The Hairy Eyeball

Actually, it was a phone call, and truth be told it was a former President. It was also a tape recording. Still the phone rang last night, and since the caller ID showed no info, we let the machine pick up. Lo and behold, none other than Bill Clinton telling us about how close the election was here in NM in 2000. Gore won by 366 votes.

The amusing thing was We had already been to the polls. But it made me feel good to know I had already taken care of bussiness. Tuesday is going to be quite interesting. I tink I'm gonna have to stick to the net for updates though, since watching any of the talking heads will likely make me chucker.

Thanks for calling Bill.

go and tell me all about it

So I had the good fortune to realize that New Mexico is one in a growing list of states where voting early is easy as pie. As a result Ann and I jaunted down to the County Courthouse and cast our ballots. I'm happy to not have to brave the crowds on tuesday, and there will be crowds. The activity was pretty steady today, and I've been told it's been like that since they started taking early votes two weeks ago. I have never witnessed such interest in an election. I see polls showing numbers all over the place but only time will tell. By the way, I didn't have a black hoodie, but i did dress in all black. It was in my opinion, a formal event, after all.

go and tell me all about it

It's been a hell of a week for Apple.

They've announced the Limited Edition U2 iPod.
They've announced a Photo/Music iPod.
And now...This

Damn, I'm not getting a thing done today am I?


go and tell me all about it

The 60's had Lenny Bruce.
The 70's had Richard Pryor.
The 80's had Bill Hicks.

That you never heard of him, or heard his material is not surprising. I certainly never was concious of seeing his material when he was alive and kicking. Of course in an age when MTV was beating us over the head with a never ending supply of Carrot Tops, and Richard Jenni wannabe's, it would have been quite easy to miss someone with less commercial potential, and better material.

Hicks was a true genius. The kind of comedian who can offend and amuse simultaneously, and not simply for pure shock value but rather to get us uncomfortable about our own beliefs, our own existence. The superlatives are never ending, and I think justly earned.

If you have any interest in stand up comedy, social satire, or great thinkers, you owe it to yourself to check out this:



3 Concerts and a documentary. Just put my order in. Psyched doesn't begin to explain it.

Oh and if you notice the endorsement from former funny guy turned GOP towel boy, Dennis Miller - don't sweat it. The quote is from a number of years ago, before MIller completely went batshit on us.

Bill Hicks - Another Dead Hero.



go and tell me all about it

I'm not usually one to steal from another's blog , but this is too good to pass up, I never thought I'd have anything good to say abbout former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, but compared to Scott McClellan, Ari was a wise old sage. The fact that he bailed from the white house well in advance of the election is more proof of that.

Reading the exchanges between McClellan and the folks who so often seem to just be going through the motins of journalism has become a certail kind of fixation for me. I guess it's the few forays into Rhetoric that I took in college, but to hear some of the tripe that spills forth from the Scotty Dog, is utterly baffling. For an administration headed by an Evcangelical, these guys sure have a lot of chutzpa.

McClellan reminds me of some of the more gullible students in those rhetoric classes, who could always be counted on to take the losing side of any argument the professor offered up. I think if I was the reporter in the following exchange, I would have to jump up and just bitch-slap Scott. But then that is one of the many reasons I am not a journalist covering politics.

Q Do you say that the regime, that the Saddam Hussein regime was still capable of moving tons of explosives around the country after the U.S. invaded?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not saying that. I'm saying -- military leaders have said that. Our military leaders have said that. I think that's a fact. This was a regime that operated in that fashion. They had munitions -- munition caches all across the country. They moved munitions around.

Q But isn't it more likely that they were looted? There were reports of looters on the scene after --

MR. McCLELLAN: -- based on what?

Q I believe the military said that they found looters at the scene, after the invasion.

MR. McCLELLAN: It's more likely, how can you make that statement?

Q Because the military said there were looters at the site.

