Thunderbolt

I just watched the video of this speech on Youtube and it gave me chills. TEloquent and inspiring, here is the transcript from Barack Obama's victory speech in SOuth Carolina from Saturday night. Thank you, South Carolina. Thank you to the rock of my life, Michelle Obama. Thank you to Malia and Sasha Obama, who haven't seen their daddy in a week. Thank you to Pete Skidmore for his outstanding service to our country and being such a great supporter of this campaign. Video Watch a thankful Obama after his primary win » Over two weeks ago, we saw the people of Iowa proclaim that our time for change has come. But there were those who doubted this country's desire for something new, who said Iowa was a fluke, not to be repeated again. Don't Miss * Obama wins big in South Carolina primary * ElectionCenter 2008: South Carolina Well, tonight, the cynics who believed that what began in the snows of Iowa was just an illusion were told a different story by the good people...

Been a hell of a week so far, getting back into the swing of things. I've begun riding my bike to the train station and on to Cartoon Network when I get to Burbank. It's a great way to save money on gas, and I figure I might shed a few pounds in the process. I've been whipped the past three nights. The kids are doing great and Jake is feeling so much better. That's a huge relief. A new Popdose Basement Song goes up tomorrow. Trying to come up with two columns a week is going to be a challenge. It's not that I don't have ideas, I just want the writing to stand up to what I feel are my own standards. That's it for tonight. I think I'm just run down. Aloha

At one point Saturday night, while Jacob and I sat watching Spider Man 3 in the bedroom, there came a shriek so loud from the front of the house, you'd have thought the Beatles had arrived on Ed Sullivan. Maybe that's a little too old for the girls who were in our house. Shall I say you'd have thought Zac Effron was delivering the pizzas! Sophie had her first slumber party. 9 girls came for the part and 8 slept over. I have never seen her so wide eyed with excitement and happiness. I imagine this is just the first. All of the girls had a great time and Julie was the ultimate Mom/host. She had plenty of activities and games. Plus there were pancakes and donuts for breakfast. Unfortunately, Jacob was and still is fighting a nasty cough. He went to the doctor's on Friday to get placed on antibiotics. He has his energy back and seems to be doing much much better than he was on Sunday. Now, he just has a horrible sounding cough whenever he gets excited. He stay...

This week's Basement Song is posted over at Popdose. Be sure to check it out. It's a good story. And you even get a free cheesy love ballad. SCORE!

From Monday's Variety... "The achievement in makeup Oscar will go to one of seven films announced Monday by the Academy. Big spectacles fill the list: "300," "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End." Two French-language pics were also mentioned: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" and "La Vie en rose." Eddie Murphy's many transformations in "Norbit" round out the contenders. The Academy's makeup branch will screen samples of the films Jan. 19 and pare the list down to three in time for the complete nominations announcement Jan. 22." You'll notice that "Hairspray" is not on that list and that is bullshit. "Sweeney Todd"? Really? For what, the flow of blood and the white makeup on the actors? Hell, might as well nominate "Saw" and "Hostel". Each ti...

"...let's give America the kind of comeback that New Hampshire has just given me" ---Hillary Clinton, January 8, 2008 Is a 2% victory really the type of comeback America needs? Or do we need a candidate that will draw in independents, moderate Republicans and the youth of America? Just askin'.

I'm not sure how I feel about the results of tonight's primary. Certainly not as bad as I did last night after the OSU Buckeyes forgot to play football. I am beginning to lean toward Obama. I'll admit that during the debate last Saturday, it was Edwards that I found the most passionate and whom I felt spoke directly to me. I hate to say it, but I don't believe that John Edwards will get the nomination, not in today's political climate with instant text voting results and bloggers telling us all who is going to win. Thus, I am left with two candidates that I should be happy with. However, I have been very disappointed with some of the campaigning tactics the Clinton campaign has been pulling. Misquoting. Attacking the candidate personally. They speak of change, but are resorting to the same damn battle plans that have been used since the 80's. Shame on them. Obama's eloquence in the face of defeat was inspiring. But was it really that much of a de...

It's the end of the first week of the year. Man, these past three work days have felt like 7 days combined. I'm wiped. It may have something to do with Sophie waking up at 2 a.m. the past couple of nights. Julie is sick as a dog. An upper resp infection and a sinus infection. This morning I thought she was going to keel over because she could barely catch her breathe. Talk about feeling helpless. We have been in a mad scramble to locate a pink Nitendo DS to give to Sophie for her birthday. Now, we already have a white one to give to her, but the girl requested a pink one. I am quite sure she will be very happy with the white one. It's insane that so many kids have these game systems and I had barely heard of them before this Christmas. Am I so out of touch that I don't know what's hip with the kids anymore? Apparently so. Right now, it is raining harder than I can recall in recent memory. Besides the downpour, the wind is whipping through the sky with i...

I'm pleased to say that a bunch of folks have been checking out Popdose and today's Basement Song entry. Thank to all of you out there who took a look. Man, I'm wiped from a long day of work and just putting the thought into what the hell I'm going to write next week. Sophie's 9th birthday is this Saturday. Nine years! I can't believe that this little girl has brought me so much joy and love for nine years. I often feel like time is flying by. In my mind, she was just born yesterday, you know? But then I look at her and I listen to her speak, and I have to come to terms that she is growing up very fast. Aloha

A couple of weeks ago I made the announcement that I would be contributing to a new pop culture website called POPDOSE. Well, the site has been up and running since January 1 and I urge you all to take a hop skip and jump over there to check out the outstanding writing and the music being offered. Popdose came to be after the demise of one of my favorite places on the Internet, "Jefitoblog". The guy that ran that site, Jeff Giles, is an outstanding writer and a talented web designer. I discovered his old site four years ago after Entertainment Weekly wrote up his "Idiot's Guide to Hall & Oates". After reading about the Philadelphia duo, I went and read most of his old postings. At one point, her wrote a guide to the work of Billy Joel and made a brilliant observation about Springsteen. I wrote him an email, sent him two of the best Springsteen bootlegs ever (which he posted on Jefitoblog) and a friendship was born. Last year, Jeff was the mastermind b...

Julie looked at me, bemused. "When are you two going to learn?" The two she meant were me and my brother. The lesson we have yet to learn after over 30 years is to drink in moderation and not to mix alcohol (especially doing a shot of whiskey with a splash of egg nog just before you end the night). The hangover didn't hit me for a least an hour after I took my shower. Instead, my jaw was killing me. I have been known to grind my teeth at night and last night was a doosy. The throbbing in my head wasn't my hangover, it was like I needed a root canal. After a queasy drive to the grocery store and three Advil, the ache in my jaw went away and my stomach began jumping rope. Bacon. Have you ever been hungover and someone begins frying greasy, salty bacon? I had to lay down. Couldn't even gather the strength the change the channel off of HGTV. Finally, around 11:00, I made it back into the kitchen. Sophie ad Jake were playing with heir cousins (who had spen...