ELECTION 08 LIVE BLOG

UPDATED - 11:20 PM

12:00 Noon - It's on! I just voted. Time to do my other civic duty: live blogging!

I'll be updating throughout the day if I find interesting links or vtkworthy news items. I'll pick up the pace around 6 PM EST. I'm sure you'll be reading/watching your favorite news sources, so I'll try not to be redundant to those. This may end up reading like a giant anxious op/ed piece. I know that I have two polar opposite op/eds cooking in my head right now - one of which will make it out, the other of which will be tossed on the scrap heap. It's a weird situation in that there will be exactly one of two outcomes in a scant several hours, and I can't really believe that either one of them is going to happen: I can neither wrap my head around the idea of a black man being elected president of the US, nor can I fathom the US not electing this black man this year. The former is an amazing possibility, the latter a terrifying one (mostly because it will be the result of racism or fraud). Feel free to join in the live blog via the comment section. Yes you can.


2:00 PM - here are some midday links to get you through the countdown until the polls close:

- Exit Polls - In the comments, Joel brought up the uncertainty and unreliability of exit polling data. This is a good primer from dailykos, explaining what to look for, who to listen to, etc. Personally, I'm not giving any exit poll much credence. The false optimism created in 2004 and its subsequent collapse was too brutal. UPDATE: in fact dailykos and nate silver are now suggesting we ignore exit polls (which don't start coming out until later (5 EST) anyway).
- The Final Pollster - speaking of false optimism... who knows how accurate these polls are going to end up being, but Pollster.com's final state polling has Obama winning 273 electoral votes in the strong category - meaning McCain could win every toss up state and "leaning Obama" state and Obama would still win. Also of note, as pointed out by fuge, Karl Rove is predicting an Obama landslide. Though any sports fan will tell you this is a classic jinx move, so I'm not buying what he's selling either.
- Poll Closing Times - The real shit starts at 7 PM EST when the polls close in VA and IN (parts of IN close at 6). If VA goes Obama early (or at all) that's going to be a huge sign as to what we can expect. If IN is too close to call initially, that's another good sign. If IN actually goes Obama, get out the drape-measuring stick. The Gary, IN area (Chicago media market) is in the Central Time Zone though, so by the time the networks call IN, we might have a good idea of what's happening in VA, NC, and possibly FL and OH so it might be moot. FL and OH will probably take a while though.
- Steelers beat Redskins - This is supposed to mean that Obama's going to win. I don't know about that, but I know it's nice to see Pittsburgh beat a team from the NFC East.


2:30 - Wonk out tonight and follow the Presidential election and all the Senate and House races on the awesome kos electoral scoreboard (go to www.scoreboard.dailykos.com to see tricked out version (map below is a limited version)):



Also from kos, check out this election guide that breaks everything down by poll-closing time.

4:00 - This waiting is killing me. 2 hrs before we find out that KY went for McCain and that IN is too close to call. Question: if Obama/Biden win what happens to their Senate seats? Do the state governors select the replacements? The governors of IL and DE are both Dems.

4:20 - Vote yes on 2 in MA.

4:30 - Joe the Plumber: tax-evader, reckless driver, liar, moron, and ... fraudulent voter! End this, God. Please.


6:55 - excited nervous excited nervous excited nervous excited nervous excited nervous excited nervous excited nervous excited nervous excited nervous excited nervous Polls close in VA in 5 minutes and completely in IN in (inINin) 5 minutes. I was watching MSNBC but Chris Matthews was waxing ridiculous and it was a pretty boring panel. I switched to CNN and they've got graphics and gadgets and poll numbers! Woohoo! That's what I'm talking about. Can we get Chuck Todd to switch to CNN?

7:00 - Obama wins VT! McCain wins KY! Polls are closed in GA, IN, SC, and VA. It'll be a while before they call them in the presidential election though. (D) Warner wins the Senate race in VA. A couple of good pundit points: Conservative hack Bill Bennett gives credit to Howard Dean on his previously maligned strategy of trying to compete in traditionally Republican parts of the country; David Gergen says that the Obama campaign was one of the most impressive presidential campaigns ever. I would add that conversely the McCain campaign was one of the worst campaigns, on any level, ever. What a mess. That would be one of the most discouraging things about a McCain win - that they could run this poor of a campaign, in a year when the Republican brand is in the shitter, and the American people would still vote for them. C'mon, America. No way.

7:40 - Well ... uh. well. I like that Indiana is too close to call still. I don't like the numbers from VA so far. Florida's looking good - with 2% of the vote in. Can't really say anything about anything yet. Looks like (R) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's in for a tough fight for his Senate seat in KY. The graphics on CNN are much better than those on MSNBC.

8:00 - tons of CNN projections, none of them significant. MSNBC called Pennsylvania for Obama?!!? Switching channels... This would be huge. CNN hasn't called it yet. Did Gergen say CBS called NC for McCain? searching ...

8:05 - MSNBC not backing off the Penn prediction. NC still too close to call. No Reds switched to Blues yet but the PA serve-hold is huge. Stealing PA was a major piece of the McCain campaign's strategy. VA not looking great, but I don't know if the heavily Democratic areas have reported yet. C'mon VA, c'mon VA!!

8:13 - MSNBC called NH for Obama too. CNN hasn't called PA or NH yet. The MSNBC calls are clearly based on exit polls - troubling. Jeanne Shaheen beats incumbent John Sununu in NH. Good pick up for the Dems. KY McConnell vote not looking great.


