It's a total cliché now to say that Biden has one of the best foreign policy minds in Congress, but honestly, some of the stuff he said re. Iraq/Iran/Pakistan/Afghanistan during the primary season absolutely bowled me over with the amount of forethought, research, and clarity that was evident behind his words.

The problem is that such universal regard for Biden's command of foreign policy matters inevitably begs the question as to why he voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq. Especially when the Democrats were in the minority in Congress at the time and had absolutely no hope of influencing the Bush administration's war policies, and especially when people who "know less about foreign policy than [he's] forgotten" (Biden, 2008) were correctly, prophetically pointing out that preemptive war in Iraq would only serve to further destabilize the region and provide convenient fuel for terrorist recruitment and insurgency activities.

But who cares, right? What matters is that Biden is was majorly DILF-tastic:

.

Seriously though: After Kucinich, Deadwards* and Biden were my second-tier favorites during the primaries, and Biden remains one of the few Congressional Democrats whom I have a soft spot for, so good for him. Can't think of a more deserving nominee; in fact, if it was an either/or thing between him and Obama in the primaries I'd've preferred him at the top of the ticket.

Good move for Obama, as well: After all the hub-bub about his flip-flopping - which even fans of him have to admit is to a large extent well-deserved despite the fact that none of the flip-flops should have come as a great surprise - and the fact that he's actually trailing McCain in a recent poll during one of the worst years for Republicans in ages, this is probably the best thing he's done in weeks.

P.S. Remember when Joe Biden visited "Uncle Nancy"? Good times. XD

P.P.S. I think what pisses me off the most about the whole Deadwards things is that thanks to Johnny, I can't laugh at this genius, genius piece of satire anymore. An excerpt:

     Let's pretend that the Washington Post lent its editorial
     offices to the more exciting sensationalists of Tiger Beat
     magazine, and give Edwards the superhot credit he deserves.
     Either way, you're gonna vote for him. I mean, what the
     hell – you know you would totally make out with him, and
     the Bush family doesn't even have lips.

...I hardly even titter anymore. :( Such a shame!

- - - - -

* Yes, "Deadwards," because he's dead to me, despite his DILF-ness. Or perhaps "because of," considering that's what got him in trouble. XD XD XD

... Commie pinko liberal red terrors have dirty mirrors!*** :O Down with the left!

- - - - -

*** And also Big Gay Posters three different kinds of sunscreen!

For those who don't know, this had been stewing around for some time now (since last year), though it was only the recent lovechild allegations that brought it to the forefront again:

John Edwards’ Statement Acknowledging Affair.

;_; I'm just pissed that it wasn't me he was boning. >:( After all, there's no way I could have gotten preggo! :D

Okay, no, seriously, though. I am pissed off on so any levels. Pissed off that:

the mainstream media's coverage of Edwards' campaign was only marginally better than what his affair received;

the mainstream media gifted Fox and other right-wing media with A Perfect Opportunity to self-righteously jizz all over themselves with cries of "liberal media bias!";

Johnny was dumb enough to think that boning a woman whose hair was two spritzes of bad hairspray away from the 1980s was worth the risk of ruining any chance that his good ideas for the country would ever get proper audience (let alone a chance at a very productive political future);

the way people who have been silent on many issues - e.g. the authorizing of an illegal war, the rampant breaking of campaign promises, or perhaps the playing of the energy market that eventually shut down the most populous state in the country - suddenly crawl out of the woodwork to cry that affair = "immoral!";

Johnny couldn't respect his terminally ill wife enough to just slink into the master bath with his hand and a magazine (I mean really, even Nigella Lawson waited 'til her ill husband had actually passed away), and then lied his ass off about it until he was finally cornered;

insane windbags like Coulter who enjoyed their sexist fagbaiting of Edwards during his campaign don't see the irony of turning around and criticizing him for unethical behavior against his wife;

and that Edwards himself said quite bluntly that fidelity/infidelity in a marriage is "fundamental to how you judge people and human character."

Ugh, whatever Johnny. Go disappear and then come back in six years by repainting yourself as the champion of poverty, like Gore did with global warming.

In other news, I'm planning on switching my registration from Green to Peace and Freedom, but as my address may or may not be changing soon I'm going to hold off for a bit.

I would love to see if all these fangirls who write Doctor Who porn would have even thought such things if William Hartnell or Patrick Troughton was still the Doctor.

I mean, seriously: Replace Tennant and Simm with Pertwee and Roger Delgado and THEN imagine what all your Doctor/Master slash fics suddenly look like: "The Master raised his Mephistophelitic eyebrows and ripped open the Doctor's velour smoking jacket, exposing wild, argent chest hair that matched his unruly curls."

... Yeah. Not so sexy now, are they?

(P.S. If you still find them sexy, call me!)

So I'm (finally) up-to-date with Doctor Who.

( Long-ass rundown of thoughts on the end of Series 3 and Series 4. )

Well damn, mention Doctor Who and suddenly my comments page asplodes. *lol*

Random things:

1. The weather suddenly cooled down yesterday with winds whipping the trees into a frenzy, and so I opened all my windows wide to blast the cold air through all day and throughout the night. It got so cold that I had to put on long pants and a thick jacket during the night, but it was worth it to have a nice, bracing day of clean/cold air after constant, constant heat/smoke/ash. Thankfully the smoke/ash part is pretty much over.

