Sorry. I've been a bad blogger.

o good god

one more day. ONE MORE DAY.

oh, poor grampy

yup, that's Donnie Wahlberg. looking right at me.

YOU are responsible!

'single'

A much more age-appropriate (and hot, yeah I said it. and I'll say it again. hot.) video this time. although, I'm not sure their wives and children would agree, but whatever. really though, this is so much fun, this nkotb come back. personally.. well, and publically, I guess, I love it. the songs are fun and dancy and weirdly drrty. all said, not. bad. I love it even if it makes me feel funny inside.

ciao, buddies.
-nina.

hot.

o god. painful.

okay, wait, wait, wait...

this headline is even better:

Advisor Says McCain Helped Create the Blackberry(AP)

_____________________________________

wow.

now, this a hell of a headline:

Rove: McCain went "too far" in ads

I mean... wow.

________________________________

I want to know that too, Matt.

You think Charlie Gibson will ask her about this?

McCain criticized Wasilla earmarks in 2001

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain criticized two of his future running mate's hometown projects in broadsides in 2001 against congressional "pork-barrel" spending, records from the Arizona senator's office show.

McCain and running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have criticized such spending as a central part of their campaign for the White House. McCain has made pork-busting a centerpiece of his maverick pitch for years.

But when Palin served as mayor of her hometown of Wasilla, outside Anchorage, she obtained about $27 million in federal "earmarks" during her last four years in office, according to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense.

In a 2001 statement opposing a transportation spending bill McCain singled out for criticism about $3 million worth of those projects. McCain's list of "objectionable" spending included a $2.5 million road project for the town that then had a population of 5,500, as well as a $450,000 appropriation for an agricultural processing plant there.

McCain's campaign responded Wednesday by saying the record on pork-barrel spending "is one we are eager to discuss."

"As mayor of Wasilla, Gov. Palin was forced to work within the current system to obtain critical funding for a growing city," the campaign said in a statement. By comparison, it said, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama "has consciously attempted to manipulate the system by requesting nearly $1 million every working day he has been in the Senate."

Palin already has been facing questions about her stump-speech claim to have said " 'Thanks, but no thanks' for that bridge to nowhere up in Alaska." Palin originally supported construction of the infamous bridge from Ketchikan to its airport on sparsely populated Gravina Island, but canceled work on the span in 2007 after the price tag increased from about $200 million to nearly $400 million and it became a symbol of congressional excess.

The governor hasn't faced reporters since August 29, when McCain tapped her as his running mate. But her lieutenant governor, Sean Parnell, said Palin has reversed her support for earmarked spending projects because "I think she saw what they were."

"As you're in office longer, you see the cumulative effect from Wasilla to Pensacola, and you see the corruption that can come from those," Parnell said, referring to earmarks.

Parnell is now locked in a still-unresolved GOP primary with "Bridge to Nowhere" advocate Don Young, the state's sole congressman for more than 30 years. Palin backed his challenge to Young in the Republican contest.

But longtime Alaska journalist and former Palin staffer Larry Persily said the governor "is telling only half the story, as far as the earmarks."

"She was hungry for funding from the federal government that could help her community," Persily said.

Palin not only sought money from Alaska's congressional delegation, but she hired the former chief of staff to veteran Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens -- now under indictment in a wide-ranging corruption probe -- for help. The result was that Wasilla won $600,000 for a new bus facility, $1.75 million to upgrade its dispatch center and $2.4 million to improve water and sewer facilities.

"We did well," Palin scrawled in the margins of a City Council memo on federal funds from 1999.
Since becoming governor, she has cut the amount of money her vast, oil-rich state asks for from the federal government. But for the 2008 budget year, Alaska had more earmark requests per capita than any other state -- $500 for every resident.

Palin sought about $450 million in earmarks during her first two years in state office, according to federal records. They include nearly $8 million to improve a remote airport in the Aleutian Islands, a former Navy airfield that handles eight scheduled flights a month; $4 million to research sea crab stocks; and $2 million to research rockfish.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/10/palin.earmarks/index.html

What's a better nickname, "Moose-olini" or "Caribou Barbie" ???

It's worth a revisit...

