11-30-04 (00:08)
i forgot to mention that dustin hoffman said he wanted one of two things
on his tombstone: "i'd like to thank my mother and father because without
them i wouldn't have gotten this far." and "i knew this was going to happen."
he's pretty cool.
of all my friends jon is the only one who hasn't moved back in with their
parents after high school. and ryan is the only person i know who has lived
completely on their own. amongst my friends, living on your own is an unusual
situation.
while i was watching monday night football i came up with a pretty good
design for my speaker stands. the problem with my current speaker stands
has always been that they are too flimsy and lightweight. so i decided
to make a simple bookshelf style stand using mdf which is denser and heavier
than particle board (which comprise the tops and bottoms of my current
stands). i'll put all my lps in these two stands which will further weigh
them down and it's a convenient place for my lps. it's brilliant because
of its simplicity. the idea actually came to me when i was thinking about
having to cut down my current stands by about 6" to accommodate the different
seating height in my new living room. i came up with an ideal stand height
of about 25" which made me think about fitting a couple stacks of LPs in
that space.
the only thing that would make it cooler would be doors that swing out
and could be pushed back into the side panel; that would be awesome. but
my woodworking isn't up to that level and i don't have the workspace, or
tools, to do that sort of thing. i do plan on staining them black though.
anyway it was nice to think about football and woodworking for a change.
updated movies list.
found out tonight that brett favre's first nfl pass completion was to himself
because the ball was tipped into the air and he caught it. pretty funny.
i used to hate the packers because of the niner/packer rivalry, but i respect
them now because the organization is one of the best in the league and
because favre is a stand-up guy. i think what he's been able to do in terms
of 200 straight games is more impressive than ripken (baseball) or ac green
(basketball) in part because of the sport he plays and in part because
he's better than either of those two. too bad gehrig got lou gehrig's disease...but
like dustin hoffman says, he shoulda known that was going to happen.
it's been very cold here the last couple weeks.
speaker stand design
11-29-04 (00:11)
updated movies list.
johnny called me today. it was good talking with him. we talked about his
relationship troubles and my leaving davis.
today i took apart the workbench that i was trying to get rid of. no one
(i also posted it on the ucd swap and woodworking newsgroups) showed any
sort of interest so i broke it down. first i went at it with a combination
of a pry bar, crow bar and screwdriver. it's been reduced to a shadow of
its former self and is ready to be thrown in the trash as soon as there's
room. it would have made for a good metaphor in a film seeing as it signifies
destroying something that was much more fun to build, and something that
i used to build melanie's desk and table.
tonight there was a nice piece on dustin hoffman on 60 minutes. it made
me want to watch the graduate, but i try to save that film for more momentous
times. it occurred to me that dustin hoffman brings out the best in the
directors he's worked with. i think about nichols, schlesinger, pollack,
pakula, levinson, etc. and in each case the film that they worked on with
hoffman is the best of their career. so i think that that's saying something.
peckinpah did do better than straw dogs (which was the one film he worked
on with hoffman), but you get the point.
i'd like to get a breakdown of the frequency of each letter appearing in
normal texts. for example, "e" is used about one every eight letters and
that makes it the most frequently used letter in the english alphabet...i
would like to know the entire breakdown. if you know where to get that
then let me know. i'm sure there's a breakdown out there on some wheel
of fortune or scrabble fan site or something.
today i saw one of the worst performances in the history of my nfl viewing.
niners vs. dolphins. the niners sucked so bad against a team that's 1-9...man
was it pathetic.
this thanksgiving holiday has gone by very slowly.
11-27-04 (23:59)
updated movies list.
today was decent. after work i watched most of the usc/notre dame game.
watching usc play is like watching someone play a video game on the rookie
level. usc just seems to do whatever they want.
