McCain's Veep?

I don't know about you, but I was more than a little stunned by McCain's selection for VP. I mean Gov. Palin has a startlingly small amount of experience to be president - and that is what the VP is there for, right?

This is a startlingly cynical selection. How stupid do the Republicans think the American public is? OK, I take that back - look who they elected twice. But seriously, do they really think that they can get Hillary supporters' votes by throwing any old schmegeggy woman out there - even a woman who is the opposite of the progressive liberal that is Sen. Clinton?

Well... they did push out Clarence Thomas as a black Supreme Court Justice who has consistently ruled against traditional black and minority issues, so this should not be such a surprise after all.

I guess this will be an interesting election. I can't wait for the VP debates - it will be interesting to see Gov. Palin tangle with Sen. Biden. I am sure that they are training Gov. Palin to handle all the standard questions, it will be interesting to see how she handles the questions that are outside her traditional area of experience.

This is either a brilliant choice, or a shot in the foot. Time will tell.

Clever TV - Word Girl

If you are about my age, you grew up watching Rocky and Bullwinkle - a very funny cartoon that had jokes for the kids and the adults. I still love to watch it.

But there has not been a lot nowadays that has filled that same void - humor for kids and adults.

Until now.

A new contender for the all-humor crown has sprung up from an unlikely place - PBSKids. The new show is Word Girl. It actually teaches kids vocabulary, but in a funny way, and I love all the jokes that I know the kids don't get.

For example, WG introduced the word "coincidence" by having Prof. Two-Brains (he accidentally fused a mouse brain to his brain, so now he steals cheese - and the mouse brain is just kind of stuck on the side of his head to give that gross-out factor that kids love) break out of prison on the day that an exhibit of ancient cheese was opening at the museum of history. Who'd a thunk it? A "coincidence!"

I heard about Word Girl from on of my favorite Podcasts Grammar Girl - yes, I listen to a podcast on grammar and it is also really interesting and entertaining. More on my podcasts later.

However, if you have little kids running around the house, you have an excuse to watch Word Girl.

And even if you don't have kids running around, watch her anyway.

R U A Nerd?

So is nerd cool? Or is nerd still... well... nerdy?

I don't know. But I do know that nerds are ruling the world and pushing a lot of our economy. Trust me, the nerds did not cause the dot-com bust. They did not cause the mortgage bust, and they did not cause the gas prices to fly out the window.

They didn't even cause global warming... but they may solve it.

Who knows, we may even get our first nerdy president.

Now I have to admit, I have many nerdy tendencies - unnatural obsession with technology. I am drawn to certain things that my wife just does not care about. Like pi. I think pi is cool, to her it is just silly. Same with prime numbers - no attraction for her.

And can you believe it, she doesn't even have a favorite number! I have one - 27. Why? Well it's kind of obvious 27 is 3 to the third power, and three is the lowest prime number. Cool, eh?

So I took an online nerd quiz and guess what? I made pretty nerdy.

See?




Give it a shot. I hit pay dirt with the number of computers I have and building my own, and owning an HP computer that does RPN (actually, I have 2). Also a microscope, telescope, and slide rule.

Anyway, check your nerd score and see what pops up.

Enjoy!

Be true to your school - or party

So, like the Beach Boys Song, I want to be true to my party - the Democratic Party.

I keep hearing about supporters for Senator Clinton that will not support Obama because their feelings are hurt. Well, I say - GROW UP! This is politics - this is a contest. There will be a winner and a loser and we have to deal with it.

What kind of Democrat would you be if just because Senator Clinton lost, you go out and support someone who is not a Democrat and does not support her goals and ideas? I expect that from a little kid - in grammar school, but not from a rational adult.

Again, I just see people voting and behaving on emotion, not using those little grey cells in their brain.

So stop being a bunch of cry-baby pussies and figure out what is important to you, your family, the country, and then vote for the candidate who will best support that. It's as sample as that.

Dream Pinball 3-D - BAD!

As good as Williams Pinball for the Wii is, that is how bad Dream Pinball 3-D is.

Williams has compelling graphics and game play. Dream Pinball has terrible graphics - in fact, some of the tables look like the same table skinned. And the original table was not so hot in the first place. The tables have little personality, and the game play and ball physics never really seemed to gel.

Also, I could not really get the camera to give me a consistently useful table angle. If I could see the ball at the top of the table, it did not give me a good, useful view of the ball on the lower flippers. I kind of think this is important and the designers would have gotten this part correct. But for some reason, the just blew it off, or never bothered to actually play the game.

Now at least I got a decent deal from Amazon, and I was able to sell it to GameStop for a $5 loss, so it is not bad at all. I've returned games for less and taken a bath.

If you like Williams Pinball, keep playing it. Do not get Dream Pinball 3-D. It does nt compare, and it is a waste of money.