Barack Roll'd. Brilliant.

at first I was confused, now I'm petrified...

okay, here's the deal... this Sarah Palin shit has me more fired up than I've felt for a while now and, you know what, that is really saying something because I've been pretty obsessed with this whole thing since the beginning of primary season. I cannot stand, nor can I understand, how anyone is falling for this transparent, pandering pile.

not only was that "great" speech one of the more smug, sarcastic, condescending, ear-splitting,hypocritical, full-o-shit things I've listened to since that time I accidentally turned on Fox News, but it was FULL of lies. straight up, big fat lies that were nothing short of laughable.

for example... does anyone really think that if she would have sold that private plane on e-bay that we wouldn't have heard about it when it happened? please. that's just the folksy crap the press would have been all over. fuck it, Perez would have blogged it and KARE11 would have Extra'd it.

the truth is that she did indeed list the plane(okay, definitely ballsy and a little funny), but did not sell it on e-bay. she listed it three times and it didn't sell. she finally sold it, AT A LOSS, thru a broker.

that's just one example and, I know, I know a rather silly one. however, it makes my point about how this crap is SCARY. it scares me because people seem to be eating it up. it's cheeseball and it's bullshit.

other bullshit:


she also lied about Obama raising taxes.

she also lied about Obama not authoring one "single major law or reform" and not reaching across the aisle (or whatever she said while she was mocking democrats, state legislators and community organizers). from the AP (you know, that notoriously elite, left-wing media outlet):

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform _ not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.


gross.


I guess I just keep thinking... well, besides that she is a hypocritical, lying, creationist who thinks the war in Iraq is a mission from god. I just keep thinking... who the fuck does she think she is? she wants to attack Obama for having nothing more than big speeches and hopeful rhetoric? seriously? and she has... uh, a big speech and negative rhetoric? she was hand picked for purely political purposes and to energize the sketchy base neo-con support for McCain. fine, I understand the evangelicals are going to embrace and lurve her... but what about everyone else? well, that's what's worrying me.

I guess they way they are hiding her away (probably programming her on foreign policy 24/7, so she can stand a chance against Biden) and insulating her from the big, mean bullies in the press is pretty telling. right? I should find hope in that - - and in that will most likely backfire on them. right?

okay, I'll settle down. there's a lot of time left-- a lot of time for the buzz to die down and the dust to settle and people to start asking legitimate questions about her record and her lies (keep reminding people that she took that 'bridge to nowhere money and she kept it), which just has to come back and haunt her.

right?

ciao, buddies.
-Nina.

o, and, seriously, what is the deal with attacking the community organizers? I didn't even know that was a thing. oh, pew, I've always hated those habitat for humanity ass holes. and those church groups who feed starving people? and those M.A.D.D bitches? single-handedly responsible for the housing crisis. I've always wanted to say that.

so many you-have-got-to-be-fucking-kidding-me moments, so little time...

thank baby jesus for Jon Stewart!

Meat Raffles and Boobies

"*F-- Fox News! F-- Fox News!"

This fella seems to have a really interesting defnition of 'freedom of speech'...

"Ten Restaurants That Define St. Paul"

According to Kathy Jenkins at the Press (http://www.twincities.com/ci_10254144?nclick_check=1):

1-St. Paul Grill
2-Gopher Bar
3-The Lexington
4-Pho Ca Dao
5-Mickey's Diner
6-Tavern on Grand
7-Mancini's
8-WA Frost's
9-Savoy
10-The Nook

What do ya think? I'm not really feeling a couple of those choices. Pho Ca Dao as THE defining Vietnamese restaurant. I don't know, maybe. But, I'm not really loving it, Kathy.

And... no Cosetta's ?? Come on.

in honor of the Beijing olympics

a look back at one of the best youtube moments thus far.

from therealmccain.com

A Fabulous Few Days in NYC: Snapshots

the view from our hotel room.
I found it kind of stunning &
it would stop me short every
time.

I totally want to drink with this dog.




woops.



























