPET CANCER!")

- Speaking of Mark Watches, I am suddenly very prepared for the West Wing watch next year. Amazon.com had the series box set for 70% off on Labor Day and I snapped it up. I *had* found a site that had all the episodes online, but legit watching just feels better, and this way I know the pirate police won't zap the site out of existence.

- I should do a proper post on the new Doctor Who episode, but we probably all know what's going to happen with that. :P Loved it, and I'm so glad it's back. And was anything more awesome than Chris Hardwicke's "Whovian" commercial?

- Oh, speaking of all things Whovian, Harry Knowles has been plowing through NuWho and absolutely loving it. Per suggestions from friends, he started off by watching "Blink," which everyone assured him was a perfect one-off and a good indicator of the level of writing, and then went back to "Rose" to go through the whole thing. The last he updated, he was about to tackle the pre-Season-5 Tennant specials.

I have nothing to add to this, except LOLOL FOREVER. Oh, Jon Stewart, could I love you more?

(Can't get the thing to embed so here is the link.)

Um, what.

The Founding Fathers originally said, they put certain restrictions on who gets the right to vote. It wasn't you were just a citizen and you got to vote. Some of the restrictions, you know, you obviously would not think about today. But one of those was you had to be a property owner. And that makes a lot of sense, because if you're a property owner you actually have a vested stake in the community. If you're not a property owner, you know, I'm sorry but property owners have a little bit more of a vested interest in the community than non-property owners.

I'm in awe. I'm also afraid to know what else 'makes a lot of sense' to this person.

I just can't quite believe it's all over and that Obama has really been elected. I'm seeing his face all over the papers this morning, and every time I do, I do a double take and then burst into a huge grin that borders on joyous tears. Because I keep having to remind myself that there are no obstacles left and that we really (and pretty overwhelmingly) chose him. That we really won't hear John McCain talk about Joe the Plumber anymore. That Sarah Palin will be little more than a blip unless and until she starts her (*gulp*) 2012 presidential bid. That we won't hear dubious pundits asking why Obama can't seem to close the deal (by the way, how's 338 electoral votes for closing the deal? :P).

He's really, truly going to be the President. And we'll never say his name again without the word "President" attached to it in some way.

It will be interesting to be here in NYC for Thanksgiving, but not as interesting as it would be to go to the traditional Mississippi Thanksgiving dinner with the aunts and uncles who are so died-in-the-wool Republicans (and a little racist) I almost can't stand it. Oh the things I'll miss hearing them say about a President-elect who's not only a Democrat but a black man to boot.

You know what's funny, though? The only other time I missed the family Thanksgiving dinner, the country had just elected a Democrat, too, when after a long period of Republican rule some upstart governor from Arkansas beat the elder President Bush. I'm sure there was all kinds of whinging that I missed on that occasion as well, and you know where I was when I missed it? Right here in NYC, marching in the Macy's parade. Huh.

I just can't quite believe it's all over and that Obama has really been elected. I'm seeing his face all over the papers this morning, and every time I do, I do a double take and then burst into a huge grin that borders on joyous tears. Because I keep having to remind myself that there are no obstacles left and that we really (and pretty overwhelmingly) chose him. That we really won't hear John McCain talk about Joe the Plumber anymore. That Sarah Palin will be little more than a blip unless and until she starts her (*gulp*) 2012 presidential bid. That we won't hear dubious pundits asking why Obama can't seem to close the deal (by the way, how's 338 electoral votes for closing the deal? :P).

He's really, truly going to be the President. And we'll never say his name again without the word "President" attached to it in some way.

It will be interesting to be here in NYC for Thanksgiving, but not as interesting as it would be to go to the traditional Mississippi Thanksgiving dinner with the aunts and uncles who are so died-in-the-wool Republicans (and a little racist) I almost can't stand it. Oh the things I'll miss hearing them say about a President-elect who's not only a Democrat but a black man to boot.

You know what's funny, though? The only other time I missed the family Thanksgiving dinner, the country had just elected a Democrat, too, when after a long period of Republican rule some upstart governor from Arkansas beat the elder President Bush. I'm sure there was all kinds of whinging that I missed on that occasion as well, and you know where I was when I missed it? Right here in NYC, marching in the Macy's parade. Huh.

Let's see if I can do this while working on my movie post for the day. *doesn't count on it*

( Read more... )

*relief* Well, that's over. Can we vote now? :D

Let's see if I can do this while working on my movie post for the day. *doesn't count on it*

( Read more... )

*relief* Well, that's over. Can we vote now? :D