Brighton

Ah, beautiful Brighton. An ideal seaside resort conveniently located close to (and inexpensively from) London.

When I set out today there was not a cloud in the sky. To my infinite surprise there never was, either. It was the most beautiful winter day humanly possible. Therefore I could take in all of Brighton's beauty and cheap splendor.

And I mean cheap. Actually, the whole place is a bit fake. It has a pier with mildly creepy kids rides on it, old people playing slotmachines and flashy lights. The person who made this place famous, the Prince Regent back in 1810s (how I know this I will come to shortly), built a gaudy pseudo-Indian monstrosity for himself to play in and turned this seaside place into a den of debauchery. It still is - there are more bars and scantily dressed women in this place then I've seen in all of London.

However, Brighton is actually quite lovely anyway. Its shopping is a bit on the weird and annoying new-agey side but its actually not bad for a thrift shopper (2 pound used books?! - win). The Regent's old place supports a wonderful garden and a free (!!!) awesome museum with a number of quite interesting exhibits. One is on Brighton, which is how I know stuff about it. One has a diverse and interesting painting collection. And a random one about chairs. I would like now to rant about chairs for a moment. Skip this if you like modern art.

A CHAIR IS SOMETHING YOU SIT IN!!! OKAY! It is not a stupid wire structure which stretches the boundaries of our imagination about what a chair can be. NO. It should be comfortable. I better at least be able to imagine myself sitting in it. It'd be nice if it would work in conjunction with a book and a fire place. If my fat cat would find her blob sifting through the cracks then you are a stupid artist and when I am ruler of the world you will clean streets.

Right, now with that out of the way ... the coffee shops are excellent and atmospheric. Also win. In short, if you love freedom and equality then you'll love Brighton. If you have your doubts about them you'll still probably love Brighton. Brighton gets a thosesunglassesaretoobigforyourheadandnothey'renotoriginal/hookersholleringattraffic.

Oxford, TV on the Radio

Its been awhile. A poster requests pictures: if she reads some of my earlier posts she will learn that I have already wasted a number of hours trying to post pictures with no results. But perhaps this weekend I will try again. Some things are also on my facebook. Anyway, 2 items today -

Oxford: Must beautiful little town ever! Well...the only place in England I've been thus far outside of London, really, so obviously not much to compare too. But seriously, I cannot do it justice. The architecture is ancient and serene, like the task of learning which is the town's purpose. We visited a college (can't remember which) with huge and lovely grounds. A creek snakes through green fields, with willow trees and such leaning over the banks. They have their own cows.

In terms of food, we found an outdoor market with lots of delicious food to complement a permanent indoor one with equally delicious food. I recommend Ben's cookies if anyone is ever in Oxford (I owe thanks to my friend Becca for showing us this place).

We visited Lewis Carroll's coffee shop and some pub Tolkien wrote in. These of course, are not nearly as one would hope. But still cool.

TV on the Radio - Dear Science: A marked improvement over either of their two previous albums. An album with more wisdom (and consequently less gloom) than before, wedged between funky beats that ask one to dance. Highly recommended, definitely one of the best albums I've heard this year. 19/20

I need to fix some pasta before class so that's all for now.

Prague and Business

Two things before I get to Prague.

1)Congrats Obama. How am I off by an electoral vote, and how did I get Missouri and Indiana wrong? Well...the electoral vote is Omaha. The Messiah even plays in Nebraska, and that's all I can say, really. And my home state is just being obstinate.

2) Quantum of Solace: New James Bond flick. Some have said its bad. They're wrong. Almost as good as Casino Royal. And a Bond with a story-arch. Wowza!

Now to Prague. We will do this as a frequently asked questions set.

1) Is Prague as awesome and gorgeous as rumored?

Why yes! Actually, it is. It sits below a ring of hills and has a lovely, rather clean river running through it. One can disembark on any of the little parks in that river, and fish or boat if one wants. Or one can survey all of the ancient buildings, Prague Castle (which I had the pleasure of visiting) and cathedrals from Petrin Hill or the Letne gardens. Even in late autumn they're gorgeous unto themselves.

2) Wow! Did you really go to all of these places?

Yes! Even better, one can walk to all of them - its a small city and great for foot tours. The public transport is fine for the lazy. I also saw boring tourist stuff like Old Town Square (there's a giant clock) and some bridge thingy.

3) Well on to the authentic stuff then. How's the food?

Delicious, if not terribly healthy. Goulash is delicious. My dear hostess (Becca) and I ate at a restaurant with multiple entrees fixed with the aide of beer, which was awesome.

4) Speaking of beer, is it really cheaper than water?

Yes, and delicious too! Half a litre of "Pivo" as they call it can be had for usually under two dollars, light or dark, and so instead of water...

