Don't encourage me. This is what happens.

Presenting the convertible segway—a segway that converts into Barack Obama! No one will be able to withstand its cool charms and policy initiatives—you'll always have friends! And it will never lose its balance or balanced reasoning thanks to its thought-powered internal gyroscope. It's the perfect companion and mode of transport.

Fix the economy while commuting to work! End the war on terror while parking! Meet with heads of state and yield for pedestrians at the same time!

You can't go wrong with the fictional Barack Husegway Obama.

photojournalism

more at boston.com

i love ffffound

SiP

unrelated Obama image

I've been re-reading Strangers in Paradise, which is without a doubt one of my all-time top five favorite comics. I'm finally caught up to the place I'd left off a couple of years ago and I am very excited to finally finish the series—a series I started reading sometime around 1995. It's been a long, circuitous, and melodramatic route, but it's been consistently entertaining, and you'll have a hard time finding a comic book by an artist who can convey such nuanced expressions in his characters. Yes, there are some really awful love poems scattered throughout, a few clichéd plot twists, some awkward and unbelievable moments. But more often there are moments of emotional honesty and poignancy, a healthy dose of misandry, and a sincere and successful attempt at the romantic that is hard to find these days.

If you haven't read it, I cannot recommend it highly enough. How often do you find a romance–thriller–soap opera with political intrigue? It's stocked in a fair number of libraries, so you can read it for free. Or if you're the purchasing type, it's stocked at every decent book store and comics shop.

the cleaner

Aaron McGruder, creator of the Boondocks, had this to say regarding our leadership change:

I did say I was cautiously pessimistic about Obama's Presidency - but this is simply acknowledging the reality of an American Empire that is out of control and on the verge of collapse. Let us not forget that on the eve of the election, we witnessed a near trillion dollar robbery of the US treasury. That robbery is still taking place. I do not blame President Obama, but I do not believe the financial and corporate interests that own and control this country will fold so easily. I do not question the integrity of the man as much as the power of his office - which I believe has greatly diminished over the years. I believe the Federal Reserve Bank, the Military Industrial Complex, and the massive corporate interests that run this country have more power than our new President. I hope I am wrong.

After 9/11, I witnessed most of this country become obsessed with squashing dissent and silencing critics. I hope this election does not turn Black America towards this same, fascist mind state; but already I am starting to see it, and it saddens me greatly. I absolutely wish our new President and his family success and safety. But after all I have witnessed in my lifetime, and especially in the last eight years, I am not ready to lay down my skepticism or my outrage for this government. To do so would be unwise and, ironically enough, anti-American.

This probably more accurately sums up my feelings than anything else I've read. I have to say, I never really thought of the recent bailout/money grab as robbery, but when you consider that hundreds of millions of dollars were handed over to corporations without conditions and a complete lack of oversight, you have to wonder whether either (a) our government is that stupid or (b) certain people in our government are really that crafty. Who would benefit from handing over a few hundred million dollars of other people's money to some very powerful people and not suffer any consequences? A lame duck president and his buddies. Mutual backscratching on this level isn't unthinkable (cough::cough::halliburton). Frankly though, given how the previous administration handled most of their reign, I'm leaning toward option (a). If the democrats in congress have shown us anything in the past few years, it's they're like a bunch of headless chickens running around aimlessly, and completely mindless.

Obama at least is making somewhat of an effort. He's reversing the ban on federal funding for international organizations that perform or provide information on abortions. He reiterated his support of Roe v. Wade saying it "not only protects women's health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters."

pizza

my largest pizza ever, which really isn't so large. probably about 14". also, you'll notice the bottom is looking a little blond. i'd like to blame this largely on it being the last pizza of the night, which means the stone had a lot of the heat sucked out of it by the previous five or six pizzas. i also blame the oven and myself for not managing it better. better luck next time, i guess.

good speech.

the circle is complete

what's as good as Beyoncé's video for Single Ladies? well, not a lot really. which is why there are so many people imitating it:

it's a ho-hum life, for me.

so, no news right? i mean, we're all tired of talking about economics and the end of wealth, aren't we?

obama is still the front page story, even after almost two and a half months and i'm bored of him already. when do we get to elect another most powerful man in the world?

did you hear the lovefest that was the hillary clinton confirmation hearing? no two ways about it, senators love other senators becoming secretaries. no one really wants to listen to a bunch of politicians thanking each other profusely. it was boring. i give it a C-. when are we going to get on with the british parlimentary system where everyone yells at each other and the prime minister has to face his legislature and defend his position?

oh yeah, and birds downed a plane into the hudson river. you probably knew that. still. everyone survived. everyone. when was the last time an airliner crashed and everyone survived? i'm asking that in all seriousness. if anyone knows, please tell me.

Going to the Fountains of Wayne show tonight. It'll be an acoustic set. At least that's what they're advertising. They're probably best known for writing the music to That Thing You Do, their hit single Stacy's Mom, and co-writing a fair amount of the music to the Colbert Christmas Special. But, honestly, they are much better than any of those:

Fountains of Wayne—Valley Winter Song

favorite cuts of 2008

in no particular order:

The Rentals—Colorado
Blissed-out acoustic-synth-pop.

Madonna & Timbaland & Justin Timberlake—4 Minutes
Timbaland's magical dancing unicorn beat.

Raphael Saadiq—100 Yard Dash
Perfect? Maybe.

Olmecha Supreme—Bebestyle (Live)
NZ's best live band finally releases something resembling a live album. Seemlessly spans three musical genres in 3 and 3/4 minutes.

Mates of State—Get Better
"Everything's gonna get lighter, even if it never gets better"

Theresa Anderson—Japanese Art
Kitschy, crafty, catchy.

Lupe Fiasco—Hip-Hop Saved My Life
Because it sounds like it did.

Beyoncé—Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
Pop gold. Seriously. Should replace the C-note.

Lenka—The Show
2008's Feist releases 2008's 1 2 3 4

Britney Spears—Break the Ice
Ties what's left of Britney's sex appeal to dancetastic synth lines from heaven.

LCD Soundsystem—New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down
Find a New Yorker who can't relate. Triple dare.

Weezer—I Can Love
Buried in the bonus tracks of a mediocre album. God only knows why.

pigeons? PIGEONS!

what. the. fuck.

Did anyone else know this was going on?



More from the Nation:
NOPD Responds to Nation Investigation
Conyers Responds to Vigilante Revelations

NOLA.com:
White Gunmen Go On The Record About Shooting Blacks During Katrina: "If it moved, we shot it!"

BET.com:
Police Respond to Report of Racist Murders in New Orleans

laughy moo year.

8tracks.
Alicia Keys,
Mary Jane Hooper,
Sam Cooke,
Aretha Franklin,
Otis Redding,
Raphael Saadiq,
Lauryn Hill,
Carl Hall.

no one to blame but our idiot selves.

from the washingtonpost.com:

U.S. Debt Expected To Soar This Year: $2 Trillion Increase May Test Federal Ability to Borrow
"the national debt is projected to jump by as much as $2 trillion this year, an unprecedented increase that could test the world's appetite for financing U.S. government spending."

is this not the problem that got us into dire straits in the first place?

lessons we were supposed to learn from the mortgage/credit fiasco:
1. don't lend money to people who can't pay it back.
2. don't borrow more money than you can pay back.

was anyone paying attention?