Wednesday Morning Insomnia Blogging

I don't know why I can't sleep tonight. Maybe it's this leg cramp, or maybe I'm still hyped up from my dinner with some old colleagues.

Speaking of old colleagues, apparently BofA has merged with MBNA in order to strengthen their hold on the credit card industry. Guess they hadn't yet gotten over their mergerlust. I'm so outta the loop. Anyway.

As some of you know, I worked at BofA many years ago and was there during the "merger of equals" with NationsBank. And while I thought having a free checking account was a pretty cool benefit, I cannot say that, as an employee, I was as thoroughly (ahem) engaged as these guys are. Have you heard about this already? Watch it:



That's Jim Du Bois, consumer market executive, Manhattan and Ethan Chandler, a banking center manager in Manhattan.

Gag. Seriously. G-A-G. Now their brown-nosing is all up on the Internet, in all its stank-ass glory. Congratulations, guys. Y'all need to be beaten with your own shoes. For real.

I'm transcribing the lyrics here [with commentary, of course] for posterity, in case this video gets pulled off YouTube in the morning. I'm groaning as I type this, by the way. Such is my love for you, my pretties. Recognize.

It is even better now that we're the same
To great companies come together
Now MBNA is BofA
And it's one bank, one card, one name that's known all over the world
One spirit, we get to share it
Leading us all to higher standards

Do you like the Cowboys? Or your university?
Do you like the Yankees? Or is NASCAR more your speed?
Well it's your choice, your right
To pick a card that shows your heart and your pride
We're one with affinity
And we'll carry each other, carry each other

Have you come to meet Bruce Hammonds [who ????]
Have you come to meet Liam McGee? [He's still there????]
Have you heard about Michelle Shepard, she's leading the team in the Northeast [shout out!]
And we've got Bank One on the run
What's in your wallet? It's not Capital One
It's us, so which card are you?
Integration's never had us feeling so good

And we'll make lots of money forever I can sing
About trusting and teamwork and doing the right thing [gotta throw in those core values!!]
We'll live out our core values [see!!!] while the competition crawls
'Cause they want what we have got
But it's only here at Bank of America

Etc. Etc. You get the drift.

Apparently they got a standing O for this.

I'm not the only one who's not amused. Apparently Universal Music Group is getting their "cease and desist" on:

"It has come to Universal's attention that Bank of America, N.A. (“BA”) has created a derivative work of the Composition to promote BA’s business and, in connection therewith, BA has publicly performed, synchronized, reproduced and distributed the Composition during BA business meetings and in timed relation with a video that is available to the public on at least two (2) Internet Web Sites..."

I wonder if this musical trainwreck, if you will, can be considered a parody, and therefore protected speech under the First Amendment. Although, I can see Universal's point. Whatever.

Too bad you can't bust a "cease and desist" order on some corny ass mofos.

Sidebar: Somewhere out there, Bono's ego is getting stroked. Or flagellated. You decide.

They're bringing skankyback

I admit it. I'm a sucker for the celebrity gossip. I buy US Weekly, dammit.

And if you're anything like me, you're sitting there in profound and utter incredulousness that Paris Hilton is now being used as a PR device to reinvigorate sagging careers. Case in point: Britney Spears, who's been seen around town lately cavorting with America's favorite socialite. Like they're best friends all of a sudden.

I don't get it either. Britney apparently "looks up to" Paris Hilton. Um, WHAT?

A Socialite's Life sums it up beautifully:

I pray pray pray this is but the latest stage in some bored hoax that the Three Skanks of the Apocalypse have concocted to fight off ennui.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Britney. Honey. What the hell? Do you do everything your publicist tells you to?

For the record ...

... this just might be my favorite scene from High Fidelity.



That is all.

Everybody wants a record deal

Oh Jah, please make him stop [emphasis mine]:

A source told Britain's Daily Star newspaper: "Tom's got a great voice. And he loves that song ever since his Top Gun character Maverick sang it to woo his love interest Kelly McGillis. Katie proved how talented she is musically when she performed in The Singing Detective remake." Tom's vocal talents did not go unnoticed by several music producers who attended his wedding, and the couple have apparently been offered staggering sums to sign an exclusive record deal.