8:43 - CNN called PA too, so that seems solid. Dole lost to Hagan in NC to give the Dems another Senate seat (+3 so far). #'s looking decent in the presidential race in NC. I wasn't expecting to win that one. It would be a nice consolation for a VA loss though (not looking great there, but again, I don't know what part of the state is lagging in reporting). Still no reds to blues. And I recall being ecstatic over the Kerry PA win, only to be devastated later on that night. In other news, I'm starting to develop a massive headache.

8:49 - Gergen and Bennett think the PA/NH wins close the door on McCain. they're not dumb and they're not liberals. I still have a headache though.

9:00 - Obama sweeps the upper-midwest blue states - MI, MN, WI. Solid holds. Still no red to blues yet. Can I get a MO? Can I get an NC? Can I get a tylenol? VA still too close to call according to MSNBC - but they said that they're still waiting on Northern VA. That's good. Chris Matthews: "it's a good time to order a pizza. We're not going to be able to call this until well after 11." fuck me. Dems have picked up 4 Senate seats so far.

9:15 - David Gregory just interrupted Chuck Todd to call Arkansas for McCain. You don't fuck with the Chuck Todd. Never interrupt Chuck Todd. Especially not for something that obvious an inconsequential. Todd's not as optimistic for Obama as the CNN gang is. He doesn't think VA's looking good for Obama. But NC's still looking decent. I'll swap that for VA.

9:26 - 0 FUCKING HI O !!!!! MSNBC's calling Ohio for Obama and I think CNN's about to follow suit. Huge huge huge. My headache just went away.


9:43 - CNN called OH, McCain's victory party is focusing on Hank Williams Jr, not the news, John King and his fancy big board "cannot get McCain to 270". It's only my well known paranoia/superstition that's stopping me from giving Obama the coveted VTK call. It's real close though. And my head really does feel better. How bout that.

9:55 - Brian has started a Call The Final Obama Electoral Vote Tally contest in the comments section. He has 364. I have 339. Anyone? (note - this does not constitute an official call from VTK; this is strictly for contest purposes). NM goes Obama. big. Headache's still gone.

10:02 - ** VTK OFFICIAL CALL ** IT'S OVER. BARACK OBAMA WILL BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. CNN just called Iowa. Assuming CA and HI goes Obama, that's game, set, match. Yes!!


10:16 - Also, for those of you not paying attention to the MA election, Prop 2 passed!! Spark it up, Massachusetts!! Possession of less than an ounce of marijuana in MA is now decriminalized. I gave up smoking years ago, but I strongly believe this change in law is long overdue.

11:00 - + CA = USA elects an African American to be the President of the United States of America. Awesome. I'm so proud.

** ELECTION REMINDER **

Don't forget to check in to the VTK special Election Day Live Blog tomorrow.

(did you think I was going to remind you to vote? If you forget to vote, you probably don't have the internet.)

Live Blogging the VP Debate

12:50 - Tune in tonight as VTK live blogs the most anticipated VP debate in decades.

6:00 - 3 hours til showtime. I'm warming up the oil and getting the popcorn kernels out for pregame. This is like Superbowl Sunday. Several of my friends around the country have told me they're throwing or attending debate parties. lc in DC is serving milk (with kahlua (sp?)) and cookies and playing Palin Bingo. It turns out that her beverage choice is a partisan one: milk is the official state beverage of Joe Biden's Delaware. I suggested that she balance things out by also serving the state beverage of Alaska: moose blood. Speaking of "the horror", here's Talking Points Memo's greatest hits of the recent interviews with the woman who actuarial tables say would have a 1 in 6.5 chance of becoming president if 72 year old McCain wins (1 in 3 over 2 terms):



"so committed". We should be so lucky.

And for your further pre-debate entertainment, check out some "hot pics" from Biden's debate camp with Jennifer Granholm, where he's learning not to make girls cry. That's Jennifer Granholm, governor of Michigan, where McCain decided to concede the state today (wow).

7:00 - 120 minutes until kickoff. Let the fumbling begin. For your 8 PM EST pregame viewing pleasure, I recommend either PBS's "Debating Our Destiny II" (in which Jim Lehrer will be interviewing past and present candidates about their debate performances), the reruns of yesterday's Daily Show and Colbert Report on Comedy Central, or MyTV's highlights of Wrestlemania XXIV, featuring Triple H, Undertaker, Ric Flair, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Snoop Dogg.

8:55 - 5 minutes! 5 minutes! What's going to happen? Could be anything. Probably the scariest possibility is that it will be boring. That would be quite a disappointment, considering the candidates involved. Ultimately, something really major, a really major gaffe, would have to happen to have a significant effect on the race. My prediction is that Palin comes off much better than she has in the Gibson and Couric interviews. And that it doesn't matter.

8:59 - I'm looking at the set right now. No table. I thought there was going to be a table. 30 seconds...

9:02 - "The audience has promised to be polite" what? Here they come.

9:04 - Very cordial. "can I call you Joe?", she asks. People will like that. Not that significant though. I'm nitpicking.

9:08 - hold serve. hold serve.

9:10 - Sean and Becky are playing Palin Bingo right now and I hear lots of X's already.

9:12 - She's doing well. Drat. The staring into the camera is getting a little creepy though. Joe's staying on message. Even keel, Joe, even keel.

9:15 - Her voice is shaky. I am nitpicking again? She's nervous, but people will probably identify with that. Be careful not to pick on the nervous girl, Joe.

