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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Andrew S." journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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11:43 pm
[Link] | Dear New York Mets,
The next time you keep me up until 2:00 AM, please try to win.
Furthermore, if you feel you absolutely MUST lose a ballgame, please do so by a more respectable 11:45 PM.
Yours,
Andrew Small
P.S. Ryan Church: you suck!
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06:13 pm
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21/3/09
I just ate some lovely pizza in Cheshire. I recommend that you pick some up immediately. I'm listening to my favorite song by Miley Cyrus. it is called 'the 7 things I hate about you'. I had a phase back in the day where I watched TRL every day for about 6 months because I had a huge man crush on Carson Daly. Fact checking on this post was brought to you by Catherine Bell
Tags: mobile
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02:39 pm
[Link] | Can you believe the Oscars are only 2 days away? They really snuck up on me this year! I mean I barely had time to see any...oh...wait...no, I saw ALL the movies. So, since I've got a pretty good handle on what I think the best of 2008 was (and since Jen always accuses me of cheating and changing my predictions afterwards) I thought I'd post my predictions for all the major (and perhaps some of the minor) awards—this way we can see how well I actually do.
BEST PICTURE: Slumdog Millionaire
This one shouldn't come as a big surprise to anyone for a couple of reasons: First of all, it won the BAFTA award, the Golden Globe, and the Director's Guild Award, traditionally the Best Picture winner is a film that's won at least one of these awards, so it should be a lock. Secondly, Slumdog is a film people genuinely liked; for a 'artsy" film, it seems to have a broader appeal than some of the inaccessible films which have won in the past. Thirdly, while all were compelling films worthy of the nomination, there's no real buzz behind any of it's competitors. The only possible dark horse candidate here is The Reader, Stephen Daldry's post-World War II story of love and redemption. The Weinstein Company, which released The Reader, is known for their dirty tricks in Oscar campaigns, and they have been accused of starting a whisper campaign against Slumdog. Frost/Nixon and Milk should be happy just to be nominated for Best Picture, because neither seems to have a real chance at winning it. My inclination is that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which is tied for the most nominations of all-time with 2003's Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, will probably win the technical awards (and maybe an acting award) but not the bigger prizes.
BEST DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
The Directing prize has gone to the Best Picture winner 4 out of the last 5 years, and this year is likely to be no exception. Although there was some early buzz for Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon, that faded quickly once Slumdog started picking up steam. Howard also has the disadvantage of being the only nominee in this category to have already won this prize, so the Academy is most likely to spread the wealth by awarding Boyle, a first-time nominee. That said, the Academy sometimes likes to award more avant-garde film's by giving them the director's prize while playing it safer in the Best Picture category (like in 2005 where Ang Lee won Best Director for Brokeback Mountain but the more crowd-friendly Crash took home Best Picture). If the Academy goes this route again, look for Gus Van Sant to possibly upset with Milk.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
First off I want to say that all five of these were excellent performances in their own ways. If you've missed any of these films, you need to remedy that situation immediately. This is a really hard race to call because of the diversity of these roles, but it comes down to an elimination game. Sean Penn is a very talented actor in one of the greatest roles of his career, but he just won this award for Mystic River in 2003, so his chances of repeating so soon, especially for a film which not a lot of people saw, are slim. Frank Langella practically channeled the ghost of Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon, a role for which he's already won a Tony award, but that may be his problem; Academy voters may see it as more of an impression than an acting feat. Brad Pitt was, I thought, wonderful in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but this film will be remembered more for his makeup than his performance. This leaves Rourke, who has already picked up the BAFTA and Golden Globe Awards for this role, and Richard Jenkins (for The Visitor), better known for bit parts in comedies like Burn After Reading and Step Brothers. Jenkins wasn't even nominated for the BAFTA or Golden Globes, and his film (which, I'm not kidding here: drop what you're doing and go rent it.) is the only one nominated (in any category) that I'd never even heard before the nominees were announced. So, by default, Rourke will win this one. One caveat: in the unlikely event that Benjamin Button ends up with a mini-sweep of some of the tech categories, Pitt could come along for the ride.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: Kate Winslet, The Reader
This may be more of a hope than a prediction. Kate Winslet has been one of my favorite actresses for about ten years now, this is her sixth nomination, and she has never won an Oscar. Although hers was really more of a supporting role in The Reader, the Academy should reward her for this plus her well received (and I would argue, even better) performance in Revolutionary Road. As for the other nominees: Angelina Jolie (Changeling) was amazing in yet another heart-wrenching performance (having been nominated last year for playing the widow of slain-American journalist Daniel Pearl in A Mighty Heart), but she's won before and the film wasn't really that well received. Meryl Streep was quite good in Doubt but, to be honest, I enjoyed her more in Mamma Mia! Streep is now a fifteen-time nominee (more times than any other actor in history), two-time winner, and while I'm sure she'll win another Oscar someday, I just don't think this is her year. Melissa Leo is compelling in Frozen River, but I just feel like no one even saw that movie. And that leaves Anne Hathaway, who gave the best performance of her career as the mentally unstable sister/Maid-of-Honor in Rachel Getting Married. Hathaway has a long career ahead of her and I think she's definitely worthy of this award, but with powerhouses like Streep and Winslet in this category, I don't think this will be her year.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
