So since the beginning of June support for John McCain has been dwindling and most polls now show Obama with a lead of between 4 and 5 points. Expect the alerst to head for Orange, the churches to post more "Obama - Osama... think about it" signs and for the world "Hussein" to be brought to the fore asap.
Meanwhile expect "supporters of Obama" to question McCain's heroism. Like Wesley Clark - who rightly pointed out that being held prisoner of war no more qualifies you for being president than say 'falling down a well' - both are unfortunate and both tend to get survivors labeled 'hero' - but neither requires heroism.
Gore Vidal in a fit of spite has of course said that he'll be "Very sorry" on "the day that they shoot Obama" and that McCain's prisoner of war status "should be more in line for court martial than President" (I paraphrase badly)
On the "Issues that matter" it seems that Obama is seen as weak on "Terrorism" and "illegal immigration" - at least as far as voters see it. He's strong on healthcare and critically on The Economy and Energy / Gas Prices.
So expect McCain to run a "Giving free healthcare to illegal immigrants" ad soon.
Weirdly with McCain for staying in Iraq "For 100 years" and Obama on the "Never in 100 years should we have invaded" side the two are dead level on the issue.
More Weirdly democrat Obama shades McCAin 44% : 35% on The Economy. Perhaps reason for McCain to bring in a figure as hated as Mitt Romney to show that he has some 'big business' onside.
McCain's only real advantage (19pts) is on Terrorism. So he needs it to be an issue. And right now it's running fifth.
The issues that count
1. Energy / Gas Prices
2. The Economy
3. Iraq
4. Healthcare
5. Terrorism
If McCain can tie Terrorism to high gas prices he might be on to something.
We shall see
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Friday, July 04, 2008
July 4th
Last July 4th I was getting ready to join Jude in NAmibia
The July 4th before I was recovering from chemo in Anguilla
This July 4th I'm running Jude to the airport so that she can get to Amsterdam in time for a conference.
All very 'jet set' I guess. Well from the outside. I'm always interested in how people's lives look from the outside. Yesterday we were at a BBQ and the people there had a great house, great kids, a really great hot tub and conversation to spare. And I wondered "Is this what perfection looks like?"
Which is an odd question. I guess.
Jude would say that perfection is close to her new Danish Architect inspired glasses. They are tres cool and a reminder that I need something new too.
Anyway Two questions for you - whose life do you look at and think "Sorted"? And why?
The July 4th before I was recovering from chemo in Anguilla
This July 4th I'm running Jude to the airport so that she can get to Amsterdam in time for a conference.
All very 'jet set' I guess. Well from the outside. I'm always interested in how people's lives look from the outside. Yesterday we were at a BBQ and the people there had a great house, great kids, a really great hot tub and conversation to spare. And I wondered "Is this what perfection looks like?"
Which is an odd question. I guess.
Jude would say that perfection is close to her new Danish Architect inspired glasses. They are tres cool and a reminder that I need something new too.
Anyway Two questions for you - whose life do you look at and think "Sorted"? And why?
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
More real life feeling
The bolg has been very heavy on very messy theory lately. A sign that I'm actually engaged with work - but also a sign that I might be living too much in my own head at the moment. I do that. Get excited by a theory and work it and work it until it makes perfect sense in my head - only to get too tired of thinking about it to ever write it down.
But there are things going on outside of my head too. The biggest change has been the gym. I'm 3 weeks in and have gained about 5 lbs while losing inches from my waist. I'm finally starting to see the difference while trying to avoid the "I can get into it therefore it must fit" trap so common amongst the recently thinner but not yet thin.
The gym means my getting up earlier - I try to get there by 6am. It also means my being sociable at that early hour as this isn't the kind of place that you can get buy on the occasional grunt and stench of sweat. 6am starts mean 11pm bedtimes - again weird for me. But I'm sleeping well.