9:18 - "health care taken over by the feds"?, says Sarah. the "feds"? is this how "small town" folks talk?

9:20 - "I call that the ultimate Bridge to Nowhere". Nice shot, Joe. Bait bait bait. He's spraying numbers right now. Will she be able to respond to them specifically?

9:24 - Sean needs 2 more for a bingo, in three rows. Becky needs 3.

9:27 - ooh, another "rear the head" reference from Palin. Who was rearing and where? What? Was it in our airspace? This debate is really fast paced. Both are doing well. Not much drama.

postscript - Palin: "We need to look back, even two years ago, and we need to be appreciative of John McCain's call for reform with Fannie Mae, with Freddie Mac, with the mortgage-lenders, too, who were starting to really kind of rear that head of abuse."

9:29 - Palin back to "Energy". Surprise surprise. "East coast politicians" are the enemy? I think Hawaii is farther away from the East Coast than Alaska and Arizona. Perhaps their governor is the most qualified to run the world.

9:38 - Am I the only one surprised and confused by their answers to the gay rights gay marriage questions?

9:47 - Sean points out: she keeps saying "nuculer". She's obviously speaking to people who say "nuculer" not "nuclear". So much for trying to convince people she's smart.

9:52 - Still fast paced. This is not the farce I expected.

9:55 - Joe's getting angry. Settle down, Joe. Settle down.

9:58 - Joe's starting to get a little condescending. "let me say it again" twice in the last minute. Annunciating slowly. settle down, Joe. Was that a sigh? I think I just heard a sigh. Joe's fuming right now. Playing into her hands, Joe. This is how they get you.

10:01 - smug, Joe. Not good. Nobody likes a smug hot-head. He's practically yelling now.

10:06 - or people are going to identify with his anger. what do I know.

10:09 - Gwen brings up the Heartbeat Away question. oooh. She phrased it as a question about "A Biden Administration" but we know what this is about. Palin "Whattaya expect from a team full of mavericks? We're a team full of mavericks!" Insanity. "Gov't, just get out of my way" You mean like on Wall Street?

10:13 - "say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again", and "aw, doggone it", in 10 seconds. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? She is so full of shit. She's like a trained seal with her talking points and the lingo. Except seals can't talk. And maybe she shouldn't either.

postscript - (it's tough to transcript this stuff on the fly):
PALIN: Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. You preferenced your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. You mentioned education and I'm glad you did. I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and god bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right? I say, too, with education, America needs to be putting a lot more focus on that and our schools have got to be really ramped up in terms of the funding that they are deserving. Teachers needed to be paid more. I come from a house full of school teachers. My grandma was, my dad who is in the audience today, he's a schoolteacher, had been for many years. My brother, who I think is the best schoolteacher in the year, and here's a shout-out to all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School, you get extra credit for watching the debate.

10:14 - Bingo on "Special Needs"! Sean wins!

10:16 - is it crass or sexist of me to recognize that she keeps saying that John McCain "tapped" her? It's not just her. Katie Couric said it. Should we be using that word? I'm sorry, but it's such a sexual reference ("tap that ass").

10:18 - she just said it again. Maybe I'm being a little overly Freudian here, but part of the whole point of her selection is to add some virility to McOldie.

10:22 - powerful powerful "I understand what it's like to raise two kids as a single parent" line (or something like that) from Biden, followed by him collecting himself for a second. change in tone in the debate.

10:23 - and Palin misses it. right back to the talking points with the smug smile.



cold, Sarah. cold.

10:26 - here's the [experience] difference folks: [fighting] the confirmation of Bork vs. [dealing with] the budget of a 5000 person town. There's your experience difference.

10:29 - Palin's closing statement - she mentions how much she enjoys this and prefers it to the "filter" of the mainstream media. classic. trying to erase the interviews with Gibson and Couric. Not going to work. Overly dramatic ending by her. will it play in Peoria? dunno. Indiana's a swing state. She didn't bomb tonight.

10:32 - Biden's closing statement - standard. good. He didn't fuck up. Got a little heated there for a bit, but pulled it back together.

End of debate. Let the punditry and spin begin!

Post-debate analysis: I thought it was an interesting debate, but not in that crazy circus way that was definitely possible. Ultimately, it was a wash, which might be considered a "win" for Palin. But Ultimately Part Two, it doesn't matter that much - it's a VP debate. I think she stopped the hemorrhaging, but not all the bleeding. She's less of a problem for McCain now (ie less than a huge problem), but I'm not sure she helped him at all. She appealed to the people who already like her, the conservative base, but I don't know how many independents show won over (or back). A lot of "darn right", "you betcha", "I'm not from Washington", etc. It's going to play with some people for sure. We'll see.

This was a good line from Biden: "I haven't heard anything yet. I haven't heard ... It may be. But so far, his policies are the same as George Bush's." He also did well with the pushback on the maverick label.

And what about Palin's suggestion that the Vice President should have more power? Constitution gave her extra power? Is this a talking point, a mutilated talking point, or her brazen power hunger? (has she even read the Constitution?) Is it not clear how the only aim of this person is power?

here's the quote (and see video below): I'm thankful the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president if that vice president so chose to exert it in working with the Senate and making sure that we are supportive of the president's policies and making sure too that our president understands what our strengths are.