All the smart money is on Ledger, who gave a haunting portrait of evil and insanity in The Dark Knight. Since his untimely death six months before the film's release, Ledger has received numerous posthumous awards and accolades for his performance as The Joker. Most people will tell you no one else has a prayer of breaking Heath Ledger's winning streak and that it's not even worth discussing the other nominees, and they're almost right. Philip Seymour Hoffman was good in Doubt but he's been better, Robert Downey Jr. won't be taken seriously by Academy voters for a film like Tropic Thunder, and Josh Brolin's performance in Milk was, at times, overacted. This leaves Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road, which I don't have a single bad thing to say about. Shannon was brilliant in that "only a complete psychopath has the guts to speak the truth to you" kind of way, and in my opinion, he's the one who deserves this award, but this awards season has been the Year of Heath, and that's unlikely to change Sunday night.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
This has got to be the most wide-open, anything-can-happen, hard-to-predict main category this year. Kate Winslet won this award for The Reader at the Globes and BAFTAs, but she's nominated in the leading category here, so there's no good predictor. My gut tell me Viola Davis and Amy Adams will split the Doubt vote (although Viola Davis has only a few minutes of screen-time), and Taraji P. Henson's role in Benjamin Button came in such small spread-out portions, it's hard to really remember the sum total of it all. Marisa Tomei is a possible dark horse here: we already know the Academy loves her—she won Best Actress for My Cousin Vinny sixteen years ago and was nominated for In The Bedroom in 2001—and her performance in The Wrestler was the best she's ever been. However, I think Cruz has the SLIGHT edge here because she's never won before.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: WALL·E
This one is a no-brainer: Pixar has won 3 of the 5 times it's had a film nominated, and WALL·E is the studio's most acclaimed film in years; there was even some Best Picture buzz surrounding it. WALL·E is also the only one of these films nominated in other categories (with 6 nominations in all) which means it likely has more broad-based support. Sorry Kung Fu Panda and Bolt, the robot is winning this one.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: WALL·E
It takes a lot of guts, and a whole lot of creativity and talent, to write a kid's movie with almost no dialogue. Unlike traditional screenplays, WALL·E's has to set up every visual in a film that is almost nothing BUT visual. While the other nominees here are certainly great scripts, particularly In Bruges and Happy-Go-Lucky, those films stand out primarily because of great performances. Voters could choose to award Happy-Go-Lucky, however, if they decide to give this as a consolation prize to a film which should have garnered at least a nod for it's leading lady.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Slumdog Millionaire
Doubt and Frost/Nixon's screenplays are virtually indistinguishable from the stage plays'. The Reader tends to stand out more for its performances than it's script, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, many felt, dragged on a bit too long and could have used a SHORTER screenplay. That leaves Slumdog Millionaire which should win easily, as it has already taken the BAFTA and Golden Globe in this category.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Waltz With Bashir
This is a tough call this year, but so far the only nominated films released in the US have been Waltz With Bashir and The Class and those are the only two really in the running. Waltz With Bashir gets a slight edge because it won the Golden Globe last month, and because The Class wasn't even the most widely seen French film this year. However, if politics overcomes filmmaking (and it wouldn't be the first time), The Class could swoop in to take the prize.
( THE OTHER, LESS PARAGRAPH-WORTHY, AWARDS )
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Man On Wire - Because It's the one I've heard of, and that's been a pretty good predictor of success in the past in this category.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Slumdog Millionaire
BEST ART DIRECTION: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
BEST COSTUME DESIGN: The Duchess - Elizabethan period pieces OWN this category
BEST SOUND EDITING and SOUND MIXING (grouped together because nobody can really tell them apart anyways): The Dark Knight
BEST FILM EDITING: Slumdog Millionaire
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
BEST MAKEUP: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Realistic age makeup trumps strange creatures...usually.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG: "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Slumdog Millionaire
BEST ANIMATED SHORT: "Presto"
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT: "Spielzugland"
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: "The Witness - From The Balcony of Room 306"
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11:31 am
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Inauguration Bingo
So here we are in D.C., apparently there's some kind of thing going on down here later this week...some guy is getting inaugurated or something; I don't really know the details. Anyways, on our way down here last night, Jen, Anne, and I came up with the idea for Inauguration Weekend Bingo. It's pretty self explanatory, but basically you click on the image below, print the bingo card, and carry it with you everywhere you go here in D.C. For those of you watching the Inauguration from the comfort of your living rooms, you can play too, but your cards don't really count. Feel free to scan and upload yours after the Inauguration is over so we can see who got the most squares filled (pictures of the items described are an extra bonus)!
