The Friday Hot Sheet

It was a slow week at work and a frustrating one at the gym. The economy is in the crapper and even though I've been really passionate about it so far; the election really does need to get here soon, because honestly, I'm ready to vote right now -- making all the mud slinging and BS that's sure to appear in the next few weeks feel more annoying than anything else.

That being said, I've got an open weekend in front of me, there's supposed to be decent waves at the beach, the Sevendust concert is only a week away, and if nothing else -- my Broncos will be on TV laying the smackdown on the toothless Jags Sunday afternoon, which means hanging with my dad and having a good time.

So before I head to Endo to quote movie lines with the boys -- here are this weeks risers and fallers, and the buzz as it looks from here.
The
Presidential
Debates
It's weird how it feels like this happened ages ago, but the last Friday's Town Hall faceoff between Obama and McCain offered so much more than any of the preceeding events and mudslinging, that I finally felt like there was a clearer picture of what this election had to offer. While a lot of people have criticized everything from his posture to his lame jokes, I actually felt like I finally got a better picture of John McCain, a candidate who I respect as a person and a war hero, but simply disagree with on too many points to choose as a leader. I also really felt a lot better about Obama's foriegn policy ideas, which had sorta been a concern before. It's funny though -- the newsman my parents preferred to watch every evening when I was growing up was always Tom Brokaw, and yet I found him to be the most annoying part of the whole proceedings. Sure he had a debate to run and they were ignoring the flashing lights and time constraints, but finally the candidates were going head to head on the issues, and Brokaw kept cutting them off.
 
"That One"The two things that became abundantly clear to me about John McCain in the debates is that 1) He's really pissed off about the fact that apprently there are people out there who don't believe (as he does) that he is supposed to be president. He's basically been working towards this goal his whole life, and if things continue to move the way the polls say, it's gonna slip through his fingers because a couple of voters apparently didn't get the memo. And understand something here -- as much as I might not like to say it, John McCain is somewhat electable. Rewind this tape a couple of years and change a few circumstances and he would have easily mopped the floor with an opponent like John Kerry. The best comparison I've seen so far about the whole thing is that McCain is a real-life version of Colonel Jessup, Jack Nicholson's character in A Few Good Men -- a guy who is insulted that someone, nay anyone would ever question his right to be in charge and do whatever he wants. -- And 2) John McCain just flat-out dislikes Barack Obama. A big part of it probably comes from the fact that he's losing to the guy, but when you watch the debates it's clear that it's deeper than that -- and frankly I think he's just too old and frustrated at this point to even want to hide it anymore. All that being said -- all this ballywho over McCain referring to Obama as "That One" being some sort of racial or personal slight seems overplayed to me. It was a weird turn of phrase, but when you put it in the context of the whole statement it fell into -- it seemed like another instance where a guy who does better talking straight tripped over an attempt to get slick with his words. McCain may be a lot of things, but I don't think a racist is one of them.
 
Michelle
Obama
It's pretty common knowledge that I have a thing for African American women. It's also not a secret that (for better or worse) I'm drawn to crazy people. Thus, there's really nothing I'm attracted to more than a crazy black woman (Naomi Campbell, why won't you return my calls!?). But after getting a chance to finally see Michelle Obama talk to the press this week (I missed most of her interviews during the primaries) I'm starting to think there's probably room on my list for one that's sane. All joking aside -- I don't usually pay much attention to First Ladies, but I was surprised how engaging she seemed, especially on The Daily Show. Even if Obama should lose, I kinda hope she finds a way to stay in the public eye -- because Michelle Obama is cool.
 
Sarah Palin
wants to go
on Saturday
Night Live
Oh wow, really? You um, ..you don't really want to do that. Not a great idea.
 
Chunky
Peanut
Butter
It's a scientifically proven fact that chunky keeps you funky. But also, when I come home from work super-hungry but knowing that I still have to go to the gym, a spoonful of peanut butter has become my go-to move to kill off the munchies enough that I don't have to workout on an empty stomach, but I'm also not eating everything in the house. My mom was a big advocate of the spoonful of peanut butter as a snack for little kids, but she never really got the chunky thing. Always Smooth Jif in the cabinet when I was growing up. But of course, we all know what that leads to, right?
 
Tiger Cub Curren                     I didn't do Boy Scouts when I was a kid. My dad took me to one meeting and we hung out for a little while, at which point I turned to him and said, "This is kinda lame, can we go?" and we never went back. Not that scouting is lame (a bunch of my friends were into it -- Spruill made Eagle, if I remember correctly), but it just wasn't my thing. I played soccer for a few years, but then my parents finally broke down and bought me the guitar I'd been asking for since I was like 2 years old and that was basically it until I discoverd surfing and chasing girls. So I had next to no frame of reference to go from when Curren expressed interest in scouting. We've only been to like two meetings so far, and with kids his age the idea of organizational structure seems kinda tacked on -- but he's really jazzed for it, and that's kinda cool to see.
Besides, who doesn't love a man in uniform?                 

[Listening to:  40 Below Summer"Rain" ]

Comments

Anonymous said…
Yowzah! He's gonna be beating the Girl Guides off with a stick. That was the plan all along, wasn't it?
JerseySjov said…
in my public speaking class i brought up how mccain is so stiff and awkward when he speaks, and the professor went on this rantasaur about how he was tortured as a pow, how he's in constant pain, how he can't sit or stand still at all...which led me to believe the guy should be chilling in a convalescent home rather than being on the campaign trail.

ps lovvvve the little boy scout!
Amazon said…
I don't know what that leads to, enlighten me...

The lil scout is too damn cute!! Wearin the hell outta that uniform too.
Anonymous said…
Spruill and I did Scouts together. And he did make eagle. I just putzed around and had fun. But I did at least two scouting related things that changed my life: rappelling and BSA lifeguard.

Anyway, I think it is cool that he is into it. I didn't really like cub scouts, but once we hit camping it was awesome.
Hex said…
WIGSF -- the original plan was for him to be busy while I chatted up the den mothers, but there's always room for modification, right?

Jerseysjov -- I hate people who bring that up. He's in CONSTANT PAIN. I mean, no doubt what happened to him in the war was horrible, but to say he's half alive on the campaign trail is disrespectful to the strides the man has made himself to reach this level of achievement.

Shay -- he is a cute kid.

Back in my roadie days I used to work for a funk band called Second Step. Their bass player/singer would always tell me,

"Chunky peanut butter man. Chunky keeps you funky."

And then somebody would always ask about creamy peanut butter, and he would inform them matter-of-factly that smooth peanut butter shrinks your dick.

He also had a problem with people who ate white bread. Fun guy (as long as you didn't go grocery shopping with him).

The Anonymous Werdna -- I think if I'd stuck with scouts and learned to rappell I would have done better with it the first time I did it, which was from the roof of the Governor's Square Mall to the floor in like 10 seconds flat.

..friggin light guys.