mccain-palin.

lets first point out the obvious: for a 44-year-old, sarah palin is a total babe.

more importantly, however, she's an ethics oriented governor from alaska with a terrific grasp on domestic issues, specifically oil and gas resources. she's not from washington (which is a plus), and - she's a woman.

when i first heard that mccain was throwing a never-heard-of-her woman for VP i was skeptical. the choice of a young woman is genius as far as getting into the presidency goes. she's an advocate for change and she pulls former hillary votes away from obama-biden. however, my initial thoughts were that she wasn't going to be perfect for the job when/if mccain makes it into the white house.

but i made that judgement before i read her credentials and put them side by side with mccain's. mccain is an honored war veteren with way too much experience and not enough movement for change. but when coupled with a change-minded youngster who shares his beliefs on today's issues and can emphasize one of the biggest domestic issue truly important to the american people right now (oil and gas) the mccain-palin ticket becomes much more attractive.

scary thought: mccain has had a number of run-ins with cancer, and on the off chance that he were to die during presidency, would we really be comfortable with a one-term female governor of alaska running the country? its a risk that mccain is willing to take apparently.

however, without assuming the worst, this is a money stroke by mccain. it's nice to see that even seasoned geezer like mccain is so capable of making savvy veteren maneuvers like this; say what you will about mccain's desire of change or lack thereof, but the fact that he's able to select an inexperienced woman as his running mate displays that he's looking for change too and acting on it.

poor woman has to debate joe biden though. i hope she's got a witty comment or two up her sleeve that rips him a new one - cause if she doesn't it's going to be ugly. hopefully she lives up to her nickname: barracuda. i'm excited about her cause she doesn't sound like my mom like hillary does, but moreso cause i think she's the right person to back mccain.

this race just got a lot more interesting. however, i think i'd rather have a idealistic visionary in office with an experienced vp than the other way around. people can rally around an idealist. kennedy was an idealist. lincoln was an idealist. obama is too, and i think he's what's best for this country. "country first."

this doesn't change my vote, however, as always, i'm still open to be influenced.

-ap.

question of the day:

which of these will happen first...

1. i get married.
2. the Royals finish 3rd in the AL Central.

-ap.

Kanye West - Good Morning

-ap.

HP and the DH: Post-game.

i made the mistake of starting harry potter and the deathly hallows yesterday afternoon. this was only a mistake because i finished it at 5 am. but since i don't have class until 1 on tuesday then it wasn't necessarily a long term problem.

i read it in 22 hours the first time. round two took a couple months. round three: 11 hours. i'm not sure if i'm considering it a waste of time or not.

as i layed down to sleep late last night with the adrenaline pumping through my system it occurred to me that i hadn't written anything substantial in the wake of the release of HP and the DH in july of 07. i had written a fantastic pre-game entry with all my expectations, predictions and love confessions.

somehow i failed to write a post-game entry. i don't know how, i can't explain how i could've had anything more important cycling through my brain than the contents of this bulbous novel. i'll claim that i intentionally waited as to not spoil the book for any one who hadn't had the chance to pour through its pages yet. so here are the "more thoughts to come."

i made a list of predictions in my pre-game: a list of things i needed to have happen in the seventh book. let's see how if i came out on top in my predictions.

harry versus draco cage match: it didn't come as i anticipated. i wanted a full on duel, but i suppose one could argue that it did happen anyway. to some extent at least. harry swipes draco's wand (therefore - as far as the wand is concerned - defeating his opponent), and they did have somwhat of a row in the Room of Requirement, but not a "cage match". however, harry also saves his rear twice during the battle of hogwarts. my wish for ron and hermione to get involved was fulfilled though, coming to a climax when ron suckerpunches him from under the invisibility cloak after saving him the second time. i was somewhat correct, but not entirely. no points awarded or deducted. Correct/Incorrect: +0

snape has to be good: thank goodness. if snape was evil i would've been flabbergasted. however, he definitely had quite a bit of loyalty to voldemort and wished to follow him, but his love for harry's mom ran deep tipped the scale easily toward good. Correct: +1

snape under imperius curse in book 6: i should've known it wasn't going to be that easy, but being so in love with lily potter?! whoa. snape develops to be maybe the 4th or 6th most important character in the whole novel (depending on if you ran him above or below ron and hermione in importance, clearly he ranks after harry, voldemort and dumbledore.) the chapter late in the book when harry is in the penseive watching snape's memory was one of the most enlightening and answer-filled chapters in the whole series. Incorrect: -1