Tags: barack, biden, bingo, congress, dc, hillary, inauguration, obama, palin, politics, ron paul
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01:20 am
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Halloween
Megan is the best dancer ever!
Tags: mobile
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12:17 pm
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More Political Stuff
Wow, it seems my Livejournal is nothing but politics these days, but such is the current interest of many of us in this country, so here goes...
First off, I would like to say just how extremely proud I am of my state this week! In case you haven't heard, on Friday, Connecticut became the third state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage. This is one of the most important moments in our state's history, but we can't let this make us complacent. Anyone who votes in the State of Connecticut needs to take a very important step to ensure this progress is not overturned, make sure you and everyone you know votes "No" on the question of whether or not to convene a Constitutional Convention to rewrite the state's constitution. It's very important that we don't allow the opponents of this important civil right another chance to write discrimination into our laws.
In other political news, my sister Jennifer, our father, and I spent the weekend in Pennsylvania canvassing and volunteering for the Barack Obama campaign. Sometime in July, I figured out which weekends I would have the time to devote to volunteering for the campaign and in what states my help would be most effective. Pennsylvania was an obvious choice: John Kerry won Pennsylvania in 2004 by only 144,000 votes (about 2.5% of the votes cast), and more recently, Hillary Clinton beat Senator Obama there by about 10 percentage points. Pennsylvania is a must-win for the Obama-Biden campaign, and it is by no-means a certainty; Governor Rendell predicts that 75% turnout is needed in Philadelphia for Obama to overcome the conservative majority that exists in most other parts of the state. So this past weekend had been selected as the only one Jen and I had free to travel to PA.
Then, last Thursday night, I received an e-mail from the Obama campaign, asking if any of the volunteers who had signed up to come to the state and canvass for the weekend would be interested in volunteering at a rally on Saturday morning at the "Historic Mayfair Diner" which Senator Obama himself would be attending. Although volunteering meant being at the diner by 6:00AM, we jumped at the chance! We drove down to Philly Friday night and stayed at a Hampton Inn just outside the city. On Saturday morning, Jen and I left the hotel room at 5:30 (because, America--and the Small family--Runs on Dunkin') to head to the diner. Our dad stayed behind at the hotel and promised to catch up later by way of taxi. Finding that the street had been blocked off several blocks from the diner, we managed to find a parking spot on a sketchy side-street and walk the last half-mile to the diner.
When we arrived, we noticed immediately that, although the gates for the rally were set to open at 7:30 and the rally set to start at 9:00, the line for the rally was already two blocks long and just starting to wind around the corner. We walked into the diner and noticed immediately that a Secret Service presence was evident. We found our volunteer contact and were given our marching orders: control the crowd in line, convince everyone to sign up to volunteer. This turned out to not be the easiest task at first.
I decided to start at the front of the line, asking the most dedicated folks--those who had lined up at 3AM--if they were willing to volunteer between now and Election Day. Unfortunately, the people at the front of the line were more interested in yelling at the 2 folks who they claimed had cut in line. The argument almost came to a fist-fight but we were able to eventually calm everyone down. Eventually, I found my stride, walking the line of volunteers and repeatedly giving my schpiel, which consisted of some variation of the following:
"Is there anyone else here who can give us just a few hours of your time between now and Election Day? I know it seems like this election has been going on forever...and it has, but Election Day is only 3 weeks away! Every phone call you make and every door you knock on in the next 3 weeks is critical to helping put Barack Obama and Joe Biden in the White House! Pennsylvania is a must-win state, and every vote matters! Please give us just a few hours in the next three weeks."
And my favorite thing I said, to a 15-year old who said he was too young to volunteer: "If you're old enough to dial a phone, you're old enough to help Barack Obama win the White House!" (For the record, he and his mom both signed up to make phone calls!)
After the gate opened, and we were fairly confident no one could bear to listen to our desperate pleas for help any longer, the event volunteers turned to facing a new problem. All the staff (including all our contacts) had already gone inside the security perimeter, and we were stuck outside. The line still snaked around the corner, but it was almost 9:00 and we really wanted to get inside in time to hear Barack speak at 9:30. I called my contact, who was thoroughly unhelpful ("You're wearing a volunteer badge, just push your way to the front, you're supposed to be here." Thanks Kelly!) We were able to catch the attention, through the barricades, of another staff-person, Zach. Zach told us there was a section really close to where Obama would be entering that we could go, and when we asked him how we were supposed to get through security, he looked at us and uttered the all-time coolest sentence anyone has ever said to me, "Hang on, I'll go ask Secret Service."
