The President Went to Iraq and All I Got Was This Nasty Shiner!

Ok... honestly there is something I find intriguing about all the press that Press Secretary Dana Perino's black eye is getting today. Still, I'm also apparently as intrigued as every reporter around, so I dug a bit today and saw some pictures, then I found my favorite piece of this story so far:

According to USA Today... awesome source, if there ever was one, Perino is referring to her bruise as her, "shoe-venir" from Iraq. Classic. Honestly, that's a really clever response to getting clunked in the eye with a microphone. I like it.

Anyway, the shoe throwing was the headline yesterday, today that's your news tidbit of the day.

The Reason I Post (part 2): Cause Sometimes Life is REALLY Funny

Now I'm a Phillies fan. If you read the blog with any regularity (hard to do lately, I know, but I'll get some posts back up here, I promise... er... well... I'll try) you know that. As such, I've long past learned to never get too cocky about my team's fortunes. I'll always be grateful for any season over .500 after the dreary days of the mid-to-late 90's. Ugh.

Still, I think it's hilarious that the new off-season sensation in the NL East is guessing who on the Mets will "reclaim" the mantle of "team to beat" that Jimmie Rollins claimed for the Phillies two seasons back. That's right, it's not even like he threw down that gauntlet last year, after season after the first time the Phillies visited the playoffs this decade. Nope, he made his prediction at a bold moment where the Phillies really needed a leader who would step up and say, "Hey everybody, we've got a pretty kickass team."

Now even Rollins' leadership didn't mean that the Phillies still didn't need a historic collapse by the Mets to get to the playoffs in 2007, but here we are looking down the start of 2009 Spring Training in oh... what... 3 months? It's two years later and the Mets have best the Phillies... how many times since? I'm sorry, it just cracked me up today when K-Rod, the newest Rod to be payed megabux by a NYC team rolled out his own cocky pronouncement, that the Mets are (very creative here), the "TEAM TO BEAT" in 2009.

Honestly, now that they've bought themselves a respectable bullpen, who knows? They just might be. I, however, think it's all pretty silly here in the dead of winter. Meanwhile, the Phillies are making some interesting moves of their own, so we'll see what is to come, but for now perhaps we should all just get ready for the Iggles on MNF, dontcha think?

Oh, and apologies to all the Mets fans I love. Nothing personal, let's just either a) see some original smack talk from your guys this off-season. Come on, look at Cole Hamels, he really took it up a notch, and yes what he said was kinda dirty in just the right way. OR b) let's wait until at leas Spring Training starts so that we can have some actual non transactional reason to talk smack. Huh? Whatta ya say?

The Reason I Post (part 1): Cause Life is Funny

Seriously... funny. So I've been pretty scant with the posts lately, and right now I'm totally procrastinating on a boatload of work I need to still finish up for the day, but I couldn't resist contributing to the blogosphere's embrace of the now famed Iraqi Journalist/Shoe Thrower. I wasn't the genius who created this fake beer ad remixed from clips of the shoe throwing show, but I love it so much I couldn't resist sharing it with you and hoping you'll find someone to share it with as well:

I think "Fabulous" is the technical term to describe this video

This one is making the rounds, but I couldn't resist posting, and if you haven't already seen Proposition 8, the Musical, please check it out below. For those of you who may not have caught it already there are brilliant cameos from Neal Patrick Harris, Jack Black, John C. Reilly and the brilliant Allison Janney.

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Even Though Gas is Back Under $2.00

The low price of gas is no reason for all of us to forget the importance of moving our nation in the right direction. I like what Thomas Friedman said in his NYT op-ed piece about the need to Green the Bailout, "...when this bailout is over, we need the next president — this one is wasted — to launch an E.T., energy technology, revolution with the same urgency as this bailout. Otherwise, all we will have done is bought ourselves a respite, but not a future."