Summer (though it's been a stormy and miserable June) also means getting out and about more. The dog is loving the trails that we're finding. I'm looking forward to kayaking (thinderstorms have curtailled our efforts twice now) and then there are the open air events every evening in front of glorious buildings.
We're starting to carve out a small group of friends too - though the problem with a university town is that everybody is transient; so you're constantly in mourning for lost company while never being short of new stories.
Weekends see people coming out in vintage cars and parking outside of the town's numerous Ice Cream Parlours and Chocolate Shoppes. The vintage car thing is a big deal here and after a short ride in a 1952 Chevy truck (to a small town where we bought icecream) I can see the attraction.
Michigan is also full of small dirt roads. Turn off any highway and you can head back 50 years (100 if you do it up north) - with the dust rising, the barns full, the horses grazing and kids playing in the dirt or with old tires. It's a weird and calming sensation. And one that I'm trying to take in through all of my senses rather than just the lens of a camera.
We have people arriving soon too - keen to see what's keeping us from small town mania and the thought of taking them out and showing them the stuff around us is really appealing. There's nothing like permission to be a tourist.
So that's where I am. Fitter, happier, finding a niche at work (at last) and relaxing into a pace that's calmer and a place that's full of bright people. Not bad, not bad at all.
But there are things going on outside of my head too. The biggest change has been the gym. I'm 3 weeks in and have gained about 5 lbs while losing inches from my waist. I'm finally starting to see the difference while trying to avoid the "I can get into it therefore it must fit" trap so common amongst the recently thinner but not yet thin.
The gym means my getting up earlier - I try to get there by 6am. It also means my being sociable at that early hour as this isn't the kind of place that you can get buy on the occasional grunt and stench of sweat. 6am starts mean 11pm bedtimes - again weird for me. But I'm sleeping well.
Summer (though it's been a stormy and miserable June) also means getting out and about more. The dog is loving the trails that we're finding. I'm looking forward to kayaking (thinderstorms have curtailled our efforts twice now) and then there are the open air events every evening in front of glorious buildings.
We're starting to carve out a small group of friends too - though the problem with a university town is that everybody is transient; so you're constantly in mourning for lost company while never being short of new stories.
Weekends see people coming out in vintage cars and parking outside of the town's numerous Ice Cream Parlours and Chocolate Shoppes. The vintage car thing is a big deal here and after a short ride in a 1952 Chevy truck (to a small town where we bought icecream) I can see the attraction.
Michigan is also full of small dirt roads. Turn off any highway and you can head back 50 years (100 if you do it up north) - with the dust rising, the barns full, the horses grazing and kids playing in the dirt or with old tires. It's a weird and calming sensation. And one that I'm trying to take in through all of my senses rather than just the lens of a camera.
We have people arriving soon too - keen to see what's keeping us from small town mania and the thought of taking them out and showing them the stuff around us is really appealing. There's nothing like permission to be a tourist.
So that's where I am. Fitter, happier, finding a niche at work (at last) and relaxing into a pace that's calmer and a place that's full of bright people. Not bad, not bad at all.
So Wall-E
I read one review that described this as "Gloom-E" - the man was an idiot. Wall-E is the best movie of the year so far. Not the best animated movie. The best movie. It's full of inventive physical humor, it has a message, a love story, some deft touches, amazing animation and real heart. What more can you want? Best of all are the end credits - done as Cave Drawings - that show the invention and attention to detail run through all that Pixar do.
It really is amazing what confidence (and sound financials) can do for a company. A movie for kids in which nobody speaks for 30 minutes? A sidekick that doesn't sing, dance or crack jokes in a hyperbolic whine? A sidekick who's a cockroach actually. A dystopian view of earth's (and humanity's) future? And still it gets made. Undiluted. And still it goes to no.1 (though with at 'cars' rather than 'finding nemo' levels)
Wall-E is great because Wall-E is art.
And you can't say that about many movies.