Howard Fineman: Sarah Palin was "a wolverine attacking the pant leg of a passer-by" (wasn't meant as a compliment, but aren't wolverines bad asses? or am I just a U of Michigan fan? I guess a human could just kick a wolverine away if it came down to it) "but she in no way distanced her ticket from the Bush Administration, which was the Biden goal ... a rapid pace, a frantic pace, but she didn't defend or distance her ticket from Bush"

Interesting analysis from right-of-center Harvard professor David Gergen.

cbs poll: (Uncommitted Voters who watched the debate)
46% of uncommitted voters who watched the debate tonight thought Joe Biden was the winner. 21% thought Sarah Palin won, 33% thought it was a draw… 98% after the debate saw [Biden] as knowledgeable (79% before the debate).

cnn poll: A national poll of people who watched the vice presidential debate suggests that Democratic Sen. Joe Biden won but also hints that Republican Gov. Sarah Palin exceeded expectations ... 51% of those polled thought Biden did the best job in Thursday night's debate, while 36% thought Palin did the best job ... But respondents said the folksy Palin was more likable, scoring 54% to Biden's 36% ... But on the question of the candidates' qualifications to assume the presidency, 87% of the people polled said Biden is qualified while only 42% said Palin is qualified.






It was, as billed, an interesting debate.

Yankees.7.8 - weekend wrap / live blog

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Due to the Celtics' glorious championship run, I have been remiss in my coverage of the Yankees. The reality is that between the Celtics and the non-sports-fan girlfriend, I haven't been able to watch/listen to enough games to intelligently comment on the season. But with baseball taking center stage in the sports world and the girfriend hiking the Appalachian Trail, I've had more time to check in on the Bombers over the last month or two. And it seems like they're happy to have me back, as they've won eight in a row since the All-Star Break, including an epic 1-0 win at Fenway on Friday night and a strong 10-3 drubbing of the Sox yesterday. The win yesterday was particularly fortunate considering that I was at the game, in my Yankees gear, in the bleachers, without a Yankee ally within four rows or so. It's been raining quite a bit here in Boston over the last couple hours so who knows what will happen, and I know it's just a midseason game, but I figure this is a good time for a live blog.

8:01 - ESPN broadcast just started and the tarp is on the field. Rain delay. But it hasn't been postponed.

8:11 - They're reporting that the game should start "sooner rather than later" and the sky looks pretty good over here in Cambridge so I think we'll get some game in. Meanwhile, I'll recap a great Yankees-Red Sox weekend here in Boston. Per usual, the weekend format for Yankees-Red Sox was Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Sunday night. Friday night's opener brought an epic pitchers duel between Joba "Youkkiller" Chamberlain and Josh Beckett, and it didn't disappoint. Both pitchers took full advantage of the wide strike zone that the umpire established and stuck with from the first inning on. Joba delivered the best starting performance of his young MLB career, going 7 scoreless with 9 k's and only 3 singles and a walk. He had all his pitches going and was dominant. He also managed to get away with continuing his hilarious quasi-feud with Kevin Youkilis by sending another one in, high and tight, even getting a foul ball out of it. (Did he do it on purpose? Dunno. Maybe. Jerry Remy even said there's no way he would have done it on purpose in that situation, but maybe that's why he knew he could get away with it. You never want to see someone get hit in the head, but it is pretty funny to watch how red Youk's head gets when he's angry.) Beckett, for his part, was nasty on the corners of that wide strike zone, giving up only one run on an infield hit from the speedy Jason Giambi, who took advantage of the shift. Unlucky loss for him. The bullpens held their own, with the exception of Kyle "Small Stage" Farnsworth, who was saved by The Marinator, Mariano Rivera. Mariano got a huge 5 out save with his back against the wall.

8:41 - They've taken the tarp off the field and they're predicting a 9:00 start. I'm clearing the area around the broom closet here at the house. In case I need to get in there.

The Friday win was big in the standings, but equally as big for me as a Yankees fan taking the bus crosstown to Fenway and spending the afternoon at the park. As I said, I had my Yankees hat and nomaas.org t-shirt on so I knew that my recent Celtics fueled, hometown, love affair with the city was back on the shelf. Having won 7 in a row including a big one 13 hours before, my team's solid position would spare me the usual self-righteous Yankees Suck stuff. I met The Handsome Plumber, his brother, and their nephew at Game On for some beers and apps before the game. It was a beautiful sunny day with a late start because of the Fox broadcast, so the crowd was guaranteed to be juiced up and the scenery was guaranteed to be top shelf. We went in an hour early to enjoy the view and the roofdeck bar up above the rightfield grandstands. Enjoy them both we did. There were plenty of Yankees fans milling around but the mood was pretty mellow. I even got a fairly good natured reception/ribbing from the drunk New Hampshire meatheads seated next to me, deep in the heart of the bleachers. Pettitte was victim to an error and then gave up a walk for a tough start to the game. Both baserunners made it home to stake Wakefield a 2-0 lead. Fortunately for the boys in grey, Andy was great for the rest of the game and the Yankees were able to smack around Sox pitching to the tune of 10 runs. This, the company, the antics of the Granite State boys, and a handful of beverages, made for a great afternoon. Thanks again for the ticket, THP!

9:02 - Game on! John Lester pitching for the Sox against Johnny Damon. And ... he strikes him out on a nice curve. Up next - The Captain.

9:04 - Deep fly ball. Not deep enough. But Bobbreu follows it up with a double. Let's go A-Rod...

9:08 - Deep fly ball. Not deep enough. Caught by the always entertaining Manny Ramirez. Speaking of Manny, how about this quote he gave us today regarding his yearly desire for a trade: I don't care where I play, I can even play in Iraq if need be. My job is to play baseball. All class, Manny, as always. I don't think they need you in Iraq.

