Completely Unnecessary

I promised to write a (brief and recent) history of political ties, but haven’t the time tonight.

Instead, lest you think my prognostications false, check out the neck decor on Obama and Biden tonight at the convention:

Biden and Obama

Also, check out Bill Clinton, who is sporting the same trademark Obama light blue - no one is stepping on the nominee’s power turf:

Bill Clinton at the Convention

I’ve never seen Bill Clinton wear a tie that color; doesn’t really look that natural, does it?

If I had to guess, I would say that Obama will probably switch back to casual, hope-y blue for the next couple of weeks, but he’ll be wearing red for the debates - and a brighter red at that.

I’m really not sure what he’ll wear tomorrow though; depends on the tone of the speech. If they think Biden was enough of an attack dog tonight, probably blue - if they need Obama to throw some punches, then red.

Don’t you wish we had more colors than red, white and blue in the US? Who could go wrong with a nice kelly green?

Tomorrow -  a deconstruction of the 2004 candidates’ wardrobe choices. We do it to the women all the time; but both Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton looked great (as did Pelosi), so let’s take potshots at the men for a change.

ps - anyone know what time Obama is speaking tomorrow (and timezone please)?

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Not that I spend my time obsessively watching Barack Obama, but my impression is that he tends to favor the ‘man of the people’ blue tie. The image currently running on the website, is a perfect example:

Taken from www.barackobama.com

It’s a calming tie - a tie that says, “Come hope with me, etc.’

Even during the debates, I never saw him wear the bright red tie that we usually associate with presidential power.

But now that he’s chosen a running mate, I bet we’re going to be seeing the red ‘power’ tie a lot more often. For instance, during his introduction of Biden as a running mate:

Richard Perry/The New York Times

I bet we’re going to see a much more aggressive Obama now that he has a friendly, loquacious running mate to carry the hope. Biden’s tie is the exact color worn by Obama in so many of his promotional photos.

And lest you think I’m over-analyzing the wardrobe choices - I guarantee the Obama campaign but way more thought into those ties than I put into this post. (Though, we could say that of almost anything, couldn’t we?)

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As part of a dinner party last night, I hung out with a five-year-old. We bonded over Irish dancing, and, by the time dinner was served, I’d made a new friend.

I amused her by figuring out what she’d had for dinner through her belly (it’s a ’skill’ of my mother’s, which now that I’m an adult seems pretty simple: it consists only of knowing what a kid’s eaten and then expressing great surprise upon ‘feeling’ carrots, etc.).

And then we also had this exchange:

“Excuse me. What’s your name again?”
“Brie. It’s a kind of cheese if that helps you remember it.’
“Oh, does anyone call you ‘Cheddar’?”
“Yeah, sometimes.”
“Do they call you Cheddar because you talk a lot?”

I’m not sure how those two things got connected in her mind, but I’d be hard-pressed to say she’s wrong on the second count.

But she thought Avi was my dad, so just goes to show how smart she is.

Ha! I am a meek and sensitive wallflower.

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Well, supposedly the cat’s out of the bag. Eight minutes ago, the NYT posted that Biden’s been selected to fill the other half of the Obama ticket.

If it’s true, it’s certainly not the way Obama would have liked it to get out - Friday night via ‘people told of the decision’.

I’d actually really like it if the Obama camp pulled a big ’syke!’ on the press. That seems unlikely, though, since it would incurr the wrath of the people that Obama needs to communicate with voters.

All the buildup, though, seems rather… blah. The NYT’s Adam Nagourney’s been saying all week it’s Biden. It was supposed to be announced on Saturday, and now it’s announced by Nagourney and Jeff Zelney on Friday night instead.

It’s unclear to me if I’m supposed to be thrilled by this. (Also, if Nagourney’s paper really gets that many accolades for breaking a story that they’ve pretty much had all week.)

I’m hoping for an Obama bait-and-switch. American politics is supposed to be all drama and circuses.

I demand absurd surprises. If McCain selects Alan Keyes, I’ll vote for him.

ps - They’ve got Biden saying that Obama was ‘not yet ready’ to be president. Can’t wait to see those commercials run on loop for the next couple months. (Oh yeah, I don’t have to. Yay!)

Update- Obama’s website now has the Obama/Biden ticket up. Way to steal the Democratic ticket’s thunder, liberal media.

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Look, I’m not the fittest cat on the planet. I do things like reading for a living and abhor things like running. It’s clear to me that I’m not most likely Olympian.

In addition, there are some sports that just look really difficult. Like hurdles. Or shotput. It looks hard as hell to throw a shotput. [Or is shotput the name of the sport and the ball is called something else?]

But while I’ve accepted the fact that I will never be a shotputress, I’m pretty convinced that I could play water polo at an Olympic level.

Granted, tonight is the first time that I’ve ever seen water polo on teevee, but it looks mostly like short bursts of swimming (check), treading water (check) and close-range throwing (checkish).

[Also, why isn't it called 'water soccer' (or 'football'), since it closely resembles soccer and completely lacks any sticks.]  [To that end, why isn't polo called 'horse hockey'? There's a sport I could get behind.]

Actually, the only thing keeping me from a water polo career is the thought of being wet again today (or ever again). I know we’re all supposed to be happy about the precipition given the status of the dams, but cold, driving rain is my least favorite weather ever. I felt (and looked) as though I’d been drowned when I got to school today.

