I am sitting at my desk, a cool red-number from Ikea that is shaped like a peanut, which must mean that I am studying, but I am going to take a brief sojourn away from Thomas Mann and Robert Frost (maybe a little more Heidegger later for desert) and throw out some observations about the debate last night.
- Did anyone notice that John McCain was incapable of looking at Barack Obama when he was speaking about him? It was obvious in the first minutes of the debate that the moderator was interested in the two addressing each other personally, and Obama took to this like a fish to water, but McCain would not make eye-contact. I found this, if nothing else, really strange. I realize that he is not nervous - he has been doing it too long - but he certainly appeared uncomfortable, whereas Obama seemed right at home.
- Funny line of the night (it even made Obama audibly giggle): "Senator Obama has the most liberal voting record in the Senate....it's hard to reach across the aisle when you're that far to the Left." Very clever.
- A quick question of protocol: Is it okay to refer to yourself as a Maverick? That seems like the kind of thing that is acceptable to be dubbed as by another person, but to continually reference yourself by a nickname seems...well...wrong. It is like the football player who refers to himself as "Moose" rather than his real name. It comes across as laughable.
- Two moderator comments: 1. Did he not seem a little outmatched in this setting? He was too timid and lacked a credibility as one who should be in charge of the debate at times. It was especially off-putting in the beginning when he was all but begging the two candidates to attack each other personally a-la Jerry Springer. 2. (and I am sure that the FoxNews talking-heads have picked up on this already) He sure seemed to differ to Obama a lot. He was fair with the direct aiming of questions to both candidates equally, but he instinctively shot his glance towards Obama when the rapid-fire responses would ensue. More than once he even cut-off McCain when he deemed it necessary to go on to another question, but he almost always allowed Obama to get his last word in.
- I was very nervous for McCain throughout the evening, because as the 90-minutes wore on there had been no direct exploitation of his P.O.W. experience. The moderator even gave him the perfect lead-in when he asked about Vietnam, but, for maybe the first time ever, McCain did not hijack the opportunity insert his prisoner experience. Thank God that he was able to shoehorn it into the conversation almost as the proverbial buzzer sounded....whew, disaster averted.
- Do you think that Obama will ever take the flag from his lapel again? If he is elected, will there ever be a time that we don't see it? Do you think there is a person on his staff whose sole job is to ensure its proper placement? How many of them do you think he owns?
- I'm tired of the bracelet-thing. Enough out of both of you!
- Too many failed one-liners out of McCain. I will give him credit that they tapered off as the night progressed, but particularly in the beginning, he kept attempting these pithy soundbites that failed miserably.
That's enough for now. Back to the books.
- Did anyone notice that John McCain was incapable of looking at Barack Obama when he was speaking about him? It was obvious in the first minutes of the debate that the moderator was interested in the two addressing each other personally, and Obama took to this like a fish to water, but McCain would not make eye-contact. I found this, if nothing else, really strange. I realize that he is not nervous - he has been doing it too long - but he certainly appeared uncomfortable, whereas Obama seemed right at home.
- Funny line of the night (it even made Obama audibly giggle): "Senator Obama has the most liberal voting record in the Senate....it's hard to reach across the aisle when you're that far to the Left." Very clever.
- A quick question of protocol: Is it okay to refer to yourself as a Maverick? That seems like the kind of thing that is acceptable to be dubbed as by another person, but to continually reference yourself by a nickname seems...well...wrong. It is like the football player who refers to himself as "Moose" rather than his real name. It comes across as laughable.
- Two moderator comments: 1. Did he not seem a little outmatched in this setting? He was too timid and lacked a credibility as one who should be in charge of the debate at times. It was especially off-putting in the beginning when he was all but begging the two candidates to attack each other personally a-la Jerry Springer. 2. (and I am sure that the FoxNews talking-heads have picked up on this already) He sure seemed to differ to Obama a lot. He was fair with the direct aiming of questions to both candidates equally, but he instinctively shot his glance towards Obama when the rapid-fire responses would ensue. More than once he even cut-off McCain when he deemed it necessary to go on to another question, but he almost always allowed Obama to get his last word in.
- I was very nervous for McCain throughout the evening, because as the 90-minutes wore on there had been no direct exploitation of his P.O.W. experience. The moderator even gave him the perfect lead-in when he asked about Vietnam, but, for maybe the first time ever, McCain did not hijack the opportunity insert his prisoner experience. Thank God that he was able to shoehorn it into the conversation almost as the proverbial buzzer sounded....whew, disaster averted.