5) Are you saying at all times you drank beer instead of water?

Er...so there was um...this election while I was there! I think the black guy one. Everyone was happy.

6) What's the weirdest thing that happened in Prague?

There's a park in the north part of the city called Stromovka (or something like that) which also has a fair grounds. While I was enjoying a nice stroll, I heard some music. Followed it to a creepy deserted carnival. With music in Czech and lots of lit rides and no people. Except for a couple as I tried to leave. And a creepy guy selling candy by the entrance. I didn't buy any.

Dodds vs Rove

My friend Becca is in class so I'm doing last minute election watching on the internets from the NYU building in Prague. The most important development? Karl Rove (yes that one) has his predictions out - and they're exactly the same as mine! - except for a few thousand votes in North Carolina and Missouri, which he has barely going McCain and I have barely going Obama. Fie! En garde, ye knave! But Rove, er, may be right, we'll see.

Especially in North Carolina, where weather.com indicates rain - which leads to reduced turnout...which almost certainly hurts Obama.

Anyone reading this in the states go vote!

Election Predictions

Obama Election Day Post

So…I got 2004 and 2006 right, but this one is actually going to be (yeah, I’m making excuses) harder. Why? There’s been a lot of movement in both the polling and the campaign (Obama’s summer fall, Palin, the destruction of the world economy) which makes prediction difficult. There’s also the questions of racism (Bradley effect) and increased turnout. But anyway, on with the predictions.

I’ll move from West to East.

Hawaii (4): Obama.
Alaska (3): McCain. Palin = instant win.
West Coast (77): Obama. The northwest might have been close in a close election.
Nevada (5): Obama. One of my riskier guesses, I would say. Went for Bush. But Obama’s leading wide enough in the polls and I feel like increased turnout will help.
Arizona (10): McCain. Home-state advantage.
Utah/Idaho/Wyoming (15): McCain.
Montana (3): McCain. I list Montana separately b/c it’ll be close. It went for Clinton once and has two democratic senators. But I’m going with the polls.
New Mexico (5): Obama. Usually close but hasn’t been this election.
Colorado (9): Obama. Usually Republican but has seen an upsurge in democratic activity of late. Polls bear this out.
Texas/Oklahoma/Kansas/South Dakota (55): McCain.
North Dakota (3): McCain. Obama’s leading in the polls out recently. What? There’s very little to go on here, so I’m calling outlier on this one and going with the historical record.
Louisiana/Arkansas/Alabama/Mississippi/Tennessee/Kentucky (49): McCain.
Missouri (11): Obama! Ah Missouri, my oft-conservative home state. Have you learned to love Obama like Claire? I think you have, just barely. And I’m counting on the cities to turn ‘em out like none other. Will be hair-breath close.
Iowa/Minnesota/Wisconsin (27): Obama. Midwest love.
Illinois (25): Obama. Home-state love.
Michigan (17): Obama. Was in play, but then the economy happened.
Indiana (11): McCain. One of the hardest states to call. Its been quite close all year, and Obama can really turn out in the Chicago suburbs. But I’ll go with a narrow McCain victory off his overall poll lead and historical advantage.
Ohio (20): Obama. National momentum moving his way, the ultimate bell-weather goes too. Not an impossible reach for McCain though.
Florida (27): Obama. Another close one. Will be down to the wire. But they like Biden and they like money.
Georgia (15): McCain. This is closer than you’d think. If Obama has super turnout then I could be wrong on this.
South Carolina (8): McCain.
North Carolina (15): Obama. Turnout! Polls! Can this be?
Virginia (13): Obama. Turnout! Polls! DC suburbs!
West Virginia (5): McCain. Blarmey Nigra!!!
Pennsylvania (21): Obama. McCain’s making a play for it. Here’s betting he fails.
Blue Northeast (78): Obama.
New Hampshire/Maine (8): Obama. Might be close in a close election.

Leaving us with! Obama 364, McCain 174, OBAMA PWNZZOIGKNLK!
Margin of Victory: 4.2%.
The Messiah will have arrived ere’ I eat dinner in Prague on the 5th.

Americana

Live from the UK! - Commentary on music strictly American.