ron and hermione kiss: there were so many moments when i thought this was going to happen - starting all the way back in like book 2 - and when it actually did happen i dropped my book and gave a double fist pump. this is one of the things that could've really messed up the whole series for me if it hadn't happened. i've been banking on it for years and reading it like they were already a pseudo-couple forever. probably Rowling's exact intent. Correct: +1

ron dies: wrong. however, fred died...kinda a consolation. Incorrect -1

Hogwarts finale: candy from a baby. easiest prediction ever. where else would it have happened? Godric's Hallow? no way. the Ministry of Magic? so book five. Dursley's?! get real. it had to be Hogwarts. the only thing that would've enhanced it at ALL would've been if she'd incorporated two things: the Quidditch field and/or Harry on a broomstick (which we still got a taste of early in the book). i wish they'd kept all the Slytherins hostage too and made 'em squirm a bit. especially Pansy Parkinson. Correct: +1

lucious malfoy dies: wrong. the dude didn't even have a wand the entire book and he was scared the whole time. all he wanted was his son's safety - very unlike him. i thought he was done for when voldemort borrowed his wand and it didn't work. voldemort wasn't quite as merciless as i thought he'd be. Incorrect -1

draco is cornered by harry but harry is merciful: boom goes the dyno. starts to duel but then pulls him out of a flaming Room of Requirement and then saves him from a Death Eater. Correct +1

voldemort dies: this is like stealing. Correct +1

hagrid dies: wrong. i'm happy about it. Incorrect -1

peter pettigrew dies via grawp: got it, then missed it. Correct/Incorrect +0

Those-Who-Cannot-Die: " hermoine, ginny, neville, snape.....tonks." i got the first three, got snape wrong, but saved myself on tonks by my next call. 4/5 ain't bad. Correct: +1

Lupin/Tonks Combo Death: here lies my loophole prediction for tonks. i figured that whatever lupin did, she would do also. i'm on a roll here. Correct: +1

Neville is a badass: okay okay. i totally nailed this one. neville steps up huge and takes out Nangini, Voldy's snake Horcrux. this is what i would refer to as neville "saving the eve." it's the event immediately preceding the climax of the book (the harry potter/tom riddle duel, thus, neville flashes his chops and rules just as i'd called. Correct +1

Neville avenges his parents: man. this one surprised me, but i think i was just being idealistic in this prediciton. i thought neville would take out bellatrix lestrange for sure, avenging his parents' torture and death at the hands of the witch. turns out bellatrix was replaced by nangini and EFFING MOLLY WEASLEY WENT OFF INSTEAD. holy crap what a moment. never ever ever saw that coming. incredible. Incorrect -1

viktor krum is saved by ron: too bad he had an insignificant role and never shows up again after bill and fleur's wedding. Incorrect -1

fawkes is inherited by harry: i actually really thought this would happen. and then when hedwig dies in the first 100 pages i was certain that dumbledore's phoenix would show up to replace it. i figured that dumbledore was going to have a large role somehow, and i thought it would've been through fawkes somehow. dangit. i loved this prediction. Incorrect -1

minerva mcgonagall turns out to have some chops: as if we didn't all see this coming. dumbledore's gone, so it makes sense. when she runs off snape right before the battle - so much attitude. i'm pumped to see her duel when the movie comes out in a few years. Correct +1

overall: +1 i'm not sure what this tells me other than i predicted more things write than wrong. i suppose i'll give myself a pat on the back.

predictions about the movie still to come:
cameo appearance by either chris brown or beyonce.
linkin park for the credits music.

-ap.

creeeeaapy crawlers.

i'm not sure if everyone is aware of this, but manhattan was repeatedly shunted with outrageous weather this summer: tornadoes, multiple accounts of hail, and boatload* of rain. this has created somewhat of a new biosphere of which i was previously unfamiliar. it sits somewhere between the prairies and the rainforest now. we've acquired the lush vegetation of the rainforests, and it is a rather beautiful sight driving into one of the greenest areas i've experienced recently.

the crappy thing about this abundantly fresh vegetation is how it comes complete with INSECTS GALORE. they're everywhere. i mean everywhere. walking campus at night is a lizard's paradise with all the crickets; you can't even walk the paths without accidentally smashing a couple every few steps. beetles the size of Sacagawea dollars have turned up a handful of times - on sand volleyball courts, under couches, in my shoe once.

but the worst worst worst part: freaking mosquitoes. oh my goodness they're everywhere. i swear i sweat sugar, cause they will not leave me alone. i'm not going to count** the number of bites i've got, but i'm going to be one scarred individual when its all said and done. i'm not someone to show patience with itches on my body. i'm a scratcher. i'm also a toosie roll pop biter and a coca cola classic chugger.

