Oh, to be in Los Angeles (and to have money...) now that the Screenwriting Expo is here

William Goldman

Interview

with Aaron Sorkin

Musique obscure (you clicks the player and you makes your choice)...

1: Jes' let it play and chill...



2: singing that which could not be said...something to shout about.



3: So you want to see one hit-wonders Visage's one hit "Fade To Grey" as played on ukulele and keyboards by a Scottish duo who look like two different versions of The Master from Doctor Who.

We have good news for you.



and 4: If you're an '80s lover...



...this is mildly awesome.

Run, Newt, run.

Via Taegan Goddard...

Newt Gingrich "is far from a unanimous or even a consensus choice to run for president in 2012, but there is a strong feeling in Republican ranks that he is the only leader of their party who has shown the skill and energy to attempt a comeback quickly," according to Robert Novak.

This is fantastic. The right-wing party is eating itself alive.

("Any minute now, GOP will eat itself.")

By all means, Republicans, nominate the man who divorced his wife while she was recovering from cancer, in order to marry his intern. Nominate him to run against the man that we saw walk onstage with his family in Chicago Tuesday night.

Who knew?

I'm keeping this up, because I don't want Americans to forget just what this woman was...and who picked her.

That could be effective...

This ABC News piece on Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, compares him to West Wing character Josh Lyman.

A good op-ed by Joe Solmonese of the HRC, on the failure of Proposition 8.

Yes, I said "failure." I can't define anything that denied people their human and legal rights just because of who they fall in love with as a "success."

It's ok, Stephen, I teared up too

This was how I witnessed history. And by that of course, I mean, not just our election of Barack Obama...but Stephen Colbert breaking character.

Would you lose respect for me if I said I wanted to see Sarah Palin bled to death?

How about after you read this?

Game over.

Can you dig it?

Why Sarah Palin wasn't a joke.

Even though we all know that she shoulda been. But...

From Newsweek's Special:

The Obama campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October, at the same time that many crowds at Palin rallies became more frenzied. Michelle Obama was shaken by the vituperative crowds and the hot rhetoric from the GOP candidates. "Why would they try to make people hate us?" Michelle asked a top campaign aide.

That's not funny.

(Emphasis mine.)

Say Amen, somebody

A cartoon by Ann Telnaes.

We are none of us alone. Even as we exhale it is inhaled by others

Life moves to its new night and time tonight.

Watch it.

If my word isn't good enough for you, here's a review of the season opener from the Ottawa Citizen.

Good band, good song.

That is all.

I'd think this was funny if I didn't think it was true.

After emerging victorious from one of the most pivotal elections in history, president-elect Barack Obama will assume the role of commander in chief on Jan. 20, shattering a racial barrier the United States is, at long last, shitty enough to overcome.

Faced with losing everything, Americans took a long overdue step forward and elected Barack Obama.

Although polls going into the final weeks of October showed Sen. Obama in the lead, it remained unclear whether the failing economy, dilapidated housing market, crumbling national infrastructure, health care crisis, energy crisis, and five-year-long disastrous war in Iraq had made the nation crappy enough to rise above 300 years of racial prejudice and make lasting change.

It was a landslide victory. (ETA photos)

I figured I should set down a few thoughts on this history-making morning. As I said on this blog often, I didn't want to use these words before it had happened, but now I can. Obama won, and he won big.

I won't pretend to know what this moment is like for black people. But I don't like it when the anchors and such talk about it only in those terms anyway. This morning is probably the only morning I could say something like this with a straight face, but I feel like this is a time for all Americans to revel.



No matter what your color is, even no matter if you voted for Obama or did not, unless you're a racist bigot, you have to feel good that our country has finally gotten to this point. It gives not just black people, but all people who have obstacles to overcome, a hero.

I was saying to my mom yesterday that my nephew is going to grow up not knowing that this was anything strange. The first president I have actual memories of is Jimmy Carter. I was alive during Nixon and Ford, but not exactly politically conscious. For my nephew, it'll be Obama.

Watching the returns I was preparing myself for a little Christmas-morning-letdown, anticlimax feeling even if Obama won, as I’d hardly dared to allow myself to expect that he might. But when he captured Pennsylvania, then Ohio, and then took Virginia... (the first Democrat to do so in 44 years, BTW)...

Well, that's when I knew he was going to do it--that we were going to do it.



And I trembled with happiness.

(photos via BlogCleveland)

The President of the United States of America.

(Or: Don't it make my red states Blue. )

Probably for the best that I don't have the know-how, then

Because if I had the know-how, I'd whip up something with Bush and/or Cheney on the floor of the bathroom as my man Jigsaw slams the door and says...

"Game over!"

Free at last?

Barack Obama has won. Play this.



Or alternately, if you prefer to think of it as John McCain (and the GOP) has lost, play this.

American Idol winner Carrie Underwood has declined to endorse a candidate this year...which is certainly her right, fine.

But she's gone so far as to take a swipe at other celebs who have chosen to do so.

"There is someone I do support, but I don't support publicly," Carrie said. "I lose all respect for celebrities when they back a candidate."

"I would never want anybody to vote for anything or anybody just because I told them to."

Now: Maybe I'm cynical...and there's no maybe about it...but what that sounds like to me is:

Someone who knows that the person she plans to vote for isn't likely to do very well tonight. And sees no reason to have her name attached to a losing ticket. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe her sentiments are entirely noble.

Disgusting.

Someone hacked the George Mason University email system to send an email from the provost announcing Election Day had been moved to Nov. 5

As noted previously on this blog, there are no lesbian characters on mainstream, prime-time television.

