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The Baby Primary

Came across this adorable interview on APM's Weekend America (and accompanying article on Slate.com) of New Hampshire resident Darren Garnick's attempt to get his 5-month-old daughter, Dahlia, photographed with every Presidential candidate visiting his home state during the primary earlier this month.

This little gal might be the Punxsutawney Phil of the Presidential race. Her reactions are very telling:

"The baby is only 7 weeks old at this point, and Obama notices. 'Ooooh, a new one!' he exclaims with an enthusiasm that seems genuine. I hand Dahlia across the yellow police tape and remember that Obama has two young daughters. He knows what he's doing."


"Rudy declares that 'Dahlia is a real doll,' and within seconds she starts to squirm and screech in his arms. I ask for one more photo, but Rudy's done. He's panicky. He obviously doesn't want the crying baby to become a metaphor for the world he is about to take over."


"Dahlia is extremely comfortable in Sen. McCain's arms and stares up at him in adoration. For two seconds. Following the same pattern as her meeting with Giuliani, Dahlia starts to cry. McCain is unfazed, however. 'There goes another vote!' he jokes."


"...she does have some of the nicest, warmest volunteers. One guy even offered his sport jacket as an extra blanket for the baby. Dahlia was already cozy in her fleece coat, but this is the kind of chivalry missing from the Giuliani camp. During a pleasant exchange with Hillary from across the Secret Service barricades, I notice that the baby's tush is slightly damp. The fact that Hillary doesn't mention it suggests that she's either diplomatic or has no control over her senses. I hope she uses Purell."


"Mitt foolishly declares he can't tell if Dahlia's a boy or a girl. I agree that her bald head might throw you off the gender trail, but would any self-respecting dad put his boy in socks like [those]? Upon verification of her Double-X chromosomes, Mitt declares she's a 'sweetie.' I can't tell if Dahlia is charmed or not, but I don't have the heart to tell her that Romney says that to all the 5-month-old girls."


"Before melodramatically telling the audience that he used to live in a car, Kucinich seemed flattered to pose for a picture. Even though I'm personally right-of-center, consider me a reluctant fan."

I love McCain's reaction...nice quick comeback to Dahlia's crying, and the look on his face is priceless. Giuliani could possibly be Satan himself, so kudos to the baby for her terrific gut instincts. Speaking of Satan, Mitt Romney's plastic face scares the crap out of me; I'm surprised Dahlia didn't mistake it for a teething toy. Hillary looks natural, of course, and the baby looks calmed by seeing a woman's face (you know, politics aside, you do have to admit that for 60, Hillary's really not all that bad looking. I know there are goofy pictures of her floating around the internet, but most of us would consider ourselves lucky to age as well as she has.) Kucinich's smile is cute...perhaps he should spend his new-found free time making babies with his hot mama of a wife.

But Barack, oh, Barack! Look at how beautifully he cradles that baby in his arms! Even though Dahlia's father, the author of the article, claims to be Republican, how can you not be completely swooned by that?? I'm in love.

Anyway, I couldn't find much historic info as to where the whole "politician kisses baby" thing comes from, except for the obvious answer that it shows a sensitive side to the potential leader and assures us that they care about the future generation. According to Wikipedia, it originated during the Jacksonian democracy.

Whatever the case, I'll hold faith in a toddler before I'll ever hold faith in a politician.

Eeny-meeny miney mo...!

With Super Tuesday approaching, I realize I need to make a decision on this whole nomination parade quick. Hillary or Obama, Hillary or Obama, Hillary or Obama?

These are the platform issues that I am most passionate about, in no particular order:

• getting out of the war in Iraq
• expanding gay rights to include, at least, civil unions
• creating a universal health care system
• protecting women's right of pro-choice

Here's a brief summarization of each candidate's stance that I found at ontheissues.org:

Iraq
Obama: Hopes to remove all troops from Iraq by 2013, but no pledge. (Sep 2007)
Clinton: Push Pentagon to start planning for Iraq withdrawal. (Aug 2007)

Gay Rights
Obama: Voted NO on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. (Jun 2006)
Clinton: Positive about civil unions, with full equality of benefits. (Aug 2007)

Health care
Obama: Believes health care is a right, not a privilege for the few. (Sep 2004)
Clinton: "I want to be the health care president." (Sep 2007)

Abortion
Obama: Supports Roe v. Wade. (Jul 1998)
Clinton: "Keep abortion safe, legal and rare." (Jan 1999)

They're pretty much the same on each of these issues, which is why this is such a tough choice for me. I don't really like Hillary's personality so much and how she's using dirty tactics and low blows to attack Obama, and also a history of things like this is a concern. But I do like her experience level as a politician and her enthusiasm for universal healthcare and ending the war quickly.

I think Obama is very charming, smart, passionate, and will be a new and refreshing type of leader. I like that he was a civil rights lawyer and he's very persistent on how ridiculous it is to deny gays equal rights. I worry that he's not experienced enough, and I've watched Hillary make him look like a little boy during the debates...if he can't stand up to her, how will he stand up to rest of the world?