Vicki's smooth cab-hailing style. the arm behind the thing was
constant, inadvertant and totally hilarious.




















the Dakota, which totally made me cry.



















total dolls
















Yankee Stadium! what fun.

for those couple of you who couldn't remember how FAST LOVE goes...

just because I miss LOST

fun, fabulous.

omigod, George. nicely done. that was the one of the best things ever.

tonight, bitches !

Sometimes, at a particularly busy moment in my day, a moment perhaps hinging on chaos, I play this and it calms me down.

YAY, PRIDE!

Which McCain is scarier?

Not Cool, Weiners.

okay I'm not looking to organize a boycott or anything here, just thought I'd spread the word...

did you know that Michael Weiner's son Russell is the founder and CEO of Rockstar Energy Drink ??? We know Michael Weiner as Michael Savage, the uber right-wing wacko who hates civil rights, especially for gays and immigrants. actually he just straight-up hates gays and immigrants, among others (muslims, liberals, me, you.)

I did not know this and now will immidiately change my ways. I used to like Rockstar and drink it from time to time. mostly because the cans look cool.

as I said, I'm not looking to start a movement, it's just that I don't like to actively give my money to companies who so very strongly represent things I so very strongly disagree with.

It's just a consumer choice thing and, although I know it's impossible and silly to try and track every penny (we all buy from some the big dog conservative-leaning companies like McDonald's, Fed Ex, Verizon, etc., as well as inadvertently give to others, whose contributions and leaning we don't even know), the most egregious offenders, such as Coors Brewing Company, Fox News, Blockbuster and now Rockstar, remain in a special category titled I Will Not Knowingly Give You My Money Even If You Make Delicious Blue Moon and Killians Irish Red.

just fyi, like-minded friends. I wish I would have known this years ago or I that could take back the probably 30 or so dollars I've given the Weiners in my lifetime. weiners.

for fun, in case you aren't familiar with the Weiner family, here are some gems:

Michael and Russell co-founded the Paul Revere Society, whose ideals/goals are these:

1. Support Traditional Marriage
2. Close the Borders now.
3. Deport all illegal immigrants now.
4. Eliminate bilingual education in all states.
5. Require health tests for all recent foreign born
Some say that the borders are arbitrary, English is only one of many languages in our new "Multicultural America," and that we share no common history or values.
6. Make tax cuts permanent.
7. End Affirmative Action
8. Tort Reform - Stop Class Action Lawyers.

other awesome Michael Savage quotes:

"When you hear "human rights," think gays. When you hear "human rights," think only one thing: someone who wants to rape your son. And you'll get it just right. OK, you got it, right? When you hear "human rights," think only someone who wants to molest your son, and send you to jail if you defend him. Write that down, make a note of it. So anyway, let's get back to the serious stuff here."

"Right now, even people sitting on the fence would like George Bush to drop a nuclear weapon on an Arab country. They don't even care which one it would be. I can guarantee you -- I don't need to go to Mr. Schmuck [pollster John] Zogby and ask him his opinion. I don't need anyone's opinion. I'll give you my opinion, because I got a better stethoscope than those fools. It's one man's opinion based upon my own analysis. The most -- I tell you right now -- the largest percentage of Americans would like to see a nuclear weapon dropped on a major Arab capital. They don't even care which one..."

"Many of the countries and the areas in these countries that were hit by these tidal waves were hotbeds of radical Islam. Why should we be helping them destroy us? ... I think what we're doing is feeding our own demise. ... I truthfully don't believe in foreign aid."

recently, addressing the homeless problem: "Why not put them in work camps? Most of them are able-bodied."

and, of course, his most famous quote, which subsequently got him fired from MSNBC in 2003: "Oh, you're one of the sodomites? You should only get AIDS and die, you pig"

ciao, buddies.
-Nina.

"terrorist fist jab," almost as funny as "fair and balanced"

whoo pig sooie! fun and games and wine in arkansas

go hogs.

ciao, buddies.