11-26-04 (23:32)
it seems that these days i don't like listening to music that might get
stuck in my head. so i try to stay away from anything with a chorus, or
any pop/rock stuff. mostly i try to listen to new stuff or autechre. for
some reason i have a tendency to get things stuck in my head. last night
while i was tossing and turning in bed i kept reciting one line from johnny
cash's "ring of fire." it's a great song, but i hate having things stuck
in my head.
today was okay. things at work are sorta stressful. sales are down to an
amazingly low level and that doesn't bode well. there's not much i can
really do that i haven't already done, but it's still the kind of thing
that management gets the blame for, and since i'm management...
i think that the most significant achievements in my life over the last
few years have been increasing my knowledge of film and music and forming
a solid relationship with melanie. the latter seems to have gone in the
dumps since i'm not even her best friend anymore. i think that's a major
reason that i feel like the last few years have been wasted. so much of
that time has been about spending time with melanie, working off my debt
and enjoying film. one reason i don't feel guilty about watching so many
movies is that it's easy to point to my movies list, or talk about films,
and see where that time went; the results are tangible and real. when you
invest in something intangible you just have to sort of trust that it's
there, and that it is what you think it is.
so melanie is leaving for christmas and taking her car with her. and john
is going home for the holidays as well. the reason these two items are
important is because i have kings/warriors tickets for december 26th and
have no way of getting there and have no one to go with. when i bought
them i didn't think about the fact that it's the day after xmas. so if
you have a car and want to go to the game for free then let me know. the
seats aren't great, but arco arena is small so there really aren't any
bad seats in the place. unfortunately i don't know anyone who likes basketball
or has a car. seven years in davis and i haven't been able to scrounge
up any decent friends.
i've been whining too much lately. at least that's the way it comes off.
i'm not a greedy person. the last time the 49ers won the super bowl was
in 1994 and i'm not all that disappointed that they haven't won one since
then. i don't need very many friends. having melanie around was pretty
much always enough to satisfy me. i guess when it comes to dvds i'm pretty
greedy, but not with most things.
if anyone wants a work bench let me know...it's sturdy and free.
awesome.
the lord is truly everywhere.
updated movies list.
i updated the chart on the list
portion of my movies list. it looks a little better and it reflects films
i've seen through 11-24-04. when looking at the chart the x-axis represents
the sequence number on the "all" worksheet. so the dip at the 1350 mark
correlates with the films i watched around october of 2000.
eight hitchcock films in less than two weeks.
kings beat the lakers tonight and that always makes for a good day.
11-25-04 (23:11)
updated movies list.
can't sleep.
today was okay most of the day. i started watching a hitchcock film, but
couldn't stay awake so i went up stairs to sleep since i have to wake up
early tomorrow. then i got a phone call and let the machine answer it.
after that i couldn't sleep. then i got another phone call. i don't know
what i've done the last few years. it feels like i've moved backwards.
then again i don't really know what moving forwards is. i've learned a
few things, i've watched some movies, i've lost a girlfriend, i've gone
around the country, and that's about it. i used to think that life was
about the journey, and maybe it is, but even then what have i done? i also
used to think that it mattered how i went through life - whether i did
drugs or drank or cheated or...but that doesn't really seem to be the truth.
it's a nice idea, and i think i thought that in part because i generally
do things on my own, without those crutches and without being "weak." but
i've increasingly been thinking that it's more about just getting to the
finish line in as easy a way as possible. doing things in a moral or righteous
way just doesn't seem useful. i've just stopped seeing the point of having
high standards since it just makes me sad and lonely.
11-25-04 (00:21)
updated movies list.
updated recommendations.
my six day work weeks start this week.
not really sure what i'm doing tomorrow. i talked with john today and he
invited me to his place to have dinner with brother, girlfriend, and her
sister. i don't think i'll do that because i'd feel awkward, being the
outsider and such.
i was also invited to hang with johnny and my aunt, but melanie's car isn't
working so those aren't real options at this point either. i don't mind
being by myself, but the fact that everyone else is with someone makes
it difficult...that's really the worst part about the holidays. i can't
remember the last christmas that i spent with my family. i suppose if everyone
stopped buying things around this time of year then there wouldn't be a
blackout period and, thus, i would be able to get the time off. so i blame
everyone who participates in the buying portion of the holidays.
speaking of blame. artest got totally screwed with his most recent trouble
with the nba. he's suspended for the rest of the season and i really don't
think it was his fault. it's pretty lame. rush limbaugh was talking about
it on monday and he called detroit "new fallujah." he said the fight was
part of a larger cultural trend of violence (i agree) and went on to label
that culture the "hip-hop culture." that was pretty funny because it was
so stereotypically limbaugh - twisting a potential reality into an excuse
to be a racist. what a guy.
bought the seinfeld dvds today.
