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July 29, 2003

I'm on the air again. Check out the July 29th Daily Dose on collegemedianews.com.

July 27, 2003

   Went to the They Might Be Giants concert at Live on Penn yesterday. What I did not realize about Live on Penn is that it actually means "on Penn." We were standing in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue, just a couple blocks from the Capitol - really cool, as it was in the background the whole time.
    TMBG do a really hilarious show. John F made a lot of jokes, like telling the two cameramen who were shooting the stage to point the cameras at each other. Noticing one guy crowd surfing, he said "We want to meet him" and when the guy got up to the front, he told him "Good luck with college, Tim." Later he said "I'm just kidding, Tim, I know you're not going to college." At one point they had John L playing "the real saxophone" and Dan M playing a guitar synthesizer, "the arch-nemesis of the real saxophone." "What Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle is to movies, the guitar synthesizer is to music," John F proclaimed. Best of all, they played all three songs I wanted to hear - Birdhouse in Your Soul, Doctor Worm, and The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas.
    Then Shannon and I went around and looked at stuff. We went to the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial. They're both cool. It was also pretty neat to see that there were quite a few people looking at them, even in the dark. There aren't that many urban areas one can go at night and feel safe these days, but I did.

July 26, 2003

   Yesterday I had to go cover the College Republican National Convention. Alone. Yikes. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. They look just like you and me, you know. But clearly something is wrong. And then you remember: they're pure evil. I talked to the Media Relations guy. Seemed nice enough. But I could just tell... evil. It oozed off everyone there. I felt like a sheep in wolf's clothing - they probably didn't realize they were dealing with a Democrat (though as a reporter I had to be nonpartisan anyway). I'm surprised they haven't developed the ability to smell us yet.
    You will never guess who I saw there. Well, based on Gabby's reaction, you will if you're in a position to know who I'm talking about. I call Gabby because I figure she's most likely to appreciate this (I bet Redd will as well). I say "I was at the College Republican National Convention," and she goes "You saw Arthur, didn't you."
    That's right, kids. Arthur Bochner. The kid who, had he stayed all four years at Columbia, would probably have been voted "Most Likely to be a Member of the College Republicans." Mr. Money himself. He of the book. I didn't say hi or anything - lord no - but I did get confirmation it was him when some girl came over and said "Hi, Arthur!" She then introduced her friend to him. It was a first name only a college-aged female with rich Republican parents could have. Bentley.
    Then I had to listen to Tom DeLay bash Democrats for 20 minutes. Among his nuggets of wisdom were the following choice tidbits:
    * "Good afternoon - or as John Kerry might say, 'Bonjour.'"
    * "[The Democrats are] living in a time warp. They wanna tax like Mondale, spend like Carter, and fight like McGovern." As long as he could get away with comparing current Democrats to previous losers, he described the "motley crew" of candidates as holding a "Michael Dukakis lookalike contest."
    * He also mocked Dennis Kucinich for trying to introduce legislation to ban "mind control weapons in outer space." That's all well and good, but then he said that he expected all the Democrats to show up to their next debate in tinfoil hats. Yeah, Kucinich is sooooo centrist. Everyone else is clearly left of him. And incidentally, not even Democrats take him seriously. Please.
    I mean, just what a total asshole. This is the same guy who misused the FAA to find state Democrats who were trying to block a vote by going to Oklahoma. As Tyler said, there's a reason DeLay didn't get Speaker when Gingrich left.
    Also fun: hearing former Congressman Bob Barr (R-GA) spend at least ten minutes of his time talking about how Bill Clinton needed to be impeached. Bob Barr, for those who didn't know, lied under oath about an extramarital affair. He was just never indicted for it.
    Anyway, I made it out of there without getting killed and having the marrow sucked out of my bones, and recorded a little feature, which you can hear at the College Media News site.