Lucinda Williams: Little Honey - "Its a real love," aye? I miss all the fake ones, then. Not that this new one's bad, but its not refined enough, not hooky enough...and the little close observations about life she's so good at aren't insightful enough to save the lack of melody. Her worst album of her own material...ever, surely, but still, better than 95% of country schlock out there, regardless. 17/20

Todd Snider: Peace Queer (EP) - In which Todd confesses this is all for him and that (surprise!) he doesn't like bullies. And it seems like the job of the idealists like him is to throw evil into its proper relief. Which isn't so bad a job. 18/20

Conor Oberst: Bright Eyes frontman makes the best thing (in pure musical terms) I've heard thus far this year. A gorgeous album that really grabs the heart. "I don't wanna die in a hospital" - body's not the only thing, let's have a little soul. 19/20

Randy Newman: Harps and Angels - Opens with a song about the (almost) death of a man; body of the beast has one about "this empire ending, just like all the rest" (this one needs an almost, too). Having these rather striking existentiale paraded before you in Newman's sarcastic conversational blather is musical food for thought. And its purty. 19/20

Drive-By Truckers: Brighter than Creation's Dark - This post has been too long, but I'll just say that the title's accurate about the work. Might be my personal favorite - recognizes the great good's in life (family, friends) and makes us aware of fortune's less favored ones, American style: queers, meth-heads, those of us who aren't angels... 19/20

A Wee Scottish Epic

A Wee Scottish Epic or How our hero return’d to London imitating Falstaff of the Merry Wives of Windsor*

1
Early in the glow of the Queen’s morning light
A loan traveler (small and bald, aye, but bold and bright!)
- or so thought he – upon a modern marvel did alight.
Not a beast of sun, air, or rail was she,
But a bus as mega as one can see
(and he t’were only on it 11 hours, woopee!).
O’er the hills and plains of sheep our hero sped
With dreams of castles, adventure, and whiskey in his head,
Toward where our heroine lay (demurely, we shall say) asleep in her bed.
Arriv’d our hero in Edinburgh with yawn in hand
To meet the lass Laina and hero Leon (whom from our heroes did presently disband)
And with the lass did stroll this nation, his name plus land.

2
Our heroine (daughter of a Rose and mighty Klaus, watched over by Zeus)
Did lead to the castle of Lucy and Dave the Bard
Where travelers, oysters, laugher, food and wine flowed loose,
To prepare our heroes for traveling many a yard.
(A’fore we continue a kind word o’ Lucy and Dave we must say,
as a more beautiful and welcoming hearth hath never a more grateful traveler met,
nor more satisfied his head on his pillow lay;
‘tis sure that for kindness, banter, and rest, forever is he in their debt.)
From the castle next morn the lass set a hearty pace
The better to see the capital of the Scots in a day
(and to through our a path a fudge shop three times lace)
past lofty crags, mighty castles, church’s a’spired did they make their way!
A challenge (or demand) was issued from the lass
“we pass Hagus and Whiskey, but have Hagus first!”
so with Neeps and Tatters our hero devoured a delicious mass –
of intestines, lung and heart – before downing a pint at world’s end to quench his thirst.
A thirst which has not abetted yet
They met later with friends (and mighty Leon) later to quench,
And at the Hive did drink and common merry let
Men of wee Scot befriend those of yet mighty America (ay! Though we be on the bench).

3
Awake next morning our hero did find
That he had grown old of body (and yet, of mind?)
With akin’ back our hero did kindly take
The offer of Lucy, to the bus station to make
And from there to Dundee where this story began,
A town of Uni, malls and bagpipe through which our heroes ran.
That night they ate food o’ the east (thanks be to Mayer!)
To prepare their livers for the nights feast and a Union with five layer,
Wherein our hero with Scottish warriors did dance and chat
Until the wee hours of the morn when he tried to apply his stiff back to a mat.

4
Having all of these adventures under his belt,
The Lord believed with pride our hero dwelt,
And because the Lord ‘tis kind, not wishing our hero to Hell,
Did send him a challenge, our heroes mind now to melt.
This day (which was to end with our heroes departure)
Began with St. Andrew’s fire (put out, though, by wind and rain)
Which is a town of glorious ruins and seaside which even the weather could not stain,
And was to end with lovely Laina’s cooking, healthy and pure.

5
But soft! Our hero’s wits (surfeited) the Lord did break,
T’was the 20:40, not the 22, our hero was to take!
So again on the floor (like a puppy, with tail between legs)
did our hero stay, and listen to a storm brew of which legend begs.
The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away,
And then he putith it into a sac and beatith our hero with it until he pray
That the sheet of rain, and wind to lift an ox, would not stay.
But on our hero went, till all about him were soaked, into the fray.
The great beast, megabus! – slumbered in her cave,
Sad that appeared not our hero to save,
Until at last – hunched, sodden, and beaten – a drowned rat came,
Up the steps, to (for his troubles) assign God the blame.

*my only excuse for this nonsense is reading too much Shakespeare

Ugh

Yet another wasted hour trying to get pictures posted. Ignore the empty posts, I have no idea how to delete them.