11-24-04 (00:53)
updated movies list.
lots of movies updated. i fell behind for a bit there.
went to the kings game on sunday. that was a fun time. kings won. they
also won tonight which makes five in a row. christie didn't get the player
of the game, but he was my mvp. that guy just does all the little things
that most players don't bother doing. tipping rebounds out to other teammates,
diving on the floor for a loose ball, playing hard defense off the ball,
etc. there was one play where wade drove to the basket, christie stayed
with him and wade was forced to dump the ball off to a teammate on the
baseline. christie then took a step and got a hand on the ball as the teammate
was laying it up. defending two players in one play isn't something very
many guys do these days, especially on the kings...though i hate to admit
that fact.
donnie darko special edition 2/15
last night could have been better, but today was a new day.
tomorrow i get paid and the next day i don't have work.
11-21-04 (01:33)
updated movies list.
found some video on that pistons/pacers fight from last night. that shit
is crazy. things got way out of hand and you can't really blame it on any
one person. sure artest and wallace shouldn't have done what they did on
the court, but the fans who got involved are just as much to blame as the
players. it's a pretty messy situation and it's going to result in huge
fines and lengthy suspensions. i'd say artest is looking at at least 10
games. on the one hand i think that fans should never get touched by the
players, but on the other hand there are clearly some drunk idiots out
there who think they can get away with anything. and in that respect it
was nice to see some of the pacers teammates get each others' backs and
take down some of those punk ass piston fans down a peg or two. i know
that when i was on the track and cross country teams those guys on the
team were my boys and if anything had happened to one of them i would have
been there to do what needed to be done. i don't think the league will
see things the way that i do though. even without the fan participation
in this fight artest was looking at a couple game suspension just because
of his past.
i don't think there's anyone in the league i'd like to get into a fight
with less than ben wallace; at least from a self-preservation perspective.
11-20-04 (17:58)
"Some great news for film fans with regard to MGM special editions on the
way for 2005. Just in time for March Madness, the studio will release a
Hoosiers: Special Edition (TBA for 3/8). I've been waiting for that film
to get the anamorphic treatment for a while now.
Also expected to be released by MGM as special editions in the first
half of 2005 are The Graduate and Spaceballs.
We can also reliably confirm something that's been floating around
the Net in the last few days (it was originally reported on the Spaghetti
Western Web Board). MGM's remaining Sergio Leone titles, including Fistful
of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and Duck You Sucker) ARE all currently
in production for SE release on DVD. Those can tentatively be expected
later in 2005. Great news any way you slice it!"
the graduate is one of maybe two or three films that i think i could do
a decent commentary for, after a bit of preparation of course. hopefully
the special edition does the film justice.
11-20-04 (00:05)
updated movies list.
in anticipation of my move i've been going through the large stack of promotional
cds i've had piling up for a while. in the last week i've listened to some
of the worst music of all-time. the scissor sisters aren't as bad as i
anticipated, but their cover of comfortably numb is mind numbing. the newest
album by the music sucks. the g-unit album is abhorrent. jin's new/first
album is just an asian rehash of eminem, and not a very good one. he almost
quotes several eminem lines about fame and the like. the newest cure is
weak. the newest jay-z/r. kelly collaboration is the usual trash.
this new terrell owens controversy is so stupid, actually all of them have
been. rush limbaugh and tony dungey said it was insensitive and recalled
thoughts of the kobe bryant situation. of course the only reason you would
think of the kobe situation after seeing that commercial is if you were
the type of person who thought of everything in racial terms. otherwise
you would just see it as another example of the media using sex to sell
their product; it's nothing more or less than that.
today i took home the signed bowling for columbine poster that was on the
wall at work for the last year or so. now i have two michael moore autographs
- one in dude, where's my country and one on the bfc poster.