2. Some nights ago I had this random dream that I put the moves on this hotass, except instead of the dream turning into a full-fledged Sexeh Dream we instead became boyfriends and went on a road trip through Arizona and New Mexico, staring at large cacti and bright orange mesas. O_o;;;

3. There's this stray cat (grey and white, male) that for the past couple of years has been stopping by periodically, begging to be fed. Most of the time he runs up to my car as I pull into my parking space and starts meowing like crazy; sometimes he's waiting at my door when I'm leaving. I'll go for days without seeing him and then randomly he'll show up every day for two weeks straight, asking for food. I have a bowl outside my door for him.

Several times the grey has led a couple of other male cats to my door with him - an orange and a really busted looking long-haired black cat (I haven't seen either of them in months). I think they just tagged along, as they would always wait 'til Grey had finished eating and left before they came near the food. There was also one time where a really scraggly-looking stray kitten followed Grey up to my door and intimidated Grey - who was 2.5 times his size - into moving away from the food bowl simply by staring him down and meowing loudly. The kitten ate a whole bunch of food, cautiously allowed me to pet him a few times, and left. He looked so skinny that I tried to take him in, but he was way too skittish; every time I stood up he'd run off and it would take quite a few minutes to get him to start eating again, even if I'd gotten up in a painfully slow fashion. I haven't seen that kitten since and my best guess is that it didn't survive this last winter.

Anyway, last week I saw a random black and white (long-haired, skinny) cat lounging under a bush in my parking lot, trying to escape the heat. I could tell he was a stray but he didn't back away when I approached, so he was clearly a former house cat and clearly nowhere near feral. I kept him company for a minute but I was in a hurry so I got in my car and left.

Couple of days ago as I was leaving for gym, I saw Black and White again, staring at me from under a car, and I chirped at him and beckoned him over, but he stayed put.

So last night, I get back from the grocery store and BOTH Grey and B&W run up to my car, with Grey meowing even before I could turn my engine off. They both follow me to my door and eat, and Grey finishes first and stands guard for a few minutes several meters off while B&W keeps eating. Eventually Grey leaves, but B&W stays to be petted. He's quite obviously just recently out of the kitten stage and he's very playful, very affectionate.

B&W tried repeatedly to run into my apartment as I was petting him, and his fur was extremely well-groomed and clean for a stray so on his fourth attempt I relented and let him in. He had a good sniff around and stayed long enough that I started working on the computer while he poked around, and I noticed he groomed himself constantly, which probably explains the clean coat. After a bit of exploring he bounded into my lap and started purring like crazy, dancing in my lap for a good ten or fifteen minutes. I finally shooed him off, and after he poked around for a bit more he started whining, so I opened the door and he went out to finish eating.

After a while I checked on him through my window and saw that he had finished eating and was staring intently at some bird or some bug. I opened the door to see if he wanted to come back in, but he took a few steps in the direction of what he was staring at, turned back to me and meowed as if to say, "Not now, this is important," and ran off. So cute. XD I have a feeling he'll be back.

Thank goodness I still have my lint rollers from when I had Stardust, though - for all his grooming B&W still left me COVERED in hair after turning dozens of circles in my lap. All credit to the moggy: I'm fine around the average house cat but normally my eyes start itching around the strays, especially long-haired ones, and all his grooming must have considerably dampened my response.

4. Will hopefully be seeing Dark Knight later today.

1. Open Letter to All Baggers and Cashiers: No, I do NOT want an effing bag. I brought my backpack/messenger bag/reusable grocery bag with me for a reason. Stop staring at me all offended because I threw you off your stultifyingly simple routine and suddenly made our little transaction way too complex for you to handle.

1a. If you tell me my total is X dollars and 85 cents and I give you X+1 dollars and a dime, that means I want a quarter back. Don't look at me like I'm stupid and then hand me my dime back before handing over another $0.15.

2. Open Letter to Weekend Shoppers Who Drive in from the Boonies and Cram into the Shops Where I Run My Regular Errands: Stop staring at me. I have no holes in my clothing, I am clean and well-dressed, and I have no eye-catching logos/jewelry. OH WAIT you've never seen an Asian guy before - stare ALL YOU WANT I guess. :O

(Seriously, I've had shoppers literally stop in their tracks to look at me, stop mid-sentence, etc. WTMF? I'm not some big uggo and I'm not eye-catchingly attractive, I'm not extremely tall/short or extremely skinny/fat, and even if I WAS any of those things it'd still be rude as hell to stare the way they do, so what gives?)

3. I am loving spiking my rice milk with spirulina and cacao powder.

4. Because I didn't want to waste gas driving to the store where I buy my super cheap, fragrance-free, all-purpose shampoo (it's a shampoo/body wash/hand soap/delicate fabrics wash all in one!), I checked five different stores in town to see if they had anything that could tide me over till I could make the trip over.

Five stores. There was NOTHING that wasn't fragranced. Even the products from Dove and Aveeno and shit that were labeled "fragrance-free" and/or "for sensitive skin" all contained herbal or spice extracts with irritating fragrant components, including rosemary, cardamom, and myrrh. Blech. And the products from the "natural" and "organic" brands were even more ridiculous of course - I love it when a bottle reads "great for sensitive skin!" and the ingredients label has shit like eucalyptus, lavender, rosemary, orange oil, etc. Great for sensitive skin MY FANNY. XD

5. I've been working out so hard that I've been constantly hungry lately. Which is fine - I haven't been gaining any weight, and in fact I'm the fittest/strongest I've been in years - but I have noticed my muscles getting larger and my chest/torso getting "thick" from all the weight training, so I'm going to cut down on the weights quite a bit. I like being fit and solid but I dislike when the muscles thicken to the point where I feel like I'm carrying extra weight, and they're getting to that point now.

