Today

"To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain." ~ Louis L'Amour

***

Today is the day of sitting on pins and needles. Checking polls. Feeling full of anticipation.
It's been a wild ride, hasn't it? I think we have learned a lot about ourselves and our country, if we cared to. Some of it disheartening and some of it very encouraging. But a place to move forward from, nonetheless.

I wish you all an election day full of promise.
The sun is shining here in San Francisco. People are proudly wearing their "I Voted" stickers on the train this morning. I am wearing a blue dress.

There's not much more to do but wait. But it's nice to know that I'm waiting in such good company... and with you, too. Happy Election Day, America.

Happy Election Day, dear blogging friends.

It's Almost Over

Do you think Obama's health plan will cover PTBS (Post Traumatic Bush Syndrome)?

***

"Widespread intellectual and moral docility may be convenient for leaders in the short term, but it is suicidal for nations in the long term. One of the criteria for national leadership should therefore be a talent for understanding, encouraging, and making constructive use of vigorous criticism." ~ Carl Sagan

Good luck, America. Let's get things back on track.
We can do it!

In the Mission.

On Haight Street.

On Divisadero.

In the Tenderloin.

In Golden Gate Park.

In my 'hood.

I wish that all the people who normally watch Faux News had watched Obama's infomercial instead Sean Hannity, but hopefully a few of them did.

I will be so proud when this man is my president.

Yeah, I took all of the photos. Except that first one.

***

UPDATE: You may already have read this, but Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, just passed away. So close to seeing him achieve a place in history, for himself and our country. It is just heartbreaking.

I just can't help crying about this.

From the press release: "In lieu of flowers, we ask that you make a donation to any worthy organization in search of a cure for cancer."

I will be donating, and gladly, just as gladly as I donated to help get him elected.

What's the Word for This?

I know I'm not supposed to call people retarded.

Sarah Palin was crank called by a Canadian radio station, the caller pretending to be Nicolas Sarkozy. But the fact that Palin NEVER figured out that she wasn't talking to French President Sarkozy after about 10 seconds is pretty amazing. Clueless? Hopeless? Incredibly naive/stupid?

I'm sure this story won't be found anywhere on the MSM, but it's all over the European news. Quel surprise.

***

A few gems excerpted:

Sarkozy: "I just love killing those animals. Mmm, mmm, take away life, that is so fun." He proposes they go hunting together by helicopter, something he says he has never done.

Palin: "Well, I think we could have a lot of fun together while we're getting work done. We can kill two birds with one stone that way."

Sarkozy: "You know we have a lot in common also, because ... from my house (he pronounces it ass) I can see Belgium."

Palin: "Well, see, we're right next door to different countries that we all need to be working with, yes."

The Sarkozy impersonator tells Palin his wife is "so hot in bed" and then informs her that Bruni has written a song for her about Joe the Plumber entitled "Du rouge a levres sur une cochonne," which translates as "Lipstick on a Pig."

The caller asks Palin if Joe the Plumber is her husband and adds: "We have the equivalent of Joe the Plumber in France. It's called Marcel, the guy with bread under his armpit."

He also tells the Alaska governor that he loved the "documentary" made about her and referred to a pornographic film with a Palin look-alike made by Hustler founder Larry Flynt.

She answers tentatively, "Ohh, good, thank you, yes."

***

Here's a BBC page that has the actual call and an interview with the pranksters, the Canadian version of the Jerky Boys. That brought back memories. Ahhhh, the Jerky Boys. Where are they now? This was my sister's and mine ALL-TIME favorite Jerky Boys routine. We almost peed our pants laughing. I told you I am immature.

ps. If you listen to the entire call on HuffPo, I don't know about you, but I get the distinct impression that Palin's aide is in some serious shit.

You'll Never Guess Who I Saw Friday Night

10:30PM. I'm on the N-Judah train coming home from downtown. Sarah Palin herself is about five feet away from me, wearing her red skirt suit, black pumps and trademark sexy librarian glasses. In her folksy manner, she's identifying the mavericks on the train, and the passengers are loving it. They're asking her about where the real Americans live (her answer: Alaska) and what she likes to read (her answer: everything). She's also talking about the Communists in America.

And you'll never guess who was sitting next to her! You guessed it: Joe the Plumber. But he had grown a head of dark, thick hair so I didn't recognize him until he pulled a wrench out of his pocket. (I thought he was Todd.)

Yes, Halloween night on the N-Judah. I also saw Amy Winehouse, Gwen Stefani, a cute girl bee with a skateboard and a pregnant nun, just to name a few more revelers.

However, I did not have my hands free to take photos of them for you and for that, I apologize because everyone looked festive and wild and was having a rollicking good time.

