A year of change

I know there's still a little over a month to go, but I wanted to beat the rush and get this out of the way early.

Last November I shook my head at all of the people who were so easily swayed to such emotional heights by a completely predictable election outcome.

Many people who didn't read closely or chose not to understand my point, assumed I was criticizing Barrack Obama, the man. At most, I criticized his policy recommendations (or lack thereof). But primarily, my disappointment was with the masses who were taken in by such vacuous campaign promises as "hope" and "change" -- my point being that such superficial campaign promises were the complete opposite of change.

Anyway, I just want to bring that up since these days saying anything the least bit critical of the current administration pretty much instantly gets you branded as a racist bigot in much the same way that saying anything critical of the previous administration would get you branded as an unpatriotic commie.

This phenomenon, of course, only serves to support my contention that nothing substantial has changed. In fact, there are many examples of change not happening.

Remember back in the day when there was a lot of criticism of the USA Patriot Act? I mean, a lot of us don't like it. Only the most rabid, tunnel-vision, Republicans dared defend it. But there was some pretty harsh criticism of those wouldn't come right out and denounce it (even though it was a passed as a bi-partisan measure).

Of course, you don't really see any harsh criticism from Obama fans, even though the current administration recently announced plans to extend three of its key provisions, including the infamous "Lone Wolf" provision.

The lone wolf provision was created to conduct surveillance on suspects with no known link to foreign governments or terrorist groups. It has never been used, but the administration says it should still be available for future investigations.

Then there was Obama's campaign promise to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center in his first year as president. I know some of you were betting on this happening, but it turns out that as with most of his policy proposals, Obama didn't really know what he was talking about.

The White House comments were the latest indication that the administration had miscalculated from the start its ability to turn Mr. Obama’s campaign trail speeches into reality. Some of his senior advisers have privately concluded that it was a mistake to set a deadline just two days after taking over the White House, when they still did not fully grasp the enormous challenges involved in closing the prison.

No doubt there will be a few people that will tell you that superficial intangibles have been changed -- things like "hope" and "attitude" and "now there's a website."

But really, a year in to this thing it's pretty much partisan politics as usual.

One more thing that never changes.

Barack Obama's amazingly consistent smile from Eric Spiegelman on Vimeo.

tagged: Obama, change, politics, policy, Guantanamo, Patriot Act

Friday Blogthing: I am the 80s

I really and not as materialistic as this quiz makes me out to be. All I really ask for is a nice computer, a cold beer and a programmable scrolling LED name tag*.

You Are the 1980s

You are a larger than life, ambitious person. You believe that you should live big or go home. You appreciate the bold days of the 1980s, when no one ever toned it down. You believe in working hard and playing hard. You can't help but love money and nice things. You are a bit ruthless and power hungry. The one who dies with the most toys wins, right?

What Decade Are You?

*... and this remote control. That's all I need. Oh, and this paddle game...

tagged: Friday Blogthing, quiz, decade, 80s, meme

Carmen chameleon

One of the big memes out in interwebland is the stunning pictures of 37-year-old Carmen Electra sans cosmetic augmentation.

The no-makeup pictures are a bit of a career risk in this time of chemical and surgical enhancement (not that Electra has much of a career to risk at this point). But the images show that for a select few at the top of the genetic bell curve, au naturale can be better than the plastic Hollywood version.

Sure studio lighting can do wonders and the image is no-doubt somewhat digitally enhanced. Still, Electra's courageous (and Q-score boosting) move has inspired me.

Many of you who have met me in person have only met the me wearing liberally applied cosmetics. Yes, I know it's still considered kind of weird for dudes to wear makeup, but it's a skill I learned back in my days on TV and I've just never given it up.

Until now.

Here's a picture someone snapped of me at the Drunken Barn Dance a few years ago. Obviously, I didn't "put on my face" that night.

Sure, I'm no Carmen Electra, but still I encourage you all to "come out" and show us the real you.

tagged: pop culture, Carmen Electra, picture, photo, makeup, Uruk-hai, beauty

A pink carnation and a pickup truck

I'm going to my high school class reunion this weekend, (yes, there was a time when I had class). To mark the occasion I thought I'd take a little stroll down Amnesia Lane and pull this story out of the dusty archives of my past life for your entertainment.

It was the spring of 1989, a completely different time in America. We were euphoric as the Berlin Wall was torn down and democracy erupted and was then crushed in Tienanmen Square.

Gasoline still cost less than a dollar a gallon despite Capt. Hazelwood dumping a bajillion gallons of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound. TV audiences were introduced to a comical animated family known as The Simpsons, and Milli Vanilli had lip-synced their way into our hearts with with Girl You Know It's True.

