"as Putin rears his head"

"as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border" --Sarah Palin

I really don't mean for this blog to become almost all about politics, but I'll be damned if Sarah Palin doesn't make it difficult for me to post about anything else.

Pass the Pizazz

A while back, I finally jumped on board the RSS feed bandwagon and started tracking all my favorite blogs, journals, and websites via Google Reader. The thing I like about Google Reader, as opposed to Thunderbird, is that I can log in from home, work, or wherever and my reading list is synchronized. While I've been relatively happy with Google Reader, I'm feeling the need for something a little snazzier. Any recommendations?

Free Sarah Palin!

According to CNN journalist Campbell Brown, the Republican Vice Presidential candidate has been submitted to some of the most unfair, sexist treatment ever seen in a Presidential campaign. Women everywhere should be outraged by the horrific way Palin has been treated . . . by her own campaign.

I join the multitude of voices calling for Palin's release. Remove the shackles, John McCain, and allow Sarah Palin to stand on her own.

The Land of Soy and Corn Represents!

Iowa Lt. Gov. Patty Judge:

"Sarah knows how to field-dress a moose. I know how to castrate a calf. Neither of those things has anything at all to do with this election. But since we know so much about Sarah’s special skills, I wanted to make sure you knew about mine too," she said.

I might live in a state that lacks the "cool" factor of a lot of other places, but I'll be damned if we don't know how to do politics.

Holy Cow!

I never thought I'd see the day that a Cubs' pitcher tossed a no hitter.

Zambrano With the No No.

I thought Maddux was the best shot way back when, but then he stabbed the Cubs in the back and went to Atlanta. I will never forgive him for that decision. Thank goodness I was keeping an eye on the box score tonight. As Cub fans go, I'm probably not what most would call a normal fan. Back in the 80s, I worshiped the Cubs like no other. I watched almost every game and knew batting orders, pitching rotations, averages, ERAs, etc. After one too many heartbreaks, thrown objects, and profanity laced tirades--we are talking the Cubs--I finally realized that watching every game probably isn't in my best interest. So, I eased up a bit and became a box score fan. I haven't watched an entire game since '94 (with the exception of playoffs) but I check the box score and standings every night before going to bed. I still wince, and sometimes curse, when the Cubs drop one.

As luck would have it tonight, I stopped by my desk around 8:45 PM tonight and checked to see how the Cubs were doing. At the top of the seventh, the Astros were hitless. After tucking TLO into bed, I walked back down the hall, checked the box score, and noticed Zambrano was throwing a no hitter going into the bottom of the 9th. You can bet the TV came on for the last three outs. All at once, I was transported back to my most fanatic days as a die hard Cubs fan. I cheered at every strike, groaned at every ball, and held my breath as a chopper streaked toward the shortstop. And I whooped and hollered as that split finger fastball fooled the batter for strike three and the final out.

Tonight, all the years of disappointment fad to the background. Tonight, it's good to be a Cubs fan. Zambrano wins! Cubs win! Holy cow!

Chill Out

In response to my own "Flame On" post: I can't wait to see how the Obama campaign handles the new McCain strategy. The Palin pick has resulted in a lot of anxiety among Obama supporters--which is exactly what the pick was supposed to do. Obama, however, is asking everyone to keep a cool head.

Flame On!

If I had a dollar for every time a friend, student, or family member asked me "What do you think of Sarah Palin?" I' d be able to afford a doorknob on one of those seven homes John McCain can't keep track of. Or is it ten? I can't keep track of all his homes either. So, what do I think of the Palin pick? Do I find her a "credible" candidate as some of my family members do? Honestly, I don't have any idea about whether or not she's VP material. What concerns me more than whether or not she has the skill set to do the job is the reason why I believe she was chosen: to reignite the culture wars.