***

Returning home, my hands were full of books and information from the second installment of my Mental Stimulus Package (man, I forgot to tell you about the first part with Ben Frankin and the glass armonica. Next time.).

I went to The Leakey Prize Laureate Lectures, honoring Dr. Jane Goodall and Dr. Toshisada Nishida, at the Herbst Theatre. From the program description: The Leakey Prize was established in 1990 to reward intellectual achievement and express appreciation for research performed with courage and perseverance in the fields of ape and human evolution. Both Dr. Goodall and Dr. Toshisada Nishida will discuss the highlights of their pioneering careers. Through their diligent work, these scientists have shaped the field of primatology and uncovered pivotal findings that help us better understand one of our closes living relatives, the chimpanzee.

I don't even know where to start in describing the feeling of seeing Dr. Goodall on stage, speaking in her trademark calm, collected yet passionate story of her early years, her tutelage under Dr. Louis Leakey and the incredible faith he placed in her, and her deep desire to help reverse years of environmental damage and endangerment of many animal species, not just her beloved chimpanzees of Gombe.

If you're like me, you grew up reading Jane Goodall's books, watching her on National Geographic television specials. I also was secretly envious of her son, Grub, who got to spend his childhood living amongst the tribe of chimpanzees that Goodall studied for almost 30 years.


“The most important thing is to actually think about what you do. To become aware and actually think about the effect of what you do on the environment and on society. That's key, and that underlies everything else.” ~ Dr. Jane Goodall

I saw Dr. Goodall speak once before, when I was in college and she visited my university. Then the talk was about the chimps, and her work with them. The talk this year was different. Dr. Goodall travels about 300 days of the year, all over the world. She talks about preserving animal habitats and shared stories of the villages that her foundation has helped, encouraging safe farming habits, microloans to women, keeping girls in school and reforestation techiques, all of which have greatly improved the lives of villagers that had been deforesting areas of Tanzania and endangering the habitats of chimpanzees and many other animals. Her talk focused on how improving and educating the people has only served to enhance and improve the lives of the animals she struggles to save. Through the Jane Goodall Institute and her outreach program for children called Roots and Shoots, she has been doing extraordinary work outside the forests of Tanzania.

I could not help relating her talk to the tempestuous presidential campaign and the incredible need for effective and immediate science and math education for our kids to maintain our standing in the world as a leading nation (I won't even begin to address that Sarah Palin fruit fly debacle) not to mention the important contributions that studying chimpanzees, our closest living relatives on the evolutionary ladder, holds for the understanding of our own species.

It became vitally clear to me that not only are we poised to destroy an amazing link in evolutionary biolology (over 1,000,000 chimpanzees in 1960s down to about 200-300,000 today) but we are losing such a stronghold by not teaching our children how important science is in the real world to protecting the only planet we have. Our presidential election only emphasizes the polarity in our approaches to these crucial subjects.

***

From a recent speech: “What gives me hope,” Dr. Goodall says, “is the amazing capacity of the human brain to come up with innovative solutions, the indomitable human spirit that fights back, and the resilience of nature.”

“It’s time to recreate the age of wisdom when elders would gather and ponder how any decision they would make would affect our future seven generations down the line,” says Goodall. Quoting the words of an Eskimo leader, she concluded: “Up in the north, the ice is melting. What will it take to melt the ice in the human heart?”

***

After the talk, I stood in line for almost as long as the talk, to have a chance to finally meet Dr. Goodall. While in line, we all shared stories of growing up with Jane, what a powerful impression she had made on us, and what a singular experience it was to hear her speak. I signed up to become a member of both of her organizations.

While we waited in line, servers carrying trays of cookies and Halloween candy and apple cider kept us full of sugary treats. And then finally it was my turn to stand next to a childhood idol, have her sign my books and try not to be overwhelmed and cry.

She first signed a chimpanzee mask for Little Curly Girl, my niece. I told her the LCG was recently just two years old, so she signed it "with love" because in her words, "Being two years old means she should get lots of extra love." (Almost cried but didn't.)

Then she signed my books. I told her what an honor it was to be in her presence and then we had our photo taken together (which I'll post when I find it on her website). And then I walked to the train station in a bit of a wistful mood.

As I waited for the train, I looked at what Dr. Goodall had written in my book.

For Julie
Follow your heart.
Jane Goodall

And surrounded by crazily dressed adult trick-or-treaters, I did cry a little bit. Happy/sad crying.

***

"Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right." ~ Jane Goodall

Like Jane, I keep our fingers crossed for us primates. All of us primates. I think we can still pull it off and I think President Obama can help us get started.

An Adventure in Civics

"It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting." ~ Tom Stoppard, Jumpers

***

You guys aren't going to believe what happened today!

I almost didn't get to vote!