July 24, 2003

   Went downtown to the Rayburn Building for a House Armed Services Committee meeting with other intern Erica (who goes to Wash U, incidentally). The subcommittee met to discuss cyberterrorism. Highlights of the day:
    * The subcommitte was headed by Jim Saxton, a congressman from New Jersey. Also, because we were so close to the Capitol, I actually saw (and crossed) New Jersey Avenue, which is one of the most minor state avenues there is in terms of both length and traffic.
    * Marty Meehan (D-MA) asking the panel of witnesses if they knew of camps where "computer geeks" were trained to be cyberterrorists.
    * Mac Thornberry (R-TX) using the word "bailiwick" in a sentence.
    * Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD)'s repeated questioning of the panel along the line of "What would happen if we lost all our computers? Is there a contingency plan? What if a nuclear bomb exploded in space and knocked out all our communications satellites? Wouldn't we be fucked?" To which the panel could only go, "Uh, we'll get back to you." Bartlett's an old guy (in at least his 70s), so his distrust of technology was less surprising.
    * Because the four quadrants of DC are measured from the Capitol Building, I was in all four of them today. I was roundly mocked for finding this interesting.
    Political trivia: which three states have two female senators?

July 21, 2003

   Oh, another thing I almost forgot. Shannon and I went to the zoo on Sunday. Parts of it were really neat, and then other parts were a little more lame. Let's break it down.
    Here's a map if you'd like to follow along, although I know you don't. Anyway. There are basically two sections of the zoo when you come in, one to the left and one to the right. The cool stuff is mostly to the left. I think you can guess which way we went first.
    The tapirs were nowhere to be seen (this would be a trend) so we continued down to the area with the birds. The birds, I must say, were actually pretty cool. Bald eagles are really neat (they always look like they're preparing to kick your ass), and we saw a lot of cool larger birds, like flamingoes, cranes, and a few flightless birds like the rhea (the cassowary, like most of the birds in the Flight Exhibit, was nowhere to be seen). There were also some cool birds inside the birdhouse, like the tawny frogmouth owl, which I've actually seen in the wild in Australia.
    It was impossible to find the free-ranging tamarins, though this isn't surprising as there are all of two. Passing the otter and beavers (didn't see), we saw the Mexican wolves (wolves are so cute) and then the seal and sea lion. (I list all these in the singluar because there was only one of each that we were able to see.) After trying and failing to see the spectacled bears, we went down to Amazonia, in which it was also hard to see any of the animals that were supposedly there, except for the enormous fish (they had some truly massive catfish), which were cool.
    Having finished the first side, it was time to get to the part of the zoo with the cool animals. We doubled back to the middle of the left section and started that side with the sloth bears (cute). Then we saw the lion and tiger (the lion roared a whole bunch, then plopped down as if that had tired him out completely). Then we went over to the Think Tank, where a bunch of apes and monkeys are under surveillance and they conduct experiments and stuff. They weren't doing any at the time, but it was mesmerizing. I could have sat and stared at the orangutan all day; just watch them sit there and eat with their hands and attempt to refute evolution. I won't be listening.
    Then came a couple of mediocre houses: the Small Mammal house (Motto: We Really Like Tamarins) and the Great Ape house (Motto: Watch Gorillas Do Nothing). Finally we got to the good part.
    The camels weren't there. Then the rhinos weren't there either, but at least this time there was a sign telling us so. We moved on to the Elephant House, which also houses the giraffe and hippos.
    Hippos: cool. They're so big (weighing 2-3 tons) and round and they have huge heads and teeth. They looked even bigger because when we saw them they were in fairly small areas and out of the water (which normally hides much of their bodies). Giraffes: incredibly cool. They're one of Shannon's favorite animals, and I have to agree. Such beautiful-looking creatures. The horns are neat, and it's so fun watching them walk. I love the pattern, too.
    Elephants: also cool. I could have done without the video, though. It was a four-minute thing showing the birth of the zoo's young elephant back in 2001. First they showed the artificial insemination (gross), and that seemed to go on forever. Shannon pointed out that we were mature enough not to be squirming, but when the baby fell out (literally) onto the ground in a gush of blood and who knows what else, we were whimpering and holding each other in fright, trying not to look. Really, really gross.
    Before seeing the zebras (kinda cool) and cheetahs (who weren't visible) and then leaving, we saw the pandas, which have always been the National Zoo's star attraction. Pandas are so cool. All they did when we were there was eat bamboo, but even that's neat. My mom described watching them eat as like looking at a person in a panda suit. She's right. Just the way they move and how they grip the bamboo... it's so cute. You just want to take pandas home with you. But if you did, they'd probably maul you.
    And thus concludes the long and boring discussion of our trip to the zoo.

