Bittersweet and Sour

I posted this to YouTube yesterday. This is very different from all my other YouTube clips, but - nevertheless - here it is.

Hits as of now: 32,746

Original Cynicism

"No matter how cynical I get,
it's just never enough to keep up."
- Lily Tomlin

Hits as of now: 32,380

Quartet a Tete

Corey Vidal
"A Tribute to John Williams"
Odd. Talented, yes, and inventive, clever, and cute. But a decidedly odd thing to do.

Hits as of now:32,237

Lip Synchronicity

WHATEVER AND EVER, AMEN
2 mins 30 - SFW
I think I've put the original of this up here before, but - if so - it was quite a while ago, and many people need (I say need, son) to hear this repeatedly until it sinks in.
Besides, Clint is worth looking at.

And now
A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR

FLOOR EXORCISM
3 mins 20 - SFW
This guy's name is Paul Hunt, and I've been looking for clips of him for years, ever since I saw him mock the men's floor exercises this way.

External Oblique Reference

Here's another photo of that guy from last week.
See: I told you I had other pics of him.

I think the poor guy may have
overdeveloped his abdominals,
but I'd have to touch them to be sure.

Hits as of now: 30564

A Longing Touch Football

Doesn't this look... refreshing?

Hits as of now: 30,334

Hunting Season of Comfort

All I need now is the hen.

Why Do You Think They Call Them 'Outings'?

"The traditional values people are all upset over
homosexuality in work place and the movies and the Boy Scouts.
And they should just realize that homosexuality
in the Boy Scouts is a tradition.

Get behind it."

- Roy Zimmerman

Roy Zimmerman
Defenders of Marriage

Hits as of now: 30113

Venus de Milo and Otis

Billie Holliday
Summertime
It's not that I'm missing warm weather already. I'm only putting this up because I just found it and I loved the animations.

Besides: it's always the right time for Billie Holliday.

Hits as of now: 29917

Diety and Sympathy

Here's Fabian again.

What did I tell you? The face of an angel...

...and the body of a god.

Okay, a relatively short god, but a god nonetheless.

Hits as of now: 29641

Live and Let Die Heimatstadt

I saw Quantum of Solace this morning.

The action was great - especially a fight on some scaffolding - though the director used the trick of alternating between two different action sequences too often. The story was harsh and violent; all the charming clownishness of Roger Moore is gone, thank God, but this did seem meaner and messier than was necessary, even if this may be closer to the tone of Fleming's novels. Daniel Craig and the script succeeded in making Bond more of a real person, and, of course, Judi Dench was a joy to watch: strong yet funny and infinitely believable.

But absolutely the coolest thing about it was that the movie went to Bregenz, the city in Austria where I was born. I've seen literally thousands of movies, but none of them have every taken place in Bregenz. It didn't show much of the city - only the Volksopera, really - and I haven't seen the place since I was twelve myself, but still it was Bregenz!

Polka Dancing Queen

WHO SAYS COMICS AREN'T LITERATURE?
5 mins - SFW

And now
A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR
2 mins 30 - SFW (except for the F word and inappropriate use of cheese)

MERCURY'S SPINNING
This song strode the line between mild amusement and teeth-itching annoyance. But then someone added the video and made it surreal and oddly beautiful. Enjoy.
3 mins 40 - SFW

I HELPED TO WRITE THE TEST TEST
3 mins 25 - SFW

MEANWHILE, IN OHIO...
1 min 20 - SFW

And as long as we're talking politics, here's
ANOTHER WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR
1 mins. 10 - SFW

Hits as of now: 28970

License to Kill Time

Tomorrow...

I almost never see a movie the weekend it opens
because I hate the crowds. But this time I might.
Daniel Craig may be no Tim Dalton, but this is like
a sequel to the last one and I wanna see how it comes out.

Next Friday...

I try and fail to see the appeal of Robert Pattinson
and his Magic Marker eyebrows, but a chance to see
Cam Gigandet and Peter Facinelli is very cool.
And isn't Sharkboy turning into a sexy little stud?

Taken for Granite

Lucky rocks. I have a couple of other pictures of this guy,
probably taken the same day. I'll find them for you sometime.

Breaker Box of Surprises

Technology sucks.

"Well, of course it does" you should be thinking.

But here's my latest story of why technology sucks. It starts with a photograph of my new apartment.

I took it last night. Isn't it cool?

I'm sorry it's so dark, but that's only because when I got home from work last night I had NO FUCKING ELECTRICITY!

Even the security lights outside were off, but only outside my door. Around every other door there was an all-night glow and the hum of a few insects. But my place was dark inside.

I went back to work and tried to call the electric company but couldn't get anyone. So I camped there for a bit, watched Hulu, and then went home to camp out for the night, armed against the dark staircase with a flashlight and couple of candles. This morning I threw what I could salvage from the 'fridge into a cooler and called the electric company from work. And learned a few things:

1. Their phone system is a bitch unless you have your account number in front of you, but I've never received a bill so I had no number
2. My account had never been set up in the first place, and for the past month I've been using the apartment manager's electricity without knowing it. I don't know yet what that may cost me in money, but I really don't want to look like some deadbeat leech.
3. They can have the electricity back on Monday. It could be on today if I pay a large fee, which I won't do because I object to having to fork over money because someone else screwed up.

