Election '08

Questions to ponder while Coo Coo does work:

1) Does Obama not pay enough attention to Hispanic voters? Will this be his downfall?

2) What is the deal with American Samoa?

3) Should Obama agree to weekly debates with Hillary? Even though it's partly b/c Hil needs the publicity b/c she doesn't have as much money as Obama?

4) Why does John McCain's wife feel so cold to me? And no, it's not the prescription drug addiction.

5) Does Hillary own a closet full of smart red pantsuits much like Superman or Spiderman has a closet full of costumes?

6) Why doesn't anyone concentrate on Asian voters? Do we not vote? Or we inconsequential?

7) Why is Ron Paul still in this race? More importantly, why was one man campaigning for himself outside the NJ Path station last night? Did he lose a bet?

I love this site

http://www.someecards.com/

These cards have quaint, old-fashioned imagery and then just ridiculous sayings on them.

Happy Super Fat Tuesday!

Last night, the late night shows were on fire. First, Hillary was on Letterman (but not Eli, he was stuck in the airport) and she was super charming. She was warm, benevolent, glowing, and graceful. This is the Hillary we have been waiting for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2vMhXOUEtI

Then, Conan took his feud with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to the next level by having a knock down, drag out fight about who "made" Mike Huckabee. It was complete with broken bottles, falling down stairs, and a special video appearance by Mike Huckabee.

Apparently, it was part of a whole night event which I only caught the tail end of. Here are some videos and commentary on it.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/02/05/the-obrien-vs-stewart-vs-colbert-three-show-throwdown-video/

http://www.nbc.com/Late_Night_with_Conan_O'Brien/video/episodes.shtml

Moo-riah

First of all, I don't think Mariah Carey is fat at all. But I do think her press nickname is funny. Mariah makes me laugh with her diva antics and the way she exercises in high heels and is dripping in diamonds at all times even when skiing. I read this today about how Mariah doesn't want to get ugly for her current movie role b/c she is insecure about her appearance. Now this is the role that Janet Jackson supposedly got fat for. And I always wondered what that was supposed to mean. Think about it: Janet Jackson gained like 60 lbs for a movie role and then they just gave it to Mimi? And all they want Mariah to do is wear a fake nose and some extra hair and she won't budge? This is very fishy. Why would Janet need to gain the weight and not Mariah? Mariah should take her cues from Al Lambert from "Step by Step" (Christine Lakin I think?) who is the "Nottie" in Paris Hilton's new straight to DVD to trash film "The Hottie and the Nottie." I mean they had to make her look REALLY bad to try to get Paris to look decent.

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/02/05/2008-02-05_mariah_careys_role_in_tennessee_it_could.html

What is Obama's health care plan?

Hillary's comments have me concerned. What exactly is Obama's stance on universal healthcare? Who knows? Should I be regretting my primary vote already?

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/clinton-lays-out-differences-with-obama/

October Road-Defender of the Homely

I was reading "Ask Matt" on TVguide.com this morning and came upon this question which was quite humorous. I have bolded my favorite part.

Question: I agree with you that October Road is poorly written. No one is going to deny that. But did Grey's Anatomy ever get knocked for its bomb fiascos and endless love triangles? While people do complain about Grey's, it can't even compare to the amount of grief given to October Road, which may have poor writing, but which portrays homeliness and neighborly feeling in a remarkably warm light. The characters may be plain, but they're your best friends from high school. Whereas McSteamy is just plain Superman with an addiction to sex (like we've never heard that one before). I personally believe that all TV has its cheese. Leave the edge and the realism to full feature films.— Laura

Now, Matt's answer is irrelevant. But basically, he says "October Road" sucks and is on the low end of guilty pleasure.

But who tries to defend a show by admitting it's written poorly but is a positive example b/c it employs homely actors? Lol, I mean that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever read. That's like saying "Rock of Love" is trashy and low class but at least provides a showcase for extremely unattractive and cheap women. Finally, an advocate for French trannies everywhere!! And also, if I were Laura Preppon, that dude from "One Tree Hill"and that Uma Thurman movie, and that Stults guy from "7th Heaven" (these guys are not even worth imdb-ing their names for confirmation), I would be insulted. I realize that Laura is not referring to them as the homely ones but still, they are the stars of this haven for the homely.

Note: Is it possible that she means "homey-ness" instead (or whatever is the accurate version of that word). Is she simply trying to say that "October Road" makes you feel cozy and warm and keeps it real? Is this a case of the misplaced "l"?

Joyce Chen-What are you doing?

I was perusing the A&P ads today during work deciding what groceries to purchase this week. And I stumbled upon this item on your left.

"Joyce Chen Ravioli"?!!?? What??!! Shouldn't it be "Joyce Chen Dumplings"? I can't really see the picture too well but based on the fillings which consist of either chicken & vegetables or pork & vegetables, I would assume this item is more akin to dumplings than ravioli. Plus I don't think a woman with the name of "Joyce Chen" would be touting her ravioli skills to America. Initially, I felt annoyed. I think the American public is aware of what dumplings are and there's no need to compare it to a more popular mainstream dish that people are familiar with. These aren't "Chinese Tamales" here (which frankly are really difficult to explain so I'm not even going to try). So I thought to myself, let me look up this Joyce Chen person.

Apparently, she was a Chinese chef, restauranteur, and entrepeneur. She had restaurants, cookbooks, and sold other products under her name. Chen is credited with popularizing the Mandarin style of Chinese cooking in the U.S. Her focus was making Chinese food accessible to the American public. She actually called dumplings or potstickers "ravioli" because her first restaurant was in a predominantly Italian area. Also, please keep in mind that Chen was alive from 1917-1994 so these were different times when she was starting out. Apparently, Chinese restaurants in the greater Boston, MA area still call dumplings "Peking Ravioli" or "ravs". So now that I know the history, I can accept the usage of ravioli for dumplings. It's clearly part of the Joyce Chen legecy and a nod to her history. However, I really hope people in Boston aren't really saying "ravs" still because that type of colloquialism would probably annoy me if I heard it.