Tom Cruise is corny enough, but now it looks like I'm gonna have to bust out my list of actors/models/whatever-turned-singers-turned-actors in order to prove my point. Here's my "Don't-Quit-Your-Day-Job" list:

• J. Lo
• Jamie Foxx (although his album was OK)
• Eddie Murphy
• Lindsay Lohan
• Paris Hilton
• Joey "Whoah!" Lawrence
• Steven Segal
• David Hasslehoff
• Shaquille O'Neal
• Joe Pesci
• Jennifer Love Hugetits
• Corky
  

All I'm saying is that very few can pull this off, Tom and Kat(i)e. Very. Few. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Is there anyone I'm missing?

(With inspiration from A Socialite's Life.)

"Liberalism is a mental disorder."

That's what I saw on a super-sized bumper sticker this afternoon on my way to a Thanksgiving party in Santa Rosa.

I didn't get a good look at the guy driving the car (actually, it was a beat-up truck, but who am I to judge?), but please believe I would have given him my wrathful eye had we made eye contact.

Why the namecalling? Why the insults? I don't necessarily agree with right-wing politics, and I absolutely detest their successful attempts at perverting an innocent term to describe a political ideology --- an ideology that is rooted in individual freedom, oh by the way (as if this is a bad thing!) --- into something that connotes stupidity, naiivete, or insanity. Cannot. Stand. It.

Fucking irresponsible. Why not just agree to disagree, for fuck's sake? Now you've gone ahead and given stupid people who can't think for themselves something to latch on to. Brilliant.

Anyway. Whatever.

Let's all go to our happy place now, shall we?




(YouTube link courtesy of someone.)

Giving Thanks

Much of what I'm grateful for hasn't changed since my Thanksgiving post from last year. I'm still the same wacky, nerdy, thoughtful, sensitive, and loving person (to my detriment, sometimes) that I've always been. And I'm still grateful for my family, friends, happiness and health. Oh yeah, and for the fact that the Dems took control of Congress finally this year.

My only wish for all you 30-60 people, you loyal and ardent supporters of G-list blogs, who come to my blog each day (some of you are STILL searching for that Damien Marley song!) is that you let the people you care about know that you are thankful for their presence.

It's nice to know that every once in a while.

Be well, everyone, and have a great Thanksgiving.

Now, get your grub on. You know I will.

Unsportsmanlike conduct

I hate to keep bringing up O.J. but I couldn't let this one go [emphasis mine]:

O.J. Simpson told The Associated Press he participated in the ill-fated "If I Did It" book and interview project for one reason — personal profit, and he acknowledged that any financial gain was "blood money."

"This was an opportunity for my kids to get their financial legacy," Simpson said in interviews this week with the AP after the book deal was abandoned by its publisher. "My kids understand. I made it clear that it's blood money, but it's no different than any of the other writers who did books on this case."

O.J.'s like, "Hey, it's cool, everyone's doing it. Why can't I be in on the hustle?"

And O.J. lovers around the world show their support by saying, "Hey, at least he was honest about the blood money."

Whatevs.

Even Rupert Murdoch has limits

Apparently The Line has been found, and now News Corp. has decided not to air the O.J. special, nor order the proposed book. Rupert Murdoch is probably trying to avoid getting a lump of coal in his stocking this year:

"I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," said Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman. "We are sorry for any pain that this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson."

Or maybe he has a soul after all. Bottom line, it was a stupid-ass idea for sweeps.

Speaking of stupid-ass ideas, Fox News is going to come up with a right-wing alternative to The Daily Show. Courtesy of The Carpetbagger Report:

The half-hour show is executive produced by “24’s” Joel Surnow and Manny Cota and creator Ned Rice, who previously wrote for “Politically Incorrect” and “Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson” through This Just In Prods. It would take aim at what Surnow calls “the sacred cows of the left” that don’t get made as much fun of by other comedy shows.

“It’s a satirical news format that would play more to the Fox News audience than the Michael Moore channel,” Surnow said. “It would tip more right as ‘The Daily Show’ tips left…. The most exciting thing for us will be that it’s going to be fresh.”

Everything old is new again. To the folks at Fox News, this is a "cutting-edge" idea. Yawn.

Apparently, I need to get out more.

I guess you're supposed to highlight the stuff that you've done. Here's my list. Because I know you give a shit, you really do:

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain (Does Mt. Tam count?)
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it (You mean, aside from my parents, right? Ahem.)
09. Hugged a tree (I lived in Berkeley for a spell, but never that.)
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars (Once, camping out for New Kids on the Block tickets. Don't judge!)
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne (Oy, the hangover!)
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment (Ash Wednesday, ask me about it sometime.)
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run (No, but I got to third base a few times, heh.)
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.
42. Had amazing friends (HAVE)
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe.
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love (story of my life!)
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke (Ugh. Yes. Against my will.)
59. Lounged around in bed all day (One of life's guilty, but necessary, pleasures.)
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain (Does fog count?)
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured an ancient site
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played Dungeons & Dragons for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date (Don't judge!)
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently well enough to have a decent conversation (Those were the days ...)
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge (I really need to do this)
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat (I did have antelope jerky in Idaho, of all places)
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper (I made all-league in Tennis senior year in high school. Jah bless the local papers.)
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read (I got to the "selected" part)
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ (my dream!)
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life
151. Finished a marathon

Your turn.