Or at least it sure felt that way for a few hours!

***

It's like Roseanne Roseannadanna says. It's always something!
Well, today it was my something.

I have to admit that first of all, I played hooky from work today.
I wasn't really sick, but I kinda felt like maybe I could go down that road, and... well, you know how it is some days? I just needed an extra brain day. I didn't want to hear any whining today.

So here I am at home, doing a little laundry, eating some popcorn, and then I think, Hey! I'll get dressed and go to City Hall and VOTE! That will make me feel good and productive!
When you live on the Left Coast, by the time your vote gets counted, the rest of the country is already asleep and the thing's decided. So I wanted to get my vote in early. And it seemed like a very good hooky-day idea.

I get down to City Hall, which is just the prettiest building ever with all of the marble and carvings and gilded metal and go down to the basement. I fill out a form, get in line, chat a little with the people around me. Twenty minutes later, it's my turn... and the woman behind the desk tells me I'm not in the computer.

Um, excuse me?

*freaks out a little inside*

She wants to know if I've registered, and yes, I have. I voted in the primary in February!

She looks for me again in the computer, every which way since Sunday. I'm not there.

*silent scream*

Then I have to go to another room, where three other people try to find me in the computer.

Not happening.

Wha?!! These things are supposed to happen in Florida! (No offense, Florida. I was going under the assumption that we had our voting sh*t together here.)

So they tell me that I have to petition the court.

Come again? WTF?!

They tell me I have to fill out some forms and go to the Civil Court across the street, and talk to the judge. Then, if the judge signs my petition, I can come back to City Hall and vote. (Needless to say, my fantasies of my weekday play date are evaporating quickly before my eyes. To their credit, everyone at the Department of Elections was very nice to me. I was also the epitome of calm.)

So I go to the Civil Courts building, find the courtroom, and proceed to not have a writing implement, except for a purple calligraphy pen, which I don't think is appropriate for filling out this bunch of forms. (Note to self: why do you never have a pen?! You always have like five different lipsticks and nothing to write with. That's bad! Very bad!)

There's no one else there except for another woman with the same forms I have. She sees me rummaging around and kindly lets me use her pen. We chat a little, and discover that both of us have the same story. Registered to vote in the February primaries, voted, and now don't exist. Not that we're paranoid, but WTF?

Then someone comes out of the courtroom and says they're closed for lunch. Come back in an hour and a half.

***

So I'm walking around the Tenderloin, looking for something to do for 90 minutes. I see a drug deal, some people in very bad shape sitting in wheelchairs and more than a few lawyer-y looking types. (For those of you who don't know the lay of the land, City Hall is adjacent to a neighborhood known for violence and poverty, the Tenderloin.) The Tenderloin has some very cool, old buildings, but it's not a place you want to hang out and gawk. You can look but you keep moving and you pay attention to who's around you.

The good news is that I happened upon a Burmese restaurant I read about and wanted to try, except I'm never near the Tenderloin at lunch. So I decided to have some tea leaf salad and some coconut milk and chicken soup. What's a tangobaby post without a foodie story anyway?

I love Burmese tea leaf salad (La Pat Dok). It's made with fermented tea leaves, dried shrimp, cabbage, tomate, fried garlic, sesame seeds and peas and nuts. This one was very good.

While I was sitting there, still feeling nervous about having to go to court and talk to a judge, I realized that I should be very grateful to be here eating tea leaf salad and having some recourse to the law and my rights. If I was sitting in Burma, or Myanmar as it's now called, I could be eating some kick-ass salad with NO voting rights. Or I could be in prison. For a fascinating book about Burma and also George Orwell's ties to that country, read Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin. It's a fantastic read.

And then it was time to go back to court.

***

"I'm tired of hearing it said that democracy doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. We are supposed to work it." ~ Alexander Woollcott

While I was waiting, I made two new friends, Theresa and Kathy. Theresa told us about some past elections in the Philippines and let's just say that we should be glad that eye gouging and intimidation and prison aren't direct results of the democratic process here. Bless her heart, Theresa is 76 years old. And Kathy was our court angel. She provided me with a paper clip for my important documents because I didn't have one of those either.

Then the bailiff said we could enter the courtroom.

Here's the courtroom. Just like on TV, right?

We never saw the judge. A clerk came out, talked to each of us individually and then took our documents back to the judge for evaluation. I was the first one to get my petition signed and then back to City Hall for me.

***

And about an hour later, I had voted.

As I was leaving, I saw three weddings.
One "traditional" (for lack of a better word) and two lesbian couples.
All were lovely. And I wouldn't have seen them if I hadn't been scurrying around to get petitions signed and eating Burmese tea leaf salad. Sometimes timing really is everything.