Zach managed to get us inside just in time to hear Governor Ed Rendell introduce Mayor Michael Nutter, who introduced Senator Bob Casey who introduced Senator Barack Obama. Senator Obama walked right past us on his way up to the stage. He gave a 20-minute speech, focusing mostly on the current economic crisis, and the crowd was transfixed the entire time. After the speech, he spent another 20 minutes shaking hands and signing autographs along the rope line. I was right at the barricade and got to shake his hand and take his picture as he walked by!
After the half-hour or so it took us to get out of there and back to our car, we spent the rest of the day (and all morning Sunday) canvassing Northeast Philly, going door-to-door to encourage people to vote for Obama. Overall we were fairly well received, we didn't take the few slammed doors and occasional rude comments personally and we managed to persuade a few voters who seemed to have been on the fence.
I'll end the tale of my weekend with a plea for volunteers: If any of you out there reading this can spare any time in the next 22 days to make some phone calls to a swing state (specifically Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Virginia, or New Hampshire) please, please, please go to http://my.barackobama.com and use the calling tool to reach out to undecided voters. You can make as many or as few calls as you have time for, and the calling tool tells you exactly what to say. Also, my sister Jen and I will be driving up to New Hampshire on Saturday, October 25 to canvass and I encourage you all to do the same. It's really easy, it's fun, and it can make a real difference. You know as well as I do that we can't afford 4 more years of the last 8 years, so it's critical that we make sure this election isn't even close! We want a landslide on November 4, so everyone of us has to help make that a reality. < /rant>
( Pictures from the CHANGE WE NEED Rally at the Mayfair Diner in NE Philadelphia )
Tags: biden, change we need, obama, pennsylvania, philadelphia, political, rally
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01:56 pm
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Political Rant of Doom
OK, there is SO much to say about the unexpected twists and turns in the presidential campaign in the past couple weeks, that there's no way I have the energy to get to it all, but here goes nothing...
SUSPENDING THE CAMPAIGN
Yesterday, in a move of partisan and self-serving political posturing unprecedented, unless you count Jimmy Carter in 1980, bipartisanship, John McCain "suspended" his campaign for the presidency in order to focus on the looming financial crisis.
There are so many things wrong with this, I don't know where to start. But how about this:
1) The absolute hubris of it: John McCain needs to fly to Washington to save the world? Really? 2) He's not even ON the Senate Banking Committee so his role in hammering out any compromise bill would be minimal. 3) John: If this crisis is so urgent that you need to suspend your campaign, why did it take you 10 days from when the crisis began (with AIG and Goldman Sacks, et. al.) to realize you were needed? Furthermore, if the urgency was so great, why did you suspend your campaign saying you were flying immediately to D.C., and then stick around New York for another 22 hours to dis David Letterman, do a Katie Couric interview, and address the Clinton Global Initiative? 5) When he finally made it to D.C., his contribution to dealing with the crisis basically consisted of him praphrasing the joint press release he and Barack Obama put out on Wednesday. 6) I wonder if John McCain realizes that if he's elected president, he may have to multi-task on occasion. What would he do if there were a financial crisis during his presidency? Cancel all his meetings about the looming Iran threat? Tell the foreign dignitaries he can't meet with them? As president, he could have any number of things to deal with on a daily basis, the fact that he can't attend a 4-hour meeting in D.C. and a 90-minute debate 24-hours later in Mississippi, is baffling. Anyways, isn't this exactly what vice-presidential candidates are for? Why does he need to suspend his campaign, as David Letterman suggested Wednesday night the campaign should continue through the financial crisis "shouldered by [his] vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin." Overall, I think the whole suspending his campaign thing is a way to make it look like he's taking the financial crisis seriously. Of course, this is a fairly important illusion for him to pull off; 39% of Americans now consider the economy the #1 issue in this campaign (terrorism came in second at 24%), and McCain has admitter that he doesn't know much about handling the economy.
Some people have a different theory as to why McCain doesn't want to debate tonight. If tonight's debate were postponed, it has been suggested that the campaigns cancel next week's vice-presidential debate in order for McCain and Obama to reschedule tonight's debate. Now why would McCain not want first-term Governor Tina Fey Sarah Palin to debate five-term Senator Joe Biden? Perhaps because he could out-debate her with his eyes closed, with one arm tied behind his back, and while fighting off a 103° fever.
RUSSIA IS MY NEIGHBOR
Sarah Palin denies criticism that she doesn't have the experience necessary to be vice president. When asked how she could compensate for her lack of foreign policy experience, she claimed that since Alaska is next-door neighbors with Russia, being Governor gave her more than enough foreign relations experience. Really? That's about the most ridiculous argument I've ever heard! But OK, if that's where we're setting the bar, then I could be a foreign policy advisor to the McCain administration, since I once spent 3 hours on the phone with India trying to get tech-support for my old Dell computer.