( 6. Lastly, some Doctor Who comments for those who are interested. )

While I generally despise the New York Times, this is a good summary from them, even if it comes weeks/months after many have already made the same basic point:

( We are not shocked when a candidate moves to the center for the general election. But Mr. Obama’s shifts are striking because he was the candidate who proposed to change the face of politics, the man of passionate convictions who did not play old political games. )

- - - - -

...and they don't even get into his Iraq war policy, his pandering speech to a right-wing Israeli PAC, and on and on, like opposing California's gay marriage ban while at the same time saying with a straight face that "marriage is between a man and a woman." Brilliant work! That's the kind of clear stand on the issues that got Kerry elected! 8D

You know what I don't get though? All this coverage lately about Obama's "move to the center." Why all the shock? All that drama over him "changing his Iraq policy" when the fact is that anyone who was paying close attention KNEW that his policy had always been the same - as far as I can remember he's ALWAYS left himself an "out" - enough wiggle room and "nuance" to be able to revise his plans to end the war if need be. (Even though the overwhelming consensus continues to tell us that the best thing for both Iraq and the US would be a swift withdrawal.) Obama's telling the truth when he says nothing's changed in his stance: That caveat has always been there, so the fact that it's only an issue now is a pretty telling example of the quality coverage our major media outlets provide.

I have to admit though that even I - being a big Green commie Obama skeptic - even I was surprised at how he folded on the FISA bill. That and declaring he would expand Bush's funding program for faith-based organizations. WTF?

So in the end I don't know what annoys me more - the fact that people are shocked by this "sudden" move to the center, or the fact that they aren't.

Don't get me wrong, I think he'd be a good Prezzie and he's clearly a great center-left politician, but sorry, he's not the great liberal hope that a lot of people like to think of him as, and he's not some new, better brand of politician either.

Okay, so if he does become Pres. and moves back away from the "center" after being elected (which is basically what G.W. Bush did during his first weeks in office), then as a flaming leftist I'll obviously be pleased to see it happen. But based on what I've seen so far? Not holding my breath.

Thanks to the huge flakes in charge of the marriage politicking at Pride on Saturday I ended up not volunteering at all, mainly because I was pissed off at being told several different things by several different people and because even when I got there I was given no clear idea as to who was running what, where I should go, what I was volunteering for, why the hell there was a subtle undertone of shilling for Obama even though that's not why I signed up to volunteer, etc.

Even the location they told me they were stationed at was dead fucking wrong by, oh, two streets; if it wasn't for the fact that I'd budgeted time to walk around and have some time to myself checking things out, I'd've wasted valuable time looking for them. Gawd. If that's how they normally run their organization, I fear for gay marriage. *lol* I looked to see if the SF Greens had a booth so that I could help them out if they needed it, but no booth.

Had fun though, despite the overall lameness of Pride - the corporate sponsors infesting the place (think Clear Channel radio stations and Comcast and New York Times holding out their change cups); the guys who use Pride as an excuse to do all the things they're too cowardly to do anywhere else; and the fact that you couldn't purchase plain water anywhere, just $5 mixed drinks. I just lazed around basically, people watching, enjoying the show(s), and staring at the hazy, smoky sky as I ate some overpriced falafel for lunch. Danced for a bit in front of a radio station booth playing some hip-hop, and while I was dancing with this hot black girl some professional photog and a random Asian woman took some photos of us. This just means that I'll for sure show up in someone's Flickr stream with the caption: "zmg look at dis fag dancing with his messenger bag still on lulz such teh n00b lulz lulz"

Also, I've been noticing for a long time now that despite my general misanthropic nature I actually enjoy being in a big crowd, *gasp* so long as I have plenty of my own space and don't have to talk much (note that I'm talking in the context of strangers, not friends). It's only when I feel physically crowded and unable to go inward often enough that I get annoyed; thankfully I was only at Pride on the slower day so I had plenty of my own space, both physical and mental. Probably the best way to describe the feeling was "gregarious, but not open," or "friendly, but not social."

Anyway, after Pride I hung out with Nna - we saw Wall-E, which was fabulous because Pixar remains one of the only companies whose CG work doesn't feel cold/emotionless/stale/staid/synthetic (Star Wars, anyone?). Then, some great Japanese food at Katanaya (thanks, Yelp!), and on my way home I got majorly checked out by some quite-obviously-much-younger-than-me cute nerd with a bike on the BART. Picked up some hot green tea in Richmond too before the drive home. Good stuff.

P.S. Thank goodness the air has mostly cleared up. Not fun staying in LA pollution for two weeks and then coming back home expecting clean air, only to be bombarded with hazy, white/grey skies and the smell of burning wood in your nostrils for two more weeks.

Dear Netflix,

I know I gave Brokeback Mountain and Absolutely Fabulous positive ratings, but that doesn't mean you need to keep recommending Madonna DVDs to me.

Please stop.