I hope my vote on Proposition 8 helps those gay and lesbian couples who want to have the right to marry.

And City Hall is just so dang beautiful. You should really come and check it out.


And then no other but Abe Lincoln himself thanked me for coming out today.
Now that's an adventure in civics!

Private Eyes

Someone special just sent this to me.

I couldn't help thinking of that classic Hall & Oates song, Private Eyes. (Come on, let's have an Eighties moment together.)

I see you, you see me
Watch you blowin' the lines when you're making a scene
Oh girl, you've got to know
What my head overlooks
The senses will show to my heart
When it's watching for lies
You can't escape my
Private eyes
They're watching you
They see your every move
Private eyes
They're watching you
Private eyes
They're watching you watching you watching you watching you

***

I couldn't help picturing Putin and Palin all hot 'n heavy, rolling around in a stealthy, fur-covered embrace on each other's tundras. Maybe they do spy on each other! Some sort of tragic romance diverted by the politics of their countries! Hearts kept separated by the Alaskan National Guard!

Oh, it's so Romeo and Juliet! Does Todd know?

LMAO today as I go to City Hall to VOTE!

***

UPDATE: How could I not include the video?

Listen to this while you close your eyes and imagine an illicit love affair between Caribou Barbie and President Putin. It totally works.

Word on the Street

Random wisdom I saw on my treks all over town today.

Love (in unexpected places. I adored seeing this little plant growing out of the wall.)

Now is all you have.

This one might be a little harder to read.
It says "Hope will never be silent ~ Harvey Milk. VOTE"

***

Word on the street is that 100,000 people in Denver came out to see and hear Barack Obama today. It's almost over, folks.

I don't know about you, but this picture makes my eyes tear up gladly and my heart smile.

From the end of his speech: "Our destiny is not written for us ... it is written BY us ... not as Democrat or Republican but as AMERICANS."

Joe Biden Is My Homeboy

I'm sorry, but this is too damn cute.



I'd watch a news anchor like him any day.
And also why I have a crush on Joe. He's my homeboy, too!

Seeds

"The hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning." ~ Adlai E. Stevenson

I took this photo a while ago, for a woman I've never met. My little Christina of Soul Aperture, who tells it like it is. The world as seen through her soft brown eyes and large, wonderful heart.

Christina is a professional chef.
She's a photographer and artist and writer.
She's a mother of two beautiful children who ask the right questions.
She's the wife of a self-made man who is working to make the world a better place.

Christina and her family live in Milwaukee, in a neighborhood that knows poverty and the ills that come from lack: lack of education, lack of opportunity, lack of hope.

***

Christina wrote a post after the last debate, and on the eve of this one, I wanted to share an excerpt with you. No matter what your opinions are about the candidates, whether you feel smug or bitter or tired or hopeful, know that what is happening in the drama-inducing headlines is obscuring what is happening on the front lines.

Christina has taken it upon herself to go door to door, talking with neighbors and people in her neighborhood, to make sure that they understand their rights as citizens. That they can and should vote.

From Christina's post, No Title:


I respect that you may not share my views or opinion so I give you the option to stop reading now. Please save the hate mail, the N. word and whatever else. Been there, been called that.

I want to pass on some information to you.

1. If you wear an Obama shirt to go vote in Nov., it is considered campaigning and your voting rights will be taken away.

2. If you have warrants out for your arrest do not go vote! If you go to vote in Nov. there are undercover officers waiting to apprehend you!

3. If you have unpaid parking tickets you will be arrested in Nov. if you go to the polls to vote.

Everything I just typed is bullshit!!!!!

These are just some of the messages printed on flyers and being distributed through urban, inner city neighborhoods.

It's called Voting Fraud and that is illegal!!!!!

Please, please let anyone you know that these flyers are only being passed out to low income neighborhoods and they are a ploy to keep people from voting.

Sad but true!

***

Hearing from Christina first hand what she sees around her was shocking. I don't expect much from the media, the spin doctors and the pundits. Part of my solace comes from the people that make fun of it all.

But when you really are confronted with the truth that corruption exists at every imaginable level, it's almost mind-blowing. I want my America back.

***

When I took that photo above, I immediately thought of Christina, since it's a photo of sesame seeds and as a chef, I know she likes our foodie conversations as much as I do.

But then I saw the photo differently. It made me think that we are all those little sesame seeds: white, brown, black. All little seeds, just in different colors.

All little seeds.

Seeds of hope? I hope.

***

"I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them." ~ Adlai Stevenson, campaign speech, 1952

I'm little but I'm old: the Movie Marathon update

The Movie Maven's Movie Marathon for America was a lot of fun. Good company, good movies, lots of chips and candy and a little conversation about politics and movies.