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Yay. Supposedly Obama’s set to name his running mate tomorrow, ending months of media speculation and prognostication. The list currently stands with Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Senator Joe Biden of Delaware in the lead.

Apparently, the current favorite is Biden, which is such a surprise to me. Though a happy surprise. I like Biden a lot, and he’s got the foreign policy chops.

The problem, however, is how much he contributes to the 50-state plan that Dean and Obama are running. Also, two senator ticket - gives McCain the advantage should he nominate a governor.

Seriously though, I can’t wait for this announcement since it will finally inject some wind into the pre-convention doldrums in which we’re currently languishing. I mean, McCain’s Cone of Silence?

Though one of my students did say yesterday that she thought Clinton got more favorable coverage simply because she was a woman and different from the other candidates. So then the entire class took a trip to a online gallery of unflattering Clinton photos, and were treated to a diatribe about the choices the media made in selecting pictures of candidate Clinton. And the pictures they’ve selected since.

Bring on the veeps - I’m sick of picking the candidates to pieces. The more obscure the better; let’s really get to know these (most likely) guys.

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I was reading this article on TPM Election Central today, and, gosh, if the older gentleman with bills didn’t look familiar!

Well, there’s a reason - he’s the same bill-checking older gentleman that was concerned about the economy at three am! Here’s him blue-hued by the Clinton staff to indicate ‘nighttime’:

How many thousands of hours of stock footage do you think there is available to both these campaigns?

So, it is just laziness or do you think the McCain campaign is trying to bring up memories of the Clinton campaign? Perhaps a subtle way of reminiding those anti-Obama Clintonites of their vows?

Yeah, or just laziness.

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See, here’s what I like about Australia.

Despite the fact that the Labor and Liberal parties usually sit on opposite sides of the fence, both know that it’s time for abortion actually become legal in Victoria.

Abortion procedures have been de facto legal for years - your doctor is likely to accept any reason for a procedure - but having an actual law that guarantees the right of Victorian women is an important step.

No woman should have to justify her decisions to a doctor, the State or anyone.

That’s what’s missing from the that cavalcade of legislation that is currently making it more and more difficult for American women to exercise their right to medical procedures deemed legal by their government.

It’s comforting to see both Premier John Brumby and Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu behind this legislation. It demonstrates the depth of support behind Victorian women and the confidence in their ability to make rational choices.

More importantly, it exemplifies the ability of Victorian officials to get behind commonsense legislation, despite partisan politics.

This legislation has been brewing for years, and full support behind those who will vote for it next week.

Link:
New Law to Give Abortion Right [The Age]

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Man, I should have forseen that watching the Olympics would be better with Aussie commentators.

This is, of course, a country where the commentator at the family-focused Birdman Rally was only (gently) told off after about the tenth ‘fuck’ in a row. Many a ‘pissed’, ’shit’ and ‘damn’ went past entirely unnoticed.

The commentary hasn’t been quite that colorful, but the gymnastics pointless chatter is way better than the States. Notably, there is no (what I swear I remember as being) Bryan Adams. Who is the pop singer who does women’s gymnastics commentary?

Anyway, he’s not there. And there’s a reasonably cantankerous woman on the Aussie commentating team. She appears to be named Liz (this are paraphrases):

Liz: Well, that’s a 0.1 to 0.3 deduction for that on beam. Depending on how harsh the judges are.

Guy: Well, Liz, I bet you’d be taking the 0.3

Liz: Well, I’d be right.

Commentary later tonight included:

That is not was the Ukranian team needed right now.

And:

And she’s had an absolute horror of a showing thus far. Let’s see if she can do… and she’s stepped out of bounds.

It’s been pretty amazing. I just hope the Aussies make it into the top eight so I actually get to see (hear) more of Liz. She is awesome.

Speaking of gymnastics awesome, this (I think) is a clip of Kerri Strug at the 1996 Olympics. Can I tell you how much I would not vault a second time on a busted ankle? I am weak-willed and do not have the spirit of an Olympian:

I think it’s the right video that’s been taken down off this Gawker post. But who can be sure, since my bandwidth has been throttled for the rest of the month? Thanks Australia. (We’re going to kill you in the gymnastics, too…)

Like Richard, I love the Olympics - human rights abuses and all. And I like indoor sports, so no smog.

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I’ve been living in Australia for a little over a year and a half now, and some parts of my accent have gotten a little strange. I say - by American standards - weird words, like ‘heaps’ and ‘down the back’, etc. I notice strong American accents now, and can pick Midwesterners in a way that I never could before.

Occasionally, I’ve watched Australian movies that have American elements without noticing the switch for a little while.

But just now, watching the swimming, I’ve realized that a Commonwealth Bank commerical that I’ve seen maybe five times today has a combination of American and Australian actors. (It’s one of the ones where an American ad company makes an ad for Commonwealth and it doesn’t go well…)

I finally watched it from the beginning and realized from the “American Advertising Company” across the bottom that the people were speaking with different accents. I totally hadn’t heard it any of the other times.

Weird.

Yay! TodayTonight is broadcasting “Live from Beijing” this week. Yet they have an amazing story on Australian gym contracts. Good to know that they’re still chaining old ladies to heaters even whilst getting caught up in Olympic fever.

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