East London and Shout Outs

This post will be a post of shout-outs, starting with my friend Cille, whom I must thank for showing me fascinating East London on perhaps the most gorgeous day we've had so far. What's in East London? Bars that stay open until a reasonable hour, for one. West Indies ethnic food. Markets busy and lively as any in London. Markets provide not just a sense of community but an actual place to be communal. And good food.

We saw the famous (apparently) Brick Lane, which was, due to the weather, overwhelmingly crowded. And I suppose that's it for East London...

To end with, shout outs to the A34s and B53s of Shafer house, especially Ally, Chris and Bhavik - congradulations on your touch-the-cup victory last night, gentlemen.

Next week - my report on Scotland and hopefully pictures, finally.

State of the Arts and Sciences

In this issue: London's museums and first reflections on the University College of London.

Museums: First, let me shout out to Jacob for giving me the excuse to visit all of these places...

The British Museum - The collection of artifacts here is ridiculous. I mean, sure, the British mostly raided foreign countries and treat these fascinating evidences of the elevation of the ancient soul as pretty bits of superstition, but there is something to be gained from viewing them anyway. What does it say about us that we no longer dwell in and surround ourselves by what calls us upward to our better possibilities?

The National Gallery - Art up through the impressionists. Always fascinating, especially because one can chronicle the rise of and artistic reaction to modernity. Peaceful streams of paint mixed with smog. Their collection is pretty solid too - plenty of Degas, Monet, Manet, etc.

Tate Modern - An impressive brutalist structure that looms high above the Thames as one crosses the Millennium Bridge. Truly spectacular if you love modern art. Still interesting for those of us who care more about the conscious than the purview of the Underground Man.

The Globe Theatre - If you have to do one thing in London, its see a Shakespeare play how it was meant to be seen - in an outdoor theatre like this, with a fantastic cast. I saw "Merry Wives of Windsor," which I believe is generally considered one of Shakespeare's weaker plays, and I have never in my life enjoyed a comedy so much. If you want to understand human beings, I think, probably the round building next to the Tate will give you much more than it will.

On to the University College of London...

Shakespeare - As my above comment indicates, Shakespeare has my utmost respect after having only closely examined three of his plays thus far. Now this is literature. The actual lecture is pretty fascinating, although it seems to presuppose a knowledge of literature in general that is astounding and which I, much to my shagrin, have not been exposed to. Visualize my finger wagging at the American school system.

Political Philosophy - Diminishing Plato's critique of democracy to a single line of thought by Socrates in a tiny piece of the Republic and examining it logically. If this is analytic philosophy, then I am sad for all the poor souls in the English speaking world who must deal with this impoverished vision. Perhaps this will improve, but I am worried.

Phenomenology Tutorial - Three students and a professor investigating some of the most interesting philosophers of the last century? We have a win.

British Politics - Nobody likes Gordon Brown. Poor guy.

I hear the world is ending in the states. At least at the end of history we can get a black president.

She's so dumb

You've got to be kidding me. No, seriously, what? I almost thought that this was a joke, but I think its actually real. She's just really clueless.

Quote of these interviews: "We have trade missions."

Arriving in London

The internet has returned to me! The series of tubes stretches across the Atlantic, apparently. Which brings us to my being in London. I'm here! This blog will now assume the task for which it was (quasi) originally intended - charting my travels. The tags for these posts will remain "Finding the American Dream in ______," Other posts will continue at a likely reduced rate.

First observation: London is really expensive (yah really). A shout out to my irresponsible lending-happy friends stateside for keeping the exchange rate abysmal. Banking failure is happening here too, and its plastered all over the free papers people keep trying to hand me. Thankfully there are (relatively) cheap grocery stores every few blocks. Unfortunately there are also plentiful (not-so-cheap) delicious restaurants, pubs and clubs just as frequently. Aside from grocery stores, however, there is a solution: Sizzling Bombay. Indian food wins.

I have been up to a lot of orientation/class oriented stuff here for the most part. This has meant a lot of free wine so that one can pleasently sleep while being told platitudes and things you already know in pretty English (they're not better than in America, just more soothing).

We took a tour of central London (where I also happen to live) to see the major sites - soldiers in funny hats, lots of beautiful parks, statues reaching for the sky, sites where Harry Potter supposedly takes place. I should have a photo album of this up at some point entitled "London Tour," but I'm having a problem uploading pictures at the moment.

Some of the pictures in that album will be from the Mayor's Thames Festival along the Thames river that night, which had cultural food and booths and shows you would expect at such a thing. Would have stayed for fireworks but we were sleepy...

A second photo album ("Sentiments and Speeches") of my tour of the gardens in nearby Regent Park and the many bookstores in the area. Its overcast most of the time here so unfortunately the pictures won't be as pretty as they would have been when I went on a run through the park yesterday.

I think that's enough for now.

Broken Flowers

Broken Flowers - In which a man who pretends that he is content seeing the human world only in-itself, or as human objects, awakens to how shriveled and miserable the human side of him has become by only paying attention to the animal. Quote of the movie: "Just because an animal wants something, doesn't mean you should give it to them," or it went something like that. I have not found so much thought in a movie in a long time. Recommended.

Iowa and London

This weekend I took a trip to beautiful Des Moines. Yes, that is a city in Iowa, which has more than corn fields (although a lot of those). It even has Jews! And Colleges! Specifically, Drake College, where my friend The G resides.

Des Moines is the state capital of the wonderful state of Iowa, and it actually does have a beautiful capital building. And a history museum, where you can have the real Iowa Caucuses experience! - with life-size cardboard cutouts.

Iowa would have been ftw if the guy at the Hy-vee had carded me...thanks a lot dude, I don't look that old. Whatever. I give Iowa a High-Fructose Corn Syrup/Cornfields. Great Job!

On an unrelated note: To the guys at the U.K. consulate in Chicago who won't send me my visa...wtf...just like, don't be lame? kthanks.

Dance music and indie

I have failed, in the past, to "get" indie electronic, or "House" music. I never really found listening to Daft Punk enjoyable, and had the same experience trying to like Ratatat before their concert Saturday at WashU. Without human warmth or lyrics, all I could pick up in the beats and unresolved movements was the occasional shift in mood. Not bad, but hardly fascinating or enlightening.

The Ratatat concert was sort of a revelation (before I go on - wear real ear plugs to these things). Anyway, the way they handle themselves life is great - working the crowd, shifting the volume - creating, at least in some limited way, a sort of musical ecstacy/nirvana. Then again, I don't find the argument for nirvana (not that it is something one can argue for) compelling or really satisfying, but at least in the moment, Ratatat was pretty compelling.

After that I went back to my albums again and found - still didn't really enjoy them much. But was listening to Daft Punk again - and Alive 2007 does some wonders with revealing how you can work a crowd. Recommended if you're into this sort of thing...

Review: Fleet Foxes : I dismissed this one at first and have tried (manfully) since then to like it. And now I (sorta) do. There's a lot of floating melodies and nature talk which is really useful mostly as mood music. But in the midst of some self-indulgent harmonies and hippy-shit there are a couple great tunes about human frailty ("White Winter Hymnal," "He Doesn't Know Why") and the nature settings sometimes enliven the human relations described within. American classic? No - Americana nook music, mostly, but great for its nook and not bad for this American. 17/20.

In other surprising developments, I wouldn't be surprised if Conor Oberst overtakes Distortion as my fav. indie album of the year - although Stephen Merritt's still has a fighting chance.

08 Convention

Obama's speech gets a B+. Good oratory as usual, liked how he talked about the American dream and his place in it. Good narrative. Like how he laid into those bastards for playing with patriotism.

But something was missing for me. Morality! Yeah, he alluded to it, great. But he could have done more. Called those little (at least he called them small) people out for forsaking people after Katrina, for playing fast and loose with our constitution (wire-tapping, Guantanamo, etc). Call black...black. This is a moral election: elect people who play to the worst in us - our bigotry, our xenophobia, our self-righteousness, obscurantism - or those, like Obama, who place the goal higher, who think that Americans can be more than that. I wanted to hear about that.

My favorite speech of the convention? Kerry. He called them out for being the snakes they are.

You are rich but I still love you

To say it again - My friends at Tufts who have two houses or take frequent trips overseas...because you can. You're not middle class, you're rich.

Why am I pointing this out? Obama wants to tax you. Sorry! But vote for him because you know you have enough money and the guy who cleans your second house probably doesn't. Oh, and he's not trying to tax anyone else (although, considering our deficit the size of Jupiter, he probably should...).

The convention's gone decently so far. I've only seen clips of the Clintons - they seem to have fed their egos too much for my taste, but to have done a decent job, all things considered. No slam dunk, though.

First reaction to Biden's speech: pretty great, actually. Not that I agreed with a lot of it, but Biden's passionate and hard hitting. I think the Dem's will win if enough people are hurting economically the way he thinks, and thusly won't buy Fox News' shit. But this is America, poverty is relative, and, as I mentioned earlier, racisma dies hard. Stupidity, too.

Ah Missouri

A visit to the University of Missouri this weekend yielded the following thought in my mind - college towns are actually kind of cool. No offense to my little suburban bubble, but having a town oriented around a big school seems to yield a lot of cool destinations and an excited atmosphere. Of course - that's just what it feels like from showing up for a couple days twice a year. I'm sure there are disadvantages.