-Nina

L.A. is O.K.

o, what a lovely long weekend in LA we had. after 6 years of her living there, we finally got our asses on a plane to visit beautiful Tatum. it was nothing but fun: great food, great lady friends, perfect weather, beautiful vistas + art at the getty, fab dining/drinking scene within blocks of Tatum's place, scary scientologists... yup, awesome!

girl hog and I had a nice afternoon at Venice beach despite horrendous hangovers and badass blisters.

at Moonshadows restaurant and bar in malibu. apparently, this is the place Mel Gibson was drinking at the night he brought sugartits to the public lexicon. also supposed to be a favorite hangout for Brit-Brit.

clearly:

we didn't see any celebrities, which was disappointing for me. I was just sure I'd spot someone - - and believe me, I was looking. I almost crashed several times from trying to subtly scan faces and walk at the same time. what I planned to do a celebrity once I found one, I have no idea.

just blocks from Tatum's place. nice little snapshot view, huh? it was great to see Tatum still gaze upon the sign with a hint of awe.


outside Tatum's great little artist's quarter style apartment. we really loved her place; it's unique and funky and in a very friendly and comfy little complex. we also loved her two goofy cats, Mama and Monkey (aka Mookie, Brando, Brandy, Buster, Tinyhead, Monsterhead, Wookie, etc)

saturday night Beirut show at the Wiltern. AWESOME, awesome show in a perfectly art deco theater. lovely.

ciao, buddies!

-nina

Senator Widestance Commemorated

Yay, Saint Paul Saints! For so many reasons I say this, but the giveaway this Sunday is just too awesome.

"The keepsakes consist of a miniature bathroom stall with a couple of lower legs and feet. One of the feet is spring loaded and "taps."

It's a bobblefoot, ha! Somebody in Saints marketing has a fiesty sense of humor - - and, apparently, a very large green light. Well done, Saints. This is the best one yet, even better than the Michael Vick plastic dog and Randy Moss hood ornament deals.

I can just imagine the other promotions...

Maybe a June "bobblebutt" giveaway? I think it would involve a naked male prostitute, a little meth and a gay-hating preacher. (Hey, wait a minute... isn't Haggard's "super church" in Colorado Springs.... ?? Mmm hmmm.)

As a July "bobbleberry" giveaway I'm seeing maybe a bobbling blackberry, an underage congressional page or two and the House Ethics Committee.

August? Maybe just a closet with a revolving door.


Ciao, buddies.
-Nina.
P.S. HAPPY SUNNY WEEKEND!

The SNL Digital Shorts are awesome. Sometimes. This time:

I am not pure.

This is creepy. And not in a cool-creepy, Christopher Walken, sort of way. It's creepy like a grown men with tattooed stigmata kind of way.

• NY Times: Dancing the night away, with a higher purpose.

It's also incredibly stupid to the point that it's hilarious. Anyone else think there's a pretty gaping hole in the logic here... having to do with, uh, teenage boys-- ???

But... I think we've found our theme for this year's ladies holiday party!

Having been to Colorado Springs before, I can say that if there is a place for a purity ball, that is it.

That town was one of the oddest I've ever been too and I don't think you could pay me cash money to ever go back. Focus on the Family is centered there. I saw real, live skinheads there. I was slightly frightened... and I'm white and straight. I felt like they could smell my impurity and my "far-left lunacy" for miles all around. Scaaawwy.

Ciao, buddies.
-Nina.

Is there something wrong with me

because I think this is hot? And I really mean hot, as in sexy and delicious, not hot, as in cool.

Yes? Something is wrong with me?

I thought so, too.

I'm very sorry.

Fuck it. We'll do it live. (coke is a scary drug.)

OMG, the best video clip ever. See it while you can... before the fox news police successfully remove it from the peoples' collective memory. (it's already hard to find on youtube).

never mind, it's down already

gawker still has it up: http://gawker.com/5008668/bill-oreilly-meltdown-resurfaces

how sweet

what a bunch of cah-rayzee bitches

hee, cute.

wow, she is just lovely

"He ran for the president of Iran. We ran, together to a tropical island"

Woops, I really like this song

I'M READY!

My fuckin' finger, Chester! He cut off my fuckin' finger!

I very honestly nearly sent myself to the emergency room this weekend. What kind of fool reaches out, fleshy finger parts extended and exposed, to catch a falling kitchen knife? I do. I'm the fool who does such a thing and I pity myself deeply.

I also tempted the emergency room gods and goddesses by knowingly and willingly eating chicken I wasn't too sure about. "When in doubt, throw it out." I know this truism but, eh, this chicken was so cheesy and delicious looking - - I simply couldn't stop myself.


