"We can't trust our shadowy overlords"

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

The worst thing is, I wouldn't be surprised if this were true.

From the depths of the Library at Johns Hopkins University...

Hello, hello, and greetings to all from the depths of the Milton S. Eisenhower Library at Johns Hopkins University! I've currently been in here for the last 7 hours or so writing a paper (I'm so screwed). Enough about me- let me say some things that's been on my mind recently.

First thing, the Oscars were this past weekend. A couple of thoughts: I'm very pleased the academy didn't pull a clunker like last year giving Scorsese Best Picture for the piece of crap that was The Departed. (I understand the man deserved an Oscar after all those horrible snubbs, but The Departed, frankly, sucked.) No Country For Old Men deserved every reward it earned. I might go as far and say it was snubbed a couple awards, namely for Sound Editing. I mean, The Borne Ultimatium won for that but before No Country, did anyone know what a silenced shotgun sounded like? did the subtle background noises (or lack thereof) not add to the dark intensity of the film? I feel horrible for PT Anderson and There Will Be Blood. It was such a great film its own right but didn't get the recognition it could have gotten had it been released another year. I was pleased that Daniel Day-Lewis got the Oscar for Best Actor- he deserved that one ("I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE- I DRINK IT UP!" might be one of the greatest lines ever). One last thing I'll say about this: how did Cate Blanchett not win Best Supporting Actress for her role in I'm Not There? I mean, during the film, I forgot it was a woman playing this Bob Dylan character. I think that was the most upsetting thing about this year's Academy Awards for me.

Another thing: I've been sitting here in the library for the last couple hours and I've come to the conclusion that the soundtrack to Amelie might be the best thing to listen to while studying. First, it's great mood music- makes you want to be active or productive or something. Second, it makes you feel great- you want to be happy or in love or something. It's perfect. I recommend you listen to it while studying or doing work the next time.

It hurts me to try and follow the primaries right now. So much crap being flung back and fourth in the media... it makes me ashamed of studying this. I really hate electoral politics right now- if you want to talk about the nonsensical and petty character of politics, congress is no better (don't they have anything better to do?).

I'm gonna go get another cup of coffee (is that number 7 today?) and get back to work now. I have a long night ahead of me.

Edit: One more thing: This coming Thursday (March 6) I'll be preforming stand up with 13 other comics from Hopkins at the Arnello Theater in the basement of Levering. This is prelims for DC Improv's funniest college competition. The show will feature 13 of us, me included, and 3 professional comics, one as a host and two as the closing acts. If you guys aren't doing anything, please come support us. Thanks a lot.

Tis only a flesh wound!

I like Hilary, I really do. But it seems like she's losing momentum- at least according to the media coverage of the elections. She's only trailing by less than 100 delegates at the moment and has more cash-on-hand compared to Obama. I'm really surprised the democratic primaries have been this close- a lot of people are really passionate about one candidate or another. This is both a good and bad thing.

Look, I can live with a President Barak Obama- and I'm sure most of the Obama supporters could live with a President Hilary Clinton as well. We can't forget this. We can't let this enthusiasm polarize voters between whoever the Democratic nominee for president will be. I still feel like the real difference between Obama and Clinton at this point is a preference in personality and charisma between the two candidates. The policy differences between the two candidates are not worth the potential polarization of voters. A John McCain or Mike Huckabee (just give up already!) presidency is something that must be avoided.

Song of the Week- 2/23/08

This week we have "Oxford Comma" by Vampire Weekend.

Adjectives that may be used to describe this song include, "whimsical," "carefree," and "silly." The first line of the song, "who gives a fuck about an oxford comma?" sets the carefree mood of the song quite well. Talking about meeting lamas and lying about the amount of coal one has- this song is as carefree as you can get. The most striking thing about the entire song is how simple it is. In the video, the drummer is playing on a single floor tom, the keyboardist is playing on a Casio. So simple, yet so catchy, so fun.

Enjoy.

For those of you living under a rock...

Kosovo declared independence- and some people are not happy about it.

The usual suspects don't like this- the Russians and the Chinese. It's not that they don't like freedom (maybe they do, maybe they don't). It's just that Kosovo becoming an independent nation itself can prove to be a dangerous precedent for Chechenia or Tibet to declare its own independence from Russia and China respectively.

