Beware of Salted Prunes

This little sonuvabitch caused some trouble around the old apartment recently.



It claims to consist solely of salt and prunes. You might as well put a label on the atom bomb that says "Ingredients: Plutonium."



Also: It has "pit fragments." Bullshit. It has pits, period.

A Song and a Self-Congratulatory Backslap

Check out an mp3 of Radiohead's Grammy performance with the USC marching band.



Also, I was reading old blog posts, and I stumbled across this one I wrote on Oct. 1:

I would be surprised if McCain wins this election. In the end, I predict an Obama near-landslide, along the lines of a 53-47 popular vote split, if not more. If you look at the Bush-Kerry electoral map from 2004, it seems clear that Obama can turn key states: New Mexico, Iowa, Ohio, Virginia, Indiana, Florida. If Obama can't pull this off, then I have serious questions about the rationality of the American voter.

The final tally: Barack Obama - 66,882,230 53% John McCain - 58,343,671 46%

Damn you Nader voters for screwing up my prediction! But seriously, thank God I was right. Also, the states Obama flipped from Bush to blue? New Mexico, Iowa, Ohio, Virginia, Indiana, Florida (and North Carolina, Colorado and Nevada).

Looking Back

Maybe now is not the time to be thinking about W., but this brief Vanity Fair story written by a guy who was college friends with one of Bush's daughters and invited several times to the White House is a great read.

One month after the worst attack in U.S. history, George W. Bush watched a 100-minute-long Anthony Hopkins film called Hearts in Atlantis.

It is an awful movie, and as it drags on I feel increasingly uneasy. Surely the president should be doing something else. Occasionally he gets a phone call from Andy Card, his chief of staff, who, as I understand it, is in the West Wing meeting with the head of the F.A.A. to determine when Washington’s Reagan National Airport will be safe to completely re-open (some flights began operating earlier in the week). Each time the phone rings, I hope the president will excuse himself to join them. But he doesn’t. Over the phone, the president tells the men to “get that airport opened up!” and then heads to bed.

Notes on Obama's Inauguration

-Welp, I think the Iranians proved today that they're prepared to dislike just about anybody.

-Potential Daily Show headlines? "Obama Sworn In; Sen. Kennedy Stricken by Seizure; Dow Drops 300 Points; Supreme Court Chief Justice and President Both Bungle Most Historic Oath of Office in History". It's only fair, right?

-NY Times liveblog is like a treasure trove of hilarious:

The Bushes Depart | 12:56 p.m. The helicopter steps are folded up. The blade begins to rotate. The Obamas and Bidens are standing still, holding each other’s hands, as they watch the helicopter rev up. We now have lift-off; the Bushes have left the Capitol at 12:55 — almost half an hour ahead of time. The Obamas wave.

The helicopter is swinging out over the Mall first instead of heading directly to Andrews. Surely the Bushes can’t hear the crowd below, but the chant is one that sports fans jeer to the opposing team: “Na Na Na Na/Na Na Na Na/Hey Hey Hey/Good-bye.”

-Did Chief Justice John Roberts flub the oath of office? Investigating. