Three different posts from my other blog in reverse chronological order

TITLE CLARIFICATION OF THE DAY:

My other blog--Random Acts of Commentary at www.teddyvegas.blogspot.com--contains most of the same material as this one but also a lot of sports-related stuff than many of this blog's readers may have no interest in. But I do tend to post to that blog a bit more frequently.

MEDIA CRITIQUE OF A FEW DAYS AGO:

I notice that the NYT phrased the headline "Clinton duels Obama, Takes California..." instead of the more neutral and objective "Clinton-Obama in close Nation-wide Duel" or even "Obama-Clinton Duel to a near draw..." ---thus defining her as the protagonist and aggressor instead of merely one of the two competitors and reflecting the paper's bias in her favor.

I also notice how the times decided to revert to the tactic of demoting the sports section to the back of the Metro Section--as it had done in the weeks and months after 9/11. I suppose with the proximity of Superbowl Sunday and Super Tuesday and the ever greater proliferation of sports metaphors in the analysis of this political contest, this was an attempt to restore the rhetorically blurred boundary between the two realms and re-establish the priority of reader-citizen over reader-fan.

IRONY OF THE DAY:

Never has a political race made more appeals to "unifying the country" and "getting away from the politics of divisiveness" and never has the electorate been more clearly divided along racial, gender. ethnic and class lines.

TORMENT OF THE DAY:

Having my pupils dilated in the opthamologist's waiting room. Like suddenly losing your internet connection. A particular sub-circle of ADD hell.

UNFORTUNATE POLITICAL PHENOMENON OF THE DAY:

Sort of bummed that supporting Obama has become so trendy and fashionable. He is starting to become the "Beautiful People" candidate. All the celebrities and rich democrats seem to be sponsoring cool fundraisers for his campaign. Contrarian than I am, it sort of makes me feel more sympathetic towards Hillary. But fear not: If she were to take the lead in the polls again, I'd be singing Barack's praises.

For better or for worse, it seems that Barack is the new black.

PREDICTION OF THE DAY A FEW DAYS AGO:

Obama wins the nomination.

Why? Simple anecdotal evidence elaborated into a little post-facto focus group. More specifically: A few different people I know (spanning the entire demographic gamut from well educated liberally inclined white males 35-50 to well educated liberally inclided white males 35-50) found themselves liking both candidates and struggling with the decision of whom to vote for in the NY Democratic Primary. And all of these people--totally independently--ultimately decided to board the O train. And none has experienced buyer's remorse.

More critically: All of them (including me) essentially ended up going with Obama for the same basic cluster of reasons: More electable versus McCain. more inspiring, a bigger potential upside, a better face to show to the world, a better story to tell ourselves as Americans, a welcomed change from dynastic politics, Etc.

While Hillary is a great candidate as well, I believe that, barring any huge unforeseen stumbles, this same decision-making process will be repeated in many hearts and minds across the nation over the next few weeks leading to an Obama-McCain Presidential race and, ultimately, an Obama presidency.

(Unless, of course, the Republicans pull an October surprise, someone shoots him, Hispanics and old people come out in unprecedented numbers or I'm just plain old wrong.)

MARKETPLACE SYMPTOM OF GLOBALIZATION:

Accent removal services--advertised on late night television.

MOTTO OF THE DAY: (On the duct tape website).

If duct tape isn’t the answer, then you’re asking the wrong question.

TROUBLING SYMPTOM OF THE DAY:

I have been so out of it that, in the course of the last 2 months, I bought pairs of tickets for the two shows I've been most psyched about (an Ethan Coen play at the Atlantic Theater Company and Harold Pinter's "The Homecoming.") and i got them for the same night! But wait, that's not the spaced out part. The spaced out part is that I didn't remember about either one of them--and only managed to salvage usage of one of the pairs of tickets at the last minute thanks to a fortuitous reminder from a friend.

SUMMARY OF A MARKETING SEMINAR AT GOOGLE AND A MEETING WITH THE PEOPLE FROM FACEBOOK:

People tend to be more interested in things they find interesting than in things they don't.