In the end though, my stepmother, DEMOCRAT EXTRAORDINAIRE, actually said that if Hillary wins the nomination, she will be voting Republican this year. The image of that is seriously unfathomable to me. Not to say I can't stand up to the influences of others, but if you knew how hardcore my stepmother is about the Democratic party, you'd be nervous about voting for Hillary too.

I'm declaring BARACK OBAMA as my choice for the Democratic nomination...but if Hillary wins it, I'll still vote for her too.

Etch-a-sketch portraits from Etchasketchist's photostream on Flickr. Pretty amazing stuff, check him out.

The Great Flydini

There's nothing I admire and respect more than a comedian who is able to make me laugh without relying heavily on jokes about race differences or excessively cursing or acting outrageously angry (okay, Lewis Black doesn't count.) And if there's one comedian who can pull this off like no other, it's Steve Martin. Check out this hilarious clip from the 80s of Steve as the "Great Flydini:"

Hurrahs and such

Last night my friend Laura brought up the absence of my annual Christmas Office Party this year. Even though I had been planning on making it the biggest and baddest thing my Elm Street treehouse has ever seen, I did far too much traveling this winter to make it a reality. To make up for it, she and I are planning some sort of Valentine's get-together at my place this February...something big and perverted and pot-lucky. Last year, Digs attended a V-day party where everyone brought in an anonymous erotic story that they'd written and then everyone had to pick one and read it out loud to the rest. I think we're going to shoot for something like this and see how it goes in Kansas.

While I was thinking about that office party from last year, I remembered the video my friend Bob made from it and thought I'd post it here. It gets a little long (and trashy) at the end, but if you skip through you can witness me and my friend Melissa wrasslin' on the floor of my apartment, big butts and flying skirts included.

hand eye thing

Please tell me someone remembers this movie?

A Possible Expatriate in the Making

I went to Europe.




(photo credit for this particular photo goes to the person directly above it)

Flickr.com/dbasci

Gridskipper!

If you find yourself in a popular metropolis, whether visiting or daily-grinding, there's a website that might be good for clicky finger days: gridskipper.com

Dubbed the "Ubran Travel Guide," Gridskipper is a great blog for those looking to find a good bite to eat, get the lowdown on must-sees in the city you're in, or read about the latest town gossip. They're also creative with ways to explore your city with such entries as The Ugliest Memorials in DC, The Coolest Places to Smoke in Paris After the Ban, and Chicago's Best Pierogis.

Mmm, pierogis...

Meeee-rooowwww

December has been the month of travel and family, and not so much for blogging although there have been many cools things I wanted to blog about--I just haven't found the time. Leaving for London (and Paris!) in 3 days!! Speaking of London, here's an article from the BBC that my friend Kelly e-mailed to me last night:

Japan Invents "Cat-Chat" Device

Apparently this Japanese company called Takara has found a way to translate meows into human language with their device called the Meowlingual. They first invented the Bowlingual for dogs; I found a YouTube video of a newscaster testing it out here.

I read on Wikipedia that the Prime Minister of Japan presented Vladimir Putin with Bowlinguals for his two dogs, a poodle and a golden retriever, during a ceremony for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg. It's kinda silly, but I can see it being fun to play around with, especially if you have a talkative pet like I do. The Moewlingual runs for about 8,800 Yen (or $74 US), however it's not available in English due to the limited success of the Bowlingual in the United States.


Miro says, "Buy one, Mom! I gotta tell you some sh*t!"

Best Playlist Ever

It hit me out of left field the other day: nostalgia for a few of my favorite songs growing up. Then I thought, I should just make a whole playlist of all my old favorites...so I did! The following are a few of my memories from 1986-1992 (ages 3-9)

"Land of Confusion" by Genesis (1986)
"Take My Breath Away" by Berlin (1986)
"Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel (1986)
"Tarzan Boy" by Baltimora (1987)
"Walk the Dinosaur" by Was (Not Was) (1987)
"Buffalo Stance" by Neneh Cherry (1988)
"Straight Up" by Paula Abdul (1988)
"Cold Hearted" by Paula Abdul (1988)
"Lullaby" by The Cure (1989)
"She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals (1989)
"Like a Prayer" by Madonna (1989)
"Love Will Never Do (Without You)" by Janet Jackson (1989)
"Enjoy the Silence" by Depeche Mode (1990)
"King of Wishful Thinking" by Go West (1990)
"Send Adrift of Memory Bliss" by PM Dawn (1991)
"I Wanna Sex You Up" by Color Me Badd (1991)
"I Love Your Smile" by Shanice (1991)
"Chorus" by Erasure (1991)
"Weak" by SWV (1992)
"Letter to Elise" by The Cure (1992)
"Just Another Day" by Jon Secada (1992)

Of these, my all-time favorite forever and ever and ever is Go West's "King of Wishful Thinking." To a 7-year-old in the early 90s, music just doesn't get better than this. In fact, I still get all inspired listening to it! Watch the hilarious music video:



Another great video: "Buffalo Stance" by Neneh Cherry. When I used to hear this song as a kid it made me want to be 16 and at the mall with cool big-haired friends:



Oh jeez, I think eventually post the video to all of these songs...well, I'll stop with the next best video of the 80s besides Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer," the utter creepiness that is Genesis, "Land of Confusion."