October 2008

UPDATE:
Added some much better pictures from a person with a camera next to my sister who was standing closer to the podium.

The original photos below were taken with my iPhone.
Barack Obama spoke today at Ault Park in Cincinnati.  It couldn’t have been a nicer day to be in the park and with the huge crowd, it had a festival atmosphere.  There were vendors hawking buttons, t-shirts, and posters.  There were many volunteers directing the throng of people through security and making sure that our tickets were filled out properly.

Unfortunately, because of security, they didn’t allow cameras with detachable lenses, so I had to walk a mile back to my car to drop of my camera.  I’m a little disappointed because I would have been able to take some great pictures with my zoom lens.  Instead, I only have these pictures taken with my iPhone.  I took the photo above after Obama’s speech when people started leaving and before they realized that Obama was shaking hands in the crowd.  This was as close as I got before it got a little too chaotic for me.  You can sort of see the top of Obama’s head (in the red circle).

I was about 50 feet away from the podium during the actual speech.  I had gotten to Ault Park around 12:30, but didn’t make it through security until about 1:00.  Already there were lots of people standing and staking out spots.

I felt like I was in a pretty good spot.  I could see the podium pretty easily, but I felt a little bad for the vertically challenged around me. Every time someone moved in front of them, they had to adjust their positions to try to find another gap to see the podium.  I did my part my slouching and not moving so others could see from behind me.
It was estimated attendance was around 15,000.  I was struck by how diverse the crowd was.  It was a crowd that was white, black, young, and old.  I even saw a lot of high schoolers who were probably too young to vote but were excited to see Obama speak in person.  With all the problems in the economy today, these are going to be the same problems were handing to these kids tomorrow.

The speech was a pretty standard Obama stump speech.  I’ve heard Obama speak many times, so this was pretty much what I expected.  Still, when Obama talks about hope and working together for a better future, it’s amazingly powerful and I feel motivated to do my part to make the world better.
When I heard that the speech was going to be in Ault Park, I thought they would have had Obama speaking from the steps of the pavilion, instead they chose to build a stage in the grassy area below.
Mayor Mallory, Congressional Candidate Steve Driehaus, and Governor Ted Strickland all spoke before Obama.
Leaving Ault Park after the event was a bit of a challenge.  I’ve never seen so many people there!

From CNN.com: Cindy McCain says Obama running ‘dirtiest campaign’ ever

Cindy McCain lashed out at Barack Obama Tuesday, telling a Tennessee newspaper the Illinois senator has waged the “dirtiest campaign in American history.”

It must be nice to live in the fantasy land that Cindy McCain lives in.  The fantasy land where you have so much money that you don’t know how many houses you own or cars you have.  Where you can lie your ass off and still pretend to be a victim.

From NYTimes.com: Future of Giant Turtle Still Uncertain

Scientists trying to save one of the world’s most endangered species of freshwater turtles say waiting is their only recourse after a complicated attempt to mate two elderly turtles during this year’s breeding season ended without producing any offspring.
…
It was a meeting that carried some risk; males can be territorial and have been known to attack other, unfamiliar, turtles. Nor had either turtle seen a member of the opposite sex in decades. But scientists say the pairing was a success.

Unfortunately, the pairing failed to produce any offspring.  It could have been the poor diet of the female turtle or the fact that the turtles are old.  It’s sad that these two elderly turtles may be the very last of their kind.

From Miami Herald: Now the hard part begins: making the bailout work

A Treasury official, speaking on condition of anonymity because details of the agency’s plans are still being worked out, said it’s unlikely that Paulson would begin purchasing distressed assets from Wall Street banks until after the Nov. 4 election.

It could take up to six weeks, the official said, for Treasury to hire about two dozen full-time employees for the effort and to contract anywhere from five to 10 asset-management companies to help purchase and later resell troubled assets. Treasury also will have to publish procurement rules, adding to the delay before bad assets can actually be purchased and relief come to troubled banks.

This bailout is no quick fix for the economy.  This is such a big program to be tossed together in only a few weeks.

Saw a commercial a few days ago on CNN advertising tourism in Colombia. 

Colombia is a place that I’d love to visit, but Colombia’s got a ways to go in sprucing up their reputation for prospective tourists.  Every time I mention to one of my friends that I want to visit Colombia, I always get the “look”.  The “are you crazy, aren’t you afraid to be kidnapped” look.  Well, Colombia’s aware of the fear, playing off of it with the tag line on their website reading “Colombia, the only risk is wanting to stay.”

visitcolombia.com

From thefreedictionary.com

Maverick-
1. An unbranded range animal, especially a calf that has become separated from its mother, traditionally considered the property of the first person who brands it.

2. One that refuses to abide by the dictates of or resists adherence to a group; dissenter.

So, I guess Sarah Palin isn’t wrong when she’s claiming to be a maverick.

The first single “Human” off of The Killers next album Day and Age is available on iTunes.   It’s more “synthpop” than their latest albums making it more reminiscent of the songs off of their first album Hot Fuss.  I like the song, but the lyrics are a little nonsensical.
 
Day and Age will be released November 25.

The Killers “Human” MP3 Download from Amazon

UPDATE: Regarding the lyrics of The Killers song “Human”- from Wikipedia

Lyrical confusion

There has been much confusion and debate over a lyric in the chorus of the song. This is regarding whether or not Brandon Flowers is saying “denser” or “dancer”, when posing the question “Are we human or are we denser/dancer?” Though “denser” seemingly makes more sense in the context of the lyrics, Flowers’ pronunciation of the word clearly sounds like “dancer” (IPA: [dænsəɹ]) over “denser” ([dÉ›nsəɹ]). This has lead several critics to believe that Flowers is in fact saying dancer, and therefore questioning what the meaning of the lyric is. Entertainment Weekly’s Pop Watch section, called the lyrics the “silliest lyrics of the week” under the assumption that Flowers was saying “dancer” in the chorus. They were puzzled by this, stating “most dancers are generally human.” [2] The Killers have yet to make any official statement regarding what the correct lyric is.

It seems quite clear in the context of they song, the word is “denser.” If he had meant to use dancer in conjunction with “are we human” it would be dancer(s) plural.

UPDATE 11/30/2008

“For me it makes perfect sense, but everybody’s gonna have their own version of what ‘dancer’ is. There’s been occasions when other people’s interpretations have been better than mine. I would love to write a song like John Lennon’s Imagine, to have something as cut and dried as that, you wouldn’t want to change a word, but that’s another gift, it is all to be celebrated.”

From The Christian Science Monitor: Sarah Palin: Barracuda or Bambi?

Halcro calls her a “master of the non-answer” which allows her to avoid policy specifics in favor of connecting with the people.

“She can turn a 60-second response to a query about her specific solutions to healthcare challenges into a folksy story about how she’s met people on the campaign trail who face healthcare challenges,” he writes. “All without uttering a word about her public-policy solutions to healthcare challenges.”

This is the first time I’ve seen “Bullshitting” or in Sarah Palin’s case “Mooseshitting” as a strength.  

Does Sarah Palin ever answer a question where she doesn’t seem totally idiotic?

It’s the darn liberal media asking all the tough questions.  Here’s Katie Couric asking Sarah Palin what newspapers or magazines she reads.