(Courtesy of Tamara, from Awkwardly Social, my favorite SoCal blogger, formerly of T&A, the best blog name in the whole wide world besides mine.)

Down with apathy

All those people wanting to sue Sasha Baron Cohen for making fools out of them in his new movie ("Borat") need to be beaten with their own shoe.

Baron Cohen breaks it down thusly (courtesy of Rising Hegemon re: percieved anti-Semitism in the movie) [emphasis mine]:

Baron Cohen said the concept of "indifference towards anti-Semitism" had been informed by his study of the Holocaust while at Cambridge University, where he read history. "I remember, when I was in university, and there was this one major historian of the Third Reich, Ian Kershaw. And his quote was, 'The path to Auschwitz was paved with indifference.'

"I know it's not very funny being a comedian talking about the Holocaust, but I think it's an interesting idea that not everyone in Germany had to be a raving anti-Semite. They just had to be apathetic," he said.

Delicious irony is just freakin' wasted on the simple minded. Bloody fools.

What a class act, that O.J. Simpson guy.

Many years ago, when I was in college, a person of African-American background asked me if I thought O.J. was guilty. At the time, I wasn't sure (or maybe I just didn't want to get into it), and I told this person so.

That was before the "not guilty" verdict came out.

Eleven years later, O.J. still vehemently denies he killed his wife and her friend, and now he's getting ready to tell FOX TV how he would have killed her if he really, actually, did it.

Seriously, WHAT? Whatever happened to his dedicating-the-rest-of-his-life-trying-to-find-the-murderer promise? The thought that even went into constructing the hypothetical execution of a double murder is disturbing, to say the least. The murder of the mother of your children? Hel-LO? And have you seen the crime scene photos?

Is he going to use the proceeds from his book (who would buy this shit, anyway?) to finish paying the $33.5M he still owes the Brown and Goldman families as part of the civil suit (of which he was found guilty, by the way)? Or are the proceeds going to pay for his country club membership?

This latest in a series of questionable antics on O.J.'s part (this gem being the last one I recall) is seriously disgusting. I mean, I've encountered people who I've wanted to kill with my own bare hands, but I'd never actually DO IT. And you don't see me trying to write about how I'd go about it.

O.J.'s been tried (and acquitted) for a double murder, in a hyper-controversial case, and now he's writing a book about how he would have killed his wife and Ron Goldman? What the fuck is up with this guy?

So many things wrong with this. SO many. If you didn't believe O.J. was guilty before, you may want to re-think your position.

2006 Weblog Awards

Oh hey, look. It's nomination time for the 2006 Weblog Awards.

Wouldn't it be cool if a G-lister won something this year?

Ahem.

Like we're supposed to apologize or something

Courtesy of Think Progress:

Last night on Fox News, former President George H.W. Bush said the current political climate has “gotten so adversarial that it’s ugly.” Asked to offer an explanation for why there is this “incivility,” Bush pinned the blame on bloggers. “It’s probably a little worse now given electronic media and the bloggers and all these kinds of things,” he said.

Not that my blog sets the tone for political discourse in this country (I'm just a G-lister, after all), but it's SO obvious the Rovian machine is trying to revive Dubya's falling approval ratings by bringing in Big Bad Daddy Bush to fight Bush the Son's battles for him in the court of public opinion. How? By blaming someone else, natch.

Typical.

Aren't we tired of this already?

Think Progress has the video and transcript.

That's a lot of Frappuccinos.

2,400 in fiscal '07.

Seriously, I don't know how they continue to successfully operationalize this. I want in on their secret.

Freakmont A's

It's bad enought that the Niners are leaving San Francisco. But the East Bay A's of Fremont?

Um, no. Negatory. Try again.

And I'm sorry, I don't know why I do this, but I always think Freakmont is in the South Bay. My apologies to all you Freakmontians (if any) reading this.


(Props to SFist for the inspiration.)