It was great to be surrounded by wonderful people in the comfort of my own living room.

Thank you to namastenancy, the famous Greg of the N-Judah Chronicles, the kind and generous dutchbaby, my gourmet popcorn queen Amber and her world traveling hubby Mike, a new friend Tim and his friend Thalia, the mysterious A. and the lovely new mommy Ms. Wellspring and her adorable three-week old Peach. And all of you who attended in spirit, including Paris Parfait and Christina.

I felt very fortunate that The Peach made her first real outing by choosing to attend a fundraising event at my house. She brought us good luck.

All in all, we raised about $500 for "That One." Not bad for a day of eating carbohydrates and sitting in a dark room for hours.

We watched four movies: Dick, Lost in America (those were our two wry comedies), and then The Manchurian Candidate and The Conversation (to fulfill our paranoia/on location in San Francisco requirements).

The other film I would have loved to have watched with the group was To Kill a Mockingbird, but we just ran out of time. So I watched it by myself the next day.

***

I absolutely adore this film, and the book I've read quite a few times since I first discovered it in junior high school. I don't know how many times I've seen the movie, but just the haunting and innocent film score by Elmer Bernstein alone makes me want to watch it.

"They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions... but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."

"The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box. As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it - whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash."

"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

The first clip below is the movie score, the other two are brief but powerful scenes from the film.

See, It Doesn't Have to Be Like This

This morning I read something I've been waiting to see in the media for a while now. Especially given what I wrote about earlier in the week.

Promise me you will read this letter to John McCain, just published in the Baltimore Sun, written by Frank Schaffer, a New York Times best-selling author who worked on McCain's campaign in 2000. Promise me you will read it.

It's exactly the kind of accountability that has been sadly missing in the media lately, and as I read this letter, I felt more and more optimistic that good people from all places on the political spectrum will speak out and say what is true and right.

***

I felt so encouraged by what I read here, and grateful to Frank for writing this piece, that I knew I had to write him a thank you note.

Here I am, in my pyjamas, just woke up, hair standing on end, writing an email I know I won't get a reply to. But just in case he might read it, I wanted him to know I think he's a hero in my eyes.

And wouldn't you know it, he wrote right back.

See, we are all connected. It all matters. One voice can multiply into millions, to serve and uplift, or to bring down and destroy.

***

Dear Frank,

I don't know if you will even get this email or read it. I'm sure you're just deluged with email right now.

But I wanted you to know that I just read your Open Letter to John McCain. What you said there is exactly how millions of us feel, horrified and sickened by the rhetoric that the McCain campaign has intentionally used to assassinate Barack Obama's character, if not his person.

Thank you for writing this. I know it must have been a heartbreaking thing for you to do. But I think that many, many millions of Americans respect and thank you for your effort.

In 2000, I would have voted for McCain. Today, I just feel sorry for him.

All the best,

Julie
San Francisco, CA

***

Julie: I am deluged, as you say. Thanks so much for the note. Time to speak out!
Best,
Frank

PS You might enjoy my book Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back (Paperback)

***

I just bought a copy of his book on Amazon.

And here is the link to his letter, and I hope you'll read it.

Candy Is Heavy

Try carrying a bag of this stuff home on the train!

Today, I have spent almost as much money on candy, chips, popcorn and soda as I have donated to the Obama campaign. It's hard to not go into Walgreens and get three boxes of whatever because they're 3-for-$1. I have to get three boxes of each, at least. Plus extra Junior Mints.

And then I went to the grocery store and got every kind of potato chip I could fit in my basket, plus Fritos, Doritos (hey, that rhymes) and those honey mustard pretzel nuggets. Oh, and two bags of Pirate Booty. When I got to the register, the checker said, "Oh, someone's got a bad case of the munchies!" and I said, "No! It's for my movie night!" and then he said, "Yeah, that's what they all say. Ha ha!"

But it's true. It is for my movie night.

Here's the poster to prove it. I just made it. Many thanks to Bill Stankus for providing the graphic that made me laugh today!

***

Here is something that did not make me laugh today, and if you got all worked up over yesterday's post, What's In a Name, then maybe you don't want to watch this. I just ate almost a whole bag of Pirate Booty and I don't know if the stomachache is from that, or from this video.



At least they weren't saying he should be killed.

I'm More of a Fortune Cookie Person Myself

But years before the fortune cookies, I was really a Bazooka Joe person.

Do you remember Bazooka bubble gum? The powdery dust on that hard-as-a-rock gum, how good it smelled, how you almost broke your jaw trying to chew it before you got enough spit into it to make it soft?

And the little cartoon folded up inside the wrapper, on that waxy paper? My sister and I used to collect them. You got a cartoon and a fortune. Remember? (And then Bubblicious got invented and that semi-disgusting Freshen-Up gum with the goo in the middle and we stopped chewing Bazooka.)