"i don't scratch my head unless it itches, i don't dance unless i hear some music. i will not be intimidated. thats just the way it is."

coincidentally, the greatest mosquito army i've had to battle thus far was at a wedding i attended yesterday evening. it was outdoors and really really great - but there were so many blood sucking creatures. oy vey, it was awful. my friends bari and rotem actually ditched the wedding early cause they couldn't handle the brutality of the insects. at least everything was green so the wedding at least looked gorgeous.

anyway. other than the insects - i'm rather happy to be back here. except that some mornings i get calls from a multitude of hillcrest middle schoolers telling me to come back for church. happens on sundays sometimes...so far we're 1/1.

-ap.

* - a slight unit variation from a "buttload." a boatload is slightly larger (i base this on the fact that boats, on average, are larger than butts); however, culturally America has the lowest boatload to buttload ratio in the world (that's a clever way of saying we're fat).
** - i just made a typo on this word and caught it when i proofread. yikes. phew.

obama-biden.

i recieved a text message at 2 am notifying me that joe biden would be barack obama's running mate in '08. obviously a smart decision for two reasons: it addresses obama's lack of experience as well as his lack of foreign policy knowledge - the two main areas that mccain has attacked. this has been a change vs experience race so far, but this ends that debate. its change and experience vs experience.

truth be told, biden might be just as good a presidential candidate as obama.

the only folks i see not supporting this decision: stubborn female hillary fans. the ones who's chief reasoning for voting for hillary was because she would've brought more estrogen into the white house. suck it up ladies and support your country instead of your gender.

biden is the type of person i love to root for. outspoken, confident, and not afraid to tell you what he's thinking (kind of like usain bolt, of whom i'm also a fan). he sees things that he doesn't like in our current government and he tells you all about it. he affirms one of the things i've liked so much about this obama campaign: transparency. there aren't secrets, and you don't have to sit back and wonder what they're thinking or what they want. bien fits the obama ticket perfectly.

the only thing i'm not an initial fan of is that he looks like jack's dad from Lost, but i think i can look past it as long as he doesn't turn out to be an alcoholic with an illegitimate child.

-ap.

Body On Me - Nelly feat. Akon, Ashanti

nelly has become notorious for about two years of silence followed by one great album. sweat and suit are both favorites of mine, and i'm pretty confident nelly's latest, "Brass Knuckles", will be super great. he's gotten progressively better to me. i wasn't a huge country grammar fan, but his style has slowly shifted into a much smoother sound. better beats without sacrificing unreal raps.
i have very high expectations for this record. hopefully it lives up.

album comes out 9.16.08

-ap.

whats your favorite music-beverage?

i'm currently having a mystery craving.

i know that there is something - a dessert, beverage, or a snack - that i'm currently lacking and would make me feel so much more refreshed. however, i have no idea what that thing is. i dislike situations like this. it feels eerily similar to the nauseating feeling i get when i have to decide on a beverage at sonic. gosh, it's so stinking painful.

in Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, there is this gadget on this ship that concocts the perfect beverage for you at that very moment - the one drink that will quench everything. i believe this to be possible in many situations: food and beverage, but also in other things. music, for example. i'm convinced that there is a perfect artist and/or song for every moment. some moments are kanye moments. others are john mayer. others are lauryn hill, gnarls, michael jackson. i'm currently listening to jill scott on dave chappelle's block party soundtrack.* sometimes you pick wrong, and it's just feels weird. jill is money.

so in an attempt to get to the bottom of my mystery craving, i went downstairs to the fridge to investigate the various possibilities. and i came back with a freaking Hawaiian Punch. and now my teeth are reddish but it was so delicious. talk about a total shocker.

my current mood = jill scott + hawaiian punch.

interesting to think about kinda. i'd say that my typical mood is "kanye west + coca-cola classic". thats just the type of person i am. this shouldn't be surprising to anyone.
other moods i dabble in:

daft punk + white cherry freezoni
top 5 study albums + red bull
al green + coffee
nelly + water
gnarls barkley + orange gatorade

just a few. any music/beverage mood you sometimes find yourself in?