I bet you can't believe that, after months of not posting anything new other than other people's creativity and wit, this is what I choose to bring you, kitchen-related near-misses. Ah, the joy of blogging. Oh, and I have plenty of pithy and sophisticated thoughts as well. OK.

Ciao, buddies.
-Nina

great french pop.

so very, very smart, this man.

I've been a bad, bad girl...

Have ya'll seen the new LOST "music videos" from abc promo monkeys?

I love it - - how funny. I especiallly like the song choices for the Locke & Kate videos.

"The Beginning of the End"

This post is actually serving as equal parts update (for the adoring masses, I'm sure) and a reminder list for myself. There is just so much happening these days. Wee!!

What was awesome:

1. Birthday festivities. Thanks, friends and lovers. I heart u all.

2. The "Blue State Ball" for air america minnesota. Really kind of a dumb event, but it was fun to do something different, jump into waiting limos instead of cabs, to see Al Franken and Ed Schultz and, of course, everything having to do with Stephanie Miller. (Stay tuned for some photo evidence.)

What will be awesome:

3. I'm starting a new class tomorrow, on literature of birth and death. I'm pretty excited about it for a few reasons: it's the mpls campus so I can leave work a bit early. grab a cup of coffee and a snack item and have a little down time before class. I've never really done it that way and I think it will be nice. Also, the professor is trying to get the Hennepin Co. coroner to come to class, which - as a stupidly, but consistently obsessed crime scene investigation show fan - thrills me.

4. Vegas, baby. Thank you, Janelle and friends, for the balls and the follow-thru to pull of a Vegas wedding. Mama loves it. Especially awesome, certainly, will be the thrill-rides/spa day on Friday. This is how we'll sound: AHHHHH! ahhhhhh.

5. TUESDAY! TUESDAY! TUESDAY! (In a monster truck show voice, of course. Try it.)
Super Tuesday, which will be oh so interesting, is right around the corner. I can hardly belize it, with all the buildup and hype. I just can't wait to see how it all turns out. Predictions?

6. And finally, OMFG, OMFG, OMFG: LOST, S4 premiere. mere days - hours, even - away. I can barely handle it.

See? Seriously, so much happening. We are so totally extreme.

Ciao, buddies.
-Nina

P.S. LOSTfans, here's a nice little collection of all of the "mobisodes" (mini-episodes, created by the actual creators+ of LOST) in case you missed them or are not as painfully dorky as me.

Some interesting ones, some meh ones. The last one, however, is quite the head-scratcher...

"secretary of lookin' good"

o. wow.

my buddy Jason is blogging again

top songs, top albums! hooray. read all about how to lead the perfect life in nordeast mpls.

15% Guiliani and 13% Huckabee, btw.

anyone else totally obsessed with election coverage right now? I KNOW it's too early, I KNOW it's over hyped, I KNOW it is an admission of my incredible dorkiness... but I just can't help it.

seriously, this shit is interesting. and this is the first time I've felt so undecided. I mean, not undecided on the question of dem v. republican (nfs), but which dem I prefer. I like a lot about all of them. I honestly don't know what I'd do if I had to vote tomorrow. I'm not complaining; I do not see this as a bad problem to have right now.

I've taken some tests like this one:


(63% Clinton, 60% Obama, 58% Edwards)

I know they are wild oversimplifications, but I sort of like those little quizzes because they are about issues and not personality, which - wow - is turning out to mean everything these days, isn't it? The I just don't like her but I don't know why if pressed to come up with an answer factor is strong here. As is the he seems like a real regular, likable guy, especially when compared to the slippery fools surrounding him theme.

I like the shift to "change" that the rhetoric has taken. although it became almost painfully ubiquitous within a matter of minutes after Obama's amazing Iowa victory speech, it's the right idea. we can fix this mess... let's stop giving up all hope on this country and remember what makes it great... all that. good stuff.

and then there's the other side. their whole field is a total joke. and it's my new favorite joke - - even better than the best ever man with no arms and no legs jokes. Phil, definitely.

ciao, buddies.
-Nina