Saturday, August 30, 2008

MCCAIN=TROLL

I HAD A WHOLE POST written inspired by Captain Joy's very smart comment in the comments, but then it occurred to me:

Gov. Palin's selection amounts to McCain TROLLING the debate.

HER OPEN APPEAL to former Hillary voters is classic disingenuous CONCERN TROLLING.

AND HER SELECTION tempts us into a quicksand debate of relative experience in which we'll all sink in a panicky writhe of circular arguments and counter-accusations.

GOV. PALIN is a remarkable and accomplished person. But every anxiety she provokes (in both parties) as a shadow president to an aging man--and the doubts her selection sows regarding McCain's own judgment and priorities--are self evident.

There is no reason to get bogged down in the comments, all snared up in the bottom of the thread.

RATHER, it's better to take a cue from Obama's second comment, in which he dials back his campaign's own initial reaction. Because he seems to know the first rule about trolls, which is:

DO NOT
FEED THE TROLL.

THAT SAID, you really should read Cpt. Joy's very smart comment here.

UPDATE: Thank you, KARNAS, for pointing out my egregious error.

That is all.

Friday, August 29, 2008

ONE THING THAT IS TRUE ABOUT MCCAIN'S VP SELECTION

ONE THING THAT IS TRUE ABOUT MCCAIN'S VP SELECTION of Sarah Palin,

AND SOMETHING Democrats are perhaps unused to,

IT REVEALS just how much Obama/Biden are in charge of this conversation.

That is all.

HODG*CON 08

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO MISSED my live feed on Twitter from HODG*CON 08,

YOU CAN RELIVE THE MAGIC through this amazing album of photos I took in the main hall.

That is all.

AND PLEASE ALSO CHECK OUT THE STUNNED LOOK ON MADDOW'S FACE AT THE 1:01 MARK

WHEN YOU ARE THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE, and you get Pat Buchanan to RE-DELIVER your speech for you,

THEN SOMETHING UNIQUE AND STRANGE is happening in American politics.



UNIQUE AND STRANGE and welcome.

That is all.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

RE: OBAMA'S SPEECH

I CAN MAKE two metaphors:

1. THE SPORTS METAPHOR (for most humans): "The rope-a-dope is over."

2. THE GEEK METAPHOR (for internet users):

"ASLAN IS OFF THE STONE TABLE"

That is all.

POLITICS

I KNOW THE POLITICS CAN GET TEDIOUS, especially when all I'm doing is goofing around over at Twitter.

BUT I AGREE WITH RACHEL MADDOW, this would have been a great keynote.

BUT RATHER THAN REGRET, I will do my small part to remind those who didn't see it on TV (like me) that this actually happened.

BECAUSE, as you will see, it's not just politics.



That is all.

ALSO, congratulations, Doctor.

WE SHOULD NOT BE PRAYING FOR RAIN

I SUPPOSE I APPRECIATE THE "IRONY" (quote quotes, not ironic quotes).

BUT IT SEEMS TO ME THAT we should be wary of praying for rain, as some others have done.

IT IS NOT ONLY BENEATH US, but hypocrisy is the surest way to ensure a hailstorm of toads.

IN MY EXPERIENCE ANYWAY.

That is all.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

YOU ALL KNOW HOW I DISLIKE SPORTS POEMS

BUT AT LEAST they are not "love" poems.

THAT IS WHY I DIRECT YOU HERE, to a poem that replaces every reference to "love" with the words:

"BOSTON RED SOX HALL OF FAME CATCHER CARLTON FISK"

IT IS perfect.

READ MORE OF MATTHEW'S work at his ingenious collaborative storytelling venture "THE PATHWAYS."

That is all.



Monday, August 25, 2008

"HELLO GIRARDO [GIRARDEAU] FAMILY"

IF YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE THAT QUOTE, then I guess you missed Michelle Obama's speech.

IT'S THE WHOLE MESSAGE of this convention, in a way, spoken by a seven year old.

A HELLO OUT INTO THE NIGHT, and I think it was heard.

That is all.

PS: SPELLING of the G family's name is corrected, courtesy my wife.

"THEY HAVE RING BALONEY AT THE WA WA I GO TO"

IF THAT QUOTE SOUNDS FAMILIAR TO YOU, then you need not click on the following words.

"RING BALONEY"


OTHERWISE, I urge you to go and see what Nathan Rabin has to say about Scharpling and Wurster.

AND ALSO, on the subject of portraits of awesomeness: Ted Kennedy looks and sounds amazing. I hope if I'm ever that sick that I get the kind of great doctoring (and nursing) that he is obviously getting. And I know that Ted Kennedy hopes so, too.

THAT IS ALL.

ATTENTION, OXFORD UNIVERSITY

I AM BACK FROM THE INTERNETLESS HILLS and am now drowning in the internetful river.

ALSO, I fear I deleted from the server an e-mail from a nice man or woman at the Oxford Union, regarding an invitation to speak at that ACTUAL ENGLISH UNIVERSITY.

IF YOU ARE THAT NICE PERSON, would you please re-send the e-mail?

THAT IS ALL

Friday, August 08, 2008

AS I CONTINUE TO BE CHASED AROUND NEW ENGLAND

AS I CONTINUE to be chased around New England, I will lose internet power again tomorrow for some days.

UNLESS I GET THIS COMPUTER to run on lobster rolls.

That is all.

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

SECOND GUESSES COUNT

FROM THE COMMENTS...

TODD is the winner: famed "TRUE LIFE TALES" contributor and all-around awesome talent Jon Glaser is the voice of "STANDING UP GUY" in David Rees's new, animated static clip art comic.

IF HE WILL PROVIDE an accurate mailing address, I will be sure to provide the promised copies of MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU REQUIRE and GET YOUR BEST OF "GET YOUR WAR ON" ON when they are available.

MEANWHILE APOLOGIES TO...

"WILL," who was slightly too late.

"CHRISTOPHER," who is a Jon Glaser expert.

and especially

"ANTHONY LAURENT," who, "Terrance" reminds, portrays "SITTING DOWN GUY" and is brilliant at it.

That is all.

Monday, August 04, 2008

MNFTIU

ALSO, WHEN DAVID REES briefly brought the magic of INTERNET to Internetless Hills last week, he shared with me this...

IMPORTANT MOVING DOCUMENT

(Begin quoted animation)



(End quoted animation)

THE FIRST PERSON TO correctly identify the voice of the standing up guy gets a free copy of my book when it is published.

I WILL ALSO THROW IN A FREE COPY of David's new forthcoming omnibus that I have code named GET YOUR BEST ON.

And I have to actually pay for that book. SO YOU KNOW IT'S ON.

That is all.

BACK ON THE OVERNIGHT

I AM BACK on the wireless overnight service, with some reliable broadband after some days of travel and adventure.

NOW DEDICATING MY LIFE to the collection of clam shells that are large enough for stuffies.

LOOK IT UP.

THANK YOU, very belatedly, to all those who managed to follow the moon letters and found the hidden path SECRET SHOW 2 at the VOO.

BOTH SHOWS were very fun from where I was sitting (I WAS THE ONE AT THE FRONT AT THE PRIVATE TABLE).

AND BOTH WERE incredibly helpful as I prepare for the new book tour.

MY ONLY REGRET was that I could not pass along my advice to Glenn, which was:

"IF YOU ARE TRULY CALILNG ME FROM AN ALCOHOLISM PREVENTION CONFERENCE, THEN WHY ARE YOU DRUNK DIALING ME?"

That is all.