Barack Obama

He was incredible, so much better in person. I had seen him almost exactly two years ago. I was going to college in Illinois and he held a town-hall style event at my school. That was awesome enough, as he is a very well-spoken, well-informed man. Last night was different. It was a victory RALLY!! Everyone was raucous and excited, especially the Senator. The Kohl Center was PACKED!!


That's all three bowls, the floor, and an auxiliary room that had been used to hold the line (see below) to get in as the weather was incredibly shite yesterday.

Since it was a victory speech and not a stump speech, it was electrifying. I was in what would have been, had there been seating, the third/fourth row on the floor, and people continued to press in during the speech, trying to get as close as possible to this man. The biggest applause line was when he said "George Bush won't be on the ballot in November." (7:40 in the video below) The entire arena went ape-shit. If that wasn't a call for change, when 17,000 people are on their feet cheering, I don't know what is. I enjoyed how he called people out (15:30), like Senator Clinton, for calling him a hope-mongerer and turned it around with sincerity and flair to make them look like idiots for spewing such bullshit.
"Hope that in America no dream is beyond our grasp if we reach for it, and fight for it, and work for it. Understand this, hope is not blind optimism. Hope is not ignorance of the barriers and challenges that stand between you and your dreams. I know how hard it will be to change America. I know it won't be easy to provide healthcare for all American's like I've proposed. If it was easy, it would have already been done. I know it won't be easy to change our energy policy. Exxon Mobil made $11 billion last quarter. They don't want to give those profits up easily.
I know how hard it will be to alleviate poverty that's built up over centuries. I know how hard it will be to improve our schools, especially because improving our schools will involve more than just money. It will require a change in mindset, a belief that every child counts, that it's not somebody else's problem. A belief that parents have to parent and turn off the TV set and put away the video game. And that our students have to raise their standards of excellence. That's not easy to do, changing our attitudes, changing our culture."


To see the speech in its entirety, watch below.

Oh, and after the speech I shook his hand!!

Amazing...

I was there. I'm ridiculously tired, but I'll post a review and my own pics and videos tomorrow.

Totally Bizarre

Mirapex, a prescription medication to treat Parkinson's and the, in my opinion, made-up condition known as Restless Leg Syndrome, has the most bizarre side effect I've ever heard. Among the regulars of drowsiness, nausea, dizziness, stomach ulcers, bleeding from the ears, etc., you must also be careful about developing gambling problems. Pardon?

10" and Counting...

It's still snowing. That's the railing of the balcony off the back of my house. It's a little nuts. Classes were canceled (yay!), so I'm fully taking advantage of the snow day by doing absolutely nothing.

I'm currently watching the US-Mexico replay of last February's match-up on ESPN Classic, getting amped for this evening. There's a ton of coverage on ussoccer.com and all the ESPN channels, so there's plenty to keep me occupied.

Last night was fantastic for Senator Obama, winning in 14 states including Illinois, Connecticut, Missouri, Georgia, and Colorado!! Sure Clinton won California, but that was entirely predictable. It's still an incredibly tight race and VERY exciting! The Wisconsin primary is on February 19 and for the first time in a while, it actually could make a difference. I'll have more information on it in the coming days.

For now, I'm going to continue watching the game (Donovan is about to score) and enjoy the one tonight! Estados Unidos!

Super Tuesday and Super Awesome Wednesday

It's rare in February that I have two big events to look forward to. It's even more rare to have them be two days in a row.

If you've been living under a rock or are just completely uninformed, tomorrow is Super Tuesday, probably the single most important day in a presidential election year other than Election Day. 24 states are holding primaries or caucuses, 22 involving the Democrats. As MSNBC has been saying in its ads for their election coverage, this is the most important election of our lifetime. That may seem a bit melodramatic, but it really isn't. Iran, our direction in Iraq, and our position as the world's remaining superpower will all be visited by the next president.

If you haven't read my "About Me" thing on the right, you won't know that I am supporting Barack Obama. We need to move forward, away from the politics of the past. We need a leader who can unite not only the American people, but citizens of the world. People in other countries are excited about what Barack brings! The people I've spoken to think that by electing Obama, American's are willing to admit that we need to take a different approach to leadership and that we are willing to reestablish relations with other countries. It's incredibly important that you vote tomorrow (if your state is holding a primary or caucus -- click here to find out if it is<--NY Times), hopefully for Obama, but make sure you understand what you're voting for and not just who.


Also, if you want a good read, I found this last week and got chills. Washington Monthly asked Ted Sorenson, JFK's speech writer, to write the speech he would most want the Democratic nominee to give during their acceptance of the nomination at the National Convention in August. Sorenson wrote with no candidate in mind. It's amazing. Below are pictures of RFK and Ted (l) and JFK and Ted (r). I couldn't find a bigger one of JFK and Ted.




The other fantastic event, happening on Wednesday at 9pm EST on ESPN2, is the quasi-annual US-Mexico game. Both teams are pretty much at full strength, as usual, and the Mexicans are hoping to end an embarrassing record against the US (12-7-7 since 1990, 9-0-1 since 2000 on non-Mexican soil including the glorious 2-0 win at the 2002 World Cup). Hugo Sanchez, the Mexican head coach, is trying to downplay the match-up against the US, trying to save his own ass should the current streak continue. He actually had the audacity to say that it was unfortunate the game was going to be played on US soil since that will give the US a home crowd and the benefit of calls. Fat chance! The game is being played in Houston, the city with the third-largest Mexican immigrant population in the US. The only venue in the US that has ever hosted a pro-US crowd verse Mexico is Columbus Crew Stadium in Ohio. Keep talking, Sanchez, you're making me giggle. So if you aren't doing anything Wednesday (word here in the Wis is that we're going to be pretty well snowed in), tune in. It's always a good game. Below are the highlights from the last meeting in the Gold Cup final in June. I couldn't find one that included the Mexico goal and was shorter than 58 minutes. Oh well! You get to see Benny Feilhaber's beauty, so who really cares?!

Lumbergh and Geography

My Geography/Geology professor totally talks like Lumbergh. He doesn't have the same douche bag-vibe of Lumbergh, but has the same tone and pace. Yeah, how about that lithosphere? And today, in order to take a picture of the whiteboard where we'd all scribbled stuff, he whipped out a digital camera that used a FLOPPY DISK!!! Do they even make floppy disks anymore? Using a floppy disk digital camera is like whipping out your Zack Morris-style cell phone brick.

Needless to say, that kept me amused for the duration of class.

NY Giants - 2008 Super Bowl Champs!

Wow, am I glad to have been wrong!

Sucks to be you, Brady!

An Introduction While Watching the Super Bowl

I decided it was time to start a blog. I have many random ponderings which go unarticulated, mostly because they happen while I’m driving or in the middle of class. I’ll make a conscious effort to write them down and share them with you, whoever you happen to be. I find the entire idea of the blog peculiar, but at the same time fascinating.

Anyway. I’m currently watching the Super Bowl and even now, with 2:39 left in the game, I don’t know what team I’m rooting for. On one hand, I hate the Patriots and Tom Brady and Randy Moss. That’s mostly on principle. My friends and I concur that Tom Brady gives off a skeeze vibe and as a lifelong Packer supporter, I could never support a team with Randy Moss on it. Then there are the Giants who booted the Packers out. I can’t possibly support a team that ended Brett Favre’s season. In the end, which it almost is and it looks like the Patriots will remain undefeated, I have to root for the Giants. They’re the underdogs and they don’t have Tom Brady OR Randy Moss. With 1:22 left, GO GIANTS!