July 21, 2003

   I almost forgot. My parents were in France last week, and here's what they brought back:
    * A "Calvin et Hobbes" book whimsically titled "Chou Bi Dou Wouah!" It's nice because I can brush up on my French since I know most of the strips in there in English.
    * A Zinedine Zidane Team France jersey. Apparently the adult memorabilia business is not big over there yet, so this is a kids' XXL, which explains why it's curiously broad in the shoulders and also why I can barely get my watermelon-sized head through the neck. It's really cool when I have it on, though.
    * A Hard Rock Cafe Paris shirt to add to my collection.
    * A map of the Paris Métro system to add to my collection of train maps on shirts, along with the London Underground one. I need to scour the web for other mass transit shirts, like the DC Metro, NYC subways (I've seen them in NYC stores but they never seem to have the one I want), and the Chicago El (I do have that tie).
    Don't my parents know me well?

July 20, 2003

Whoa, new movie review. I've gone back to letter grades but maintained the old number scale for myself to keep grade inflation down. We'll see how well that works, but I think it shows in the review.

July 18, 2003

Tidbits:
* Tyler and I were talking about Len's "If You Steal My Sunshine" yesterday, in this conversation:

NUTyler603 (1:32:09 PM): if Len Mattiace was a baseball player, when he came to bat, they would have to play "Steal My Sunshine"
BigFlax29 (1:33:04 PM): hahaha
BigFlax29 (1:33:09 PM): that song is in my playlist
NUTyler603 (1:33:38 PM): I burned out on it quickly
BigFlax29 (1:34:12 PM): well, I only just put it in my playlist two days ago... before that I hadn't listened to it in months at least, if not years
NUTyler603 (1:34:18 PM): oh ok
BigFlax29 (1:34:30 PM): I find it goofily fun
NUTyler603 (1:34:46 PM): just so I don't come any documentation listing you as the President of the "Len Fan Club"
BigFlax29 (1:35:12 PM): um... don't google my name for the next few minutes
NUTyler603 (1:35:36 PM): ha
NUTyler603 (1:35:51 PM): as you quickly tender your resignation
BigFlax29 (1:36:11 PM): *whistles innocently*

Today at dinner, what song should come on the jukebox but "If You Steal My Sunshine?" I pointed it out to Shannon as amusing. Later I started playing it and noted "This is the song in question," but it turned out she had known the song all along. She said "I know pop culture stuff sometimes," then proceeded to mistake Kurt Cobain for one of the Hanson brothers.

* The New York Times vending box outside the post office had been spray painted. Someone wrote "LIES" across the front in black. Also, there are New York Post vending boxes here. I mean, why?

    * Having been formally charged with sexual assault, Kobe Bryant announced that he was guilty of adultery but that the sex was consensual. That does seem like sort of a CYA move, but on the other hand, if he were really guilty, would he take the risk of going to trial? Particularly when a protracted trial could prevent him from playing and would draw even more attention? Of course, if he settled out of court, that would be viewed as - whether it was or not - an admission of guilt.
    Having never liked Bryant, I have to admit to having some guilty glee at seeing him get his comeuppance - he always struck me as really arrogant on the court, and the promotion of him as a role model off it was just annoying. Now we see he's just like so many other NBA players - or, if he really did assault the woman, even worse than most of the league. You're a fraud, Bryant. Of course, this probably won't end up hurting his image that much - Jordan still seems to be fine - but I'll take what I can get.
    Did he do it? The DA sure seems to think he has a case. Friends claim this woman would never seek publicity in such a fashion - but when don't friends claim that? You have to figure he'll get off somehow whether he did it or not, but the media circus will be interesting to watch.
    (Incidentally, have you seen Bryant's wife? I haven't seen any pictures of the alleged victim, but all signs point to he's even dumber than you'd think.)

EDIT: Perhaps I should clarify this last bit. The "joke" here is based on Bryant's claim of adultery; since his wife is quite attractive, one (if one is male) wonders what he would have been thinking to cheat on her. If the claim of assault is true, of course, Bryant has other problems. My apologies to those who were offended; I should probably remember that some women do read this site before making jokes intended solely for the male segment of the audience.

July 16, 2003

Most of you have probably already seen this, but for those who haven't: Harvard rescinded Blair Hornstine's acceptance. I love it. Apparently she's taking courses at some "undisclosed campus" (it's probably like, TCNJ or some such), but it's nice to know that Harvard will have one less spoiled brat on its campus, isn't it?

