whew back from a looong weekend with no internet

Hello interwebbers,

Oh how I have wanted to post for the last 4 days. But, alas, I have been in Florida watching my brother Jesse get married while staying in a hotel with no internet access. It was like living in the dark ages. I may as well have had The Black Death.

Aside from our Luddite hotel, the wife and I had a lovely time and gained a killer new sister!

Anyhoo, A ton happened in the world while I was gone including Andy Rusk's impassioned closing speech at the Athens Press Club Mayoral forum. I knew there was a reason I dug that guy. Hopefully next time around he will run for a county commissioner seat and start bringing his enthusiasm to our local government.

More on that and other things soon. For now I leave you with a picture of where we stayed, a picture of a Playmobile hobo, a picture of a child dressed as a hobo, a picture of a tiny horse (thanks Cuteoverload.com), and a picture of an old man seconds before he was mauled to death by a dog named hobo:

Apparently it was a slow local music news week...

...and someone thought my old band kincaid was important. Thanks for the kind words Gordo!

Clowns, WTF.

So at work today there was a disagreement about whether or not clowns are creepy. Obviously, not being insane, I said that clowns are clearly creepy but it turns out that after a small and very unscientific poll that I was in the minority. What is perhaps more strange is that the closeness of the vote (roughly 51% saying not creepy to 49% saying creepy) mirrors the division in recent elections between Republicans and Democrats. Following this logic could one suggest that Republicans love clowns and are therefore creepy? No, but that doesn't stop me from saying so.

What do you think? Clowns - creepy or not creepy? Why?

Battlestar Badasstica

Last week's episode of Battlestar Galactica was probably the best of the series, but Entertainment Weekly's Marc Bernardin took the words right out of my mouth... er hands... or something. Anyway, read it. Seriously, it's a great piece about a badass show.

Hey everybody, Bin Laden's back - and just in time for the midterms!

Well, you knew it was going to happen - it was only a matter of time before the House of Bush paraded out Bin Laden (who they apparently only care about during the month of October in even numbered years) to scare the lemmings back to the polls.

Is it just me or is it redonkulously obvious how desperate the GOP is in the face of impending defeat? The ad posted below will start airing on cable TV this weekend - as much as the content infuriates me, I also feel compelled to point out that its pretty hard to figure out what the hell is going on what with the tiny type and all. Seriously though, this kind of ham fisted fear mongering is corrosive to the very nature of so called "American Values" and proves yet again that as long as we let the House of Bush run the show, the terrorists are winning.



Here is CNN's take on the fear mongering.

Oh man!

Everytime I am stressing at work I take a trip to my favorite website and everything gets a little bit better. Amazing.

and speaking of swords

Check out the "First Responders Memorial 9/11 Sword" that the irascible Gordon Lamb mentioned in his reply to the mind blowing katana caper video below.

Gordon Lamb this is for you

Ok Gordon, I can hang with the knife show:

Are you a part of the problem, or a part of the solution?

Are you watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip yet?

Why not?

If you like TV with brains that spins drama, romance, comedy, and social commentary into a tight ball of undeniable awesome then you need to be watching. This is that rare quality show like Freaks and Geeks and Arrested Development that flies under the radar until it is too late, only to have folks who never watched bemoaning the lack of quality on the small screen. Seriously, the show is going to get cancelled if people don't give it a chance.

Watch it Monday nights at 10 on NBC, right after Heroes (which also rules).

Rock your pants tonight

Teenage Meth Lab tonight at the Caledonia. Let the face melting commence.

Keith Olbermann drops the hammer on the House of Bush

Bill Maher hits a homer

"It's almost as if Rush Limbaugh had puppies" Oh no he didn't!

Oh this is gonna be so freaking amazing!

New Localism

The previously blogged about conversation in Hillaryland (the ride) regarding Athens politics included plenty of postings by your's truly bemoaning the wal-martification of Athens. I just read an encouraging article on CNNmoney.com about the growing discontent with big box stores and the folks that are trying to do something about it.

The article talks a lot about a group called BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) which helps promote local business and locally sustainable communities. Sounds like exactly what Athens needs. Can we do it?

Happy Friday Hombres!

Sorry I have been neglecting my corner of the Blogosphere (hmm... a sphere can't have a corner can it? crap.) but work has been hellish (graphic designers aren't supposed to use Powerpoint are they? Someone please tell my boss).

Friday Ryan-do list:

• Enjoy the kickass Fall weather
• Finally make it to Bizarro Wuxtry to buy this week's comics
• Watch Battlestar Galactica tonight at 9 on scifi
• Get my drink on with Winders

Great Athens community discussion

Hello reader...

There is a particularly interesting discussion of Athens politics and civic life happening over in Hillaryville (one of my favorite blogs BTW) - click here to check it out. There's nothing quite like a bunch of educated and passionate folks debating the finer points of the Classic City - if we can keep this up maybe we can actually do some good for the town.