- Do you think that Obama will ever take the flag from his lapel again? If he is elected, will there ever be a time that we don't see it? Do you think there is a person on his staff whose sole job is to ensure its proper placement? How many of them do you think he owns?
- I'm tired of the bracelet-thing. Enough out of both of you!
- Too many failed one-liners out of McCain. I will give him credit that they tapered off as the night progressed, but particularly in the beginning, he kept attempting these pithy soundbites that failed miserably.
That's enough for now. Back to the books.
I am not one who generally gives a rip about celebrities spouting opinions about anything, and I would not care about this except that it is a televised interview with a non-politician that brings up what I believe to be a valid argument that I have not been hearing enough of.....but I am not sure what the deal is with the dinosaur stuff at the end...just ignore that.
Happy Birthday, Old Man
0 Comments Published by Michael on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 9:01 AM.
Wow, you've now blown past the big 3-0, and are beginning your steady ascent towards death. Cheers!
When we moved into the city (I count Uptown as the suburbs) I counted on a quickened pace, stress and bustle, maybe even a little apprehension or something of the like. All in all, I imagined a change, and I was correct in my assessment....sort of. Surprisingly, the change that I personally have experienced his been the exact opposite of all of the things that I envisioned. I find that things are calmer, more serene in our new environment, and I credit this to one simple thing: driving lessJulie and I have both begun to use the DART rail system much, much more than we ever had before. She can take the train directly from home to her office, and so she has not driven her car in weeks, and I can park my car in Plano (I have found a secret garage that doesn't seem to check on such things) and only have to drive ten miles from the station to my school. This means on most days I get about an hour of time to read/study on the train while I ride the twenty or so miles into downtown, which has been really relaxing. The train is coming, so I have to go, but I thought I would share and advocate that if you have the chance, give it a shot.
The Stone Era Has Arrived
1 Comments Published by Michael on Wednesday, September 03, 2008 at 10:47 PM.
This post is entirely self-gratifying in the most obvious of ways. In fact, I think only one other person will appreciate this, and he may be so caught up in peddling chicken across the Southern U.S. that he does not even read this blog anymore, but I will continue anyway.
Long ago the chicken-man taught me to play basketball....and I loved it! I have been playing consistently for the past near-decade (hard to believe), and in recent years I have developed a fair game for a slow white-guy (the distance running gives me a lot of stamina, which helps make up for obvious other deficiencies). Mr. Chicken and I spent several years wearing each other down in surprisingly fun and competitive games of full-court-1-on-1-to-a-hundred until we moved apart. Since then I have plied my craft at local gyms and rec-centers on a several-times-a-week basis.
Finally, after years of working my way up through the D-Leagues, a team picked me up from the garbage heap and asked me to play on their YMCA team. Here's the kicker - they think I am good. I get to be the number one scoring option (maybe this is more of an indication of how bad the other guys are).
Tonight was our unveiling....not terribly pretty. We scored 57 points, which they said was the most their team had scored in the previous three years they have been involved in the downtown league, but the other teach scored close to 70. I had something in the range of 15-18 points, but I truly could not care less. It was a blast to play in a real game....I had never done that.
So, Chad, I thought you would be happy and maybe even a little proud that your project is still going strong. I appreciate it....EAT MORE CHICKEN.
Long ago the chicken-man taught me to play basketball....and I loved it! I have been playing consistently for the past near-decade (hard to believe), and in recent years I have developed a fair game for a slow white-guy (the distance running gives me a lot of stamina, which helps make up for obvious other deficiencies). Mr. Chicken and I spent several years wearing each other down in surprisingly fun and competitive games of full-court-1-on-1-to-a-hundred until we moved apart. Since then I have plied my craft at local gyms and rec-centers on a several-times-a-week basis.
Finally, after years of working my way up through the D-Leagues, a team picked me up from the garbage heap and asked me to play on their YMCA team. Here's the kicker - they think I am good. I get to be the number one scoring option (maybe this is more of an indication of how bad the other guys are).
Tonight was our unveiling....not terribly pretty. We scored 57 points, which they said was the most their team had scored in the previous three years they have been involved in the downtown league, but the other teach scored close to 70. I had something in the range of 15-18 points, but I truly could not care less. It was a blast to play in a real game....I had never done that.
So, Chad, I thought you would be happy and maybe even a little proud that your project is still going strong. I appreciate it....EAT MORE CHICKEN.