-ap.

* - i also picked up jill scott's "beautifully human: words and sounds, vol. 2" today. great purchase.

false alarm.

'half blood prince' release pushed back to summer.

well that sucks. they want to push i back to next summer so they can make more money off it. if it was a good reason like "daniel radcliffe has chicken pox" or "emma watson fell down an elevator shaft" then i would understand. but just cause you want more money?! i mean cmon - has the harry potter legacy not done well enough as it is? and why can't you just push it back to december?! you'd make a crapton then. i guess they realized that november is the worst and just wanted to sprinkle a little salt on the wound.

-ap.

scene of the crime, berlin 1945, my love life, windsurfing, oranges, carl sagan, the old man and the sea, the industrial revolution...

i was facebooking just moments ago and i came across this as a 'bumper sticker' on someone's site:

first of all, this is hilarious. second of all, it is MY FREAKING JOKE. this is so stinking frustrating to discover. anyone who has played apples to apples with me in the history of time knows that this is my favorite card and when you play it for me to judge i will select it 100% of the time. it has so many money possibilities - the best of which is 'touchy-feely'. and yes, i understand she was an american hero, but cmon now. you know you smiled.

but when i saw this i was super disappointed. there is a certain point where your jokes transcend just you and your friends and turn into a greater deal. am i saying i started the helen keller jokes? no. just the infinite use of her card in apples to apples and especially the phrase "she's an automatic win." there should be quotes around that phrase in the bumper sticker with a little "-ap." beneath it. that is mine. people have copped my fun and made it less unique and that frustrates me.

so which one of you spread it? someone took the joke and used it as their own. thats how these things spread. i appreciate your use of my joke, but when it leaves your mouth and you claim it as your own? and then it spreads to the point where someone multiple separations from me is using it too? ugh. why do i even try?

next thing i know people will be publicly mentioning the miraculous things their friend paul has done and how much ron enjoys pepperoni pizza. and they'll say something like "hey have you heard of my friend paul?" and i'll be all like "is it the same paul that i met/invented when i was a sophomore in high school?".

on one hand there is a sense of pride in knowing that a joke i created has transcended me and those i'm in immediate contact with, but on the other hand - give some credit where it's due! talk about injustice.

-ap.

a cloaking device.

Berkeley Researchers Take Big Step Toward Invisibility

so much for asking people if they'd rather be able to fly or be invisible. that's such a great question too - you can tell a lot about someone's character based on their answer...anyone who chooses invisible is a pervert. if you were offended by that statement and would like to act like you were going to use your invisibility for a nobler use* - don't. cause then i'll think you're a liar too.

the ones who want invisibility are deceivers. they're con artists. they look to spy and creep and sneak around. real sleuth types. they're shifty shifty characters and cannot be trusted.

now flying, on the other hand, makes perfect sense. it's practical on so many levels: gas prices, time, convenience, enjoyment - none of which are shifty. flying is the way to go.

but thats not what's important here. what IS important is that we're actually freaking doing it. like the article says, 'what is this, harry potter?'** science is advancing at a scary rate nowadays. we're tampering with rather unhealthy things. while technology is a great thing (i mean, hello, i'm typing this on my macbook, wirelessly on the internet - what did any of those things mean 15 years ago?) it's still scary. example: atomic bombs. example: airplanes. example: the internet. example: credit cards. all technologies that can be, and have been, utilized as something other than an asset to society.

so when berkeley claims they've made progress toward an invisibility cloak i can't help but shudder at the implications. i'm assuming that it won't be available to the public if it ever makes it for real - that just spells disaster in jails and locker rooms - but just the thought of it being possible is pretty unnerving. oh sure, harry, ron and the lovely hermione are able to utilize it in the vanquishing of voldemort, but lets be honest with ourselves, the wizarding community is, as a whole, a much nobler society than mankind...even if ron has had some less-than-pure thoughts about the cloak's use.

i guess it'll probably continue as long as the conveniences continue to outweigh the negative implications. why don't we work on genetically altering humans so we can fly instead? that seems like something i'd rather dabble in. however, when it comes to invisibility cloaks i might have to draw the line. i just can't see them ever being a betterment to society.