Anyway must run and catch up on a few things - as I'm leaving for Meow Meow (cabaret singer and performance artist) tonight
It really is amazing what confidence (and sound financials) can do for a company. A movie for kids in which nobody speaks for 30 minutes? A sidekick that doesn't sing, dance or crack jokes in a hyperbolic whine? A sidekick who's a cockroach actually. A dystopian view of earth's (and humanity's) future? And still it gets made. Undiluted. And still it goes to no.1 (though with at 'cars' rather than 'finding nemo' levels)
Wall-E is great because Wall-E is art.
And you can't say that about many movies.
Anyway must run and catch up on a few things - as I'm leaving for Meow Meow (cabaret singer and performance artist) tonight
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Avatar central
I found out yesterday that I have a couple of dozen identities. And that that's pretty normal. The internet it seems sees you dividing your time between "Real Self" on things like blogs and "Fragmented Self" - where you show only a fraction of your personality and build an identity around it.
For example readers here know about my health, my job, where I live, what I did yesterday and so on.
Readers of epinions where I'm known as "wholly_cow" know me as a snarky, sarcastic, premium brand lover with a taste for high design. That's very different to the people over at Rotten Tomatoes who know me as an enthusiastic lover of all things mainstream - and the people at flickr who have me down as a photographer of the scantily clad (by and large)
I'm working on a model that has four axis.
"More vs Fewer people"
"More vs Fewer ways to connect"
"Whole me vs Fragmented Me"
"Emotionally light vs Emotionally Deep"
And then on what to offer in each quadrent (octant?)
Contact, fame, fortune, real life contact, the chance to play with identity, open source development, amalgamation and connection and finally syndication.
Sounds complex here - it's not. I'll draw it and then post it.
And tomorrow I'll talk about Wall.E or something
For example readers here know about my health, my job, where I live, what I did yesterday and so on.
Readers of epinions where I'm known as "wholly_cow" know me as a snarky, sarcastic, premium brand lover with a taste for high design. That's very different to the people over at Rotten Tomatoes who know me as an enthusiastic lover of all things mainstream - and the people at flickr who have me down as a photographer of the scantily clad (by and large)
I'm working on a model that has four axis.
"More vs Fewer people"
"More vs Fewer ways to connect"
"Whole me vs Fragmented Me"
"Emotionally light vs Emotionally Deep"
And then on what to offer in each quadrent (octant?)
Contact, fame, fortune, real life contact, the chance to play with identity, open source development, amalgamation and connection and finally syndication.
Sounds complex here - it's not. I'll draw it and then post it.
And tomorrow I'll talk about Wall.E or something
Monday, June 30, 2008
Social networking
I'm giving a quick 15 mins on Social Networking and the power of 'Word of Mouth' tomorrow and at this precise moment I have nothing to say. Or rather I'm not sure what I want to say.
The problem I have with web 2.0 is that it offers fame but not fortune. I'm expected to work my ass off just for recognition - what the very smart Irene Hofman labelled "your 15MB of fame"
What I WANT is fame and fortune... a share in the spoils, reward beyond recognition. And nobody is doing that yet.
I've talked about this before - but I'm amazed that social networks haven't become monetized yet. They're being seen as media space - places that draw people to be sold to... rather than as incubators of ideas ---> places where something can grow wings and take to the air.
Maybe that's what I'll talk about... collective creativity, the hive mind and the need for fortune.
Cool --- that was easy
The problem I have with web 2.0 is that it offers fame but not fortune. I'm expected to work my ass off just for recognition - what the very smart Irene Hofman labelled "your 15MB of fame"
What I WANT is fame and fortune... a share in the spoils, reward beyond recognition. And nobody is doing that yet.
I've talked about this before - but I'm amazed that social networks haven't become monetized yet. They're being seen as media space - places that draw people to be sold to... rather than as incubators of ideas ---> places where something can grow wings and take to the air.
Maybe that's what I'll talk about... collective creativity, the hive mind and the need for fortune.
Cool --- that was easy
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