Love,

Me

Congrats to all my friends who supported Obama and/or Clinton. :D

Now it's time for some pizza with a sleepy hottie:

;

( or perhaps some bootay... )

If you've been following the news lately, one of the biggest things in Korea right now are the massive, large-scale protests against the resumption of U.S. beef imports into Korea. Dozens of protestors have been injured by the use of water cannons:



and hundreds more have been arrested.

This uprising against U.S. beef imports has a lot to do with fears over mad cow disease (or BSE - bovine spongiform encephalopathy) and there's a lot of hype and hyperbole in Korea right now over the safety of U.S. beef, but what's underlying all the mad cow horror stories is the issue of the U.S. coercing Korea into accepting these beef imports in order to make way for agreement on a larger trade deal.

There are huge issues at stake here:

1. the way a nation has basically been coerced into accepting the import of a product even though the large majority of its people absolutely do not want it;

2. the way the ridonkulous, heavily subsidized U.S. meat industry has found a way to force its inventory on others; and

3. perhaps most importantly, the way these sorts of actions are hurting small Korean farmers. If you've read stories in the news of Korean farmers publicly setting themselves on fire in suicidal desperation, in a fatal act of protest at their inability to earn a minimal living, you might connect those deaths with this system of global capitalism where the meat and other food supplies shipped across parts of North America and then across the Pacific Ocean are subsidized so much that they're actually cheaper than what many farmers in Korea are able to produce.

( More... )

If you have a few minutes, check out this kickass short talk on the ridiculousness of meat/dairy consumption in the US by Mark Bittman.

It's nothing that hippies like myself (XD) and people like Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver haven't addressed already, but considering Bittman is one of the most well-known, mainstream, and conventional of food writers and TV cooks out there - he's not some big organic hippie chef and he's quite adamantly a proud omnivore and NOT a vegetarian - it's refreshing to see someone with his conventional food background point out how useless meat consumption and dairy consumption is for the body, how awful it is for the planet, and how big agribusiness involvement in the FDA has created a situation where we're fed all this ridiculous propaganda that constant overconsumption of meat and dairy are somehow the key to good health.

I'm not presuming to tell anyone how to eat - I'm just glad that these ideas are finally hitting the mainstream where they belong, instead of being stereotyped as just the rantings of meat-starved hippies. And that someone as mainstream as Bittman is willing to call out the b.s. we hear from the meat and dairy industry for what it is - propaganda driven by corporate, big-money interests that in no way benefit our health. It's about flippin' time.

( Also, some hot, spicy foodpr0n! )

I saw sarcasm_hime for the first time in AGES! Y_Y The time was too short but I'm glad we at least got to hang out for a bit and have dinner. (Speaking of which, I ate red meat for the first time in forever. XD;;; I don't regret it in the slightest, but I ain't doing that again for a long while. Still detoxing from that - nothing but brown rice and fresh veggies since. *drool*)

I fucking love Amy Goodman and her firm chin, her stony demeanor. She's robotic, but in a sexy intellectualesbian way, so I guess that makes her lesbionic. Her stern, progressive gaze makes me weak in the knees, but I bet she secretly dresses up in pink tutus and rocks out to Avril Lavigne. :D

Amy Goodman discusses the US-backed coup in Haiti and her concept of "trickle-up journalism":



( An extra bonus. )

I watched An Unreasonable Man (a biography/documentary on Ralph Nader) recently and thought it was fantastic. Despite what you might think it's not two hours of footage where people compete to lick Nader's butthole*; it's actually pretty balanced with a lot of critics participating (of whom the most anti-Nader was Eric Alterman, who also comes off as the most unfair/idiotic). I highly recommend it - not just to Nader fans but fans of interesting biographies in general.

( Anyway, I wanted to post two key excerpts from the documentary. )

I'm a bit late to the party and this might be an unpopular opinion, but I think that both the Ferraro and the Rev. Wright brouhahas were absolutely overblown and ridiculous. What exactly was so controversial?

Re. Ferraro, where was the outrage when Elizabeth Edwards said, "We can't make John black; we can't make him a woman," when she was asked about why her husband couldn't get any air time over Obama/Clinton? There's no question that a lot of the hype the two of them have enjoyed has in large part been due to the fact that people are looking for something ~*~different~*~ and that the two of them represent "difference" in very visual, identity-driven ways. The fact that no one seemed to notice/care when Sra. Edwards said something about it only helps to bolster her own point. :p

As for Rev. Wright, sorry, but I for one do not think it's controversial to criticize one's country for pursuing many violent or otherwise shitty policies, some of which have seriously damaged other people in the world (e.g. the Palestinians) and some of which have adversely/disproportionately hurt minorities and the poor at home.

Frankly, the only thing these two can really be blamed for is for framing what they said in a really divisive, combative way; the actual thrust of what the two of them were saying wasn't all that far off the mark. If anything the most offensive thing to me personally as a non-religious person was the showmanship that's often seen in religious speeches proselytizing. Bad timing too, considering there's a long wait till the next primary and news-hungry media are going to jump on any piece of wank that they can find at this point.

I agree that words matter, but I care a lot more about Obama's foreign policy advisor saying he wouldn't necessarily go by what he was campaigning on once he was President, and I care a lot more about Clinton basically admitting in a CBS interview some months ago that despite a few prompt troop drawdowns we'd effectively be in Iraq for quite a few more years; I couldn't give half a shit about what Ferraro and Wright say.