9:16 - The Dutch Dazzler, Sidney Ponson is in trouble in the first. Hits by Youk, Papi, and Manny. 1-0. Orel on Manny: "He's a little bit like a child." No shit.

9:20 - Ponson is getting hammered. The announcers are openly making fun of Manny now. And yet he scores a run that most other players would not have (because they would have listened to the third base coach). Manny being Manny. And Sox fans will put up with that other bullshit all day long. I know I would if he was on the Yankees.

9:27 - Lester, on the other hand, is looking sharp, getting soft ground balls from new hired gun, Xavier Nady, and red hot Robbie Cano. Then, .216 hitting Richie Sexson gets a bloop single. Who can figure baseball. Anyway, Lester's been tough so far this year. Tough to hate a guy who's mild mannered and recovering from cancer. And ... he strikes out Molina. Might be a quiet night in the broom closet. As far as the Nady/Marte trade is concerned, I'm giving it a medium-large sized thumbs up. They didn't give up much. Ohlendorf and Karstens have decent stuff but will probably never be better than mediocre in the majors, so I'm not too worried about it. The real trading piece was Tabata, who the Yankees had as their # 3 prospect in the minors, currently in AA ball. Normally, this would distress my conservative trading sensibilities, but he's had some disciplinary problems and there are some questions about his motivation. And he's batting .248 in AA. No problem saying goodbye to that for a good bat and a good arm in return. -- update -- Nady promptly misplays a ball in left field. It's Fenway. That'll happen. I still like the deal.

9:40 - Weak hits by Molina and Damon and the Yanks have 2 on, none out. C'mon Captain! ... and ... double play. and a Bobbreu K. Tough. Ortiz and Manny up. We need to get Sid the Dud out of there.

9:52 - Is anyone still reading this? Write "Shaka Hislop" in the comment section and pat yourself on the back if you are. This is not riveting stuff.

9:58 - Ponson allows another run and Nady allows Varitek to stretch it to a double. Suffice it to say I have not yet classified them as "Real Yankees".

10:02 - Nady strikes out with A-Rod on 2nd. fuck this guy.

10:09 - Girardi on the dugout interview says that he's going to stick with Ponson, likes what he's doing so far. What the fuck? Generally speaking, I'm a huge Joe G fan and think he does a great job managing his pitching staff. Is there something I'm missing here? Is he mailing this in to see how his team responds?

10:12 - Nady baffled by another ball in left field. This guy better start hitting if he's going to field like this.

10:18 - OK, c'mon. This is ridiculous. Papi just crushed one. Ponson is absolute garbage. And he has been from the first pitch tonight. Get him the fuck out of there, Joe. ... and Manny crushes a 415 foot fly ball out to end the inning. Joe. C'mon. Nomaas. 7-0 Sox.



10:27 - I don't know why I posted that picture. Just felt right.

10:28 - 3 singles to open the 5th for the Yankees, 3 men still on base. Jeter, BobA, and A-Rod up. Let's go Yankees! ... Jeter with a ridiculous squibber hit that gets a run in. Still no outs. If they don't run Ponson out there for the 5th, this might still be a game.

10:35 - Nice BOB by Bob to force in a run. Tough break for a whistler by A-Rod. Crap decision not to run Damon on a Nady pop fly to Ellsbury (that's minus 10 more "Real Yankee" points for Nady). And Cano grounds to the pitcher to end the inning. Bases loaded, no outs, top of the line-up, tiring pitcher => 2 runs. Should've been more. I'm going to make a burrito.

11:09 - Checked back in the 6th just as Nady failed to get Youkilis out from 2nd from shallow left field. This game is over. Back to the burrito construction process.

11:45 - Well, this has been an utterly uninteresting live blog and the good guys are losing 9-2 with 2 outs in the 9th. I thought that the Friday night game would have made a nice live blog, so I decided to try it tonight since I needed to do a Y.X.X post anyway. Baseball games are always hit or miss. Oh well. If you'd given me 2 out of 3 at the start of the weekend, I'd've taken it. And now I have no choice but to take it: Sox win. Still a strong weekend and an impressive week by the Yankees. Ponson's crapper tonight notwithstanding, the pitching appears to be stepping up to the rubber, and Nady's 0-for notwithstanding, the hitting appears to be stepping up to the plate. Or at least getting closer to the batter's box. I don't know if they have enough to beat the Sox or whichever playoff team gets hot at the end of the season all the way to a World Series title. If they're that playoff team that gets hot, they certainly do. Especially if Wang and/or Hughes can come back and be good in September/October. Losing Posada and Matsui sucks, but if Nady can hit like he has been hitting in the NL, and Robbie keeps up his regression back to his mean, and Jeter can start hitting his customary 300+, we'll be looking good.

Congrats to great Yankee closer Goose Gossage on his Hall of Fame induction.

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!

Fecking Fantastic in 08

2:35 PM - Live Blogging from the roof, VTKids. Remember that last post when it was "feels like" negative 7? Well, just a few short days later and it's "feels like" 70 here in beautiful Cambridge, MA. That's positive 70. It's crazy. I'm sitting up here on my roof in a t-shirt and sunglasses, live blogging. New England. Don't like the weather? Wait five minutes. Or 5 days for a 77 degree temperature difference. Enjoy it Northeasterners. It won't last.