The Serbians are unhappy of course. They rioted in front of the US embassy in Belgrade- the aftermath resulting in a body found in the embassy I believe.

Between Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East, we'll see a lot of new borders being drawn in our lifetimes.

Mission Accomplished!

Fidel Castro is resigned as the President of Cuba after a half-century of pissing off US presidents to varying degrees.

The same man John Kennedy tried so desperately to kill (what was the official number of attempted assassinations, 638?) is finally no longer in power, yay!

George W. had this to say: "The international community should work with the Cuban people to begin to build institutions that are necessary for democracy and eventually this transition ought to lead to free and fair elections. The United States will help the people of Cuba realize the blessings of liberty." The italics are mine.

Did ol' Georgy suggest multilateral cooperation? This can't be right! This is the same person who bullishly decided to pursue a "regime change" half way around the world without support from most of our traditional allies- the same ones who presumably make up this "international community" ol' George is talking about.

Ten Favorite Beatles Song

Here's my 10, what's yours?

10. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" off of Beatles (The White Album)



9. "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" off of Help!



8. "A Day in the Life" off of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band



7. "Blackbird" off of Beatles (The White Album)



6. "I'm Only Sleeping" off of Revolver



5. "Yesterday" off of Help!



4. "I Saw Her Standing There" off of Please Please Me



3. "Michelle" off of Rubber Soul



2. "Norwegian Wood" off of Rubber Soul



1. "In My Life" off of Rubber Soul



I really like Rubber Soul

Dammit, I can't make fun of Michael Bay anymore!

This is why:



I just hope Michael Bay now doesn't stop adding ridiculous explosions and CGI into his films. Then, he and I both will both have nothing to make fun of.

Vampire Weekend

First watch this:



Now this:



Don't you feel better now? Such happy music. This band, Vampire Weekend, just released their debut album... and I can't stop listening to it.

If anything describes the phrase "breath of fresh air," it's them. They don't really sound like anything I've heard before. They have these catchy hooks all over the place, really whimsical lyrics, and they just sound tight together. They describe their sound as "western classical music meets African pop." Man, does that sound good!

Stupidity at Large! no. 1

Another new feature to the blog! When I seem something that reinforces my belief that people in general are stupid, I'll create a "Stupidity at Large!" post. This is the inaugural post.

I'm not sure if I should laugh or lament this particular article from Gallup. According to this article, a good portion of Americans are some combination of stupid, ignorant, or misinformed- gravely misinformed.

I'm not sure what's more surprising, the fact that 18% of the US population believes the Sun revolves around the Earth or the fact that someone actually believes the US gained its independence from China of all places.

Baby Beatle

Normally I don't post something that's this adorable (because I have a black void where my heart should be). But it's the Beatles. Enjoy.

Realpolitik

The Russians think that the US's intention to shoot down a disabled spy satellite is a cover to test a "new space weapon."

Gee, you think? The Cold War may have ended 16 years ago but that didn't mean everyone stopped amassing arms and creating new weapon technology. The US pulled out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty under our current president- hell, Mr. Bush all but re-instituted Regan's Strategic Defense Initiative (aka "Star Wars").

Political realism at its very best folks.

Song of the Week- 2/16/08

I've decided to do this song of the week thing from now on. Every Saturday I'll put up one song a week and I'll kinda say why that particular song has been an immovable object on my playlist for that particular week.

This week, we have "Someone Great" by LCD Soundsystem.

LCD Soundsystem is producer/DJ/musician James Murphy's one-man-band. His music is dance music with hints of disco and punk. The greatness with LCD Soundsystem's music is, however, in its lyrics. "Someone Great" is a perfect example of this. The song is about the loss of love and seems to imply any type of 'love' we know, be it romantic, one for a child, etc. Throw in the precise production and catchy backbeat and melody and you have a great song.


There's your song of the week.

Just like the movies!

This is good practice just in case a large asteroid (a la "Armageddon") or an alien invasion (a la "Independence Day") happens.

A thought now... and reporting back

I had this conversation earlier with a couple of friends of mine.

Where do you see yourself living 2 years down the line?

That question forced me to become introspective for a little bit. In retrospect, life has moved very quickly. I marked two full decades of existence on this planet a few days ago. During those two decades, lots have happened. If I have it my way, I'll stick around for a bunch more decades where a bunch more can happen. It was yesterday I was high school sophomore with a bustling interest in chemistry. Today, I'm a college sophomore contemplating the nuances of the realm of human interaction known as politics. Tomorrow I'll be in the real world, in a real city, trying to make a real difference in my life or others'. It's all come so quickly, and the rest of it will be upon just as quickly.