11-19-04 (00:42)
updated movies list.
worked on my webpage a bit tonight. thanks to johnny i was able to make
all the links in this frame occupy the entire browser. this'll help for
those with smaller screens, and i think it's more what i wanted anyway.
i also revamped the movies lists again. i added more information and put
them all in one file which makes it easier to go from year to year, and
it doesn't take any longer to load. let me know if there's anything that
isn't working.
excel is the best thing to happen to my movies list since i started keeping
one.
eventually i'd like to get the lists to link to each review. it would be
nice to goto the list page
and click on any given film, or year, and be able to bring up all the different
reviews for that film and all the different films i've reviewed from that
year. or be able to see the best of that particular year. so, if i were
to click on the graduate it would link to my review for the film on 8-17-2002,
3-8-2003, 2-6-2004 and 4-22-2004. then if you click on 1967 it would link
you to either all the movies i've reviewed/seen from that year (like in
the heat of the night which i saw on 11-29-03) or the films
i consider best from that year. that would be ideal, but doing all
that in an automated way would require a lot more programming than i know
how to do.
enough geek talk for tonight. i gotta sleep. thanks again to johnny for
the html help.
11-18-04 (19:03)
"After nearly seven years of doubt and often rancorous debate, the Kyoto
Protocol has an official start date: Feb. 16, 2005, at which point
the treaty will become binding. The 90-day countdown period begins
tomorrow, thanks to the handover of official documents from Russia to the
U.N. at a ceremony in Nairobi, declaring its ratification. Only four
industrialized countries now remain outside the treaty: the U.S., Australia,
and global powerhouses Liechtenstein and Monaco. The U.S. bailed
on the treaty shortly after George W. Bush came to office in 2001, claiming
it represented too great a burden on the economy, and that it was unfair,
imposing specific targets only on developed countries and not on rapidly
developing (and polluting) countries like China and India. Despite U.S.
intransigence, many U.S. companies are pushing to meet Kyoto targets anyway,
leery of losing their ability to operate factories in signatory countries."
had a productive day at work.
melanie is in berkeley because of her class. i like moving (because it's
a good chance to get rid of stuff and reorganize that which remains), but
i don't like what this move represents and what life after the move is
going to be like.
updated recommendations.
11-18-04 (01:12)
updated movies list.
updated cd list.
i read over my post-eleciton rant and
was amused.
11-17-04 (02:27)
updated movies list.
a couple of long reviews for tonight.
there's a good chance that hoop dreams is going to come to dvd thanks to
criterion. i want that film on dvd probably more than anything else i can
think of. i also want the wiseman catalog on dvd, beau geste, i'm a fugitive
from a chain gang, gabriel over the white house, aka don bonus, los olvidados
(already on dvd abroad), and some more. but hoop dreams more than the others.
obligatory scott peterson reference.
i'm listening to the new eminem album right now. this guy keeps getting
better. i'm not even half way through it yet, but it's apparent that he
knows exactly what he is, where he is, who his fans are, and what people
think of him. he's got one song on there called "my first single" which
is about him writing a new song, but it turns out to suck. it's a complete
piece of crap musically that features farting and whatnot, but it essentially
makes fun of the entire process and his fans. it reminds me of the tool
song that basically says that they're sell outs and that their fans have
bought into the image tool has sold them. great stuff. i like it when people
don't take themselves too seriously.
11-15-04 (23:40)
updated movies list.
i've now seen 18 hitchcock films. i own 14 films by him which i've yet
to see. pretty silly.
today was a mostly lazy day. i did some moving oriented stuff around the
house. if you want a work bench
for woodworking let me know. i have a good one that i built, but it's too
big to keep.
holiday season is right around the corner which means a lot of things.
i'll be working six days a week, i'll have to buy presents, and i'll be
alone for the holidays again. being alone isn't all that bad until everyone
else has someone to be with. i think thanksgiving will bring "planes trains
and automobiles" and christmas will bring either "a christmas story" or
"die hard."
11-15-04 (01:00)
updated movies list.
tough loss for the niners today. we suck these days.
even tougher loss for the vikings, second week in a row that they've lost
on a field goal with 3 seconds left in the game, after coming back to tie
the game in the previous drive.
watched movies most of the day.
also worked on the layout for my new place.
went to oakland to visit sarah and my aunt's family. didn't spend much
time there, but it was fun.
updated movies i own list.
