Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kodos! - Democratic Debate and MORE

As I sit here, I am watching a live feed of Rob Schneider playing Lindsay Lohan on the Tonight Show. God help us all, this may be one of the most awkward things I've ever seen on a talk show. But I am staying tuned, because the second guest is none other than Homer Jay Simpson. I wonder if Leno's writers wrote the dialogue for Homer? If so, that'd be kind of weird ...

What else is going on? Well, I'm gearing up for San Diego this weekend, and am just crossing my fingers that everything comes together. If all goes as planned, it should be an awesome time. Me and the NBCU crew are heading down from LA, meeting up with the living legend that is Aksel, and as a special bonus, Chris A will be there as well enjoying a much needed vacation after having completed the bar exam this week! It's going to be crazy - rarely has one weekend trip mixed business, pleasure, work, networking, old friends, new friends, and the craziness of Comicon all in one finely-rolled burrito wrap of a trip.

- On Lindsay Lohan: on one hand, who cares? On the other hand, what a sad, pathetic person. She should pack up her things, move out of Hollywood, and come back in ten years when she has normalized and gotten away from all of the parasites who are surely taking advantage of her out here.

- I really enjoyed last night's CNN-YouTube debate, featuring the entire lineup of Democratic hopefuls for President. I thought the questions were at times out of left-field, but at least it was something different from the usual stuffy atmosphere of these debates. To me, Hillary Clinton really did a nice job of answering questions with intelligence and poise, though Obama was also very impressive as usual, and did a good job of selling himself as someone who would be a breath of fresh air in the White House. However, the guy who was kind of an underdog standout was Joe Biden, who came on a little strong at first with his "realist" approach to Iraq, but eventually found his groove and really impressed with some intelligent, well-put answers. The moment that really stood out to me was when this really odd video played of some whacko who was asking about gun control, and who held up this gigantic assault weapon and called it his "baby." Instead of trying to humor the guy, I loved that Biden came right out and said what I and probably many others were thinking - that anyone who calls an assault weapon their baby has a serious screw loose. Thank you, Joe Biden! If he doesn't end up as a front-runner I'd love to see him as a VP for wheover does. Honestly though, while I do have reservations about both Hillary and Obama, just hearing the Democratic platform is enough to give me optimism for '08. Anything other than the current administration would be a huge improvement. That is, except for someone like Guliani who is just as bad if not worse than W.

- I'm still not very big on John Edwards. There is just something about him that seems off, kind of vacant. His attempt at humor last night in mockingly insulting Hillary's choice of jacket completely fell flat, I hate when these candidates are so stiff that they can't even improvise a joke when needed, and when they do it's about the most cringe-worthy thing ever. To me, Edwards is someone who may be a good career politician but lacks the charisma, the intelligence, the likability, or the leadership to ever be front and center on the national stage.

- As for Obama, in many ways he's my favorite of the presidential hopefuls, but I am getting the sense lately that there is something slightly disengenuous about him, perhaps stemming from his constant attempts to be all things to all people. However, I like what he has to say about the economy and with regards to foreign policy, still not sure about his positions on the environment - he seems less passionate about the issue than some of the other candidates.

- Whenever I hear questions about candidates sending their kids to public vs private schools I cringe. The fact is, someone like John Edwards has an easy out as his kids are very young, and the main decisions about schools don't come until high school age. Obama had a great point last night - for those with the right means, the simple decision is whether the public schools in one's area are good enough for their kids. If they are are great public schools, the candidates will send their kids there. If not, they'll send 'em to private school. I think that's what it comes down to, so it's not really a relevant question, and candidates may as well be honest in their answers rather than using it as some kind of boastful way of saying "yeah, I'm jsut a regular Joe who sends their kids to public school."

- Man, that Mike Gravel may have been quite the congressman back in the day, but the man is now apparently senile and stone-cold crazy. His ramblings last night had me laughing till I cried, with an extended diatribe about the Vietnam War that would have been befitting of an elderly Walter Solchak. I could just hear The Dude in the background thinking "what the #$#$ does this have to do with Vietnam?" With a guy like Gravel, sure, I respect what he's accomplished, but you have to wonder why is he only NOW running for President when it's clear he might be more fit for a well-deserved retirement.

- I know some write him off as a nutbar, but count me as a fan of Dennis Kucinich. I know he is way too leftist to ever be elected president, and personally I disagree with some of his politics. But I give him a ton of credit - he sticks to his guns and never wavers in an attempt to foster mass appeal. I appreciate a guy like him being in the race because his blunt honesty and consistency on Iraq and other issues is essential to keep the other candidates on their toes. He seems like a great guy and I'm glad he's out there fighting the good fight, even if at times he's a little misguided.

- In the end, what is almost the most alarming thing to me is why more people didn't watch this debate. It's YouTube, it's the Democrats, one of whom will God-willing be our next president. And yet I have this feeling that most of you reading this didn't tune in. And my question is why the hell not? Seriously, if Gen Y is NOT a factor in the '08 election, it is truly a sad state of affairs. If we had come out to vote in bigger numbers in '04, things would have been VERY different, and now, the stakes are even higher. If you don't have a good grasp on the candidates and where they stand so that you can make an intelligent decision come the election, you are literally doing the entire world a disservice, so buck up and pay attention!

- On some other notes: I am both excited and a little unsure about the announcement of a new pair of writers being handed the reigns to a Y: The Last Man movie. To me, Y has been probably the best ongoing comic book series of the last 5 years, and I want to see it done well as a movie (though it'd probably make a better TV show due to the comic's serialized, sprawling nature). It just seems odd that Y mastermind Brian K Vaughn is not writing the script himself, especially now that he's broken into the world of TV and film as a writer on LOST. As for casting, Yorick needs to be played by someone somewhat unassuming, a bit geeky, but with a number of sides to him, maybe a kind of hidden depth. Whoever plays him needs to be a versatile actor capable of humor but definitely not a typical leading man type. I'd love to see someone like James McAvoy take on the role.

- Meanwhile, Jonah Hex has also been announced as being in development. I'll go with the peanut gallery on this one and say that Viggo Mortenson is probably perfect for the role of the scarred confederate cowboy vigilante. This could be an awesome movie, a kind of Western noir with maybe a hint of the supernatural thrown in for good measure. Get Sam Elliot in there somewhere (as narrator?) and ideally a Clint Eastwood cameo and yer' golden.

- Well, I am out of here - so saddle up and mosey on back for more, comin' at ya' soon.

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