Honestly, following this stupid mess has been like following a sporting event where you're not a fan of either team (or either individual, if it's not a team sport) and you're just there to see a good, fair match. But instead your attention is diverted by the two opposing fanbases who are arguing with each other over which of their faves is **@**T3H BE$T**@**, who are picking at every single little thing like it's the latest srs bsns (sic), who are flaunting double standards left and right by whining about unfair/undemocratic rules which affect their fave without showing any sympathy when unfair/undemocratic rules affect the other side, and so on ad nauseam. Just shut up, wipe the warpaint off, put down the homemade banners and the big foam fingers, and let this thing play itself out.

And now that I've done the unthinkable and actually made a sports analogy on my big gay blog about an issue that people are already saying is "so yesterday," it's time for me to head off. XD

My favorite gaymo in action. XD

( Image-heavy goodness. :9~ )

(I'm mainly trying to test out privacy settings and make sure these photos are visible.)

Dear Asshat Who Lives Downstairs:

What possessed you to start masturbating your (plugged-in) electric guitar at one in the gorram morning? And of course you have to alternate between the same two chords over and over and over again.

( Oh well. I might as well update, since I can't sleep now. )

(I was at the San Jose men's tennis tournament on 18 and 20 Feb. 2008 and saw some great matches. Below are the reports I posted on a tennis messageboard after each day. I've finally moved the reports here to my blog, where it belongs!

- James, 21 July 2008)

- - - - -

Report after the 18 Feb. matches:

(So this report would have been written forty-five minutes ago had I not been wandering the streets in my car looking for a gas station that wasn't closed. So not amused. X[ But anyway! Here's my report. Apologies if I miss something or write "40-15" instead of "30-15" or something - it's late and I'm tired.)

Levine vs. Darcis (6-2 2-6 6-4):

I honestly don't have much analysis for this match, since I came in at the final game of the second set. My layman's opinion is that Darcis seemed to have the edge in variety while Levine was far less erratic, and that Darcis needs to learn how to hold serve. He did well to come back from 0-40 on his second to last serve game but he was predictably broken the next time to lose the match.

Probably the most interesting thing was that I was already sick of the smell of bad nachos, hot dogs, fake cheese, and wine in plastic cups by the time this match was over. I honestly lose my appetite when I attend events like this.

Sampras vs. Haas (6-4 6-2):

This was honestly the main reason I went to see matches tonight instead of later in the week, as I'd never had a chance to see Pete play (live). Pete looked very sharp and it was fun to see him pull out all his trademarks - the insanely well-placed serves, the crisp running forehand, the mid-air volleys, etc. Lots of serve-and-volley, of course, which was fun to see. As you might imagine, most points were extremely short and the exho went by very quickly. Rallies were few and far between, though there were a couple backhand-to-backhand exchanges between Pete and Tommy that had me drooling. There was also one point where Pete's ball hit the netcord, bounced straight up into the air, landed back on the netcord, and dribbled over to Tommy's side. XD

The hilarious thing though was listening to all the people around me murmuring that Pete was playing well enough to be successful should he decide to mount a serious comeback. XD;;; Just... no. All credit to Pete - he was a lot sharper than Tommy and made Tommy look completely mediocre - but Haas isn't exactly match fit at the moment, and there's no question he would have tried harder if he wasn't participating in a Pete love-fest exho.

Pete got a standing ovation before and after the match, and when the interviewer inevitably asked him about a comeback Pete answered no - in his own words, if he was just thinking of the fans he would come back, but he's thinking of himself too and he's perfectly content where he is.

I should also add that due to the color/brightness balance on the big screens, Pete looked far more tired/haggard on TV than he did on court. Oddly enough last year Marat looked less tired on screen than he did in person, but the color balance was also different last year.

Speaking of Marat, there was a funny point in the match where a bunch of fans yelled, "C'mon, Pete!" and a fan replied, "C'mon, Marat!" This was in reference to the fact that Pete was originally supposed to play Marat and not Tommy in this exhibition, but that was before Marat withdrew from the tournament. Funny thing was that while I was watching the Darcis/Levine match I could tell from eavesdropping that some people around me were still expecting Pete to play Marat. *dies* Hilarious considering most of these people had the day's updated program clutched in their hands.

After Pete left, so did nearly half the crowd, *rofl* and then the next match started.

Odesnik vs. Young (6-1 5-7 6-4):

Honestly, the first set was embarrassing to watch, though at least it went by quickly. XD;;; Aside from the fact that Young wasn't present until the second set, the difference was that Odesnik was handling shoulder-height balls/balls with more spin a lot better than Young was. Odesnik was smart enough to notice this and sent a lot of high balls to Young to draw the errors.

Young woke up in the second set and changed things up - shortening the rallies by coming in and flattening out the high balls - and it paid off. It was too little too late, though - a couple of loose points serving at 4-5 in the last set, one fantastic winner by Odesnik to set up two match points, and it was all over.

It was interesting to watch these two play each other - they're both lefties and they both have a similar style to their strokes so in some extended rallies they seemed like mirror images of each other. Young clearly has talent but he clearly didn't bring much of it to this match, and he needs to learn to play the big points better.

