What could be better for a cold, winter-ish November evening...

Mmmm... Yazoo SUE Smoked Porter... A little slice o' Silver Medal winning heaven for a cold evening at home...

Washington Times has an interesting double standard

In their latest attempt to justify the attacks on Sarah Palin, the Washington Times has an interesting take:

Huh? The Republican message about the Palin offspring comes across as contradictory: Hey, media, leave those kids alone _ so we can use them as we see fit.

and...

Either the children are out of bounds, and you don't put them in the photo ops, or you don't complain when somebody wants to talk about them. You can't have it both ways," said John Matviko

Wow... Did the Clinton's have a child? I'm not sure... I never saw her. Oh, wait... We did see Chelsea all the frickin' time! And she was certainly off-limits. Amy Carter? Ditto. How about the Obama kids? We see them in celebrity magazines, on stage at the convention, on Access Hollywood and other celebrity television shows, etc. Or have I just imagined that?!?

So, WTF? Why are the Palin children fair game, but these other children have historically not been? And why the blatant double-standard masquerading as a justification?

Oh, right... Republican... Got it...

Campbell Brown's 'us'

So, watching some of the news coverage of the election for the last week, I came across this video featuring Campbell Brown questioning Tucker Bounds regarding Palin's experience leading the Alaska National Guard.  Given the media circus of this week, I actually think this is one of the fairest and most legitimate questions I have seen regarding Palin, though the facial expressions and obvious attitude behind her comments could be a little less pronounced.  Actually, it would be nice to see that kind of scrutiny regarding the issues and experience of all of the candidates, if you know what I mean. 

Well, the news here is that McCain cancelled his Larry King appearance due to this interview.  Again, since this line of questioning is not totally out of line, I'm not sure I agree with this if I am looking at this interview in a vacuum.  But, in talking about the interview, here is a telling quote from Ms. Brown:

"The interview was totally fair," Brown said. "I was trying to get an answer. I was persistent, but I was respectful. That's my job. Experience is a legitimate issue when John McCain raises it about Obama, and it's also legitimate for us to raise it about Palin." [source: WashPo]

Hmm...  So, since McCain raises the topic of experience, it's fair for us to as well.  Wait...  what? Who is 'us?'  Was this a mislabeled quote from one of Obama's spokesmen?

Update (12:26p):  Glad to see that RedState picked up on this as well...

We're all Hokies today...

WeSupportVT.com

I Saw the Sign...

Funny MAC-related item on the Opie and Anthony show this morning and over the last few weeks. The boys had a "Mac Book Karaoke" contest, where contestants could send audio of them singing in the hopes of winning one of five Mac Books.

One of the winners has become rather infamous on the show. Pamela Hartman, college student and music director of the University of Buffalo college radio station, submitted this gem, her rendition of Ace of Base's "I Saw the Sign." The boys got so fixated on it that they played it coming in and out of breaks over the last several weeks and eventually reached Hartman to convince her to come into the studio and perform live on the air. This morning, she did just that. I will link the new audio when it is posted, but needless to say it measured up to the original recording.

Yargh...

Ahoy, mateys... Tis International Talk Like a Pirate Day today...

Links:

• International Talk Like a Pirate home page
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Mail
• Pirate Name Generator (mine is Smilin' Laszlo Dregg)
  
• How to Talk Like a Pirate video
• English-to-Pirate Translator
• Yargh.com (new TLAPD video on YouTube)
  

Yargh...

Frank Miller: That Old Piece of Cloth

Well worth a read. Miller, of Batman and Sin City fame, waxes poetic about patriotism, the flag, and 9/11.

I was ready to believe that our flag was just an old piece of cloth and that patriotism was just some quaint relic, best left behind us.

It was all about the ideas. I schooled myself in the writings of Madison and Franklin and Adams and Jefferson. I came to love those noble, indestructible ideas. They were ideas, to my young mind, of rebellion and independence, not of idolatry.

But not that piece of old cloth. To me, that stood for unthinking patriotism. It meant about as much to me as that insipid peace sign that was everywhere I looked: just another symbol of a generation's sentimentality, of its narcissistic worship of its own past glories.