SEXISM AND POLITICS
I am so sick and tired of the McCain campaign crying sexism everytime anyone asks reasonable and legitimate questions about Sarah Palin's qualifications to be vice president. Now I know that John Nance Garner once said that the job of vice president wasn't worth "a warm bucket of piss," but when you are running alongside the man who could become the oldest ever elected, the main qualification for the job is whether or not she's qualified to be president. It's not sexist to question her experience or some of the hypocrisy of her views, it's downright patriotic! Just calling her unqualified isn't sexist in and of itself either.
There are women who are extremely qualified to be president
 
and women who are unqualified to be president,
 
just as there are men who are qualified
 
and men who are not.
 
What's worse about McCain's bogus calls of sexism is that they distract from the real issues of the campaign. McCain has taken a page from Karl Rove's 2004 handbook, when anyone who criticized the president was called unpatriotic and wanted the terrorists to win.
Sadly, Sarah Palin will likely face legitimate examples of sexism during this campaign; as we saw all too clearly during the Democratic primary season, sexism is alive and well in the American political process. Unfortunately, by that point, the McCain campaign will be like the Boy Who Cried Wolf.
OK, that's all the energy I have for ranting right now, more to come, I'm sure...
Tags: biden, bush, clinton, mccain, obama, palin, politics
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08:15 am
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A Sad Story
While walking around dropping off copies of my resumé and inquiring about open positions at local businesses, I walked by a Hollywood Tans and said, out loud, to myself:
"I'm not good looking enough to work there."
Next I passed J.T. Ghamo, a tuxedo store.
"Or there."
And last on that strip was a Subway.
"HAHA, Or there...aww..."
Tags: job
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11:07 am
[Link] | People need to chill the hell out!
Obama made the remarks at a Virginia campaign stop late Tuesday afternoon. "John McCain says he's about change too, and so I guess his whole angle is, 'Watch out George Bush -- except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics -- we're really going to shake things up in Washington,'" he said. "That's not change. That's just calling something the same thing something different. You know you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. You know you can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change, it's still going to stink after eight years. We've had enough of the same old thing."
...
McCain's campaign said Obama's remarks were offensive and a slap at Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin -- despite the fact that the Arizona senator himself used the phrase last year to describe a policy proposal of Hillary Clinton's. You can read the full article here:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/10/campaign.lipstick/index.html?eref=rss_latest
A simple google search answers the question posed in the CNN article's title of whether "lipstick on a pig" is a simple phrase rather than a sexist slur, consider this:
Googling the phrase "lipstick on a pig" (quotes included) comes up with 154,000 hits. Even if we filter out the ones which are direct references to this news story (done by excluding the word palin from search results) we come up with 112,000 hits. Even if you exclude this entire political season by excluding the previous McCain and Obama quotes, you find the phrase still has 78,700 hits.
So can we please stop making a big deal out of innocent comments and focus on the fact that John McCain and Sarah Palin represent more of the same failed foreign and domestic policies, flawed decision making, ideological entrenchment, and conservative/Karl Rove-ian scare tactics of the last 8 years. It's it time for us to move on.
Current Location: work
Current Mood:  angry
Tags: bush, hillary, lipstick, mccain, obama, palin
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03:19 pm
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Schadenfreude Moments of the Week
John McCain announced just 4 days ago that First Term Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would be his Vice Presidential choice. Here's what's come out since then:
Sarah Palin's 17 Year Old Daughter, Bristol Palin, is 5 Months Pregnant
Sarah Palin was a member of the Alaska Independence Party, a group which wants Alaska to secede from the union
Sarah Palin's husband had a DWI
The state Legislature is investigating whether Palin fired public safety commissioner Walt Monegan after he refused to fire a state trooper who had divorced Palin's sister.
Sarah Palin almost got recalled as mayor of Wasilla
and the hits just keep on coming :)
Tags: mccain, palin, politics
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11:09 am
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Oh, Canada!
Clerk at Tim Horton's in Woodstock, Ontario:
"VISA? Sorry, we only accept MasterCard."
What? Freaking Canadians!
Girl working at Staples across the street from the aforementioned Tim Horton's:
"Yeah, it's weird how they do that, eh? No, we definitely take VISA."
Tags: mobile
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12:38 am
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Get your kicks on Route 66
You know you're in the boonies of Arizona when...
your hotel is on a dirt road.
the GPS takes you on a route where the signs say "Beware Mountain Lions"
you actually DO get your kicks on Route 66.
the closest place to eat that's open at 10pm is a Denny's 5 miles away.
the road leading to your hotel has a Dead End Sign...3 miles before the hotel.
EDIT: when the aforementioned Denny's has a full bar!
Tags: mobile
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01:13 am
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3/14/08
Welcome to Phoenix, Arizona...where it takes an hour before bags START loading onto the Baggage Claim Carousel...