On a somewhat unrelated but often hit note - Obama isn't clobbering McCain because of Racism. Oh! Wait, I know, he's just an elitist...! But John Kerry wasn't doing this bad in Missouri four years ago when the Republican brand was doing much better. Hrmm...

Who the hell needs lyrics anyway

"Who the hell needs lyrics anyway?" "You!" - Outkast seems to think so anyway. Or - if you're going to use language, why not make it signify? Just an idea...

But then again, that doesn't seem to be the modern way, now does it? McCain is beating Obama because he's better at dumb short answers. This is the easy way of thinking (and thus the most common) and McCain is better at looking (I hope its only looking) like he's your average dumb Joe. It says something that most of us don't think our president should be better than us. John McCain says "drill now!" and you might think - "but it won't lower the price of oil and we can't even start drilling for years" - but you've then used 15 more words than him and thus already lost.

To return to music, most of, say, Coldplay's lyrics are so general they mean nothing but some general emotional uplift, but Coldplay outsells Arcade Fire.

Human nature can be difficult to deal with sometimes...I just wish this country could get to appealing to the best in us again, somehow. Beats me how to do it though,

August Predictions

A friend of mine recently suggested that I couldn't just wait until the day before the elections to give predictions that I swear by. Well I'm still going to wait to do that. But I'll enter in a first wave of predictions now for the hell of it, so if I'm right I'm even more awesome.

McCain Gets - The South (all, unless you count Maryland as southern), plains and mountains (except Colorado), Alaska, Arizona, Texas, Nevada, Missouri (sux), Indiana, Ohio for a total of 265 electoral votes.

Obama Gets - Northeast, lake Michigan states (minus Indiana), Hawaii, Iowa, West coast, New Mexico and Colorado, for a total of 273 electoral votes.

Wins by? - 1.5 million votes.

Reasoning: McCain has been gaining on Obama something serious for about a month now. Why, you ask? Misleading ads and lying to the American people (celebrity nonsense, offshore drilling), I would guess. Russia's invasion of Georgia also helps the man people for some reason trust more on defense (McCain). Still, the Republican brand has been so damaged of late its still hard to imagine a majority of Americans making the same mistake a thrice. But due to the power of the Republican attack machine, the scary world, and racism, its going to be too close for comfort. My reasoning on the three close ones (in my mind)...

Virgina - Getting more Dem. all the time - but still in the South and when it comes down to the line I see Obama losing by a percent or something.

Ohio - This was close in 2004 and will be close this time. My gut right now is feeling McCain here, but I sincerely hope I change that later.

Colorado - This one is trending McCain now too. But McCain has messed up some local water issue (yeah, I read blogs too much) and the Dem convention will be there. Its been going more Democratic of late and neighboring New Mexico looks fairly solid Dem. This one calls the election for Obama.

That's it for now...I'll update my predictions sometime in September, probably a couple weeks after the dust from the conventions settle.

Offshore drilling is stupid

Offshore drilling is stupid.

Rap is still good - Bradley Effect

I've been listening to Steinski's What does it all mean? which is remixed rap/etc; highly recommended from what I can tell so far.

Bradley effect - There seems to be a good argument for the lack of a serious Bradley Effect concerning Obama. The possible exception seems to be the northeast, where this sort of secret racism is unlikely to matter much anyway. Good news!

The Polls

McCain is inching up in the polls. Could it be because of his ridiculous new ads that play the race card and try to paint Obama as too big for his britches? The nonsense that the Republicans have successfully sold to the American public suggesting that offshore difference would help them at all anytime soon? (It won't do anything and it'll take a long time to do it.) Hrmm, well...an elitist bastard winning against an American much less entitled than him who isn't quite as evil? Where have we seen this before... Obama should say: "really, America wants to make this mistake again?"

Indie needs more rawk, rap is good

I just finished listening to Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes for the first time, and I must admit I don't get it. I don't get it in the same way I didn't get Joanna Newsom's Y's...seems to me like self-indulgent shlock with too many pretty sleepy noises, broad (signifying nothing) lyrics... Rural aesthetic? Yeah okay, but I can drive my car thirty miles out and get better nature (then again, considering gas prices...) Anyway, considering how everyone has splugged all over this, I'd love it if someone would explain to me what's going on.

On the bright side, someone remembers how to rawk, and his name is Craig Finn...and his band mates aren't so bad either. A question for Hold Steady fans everywhere: can Stay Positive possibly be as good as Separation Sunday or Boys and Girls in America? Well! - maybe? It resembles the former more - complex stories and more noises, but it could have used the concise power of BGA. There are no songs as powerful as "Stuck Between Stations" or "Hot Soft Light. " Luckily, the overall record is strong, and they retain a nack for hilarious stories ("Sequestered in Memphis," "One for the Cutters") and little tragedies ("Lord I'm Discouraged"). I'll go w/ - 18/20.

