The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Can He Float Your Boat?

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Can He Float Your Boat?: "Given that the Kerry convention featured a skipper brave and sure, a first mate who makes others comfortable, a millionaire called 'Lovey' by her spouse, two pretty young Kerry castaways and a movie star (the ubiquitously annoying Ben Affleck), I suppose we should be grateful that Camp Kerry didn't introduce the nominee with the 'Gilligan's Island' theme song."

--Maureen Dowd

The British Perspective

Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Lurch and the gang

Late-Night Political Jokes - Updated Daily

Late-Night Political Jokes - Updated Daily: "'Illinois senatorial candidate Barak Obama, he's the new rising star of the Democratic party. He gave the keynote address at the Democratic convention. When they told President Bush about Obama, Bush said, 'Isn't that the guy we can't find? Why don't we grab him? He was right there!'' --Jay Leno "

Nicknames & Codenames

Ah the amuzement of Secret Service Codenames

Morning Briefing: The Table Is Set for Kerry: "Mr. Kerry is 'Minuteman,'' presumably a reference to his Boston heritage. John Edwards is 'Speedway,'' named for the place where those highly desirable white male voters, NASCAR Dads, congregate. And Teresa Heinz Kerry is 'Mahogany' (no derivation supplied).
On the other side, the National Journal reports, President Bush is 'Trailblazer,'' named for one of his favorite activities at his Texas ranch. His wife, Laura, is 'Tempo,'' derivation also uncertain. Their twins Jenna and Barbara are 'Twinkle' and 'Turquoise.' "

The New York Times > Editorials & Opinion

The New York Times: "One noteworthy theme of this Democratic convention is that the election will be decided by six people in Ohio and Pennsylvania."
--Gail Collins

Quote of the Night

Yahoo! News - This Time Gore Heralds Clinton at Convention: "'You win some, you lose some. And then there's that little-known third category,' Gore joked. "

Ironic Times - Page Three, July 26, 2004

Ironic Times - Page Three, July 26, 2004: "Good News: Olympics Facilities Ready
Bad news: they're in Beijing."

Web Quote of the Day

Late-Night Political Jokes - Updated Daily: "'They released the 9/11 report today and President Bush wasted no time not reading it.'

--David Letterman "

Spiderman 2

Belated post. Much to the annoyance of my sister, I have to say I liked the first better. It was an alright film, although anyone who had taking anyhing past "Physics for Poets" had to find the whole fusion then grating.

Still it worked, the coda was a bit long but at least they didn't get on a school bus at the end of the movie.

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ESPN.com - Gammons: Stars' choice

ESPN.com - Gammons: Stars' choice: "So who puts the bug in candidates' ears about seeming what they are not? John Kerry last week professed to be a big fan of 'Manny Ortez,' then re-emphasized the phoofery by correcting it to 'David Ortez.' No, that was Dave (Baby) Cortez and 'The Happy Organ.' A few years back Kerry went on a Boston station with Eddie Andelman and said 'my favorite Red Sox player of all time is The Walking Man, Eddie Yost,' who never played for the Red Sox. Kerry is going to sweep New England. He's going to get 70 percent of the vote in Massachusetts. He doesn't have to be a Red Sox fan, all he has to do is not be John Ashcroft."

ESPN.com: Page 2 - All about the ESPY experience

ESPN.com: Page 2 - All about the ESPY experience: "Helpless moment of the night: The Sports Gal was obviously drooling over Brady from a distance, saying at various points in the evening that he 'was tall and handsome,' 'handles himself so well,' 'has a great chin,' 'seems like such a nice guy' and 'is much hotter in person.' This went on for the entire show -- the last time a husband was provoked like this, O.J. was attending his daughter's dance recital. For the first time in our entire relationship, I couldn't come up with a comeback. Normally, I would say, 'Come on, he's going bald,' or 'He's short,' or 'I heard he's gay' -- I mean, there are a million potential comments that can stop a woman in her tracks. But Brady won us two Super Bowls. So I just had to sit there and take it. Damn it all. "

Sometimes the jokes write themselves

The New York Times > National > Schwarzenegger Calls Budget Opponents 'Girlie Men'

The New York Times > Arts > Frank Rich: Happy Talk News Covers a War

The New York Times > Arts > Frank Rich: Happy Talk News Covers a War

I, Robot

This surprised me in not being terrible. While you can hear Asimov rolling in his grave if your theater has a good enough sound system, it works on its own. With a different ending it would be a great prequel to the Matrix even more so than the Terminator series.

The one question is, would Chicago do it's own Big Dig after Boston's debacle?

** 1/2

ESPN.com: Page 2 - Links of the week

ESPN.com: Page 2 - Links of the week: "dougchristie.com -- If you thought nothing could beat jackiechristie.com, try to 'contact Doug' from his home page. Just try it. And after this, I promise, there will never be another Doug Christie joke here again."

Web Quote of the Day

SI.com - Writers - The 10 Spot: "The Dallas franchise in the World Hockey Association will be called the Americans. The team plans to load up on right wings, refuses to get bogged down in the neutral zone and believes that pre-emptive offensive strikes are the best form of defense."

Troy

Ok, ok, I was a little late getting this up.
 
Anyway the movie us, in the immortal words of Ray Liao, "A good first draft of a movie." Oh it could have been so much more. Brian Cox must need fiber in his diet for the way he was chewing the scenery. Still the effects were impressive even if the seemed like Helm's Deep in Anatolia.
 
Also they broke from the Iliad in some places, probably to make it less depressing. And the nod to the Aenead was the high point of the film for me. I even recognized it before a PhD student. Good Times.
 
 

Anchorman

Despite the fact Will Ferrell stole my father's 1980's mustache this was a very enjoyable file. Total fluff which helps. The cameos are for once cool and not distracting. Probably the best film Ben Stiller's been in this year, if not his best performance. Think about that one. Christina Applegate is starting to look old, well at least not young which makes the rest of us all feel older.
 
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