*sigh*
Tags: mobile
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11:43 pm
[Link] | So I was sitting at my computer (playing Snood) last Sunday morning, when my phone rang. I looked at my phone and thought "603 area code? Who would call me from New Hampshire?" I answered the phone with a cheerful, if somewhat inquisitive sounding, "Hello?!" The woman on the other end sounded like she was in her mid-to-late-twenties, and she said, "Hi, this is Jennifer Paolino with the Hillary Clinton campaign up in New Hampshire. We're looking for volunteers from Connecticut to come up here some time in the next nine days before the primary to canvass for Hillary. Would you be able to do that?" Of course my only free day all week was New Years Day, but Jennifer said they would be canvassing on that day, so I agreed to come help out.
I was actually extremely excited to be helping out; nobody ever wants volunteers for the Connecticut primaries, and New Hampshire is a state that takes its presidential politics and "first in the nation" status very seriously. In 2004, a few of my friends spent several days in New Hampshire canvassing (for Howard Dean *gag*) and I was a little jealous at the time that I never got to do anything quite as hands on. That said, I've worked on every other aspect of elections: I've made phone calls to get out the vote, participated in fundraisers, driven elderly people to the polls on Election Day, even been a machine tender and handed out the "I Voted Today" stickers at the polls, but this was a chance to actually go door-to door for a candidate I believe in, so it was well worth the sacrifice of waking up at 8am on New Years Day (and you may know how much I despise early mornings, especially on days off).
I decided I needed a driving/canvassing partner, so I called my friend Carrie. I knew, of course, that Carrie was leaning towards voting for Obama, but I thought she might enjoy the experience, and I also hoped that getting involved with the Clinton campaign might make her change her mind about who she would support. Carrie said her mom would only let her go if the weather report didn't include snow, so as her mom went online to check the weather, I reminded her that college students don't usually ask their parents for permission unless they are requesting money (just ask my sister). Her mother came back with the weather report: it would rain most of the day in New Hampshire, but no snow. (I must remember to find out what weather website Mrs. Greenough uses, so that I never do...).
I had told the Clinton campaign girl that I would be there from 11am to 8pm on Tuesday, so at 8:30am, Carrie and I departed for Nashua, NH. As we got off the highway, I started to wonder whether this was even necessary, it seemed every lawn in this part of town had either a Clinton or a Romney sign. In fact, All day we saw only 3 Obama signs, about 5 Rudy signs, 1 Edwards sign and 1 Dodd bumper sticker. Once we got further from the highway, however, the amount of signs declined sharply; about 8 minutes later, we were at the Nashua regional headquarters for the Hillary Clinton for President campaign.
As we walked into the building we noticed GINORMOUS "Hillary Clinton for President" and "New Hampshire for Hillary" signs plastered all over the windows and walls. In the main room, there was only one guy, sitting behind a table, just hanging up the phone. I walked up to him and deadpanned, "Is this where I sign up to help with the Mitt Romney campaign?" Thankfully, the guy had a sense of humor and he laughed at my lame attempt at a joke. I told him we were from Connecticut and we had been asked to come up and help canvass. He said we were giving the voters a little bit of "hangover-recovery time" and not going out to canvass until noon; he directed Carrie and myself downstairs to help assemble signs. Downstairs, in contrast to the empty room upstairs, was a buzz of activity. There were a dozen volunteers--mostly college students, but a couple adults and an elderly woman--going about a variety of tasks. Some were on the computers typing away at their Hillary Clinton blogs or downloading phone lists, others were on the phone and a whole group of students were in a corner folding, cutting, assembling, and stapling big post signs. Carrie and I joined this group. We discovered that the 6 of them were all students at University of South Florida, here in New Hampshire for a 10-day internship through the primary on January 8. I joked about spending their winter break doing the opposite of everyone else in the world, leaving Florida's dry heat for cold, wet New England's sub-zero windchills. Inevitably, the conversation turned to politics. One of the guys, Steve, said that he had voted for Bush in 2000. "If you had told me seven years ago that I would be in New Hampshire working for Hillary Clinton," he said, "I would have told you to put down your crack pipe."
( Pictures )
Just before noon, we all went upstairs to receive our marching orders. A quick glance out the small area of the window not covered in political paraphernalia taught me never to ask Carrie's mom for a weather report: it was snowing like CRAZY! Everyone was broken up into teams of two (I was with Carrie, obviously) and given manila folders with a map and pages of voters, separated by street, who had been identified as still undecided. We also took a big pile of color brochures to hand to voters (I kept a bunch of these if anyone wants one). I grabbed a couple of lapel pins and stickers, and we were on our way. As we made the 15 minute drive to our territory--the map having been abandoned in favor of my more user-friendly GPS--we discussed the division of labor. Carrie is a very quiet person. I, on the other hand, have never been known for my terseness. It was agreed that I would do most of the talking and Carrie would be the keeper of the list. For each house listed, it gave the voter's name, party affiliation (Democrat or Unaffiliated) and age. We were asked to check off whether the voter was "Confirmed Clinton," "Not Home," "Refused," "Undecided," "Inaccessible," Leaning towards Obama, Edwards, Biden, Dodd, Other, or Strongly supporting Obama, Edwards, Biden, Dodd, Other. At each house, Carrie would hand me the brochure, read me the names as I rang the doorbell, and then based on the ensuing conversation, check off the appropriate box; between houses, she told me where we were going next.