There's are three cities that I can comfortably call "home" right now.

Will I be living in the hustle and bustle of the city I called home for most of my life, New York? There's a real chance that I won't have any reason to go back there in a few years- my parents are contemplating a move to the West Coast as soon as my youngest brother gets to college in 2 years.

Will I be strolling down the wide avenues of Los Angeles? Most of my family here in the States are there to begin with- all of my family in the States may end up there soon enough. The warm dry air will hold me over.

Will I be enamored with the charm of Charm City in Baltimore? As far as I plan, this will be where I earn my education- it's not unreasonable to suggest that I stick around afterwards. Maybe I'll be making regular commutes between Charm City and the Hill.

My future is coming on fast and it's a scary thing to think about.

---

One more thing: Seems Barak Obama has won the primary in Maryland. So much for my vote. He didn't win by as much as some polls leading up to the primary suggested (60% vs. numbers that generally predicted about 70%). As of right now (2-13) Barak Obama has a slight lead in number of delegates. Whatever the case, the Democratic race seems like it's going to remain tight. Maybe the National Convention will actually mean something this year.

Oh those Japanese!

The title of the article I've linked is "Obama, Japan, roots for accidental namesake." Yes, the article is exactly about what you think it is about.

As many of my American peers are slowly coming to understand, the perception of Japanese pop culture is increasingly described with adjectives like "insane,""ridiculous,""campy,"and "hilarious." This article only goes on to perpetuate those particular stereotypes about modern Japanese culture.

Primaries today.

I'm going to be voting later today in the Maryland primaries. I'm a registered Democrat just for that particular reason.

Just to address the pink elephant in any post about elections these days, I'll say this: I will vote for Hilary Clinton.

I'm voting on the basis that it's a civic duty of mine as an American citizen, not particularly because I am so compelled by a specific candidate. Honestly, the Democratic candidates in Barak Obama, Hilary Clinton or Mike Gravel, are all fine choices for nomination. I view this particular day as a prelude to what should- no, what must- happen on November 4th: the Democratic candidate be elected.

The Presidency of George W. Bush over the last 8 years has done tremendous damage to the United States' standing in global politics. Despite being the most nominally powerful state in the world, we are being more and more reviled- this is quite a departure from global perception of the United States during the years immediately following the end of the Cold War. As we have seen from the last 6 1/2 years, a Neoconservative foreign policy has been detrimental to American foreign policy. The Republican party is no longer a conservative party but a Neoconservative one. Another 4 years of Neoconservative foreign policy may end whatever remaining legitimacy the United States can claim to represent the new liberal world order after the Cold War. This is why a Democrat must win the coming election.

But since I have to chose later today, I chose to vote for Hilary Clinton. Why am I voting for Hilary and not Obama? It's fairly simple: as you can tell by the paragraph above, I'm very concerned with American foreign policy. Hilary Clinton simply has more of a record and history with American foreign policy. Clinton was probably the second most influential first lady in American history behind Elenore Roosevelt. She watched as her husband first left foreign policy to his staff and watch it begin to unravel in front of them. She watched and aided her husband as he did his best to establish the United States as the leader of the liberal world with humanitarian efforts in his second term. She must clearly understand the importance of a coherent and active foreign policy for the United States' well being. She has shown, if not at least seen, how diplomacy can be utilized correctly. She understands the importance of establishing and maintaining the United States as the leader of the free world rather than the unilateral jingoist state that it has become.

Why I am voting for Hilary Clinton and not Barak Obama is because I believe she understands the axial nature of what I feel in the most important issue in this coming election. Honestly, I won't be upset if Barak Obama wins the party's nomination. Although Obama doesn't have first hand foreign policy experience, I have faith that he'll understand the importance of restoring American foreign policy to what it should be.

At this point, there are no bad choices except for Republican.

First!

This is the start of my blog, old sox with holes. This is just going to be somewhere I can just write whatever I want. I decided to call this blog "old sox with holes" because I think my thoughts are like old sox with holes. They can be very endearing or completely useless. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

I'll talk about whatever is on my mind- popular or not.

Here I come.