11-13-04 (03:00)
i really should be asleep by now.
last night i was thinking about some of the undisputed pinnacles of music.
beethoven's ode to joy is an obvious choice. but one that i don't think
would come to mind immediately, but does belong, is morricone's good, the
bad and the ugly main theme. i don't think that many people would dispute
its placement on the absolute pantheon of musical moments. also sprach
zarathustra would also be on this list.
my future apartment has a built in bookshelf in the wall that the futon
is currently against. it should be perfect for my film books.
i'm definitely going to take a vacation in february.
11-12-04 (23:46)
got to see my new apartment tonight. it's closer to downtown, reasonably
sized and looks pretty nice overall. i did some figuring based upon the
measurements i took and i think i'll be able to fit all of my stuff in
there without too much fanfare. possibly best of all it comes with a pretty
nice futon for free. it's nice to not have to worry about getting a couch.
i also think that i'll be able to pay for the deposit and such without
borrowing any money.
updated movies list.
a few months back i read an interview with michael moore about his latest
documentary idea...his plan was to make a film revolving around the healthcare
system "in the style of run lola run." in light of bush's reelection, it
appears that he's going to work on a sequel to fahrenheit 9/11.
today was a pretty good day at work. got a good amount of stuff done. i'm
going to leave work early tomorrow so i can visit sarah in oakland.
11-12-04 (00:30)
updated movies list.
melanie is in the bay area for a few days and i miss her.
i was doing okay this past week, but tonight i was straightening up my
room in preparation for the move and i decided to look at some old pictures
and letters that she sent me. that made me cry. she's more inclined to
deal with things by turning away from them and that makes me wonder how
much thinking she's going to do about our relationship. at the same time
i wonder if it really even matters that we had such amazingly good times
together. i know we'll always remember each other, but will she really
remember what we were like those first couple years? it feels almost tragic
that we would forget those times, it just seems like an injustice to have
that happen.
it's a pretty typical story and things evolved pretty typically and now
i'm having the typical thoughts and feelings. i hate being obvious and
typical. so much of me wants to be able to just revert back to that time
when the only thing that mattered was the other person, but my head knows
that's impossible. i don't have even the faintest belief in fate, which
is unfortunate because if i did then i could rest on the "things will turn
out for the best" or "god has a plan" credo. as pessimistic and cynical
a person as i am, though, i keep coming out of these bouts of sadness and
grief with the overwhelming feeling that i've learned my lesson. if she,
or another girl, ever gives me a chance again, i won't mess it up. in the
meantime, however, i just feel sad.
i like moving and so gearing up for that, on one level, has been nice.
but i have too good an idea of what i'm like, and i'm too cognizant of
the larger picture, to think that everything will be okay once i'm on my
own. i know that i'm good at withdrawing from things and isolating myself.
i know that not having a car and not having friends in davis will make
that easier.
i should get some sleep.
a refuge for those who want
to flee.
11-11-04 (18:38)
yesterday i found a buck at work. shortly thereafter i went to lunch, and
on my way back to work i found a ten dollar bill on the ground. lucky day.
i went to lunch at woodstock's and there was a large contingent of soccer
kids and their parents there as well. i sat down while waiting for my order
and watched tv. one woman came walking by, turned towards me and asked
"did you seen a little boy walk by here?" i smiled, chuckled and said "yeah,
about a billion of them." she gave me a disturbed sigh, said something
under her breath and frantically continued her search. to my credit her
question was a rather silly one considering the abundance of kids in the
restaurant at the time.
when i was about 13 i was at an overnight ymca camp in the hills of big
bear. one night a fellow camper had an asthma attack so a few counselors
came to his rescue. one of the counselors who came into the cabin to help
him out was standing by the bed talking to him to calm him down. after
talking with him a minute or so she turned towards the rest of us and asked
"does anyone have any chocolate." to which i replied: "now there's
a real emergency." i thought it was a great response, but she shot me down
by saying, rather sternly: "chocolate has caffeine and it might help him
recover." i felt pretty stupid after that.
tomorrow i'm going to check out my potential apartment. it's a one bedroom
closer to downtown and a hundred bucks a month more than what i'm paying
now. that said, it's still cheap relative to other one bedroom places.
monday i'll probably sign the lease.
hopefully i can watch a couple movies tonight.