MR. McCLELLAN: They didn't say it was more likely.

Q They said that looters were --

MR. McCLELLAN: The words you said were, "more likely." This just shows that -- Senator Kerry's own advisors says he doesn't -- that they don't know the truth, he doesn't know the truth, yet he's willing to say anything for his own political advantage. And you said, "very likely." You don't know that.

Q No, no, no. What you said was that it was likely that the regime moved this around at some point even after the U.S. invaded.

MR. McCLELLAN: That's a likely possibility, that the regime could have removed those explosives before that time period.

Q But what I'm saying is that there are military reports that looters receive at the site, after the invasion. So doesn't that make it more likely that there were looters?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, no, no, who said that?

Q The military reported looters at the --

MR. McCLELLAN: What's your source?

Q The U.S. military.

MR. McCLELLAN: Show me the source. I'll be glad to --

Q Scott, if you don't know, either, how can you say it's likely?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's what I said -- no, that it is a likely possibility.

Q Likely.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, it is a likely possibility, because of the way the regime operated. And I think commanders have talked about that, as well.

Q Maybe it's a possibility, but I don't --

MR. McCLELLAN: I think the military doesn't -- the material -- the military doesn't know -- well, because all during that time period there was the time -- that was the time period when they could have. And that's why I said, the military doesn't know what happened to those explosives, neither does Senator Kerry. Yet Senator -- the issue here, now, is that it just goes to show the pattern by Senator Kerry that he will say anything, even when he doesn't know the truth, for his own political advantage.

Imagine that. A politician who will say things for his own advantage. I guess after being in action for 4 years now the Bush administration knows a thing or two about that.

go and tell me all about it

Douglas Adams suggested that the proof of the decline of mankind was the fact that Toothpicks have instructions written on the box. I'm sure that there is some sort of National Science Foundation grant I could scam using that as a jumping off point, but somehow, this thing seems to proove his point even better - plus it glows, there's got to be an NSF grant to be found where glowing things are in play.

go and tell me all about it

For those of you who have any sort of interest in Mass Media, you have no doubt, been aware of the Sinclair Broadcasting Group, and their plan to air an Anti-Kerry documentary - COMMERCIAL FREE - on their stations. They claim that it is newsworthy, but anyone with a bit more sense than a bowl of butterscotch pudding can see through that one.

Now this is where I usually go off on a rant about media consolidation, and curse Bill Clinton under my breath for signing the Communications Deregulation Act of 1996. All of those points I bring up about the airwaves being those of the people of the US, and how consolidation ultimately hurts the local markets where it occurs, still hold true.

But this is where the story seems to take a new twist.
Bloggers, who have been lauded and laughed at by the mainstream media entirely too much in recent months have actually sort of accomplished something. They have helped mobilize people in many of the local markets where Sinclair owns stations, and begun pressuring Advertisers to do bussiness elsewhere. It appears to be working in at least some of those markets.

It gets better. As a result of this boycott, and the attention it has garnered in the last 5 days or so, Sinclair stock has been in freefall. This is unfortunately where we have arrived as a society, the only way to have real influence with people and corporations seems to be via economic gamesmanship.

But wait ther's more - At 1pm Eastern today, a conference call was held concerning possible insider trading done my the very same execs that ordered the Anti-Kerry film aired. Sareholders are demanding that profits those execs recieved be returned to shareholders.

Sinclair has lost over $100,000,000 of market capitalization. All because of a documentary, and some favors to the current administration. Many have wondered what could have been offered to the SInclair execs to make them take such a gamble. Personally I think that the staus quo would have probably been enough to get them onboard. As CEO's continue to make magnitudes of order more money than the rest of us, their disconnect with reality seems to increase. I bet those fucks at Sinclair are wishing for the days when the worst press they got was because of indiscretions with hookers.

Rare that these types ever get what they deserve, I'm happy to see at least a little discomfort thrown their way for a change.

go and tell me all about it