( Another Picture )
Over the next 8 hours, the snow fell on us at a rate of about 3-inches per hour (for those of you unfamiliar with snow, that's a LOT of snow), but although we were soaked to the bone, it didn't dampen our spirits. The typical exchange went something like this.
Me: Hi, Happy New Year. How are you this afternoon?
Voter: Pretty good.
Me: Good. We're just going around telling people about Hillary Clinton and encouraging you to go out and support her next Tuesday in the primary.
Voter: Uh-huh.
Me: Have you decided who you're voting for yet?
Voter: I'm not too sure/I'm undecided/I'm voting for Romney/She definitely has my vote!/I'm leaning towards Hillary, but I'm not sure yet/I'm leaning towards Obama/Hillary, definitely Hillary/I'll probably vote for her in the general if McCain doesn't get the nomination...etc.
Me: Well hopefully this will help you with your decision. [hands brochure to voter] You have a great day, happy New Year.
Voter: Thank you, stay warm...etc.
There were a few not-so-typical responses however, both positive and negative. One woman saw us at the door and went upstairs and opened her window so she could look down on us (literally and figuratively) when she said, "I think it's horrible that you're out here harassing people on a holiday! You should be ashamed of yourselves. And while you're at it, you should really reconsider who you're supporting, she's really evil. Pure evil, I'm serious." Another woman, later, told us "Hillary's going to win for sure! She's amazing, I don't know why anyone would vote for anyone else. She's going to be a great president!" On the same street, the man who answered the door thanked us and said that he and his wife were still undecided, but his wife, standing 2 feet behind him excitedly gave me the thumbs up symbol and mouthed the words "I'm voting for Hillary!!!"
At one point the snow got so bad that my car actually got stuck on a hill (if it's snowing, I recommend avoiding Hollyhock Avenue in Nashua, NH), skidded sideways and eventually rolled backwards into a snow bank. After about 20 minutes of pushing, struggling and sliding every which way but up, we managed to free the car, back it down the hill and turn around to take an alternate route. Carrie blamed me, rightfully so, for this incident, as I had commented just five minutes earlier how we were making very good time. I promised never to comment on our progress again.
( More Pictures )
In the mid-afternoon, I began to worry about whether it would stop snowing in time for us to leave New Hampshire and make it home safely. I started calling the people I knew in NH to see if there was a place we could stay for the evening. I didn't manage to get through at all, but it ended up not being a problem, as the roads were fine by 8pm.
Going into this entire experience, I had heard many things about New Hampshire voters. It's said that they take their "first in the nation" status very seriously. It's said that the majority of them, as much as 60%, have no real party affiliation. I've heard many people don't make up their mind until the last minute. It is also said that some people will not vote for a candidate they have not personally seen or spoken to. I used to believe that these were all exaggerations, that no one could possibly be that strict and discerning about their choices; I was wrong. *dramatic pause to give people time to recover from the shock of me ever admitting I'm wrong about anything* New Hampshire voters do indeed step up to the responsibility of being the first ballots cast in the primary season. Time after time, I met voters who were struggling with the choice, who were informed, who had researched and agonized over the choices, and it wasn't just "which Democrat," it was "McCain or Clinton?" or "I like Romney, but I might vote for Obama." They are truly unaffiliated and undecided. Other times, we met voters who needed a personal experience before making any consideration. "I would love to consider voting for Hillary," several voters informed me, "when is she going to be in Nashua so I can meet her?" Trying to consider that factor would be an impossibility in most places. Here in Connecticut, we won't see any candidates in person before our February 5 primary, we'll be lucky if we get the eventual nominees from each party here more than once before November.
Live Free or Die!
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03:19 pm
[Link] | Amazingly enough, another year has passed! Time just flies when you're not paying much attention to it, eh? Well anyways, this means that it's time again for me to decide the best and worst of 2005 and to give my New Years Resolutions!
First off, lets talk about last year's resolutions and how I did with them. So a year ago, I made 10 New Years Resolutions for 2005, and of those resolutions, I've kept the following:
2) Go to the gym more often. - Still not as often as I should, but more often than I used to.
4) Clean my room - Yes, I actually did this a few times, but you wouldn't know it to look at it now!