There are bisexual women, but no lesbians.

Sadly, you don't have to stretch your mind too far to see why that might be: Fellas who think a little lesbian-type loving is sexy, but can't imagine women who don't ever want a little deep-dish dicking.

An actress on the series "Grey's Anatomy," whose character had entered a lesbian relationship, and realized she was gay, has been written out.

I've never watched 'Grey's Anatomy,' so I have no opinion on this from that perspective. But reportedly, this was not a decision by the show's creative staff, but a directive of cold feet on the part of the network.

On the other hand, a new character coming in reportedly is bisexual.

Shame on you, ABC. Shame on you.

Differences.

Bush:

Others inside and outside the administration, however, say the upbeat talk masks disappointment and frustration among many White House staffers, who believe Bush's reputation has been unfairly maligned for a series of calamities -- from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to the financial crisis -- that were beyond his control and that he handled well. GOP nominee John McCain's escalating attacks on Bush's tenure have added to the irritation, these people said.

"Everybody kind of wanted to spend the last 100-plus days doing some legacy things, and the financial crisis has thrown a wrench into that," said one prominent Republican who regularly talks with senior White House officials.

"You have a combination of no legacy stuff, a horrible economic mess and the likelihood that Obama is going to win," this person added.

From the Washington Post via ahab at If I Ran the Zoo.

Obama:

ABC NEWS: Was there a worst moment? Or what keeps you up at night?

OBAMA: Well, look, the night we lost New Hampshire was tough. We had been 10 points up, according to the polls going into Election Day and lost by two, and that's one of the reasons why we take nothing for granted in this race and we don't believe those polls. But, you know, the thing that keeps me up is not actually winning or loosing -- it's governing. When I think about things when the lights are out and I'm tossing and turning in bed, its how do we make sure we fulfill the commitments to the American people that we've made throughout this campaign.

I was going to do a "Li'l Red Riding Hood by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs" reference here (look it up), but actually, this is kind of adorable

Kate Beckinsale trick-or-treating with her daughter.

Talk about your bittersweet...

All sympathy.

Madelyn Dunham, grandmother of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, died today after a battle with cancer. She was 86.

Dunham, who lived in Hawaii, died on the eve of an election in which her grandson was leading in the race to become president.

``She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility,'' Obama said in a statement released by his campaign. ``She was proud of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and left this world with the knowledge that her impact on all of us was meaningful and enduring.''

Obama flew to Hawaii for two days in the final stretch of the campaign to be with the woman he called ``Toot,'' short for ``tutu,'' the Hawaiian word for grandmother. He has credited her with his success in life, saying she ``poured everything she had into me.''

What the fuck?

One or two of any of you longtimers may remember last year when Rosie O'Donnell claimed that Ellen DeGeneres wasn't doing enough for other people that were gay.

So you'd think O'Donnell would've joined the other celebrities, both gay and straight (Brad Pitt, DeGeneres, Steven Spielberg, T.R. Knight), who have donated money to defeat Prop 8. Putting her money where her mouth is, so to speak (no, actually, the joke you're thinking of is in very poor taste).

But you'd be wrong. Not a dime. When asked why by several readers of her blog...not that her blogging is readable...she replied,

"I didnt run away, I walked down the stairs in san fran, I support gay marriage, i am living it,"

Is it me, or does that sound an awful lot like: "I got mine, fuck all y'all."?

It sure does to me. And that means that Rosie O'Donnell is doing as much for gay people in the fight as Mary Cheney.

What a flaming hypocrite.

Final thoughts

(click to read)

How I'm hoping I won't feel tomorrow

Chris Lowe, Neil Tennant, Bernard Sumner, and Johnny Marr...amazing.

Just an observation

In 20 years, the Republican party has gone from George Bush to John McCain.

In 20 years, the Democratic party has gone from Michael Dukakis to Barack Obama.

Which is the party of change?

Sexism? What sexism?

In Virginia, some men are planning to vote for McCain/Palin, because, well, y'know...she's got tits.

You've come a long way, baby.

On the potentially brighter side of the News, even Fox has accepted the likelyhood that Obama will do very, very well tomorrow.

Well, let's just face it--I love this shit

This is for Mana if she's watching

Of course, anyone else who wants to is welcome to look at it too. The music is "The Sun Rising" by The Beloved but the pictures were put together (and posibly taken) by a YouTuber called "szocka."

I'm "dedicating" it to Mana because it includes pictures of Transylvania (Romania), where she's from, and because I haven't heard from her for a while.

Oh, ra-ther!

It's going to be so sad coming back to these people in four years when they've grown all cynical

Many young voters see vote as first act of hope

Dressed up like a million dollar trooper Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper

My mother sent me a picture.

This is my grandfather, Jacques Cornelius Varkentine, in his early 20s, sometime between 1915-1920.



This is me in my early 30s.



I never knew my grandfather, but I would have to admit there is a resemblance.

If nothing else, as my mother wrote, " Now we see where you got your hair from."

But you know who he looks like to me?



Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein.

Message for a generation.

I admit, I've long thought that Natalie Portman, though beautiful, was kind of a wooden actress and generally a silly person. I'm glad to be shown I was wrong.

See more Natalie Portman videos at Funny or Die

(I don't know Rashida Jones' work well enough to have an opinion on her)

Oh...my...god!

In Grosse Pointe, MI, on Halloween night, a woman

posted a sign saying children of Obama supporters would be turned away without any candy.

Emphasis mine.

Via Kathy at If I Ran the Zoo.