***

Anyway, I was just pondering my inspirations for wisdom since I did not ever notice that you can get it from Starbuck's cups, too. But Sarah Palin does:



I know it's nitpicky, but if you want to see what those words of wisdom really were on her cup, look here. But if she had used those words instead, the story wouldn't have been as cute.

I don't know why she's so down on us in California!

"Okay, now, thank you so much for receiving that well. I didn't know how that was gonna go over. And now, California, let's see what a comment like I just made, how that is turned into whatever it'll be turned into tomorrow with the newspaper."

***

And now I'm going to hell because I wouldn't vote for her because she's a woman? I thought I was going to hell because I was born Jewish. Or at least that's what some Born Again Christians have politely told me in the past. (Someone is going to have to explain the Rapture again to me because it is so confusing. Why is Israel so loved but we're still going to hell? Ah well, if there is a hell, I think I'll see a lot of people I enjoy there, so maybe it won't be that bad.)

I just learned that the real reason I don't like Sarah Palin has nothing to do with the fact that I am not impressed with her record and experience in the PTA, as a mayor or governor, her education and mostly, her positions on things that are important to me, especially when put into context of holding the second highest office in the country (or the first, if you consider Dick Cheney).

No! I've been undermining Palin because I'm jealous! Wow! Who knew?! Apparently Brenda Luscombe knows my motives better than I know myself. Which would explain why I posted that Barbie Doll head photo recently.

I'm such a bitch!

Does this mean Letterman won't be burning in Hell because he's a man? It's so not fair. Here it is... I'm allowed to think and vote and be a woman, but I'm still wrong.

***

ps. I don't know if you noticed, but the fortune on this particular Bazooka Joe comic says "Don't take a detour on the path to greatness." I should send that in to the RNC and see if a speechwriter picks up on it. heh heh.

pss. And if I am such a bitch like that article says I am, then I'm going to have to say that Sarah needs to apply her blush/bronzer differently. Applying that bronzer in a line back to her ears like that...it's sooooo Eighties. And she needs to blend.

psss. And do I have a crush on Joe Biden now? Yeah, I think I do. And it looks like I'm not the only one. Well, I've had non-traditional crushes before-- I've had the hots for Carl Sagan since I was twelve.

***

UPDATE 10/5: Looks like Madame Albright isn't okay at all with Palin misquoting her.
Her reply:

Albright responded to Palin's remarks in a statement to the Huffington Post on Sunday. "Though I am flattered that Governor Palin has chosen to cite me as a source of wisdom, what I said had nothing to do with politics. This is yet another example of McCain and Palin distorting the truth, and all the more reason to remember that this campaign is not about gender, it is about which candidate has an agenda that will improve the lives of all Americans, including women. The truth is, if you care about the status of women in our society and in our troubled economy, the best choice by far is Obama-Biden."

Zing!

Take Heart, Sweet Octavine

"If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation." ~ Abigail Adams

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I took this photo in a vibrant yet poor part of San Francisco, the Mission, at a Saturday flea market. My immediate instinct and response to this sight was Wow, this is really how the Republican Party sees women. This is why they chose Sarah Palin, an attractive facade with an empty head that can be filled with propaganda.

She is the perfect delivery device for their agenda: a pretty face, shapely legs. Because some people are suckers for that. Not just men, but women too.

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“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.” ~ Bertrand Russell

Dear Octavine,

I was thinking about you today, and I was going to reply to the comment you left for me in my recent post. I felt badly to learn how upset you were. If I were with you, I would have tried to cheer you up or make you smile. And then I thought about how many other people feel the way you do, myself included at times (nausea, ire, rage, dread), and perhaps it would be easier to write this for all of us who feel this way right now.

I hope you don't mind... I just think that the blogosphere is so helpful in gathering some much needed community and solace at times because people are generous in leaning out and saying they care. And I care.

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To me, Sarah Palin isn't the issue, ultimately. I think she is a symptom of the gamesmanship that some politicians feel they must stoop to and it shows pandering of the lowest and most bizarre order. And as much as I see her used primarily as a tool and a token, I don't discount what havoc she might wreak on this country and the world if circumstance made her President of the United States.

And when faced with such a barrage of media hype and drama about her every move, her every thought (or lack thereof), it's maddening.

To that end, I wanted to give you a link that might be helpful in countering the sadness, fear, anger because too many people see through this sham:

Women Against Sarah Palin

And from that site, another that I am taking a particular interest in, and perhaps you and your neighbors might want to look at this too:

Women Moving Forward

This is a request, an inquiry to any readers in San Francisco--at this point, San Francisco is not represented in this movement. Is anyone interested in learning more with me to see how we might put something together before October 25? I would be very interested in that, but I don't know where to start.