Isner vs. Serra (7-6 6-4):

I'm not a fan of big servers as a rule, but to be fair Isner isn't "just a serve" - "mostly serve" is a better description *lol* - and Serra was being too erratic for it to matter. Too many times Serra would get Isner's big serve back into play only to dump playable balls (hush!) into the net. Predictably the first set went to a tiebreak and predictably Serra's errors set up three set points for Isner. I only stayed for the first set, as I had to go insane trying to find a gas station and drive home.

Miscellany/Non-Tennis Items:

1. The woman next to me during the Darcis match kept oohing and ahhing over Darcis's serve. Any louder and she and Darcis's serve would've had to get a room. :O Also during this match a guy next to me was making notations on a copy of some article from a scientific journal. I was curious and tried to peek at it discreetly, but all I was able to catch were some calculus notations. *lol*
2. Someone please tell US athletes that ankle socks and shorts that cover the knees make even the best legs look ugly as hell.
3. Some old dude in my row was constantly shouting encouragement to Young - he was way more invested in Young's match than Young himself seemed to be. Thankfully he changed rows halfway through the match.
3a. Some kid with a sign supporting Isner came and sat in my row for a short while and kept yelling directly at Isner, begging him to look over at him - of course Isner ignored him, as he was in the middle of his match. There's a fine line between cute and annoying and this kid was playing both sides of the fence.
4. I've noticed this a long time ago, but during the Young-Odesnik match it really struck me how a lot of the brightly colored gear these guys are paid to wear looks great on TV but looks like crap in person. That isn't an unintentional move on the part of clothing companies, and I hope more people think about that before they shell out hundreds of dollars for swaths of cheap synthetic fabric with a logo on it.
5. I didn't record any part of the matches on video - last year a kid sitting in front of me was escorted away by a security guard to "go to the office and wipe the memory card" in his digital camera because he was caught recording parts of the match. Last night I saw quite a few people around me recording points here and there but I was too scared to join in.
5a. What was odd is that none of the umpires except the one for the Serra-Isner match said anything about prohibiting flash photography. I kept mine off (to the detriment of my photos, I might add) because in the past they've been pretty strict about that, but there were flashes going off all over the place before that one umpire said anything.
6. There was a lot of sassy camera work going on, with people in the audience being shown up on the big screen at every opportunity. I thought it was cute at first but at some points it was like they were taking attention away from the tennis. I don't remember them doing it so much last year. They even started showing audience members on the screen between first and second serves, of all things, and it's not as if these guys take a lot of time between serves. The camera would be on the players and then you'd get a split-second shot of some random person staring off into space, and then back to the tennis. It was only "cute" when one kid saw himself on the screen, became incredibly shy, and buried his face in his mom's shoulder. They really should have just showed more instant replays.
7. Some guy behind me kept yelling, "Yes! Yes!" every time Pete hit an ace, hit a great forehand, hit a great volley, hit a great return, struck a pose, picked his nose, you get the picture. -_- This in itself wouldn't have been annoying, but he also kept calling Tommy's balls "Out!" and muttering "What!? No way!" whenever Pete's balls were called out. x.x;;; This also happened to be one of the guys claiming loudly that Pete could mount a successful comeback, saying things like: "He could totally come back! Look how he's taking [Haas] apart!" *dies* Oh my.
7a. This same guy also said, "Odesnik... Odesnik... I wonder what country he's from? 'Odesnik'... Hmmm..."

...Odesnik is a US player. XD XD XD

*

Report after the 20 Feb. matches:

(So of course today I go down a different street and find a gas station just several blocks from the tournament site. *rofl*)

Bryan/Bryan vs. Isner/Young (6-3 4-6 10-5):

I've somehow managed to avoid doubles all the other times I've been to San Jose, so it was nice to finally see some live and see the Bryans at work. (I'm not a fan but it's always worth checking out the world number one doubles team. *shrug*) I don't have much to say about this match as I only caught the second half of it; suffice to say that Isner/Young made things competitive but the Bryans' experience got them through in the tiebreak. (Young seemed to be the better returner but also seemed more erratic than Isner.) There was a pause near the end of the match when Bob-or-Mike cramped up and he crouched low for a moment 'til it passed. I'm not too sure what happened as I'd looked away for a second, but it was either his back or leg that seized up.

I felt a bit bad for Young after the match because Isner walked off with Mike (or was it Bob?) instead of with his teammate. Isner didn't leave the court altogether, but he walked over to the other side of the court with Bob/Mike (to chat) without even a second glance at his partner. It was a bit odd - I'm sure it wasn't an intentional snubbing but considering Young was the only one of the four who was no longer playing in the tournament the fact that he was left behind seemed a little too fitting. XD;;; It definitely made it look like Young wasn't part of their circle.

Nishikori vs. Hartfield (7-5 6-3):

Fun match. I'd wanted to see Nishikori as I'd haven't had the chance to see him play yet (and I missed all of his matches at Delray Beach, where he just won his first title), and I really liked what I saw. He moves really, really well, and while I prefer the one-handed backhand his two-hander could easily convert me. *_* It's a better shot than his forehand.

His demeanor was fantastic, as well; he's a very quiet/focused player and he has a fair sense for playing cleaner/bigger/better on the important points. Impressive in any player but especially in one his age.

Hartfield played okay, but Nishikori was too good for him. I honestly think it's 50/50 as to whether or not Nishikori will take out Roddick later; Roddick didn't look so great against Guccione, but Nishikori needs to serve better and I'm wondering when this run of victories will catch up with him. Physically he seemed fine but from what I saw I wouldn't be surprised if mentally he was starting to go a little flat.