11-11-04 (02:09)
i'm up too late.
need to watch more early films.
updated movies list.
11-10-04 (00:00)
updated movies list.
been doing pretty well lately, all things considered.
work has been interesting. there are all sorts of dumb things going on
which keep things from running smoothly. i don't really care though because
things are better there than they have been in the past. plus, i'm making
a lot more than i used to.
webber had a triple double tonight. i love that guy. kings finally won
a game and that makes me happy.
i work a closing shift tomorrow so i get to sleep in. hope i'm able to
do that.
microsoft sans serif may be my favorite
font.
took a long time to update my movies list. i really should review the film
right after i'm done watching it.
it's raining right now.
i'm tired and should get some sleep.
11-9-04 (00:09)
updated movies list.
watched three movies today. the first half of my day was mostly boring.
i watched a couple movies, ate some lunch and tooled around on the internet
for a bit.
the second half of my day wasn't exciting, but was definitely more noteworthy.
i called john (a guy with whom i used to work) and we went to see a movie
in sacramento. afterwards we hung around his place and watched more tv
than i usually watch in a week. it was a good time.
11-8-04 (00:09)
updated movies list.
changed all my movies lists to excel created html files for better viewing.
let me know if there are any broken links.
11-7-04 (01:48)
johnny, luke and ryan came over today and we played a lot of xbox. that
was pretty much all that we did, but it made for good times.
11-6-04 (00:55)
updated movies list.
today was pretty crazy at work, but it kept me busy and that was good.
right after work i went and caught a picture at the cinema. it was good.
i'm thinking about saying that "i went to the cinema" instead of "i went
to the movies." it makes me sound more like the movie snob i've become,
so it's like truth in advertising or something. i'm not really a movie
snob. check out these four films that i watched on back to back days:
435. 10-25-04 (339) India Ray World Of Apu (1959)
434. 10-25-04 (338) India Ray Aparajito (1957)
433. 10-24-04 (337) USA Hamburg Along Came Polly
(2004)
432. 10-24-04 (336) USA Greenfield Girl Next Door (2004)
a real film snob wouldn't watch the girl next door and along came
polly the day before watching the final two films to satyajit ray's apu
trilogy.
tomorrow is my friday and that's always a good thing.
11-4-04
updated movies list.
updated recommendations.
now that i have excel i can save my spreadsheets as html files. as a result
i've updated my movies and
cds
i own lists.
r. kelly can now add "punk ass bitch" to his resume, along with pedophile
and golden shower fetishist.
started a fantasy basketball team today. hopefully i won't suck quite as
bad at that.
today was an okay day for me. i worked about ten hours, but i got a lot
done. when i got home i caught up on some email, drafted my basketball
team, went shopping, ate and watched a movie.
my scalp itches.
i've been without a watch for about a month now. that's probably the longest
i've been without a watch since sixth grade.
i haven't been in the mood to watch movies very much lately. i might be
burning out or, more likely, it's because of what's going on in my personal
life. i haven't felt like cooking either. i need to get my shit together.
johnny and luke might come to davis this weekend to visit.
sometimes you don't know how thirsty you are until you start drinking water.
i think the same is true of life.
11-3-04 (20:46)
i've been sorta contemplating putting my balls in a meat grinder just to
keep perspective on the melanie and bush issues. the kings are off to an
0-2 start for, i think, the first time since i've been watching them. this
will likely be a bad season for them, one that includes not making to the
playoffs.
bush got a mandate and there's really no way around that, no matter how
much air america radio you listen to. they picked up congressional seats,
he won more votes than he did last time, he won the popular and the electoral
vote and though it wasn't a resounding victory, it's pretty clear to me
that the nation thinks he's done an alright job.
he's the first president to see a drop of 50 or more points in the polls
over the course of his presidency and win. his father also had a 50 point
drop (going from the 80s during gulf war one, to the 30s towards the end
of his term), but he lost. so far there doesn't appear to be any real evidence
of sweeping fraud or voting machine tampering so i don't consider that
an excuse for kerry's showing. that said, i am still against computer voting.