The day McCain made the announcement I set off in search of Palin's biography. As I've been something of a political junky this election cycle, I already knew a bit about her but I didn't know where she stood on the major issues of the campaign. There wasn't much to find in relation to policy issues. What I did find filled me with a sense of dread. Most articles reported little about her positions on social, economic, or foreign policy. Instead, readers were treated to a list of her conservative leanings: traditional family values, NRA, pro-life [1], interprets Bible literally, supports creatonism in school, pray away the gay, so on and so forth. By the time I finished reading several pieces, the direction of the McCain campaign was perfectly clear. Palin's RNC speech confirmed my suspicions [2]. While we won't hear it directly from the candidates, I suspect we're going to hear a great deal about the Left's war on Christianity/Xmas/Family Values/Morality/[insert any belief associated with evangelical Christianity here]. If you can't win on the substantive issues--and I think this was becoming clear to the McCain campaign that this was case [3]--you need to muddy the waters by introducing a social crisis centered on cultural values. McCain/Palin will do away with the Red State/Blue State talk while creating new divisions along cultural lines.

And this is what politics has come down to in 2008. It's not about issues like the economy, wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, healthcare, energy policy, etc. Instead, it's going to be about dividing the country according to class, education level, and religion. Fantastic!

[1] For the record, choosing to carry a Down sydrome baby to term is NOT a pro-life position and does not make one a saint. Many pro-choice parents make exactly the same decision.

[2] Contrary to most of the pundits and analysts, I did not evaluate her speech favorably. I think there's a way to critique your opponent--harshly--without mocking them. While her delivery was good, the entire speech amounted to little more than an ad hominem attack. Being the latte sipping liberal elitist that I am, I'm immune to such Sith mind games. If I understand my position as a member of the liberal elite correctly, I also have to make sure and acknowledge that the weak minded fools who constitute most of the US will surely fall for this kind of political pandering.

[3] Let's face it, the Bush administration has made an issues based campaign virtually impossible for the Republicans. Did the McCain camp have any other choice than to reignite the culture wars? Not if they want to win, unfortunately. I'm not a political scientist, but I think this is probably McCain's best chance at winning the election.

Frakin' A

Yes, I still live here. The last couple weeks I've been scrambling to:

• Finish a couple house projects that needed finishing. The projects entailed far too much shoveling for my liking. The good news is that the projects are 100% complete.
  
• Complete a competitive essay for an upcoming conference.
• Pull everything together for the start of my fourth year at SMC. Classes start tomorrow and while I'm ready for the start of MWF courses, I'm still putting the finishing touches on my T/Th course. Same as it ever was.
• Get over an end of the summer cold. I'm perfectly healthy all summer and my body decides to give in to the virus of the week just a few days before school starts? I've stopped producing tidal waves of snot but I'm still dragging major ass.

So, to keep everyone amused until I resume semi-regular blogging (I swear, I'm trying to get back in the habit of posting several times a week), I give you this fraking excellent article about the influence of popular culture on our everyday lives.

What the Frak?

I think I might assign this as one of the first readings in my popular culture class. This is an excellent example of how popular culture changes the way we talk.

3 AM Call

I would laugh my ass off if Obama sent out the much anticipated Veepstake text message at 3 AM. This has to be the most anticipated mass text in history, no?

I'm Simply Nonplussed

Nonplussed. Does it mean what you think it means? About 2/3 of the way through the article, the author makes note of "I could care less" as a common gaffe. Oddly enough, one of the characters on Psych pointed out this error in a recent episode. You never know what you'll learn from popular culture, eh?

WTF Department: Breakfast Club Ad

During a recent foray to the theater, STK and I saw the following ad as part of the pre-previews advertisements.

Graduating high school in 1986, The Breakfast Club film is one of those popular culture artifacts that defined my teen years. The movie didn't do much for me during the original theatrical run, but I remember the buzz. Jodi, a high school party buddy, absolutely LOVED the film and rented it at every freakin' opportunity. In fact, I think The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, etc probably mean more to me today, at 40, than they did at 17.