In Smallville, Kansas, that clear spring evening, we had just finished the formal dinner portion of our prom. Dressed to the nines in tuxes and gowns, we were making our way across town to the sock up in the school gymnasium. But first, nearly every kid in school hopped into a car for the traditional main street cruise.

I'd borrowed dad's car for the evening. My date, Samantha, was riding shotgun and our friend Andie was in the back seat. We were full of smiles and laughter and youth as we cruised the streets jammed with broken heroes on a last-chance power drive. Windows down, radio blasting, waiving and yelling at friends in passing cars as the cool spring air blew through our hair. There was only the now.

We'd completed a circuit of the Main Street cruise and pulled into the convenience store parking lot to do a U-turn and another lap.

The next few seconds were strange, because they seemed to happen in slow-motion and at hyper speed at the same time. I had been waiting for an opening in the heavy traffic to make the right-hand turn back onto Main. When I saw the opening I quickly accelerated into the street. At the same time some unknown traffic obstruction down the street caused a sudden domino affect of seven or eight cars breaking in quick succession.

The result was that the car in front of me hit the breaks just as I hit the accelerator. The result of that was severe front end damage to my dad's car -- so severe that it was undrivable.

So prom night, dressed up, cruising main, smashed up car -- my life had become a John Hughes movie.

It took an hour or so to get everything taken care of, make sure nobody's hurt, clear the street, call my parents, try to explain -- eventually I made my way with my best friend (shout out WT!) to the prom dance. I don't really remember much from the dance, except for the drama between Andie and Blane (it was good to see Blane stand up to his snobby friends, but sheesh, Andie has to make everything about her).

The PTA sponsored an after-prom party (strictly non-alcoholic, thank you very much) which I went to since I was now hitching a ride with my friend Cameron Frye and his date. It was a good enough time, snacks, dancing, movies and stuff.

But what sticks out are the door prizes. Every 20 minutes or so they would have a drawing for a door prize, a gift card for local restaurants for example -- one of my friend even won one of those cool newfangled Compact Disc players.

Well in a final ironic kick in the metaphorical crotch, my number was called for one of the door prizes. What did I win? I'm glad you asked.

It was a gift card for $50 worth of gas a the local convenience store.

tagged: prom night, car crash, ironic, High School, John Hughes, reunion, Hazelwood

Bianco

It was a minor special occasion in the 3AM household yesterday, so we decided to pop open a special bottle of the special wine we've been keeping in our wine cabinet.

(We have a wine cabinet because we're neither hoity nor toity enough to have a wine cellar. Although, to be fair, our wine cabinet is in the basement...)

The wine wasn't expensive and it wasn't really exotic. Not a vintage that you would find on a list of the World's Most Famous Wines.

What made it special was that we bought the bottle of Avignonesi Bianco during our tour of Italy way back in 2001. It was our last big trip as DINKs. The last time my wife and I threw in with our "gang" our hang-out friends, cashed in our frequent flyer points and took off to show the bella vita in Tuscany.

And what a great trip it was. From arriving in Paris, the overnight to the Ligurian Coast, then two and a half weeks soaking up all of the art, culture and fermented Tuscan grape juice we could stand.

One of the biggest highlights of the trip was a totally spontaneous and unplanned trip to the Avignonesi winery. We just dropped in, unannounced, and were treated to lunch and a tour by the manager and daughter and of one of the owners. we left a couple of hours later with a couple of cases of wine.

One of the last bottles of which we opened last night.

The Bianco di Toscana is what the Tuscans would call a table wine. A blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, it's meant to be enjoyed immediately. As I pulled the cork, I was concerned that we had waited too long to drink it. It's been nearly 10 years since it was bottled, after all.

But it held up from the first sip. The color was more golden that I had remembered and the flavor was excellent, pears and some apricot. A buttery flavor emerged after 15 minutes or so. The it paired will with the tilapia fillets we had for dinner, and even better with the Honeycrisp apples we had on the side (though it was absolutely retched with the Chocolate Teddy Grahams we had for dessert).

Anyway, the point is it was a great eventing with the family, made even more special by reliving good times.

I still recommend any of Avignonesi's offerings. Though I don't think they make the Bianco anymore, if you can find their Rosso and especially their Vino Nobile go ahead and pick up a couple of bottles. You could do a lot worse.

tagged: wine, Italy, Avignonesi, tilapia, honeycrisp, food, Teddy Grahams

YouTube Tuesday: Shadow of the Feathered Serpent

Today, the feathered serpent god Kukulkan makes his twice yearly appearance at the pyramid in Chichen Itza, Mexico.

