well, that was unexpected

This morning, McCain chose Sarah Palin (Governor from Alaska! Hockey-mom of 5!) as his running-mate in an obvious attempt to pick up all the Hill supporters sitting on the fence about Obama.

Just because you have ovaries does not mean I will vote for you. Tidbit: if you stand for pretty much everything that Hillary was fighting against, why would I ever consider giving you my vote? I will definitely not vote for you if one of your goals is to overturn Roe v. Wade. I can understand being anti-abortion, however, I cannot understand how you think it is your right to decide every other woman's fate in the country.

I also find it vaguely offensive that she claims she wants to break the glass ceiling by putting a woman in the White House. I want a woman in there, yes, but I want it to be for the right reasons and at the right time. Bad reasons to end up in the White House: being chosen by a presidential candidate so you can strategically pull in the votes that he's lacking -- not based on your policies, or your achievements, or any other substantial reason, just because you're a woman. Otherwise known as, you are a giant tool. Literally. I don't want a pawn of the Republican party being called a force for women.

I would rather lick a syphilitic toilet bowl than hand over my country to you.

For Your Ears

Tracks that deserve a little aural fixation:

T.I. -- Swagger Like Us (feat. M.I.A., Jay-Z, Kanye, and Lil' Wayne)

Ne-Yo -- Miss Independent (feat. Lil' Wayne, Kanye and Jay-Z).These boys love to work together. Talent magnetized to talent?

On a similar musical note, I am currently addicted to Pandora. I love the way it breaks down each song into its "musical genes." Like, R&B tones, syncopation, dissonance. It pulls out all the technical aspects of composition, puts it in layman's terms, and finds songs that have the same qualities and make-up as your suggested one. I was impressed that Pandora even managed to make up a Japanese channel off my "Utada" request. Well done, American company. Well done. They also have incredibly informative podcasts, if you're willing to take the time to listen. This one does a great job of breaking down dissonance and consonance, even if it is a little heavy on the technical music terminology.

I think I'd go crazy if I didn't have my music. Looks like your plan worked, Momma See.

Summer Loves

Watch: Mad Men. As if I even need to tell you about this, most likely
if you've watched any television, read any online news source, or
turned on any radio, you'll have heard what an amazing show this is.
Nominated for 17 Emmys (and already winners of 2
Golden Globes) this show is like intellectual crack. For a glimpse
into 1960's society (and, let's just put it out there, our current day
society) this show delves into all the stuff you didn't think possibly
existed, but did, and all the stuff you wish you knew more about, but
don't. It's painfully ambiguous in regards to relationships, pasts,
and futures -- and reflects so amazingly our reality that you can't
help but see a little bit of yourself in every character. Second
season premiered a little more than a week ago, hop on the bandwagon
already so you don't hear all the juicy spoilers ahead of time.

-- Sidenote: The Hills season 4 premieres on August 14th. I don't
watch it. I just, you know, read about it whenever I see an article
about it. Or, um, try to catch re-runs. Or, umm...whatever. It's a
cultural phenomenon. Don't judge me.

Listen: The latest addition to Timba's team, Izza Kizza, just dropped
his mixtape last Wednesday for free on his myspace page. While my
opinion of Girl Talk's Feed definitely improved over time, I'd say
that the first listen through of Kizza's album was on the same level
as my initial reaction to Night Ripper. HELL OF GOOD! My favorite
track so far is Don't Stop Go! but, each track grows on you the more
you listen to it. Zomg, the buttery hip-hop goodness even made me
groove at my desk. Embarrassing? Yes. Uncontrollable? Unfortunately.

Read: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. This is possibly the biggest
pop-culture drop that I've done in a long while (minus aforementioned
Hills premiere), but after her big appearance at Comic Con with juicy
tidbits about the film version's development, even I got suckered in.
Plus, it's August, and who wants to read about Vampires around
Halloween? That's so cliche. It's like the smutty romance novel you
don't want anyone to know that you're reading, but you can't detach
from your hand. I already read 200 pages, and I only bought it 36
hours ago. 18 of which I spent sleeping. Chew on that one. (Haha,
punny. I swear one day I'll recommend something of greater literary value.)