So it will be an interesting weekend. I might get more done, since I can't waste time in front of the television or editing video clips (I did the Man of the Month clip for December Tuesday night, by the way.). Last night I made a mental list of things I could do without electricity, which consisted mostly of sleep, read, and work out - all things I don't do enough of anyway. I started to have a run this morning, but when I realized that I wouldn't have any hot water for a shower afterward, I changed my mind.

And I'm feeling embarrassed and weak that I feel like I need electricity so much. What would my pioneer grandparents say?

Hits as of now: 28775

007-11

Jack White and (a bit of backup singing, really, by) Alicia Keys
Another Way to Die
The theme song for Bond film #22, which opens this week. And I still can't decide what I think about this song.

At first, I hated it terribly, but now my opinion is ambiguous. As songs go, it's not bad. As a Bond theme, I don't like it. Too much sound and not enough music, to my mind.

Hits as of now: 28368

French Twist and Shout

Christopher Leaubu. I love his face.
Beautiful but a bit too manly to be outright pretty.
Reminds me of this guy I was in love with in college.

Holy Bibliophilia

Lazy, my ass!

It took quite a bit of schlepping, but I finally got
all my books out of storage and onto my living room floor.

Now I spend the week painting the bookcases and leaving
the heat on too high so they can more-or-less oven cure
before I put the books onto them.

I'm looking for help, so if you're good with a paintbrush
and look like this, please let me know.
Dinner included. Shirt optional.

Hits as of now: 28163

Affixation

"And to all those who have wondered if
America’s beacon still burns as bright –
tonight we proved once more that the true strength
of our nation comes not from our the might
of our arms or the scale of our wealth,
but from the enduring power of our ideals:
democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope."

- Barack Obama

"brightLY! brightLY!
Dammit, no one respects
the adverb!"

- me

Inconvenient Truth in Advertising

To all you USAmericans out there,
don't forget to vote today.

I stole this picture from Josh & Josh. I hope they don't mind.

Hits as of now: 26888

Track and Field of Dreams

Time for a new Man of the Month: Finnish track star turned model/actor Lauri Kalima

Yeah, a guy named Lauri seems a bit to Johnny Cash,
but when he's built like this guy, who cares what his name is?

And I definitely stretched these pictures beyond their resolution threshold. Let this be a lesson to you: when you're enlarging photos a lot, start with high quality pictures.

If only this guy would drop by and model for me...

Stephen Lynch
If I Were Gay
This is the song that first made me think this guy was sexy, but I'm not sure whether it was his sense of humour, his correct use of the subjunctive mode, or that last note that did it.

Hits as of now: 26813

Muskrat Love in the Afternoon

Edilson Nacscimento, making that cap work
in ways that Daryl Dragon could only dream of.

Hits as of now: 26617

Bradley Affected

IT'S LIKE COUGHING AT WORK ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON
SO YOU'LL BE MORE BELIEVABLE WHEN YOU CALL IN SICK FRIDAY MORNING

In recent weeks there has been talk of The Bradley Effect, named for Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley who unsuccessfully ran for Governor of California in 1982 and 1986. The "effect" is that white voters say publicly that they'll vote for a black candidate so they won't seem racist, but then that privately, in the voting booth, they won't because they actually are racist.

This has been talked about because various "experts" claim it could be a big factor in tomorrow's election. Never mind that people who actually worked on the 1982 Bradley campaign say there was no such phenomenon, that polls showed Bradley losing support days before the election so that his loss was not the major surprise that these modern "experts" talk about.

I think there are two real reasons that right-wingers talk so much about the Bradley Effect.

The first is to give their voters hope. The poll numbers showing Obama so far ahead must be discouraging to them, and campaign organizers are afraid that if their base feel they've already lost, they won't show up to vote.

The second reason is more insidious: they need something to use an explanation for McCain's surprise win after the election day irregularities and pre-programmed voting machines give McCain a slight win tomorrow.
______________________________

Through all of this, I've really wanted the answer to one question: if John McCain wins tomorrow and later learns that he only won because of crooked tactics, what would he do?

If he were still the honourable, trustworthy, respectworthy, serve-my-country, truth-justice-and-the-American-way former soldier who served in the Senate, I think he'd do the right thing: tell the truth, prosecute those responsible, and resign?

But in recent months, that man has disappeared, replaced by just another self-serving, do-anything-to-win, ends-justify-the-means politician who appointed Karl Rove to head his campaign and named James-Dobson-in-a-Dress to be his running mate. I'm pretty sure that this new candidate McCain would rationalize that he can't do what's best for the country if he's not in office and that if he can only assume the office by cheating, then he has to cheat because it's in the nation's best interest.

God, what happened to people who know that having a fair, honest election is more important than who wins?