K-Fed's bringing nasty back

Oh look. Another celebrity sex tape. Sorry, alleged. From The Sun:

The Britney Spears and Kevin Federline divorce has turned nasty after it was revealed he is touting a Paris Hilton-style video of the couple romping.

According to our sister paper The News Of The World, dumped husband K-Fed has already been offered £26million for the FOUR hour tape, shot in the early stages of the couple's relationship.

Britney fears the raunchy footage will destroy her wholesome image, unless she caves in to his demands for a £16million payoff and custody of their children Sean Preston, one, and Jayden James, eight weeks.

Oh Britney. Dahlink. Bubele. The toothpaste is already out of the tube on that one, my dear. Remember this? I'm not interested in seeing hillbilly sex ...



... or am I?

Four hours is nothing to sneeze at. There I go again, digressing.



(Photo lifted from here.)

Yum-O.

As much as she annoys me, I have to concede that Rachel Ray can cook. I've made two of her recipes so far, and have been pleasantly surprised.

Tonight's dinner: Papa al Pomodoro. Basically, it's a tomato-based soup thickened with stale bread. Perfect for a cold and rainy evening.

I would take a picture of my bowl of stew (it's too thick to call it a soup) to show you all the final product (as if you're interested), but the pictures I came up with didn't do it justice. I think my camera sucks. My pictures never come out as good as the Gluten-Free Girl's photos, who unfortunately, can't eat this, alas.

The recipe is here. I certainly hope this freezes well, because I made a ton.

Buon appetito!

P.S.: Yes, I drizzled with EVOO.


UPDATE: Okay, I managed to snag one decent photo of my dinner. Peep the brand-new Le Creuset, bitches.

Quack, quack, quack.

UPDATE 11/14: I totally misinterpreted that. Ignore this post. That's what I get for trying to post when tired.

*******************
Okay, this is starting to bug me.

Why is it that the media has immediately attached the lame duck" epithet when referring to the new democratic congress? Am I naive to think that maybe now some real changes surrounding Iraq, especially, can take place?

We're supposed to be grateful or something

From Bush's radio address yesterday (emphasis mine):

One freedom that defines our way of life is the freedom to choose our leaders at the ballot box. We saw that freedom earlier this week, when millions of Americans went to the polls to cast their votes for a new Congress. Whatever your opinion of the outcome, all Americans can take pride in the example our democracy sets for the world by holding elections even in a time of war.

What a dumbass.



(Courtesy of The Carpetbagger Report.)

Insert 'macaca' joke here

From CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As the canvassing continues in Virginia, Sen. George Allen, R-Virginia, is sequestered in his home, "shell shocked," and going through "a nightmare," during this period of limbo, a senior Allen staffer tells CNN.

In a conference call with his senate staff and regional representatives Wednesday afternoon, the Virginia senator "didn't concede but he was clearly not emboldened to fight this," according to the staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Oh, just do it already so we can move on with our lives.

UPDATE: Yay!

Finally.

Rumsfeld finally resigns. So what do we know about this Robert Gates guy?

UPDATE: Good to know I'm not alone in my apprehension.

Election 2006 Thoughts

To be updated as needed:

1. Dems take the House. Yay!
2. Why the hell is the Allen/Webb race so freakin' close? And I'm not alone in this thought.
   
3. A-listers got to hang out and blog at CNN. What about the G-listers, I say???
4. Britney sure picked a hell of a day to file for divorce. Attention hog!
5. Jim Webb's just given his victory speech, but I'm still skeptical. Even at 99% of precincts reporting (10:09 p.m.)
6. Yay Nancy Pelosi!
7. Santorum gets the boot. Jonsey must be so excited. I know I am!
8. Lieberman? WTF?
9. Prop 85 looks like it might not pass. Yay.
10. Even if we don't take the Senate, we still gained some seats. Time for Bush to get the hint already.
11. Prop 87 looks like it won't pass either. Boo.
12. I'm digging Arianna Huffington's accent.
13. What will be the tone of Dubya's press conference tomorrow?

CNN's breaking story

CNN must already be tired of covering Election Day.

Some people just don't get it

Coming to a state fair near you [emphasis mine]:

Abel Gonzales, 36, a computer analyst from Dallas, tried about 15 different varieties before coming up with his perfect recipe -- a batter mix made with Coca-Cola syrup, a drizzle of strawberry syrup, and some strawberries.