5) Save more money, rather than spending it on frivolities - :)
8) Act in a play - Not really on purpose, but by default I ended upacting in 2 plays this year
10) Buy a pair of sunglasses and DON'T lose them! - I am so proud of myself, I've kept a pair of sunglasses for 8 months without losing them or breaking them!!!
BEST OF 2005
Best Movies of 2005
In My Country
Crash
Sin City
Batman Begins
The Edukators
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Walk on Water
Good Night and Good Luck
RENT
King Kong
Munich
Worst Movies of 2005
Stealth
Dukes of Hazzard
Æon Flux
Most Overrated Movies of 2005
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Corpse Bride
Brokeback Mountain
Best Song of 2005
"Fine Line" by Paul McCartney
"How Do You Spell Channukkahh?" by The LeeVees
Worst Song of 2005
My Humps
Best New TV Show of 2005
Prison Break - I love this show!!!
Worst New TV Show of 2005
it's a toss up between The War at Home and How I Met Your Mother
Coolest New People of 2005
Lindsay Regier
Rachel May
Sarah Blish
Amber
Casey T.
Kera W.
New Years Resolutions for 2006
1) Take at least 2 College courses
2) Eat (slightly) more healthily
3) Clean my room and keep it clean for an extended period of time
4) Make more progress on the ever growing pile of books I want to read sitting next to my bed.
5) Save more money!
6) Visit Rich in Vermont like I've been promising him for 2 years, visit Sara at Manhattanville like I haven't done in forever, visit Ronya and LAura at Brandeis like I keep saying I will!
Well, that's allI have for this year.
Hope you all had a Happy and safe New Years!
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11:47 pm
[Link] |
Silly Song Game ...Everyone's Doin' It...(and tomorrow we're all jumping off bridges, wanna come?)
Here's how this sucker works. Whip out your music program, click the random button, and pick out 10 songs. alter the name by turning it into a convoluted, wordy synonym.
For example: Silent Night = Nocturnal Time Completely Lacking Noise
1. The Pleasant and Satisfactory Completion Which I Have Ownership Of My Happy Ending by Avril Lavigne (EMILY!)
2. The Horribly Garrish Female Has Returned The Bitch is Back by Elton John (JACKIE!)
3. 1,609.34 Kilometers 1,000 Miles by Vanessa Carlton (EMILY!)
4. Fiery Affection Burning Love by Elvis Presley (EMILY!)
5. Farewell to the Pathway Comprised of Golden Colored Molded Rectangular Blocks of Clay Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John (JEREMY!)
6. A Derogatory Term for Romanian Nomads, Whores, and Burgulars Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves by Cher (KRISTEN!)
7. Do You Plan To Attend? Will You Be There? by Michael Jackson (KAYLA!)
8. Come Where I Will Lead You Follow Me by Uncle Kracker (EMILY!)
9. Residing in Close Proximity Above a Religious Chant Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi (LAURA!)
10. Obviate The Coming Evening Save Tonight by Eagle Eye Cherry (LIL!)
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01:00 am
[Link] |
I drew a picture
to explain why I hate October...
Pretty self explanatory, no?
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11:07 pm
[Link] |
Cars
Catherine (11:11:29 PM): i have an assignment
Catherine (11:11:31 PM): for you
Me (11:11:36 PM): uh-oh
Me (11:11:38 PM): ok
Catherine (11:11:41 PM): your deadline is 1130 tonight
Me (11:11:50 PM): ooh...19 minutes
Me (11:11:56 PM): better be an easy assignment
Catherine (11:12:07 PM): your mission is, using microsoft paint, to make a picture that you feel best personifies me as a driver.
Catherine (11:12:13 PM): you may begin.
Catherine (11:12:30 PM): this mission is not unique to you, and I will be judging all entries.
Me (11:12:44 PM): personifies you as a driver?
Me (11:12:45 PM): ok
Me (11:12:56 PM): but remember, i love you...adn i have NO artistic talent
Catherine (11:18:00 PM): can do
 Catherine (11:24:12 PM):haha, NIIIIIIIIIIIICE
Me (11:26:04 PM): my favorite part is that your head is a yellow semicircle
Today, played the Driving Game with Catherine...unfortunately I drove to Ellington, a town I couldn't find on a map to save my life but APPARENTLY her stap-dad lives there! Damn! Anyways, I drove for 76 minutes, she drove for 56 minutes, so the points stand thus:
Andrew: 22
Catherine: 20
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08:20 pm
[Link] | The Driving Game
So Catherine and I spent Saturday playing this new game we invented. Here's the premise of the game:
( THE DRIVING GAME )
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06:57 pm
[Link] |
Posters
So I have to design the poster for the upcoming Teen Production of South Pacific, so last night I sent my boss two ideas I had worked out...
( South Pacific Poster Ideas )
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