Final point - rap is good, specifically: Lil' Wanye's Tha Carter 3 and The Root's Rising Down.

Torture is fun, fiction is real

This shit is real fucked up: Bush's cronies talk more about Jack Bauer than the constitution or, you know, law? Reality? Hrmm? Whozawhazzat? Right about seven years ago we should have had someone in the administration whisper: realism is real! Well, more real than this ideological nonsense the administration seems obsessed with, where they see a neat fiction ("torture works!" "we can fix people!") and think they can make it a reality. And then a whole bunch of real people get tortured and a whole lot more die as a result. Spoiled children with power.

The Batman

Along with many of my fellow Americans I saw The Dark Knight last night. And - it was pretty damn good. In fact, better than I'd expected considering a few nay-sayers. Things went boom real pretty, the acting was mostly well done (okay, scenes were a bit jumpy, I could have used a more convincing Two-Face, but that's mostly nit-picking).

For those really watching though, The Dark Night raised (and sometimes answered) a lot of interesting questions about justice and security, and related it pretty well to our modern day terrorism fears (thankfully Bin laden isn't The Joker). A few observations:

The imperfect (causing casualties, property damage, beating up prisoners...) Dark Knight ends up helping the city far more than Harvey Dent, the proclaimed White Knight...who finds the world too imperfect and loses it. Compromise and gray zones are always required in our world.

Batman uses a Machiavellian method: hacking into everyone's cell phones, to find the Joker (FISA, anyone?). However, Batman's real view is Aristotelian: extreme means only for extreme situations; he surrenders his powers immediately after the crisis ends. No "War on Crime" extends these powers indefinitely.

The Noble Lie: Batman and the Commissioner make sure the populace of Gotham doesn't know Dent turned sour. Batman tries to save Dent by not telling him their babe preferred him; Alfred thinks it wise not to tell Batman that he's wrong about this. An interesting question, often: "What is the value of truth?"

The exploding boat scene: A lawyer didn't blow up a boat of prisoners because...it seems like social pressure to me, mostly. A prisoner didn't blow up rich people because...nobility, mayhap? And some jackass didn't get one of those buttons...because of luck? And the Commissioner suggests that a vote on the rich ship on whether to blow up the other ship might have gone affirmative if Dent's true character were revealed. Things holding society together: fear, character, luck, lies.

The Joker: Well...acting was stellar here. There's a lot to say, probably, but I'd just say: he imagines a world of corrupt and hypocritical men, but isn't this just his construct? The boat scene seems meant to (sort of...) illustrate this. Or he's just crazy.

Woo...long post: but hey, the movie was thought-provoking. Also a grade: 18/20.

Yo

In the debate over The New Yorker's Obama cover, I'd have to say I'm coming down on the side of finding it hilarious. But of course, campaigns love taking umbrage, so...but journalists doing it, too? Take a joke, fellas. We can trust Americans to know a joke when they see one...I think...

On another note, Wisconsin has a lot of lakes and trees. I'd show my loyal readership but I forgot my camera, so just trust me on this one.

Indie done right

I can tell my loyal and devoted reader base is crying out for more excellent music! - so here are some music reviews of quality music. Where do I get off telling y'all what's good? Betcha I listen more closely and more often to music than you do. What - music's just supposed to sound cool and be pretty in the background? Oh, well then...feel free to go back to listening to Viva la Vida.

Vampire Weekend - Privileged white college kids (like yours truly) smart enough to get some Africanesque beats going and to keep their songs sharp and short. Only so much to be said about this sort of life we live, but they say it pretty well. 18/20

Tokyo Police Club, Elephant Shell - Only one song barely over three minutes, all points made quickly and then they get out - and not afraid to use the word tessellate. Sure they're Canadian, but its something to listen to if the 35 minute Vampire Weekend is too long for your busy life. "Give us your vote, if you know what's good for you" - and unlike the usual Republicans who make this claim, they're pretty good, so - 18/20

The Magnetic Fields, Distortion - Best album I've heard yet this year (okay, so it came out in January). Sure, Stephen Merritt's voice is deep and morose, but this album which has, as 69 Love Songs did, hilarious social commentary in "California girls," music imitating music (in this case the distortion filled charm of say, early My Bloody Valentine or The Jesus and Mary Chain) that's often better than the original stuff, and an excellent drinking song. "I've gotta get, too drunk to dream, because dreaming only makes me blue" - well, at least he's honest and cheerful about it. Did I mention there's a song about a zombie? 19/20

Transcience, Idle Talk and Fireworks

Today's unpretentious musings will concern the existential meaning of Independence Day (happy 232nd, America!) fireworks. Fireworks are, first of all, shiny and flashy and go Boom! Which is to say, they're captivating and memorable and make an impression in the mind. What do the 4th of July fireworks that we go to see every year at the same time, often in the same place, do for us; is there some reason for their existence other than a fun little ritual (related thought: are there rituals that at least weren't at one point intended to serve a function?)