2:42 PM - Speaking of won't last, my battery won't last. That's for sure. I've only got about ten minutes tops before it shuts this live blog down so I'd better get to it. What to say. Well, that graphic novel in the picture is called Epileptic by David B. and it's pretty kick ass. Someone mysteriously left it on the doorstep of my building (or in the hall) with a parking stub labeled "4 Dan". Thanks to the mystery book fairy. I'm enjoying it quite a bit and on a few levels.

2:46 PM - Time for one more post? In other New England news, the NH primary is today and Obamarama is in full swing. Kucinich is my pick, but in the realm of realism, VTK endorses Obama. I'm also looking for suggestions for different Obama rhyming group names/slogans to forward on to their campaign. So far I have "This Mama's For Obama" and "Farma for Obama", but that only really works with a Boston accent. Maybe NH. "I'm an Obama Llama"?

2:51 PM - going to lose power any second. but a quick note to my roomies. this is our wireless that I'm on! rock/roll.

2:53 PM - Want good karma? Vote Obama!

2:54 PM - I know this isn't an original thought, but how crazy is it that the front runner for 08 US president's name rhymes with Iraq Osama.

2:55 PM - End live blogging for now. I'm back in the apartment to type this but am headed back up to read that g-nov. 25 minutes on the battery. That's impressive for my crapass battery.

Taco Tuesday!

In case you didn't already hear, everyone in America gets a free taco today at Taco Bell. Repeat: everyone in America gets a free taco today at Taco Bell. Thanks to the stolen base of famed womanizer, Jacoby Ellsbury (or as dewy24 dubbed him, Tacoby Bellsbury), you get a free taco. That's a taco, and that's free. Get on it.

UPDATE - TACO BELL LIVE BLOGGING:

2:55 - I head down to the local neighborhood Taco Bell for my free taco, wondering about the timing of the promotion - from 2 to 5 PM. How are all the hard working 9 to 5 Americans going to get their free tacos?

3:02 - Arrive at Taco Bell and realize who the target audience is - school children.

3:17 - After 15 minutes in line with unruly adolescents, I get my free taco.

3:18 - That was tasty. Not as tasty as a Taco Town taco, but tasty.

Cisco - Live Blogging

My roommate Sean brought me home a bottle of Cisco yesterday and I decided that it was a product and an experience worthy of live blogging. This afternoon, we maowed major ribbage at the Phantom Gourmet's ribfest at Gov't Center, along with a few beers, as documented on Sean's new blog, The Practical Slacker. That sent me into a major pork/beer coma for a couple hours but now I'm back and raring (sp? etymology?) to go, so what better way to kick off Friday night:


8:25 - I've taken the before photo and twisted off the cap - yoinks! What a smell. Strawberry. Not surprisingly, the smell reminds me of Welch's strawberry soda, a bottle of which I used to buy from the Mini Mart down the street from my house, along with a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, which was fairly new at the time. My diet consisted largely of these two items and twizzlers in 1988.

8:31 - blogging, loading picture, letting Cisco breathe - this is important. Ok, here goes...

8:32 - hmmm. interesting taste. I can't tell if it's delicious or disgusting. It's either one or the other. I'm quite sure it's nothing in between.

8:37 - loading second picture, drinking second 1/2 glass, laughing at the "THIS IS NOT A WINE COOLER" disclaimer on the bottle.

8:40 - chillin', reminiscing about high school haircut with the three stripes shaved above the ears, connecting in the back. If the mullet was "business in front, party in the back", that haircut was "business on top, party down below".

8:46 - notice how the second photo of my pouring the first drink is referencing the live blogging in the background? Now loading another deliciously clever self-referential photo. Also, Sean just took a photo of me loading that photo and is planning on live blogging my live blogging. it's getting ridiculous in here! and I'm getting a little strawberry sweet buzz!

8:53 - all this blogging is distracting me from the goal at hand - gittin' ripped on Cisco. That said, I did just feel like there was a bug on my hand and there wasn't. The 'co is cracking me out! Still debating delicious or disgusting.

8:55 - working on my 3rd glass - totally wasted.

8:59 - yeaaaaaaaah...

9:01 - I just drunk dialed my mom. I love her. I really do.

9:05 - When Cisco first hit the market in Pittsfield, I was about 15 and still a bit green around the gills when it came to fine hooch appreciation. I hadn't quite tapped the 12 year old whiskey market yet. Mostly we drank anything we could get. I once mixed some vodka and red wine - two of my father's faves - together in a tupperware container and drank it with a couple friends on top of the parking garage on North Street. but wine coolers, Southern Comfort, and MGD's were not uncommon either. So at some point, in those high school years - 89 or 90 probably - Cisco rolled into town. There were rumors. There were stories. A stomach or two may have been pumped. A car accident and a brawl may have broken out. But I hadn't run across any myself. Then one morning, my high school principal was doing the morning announcements when he broke out with something along these lines:

"Now I want to talk to you about something very serious... There is a new alcohol on the market, called 'Cisco'. It is a very sweet drink that tastes like candy, like a wine cooler, but is very very strong, like a liquor. This is not a wine cooler. This is a very strong drink that doesn't have the bad taste of most strong liquors. Therefore people are getting more drunk than they think they are. This is a dangerous drink. We don't condone any underage drinking, but I'm particularly warning you to stay away from this drink."

9:14 - Madison Avenue couldn't have dreamed up a better marketing strategy. Is that crazy or what? I can't remember if we got some at lunch or waited until after school.

