Muffin HQ

Yes.  I know.  I should be studying law.  But, government is kinda a related topic.  I took time out to watch about 2 hours of the DNC to see what McBama was going to say.  It is really sad when it seemed like Al Gore (who I still get confused with John Kerry) was totally phony and couldn’t say anything years ago, but McBama is even worse.  At least Al Gore invented the Internet.  I digress…

In some ways I have a sneaking suspicion part of what is spectacular is not so much McBama’s words or his delivery, but just the fact that he is black and has made it this far.  I think a lot of black candidates in the past have tried to appeal to black voters, but I don’t think McBama really does that.  I think he appeals to white voters.  I see black people with Obama T-shirts and so forth, so I know they are out there.  But, in any case, another digression.

The whole televised thing with music and fancy camera shots and fireworks and all that just leaves you feeling like you just watched a movie.  Truly, at the end they played what can only be called an “end theme”.  It had marching drum elements and “epic elements”  (spacey/roomy passages) and etc.  I was seriously waiting for the credits to roll.  But, they didn’t.

I have watched a fair share of these things on TV through my life (now on the internet, of course).  But, this was the first time I have really tuned in visually (I heard some of the RNC in 2004) in many years.  WOW!  This is truly the society of spectacle.  Government, an already abstracted concept, is becoming more abstracted by the minute.  I wonder if we will end up with a “American Idol” type reality show that decides who will be the next president where online voting eliminates one by one a large group of candidates leaving just one……  wait, that’s exactly what we do need… many candidates and the opportunity to vote for each one multiple times.   Don’t tell me reality TV is going to the basis of our voting system!!!!  ”American President”…. or “Who wants to be the President?”…. it actually just might work.  People do want to participate, just more directly.  Maybe a MicroSoft / NewsCorp merger could buy the government outright and get this show together?

I guess the DNC event was less like a movie and more like a bad TV show. …. wait, it was a bad TV show.  I’m a bit confused… is the government TV  or is TV the government?

Once a summer, Portland gets this short run of heat, like upper 90’s to low 100’s. Generally low in humidity so you’ll still see folks walking around, biking etc this kind of weather. Today is the last day for this year’s run and its been absolutely miserable. The heat is what everyone is talking about, fighting against and planning around. This is what I did to cope:

Thursday - Office during the day, played softball after work, while biking to and from the ball field. This is a poor choice for activities because I was overheated and had a terrible time sleeping that night.

Friday - stayed in office until about 7pm. Went to hang out after work with Aline and some other friends. She was house-sitting with an AC in the tv room. The house also has a hot tub and they filled it with cold water.

Saturday - Stayed in Yi’s apt all day. This was some hardcore lounging time, which I haven’t done in a while. She’s an awesome friend with central AC and lots of food in the house. She also lives on a major street, so lots of access to food.

Sunday - Its actually cooled down about 10 degrees but I’ve decided to study at a coffee shop with AC.

What strategies have we learned here? Have friends with AC, move as little as possible, drink alot of water, fill your hot tub with cold water and ice.

Also, when its this hot and Justin Po (we all love JPo) asks you if you want to meet for hot dogs, tell him you are bringing the donuts.

Uggg, This American Life killed my day with their bedbugs story. Yes, bedbugs. It also ruined my night because I kept thinking bugs were on my neck. What a terrible feeling. I called the two Darrens in Brooklyn to confirm that the Clinton Apts do not have bedbugs. I am cleaning my house tonight.

So much focus on the Olympics, I didn’t want this special holiday to go unnoticed. Happy Valentine’s Day in China!