"In 96 percent of House races and 91 percent of Senate races that had been
decided by mid-day today, the candidate who spent the most money won, according
to a post-election analysis by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
The findings are based on figures reported Oct. 13 to the Federal Election
Commission.
The biggest spender was victorious in 413 of 432 decided House races
and 31 of 34 decided Senate races. On Election Day 2002, top spenders won
95 percent of House races and 76 percent of Senate races.
The contests not yet decided include Louisiana's 3rd and 7th House
districts and New York's 27th district.
In the race for the White House, President Bush spent a total of $306.3
million in private and government funds from January 2003. Sen. John Kerry,
who faced a tough battle for the Democratic nomination, spent $241.7 million.
These figures do not include spending by the political parties or advocacy
groups on the presidential election."
..."The biggest spender, by far, of personal funds in this election
cycle was Blair Hull (D), who invested $28.7 million into his Illinois
Senate race. He lost in the primary to the eventual winner of the seat,
Barack Obama."
so here's why i was able to predict the winner of this election, two things:
always follow the money and, in the post 9/11 world, find the most rational
choice and choose his/her opponent. four years of being a political science
major and i didn't figure out that second part until i saw arnold win in
CA. the first part is pretty well known. when predicting political outcomes
in the past, my major problem was thinking too logically and using too
much information to make my determination. i might look at the latino vote
or the possible mobilization of the gay vote or of the soccer moms or look
at the endorsements a person got (as i did when i thought howard dean would
win the primary) or look at their platform or any number of things. really,
though, i should have kept it far more simple. karl rove and karen hughes
overstand this point. keep everything simple. it's about money and fear
and so long as you employ those you'll be fine. kerry tried to employ fear
of losing your job, but that's just not as scary as camel jockeys on a
jihad or anti-god homos. needless to say i have no confidence in the american
people. that said, a lot of this isn't their fault. they don't know how
to read between the lines, they don't know the manipulation of politics,
they don't have historical perspective, and they're not getting the facts
from the media. so i don't really blame them, but i still don't have confidence
in them.
i read in the snr
that the reelection rate for incumbents is between 96-98% which is pretty
silly.
so i was depressed most of the day and i'm not looking forward to the next
four years without melanie and with bush at the helm. life sucks, but it's
great to be alive or whatever.
11-3-04 (11:57)
you can thank nader and all the gays for bush winning this election. nader
was a selfish prick and so were the gays with their damn "civil union"
bs.
i hate being right. this may very well be the worst month of my life. it's
a good thing i got a raise at work otherwise i'd really be in the dumps.
to quote dan rather: "this one is hotter than a times square rolex." and
"bush's lead is as thin as turnip soup." also, "if a frog had pockets he'd
carry a handgun." not sure what that last one means.
i'm surprised kerry conceded already.
late for work, gotta go.
11-2-04 (18:21)
just got off work and heard that nc and ky are both likely to go to bush.
in the last 10 elections the winner of ky was the winner of the election.
i had hoped for nc to goto kerry because of edwards.
a couple months back i did the 270 to win. actually lemme just find the
quote...
7-22-04 (22:56) "i did this
and came up with 270 for kerry and 268 for bush. my guesses were based
on: current polls, 2000 results, and my gut feeling. basically i had kerry
winning the midwest (except IN and OH) because of the outpouring of manufacturing
jobs, the northeast because it's kerry/democrat country, and the west because
CA and WA generally go to democrats."
so obviously that was a long time ago, but in that scenario i had kerry
winning NC. should be a fun night. i remember four years ago at this time
i was roommates with vern and was chatting with melanie most of the night
on the internet.
11-01-04 (22:22)
holy
crap.
getting pretty excited about the election tomorrow.
today was mostly a bad day.
nba regular season starts tomorrow. kings have a game on wednesday.
11-01-04 (00:19)
two more days until the election.
i wish my feelings would be more consistent.
lately i've been wanting to listen to music a lot more than watch movies.
i got a bill for $108 for that visit to the doctor a few months back.
i already paid $15 last month. this bill was for the lab work. it's pretty
funny because i got sick the next day.