9:20 - Sean has a contact buzz in the next room. He just refreshed his own blog to see if he had added anything new. For my part, I have my mouse on my knee and I just tried to move it across the screen by moving my leg. no, dan, no. doesn't work like that. Sadly, the bottle is only 375 ml and I'm reaching the end, which means the end of this live blog (unless I continue pounding beers, go to The Field, and come back and try to continue this live blog). I fucking love you guys!! Peace out!

Midterms - Live Blogging

[update: all morning-after coverage will proceed in the comments. I'm still on the lookout for a picture of Rick Santorum's son crying, so this one of his daughter crying will have to do for now. update 2: check out the bird on picture 3]


fuck it. I'm live blogging this fucker.

7:46 - Down goes Blackwell. The architect of the 04 Ohio Bush win gets his comeuppance. With 6% of precincts reporting, Allen 57, Webb 43. With 7% reporting, Allen 54, Webb 46. Virginia has very disparate districts, so we don't know where those precincts are from. Hopefully they're from the Southern part of the state. update - at 10% reported it's Allen 55. If Webb loses this race to Macaca, we can pretty much kiss the Senate pipe dream goodbye. I think we'd have to win TN and MO and possibly AZ, if Virginians decide that they like calling colored people monkeys.

7:55 - ok, now I'm bored...

8:00 - 16 more states just closed their polling, including MA. Did Deval Patrick win by the predicted landslide and become the first African-American governor of Massachusetts. Oh shit! Ted Kennedy just got re-elected! I can't believe it. Live blogging is so much fun. Snowe and Byrd won (of course) and Nelson beat Kitty Harris (00 FL Bush architect gets comeuppance!)

8:01 - 23% of precincts in VA - Allen 49, Webb 50!

8:08 - exit polls look favorable, but we know how that goes... waiting... waiting... will the Stem Cell vote turnout enough McCaskill voters ... aw yeah, the AK is following the live blog! Welcome.

8:14 - holy crap - 32% of VA reporting, Macaca up by a scant 700 votes. I'm predicting a recount with the Senate hanging in the balance ... could be a long night.

8:22 - goddamn it. I wish I had made my burritos before I started live blogging. how am i going to do this... Dem's just got the 1st of their 15 needed pick ups in the House: Ellsworth in Indiana. he's a wanker, but will stand with the Dems so that's something.

8:29 - Deval Patrick wins! MA has a Dem Governor!!!! Shocking that that's shocking.

8:30 - regardless of the outcome of the VA election, I will provide footage of me spanking a girl in TN. Unfortunately, that footage is in the hands of someone who is in Amsterdam right now. so that might take a while.

8:40 - CNN predicting Menendez (D) to win the Senate seat in NJ. phew. At least we didn't blow that one... Looks like my boy Capuano's running away with it over the Socialist challenger... Racist 56, Black Man 43 with 4% reporting in TN...

8:41 - bt-dubs, the spanking update was in response to a comment in the comments section. there are literally thousands of you following this live blog so I can't respond to all comments right now. other updates: I'm firing on maximum efficiency right now. I managed a bathroom break and managed to get my burrito mix in the microwave. I'll be shredding cheese over my laptop, so please excuse any misspellings... 55% reporting in VA and Macaca's up 50 to 49.

8:46 - Schumer just said that he has been told that much of Northern VA hasn't been counted yet ... sucks about your ordeal there, Duffless. I got bounced when I voted in the primary, but fortunately I'm unemployed so I was able to make it in plenty of time.

8:50 - Brown (D) wins Senate race in OH. That's one Senate seat swiped (swope?) from the GOP... and Daily Kos is calling for Casey (D) in PA, but I thought they were extending the polls there. dunno... if so, that's 2 of the necessary 6 pickups in the Senate... speaking of which, I wonder if Dick Cheney shot anyone today...

9:02 - Down goes Rick Santorum!! Suck it, scumbag. CNN being much more cautious than Kos, obviously. Hillary wins... Stabenow (d) wins in MI. That's not totally unexpected, but key. Kos reported that GOP dumped a load of cash into that race.

9:12 - Klobuchar holds in MN. That's 3 key holds. Waiting on MD. Racist Corky beating Ford 53-46 with 11 reporting in TN. Mizzou starting to come in - tied. VA is the big one though: 68% reporting, Allen 50, Webb 49 - by about 4000. Lieberdouchebag is winning 50-40-10 in CT... and fuck, they just called it for Lieberdouchebag. What a douchebag.

9:20 - Jennifer Granholm re-elected governor in MI. Now, first and foremost, lest I be labled a sexist, let me just say that she's an intelligent, charismatic, leader and a very worthy governor. So, regardless of her looks, she's a super person and I'm glad she won. ... and she's a hottie.

9:22 - MD holds! Cardin (D) wins his senate seat. so the Dems didn't screw up any of the races they were supposed to win. now they need to get 2 out of VA, TN, MO, AZ.

9:31 - Mehlmen is claiming Northern VA has already voted. but he would. Whitehouse beat Chafee in RI taking that seat for the Dems. Chafee was as good as it got as far as GOP Senators went, but at the end of the day, he's GOP. Ciao Chaf... Dems picked up a few more seats in the House too (KY,IN).... Brian has confirmed it: Granholm's a hottie.

9:43 - burrito update - the cheese is shredded, the mix is warmed and the tortillas are sitting on the counter. another update: I just ran into the living room and giddily yelled "who let the Dems out! who who who who who!" Premature giddiness + confusing chant = ? ... we're down 30k votes in VA and TN with 85% and 35% reporting respectively...

9:50 - Who let the dog-eared ladies out in Cambridge?

