If only we could vote for Tina

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Palin’s international connection

<a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_idlYwkc9AhE/SN7ETrdSsWI/AAAAAAAAEq0/_OPCWSmDY-4/s1600-h/palinsyrah.jpg”><img style=”float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_idlYwkc9AhE/SN7ETrdSsWI/AAAAAAAAEq0/_OPCWSmDY-4/s200/palinsyrah.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”"id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250850057922720098″ /></a>Her detractors say GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has no experience in international matters. One product from a boutique Chilean winery might be pointed to by her supporters as evidence of her international reach.

It’s called Palin Syrah.

The actual pronunciation is <span style=”font-style:italic;”>pah-leen</span>, referring to the ball in a Chilean-style hockey game.

We know such plays on names are all part of the ephemeral thing that is politics, and reading any significance into them is about as useful as, well, as putting lipstick on a pig, as some current poltical hacks would say.

Nevertheless, Fox News thought it important enough to have a reporter for its election news Web site check out the political and business implications of such a wine being available to American consumers.

The bottom line, says Fox, is that San Franciscans are so left-wing they hate anything remotely resembling a Republican in name, wine or anything else, so Palin Syrah is being shunned even though it sold well before anyone outside her state knew of Sarah Palin. And, meanwhile, in the Republican stronghold of Texas, the wine is selling like mad.

If you must read the whole story, just click <a href=”http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/24/palin-syrah-wine-drinkers-balk-at-a-chilean-wine-with-hints-of-alaska/”>here</a>.

This be a nice Web site

I enjoy trolling through the Internet to find sites that keep me up to date on cultural news and fads. So, when I came across Urban Hustler, I was anxious to give it a whirl.

I quickly realized that, while it may be a visually attractive site, it is in dire need of someone who knows a little something about the English language.

I’m not talking about slang, but just basic grammar and punctuation. A few examples:

• “Grammy Award-winning producer and artist, Dr. Dre’s cognac and vodka brands is set to hit liquor stores in the next 60 days … .”

Cognac and vodka brands “is”? Plurals, as we learned in first grade, require “are.” And, by the way, you don’t begin a sentence with a dependent clause.

• Headline: “Is Your Savings Protected?”

Yes, they be.

• Headline: “Oprah Winfrey Get’s Richer”

So rich, I assume, she has extra apostrophes to throw around carelessly.

• “Oprah Winfrey, Americas richest black person … “

Apparently we are two nations as some politicians say. By the way, the Urban Hustler editors could take the unnecessary apostrophe from the headline and put it between the “a” and the “s” in “Americas” and have two correct items at no cost.

• Headline: “Bill Gates Regains Worlds Richest Crown”

That apostrophe thing again. It’s “world’s.”

• “Bill Gates has regain his position as the world richest person from pal Warren Buffet.”

“Has regain”? “World richest person”? This is pathetic.

I could go on. believe me. These examples are just from the home page. Another bit of support for the argument that, while everyone can be her/his own publisher these days, not everyone offers quality. The people who run Urban Hustler should be thoroughly embarassed.

It’s not an ill wind that does this

Considering this cliché sort of stunt does nothing to inform viewers, and serves only to create some extra level of phony drama to weather that stands on its own for importance, I got a chuckle out of this situation.

My opponent is a #*+?%^# — every day

From the Associated Press:

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. – Recalling the nation’s unity in a time of peril seven years ago, presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama placed their partisan contest on hold Thursday and spoke as one in honoring of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Obama and McCain were making ground zero in New York their common ground, joining in homage to the dead from the fallen Twin Towers and the hijacked planes flown into them.

What a shame. Not that they claimed respect for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but that the so-called “attack ads” have been halted for a moment.

Why? Because such ads tell me, a voter, as much about the character and aims of the candidates who approve them as do position papers written for them by a gazillion aides.

When did the rough-and-tumble American political process become so politically correct that it became a no-no to say nasty things about the opposition? It has been part of our national tradition as long as we have been a nation. Don’t mess with a good thing.

What would Winston Churchill do?

Here’s an actual BBC video of Georgia President Saakashvili conferring with another world leader over Russia’s armed attacks on the small nation.

Add to the list of sickeningly overused words

Staycation.

GQ anoints America’s 20 ‘best’ cocktails

While I admire its aspiration to be the lead dog in the pack of magazines telling men how to dress, eat, drink and behave, I have difficulty with GQ because it insists we all should be untucked, unshaven, uncombed and generally unimpressive looking in a world in which women are expected to be sleek, stylish and perfectly coiffed.

GQ’s idea of what a man should look like is precisely what many of us laughed at when we were in our 20s.

That aside, any magazine that goes to the trouble of coming up with an illustrated guide to the 20 “best” cocktails currently being served in America has to be given its props.

Lest you think all such drinks are pricey, one that particularly caught my eye was The Margaveza (seen here) from a Brooklyn, NY, spot called Daddy’s. It’s described as “a rock ’n’ roll bar tucked into an obscure block of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that’s staffed and patronized by obscure Brooklyn musicians.”