Over 600,000 dead Iraqi civilians. Taste the Freedom!

According to a disputed report from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and M.I.T. somewhere in the neighborhood of 655,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed as a result of "Operation Iraqi Freedom."

Sup freedom, how you doing?

So far the only people that I can find disputing the results of the study seem to be Republicans or Republican operatives. Surprise, Surprise. I'm just waiting for McCain to blame it on Clinton like he's now doing with the North Korea situation.

I know that in the wake of 9/11 Bush wanted his pound of flesh, but perhaps he could have taken the right flesh. Where is Bin Laden again? All I know is that no backdoor justification on Earth can explain away the deaths of over 600,000 human beings. There is simply no excuse for allowing this to continue, this war must be ended now so that the long road to healing and global forgiveness for American foolishness can start.

Admitting you are wrong can be a hard pill to swallow George, but something tells me it is a little easier on the soul than continuing to end human lives on such an epic scale. Maybe it is time for someone to ask himself what the Jewish carpenter would do - or is expecting the President to practice what he preaches un-American of me?

WAR PIGS!

You wanna know what rules?

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Seriously, it really is quite great. The writing is top notch and the acting is actually very compelling - I am shocked that I don't want to hit Matthew Perry, and Bradley Whitford (who played the jerk in Adam Sandler's seminal work Billy Madison) is fantastic.

The wife insists that the writing is too good for the show to last (which in fact is probably true) so check it out while you can and maybe we can make it a hit in the process. All I know is that it is killer makes me want to finally give creator Aaron Sorkin's previous show the West Wing a shot.

Also Heroes just keeps getting better - if you aren't watching, you really are missing out!

Watch them both on NBC on Monday night at 9 for Heroes and 10 for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Try 'em, you'll like 'em.

Athens: Register to Vote Today

Hey Everybody,

If you haven't already done it, today is the last day to register to vote in order to cast a ballot in the November 7th midterm election. I know it is kind of a pain to go all the way downtown to do it in person so if you click here, you can download the application and mail it in - just make sure that you take it to the post office and have it postmarked with today's date - October 10th!

If you are a little braver and want to venture downtown, the Board of Elections office is on Washington St. near the intersection with Lumpkin. The office is next to the downtown police station and the old bus stop.

So, get off your can and get yourself legal so we can show Georgia that aging hipsters can stand for something.

One more thing, vote Rusk for Mayor!

Oh brother..

So you know how I mentioned not being "With Charlie" in my previous post. Well, within about 20 minutes of posting that I was on my way home for lunch and drove past the Republican party headquarters on Prince Avenue and noticed a "With Charlie" yard sign standing proudly in the front lawn alongside a "Sonny, Georgia's Governor" sign. Marvelous. Needless to say I am even more opposed to Charlie Maddox and his candidacy for Mayor of Athens than I was earlier today. VOTE RUSK!

Rusk discussion

Check out this discussion on Athens Politics with mayoral candidate Andy Rusk. The forum is a little old (the post started in December '05) but it says a lot about Andy's moral fibre that even as a candidate for public office he is willing to get down in the mud and have a frank discussion with Athens-Clarke residents about building a better future for our 'burg.

I'm Not With Charlie

So in addition to boosting Andy Rusk for Athens Mayor I would also like to give a thumbs down to candidate Charlie Maddox whose ubiquitous campaign signage (purporting that many an undeveloped lot or abandoned building is "With Charlie") has transcended overkill. As much as I would love to see Athens with an African American Mayor (our vintage 1970's race relations could use a kick in the pants), Maddox appears to be a Chamber of Commerce flunky who would steer Athens toward more over development and unchecked sprawl. Then there's the fact that I am just not comfortable with a Baptist minister as Mayor of Athens - something about that church and state thing.

Namaste

please find distribution, please!

seriously

seriously!

Mom, this is getting ridiculous. If you can't stop riding the dog I am going to have to take your proton pack away.

I wish I had eyemuffs

School For Scoundrels is a boring, poorly strung together mess of occasionally (mildly) humorous "jokes" that underutilizes its real talents (Horatio Sanz, Paul Scheer, and Aziz Ansari to name a few) while hanging its hopes on the severely underwhelming Jon Heder and an unusually bland Billy Bob Thornton (who looks more bored than I was). What a waste. Do yourself a favor and check out director Todd Phillips' real masterwork Old School instead.

good grief!

Mooooommmmmmm! I can't take you anywhere.

amazing

LOST SEASON 3 PREMIER - TOMORROW NIGHT - WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4TH 9PM. DON'T MISS IT.

unfuckingbelievable

Hard Candy is the kind of film that Hitchcock would make if he were alive and working today. I cannot think of a higher compliment to pay what might be one of the greatest films to be overlooked in the past 10-15 years. It isn't always easy to watch, but great art rarely is. And keep in mind I don't use that word (art, not great) lightly or often.