July 15, 2003

   Went to a forum today where seven of the nine Democratic presidential candidates were grilled by Sam Donaldson on their positions on issues of importance to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender community, mostly gay marriage and gays in the military. It was pretty cool to be in the same room as so many serious presidential candidates, although then you also had guys like Al Sharpton. I didn't get to see Gephardt because we had to leave and I only caught Sharpton's opening statement, but here are my impressions on the candidates:
    * Kerry: Came across reasonably "presidential," but fortunately didn't have too much of a problem espousing some pretty liberal views, like universal health care. Has some incredible hair. Got hissed a bit for saying he would support civil unions but not gay marriage (which I'll talk more about later).
    * Kucinich: Came out with some very liberal views, but then when you're a fringe candidate like he is, you pretty much have to do that to get attention. Of course, you only get the attention of the farthest left, and you'll never get elected that way. Something of a vicious cycle.
    * Moseley Braun: Seems like a gimmick run to get the "a woman can run for president" idea on the board. Her ideas aren't any worse than Kucinich's, but she really seemed like someone who wasn't quite sure why she was there.
    * Dean: It's easy to see why he's gained so much ground recently - he's tremendously charismatic. He did brag quite a bit about instituting civil unions in Vermont (this after saying he didn't need to brag about it), but hey, he knew his audience. I liked the guy a lot, though. He and Kerry have to be my top two choices right now.
    * Lieberman: For those of you who remember the 2000 campaign, this is the guy Al Gore chose to be his running mate, probably because he made Gore look animated. Well, he's still boring, and of all the candidates he was by far the most evasive of Donaldson's grilling. Lieberman, like many of the candidates, did not list himself as supporting gay marriages, but tried to avoid saying it in front of the crowd.
    * Sharpton: Well, if you buy that there's a chance Sharpton even finishes in the top five, I have something else you may be interested in purchasing.

I spent the whole time recording this on mini-disc, but when I stopped the disc, the player claimed the disc was blank. Hassan and I freaked out but weren't sure if it really hadn't recorded but perhaps there was just some error, so we went back, only to find that, in fact, the disc had somehow recorded nothing, despite showing me levels and a counter the whole time and playing in my earphones. Jaime (one of many people who could be called my "boss") was, of course, not pleased, and gave us something of a bitching out, not that we didn't deserve it at least a bit. Then I made ten bucks making copies for Ellen (the "big boss;" if this were a Zelda game she would be Ganon, and sometimes she can be about as tough), though if she'd known about the mini-disc problem she probably would have made me do it for free. It's nice to work in a place where you get paid "for shit work," as Ellen put it, rather than the interns simply having to do such things as a matter of course.

Back to gay marriage. I support it, myself; why the hell not? Here's what I want to know. Donaldson pushed pretty hard on some of the candidates who said they supported civil unions but not "gay marriage." However, they noted that gays would have all the same rights as married couples in said civil unions, and the main reason they were against "gay marriage" was that marriage was regarded culturally as more of a religious institution, and furthermore they thought they could push civil unions through but might not be able to sell "gay marriage." This didn't go over that great with some of the crowd, nor with Donaldson's grilling.
So here's the question. If a civil union gives gay couples the exact same rights and privileges as a marriage gives heterosexual couples, what is the difference, exactly? Donaldson pushed a bit on why the word "marriage" was such a hangup for the candidates. Why is it such a hangup for the homosexuals? Do you need the word "marriage" in there before you can truly feel good about your union? Why not just have a civil union and refer to it as a "marriage" yourself? I don't think the government's going to stop you from doing that. If the Democrats win and get to pass at least some of the stuff they were talking about here (and repeal some other stuff), it sure sounds like "civil union" will be different from "gay marriage" in name only. I doubt highly I have any GLBT readers, but if someone does stumble across this, can you explain to me what's in the name if all the rights are going to be the same anyway?

July 12, 2003

This may be the hardest area to drive in I've ever seen. Getting Shannon back to Arlington was not the problem; returning was. I turned right instead of left at Fort Myer Drive on the way back and ended up crossing the Potomac on the Arlington Memorial Bridge and not the Key Bridge. Right in front of the LIncoln Memorial, which was kind of cool. Then onto Constitution Avenue and right past the Washington Monument. Also kind of cool. Not cool: the long way back, going onto 14th, then deciding to head west on R hoping to hit Wisconsin, only to find R ends at Massachusetts. Fortunately Massachusetts eventually hits Wisconsin, and then things were okay. I also parked in a closer long-term lot. But I didn't get back until 1:30.