Now I may have a new-found bias, working for a company that sells solar panels (a plug: if you're in CT and want to learn more, please contact me to learn more!) but bias aside, I think the group Repower America is providing a powerful clear and beautiful voice to the drive for America's government to take decisive action on energy. Check out this ad, and tell me you don't disagree.



If you'd like to see this ad air during this Sunday's 60 Minutes please consider donating to Repower America.

Philly Kids Go Crazy for Obama

I love to keep an eye on my home town, especially when some fun news comes my way from back home to make me smile. Unfortunately Philly doesn't always give me reason to smile, like when it was recently announced that Phillies star second baseman Chase Utley will miss a good chunk of the start of 2009's baseball season due to hip surgery. Luckily the other day I saw a piece on Huffington Post about how kids at a Philadelphia school caught sight of Barack Obama on the street (he was in town for a meeting of governors from across the nation) and just went nuts.

If you follow the link you can see the young folks screaming and reachign through a fence to try and shake hands with their soon-to-be leader. It's an electric little clip, and a reminder of the excitement that so many of us feel displayed in a very unfiltered and wonderful form. Thanks, kids in Philly.

Venice is alive and well

and reading the collected poems of W.S. Merwin. I've loved Merwin ever since discovering The Folding Cliffs in college. I've heard that his mature style eschews traditional forms for a rhythm that mimics human breath. My favourite poem by him is called "losing a language." I would try to find a copy and transcribe it (I assume that it is in the collection mentioned) but even if I was sure that would not violate copyright laws, I cannot bring myself to ask anyone to read poetry on a computer screen. It's bad for the eyes and the eyes, as we all know, are webcams into the soul or something. I leave you with this observation. the poem laments the loss of a language and the many things expressible in that language alone. one of these things is "the verb for I."So go to your local library and get a copy.

Mmmmm Turkey, hey, could you pass the Rick Rolls?

Was this part of your Thanksgiving conversation? It was if you watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Wha? Please oh please, check it out below.



Amazing moments:

• 1:50 when little Cartoon Network guys bounce around to the sweet sweet sounds of Astley


• When the song finishes (1:56) and one of the cartoon characters says, "I love Rick Rolling"


• When the erstwhile announcers describe (2:03) what you just saw as "Rick Astley singing the Rick Rolling phenom, 'Never Gonna Give You Up'." Seriously!?!?! There is basically no chance the announcer understood what that meant.

Ok, that's it. Happy Black Friday, everybody! I hope none of you got trampled at a local WalMart today.

Add this one to the not-so-cuddly list

Over in China a 20-year old male student was at a zoo and decided that the panda bear in the cage could use some cuddle time. He hopped the fence into the panda's enclosure and frightened the bear so badly that the bear bit him all over his arms and legs. The guy is luckily ok, but I imagine he won't be back in the market for bear hugs anytime soon.

Things Ann Coulter has to be thankful for this week!

1. A new book coming out soon to provide even more cash for her bed of cash where she lies and plots new and devious ways to be a nutbag jerk.
2. Her jaw has been wired shut, so she has even more time to mull over creative ways to bash those fiendish dastardly liberals.
3. She's a calendar girl.

Wow... I really can't think of anything nice to say about Ann Coulter. She's an awful and disgusting blowhard. Yup... that's it. Alright, moving on!

So So Good, why Wonkette + Star Wars always works

Yesterday the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department rolled out the second phase of the bailout where they don't even get congressional approval... they just toss a crap ton of more money on the problem. Awesome. If that doesn't sound exciting to you, check out Wonkette's coverage, where they throw a little Star Wars reference into the mix to make it all go down smooth. They're like Mary Poppins with a spoon full of sugar. Mmmmmmmm BAILOUT!

Things that are fun and funny: Tirades!

No, seriously, they are! Check out this clip that didn't air on SNL but could/should have. It focuses on the reportedly firey temper of Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama's choice for chief of staff.



I especially like the nodding of the camera man around the 2 minute mark in the video, also the calm tone at the end.