So, when this JC Penney ad started to play my mind went on a quick trip to yesteryear, which is exactly what the advertisers intended, I'm sure. Halfway through, though, it struck me: the young people in this ad, the presumed targets of a JC Penney back to school advertising campaign, weren't even a twinkle in anybody's eye when The Breakfast Club hit the theaters. I guarantee that the reference to the film is lost on 90% of the teen viewers. I leaned over the STK and said: "WTF? Isn't it kind of weird marketing 80s cool to young people? Do they really think advertising to parents is going to force them to drag their kid to JC Penney for back to school shopping? Whoever put this ad together must have forgotten what it's like to be a teen. You never shop where your parents want you to shop. Lame."

Imagine my surprise when I noticed the following media critique posted on MSNBC.com.

Here’s the first problem with the campaign: "The Breakfast Club" came out 23 years ago, several years before this season’s back-to-school shoppers were even born. While it can be fun to go retro, we have to wonder whether some people who see the ad simply won’t get the reference.

Second, JCPenney apparently doesn’t truly get the reference, either. The core message of "The Breakfast Club" -- that it’s OK to be weird and different, and that, in fact, most people are weird and different at heart -- goes squarely against the idea of going to a big department store and buying mass-produced clothes that make you look just like every other kid in America.

Amen to that, sister. Look, I have nothing against JC Penney. JC Penney is the only major department store in our particular corner of the Corn Furnace and much of my work wardrobe--dress shirts, Dockers, etc--has been purchased there. I actually like the commercial, too. I wax nostalgic every time I see it (it's now running on numerous television networks) and wonder what happened to many of my quirky high school friends. Still, I don't think this commercial would motivate me to drag my teen down to the store in hopes of reliving those days of yesteryear.

He's Got the Look

The Case Against Crocs. Crocs have taken over our house. STK wears crocs, a black pair, on a regular basis. TLO wears crocs--red, green, black, desert camo--with the decorative studs placed strategically. His decorative studs in include Spider-man, jack-o-lantern, bats, and skulls. I also own a pair although mine are worn more around the house, like slippers, and its a rare occasion when I wear mine in public. I think the aother of piece is spot on in his fashion critique: "wearing sweaty bright purple clown shoes in public is not OK." Seriously, crocs really are some of the dorkiest looking shoes on the planet. And one should NEVER, EVER wear a shorts/crocs/socks combination. Summertime crocs and socks are a big NO; wintertime crocs and socks are a big GO. As long as you understand that, wear 'em if you got 'em.

Shorts Crack the Code. Is it just me or do these guys look like Buster Brown?

This trend is right up there with the short sleeve dress shirts/tie combination for me. No matter how hard you try to look professional in a short sleeve dress shirt and tie, you'll always wind up looking like Gilbert from Revenge of the Nerds. While I think nerds and geeks are mighty fine people, and count myself among the few able to pull off geek cool, this probably isn't the vibe for the workplace.

Hodgepodge

I haven't done a "What's New" post in a while, not that there's all that much newness springing forth from the corn oven, but there are few pieces of flotsam and jetsam that seem somewhat blogworthy.

• I underwent my official third year review during 07-08 academic calendar. Having met with the tenure committee and the dean, I finally received my official review letter. Excellent marks across the board. In fact, the Dean commented that my teaching evaluations were "quite remarkable" and among the best he'd ever seen. What this means is that if I continue doing what I'm doing, tenure proper will not be a problem.
• The summer has been relatively school free. I committed to teaching a summer session but enrollment has been abysmal across the college and the course didn't receive the necessary students to justify having the course. In fact, I had zero students registered. While the money would have been nice, a commitment free summer has been even nicer.
• I'm working on a couple academic pieces. One is a collaborative rhetorical criticism of Barack Obama's epideictic rhetoric. More specifically, we're arguing that Obama's rhetoric is an excellent example the performative nature of "We the People." Or something like that. We're spending the early part of this week nailing down the theory. Once that's finished, we'll move on to the rhetorical criticism proper. The second piece is a potential book chapter proposal regarding Lost. My idea for this piece is to examine The Island as ethical community. I have the basic idea for the proposal mapped out in my head. As the proposal is due July 31, I need to decide whether I want to submit this proposal or focus on projects I already have in the works.
  