Balls of the batter are then deep-fried, ending up like ping-pong ball sized doughnuts which are then served in a cup, topped with Coca-Cola syrup, whipped cream, cinnamon sugar and a cherry on the top.
[...]
But Gonzales said the success of his fried Coke had inspired him. Next year's fair-goers can look forward to fried Sprite or -- for those watching their weight -- fried diet Coke.

Although I've never met a funnel cake I didn't like, I gotta say: These are the same damn people who think it's OKAY to fry Snickers bars, Twinkies, Oreos, etc. Stop the insanity!

Don't forget

Don't forget to vote today. We may have a chance to make some real change in the legislative branch this time around. Every vote counts.


Sidebar: What are your thoughts on Prop 87? Is it a step in the right direction, or is it an invitation to creating a mismanaged program? I received two conflicting endorsements, ostensibly both from Democrats. I'm leaning on a "yes" vote, but I'd like to hear what some of you think about it. How are you going to vote on it, and why? Something like this would usually be a slam-dunk vote for me, but that mailing threw me off.

La Calaca Loca

I am starting to love the Temescal neighborhood. Where else can you find world cuisine like Korean, Mexican, Ethiopian (and various others TBD), all on one street?

Okay, fine. There are lots of places. But the area on Telegraph Avenue (between 40th and 51st streets) just provides oodles and oodles of opportunities for culinary exploration.

La Calaca Loca (the crazy skeleton), is a new-ish taqueria on 51st and Telegraph in the mini-mall. Don't let its location fool you; this is fresh, wholesome, and modern Mexican taqueria food.

I have been going crazy for al pastor lately, thanks to the good folks at Tacubaya, whom I blame for exclusively feeding my Mexican food cravings this week. (Chile, do not even get me started on how much I love that place.)

So I'm driving home from flamenco class in El Cerrito, when the al pastor urge suddenly comes over me. Since I had already passed Berkeley, Tacubaya was out. I remembered La Calaca Loca and decided, why the hell not?

Unfortunately, La Calaca Loca doesn't have al pastor on the menu. Boo. So I ordered my old standby, a carne asada burrito ($4.75, ordered without rice) and some chips ($1.00) to munch on the ride back to my apartment.

The chips? Not your usual, bland, must-have-salsa-for-flavor fried corn tortillas. Oh, no. I don't think I've ever had tortilla chips this savory. Could it have been because I was starving? Maybe. But I would go back to LCL for the chips alone. I took this to be a good sign.

The burrito itself was on the small side (probably due to the absence of rice, no doubt), and I'm used to burritos you need to hold with both hands in order to eat them properly. But that's neither here nor there, since it's all about the flavor. And there was a lot of flavor going on with this carne asada. The chunks of beef (Niman Ranch, thankyouverymuch) were moist, chewy but not tough, and oh so flavorful. My only gripe was that they should have given a bit more meat. But then again, I'm a total carnivore.

I haven't seen any taqueria offer elote ($2.75) on the menu, which was a pleasant surprise. Elote is basically corn on the cob on a stick, slathered with mayo, mexican queso fresco, and chili powder. From what I hear, it's a popular snack sold by street vendors. In theory, it sounds pretty appetizing. I ordered one in tribute to Esqueleto in Nacho Libre. I managed to take three bites, but I couldn't get past the copious amounts of mayo. But, the corn was fresh and the kernels popped in my mouth. I think if they lightened up on the mayo a bit, it would improve the dish somewhat and appeal (mildly) to more heath-conscious, or mayo-averse, diners.

La Calaca Loca also serves breakfast on weekends, but I didn't see any menudo, the famous hangover cure, on the menu. However, they serve sopa de tortilla, which provides a healthier alternative.

I'm definitely going back to try their baja pescado tacos ($3.50), made with fried, beer-battered fresh fish with their baja sauce and the usual cilantro, cabbage, and onion. The tacos are generously sized and plentiful and look absolutely delicious.

And of course, I'll be getting a side of chips.

La Calaca Loca
5199 Telegraph Avenue (at 51st street), Oakland
510-601-TACO


(photo credit: SF Station. Cross-posted on the Beast Blog.)

Even the U.S. Military wants him out

According to this post on AMERICAblog, all four military publications (Army Times, Air Force Times, Navy Times, and Marine Corps Times) will publish an editorial which calls for Rumsfeld's resignation.

It's pretty sad and quite telling that it's gotten to this point. Let's see if Bush will finally listen and call on Rumsfeld to resign.

But, one question that lingers in my mind is, who's going to replace him? I just want to make sure that if Rumsfeld leaves, that he won't be replaced with a carbon copy of himself ...