The Margaveza was invented by Eric Copeland, of the band Black Dice when he was a bartender there. Says GQ’s Will Welch, “It’s wildly simple: a 12-ounce bottle of Sol poured into a pint glass, topped with four ounces of frozen margarita, and garnished with a lime. All for five bucks. Why didn’t anyone think of this before?”

Giants still football’s champions (*)

(*) Well, at least of the Austrian division of American football in Europe.

My Turek Graz Giants won the Austrian Bowl XXIV, 31-21, which gave them the “Austrian State Championship” at the expense of the Swarco Raiders of the Tyrol.

Behind American quarterback Chris Gunn in an exciting outing that accounted for at least four interceptions as best I can tell, the Giants … well, let the team’s own public relations people tell you all about it in this automatically-translated-from-the-German posting on their Web site.

(And, in answer to several inquiries, yes, this has been an exciting team to follow until my beloved New York/New Jersey Giants open their pre-season training camp at the University at Albany, NY, very shortly.)

In a game that has long stretches of the strong defenses of both teams was marked, the Raiders had the first chance of points awarded, however, a Field Goal on the possible 3:0 leadership. The offense while the Giants could move the ball well, but two of Interceptions QB Chris Gunn completed each attack series.

In the 2nd Quarter, the blue and yellow but the first time in the Endzone reach: WR Armando Ponce de Leon caught a 2 yard pass from RB Moe Muheize; Marc Biedenkapp recovered the PAT to 7:0 leadership. After a Fumble by Raiders RB Florian Grein — Christoph Schreiner secured the ball for the blue and yellow — was QB Chris Gunn. Marc Biedenkapp in the first game with a deep pass into a TD; including PAT led the Giants 14:0. After the Defense of the “giants” the offense of “pirates” could stop again, RB Martin finished grass Egger short distance from another successful drive to 20:0 leadership; Marc Biedenkappp raised by his PAT to 21:0. The Raiders konterten but just before the half time and shortened 22 seconds before the break to 21:7. Chris Gunn threw yet another interception, but this changed nothing at half-time status.

In the 3rd Quarter QB Chris Gunn threw another interception, no team, however, points. In the 4th Quarter, the Raiders first approached 21:14; Martin grass Egger, with a beautiful 20 yard run the old 14 points distance restore because the PAT was successful. The Raiders, however, not stuck in and came with a touchdown at 28:21 up again, just two minutes before the game end Marc Biedenkapp recovered at the most valuable player of the Austrian Bowl Award, a 45 yards to the Field Goal Final 31:21.

The blue and yellow won deserved, the Defense played gigantic and could otherwise strong offense as the Raiders control, a key to success was that the Raiders from the four Interceptions no capital or points.

The Turek Graz Giants are now back to the Austrian and probably also European leaders: Beendeten in Austria the 2005 season still on 4 Square, the 2006 season on 3 Space and 2007 won the vice-champion, so now they won the Austrian State Championship title in the euro failed Bowl the blue and yellow in the semi-finals until the second extension.

Preparations for the 2009 season has already started: Success Coach Rick Rhoades will next year return to Graz, with the legionaries have already been preliminary discussions about contract extensions led the majority of the team remains intact, some youth players of the 2nd Team push into the fight team, so we certainly optimistic about the next season look.

Please, watch your language

Each year, dictionary mavens come up with a list of new words being added to their reference works. Among the words this year: mondegreen, norovirus and pescatarian.

The problem is, the editors don’t tend to eliminate words and phrases that have become meaningless due to mis-use, feeble attempts to create new slang based on nothing in particular, or are just annoyingly sloppy talk.

Here is my first “Top 10″ list of such examples. Feel free to add your own.

• Amazing (so overused it has ceased to be … amazing)

• Buck (now being featured on “So You Think You Can Dance,” which means it unfortunately will quickly enter the mainstream slang vocabulary)

• Somewhat unique (there are no degrees of uniqueness)

• Ultra (the word means extreme, but is used any time the right adjective can’t be thought of)

• Mega (once “super” wore out, this replaced it)

• No problem (instead of “You’re welcome”)

• Basically (it seldom is basic)

• Bitch (except at dog shows)

• Book (as in to make haste)

• Substance abuse (that could include overeating of potato chips; call it what it is)

MORE TO COME

Happy birthday, America!

User-generated crap

So there I was, reading the major local daily newspaper when I noticed a line under a particularly fluffy story and poor quality photo: “Story provided to the XXXXXXX.”

“Story provided” is, heaven help us, news-speak for a particularly insidious development in the shaky world of newspapering. That is, cutting staff to save money, then replacing the stories they used to write with self-promoting free material sent in by local organizations or individuals.

I remember when that idea was floated a decade ago when I still was a newspaper editor. Virtually everyone in the room except the business-side non-journalist who supported it held our noses and promised never to let such a thing happen. We wanted to stick to quality, professional journalism as a way of serving the community and maintaining a solid business model.

So much for that promise. But, let’s be honest about it. The true definition of “user-generated” is “quality-deprived.”