• This summer continues to be the summer of home improvements. Inspired by Big Damn Roof project, we took on the Big Damn Drainage project. When we bought the house a couple years back, we noticed that in one area the yard sloped back toward the house. Negative slope + rain = water in the basement. We have a stone foundation so water in the basement should be expected, but we thought we'd see what we could do to minimize the amount (we never had more than a 1/2" puddle in two separate parts of the basement--nothing major compared to what others deal with in this area). So, with some help from my ultra-knowledgeable father, a man I swear was some kind of construction engineer in another life, we planned and installed an exterior drainage trench/French drain over the course of two days. The worst part of constructing something like this is all the damn shoveling. The rest isn't all that time consuming or difficult. Positive slope + drainage trench + rain = dry basement.
• I ran the local 15 yesterday and improved my time from previous years. Two years ago I ran the race in 1:12, last year in 1:07, and this year in 1:05. That's an average of a 7 minute mile--not bad for a 40 year old. Other than a blister or two, my body is holding up exceptionally well this running season. I backed off on the actual running miles and increased cross training, especially the exercise bike. Three days a week I run for an hour + and three days a week I do most of my mileage on the bike. Since I'm feeling so well, I'm targeting a half marathon at the end of August. If that race goes well, I may shoot for a marathon at the end of October. We'll see how the body holds up.

And that's all the exciting news from the corn furnace. Life is pretty darn quiet around here.

Scootin

A few weeks back, Michael posted some thoughts on his attempts to minimize the rising cost of gasoline. As numerous news stories have pointed out, people are making significant lifestyle changes in order to cope with the new and improved (okay, maybe not so improved) petroleum expenses. My household is fortunate in that our income allows us to absorb increased gas prices without too much trouble. With STK commuting 110 miles a day for 9 months of the year, however, the rise in prices is noticeable.

To help offset some of the added expense, we've made two major adjustments. First, we decided to hold off on purchasing a new car. Our commuter car, a 1995 Honda Civic, has 196,000 miles on the odometer and we'd hoped to replace Old Reliable with a new Civic. Given that the 2008 Civic Sedan only gets 36 MPG--the 1995 Civic still gets 45 MPG--we've decided to hold off on a new purchase for at least six months. I've talked to our Honda service folks and they assure me that, with a little regular maintenance, the '95 Civic will run indefinitely. We're hoping the car will hold out until a new Honda hybrid, based on the profile of the FCX Clarity, gets released in 2009. If Honda hits their financial mark, the new hybrid will come in at around $19000 and that's a realistic price range for our income level.

The second major adjustment also happens to be fun. In April of this year, we made space in the garage for an extremely economical mode of transportation:

I've always wanted a scooter and, at STK's encouragement, I started shopping around for deals and found one at our local Honda dealership. I use the scooter for my short commute to school, to run errands, a trip to the workout club, etc. To date I've covered 150 scoot-around-town miles on 1.5 gallons of gas for an average of . . . 100 MPG. At that rate, the scooter will pay for itself in about five years. Making a significant expenditure may not be the most logical way of combating rising gas prices but it sure is fun.

Not News: Pets and the Presidential Election

This story was on the front page of several news sites. Ugh.

Up on the Rooftop

Given my deep enthusiasm for home repairs, I decided to tackle this project starting tomorrow AM. I'm about as prepared as possible for the project. My father, a man who rivals just about any old construction contractor in terms of home building knowledge, passed along a file containing numerous articles, book chapters, and even VHS videos on how to accomplish the task. After several days of reading, watching, and surfing, I feel confident I can pull off the repair. My bucket of tools is ready, shingles and waterproof membrane are already on the roof, and tomorrow's weather looks ideal (read: nice and cool) for doing some roofing.

