A Rubber Door

I really didn’t want to write anything about the latest Hollywood scandal, but I’m annoyed.

Another day, another starlet being torn down by the press and the public. I have come to the realization that this is what we enjoy the most. You might think that we like stars and celebrity - the excesses and the glitz, but what we like more is seeing stars fall and all their riches lost. It’s sport.

I am of course talking about the Miley Cyrus scandal. Maybe I shouldn’t assume you know, because I could be talking about the latest Britney Lohan Hilton scandal. While the Cyrus pictures themselves are a little much for a fifteen year-old, it wouldn’t bother me so much if there weren’t adults involved. At the end of the day this is a young girl that is trying to please all the egos around her. And all these egos know there is much money to be made off of her image. Why would they care about the scandal and the harm it would do to this girl when the more scandal it causes, the more money that is made?

Where are her parents? Old “Achy Breaky” himself should know more about the industry and fame than most parents. Instead he’s taking creepy pictures with his daughter. And to this Vanity Fair: at what point does the quest for sales totally diverge with social responsibility?

We treat these girls like adults and complain that they “grow up to fast” when in fact we force then to. Last week Cyrus was apologizing for pictures that were taken while she partied in a hotel with a girlfriend. Thank god I didn’t have to apologize for things I did when I was fifteen. All these self-righteous, pompous, stick up their asses, people that turn a child acting like a child into news. How do we expect a child to act?

This at a moment when our country is in a recession, fighting two wars, and trying to choose who will be the next leader of the free world. The middle east is still the middle east. The third world is in a food shortage crisis. We have other things that should be occupying our minds. Is it a wonder why we’re in such bad shape? (I can talk because if you read this blog you’ll know I don’t spend much time thinking about this shit).

This all says more about us than I wish it did.

Going away for a long weekend to Pittsburgh to hang out with some friends and catch the Phillies at the beautiful PNC Park so what better band than Vampire Weekend?  (Work with me ok).  

Anyway - any excuse to put the “A-Punk” (iTunes) video on my site, I’ll take.  Catchy summer song. We’ll definitely add it to the road trip playlist.

 I couldn’t help myself.  Share your captions for this photo in the comments.

I’ll start it off: “If it’s good enough for Bill…”

Wow - this is pretty fricking bad.  This thing is going until June.  The Republicans have to love the Democrats beating on each other for another 6 weeks.  

Let’s hope they tone it down for the good of the party (and the country).

Really that should be “Voted for Obama”.  We just cast our votes for the next President.  Hoping PA comes through (coming through would be losing by less than 10%).  We need this campaign to end so we can focus on the man who is so wrong for this country - John McCain).

Apparently Hillary was here in Conshohocken today - while Barack got his cheesesteak from Pat’s (not Geno’s - good man), Hillary got her cheesesteak from Bocella’s - and ordered it to go. Want to bet she didn’t even eat the thing?  Isn’t the whole idea to get a press op biting into the cheesesteak and talking with the locals at the luncheonette?

Today’s the day you have your chance to practice for the big vote in November. You should get out and vote (and if you’re voting for Obama, vote often ;)

Seriously - whether you’re voting for Hillary, Barack or for some unknown reason McCain, it doesn’t matter, you should get out and vote. It’s important to get into practice to vote even when you think it doesn’t matter.

On a day like this (80 degrees and sunny) it’s a tease to have my desk surrounded by windows. Hoping to leave a little early. Anyway.

I’m still on a Kathleen Edwards high from last week and it made me want to listen to John Doe’s last album, A Year In the Wilderness, where Edwards sings on three songs, the best of which is “Golden State”. Listen to it a couple of times and you’ll realize it’s a smartly different approach at a love song. The version below is with Cindy Wasserman - great songwriting (the lyrics are after the video

Golden State Lyrics

You are the hole in my head
I am the pain in your neck
You are the lump in my throat
I am the aching in your heart
We are tangled
We are stolen
We are living where things are hidden

You are something in my eye
And I am the shiver down your spine
You are on the lick of my lips
And I am on the tip of your tongue
We are tangled
We are stolen
We are buried up to our necks in sand

We are luck
We are ]fate
We are the feeling you get in the golden state
We are love
We are hate
We are the feeling I get when you walk away….
Walk away

Well you are the dream in my nightmare
I am that falling sensation
You are not needles and pills
I am your hangover morning
We are tangled
We are stolen
We are living where things are hidden

We are luck
We are fate
We are the feeling you get in the golden state
We are love
We are hate
We are the feeling I get when you walk away
Walk away
Walk away

You are the hole in my head
You are the pain in your neck
You are the lump in my throat
I am the aching in your heart

I don’t know if Obama or Clinton won the debate, but sure as hell ABC lost.  Half of the debate spent on trivial issues (why doesn’t Obama wear the flag pin?  Really?)

As for the candidates, it was a tough night for Obama.  I’m trying not to be biased - but there really was a lack of talk about issues and policy, as if the script for tonight was written by the writers from Lost as opposed to journalists.  The focus on the tabloid issues, is not a good place for Obama - and being that they spent an hour on it - this wasn’t a good debate for him.  As for the comments of him looking defensive - kind of hard not to be, but I think he went on too long, and should have pushed harder to get the dialog to the issues.

That said - if Obama is going to become the nominee and ultimately the President, he’s going to have to take his lumps and respond better than he did tonight.  Clinton fights like a Republican - dirty tricks and all.  I think it was Pat Buchanan or Keith Olbermann said she’s a knife fighter and Obama isn’t used to knife fights.  It’s part of her appeal and her selling point - that we need someone that’s going to fight like that to beat the Republicans and their games.  I hope not.  I’d like to be a little more optimistic and have a little more faith in people than that.

What were your thoughts?