There was a funny moment when Nishikori hit a great winner off Hartfield's serve and Hartfield pointed out that the ballgirl behind Nishikori had dropped a ball, meaning they had to replay the point. Before Hartfield served again he waved to the girl and yelled, "Thank you!" ...and Nishikori won the point again when they replayed it. *rofl*

As Nishikori was signing autographs Roddick and Guccione came out and quickly started their practice session in preparation for their night match.

Roddick vs. Guccione (6-3 6-7 7-6):

Well, no offense to any fans of these two but I'm just glad I didn't spend money on good seats for this one. Two huge servers going up against each other isn't my idea of fun (if anything I'd prefer one big server vs. someone with a different style). The best thing about this match were Guccione's volleys - they were fun to watch.

As I said above, I feel it's 50/50 as to whether or not Roddick will beat Nishikori. He should be able to - and I have a nagging feeling he will - but losing seven straight points in a tiebreak doesn't exactly bode well. XD;;; [Editor's note: Turns out my nagging feeling was right - Roddick beat Nishikori in their match the next day.]

Haas vs. Kendrick (6-3 4-6 6-2):

First thing first: Norm Chryst was in the umpire's chair. *dies* I was hoping for an epic Hasi-Norm throwdown but it was not to be. ;_; He did raise his voice once at Norm, but it was very fleeting. Such a disappointment! ;_;

Anyway, Haas was quite obviously playing with more intensity and more power behind his shots than he did against Sampras. Tennistically he looked pretty good - he was patchy to be sure, but for him it's just the beginning of his season - and physically he looked fine. His defense in particular really helped him on important points and in extended rallies in general. (And I'm not an expert, but someone needs to tell Kendrick that if you're annoyed at your own errors you might try extending the rally for a few more shots instead of crunching the ball every chance you get. ¬_¬) Kendrick came to the net often as is his wont, but today I much preferred Guccione's volleying.

There was some drama in the final set: Several obnoxious Tommy fans in the upper level were cheering pretty raucously and had been whooping in between Kendrick's first and second serves, though if I recall right they were doing it on Haas's service games as well. (Frankly I think they were just drunk.) After Kendrick was broken a second time he went to his chair, looked up, and yelled at them to shut up. They kept at it, however, to the point that someone else in the audience who was just as obnoxious yelled, "Shut up, trash!" x.x;;; It got to the point that Norm Chryst called security and had them removed. Chryst Almighty. *_* *grovel*

Miscellany/Non-Tennis Items:

1. Today's gross food smells: Chopped onion (for topping hot dogs) that had obviously been left to sit out for a little too long; beer smell, not in a good way but in an "I'm sitting next to an alkie" kind of way; burnt garlic (for garlic fries, apparently); and of course, fake cheese for nachos. *gag*
2. Dear Girl who sat next to me and coughed repeatedly (with the sound of post-cold phlegm!) without covering her mouth: If I get sick you owe me some hot soup, sweetheart.
3. Thanks to the four (US) boys in the doubles match for NOT wearing ankle socks.
4. During the start of the Roddick/Guccione match I considered trying to pop outside to see the lunar eclipse, but I overheard the one of the men behind me saying that they'd gone out to check and it was too cloudy to see anything. These guys were also playing chess before the match started, natch.
5. There were some cute Nishikori fans waving Japanese flags who got photographed by some of the official tournament photographers.
6. I've noticed this plenty of times, but Haas is bigheaded - literally. Big face, big head, big features (which is why he's telegenic). It's easy to read his expression from far away.
7. Forgot to mention that in the Roddick/Guccione match a couple of girls were cheerly loudly for Guccione - not so much because they were fans, but because their mom was cheering for Roddick and they were trying really hard to annoy her. *lol*

And that's all! ♥

Ever see those iconic pictures of busy city traffic flowing around a 14th Century gate?



It's gone now.

(More pictures.)

I've been both hearing and reading too many criticisms - not from any of you guys, mind you - that those who didn't vote for/support Obama were somehow uneducated on the issues or on him as a person, or "weren't progressive* enough."

As someone who takes politics seriously, who spends TOO much time reading up on the issues because he takes his vote seriously, and who is a Green most of the time, I'm fairly annoyed at the idea being bandied about by "intellectuals" that they're the "real" progressives* or that they made the educated choice while others didn't.

To that effect, here's something I read a short while ago, which sums up very quickly why, as an educated, progressive* voter, I didn't vote for him. I don't agree with everything said below but it explains my position well, and this will be my last comment on the subject for now. I love talking politics but even I'm finally burnt out. *L*

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( An Open Letter to the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) )

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* I'm getting tired of the term "progressive" for two reasons: 1. it's being appropriated by people and groups who do not fit the description, and 2. since when did "liberal" become a bad word? I am a bleeding-heart, tax-and-spend, feminist, Greenpeace-card-carrying liberal, and I am damn proud to be one.

"i have a gay crush on Mike Huckabee - 23 (berkeley)

"if you look anything like him, give me a holler."

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Happy Super Tuesday! <3

Reasons why I am not voting for Obama today:

(And no, I'm not voting for Clinton either.)

1. This "progressive, anti-war candidate" supports unilateral military action in Pakistan in the name of the "war on terror." That's the type of "go-it-alone" attitude that got us into trouble in the first place, and the type of action that would add fuel to the jihadi movement and further destabilize the region.