Wish me luck. If all goes well, I figure I'll save myself between $500-1000. Not exactly how I want to spend my summer vacation, but a day or two of hard work is well worth the savings. If all goes well, STK and I may take a DIY shot at roofing the garage.

The Fall of the Starbuck's Empire

The news is splashed on almost every major news website I've visited this morning:

Starbucks to Close 600 Stores.

Personally, I don't believe this has anything to do with the recent economic down turn. The struggles of Starbucks rest firmly on the introduction of the company's Pike Place Roast. Positioned as an "everyday" coffee, whatever that means, Pike Place Blend offered the casual coffee drinker a beverage similar to those produced by Dunkin' Doughnuts and McDonalds. Boy, did Starbucks miss the mark on this putrid brew. I've tried the foul concoction on three different occasions (I even added a shot of espresso during one taste test--nothing could salvage that cup of coffee) and I don't see much difference between Pike Place Blend and Folgers. The family and I did a bit of cross country traveling during middle two weeks of June. During that time I visited two or three different Starbucks (Starbucks is often the only coffee in town), ordered my quadruple americano, and offered my opinion to the Barista of the hour. I kept my critique short and too the point: "Pike Place is bad. Really bad." I'm apparently not the only dismayed customer. To add insult to injury, Starbucks stores no longer offer a "bold" (dark roast) option after noon. WTF?

Wake up and smell the coffee, Starbucks. I don't frequent your stores on a regular basis anymore (the closest Starbucks is 50 miles away), but I used to be a regular customer back in the day. Starbucks is still my oasis during my travels throughout the year. Or should I say used to be my coffee oasis. No matter my location--airport, interstate, suburbs, downtown--I knew Starbucks would have a better than average cup of coffee waiting for me. That, I'm afraid, is no longer true.

Where's dilliwag?

Writing and reading! Despite the fact that school technically ended on May 23 (that was the final faculty meeting), I've been pulling together an extended abstract for a conference I'd like to attend. The interdisciplinary conference examines the impact of Barack Obama's entry into the political realm. The proposal I'm submitting uses Obama's campaign oratory to support my contention that rhetoric is, quite literally, a magical endeavor. I've been giving the five page document the final edit this evening; it goes out in tomorrow's mail.

I'm such a dreadfully slow writer, and increasingly disorganized, that I usually can't generate more than one original page a day. Of course, I only have about a two hour window each day to get any real writing done. If I could go back to the days of staying up until 5 AM, I'd probably be far more productive. Having a three year old who wakes up between 6-7 AM kind of puts a kibosh on that kind of writing behavior. So, after dropping TLO off at daycare around 11:30, I head back home, take the dogs for a walk, make some lunch, and adjourn to the computer to eat and write. The first half hour of the writing process is typically a review/rework/edit of my last completed section. Once that ritual is complete, I can spend a couple hours generating new material. And that's about all the time I have to write. If I'm feeling scholarly, I can usually eek out another hour after STK and TLO retire for the evening. That's when I go back, reread my latest work, decide it really isn't all that great, and rewrite the entire section.

Does anyone else agonize to this extent about writing? I enjoy the process, believe it or not, and manage to put out decent work at the end of the day. I've come to the understanding that I'll probably never be a ground breaking rhetorical rock star scholar, but I think I can make some interesting and enlightening contributions to the field. Most days I'm okay with that.

Next week, instead of writing, I'll be attending a seminar on representations of Islam. Should be interesting. I hope to incorporate some of what I learn into my upcoming popular culture class.

Ndors

Obama and Clinton finally manage to discuss the end of the primary campaign . . . via text messaging.

BHO: hey
HRC: sup
BHO: pwnd jo
HRC: meh
BHO: j/k LOL
HRC: ur teh suck
BHO: WTF?
HRC: sry, Ill Ndors u
BHO: k
HRC: k
BHO: well... l8rs
HRC: cya

Wish I could take credit for this but all credit is due a poster named mikeguyver at dailykos (see my links).

Crescent

Love this photo.

[UPDATE] Original photo can be accessed here.