-ap.

* - military use is not noble either. why is it that with every new invention America's gut instinct is to use it militarily? does that seem slightly unhealthy to anyone else?

** - this isn't verbatim from the article, but it's undoubtedly the writer's initial thought.

pga championship.

it's friday - that means i have the day off. typically i would catch up on sleep until 930 or 10 and then wake up and slowly get on with my day. today, however, i woke up at 7 and made a trip to the doc to get a tetanus shot. i'm off of my parents' insurance forever soon, so i'm taking advantage of it and getting as many medical trips out of the way as i can before i go back to school.

but since i woke up early for my appointment, i've got free time that i'm not really used to. fortunately for me, golf is on tv.

i'm not sure what it is about golf that makes it so mesmerizing. maybe it's the melodious voice of jim nantz matched with the occasional thrilling moment. perhaps it's sergio garcia and aaron baddeley's get-up. or the occasional lexus virtual caddy fly-by - beautiful holes. or maybe it's the commentators vocab usage - ubiquitous. i'll be impressed once they use nebulous.

the only thing that would make this even more exciting is if i had some money on it. i'm rooting for sergio though, and his sweet light blue polo vest and white slacks. although baddeley's plaid pants are so legit.

but i've been sitting here for quite some time now thinking about doing other things, but never getting much passed that thought. just about the time i plan to hop up and make a sandwich somebody hits a one-hopper off the pin or drops a 45 foot putt. i also really want to get up and go play 18 holes myself, but i don't think i'd be physically capable after my shot. it's rendered my left arm borderline useless. it's only a quarter-sized bruise on my tricep, but i can feel it all through my arm.

i'll probably end up playing vitual golf later tonight. golden tee. part of me wishes i had some sort of print out listing the cash i've spent on golden tee this summer, but another part of me is perfectly fine being kept in the dark. you get to create your own character, save your information and stats by using your credit card as your i.d., and you get to compete for cash prizes against everyone else nationally.

it's either golden tee or the royals game. the royals open up a three game series against the freaking twins. i'm so tired of watching the twins beat the royals, so i'm not letting it happen tonight. i'll either be sitting behind the plate or at buffalo wild wings jeering as much as possible against those shades from minneapolis. oh, and go relish:



-ap.

who's gonna save my soul? - gnarls barkley

Gnarls Barkley - "Who's Gonna Save My Soul?"
Uploaded by DowntownMusic

-ap.

aherewego.

thats me waiting for tj's physical therapy appointment to get over with. i couldn't connect to their wireless so i was forced to play with photobooth. rough life really.

lists are fun. lets do a list. i haven't done a list in a while.

- i've been listening to lots of john legend, d'angelo and musiq soulchild lately. i plan to use these as a launching pad extending that list into anthony hamilton, jill scott, and robin thicke as well. and alicia (the latter tracks off diary of and songs in a minor). and perhaps the vintage al green i haven't dabbled in yet. i think my point is that i'm diving headfirst into r&b/soul. Target put out this new john legend live album that i'd like to get my hands on as well. too bad i'm broke phi broke.

- holly is coming in town this weekend. thats my sister. that means that my parents are probably taking her shopping for a new fall school wardrobe. hopefully i'll land a couple fresh 3- or 5-subject notebooks for the upcoming semester. otherwise i think i have everything i need (a new puffer vest and the revival of my blueJays cap in particular...$3 for unending fashion).

- ken griffey jr got traded to the white sox and made his debut last night at kauffman stadium. i was in section 431. this is a tragedy really. i hate the white sox - they don't deserve a player like junior. i haven't decided if i hate the white sox more or less now that they've acquired him - less cause he's on the team, but more cause they've made me frown upon one of the all-time greats. sweetest swing i've ever seen.

- i'm going to the plaza and then to beaver lake for an end-of-the-summer staff retreat at the beginning of next week. it has potential to be on of the funnest events of the summer. i was just dubbed "best work ethic" by a member of our staff last week. i think if she saw me during the school year she would think differently. anyway, i think we'll get to do some cliff jumping and some water skiing. skiing has consecutive i's. like hawaii. strange.

- it's really hot outside. better than really cold. i'd much rather it be august all year than january. january sucks. so does november and february. except this year november = hp6. november sizzler indeed.

-ap.