July 9, 2003

Got absolutely poured on walking back to the Metro today. Ugh. I may take a shower in a few minutes.
DId the "Daily Dose" today, which goes on the College Media News site. I'm practically famous!

July 7, 2003

Odd thing I noticed of the day: at Metro Center, the Orange and Blue lines are deeper than the Red line. But the escalators at Bethesda and Dupont Circle (Red) are way longer than the escalator at McPherson Square (Orange/Blue). I am powerless to explain this.

July 4, 2003

Huge change in momentum last night. The pain in my throat is now operating at a mere 5-10% of its high point, and the sinuses have dropped to probably no better than 50% of their max production. There had to be bad news, though; the night sweats have not stopped and in fact may have gotten worse last night, as I had to change the sheets at 2:30 and just a couple hours later had soaked the new sheets to the point where I spent the rest of the night sleeping on one of my bath towels. It's rather unpleasant, and what's more I've never had it happen before. I also can't explain it. The common causes of night sweats are: menopause (well, we know what it's not), fever (I'm pretty sure I no longer have one), diabetes (not to my knowledge), sleep apnea (don't think so), some prescription drugs. The latter seems the most likely, so perhaps it's just a reaction to the heavy doses of augmentin. Let's hope so, at any rate. The last thing I need is to beat the staph only to find something even more pernicious waiting around the corner.

July 3, 2003

No work this week at the very least. I don't feel all that bad, considering, but I still have the sore throat and stuffy nose, and the mucus production of the latter continues to violate Newton's law that matter cannot be created. I called the doctor this morning and apparently the lab work isn't complete yet. This suggests I don't have strep, but given the obvious ineffectiveness of the augmentin, I think I could have told you that. I actually slept pretty efficiently last night, rather than waking up every 20 minutes, but I was forced to change the sheets at 4:30 in the morning because I had produced so much sweat that there was no longer a dry spot to lie on. Good gracious.
Elsewhere in "Things Calculated to Piss Flax Off," the cable modem insists on going out every ten minutes or so. Lovin' it, Comcast!

UPDATE: Talked to the doctor's office. The mono test isn't back yet (fan-tas-tic! How did they know it was my secret plan to spend a three-day weekend alone unsure of what disease I have?), but apparently I have a staph infection. Staph! Not strep. "Staph" sounds really freaky, but since staph bacteria live in the throat normally, I guess it's not all that surprising. Either way, she said the augmentin should clear it up. I am feeling slightly better as time passes, though my throat is not really any less sore. Perhaps I'm just getting used to it. You'd have to think, based on such information, that I don't have mono, but let's not jinx it.

July 2, 2003

I had been hoping to be back to work by Thursday, but it's looking less likely every second, as my body refuses to get better. This is already the worst illness I've had since junior year of high school; if it lasts through the weekend I think we'll have a new champion.
Meanwhile, as if the sore throat refusing to let up weren't annoying enough (achingly painful to eat or drink just about anything), a severely stuffy nose which could possibly be some sort of nasal infection has decided to piggyback on top. As if that weren't bad enough, every time I tell my mom about the latest developments she'll say "Oh, that's what Marian had." Marian, you will recall, had mono. I'll say it again - if this is mono you might as well just kill me now. I never had flu-like symptoms, though, which mono traditionally starts with, and I haven't been so tired as to, in the words of Third Eye Blind, "spend the whole goddamn day in bed." The doctor should call today or tomorrow and then we'll know.

July 1, 2003

   Not really better yet. I think I've finally lost the fever, which was so bad this morning that I had delirious dreams in my half-asleep state (I basically woke up every 15-20 minutes last night) that two people, a man and a woman, were telling me which position to try and sleep in next. The alarming part is not that I imagined them; it's that it took me four or five hours to realize that there weren't real people hovering over me.
    Basically, my throat's still sore (it hurts really bad every time I swallow, which makes "take pills with food" a laugh and a half) and I have a headache. My mom says augmentin should kick in within 24 hours, which unfortunately means I still have ten hours to go. At least I'm not feeling tired despite the shitty night of sleep; this suggests it's unlikely to be mono.
    Shannon gets down here today, but I won't see her until, I'm guessing, at least Thursday. Thank you, disease gods! When you're sick as infrequently as I am, I think when you do get sick it tends to hit even harder. I'll complain some more later, or maybe celebrate if the meds ever kick in.

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This page last updated: Tuesday, July 29, 2003 11:50:42 PM