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So, dear Octavine, like you, I don't know how all of this will turn out. I hope we can be proactive and make our own contributions in what way we can. And then, if things don't work out the way we want them to, we won't give up, either. Lots of us are here for you and for each other.

xoxo

Movie Maven's Movie Marathon for America

Coming soon to a sofa near you (maybe). Stay tuned!

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UPDATE: Okay, here is the scoop. I wish I had a bigger house and a teleporter so all of you could come! Boy, don't I wish!

I was inspired by my friend Amber, my passion for good movies (you knew that one already) and my passion to see that Barack Obama makes it to the White House this November (you knew that one already, too).

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I've always wanted to have my own Tangobaby Film Festival, so I decided to combine that dream with a fundraiser that I'll be hosting through Hungry for Obama. It's on October 11 and starts at 11am.

Here's the idea: We'll all get together at my place and watch some fantastic movies and eat a lot of junk food and help raise money for Barack Obama's campaign.

I'll provide all the entertainment and concession stand food, including but not limited to: gourmet popcorn (popped for real on the stovetop by Popcorn Queen Amber), Red Vines, potato chips, soda and candy. My guests can stay for all the films or just one.

Right now the list of films include:

The Manchurian Candidate (Frank Sinatra can act, and it's paranoia/conspiracy at its finest)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (the best and original version starring Kevin McCarthy and the beautiful Dana Wynter. See what might really happen if creationism gets taught in schools!)

Network (We're mad as hell, aren't we?)

Lost in America (just trying to lighten things up)


To Kill a Mockingbird (to give us hope that things might change finally for the better)

Dick (The real story of Watergate--where Dick Cheney learned his stuff--and Kirsten Dunst's finest hour)


Alien (Let's you and I pretend we're Ripley and the Alien is...?!!)

Movies subject to change, but this is to give you an idea. Let me know what you might include in my film festival, and maybe I'll change my programming! Or maybe you'll decide to hold a fundraising event at your house, too! That could be fun!

Let's Watch It Again

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

I know a lot of you have seen The Great Schlep already, which is why I didn't post it before. But in thinking about it, I realized that this video is worth being exposed to often. We still have weeks until the election (yeah, I know...you're as tired of all of this politics stuff as I am, but don't forget, we're in this messed-up little boat together, right?

I kinda fell of the Sarah Silverman band wagon a while ago, but this little piece put me right back in groupieville. I don't have any old Jewish bubbies in Florida but...hey, maybe a few of you are watching. Who knows?

Hungry for Obama: Brinner for Barack

My friends Amber and Mike (along with their kittens, Henry and June) are hosting a fundraising "brinner" to help raise money for the Obama campaign on Sunday night. (I did not know what a brinner was either, but it's when you have breakfast for dinner.)

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In case you missed this article on the AP a couple of weeks ago, which is where this no-brow product package image comes from:

"Activists at a conservative political forum snapped up boxes of waffle mix depicting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as a racial stereotype on its front and wearing Arab-like headdress on its top flap.

While Obama Waffles takes aim at Obama's politics by poking fun at his public remarks and positions on issues, it also plays off the old image of the pancake-mix icon Aunt Jemima, which has been widely criticized as a demeaning stereotype. Obama is portrayed with popping eyes and big, thick lips as he stares at a plate of waffles and smiles broadly.

Placing Obama in Arab-like headdress recalls the false rumor that he is a follower of Islam, though he is actually a Christian.

On the back of the box, Obama is depicted in stereotypical Mexican dress, including a sombrero, above a recipe for "Open Border Fiesta Waffles" that says it can serve "4 or more illegal aliens." The recipe includes a tip: 'While waiting for these zesty treats to invade your home, why not learn a foreign language?' "

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Actually, what makes me laugh is to imagine the doofuses who designed this waffle box, so confident in their humor and congratulating themselves on how incredibly snappy they are, having their gut-wrenching comedic sense so far ahead of the rest of us dummies.

But what's really ironic is that the McCain campaign just naturally (all organic, no artificial flavors added) provides its own fodder for the late-night talk shows, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, and more, just by being themselves. No one needs to make up anything about John or Sarah because they show their ineptness unaided.

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Isn't it amazing that learning a foreign language (as excoriated on that sophomoric waffle box) is presented to be a fault of character by the far right? Funny thing, I always thought having an education was beneficial to individuals and the world at large, but what do I know? I'm one of those dipshits that speaks French.