Then came that sunny September morning when airplanes crashed into towers a very few miles from my home and thousands of my neighbors were ruthlessly incinerated -- reduced to ash. Now, I draw and write comic books. One thing my job involves is making up bad guys. Imagining human villainy in all its forms. Now the real thing had shown up. The real thing murdered my neighbors. In my city. In my country. Breathing in that awful, chalky crap that filled up the lungs of every New Yorker, then coughing it right out, not knowing what I was coughing up.

For the first time in my life, I know how it feels to face an existential menace. They want us to die. All of a sudden I realize what my parents were talking about all those years.

Go read the rest of it...

Save Charlie!

Knee deep in a lot of work related distractions, so posting is very light (again), but there is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Our beloved "Classic" Charlie Cardinal has gone missing. My speculation is that he's been kidnapped and replaced by a goofy looking cheap imitator. They pictured us as rubes and thought that we'd be unaware of their deception, but no... this cannot stand. Photographic evidence discloses the deception...

Charlie "Classic":

(photo credit: BSU.edu website)

"New Coke" Charlie:

(photo credit: macreportonline.com website)

Am I the only one that sees the difference? This is like when Bugs Bunny dresses as Pete Puma's relative. He looks kinda like a puma, but something is just off.

This is a travesty! Charlie "Classic" has been an institution at ol' Ball U. To think he can be slid out the door for the demented "New Coke" Charlie without our indignation is appalling.

We should seek, nay... demand justice for our fallen comrade. Much like the "New Coke" bungle made by the Coca-Cola corporation, this decision needs to be overturned. Rise with me to demand our "Classic" Charlie be restored to his rightful place at the sidelines of the next Cardinal game!!!

Sign the iPetition and fight for our beloved "Classic" Charlie!!!

Update (09/12/2006 9:15 PM CT): Since our little petition is picking up steam, I have set the petition to send to President Gora and Coach Richards of the BSU Cheerleading squad. It is currently set to send on October 1st, but can be adjusted. Any thoughts on others who should be included?

Otis needs a Manzier

So, we went to see Barnyard this weekend. Being an Disney animation geek, I am always willing to give a new animation project a chance, but I have a pretty low tolerance for poorly executed animation. Like, you know, easy research items that seem to escape the people making the movie. Below you see Otis, the Kevin James-voiced lead character. See anything screwy about this "cow?"
Would it have been that hard for someone to figure out that cows are female, and male bulls have no udders?!? I was distracted from moment one by this, and couldn't really get past it. Even my seven-year old picked up on it. Much like I said in my diatribe on the script shortcoming of the new Star Wars trilogy, couldn't they have hired someone to read through the script and check the character models for accuracy? You know, like maybe a real farmer or something? Do you think that maybe mid-way through production they realized their error, but decided that people wouldn't notice and/or it would cost too much to fix?

Beyond this unbelievable lack of knowledge of the anatomy of cows/bulls that apparently hundreds of people possessed, the movie was just a not-well-executed clone of the Lion King. [Warning: Spoilers] Simb... err... Otis, the young lio... ehh... cow who is heir to the throne as king of the jung... ahh.. barnyard would rather sing and play with friends. When Mufa... umm... Ben is killed by the evil lion and hye... ohh... coyotes, Simb... err... Otis is thrown into the position of authority that he is not ready for and decides to run away. Words from the wise old Rafik... ohh... Miles convince Simb... err... Otis to come back and defend the jung... ahh.. barnyard against the evil lion and hye... ohh... coyotes. Simb... err... Otis then gets the girl, Nal... oohh... Daisy, they have a child and they all live happily ever after.

You would think that this was a Disney Cheapquel Mad-Lib...

OK... so we have anatomically incorrect cows and a recycled plot line, so at least the animation is good, correct? Think rubber... Squishy rubber animals... Kinda like rubber duckies. No... not so good.

I know it's just an animated comedy geared to kids, and the kids enjoyed the movie, so I guess that's what they were going for. But the sudden glut in computer animated films on the market is going to make people tired of this medium, much like it tired of the glut of traditionally animated films.

photo via IMDB

It's almost Football Time in err... Indiana...

OK... so there's not as much tradition as "Football Time in Tennessee..." So, sue me. It looks like the Cards will have a good team this year, leading to a better team next year. And the basketball team may be on the upswing. Bonus!

A very winnable game against IU, a favorable conference slate, and three total Big1Ten games (including a trip to the Big House) highlight the schedule. Can't wait until 8/31 (although to be quite honest, I really can't wait until 11/11)...