POLITICAL CHIASMUS OF A FEW DAYS AGO:

Where McCain has been trying to commit political suicide and has thrived, Guiliani tried his hardest to stay alive politically and ended up committing political suicide.

PROJECT IDEA OF THE DAY:

Put an overlay (or skin) of my childhood memories over the Google Map of the neighborhood where I grew up.

FACTOID OF THE DAY:

1 billion of the world’s 7 billion people are online today.

ADDENDUM TO FACTOID OF THE DAY:

At least 100 of those one billion people are visiting my blog!

REVISION TO ADDENDUM TO FACTOID OF THE DAY:

OK, maybe 50.

TWO QUICK THEATER NOTES:

Saw Pinter's "The Homecoming." Was struck by its perverse (or at least paradoxical) representation of feminine power. The married mother of three assumes control over the three male characters by becoming a prostitute.

--

Saw Martin McDonagh on Charlie Rose talking about his new movie "In Bruges." I've seen most of his plays and liked them. But I'm a bit tired of enfant terrible (essentially adolescent) attempts to tamper with tradition and subvert expectation. To shock and disturb in dramatically unconvincing ways. To stand in the Texas Book Depository of the mind and shoot clever bullets of dark twisted irony at the passing parade of life. I don't really like it when the desire to be different feels obstreperous. Gratuitous. The impish objective a bit too visible behind the texture of character and plot.

But I like it better than most of the other crap that's out there.

LFAQs:

Is Harold Pinter any more than his generation's Martin McDonagh?

Which anatomical part of Mitt Romney will be missed most?:

a) The fabulous cheekbones
b) The (presidential) wonderful, almost Edwards-esque hair.
c) The dark android eyes.
d) The supple, elastic almost non-existent spine.

Is Duct tape a brand of tape or a type of tape?

Has an NBA player ever air-balled two consecutive free throws?

Are people who grow up with a single, mentally challenged or psychologically disturbed sibling more likely to be "off" in their social interactions? (I have met a few people in my life who have led me to this hypothesis: people who stand too close to you or make "jokes" at the most inappropriate times and share the common biographical detail of having an autistic or schizophrenic or cognitively handicapped brother.).

TEDDY VEGAS INTERACTIVE FEATURE OF THE DAY:

Which of the following would be the best new name for this blog?

Day Residue.
The Vegas Book Depository
Paralyzed From the Neck Up.
The Unrepentant Generalist.
Jack of None.

POSTER ART IDEA OF THE DAY:

Designed to look like a reminder prompt from Microsoft Entourage:

Event: Your Life.
Accept Snooze Dismiss.

POLITIC COMMENT OF A FEW FEWER DAYS AGO:

Wow. Must've been onto something with my prediction in the last post. Lots and lots of people are getting on the O train. The prediction markets have Obama as 70% likely to win--a fact that has suddenly been deemed newsworthy by the mainstream press. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080211/pl_nm/usa_politics_predictions_dc). Gonna be interesting seeing Hillary trying to rebrand herself as Seabiscuit after having been running as War Admiral. And staying with the horse-racing theme: One is tempted to say Obama might be running away with this thing, but one mustn't underestimate both the media's and the general electorate's desire for a photo finish.

(BTW: I think that's the first time I used the contraction "mustn't" in my life. My grandfather used to say it...and it brings back fond memories of an earlier and less complicated time in the world in particular and the life of Teddy Vegas in general.) :)

P.S. Thanks to R. for the photo-finish metaphor. You know who you R.

MEDIA OBSERVATION OF THE DAY:

News headline: Microsoft terms Yahoo’s refusal “Unfortunate.” Doesn’t that sound like the words of a rejected suitor/stalker who now has been given no choice but to rape? "Well, I courted her with my charmlessness and my big wad of cash and well, it's just unfortunate that she left me no option but to take her by force."

RANDOM SINGLE SENTENCE PORTRAIT OF THE DAY:

He seemed like he was multi-tasking even when you were receiving his full, undivided attention.

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Posted on 2/12/2008 ( Permanent Link )
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