By the way, if you want to catch up on the manic things that have been going on in the journalism world (unfortunately, they’re predominantly negative), you can visit a Topix.com section I edit on a regular basis. Just go here.

Another collection of 2-faced heads

Another collection, created with the help of my friends, of unintentionally double-meaning or just plain “Huh?” headlines:

• Highway chief resigns after death in tunnel
(New York Times)

• FDA eyes better regulation of body parts industry
(Associated Press)

A quartet of headlines from Australian publications:

• Eye drops off shelf

• Enraged cow injures farmer with axe

• Miners refuse to work after death

• Cold wave linked to temperatures

What do you get for the man who has everything?

News Item: Former South African President Nelson Mandela has been taken off the U.S. terror watch list. President George W. Bush signed a bill removing him and other members of the African National Congress from the list that has kept them from entering the U.S., except to visit the United Nations complex, without special dispensation from the U.S. Secretary of State.

This from a government that allowed suspected and known terrorists into the country for years and, for all we know in this era of keeping as much as possible secret from the public, still does.

It all came about when Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) was designated as a terrorist organization by South Africa’s old apartheid regime back in 1960.

Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison for working against the policy of racial terrorism, became his nation’s first post-apartheid president but the U.S. inexplicably kept the ANC on its terror watch list.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had called the restrictions a “rather embarrassing matter that I still have to waive in my own counterpart, the foreign minister of South Africa, not to mention the great leader Nelson Mandela.”

Bush’s action is a nice birthday present for Mandela who will turn 90 this month.

It’s our National Anthem, you douche bags

It’s bad enough that unimaginative advertising agencies keep dredging up dead celebrities and old pop songs to help peddle their clients’ goods. But when “The Star-Spangled Banner” becomes the theme music to sell us an overhyped soft drink, that’s going too far. Really, it is.

If by some magic, or lack of paying your cable bill, you haven’t seen this abomination, here it is. (Note: I don’t have any trouble with the Jimi Hendrix version of the song; it’s the whole idea that appalls me.)

News item: Authorities condone, enable bestiality

From the Troy (NY) Record, June 26 edition:

TROY — A Florida fugitive wanted for attempted murder was apprehended on Sheridan Avenue Wednesday after nearly a year on the lamb thanks to a joint effort between local authorities and the Albany office of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, police said.

Don’t you just hate show hosts who tell you to …

a) “Put your hands together for … ”

(That doesn’t make any noise after the first hit, by the way)

b) “Make some noise for … ”

(I might cheer or applaud if the performance is worthy, but just sitting there like an ass, making noise? No way)

c) “C’mon,” as in sing their songs

(I paid good money for the ticket or for the cable service. You entertain me, Host Boy)

About Amy Winehouse

Oh dear.

We are being told, yet again, that Brit-trash singer (?) Amy Winehouse (that stunning beauty pictured over there) may be on the final spiral of her life-defying existence of drugs and denial.

Well, pardon me if, frankly, I don’t give a damn.

I am tired of being continually assaulted by TV, radio, blogs, fan mags — even daily newspapers that should know better — peddling stories about self-indulgent, self-destructive show biz and sports celebrities who have:

• Lived the wild life and lived to tell all about it. Endlessly.
• Found themselves in need of intervention to get out of their death spiral.
• Found themselves in need of a liver transplant because of alcoholism and drugs.
• Turned their lives around and apparently think they’re now supposed to be regarded by the media as role models.

The people I admire are the ones who succeed in their chosen field while maintaining some self-respect, some sense of responsibility to others, some … well, you get my point.

Stupid soda can tricks

A canner exceedingly canny
One evening remarked to his granny,
“I canner can can
anything that he can,
but a canner can’t can
a can, can he?”
(English doggerel)

Cans apparently continue to fascinate some people, and not just for what’s inside them.

Skeptical? Take a look at this trick, then.

The end of (my patience with) ‘Battlestar Galactica’

Are you as confused as I am about what happened last night on ‘Battlestar Galactica’?

It was the mid-season finale, an episode that looked as if some parts had been sloppily cut out, causing some odd transitions, and it included an ending that was as dissatisfying as the finale of “The Sopranos.”

I exchanged befuddled glances with The Woman To Whom I Am Related By Marriage, then immediately began speaking badly about one of our favorite shows. It will resume its final season sometime after the Christmas holiday season, but will we still care?

Well, of course we will, but not nearly as much as we might have if BSG’s creators hadn’t diddled with our loyalties and enthusiasm. Sometimes TV show bosses can’t help but get so “creative” about wrapping up a project that their egos overtake their common sense.

By the way, the photo above — which I have named “Biker Chic(ks)” — is of two BSG characters you may never have seen out of costume. Tricia Helfer (left), who plays Cylon No. 6, and Katee Sackhoff, who plays fighter pilot Starbuck, both enjoy riding motorcycles in their spare time. Really. (Go here to see Ms. Helfer all dressed up in character.)

Anyway, to catch up on the action, or lack thereof, just click here to go to the Gawker site where Ian Spiegelman provides his usual hilarious weekly summary of the show.