Buy: Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten at Steve and Barry's.
Everything is $8.98 (I'm not kidding) from jeans, to dress pants, to
tshirts. The line is surprisingly well-tailored, and while the
material is not the greatest (and I have yet to see how it handles
wear and tear) there is something incredible about slipping on a pair
of jeans that costs lest than $10 and watching them hug in all the
right places, and fall to just the right length. Plus, I can attest to the fact that their cotton tshirts can even withstand a sturdy round in the dryer and maintain its general shape and form even though you meant to hang dry it so it would never shrink.

Pop-culture overload brought to you by endless hours of internets and
lazy summer weekends. Gotta love it.

Ska-doosh

Also known as, holy mother bunk.

Space held for legitimate blog post TK (haaa) which involves coherent thought at TBD time.

Unstoppable Force, Immovable Object

I originally had a long-winded post about Dark Knight's midnight showing here. I was waxing poetic about the performances, and the complex story-telling, and the undeniably breathtaking cinematography -- but it really boils down to this.

Never has a movie rocked me to the core as much as this one. Three days later and I am still listening to the theme music, I'm still pondering the plot points, and I can still envision the sights and sounds of the climactic scenes. Perhaps because I have grown up loving and believing in Batman's morals, Bruce Wayne's dilemmas, his ultimately ludicrous and insane devotion to self-sacrifice -- but those should have been drawbacks in watching Dark Knight. I should have hated it, because I went in with the highest expectations I have ever had for a film. I went in hoping for more than I could possibly ask for, and the best part, is that I came out feeling like I'd gotten more than I could even have imagined. I don't do film analysis, I don't understand it well enough. All I'll tell you from a story-teller's perspective, is that Nolan and his cast have done an incredible job of creating multi-faceted, realistic characters who you understand so well and recognize so blatantly as echoing the darkest parts of yourself, that you will be afraid to blink lest they show up as the person sitting next to you.

If I can tell you nothing else, how about this.

Dark Knight makes me believe in men, after I so bitterly lost faith in them. Maybe not all men, (alas), but in the courage, in the strength, in the valor of the good ones. The Dark Knight makes me believe in love again. (This idea, less easily discernible from watching it, but we'll just say it's because my conception of Bruce Wayne as a little girl was brought to life by a man whom I have adored for a number of years.)

And that's only after my first viewing. At midnight. In less than optimal absorption mode.

Can you imagine what will happen after my second?

Uh, what is that thing next to your keyboard?

CREEPY, is what it is. Think the 3D head of a person (ew) sitting on your desk as you work. Inside a plastic box. The technology is exciting, don't get me wrong, but why the blogger decided to comment on its abilities as a "significant other" reminder is beyond me. I love having 3D decapitated versions of people staring at me as I'm typing, don't you?

One Small Step for Women...

A very small, itsy-bitsy, teeny... step.

Apparently some really awesome (?) peeps got together and decided to create a comparable "gadget" website to gizmodo or engadget for the ladies. Quaintly named Popgadget the site features all the latest and greatest in popular tech/somewhat useless information.

I think I feel degraded...ish. But alas, tis true that all those popular tech blogs probably appeal to more gents than ladies (blah, blah blah, but I read them, blah blah blah). So, I am grateful for a group of people who got together to try and inform les femmes about all the wicked cool gadget-y stuff out there.

Plus, they try and feature cute/pretty things. It's like a weird amalgam of cuteoverload and gizmodo. Which, I guess, I do kind of like.  Ah! I've been niched into a demographic. Someone buy me an it bag and make me feel better. OR, I could just start looking for an outfit to wear to a friend's 2011 wedding in space.