It would seem that there is. That we go to see the same flashy event every year impresses a sort of permanence on our consciousness. An event that might seem objectively a bit silly ends up leaving the thought: we've always done this, our parents did this, their parents did this...etc, etc. It is by these repeated little events that a coherence is created in our lives; most of us do not pay any attention to how this world we've fallen into has risen up around us and seems as if its always been here.

We know, however, that there will not always be fireworks exploding above county parks in the warm July night. There will not always be irresponsible parents, who lounge with Mike's Hard Lemonades in hand, allowing their children to run too near bottle rockets in nicely paved streets. All of these things will pass - a certain friend of mine might argues that, as the sleepy security of Western society is built on people whom we have forced to live in perpetual chaos, that it ought to pass - and fireworks form a part of the web which tries to keep us from remembering our coming deaths, and the death of our society.

This is all probably necessary. I think we can draw one conclusion for action here: pay attention! - we Western citizens have fallen into something special. Americans especially - our homeland has actually been pretty secure for 150 years now. That's remarkable - a remarkable gift - and it should be appreciated while it lasts.

Wall-E and Get Smart

Two movie reviews today.

Get Smart: Irrelevant, mildly amusing.

Wall-E: Fantastic film. Beautiful animation, great sound effects that make robots more human than most human actors manage. Story and pacing are just about right. Wall-E focuses on some of the most important aspects of human nature, of the difficulty of coping with this world we're all thrown in together. Then it provides a critique of (at least on aspect of) modern society's way of handling this problem...without being preachy. Quite an achievement - a movie to take to heart for adults - and the for the children. 19/20.

Dream-finding evalution of Southern California

Did I find the American Dream in Las Angeles? Well...I found the American dream of a lot of people, and, as has been noted, a lot of palm trees. And cars. There's an ocean, too! That's pretty neat.

L.A. itself I found to have a lot of tall buildings, your usual half dozen Starbucks, and not a whole lot else. Most of the rich-people suburbs my dear buddy Jake managed to get us lost in featured fantastic views of mountains and suburban sprawl. L.A. receives props for the mountains and boos for the suburban sprawl. Did I mention how expensive gas is?

Hollywood is boring. Santa Monica has a bunch of chain stores. Torrence features a cool coffee shop, Coffee Cartel. Recommended.

Orange County is the giant suburb between L.A. and San Diego. They also have beaches there, and a whole lot of pools. Newport Beach has the advantage of non-chain stores over other places I visited. My host, Laina, showed me a number of outdoor malls , which are like normal malls with the hallways outside.

I also spent a day in San Diego, but besides the more legit city-feeling I got from it I can't really say much.

Overall I would say that from a preliminary analysis Southern California represents a clear example of some of the worst aspects of the American Experiment: rampant consumerism, lack of effective public transport, segregated suburban isolation, fake culture, etc. A few caveats: it sure is purty, and I know a lot of cool people from Southern California, so it can't go entirely unrecommended.

I give Southern California a sunglasses/10.

Americans are driving less, supposedly

I have been in Las Angeles for two days. I will have pictures along w/ a long rant later, but for now I have a few things to notice.

1) Supposedly Americans are driving less. If this is so in LA, then how long did it take to drive 10 miles before gas was $4.70 here?

2) There are a lot of Asians here. And palm trees.

3) Even after visiting LA, I still hate Crash. We'll see if five more days can change that.

4) Red roofs and a Spanish style do not make ridiculous amounts of chain stores any cooler.

5) The ocean and a ring of mountains do make everything a little bit cooler.

Welcome

What's good, y'all?

This blog is an experiment. Welcome to it. I have some thoughts (quality not guaranteed).

General observation: I first feel a need to address my own question. What's good is food, more specifically this evening: catfish, corn on the cob, potatoes, blueberry pie. Good midwestern cookin'!

Album Reviews: The new Coldplay and Death Cabs for Cutie albums are mediocre and bad, respectively. Listen to them at night if you have problems falling asleep.

Politics: My first observation on politics past and present, including this just-started US general election: "Sooner or later a people gets the government it deserves" - Frantz Fanon.

That will serve as an introduction - more to come.