Friday, May 30, 2008
Design update
This is the closest it's going to be for a while to balancing (a) something I can stand looking at all the time, (b) appears [nearly] the same in I.E. and in Firefox (don't know about Mac yet), and (c) is a bit snappy. If anyone has any serious objections or thoughts or comments, please let me know.

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Permalink | 5 comment(s) | posted by jau at 3:38 PM

Michigan and Florida
Apparently the Democratic National Committee will exercise its power and resolve the nomination issues about Florida and Michigan this weekend. Since it's the entity that leveled the sanctions in the first place, it seems implausible that they'd simply drop them now.

In Florida, everyone was still on the ballot so the results presumably meant something fairly close to what the voters intended. In Michigan, however, things were quite different. Edwards and Obama removed themselves from the ballot in Michigan as they had been instructed to do by the DNC but Hillary refused to remove herself from the ballot. Technically she got 40.02% of Michigan's democratic primiary votes her and "other" got 55.23%. But consider:

— all the "other" votes could have been meant for Edwards, or
— all the "other" votes could have been meant for Obama, or
— all the "other" votes could all have been write-ins for me or you

It's a certainty that all the "other" votes were not meant for Hillary since she was already on the ballot. And it's pretty much a certainty that all the "other" votes weren't for Obama either because that's not what voters do, especially early in a primary season (it was only the third primary). In other words, there's absolultely no way to know who would have received what portion of 55.23% of Michigan's democratic primary votes.

If a large percent of the "other" votes would have gone to Edwards, it could have utterly changed the direction of his candidacy and possibly the outcome of the entire democratic nomination. Hey - if the DNC drops the sanctions entirely, maybe Edwards will sue to demand that the entire nomination season be re-held!

It is immoral and unfair to apportion the Michigan popular vote in any way since there is no possible accurate way to determine what the voters intended.

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Permalink | 2 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:14 AM

Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tony Snow
We must rally 'round - he needs our thoughts, prayers, incense, chanting . . . whatever we can do to get the attention of whatever or whoever wields (super)natural powers. Apparently he's ill again and he's just so much someone our world cannot yet do without.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 1:21 PM

One end may be nigh
One can only hope that the worst may be over (read this). Well, the worst of the nomination part. I suppose the campaign itself will make the nomination process look like a pleasant day in the park. No one seems able to keep hold of facts, let alone open-minded debate. It's going to be a very bumpy ride.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:24 AM

Birthdays
What a day. Many of the honorees seem to have several traits in common, at least as far as their public personnae and fame convey. They're forceful, creative, funny, verbal and smart.
JFK, Chesterton, Patrick Henry, Spengler, Paul Ehrlich, Annette Benning, Melissa Etheridge, Noel Gallagher, Herb Shriner, Scary Spice (I mean Melanie Brown) and David Hinkley (oops), also Bob Hope and Beatrice Lillie (both of whom were simply awesome and incredible entertainers)
Happy day to them all and happy memories and thoughts as we picture them.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:19 AM

Gorgeous II
The weather is simply fantastic in NY today. Cool this morning, sunny, breezy. Aside from the contrast to the humid and yucky day recently, it's just so amazing to feel air like this. Now, where shall I move to have this almost all year? Hmm.....

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Permalink | 3 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:16 AM

Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Gorgeous

I've always loved Linda's blog for her insight, her sense of humor, her fantastic recipes, her stories about life and, especially, about her own experiences. Generally everything, I guess. Today I am knocked out also by her poppy photos, of which this is one. Her salade nicoise is now one of my son's more requested favorites so I definitely owe her.

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Permalink | 2 comment(s) | posted by jau at 6:08 PM

Some people do good things
Musing Laura reported yesterday on a terrific series of projects that Kirk and Anne Douglas undertook for the last several years, rebuilding over 400 parks and playgrounds around Los Angeles (read about it here). Kudos to them and thanks to Laura for mentioning it.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 3:49 PM

DC's CD
DC signed the expected record deal and will have a cd out in the fall. Read about it here. Neat.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 3:38 PM

Design update
Well, I'm getting the design a bit streamlined and cleaner. At least it doesn't annoy me just to look at it, which is progress. I'm afraid it still doesn't render right – or the same, for that matter – in Firefox, which annoys me no end but at least it's not all over the place. I wish I knew the tricks but no matter what I try it doesn't display the same or right in both browsers. I guess that's why web designers get the big bucks.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 8:54 AM

Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Hill's latest
I'll admit that I was never likely to affirmatively like Hillary. She annoys the heck out of me with her very studied delivery and her utterly unchangeable power playing. But I liked the idea of a woman running for, and possibly winning, the presidency. It seems, however, that she will lose the nomination to Barack Obama, despite the increasingly thinner piece of gum with which she's holding on. I've been wondering why she can't let go. I've been astonished at each new fabrication (Bosnian fire fights, for example) and each new declamation of prejudice she says has been directed against her. Now Peggy Noonan has written a succinct response and I am taking the liberty of quoting a few sentences here because they are so exactly right.
One wants to be sympathetic to Mrs. Clinton at this point, if for no other reason than to show one's range. But her last weeks have been, and her next weeks will likely be, one long exercise in summoning further denunciations. It is something new in politics, the How Else Can I Offend You Tour. And I suppose it is aimed not at voters -- you don't persuade anyone by complaining in this way, you only reinforce what your supporters already think -- but at history, at the way history will tell the story of the reasons for her loss. . . . [T]the charge of sexism is . . . is, ultimately, undermining of the position of women. Or rather it would be if its source were not someone broadly understood by friend and foe alike to be willing to say anything to gain advantage.
I have to believe her advisers have her read columns like this. I sure hope she ingests them, too, because it would be a shame to have her keeping playing it out until the gum thins so much that it snaps or just gives out altogether and sends her reeling that-a-way and the democratic party that-a-way. She deserves more, for herself and for us, but she's holding the only end that can be let go.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 2:10 PM

Word 2007
Have any rare readers tried Office 2007 yet? Specifically, Word 2007? I'm involved in testing it and we've found that listnums are disappearing only to reappear when a page is printed or refreshed. But that's no way to work, of course. If anyone knows anything or has a suggestion, it would be terrific to know.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:14 AM

Monday, May 26, 2008
David Cook gives back
New American Idol, new approach, new video. Ok, he says "you guys" about two hundred times too many but it's cool that his head doesn't seem swelling and that he's so darn grateful about everything. Looks like he filmed this after the no-sleep first night. Neat guy.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 6:31 PM

Blog design
Among other issues for me at the moment is that I love my previous design but it was unreadable on Firefox and on Macs, and the world is now filled with people who use many different browsers and at least two different platforms. Since I blog in part because I want feedback and reactions (I'd keep a journal otherwise, if I did anything at all), it defeats my purpose if this is viewable solely in I.E. So I redesigned a bit, pushed here, tweaked there. Do you like it? I almost do but there's something that needs something and I don't quite know what it is. If any rare readers want to make suggestions- while remaining kind, of course - I would appreciate it. I'm looking for something a bit less strictured that the usual boxy lines of most blogs and this isn't quite there, though it's pleasant enough.

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Permalink | 2 comment(s) | posted by jau at 6:23 PM

So many thoughts, so few written
It's been almost a month since I wrote here. It wasn't for lack of ideas or subjects to write about but for too many and for suddenly being unable to pick one or two. After four years, I'd have thought that hurdle was demolished but I'd have been wrong. Apologies to anyone who came and didn't see anything. I intend to be back.

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Permalink | 1 comment(s) | posted by jau at 6:21 PM

Wednesday, May 7, 2008
A.I.7 - Reflections on Syesha
There are a mere four left and one would expect them all to be at the tip-top of their form, hungry perhaps for the prize. The amazing thing is that the one who rose to the occasion hook line and sinker was Syesha. The last few weeks she's gotten "it" and it's really nice to see. As Brooke slipped into her personal nervous hell zone, Syesha soared. As Idol Chatter said, "Syesha . . . looked and sounded like a true pro. Great interaction with the band. What a dramatic transformation in such a short span of time. It’s great to finally see the real Syesha."

To continue on the Syesha bandwagon for a few more minutes, if you missed her cover of Sam Cooke's “A Change Is Gonna Come” you missed one of the best Idol performances I've ever seen. It was on a par with David Cook's early knock-outs, I thought - different but superb. She had researched the background of the song and in that way that some songs can do, it totally got to her. Songs can do that - make you feel and understand things about yourself and about life in ways that no amount of thinking or talking in any other way can do. And apparently this one just did it to her. When Randy was uncomplimentary, she looked startled but she was just going to deal. Then Paula said that, unlike Randy, she had heard and understood how much the song meant so much to her - at which point tears just overflowed Syesha's eyes (and, I confess, mine). It was a totally real and spontaneous moment and I loved it. She seems to have grabbed the brass ring with both hands and is savoring every minute. Good for her. Twelve or ten or even eight weeks ago, if she'd been here, she'd be a shoe-in as one of the two finalists. I don't think anyone can break the Two Davids lock on the finale this late, though, but Syesha's career is ready - set - and on its way.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:22 AM

Welcome back (to me)
Sorry - I was out of town and out of blogging range. I kept thinking of things I wanted to write but there was no way to do it. Unfortunately I haven't managed to get the email posting thing to work so absence was the only alternative.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:13 AM