Unbelievable

Remember last post when I said that I was "sick of hating on Hillary"? That's over. Check out this unbelievable piece of fear mongering from the Clinton campaign:



Go to hell. Who do I want answering the phone? Not you. Last time you answered the phone, you approved a 3 trillion dollar, illegal, immoral, idiotic, murderfest. And to reprise your big line from last week, shame on you, Hillary. Shame on you for resorting to such Rovian fear mongering tactics. I hope you get a humiliating electoral beatdown on Tuesday.

Running on Fumes?

I got nothing, VTKids. Nothing to write about right now. Too early for season or playoff previews for the Yankees or Celtics; nothing big to report about the Hammers; sick of hating on Hillary; Not much to report on the progress of Business Casual Stag Devil Death Boy (doing the final touch-ups); Haven't been particularly creeped out to the point of inspiration by anything lately; Nothing original to say about the Oscars (Bardem was genius level creepy in No Country For Old Men) -- Hey, there's something right there. How bout that Javier Bardem. He's come a long way since that farcical Spanish phone sex movie, hasn't he.



That performance was creepy enough to warrant mention here.

El Ted.

Eat your heart out, John Ashcroft.

Lunar Eclipse - Live Blogging

8:35 - There's a full lunar eclipse visible from Cambridge tonight and the clouds have cooperated and skeedaddled. Get ready for a riveting live blog, VTKids!



8:50 - wild stuff here. It's definitely getting darker in the lower right quadrant.

8:51 - lower left. lower left quadrant is definitely getting darker.

8:58 - it's not going to be a total eclipse until 10:00 pm, so we've got some time here. If you're in a region in which you're able to check this out, do so, because it will be the last lunar eclipse visible from earth until December 29, 2010, according to the Boston Globe. For your edification: a lunar eclipse is when the Earth blocks the path from the sun to the moon, casting a shadow over la luna. Boston.com also points to a possibility of some cool color action going on:

As it slips into the darkness, the moon will change colors that can range from a dull gray to a brilliant copper-red with a bright blue rim. While the earth blocks direct rays from the sun, the atmosphere refracts some of the light into the shadow.

9:09 - We're probably about at quarter coverage right now.



9:16 - a little darker now.

9:21 - no crazy copper-red or blue colors yet.

9:30 - bout halfway now



9:43 - bout 3/4 now. no bright colors yet, but Saturn and the star Regulus (part of Leo) are visible:



9:50 - almost there ...

9:52 - almoster there ...

9:56 - starting to see some of that color!!



10:00 - holy shit this is awesome!

like hope, but different.

That title reminds of me of the slogan Hillary was trying out for a spell that was something like "change through experience". But enough about Hillary. Please. Last Tuesday, after Obama and McCain swept their respective 3 primaries, MSNBC played three speeches: Clinton, Obama, and McCain, in that order. They played part of the typically grating Clinton stump speech where she talked about her Texas roots (?), and then cut it off in favor of pundit analysis; then they played Obama's victory speech in its entirety, running over the beginning of McCain's victory speech; when he was done, they went over to the remainder of the McCain speech. Never has a contrast between 2 candidates been so vividly juxtaposed as it was in that transition. [the Obama vid is long but worth it]




Obama was like a rock star sending shivers through the stadium and the tv and internet tubes. Man, that guy can speak. Then they switched over to McCain reading off the teleprompter, sounding like the guy from the Werther's Originals commercials, like Wilford Brimley without the gravitas (and the oatmeal), and surrounded by the senior citizen brigade. I hate to be age-ist here, but c'mon, dude. Seriously? Was this set in a white nursing home in Virginia?






It was like stepping out of the sauna and into an ice bath. And the pundits couldn't pretend otherwise and marveled at the difference. Chris Matthews (and yes, I am somewhat ashamed that I was watching a show that was co-hosted by Chris Matthews) actually said that Obama's speech sent a "feeling up his leg". (I don't even have a joke for this one.) Anyways, I was still impressed by the impact of the contrast of the two speeches a couple days later, when I read a dailykos report on a Wall Street Journal writer's opposite reaction to the stark contrast of the two speeches. The WSJ writer, Dan Henninger, was moved by McCain's "upward, positive" message in opposition to the politics of Obama which "relentlessly pushes victimology". This man is detached from reality. Get help, Dan. We need you back here on planet Earth. For what, I have no idea, but I'm sure someone somewhere needs you not to be on Neptune.

Some other folks chose to highlight the contrast between Obama and McCain, by collecting musicians and actors to sing/speak in dramatic fashion along with their speeches. Here's Obama's version of hope:



and here's McCain's:



like hope, but different.

Fitchburg Calling

Come out of the cupboards, you boys and girls, and come down to Inman Square's own Abbey Lounge tonight for some rock and roll. Longtime VTK reader and friend, N-Lo, will be busting out his battle axe for his recently reunited band, lump. lump was originally formed back when the boys were raising grungy hell at Fitchburg State College in the late 80s or early 90s or something. Once described as "husker du on diet pills", a comparison to Bob Mould's more poppish band Sugar might be more appropriate. So Sugar on diet pills. Or metamucil more like it. I kid. Listen here and you decide.

Come on by tonight around 11:30. They're all good lads. Except for the one with the yellowy eyes.

Super Tuesday (not sunday) Prediction

Well, maybe I shouldn't make a prediction on the proverbial heels of my failure to predict the Super Sunday winner. On that front, I still can't believe the Pats couldn't get it done. What a shocka. On this front, I don't have a prediction because a. I don't want to jinx it; and b. the polls have been unreliable at best. But the official VTK Super Tuesday endorsement is obviously going to my fellow Hammers fan: Obamarama! Get out and vote.




Who cares about the Republican Primary. I'll pick Romney to pick up the upset by a kissed baby.

Super Sunday (not tuesday) Prediction

Pats. Pats are going to win. Come on.



But if you won't listen to me, maybe you'll listen to the three most qualified people on ESPN's celebrity picks list (they've certainly lived through enough Super Bowls):


MAMIE VAN DOREN - Legendary sex symbol

Patriots, 28-7. The New England Patriots are a cross between a symphony orchestra and a steam roller. Every player plays his part as they flatten their opponents.




PHYLLIS DILLER - Comedienne

Patriots, 30-10. A rout. I love routs.
















ADAM WEST - "Batman"

Patriots by 7 to 10 points. If Brady keeps his foot out of the mousetrap, he'll be able to pick apart the Giants' secondary.











Incidentally, even in my broke state, I'd probably pay upwards of $600 to have dinner with the three of them in a roundtable format where I get their opinions on an assortment of VTK relevant topics. They'd probably go for it. $200 a pop plus I pick up the dinner tab, which considering I doubt they have teeth won't be too high. Though the cocktail tab might be hefty - all three strike me as martini drinkers. So that's like $400 for dinner and drinks. And the roundtrip ticket to LA where I'm sure they all live. What's that? $500? No hotel. Either BrianinLA will put me up or I'll sleep on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams. That's $1500. If the VTK Community can raise that money, I'll make it happen. That's a fact, jack. Please submit your donation amounts and any questions you'd like me to ask them.

Go Pats! Or Giants. Whatever. I'm honestly more concerned about West Ham's away match at Wigan tomorrow. Classic trap game.