Wise words from Keith Olbermann

You can get the full transcript at AMERICAblog, but I found this to be the most powerful point:

This President must apologize to the troops — for having suggested, six weeks ago, that the chaos in Iraq, the death and the carnage, the slaughtered Iraqi civilians and the dead American service personnel, will, to history, quote "look like just a comma."

This President must apologize to the troops — because the intelligence he claims led us into Iraq proved to be undeniably and irredeemably wrong.

This President must apologize to the troops — for having laughed about the failure of that intelligence, at a banquet, while our troops were in harm's way.

This President must apologize to the troops — because the streets of Iraq were not strewn with flowers and its residents did not greet them as liberators.

This President must apologize to the troops — because his administration ran out of "plan" after barely two months.

This President must apologize to the troops — for getting 2,815 of them killed.

This President must apologize to the troops — for getting this country into a war without a clue.

And Mr. Bush owes us an apology… for this destructive and omnivorous presidency.

Bush better apologize the fuck out of this, too.

Take some time to read all of Olbermann's diatribe, because it's real, it's heartfelt, it's provocative, and it explains, with laserlike precision, how destructive and dysfunctional the Bush administration has been up to this point. And will continue to be, if we "stay the course."

Here's hoping apologies (the right ones) begin shortly after next Tuesday. And I say they should not only from Bush, but from the numbnuts in Congress who neglected to act as a check on the out-of-control executive branch.

"Now you're getting personal ..."

The Rethuglicans must be damn proud of themselves to have "Senator" George Allen representing them. And they must certainly love the goons Allen has working for him.

The guy who got the smackdown just asked Allen a provocative question, which, last I checked, was protected speech.

George "Things Like This Happen" Allen and those of his ilk have no place in American politics.

And don't EVEN get me started on the idiocy of John Boehner's recent statements, or on his lame-ass hairstyle.



(Props to Think Progress and AMERICAblog.)

Let's move on to the real issues now, shall we?

So the Republicans got the apology they wanted out of Kerry. Whatever. What's more interesting is this snippett from CNN in which Andrew Sullivan and Christopher Hitchens essentially say that Bush and his band of fools should be held accountable for this disastrous war in Iraq.

This is me, cautiously optimistic.

List of things to remember on Election Day

Courtesy of my friend Scott:

Iraq
Abu Ghraib
Guantanamo
Unwarranted Phone Taps
Unprecedented Powers
Unmatched Incompetence
Unparalled Corruption
Govenor Bob Taft
Rep. Tom DeLay
Rep. Roy Blunt
Rep. Ken Calvert
Rep. John Dolittle
Rep. Tom Feeney
Rep. Katherine Harris
Rep. Jerry Lewis
Rep. Gary Miller
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave
Rep. Richard Pombo
Rep. Bob Ney
Rep. Curt Weldon
Rep. Don Sherwood
Rep. Duke Cunningham
Rep. Mark Foley
Rep. Dennis Hastert
Jeff Gannon
Sen. George Allen
Sen. Bill Frist
Sen. Rick Santorum
Sen. Conrad Burns
David Safavian
The Vice Presidential Energy Task Force
Three bucks a gallon
Record oil company profits
Anwar Pipeline
Anbar Province
Adelphia
Merck
Halliburton
Arthur Andersen
Qwest
Tyco
WorldCom
Global Crossing
Global Warming
Exxon
Enron
Abramoff
Ralph Reed
Katrina
FEMA
Condi
Harriet Miers
The Supreme Court
Diebold
John Bolton
Florida, 2000
Ohio, 2004
North Korea
Iran
Darfur
Stem Cell Research
Scooter Libby
Valerie Plame
Golden Parachutes
Shrunken Pensions
Social Security
Habeas Corpus
Ahmad Chalabi
The Baghdad Museum
Tora Bora
Taliban Resurgence
Iraqi Insurgents
General Eric Shinseki
General Anthony Zinni
Mission Accomplished
Intelligent Design
Kenneth Tomlinson
Ari Fleischer
Scot McClellan
Tony Snow
Ann Coulter
Expiration of Assault Weapons Ban
John Ashcroft
Alberto Gonzales
George Tenet
Paul Bremer
Paul Wolfowitz
Richard Perle
Dick Cheney ("Go f*@# yourself")
Donald Rumsfeld
Turd Blossom
And finally, the Uniter-Decider-Reader of Camus, Shakespeare and "My Pet Goat", who describes the party that successfully prosecuted two world wars as people who cut and run.

Feel free to add more to the list!