9:57 - It's getting crowded here in Tryst. Who knew there were so many other bloggers here.

10:08 - polls closing in MT... a Tester win could be huge... I just finished assembling the burritos; still need to do the last reheating session ... Need 3 wins out of VA, TN, MO, MT, AZ, NV. and 12 house seats. still no word on whether Cheney shot anyone today...

10:14 - No word yet on the fate of former Pittsburgh Steeler star receiver and current GOP PA gubernatorial candidate, Lynn Swann. Loved you on the field, Swanny, but I'm going to have to cut you loose on this one ... Web down by 25k with 89 reported. CNN just showed a precinct around Richmond which was very blue in 04 that hadn't reported...

10:20 - Anyone know why Jeb Bush didn't run for re-election? Crist (R) won that race... damn. CNN is showing a lot of these house races as very close ... Burritos are on the plate and delicious...

10:35 - Sean is sitting across the room from me and found out that I was eating my burritos through this live blog. that's what I'm talking about. and that ain't no macaca... Dems picked up 5 house seats so far. need 10 mo'... Bigmouth Dink Kerry is introducing Deval Patrick to the nation on live tv (CNN) right now.

10:49 - Kos has us picking up 8 seats in the House so far. Unfortunately, he's also has "civil unions taking a pounding", reminding us how many closed minded assholes there are all over this country... CNN claims Shuler (D) wins in NC, which would be 9 seats down, 6 to go.

10:59 - Kos and CNN both have the D's picking up 10 now and Negron is conceding as we speak, which brought attention to the fact that the guy who was on the ballot for the GOP, Mark Foley, is still in rehab for alcohol, which led me to opine "he probably didn't want to come out until after the election". No pun intended. ba dump bump. So they're at 11 now. House is looking like a lock at this point. Still no update on VA, TN, and MO senate races - it's been 45 fucking minutes. what is this bullshit? They just called Murphy (D) from CT for Dems, making it 12, but "10" according to Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper. idiots. The boys and girls here at Tryst are going bananas. Also, Daniel Akaka just won in HI, which led to an unbearable silence waiting for Sean's mandatory Macaca joke.

11:03 - 3 more pickups by CNN's count. so that's 8. schmucks.

11:08 - Between CNN and Kos cross-analysis, we've picked up the 15 in the House!!

11:09 - CNN calls the 15. (one minute behind VTK. kiss my ass, Wolf)

11:17 - Good tip, Brian. I just switched the tube to the Daily Show's live broadcast and am following on CNN.com and kos. Not looking good for the senate. Allen still up by 20 or 30k with pretty much all reporting. Corker up in TN by 55k and 3% pts with 82 reporting and Talent up in MO by 65k and 6% pts with 42 reporting. Even if Tester wins in MT, it's unlikely that they'll win 2 of those races and/or AZ/NV. Winning the Senate would require a Hoosiersesque ending. Come on, Jimmy Chitwood!!

11:18 - Dan Rather's on the Daily Show. I wonder if he's going to cry and/or say "wherever my president wants me to line up, I'll line up".

11:24 - from this VA General Election site, that race is wicked close: with 97.26% reporting, it's Allen 49.55 to Webb 49.24. 8k votes.

11:29 - 97.42% reporting the difference is down to 0.21%. crazy close.

11:47 - 97.67% reporting, Allen 49.47 to Webb 49.33, about 3k votes. RECOUNT!!! (unless Webb makes the comeback).

Midnight - 99.10% reporting, Allen 49.43 to Webb 49.36, 0.07% difference, under 2k votes out of 2.3 million. Motherfucking recount up in that motherfucker. gotta be. Meanwhile, Tester is winning in MT, so if MO or TN somehow swung Dem, the recount would decide the Senate. ... as I predicted at 8:14 PM EST.

12:09 - now CNN has Webb up on Allen by exactly the same margin as that site has Allen up on Webb. don't know what to think. - check that - they have Webb up by 2500 votes on CNN now.

12:51 - Webb still up 2300 votes and apparently the count is going on until tomorrow. McCaskill just took the lead in MO, but it's almost as close as VA. They just called TN for Corker the Racist. Tester is up 10% in MT with 1/3 reported... The VTK Live Blog session just passed 5 hours... from Kos: "Get ready for a bloody recount in VA. MO is looking great, and MT is looking good. Control of the Senate will come down to Virginia. I'm calling it for Webb right now."

1:42 - yowserino. this thing is going down to the wire. and I'm getting a headache. Tester is losing his lead precinct by precinct with 59% reporting. McCaskill is widening her lead (84 reporting), but it won't matter if Tester doesn't hold on - well, it matters obviously, but they won't have a shot at winning the Senate and, more importantly, validating my prediction and my suggestion that a Senate win would be Hoosieresque. Right now, Tester is like the little blond guy making the free throws at the end of the semifinal. C'mon lil buddy. You can do it...

2:30 - well, I told myself that I would call the coverage at 2:30, so this is it for the live blogging. They've called the victory for McCaskill in MO. With 99.63% of the VA precincts reporting, Webb is up 1,167,053 (49.56%) to 1,159,238 (49.23%) over Macaca. Since it is under 1% difference, the recount will be on. They'll be counting provisional ballots and this thing won't be over for another few weeks, but 8000 is a pretty big lead to go into a recount with. So, it's down to Tester in MT. He's leading with 72% reporting - 7k votes and 3% points - and James Carville said that his people expect that lead to hold. I'm going to bed.