As the sun rises and sets, shadows cast by the precisely designed and aligned pyramid cast shadows that slither down the steps of the pyramid to meet up with the head of the serpent god at the base, signifying continued fertility and prosperity for the people of the Yucatan plain.

Happy Equinox everyone!



tagged: Chichen Itza, Kukulkan, feathered serpent, equinox, Mexico, YouTube, Tuesday, YouTube, Tuesday, Maya, pyramid

What the healthcare

These days, opinions about healthcare in America are a lot like genital warts. Everybody's got one, and they're all ugly.

While I've pretty much stayed clear of the public debate, we've had some discussions on the subject in the emawkc household, including one heated argument where my Supermodel Wife's Supermodel Sister pulled a switchblade and threatened to perform a DIY tracheotomy.

I've watched some of the president's remarks in press conferences and talking heads shows. I tried to sit through the infamous address to congress, but I get too impatient with all of the standing ovations (when will politicians realize that if every ovation is a standing ovation, then standing ovations have no meaning).

So, yeah. I'm about as frustrated as anybody on this. There's plenty to be frustrated about.

After I gave up on Congress' Standing Ovation to the President, I decided to just go get the propaganda straight from the horse's website. So I hit up www.whitehouse.gov to see what the president's plan entails.

The answer? There is no plan.

Like pretty much all of Obama's campaign proposals, what he considers a plan is merely a list of goals. A set of preferred outcomes.

There's no actual plan. This is your plan? This? Hell, Wile E. Coyote had better plans for how to catch the Road Runner!

Anyway, it's all beside the point because 95 percent of the national discussion about healthcare has been about how we can get everybody covered by insurance. So right there we've already gone off track.

Insurance coverage isn't the root problem in healthcare. Yes, it is a problem. But it's not the problem that needs to be solved.

The problem we need to solve is prices.

The president has given passing attention to the problem of prices, but it's always been in the context of "eventually bringing down the price of healthcare" -- like it's a long-term goal that will happen someday if we let the government take care of everything.

In my view, it's the one thing that we can do something about relatively quickly that will have an impact. When you get a medical bill that charges $90 bucks for a 70-cent IV, or $129 for a mucous recovery system (that is, a box of Kleenex) you know it's bullshit.

These unreasonable and unrealistic prices are why people need insurance in the first place.

Look, an MRI doesn't cost $5,000. Hell, it doesn't even cost $400. In Japan, you can get an MRI for about a hundred bucks.

So fix the issue of prices, make them more in line with costs, and you eliminate a big chunk of the need for insurance because most people will be able to pay most of their bills without help from the government.

Yeah, we won't need the government to take our money from us in order to take care of us...

... which means less for the government to do, which means less control of the citizenry at large which is why this entire post has been a complete waste.

tagged: Iran, Europe, nuclear, Wall Street Journal, EU, Bush, environmentalist

Random Photo XVII: wedding light

One thing I learned over the weekend while attending a Laotian-American wedding is that weddings are pretty much universally boring when you're not the one getting married.

The other thing I learned is that I really like Laotian food (probably more accurately Laotian-American food). I don't know what I was eating, but it was de-freakin-licious!

tagged: wedding, Laotian, candle, random photo, food

Friday Blogthing: eco chamber

Because I'm such an active and concerned environmentalist, I periodically take some time to assess my ecological footprint. And while I'm the first to admit that my lifestyle has a lot of room for improvement, I have to say my footprint has been reduced significantly since I stopped flushing the toilet and showering regularly.

It's clear that unless we find four or five more Earths out there somewhere, we're all going to have to start making some sacrifices.

tagged: Friday, Blogthing, quiz, ecology, Earth, footprint, environmentalist

Random Photo XVI: You say tomato, I say it's about freakin' time

Way back in the days of yore, about the end of April, I invested twenty bucks in some potting soil and a couple of those TopsyTurvy upside-down tomato planters.

It was springtime. My mind was full of dreams of July when I would be picking fresh, vine-ripe tomatoes and eating them right off the plant while they were still warm from the heat of the summer sun.

But then a few storms hit. My tomato plants were pummeled with rain, the new vines broken. Sure, they recovered. Tomatoes are hearty plants. But the combination of spring abuse and a relatively cool, cloudy and wet summer meant that it wasn't until late September that I would be able to enjoy the upside down fruits of my labor.

But they are still delicious.

tagged: Kansas, summer, tomato, photo, gardening, Topsy, Turvy