But then Thomas Jefferson knew French, Spanish, Greek, Latin and Gaelic. And we all know what a crappy president he was: The Louisiana Purchase (the largest land acquisition in US history that did not require a war), founder of the Library of Congress, founder of the University of Virginia (go Lala!) and all that other stuff, like drafting the Declaration of Independence...yeah, we should just eat our waffles and go back to sleep.

In advising his future son-in-law, Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. on his education, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "With respect to modern languages, French, as I have before observed, is indispensable. Next to this the Spanish is most important to an American. Our connection with Spain is already important and will become daily more so. Besides this the ancient part of American history is written chiefly in Spanish.

Yeah, those McCain waffle pushers really know what's best. Wake me up when he fixes the economy. And bring me a side of bacon.

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UPDATE: Amber has kindly provided me with the Hungry for Obama link, in case you would like to host your own party, too. Hmmm, do we know any talented gourmet chefs in Milwaukee? I think we do!

Makeup Artists Should Unite to Help John McCain Help Himself and the Economy

I really don't know how I missed this story, truly. I'm starting to feel like The Onion is somehow getting its joke news stories leaked to the AP and then they're getting printed as somewhat actual news.

According to an article in US Weekly (not a place where I usually look to for news of note, but it works while in the nail salon):

"The 72-year-old was recently made TV-ready by makeup artist Tifanie White who's worked on So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol.

McCain paid the 2002 beauty-school grad $5,583.43 for her services, according to the Federal Election Commission."

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Okay, I'm a beauty school grad, too (really, I am not making this up), and I would not have charged him five grand for a makeover. Hell, he's not even a bride! Although I wonder why he did not hire someone from Stan Winston Studios because doing makeup on someone who is almost dead requires a completely different type of artistry than bridal makeup.

(Actually, I just decided that I would have charged him five thousand dollars plus!!!, and then would have donated the money to something useful, like this or this or this--look, Obama's doing it.)

On second thought, maybe this gal is an Obama supporter and she's giving McCain the shaft since he has 8 homes--you must watch this awesome video of his houses!--, 13 cars and can obviously afford a $5K makeover. She must be really talented because I'm sure she had to do some special effects makeup on this guy to wipe that frozen creepy grimace off his face.

Unretouched skin under bright lights is unappealing and cameras do distort the features and add weight (look at what happened to Nixon in his debate with Kennedy...oh wait! We're reliving that now! Maybe McCain hasn't found makeup that will stand up to the intense facial sweating he might undergo if he actually has to proceed in a debate with Obama and try to put two sentences together in a row that aren't vengeful or blameful or basically false). Or maybe it's because McCain has a habit of canceling debates, like he did in another election year?

John Edward's haircut is looking like quite a bargain now, isn't it? (Funny thing though. I guess assorted GOP operatives labeling Edwards the "Breck girl"; Ann Coulter calling him a "faggot"; and Rush Limbaugh asking whether Edwards might be our "first female President"--those comments only apply when the Republicans are talking about the Democrats! Oh, I get it. It's okay to get your makeup done if you're a War Hero.)

Because I know that the Republican candidate isn't too savvy with computers by his own admission (or the economy either, but I can't help him with that one), I invite John McCain's future makeup artists to read a post I wrote that is great for people looking for cosmetics but happen to be on a budget. (Or Cindy, maybe you can print this out for your husband so he can read it on the No Talk Express bus.)

Perhaps he can save that $5K and spend it on something more useful, like universal healthcare. We're socializing Wall Street, so why not get some yearly checkups thrown into the bargain?

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The only miracle makeup artists cannot perform is painting a brain on Sarah Palin.

I am relishing this transcript of her interview with Katie Couric. I was on the debate team in 8th grade and even I could have done a better job as a 12-year-old in the interview (here I go again, being an elitist).

Let's face it: if you're going to make sh*t up and speak it as the truth in front of the whole world, you'd damn well better practice your story to perfection so you've got it down pat when someone calls you on it.

COURIC: You've cited Alaska's proximity to Russia as part of your foreign policy experience. What did you mean by that?

PALIN: That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and on our other side, the land-- boundary that we have with-- Canada. It-- it's funny that a comment like that was-- kind of made to-- cari-- I don't know, you know? Reporters--

COURIC: Mock?

PALIN: Yeah, mocked, I guess that's the word, yeah.

COURIC: Explain to me why that enhances your foreign policy credentials.

PALIN: Well, it certainly does because our-- our next door neighbors are foreign countries. They're in the state that I am the executive of. And there in Russia--

COURIC: Have you ever been involved with any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?

PALIN: We have trade missions back and forth. We-- we do-- it's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where-- where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is-- from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to-- to our state.

UPDATE: HOLY SH*T! Please tell me you watched the Palin interview. Here's the link again if you have not. I can't say too much more without my head exploding. Please watch this so I am not alone in my utter disbelief that this is not a SNL skit.