2. He pledged to oppose all attempts to build a "border fence" (read: apartheid wall) between the US and Mexico, and then signed a bill that does just that. Clinton signed it as well, by the way. (And so did Barbara Boxer, whom I love and whose decisions I support most of the time. I don't know if Boxer ever promised not to and then went back on her word, however. As much as I dislike it when politicians vote in favor of legislation I disagree with, I dislike it more when they say one thing and do another.)

3. It's easy to constantly parrot that you opposed the Iraq War "from the beginning" when you only became a member of Congress over two years *after* that body authorized the use of force in 2002 - a time when the Dems were in the minority and under pressure from the Republicans and the majority of the US public to act stupidly and aggressively in the wake of 9/11. Hindsight is 20/20, and if political opposition to war "from the start" is reason enough to make someone president, then I'm writing in Barbara Lee on my ballot today. I'd rather have her as president anyway.

4. Just as Clinton is tied to many powerful lobbies/special interests, Obama is tied to many powerful, conservative churches.

5. "Great speaker," "not Clinton," and "making history" are not reasons that should earn someone a vote - policy positions should be. I'm not saying Obama voters don't know his policy positions; I'm just saying that I'm not comfortable with them and that the other "reasons" aren't enough to win me over.

6. This is the primary, not the general election. It's probably the bitter Green in me, but I'm so disappointed that so many progressive and anti-war types have rallied around Obama, when frankly, he is not and never was a total anti-war candidate - none of the Dem candidates were (aside from Kucinich/Gravel, and even that is arguable). Nor is he the progressive he is presenting himself to be, if my example in #2 is anything to go by. As I said, I may not like a politician who doesn't represent my interests, but I'm far more wary when someone claims to represent my interests... and then doesn't.

What Obama is is the lesser of two evils - and I'm not saying Obama is evil, I'm saying that this is the primaries and people should vote for their conscience and their ideals, not for the frontrunner whom they're not totally on board with but whom they like better than the other frontrunners. If more people voted their ideals and their conscience in the primaries, I think it would change the political debate in this country for the better. For instance, if Kucinich and Edwards supporters didn't abandon ship for Obama in the name of "electability," maybe such candidates would have actually gotten the media coverage they deserved instead of being buried under the star power of other candidates. Maybe they would not have been banned at the last minute from high-profile debates. Maybe, what if, perhaps.

That's my spiel. Whether you disagree or agree, go out and vote! :)

P.S. Does this mean I'll be upset if Obama becomes our next president? Not really. I'll be over the moon that the Bush years are over and that McCain isn't in office. But that doesn't mean Obama is my favored/ideal candidate, and as I said, it's not the general election today.

P.P.S. I was discussing this with an ex of mine two days ago and he told me, "You're just stubborn." Yeah, I suppose so. *lol* XD;;;

Remember when McCain called Vietnamese people "gooks" when he was campaigning for president in 2000? Remember how he refused to apologize for it when people called him out on it, and rationalized his use of the word by saying basically: "Oh, I didn't mean ALL Vietnamese people are gooks! :D Just the ones who hurt me in the war! When I was a POW! Remember? Enemies? War? :D" (And remember how mainstream media tried to play it down and buy into the rationalizations?)

There's a forum I visit where this one terminally stupid person constantly spouts things like the following:

"FYI, McCain was a POW of the North Vietnamese for five and a half years, two of those in solitary confinement. I think he's entitled to call his former captors whatever he wants."

Sorry, but no. If certain people treat you as badly as these captors treated McCain, you don't call these awful, evil people a word that is used in the West to pejoratively refer to the entire East Asian population.

You don't choose to call the Asians you like by their names and the Asians you hate or consider evil "gooks." You don't choose to call black people you like "black people" and the black people who mistreat you "niggers." You certainly don't get to do that if you're a public figure running for office. Sorry, but that's not how it works, and being an honorable public servant and former POW doesn't grant you carte blanche to be a racist idiot.

Considering how McCain and his ilk regularly rationalize/justify our own use of torture in the "war on terror," for him to turn around and say it's okay to be racist because he was referring to poor treatment by wartime captors is pretty ridic.

It's really a pain in the ass that guys like this make up the country's "middle" or "center." That truly frightens me.

Edwards leaves the race having made a big impact on the two remaining candidates. His populist rhetoric forced his rivals to compete for union support, and he was the first out of the gate with detailed plans for universal healthcare and education, putting pressure on the field to match him. "He led on just about every single issue: poverty, economic stimulus to universal healthcare... He pushed both [Clinton and Obama] further than they would've gone without him. When they wanted to blur the lines and not have real proposals, he came out with them and forced the others to move ahead."

What no one, not Clinton or Edwards, was prepared for was the insurgency candidacy of Senator Barack Obama. Suddenly Edwards was running against a version of himself in 2004: the young, fresh, optimistic face, the Washington outsider with a thin resume but lots of charm, ruffling some feathers as he jumped the line. Except this version was an African American celebrity candidate with a cult-like following. Big and small donors flocked to Obama, the freshman Senator from Illinois, as did the endorsements, and suddenly Edwards seemed like a third wheel.)

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... So who to vote for now? I'd hoped he'd at least stay around until 5 February. I might vote for him anyway like the cranky old asshole that I am. :D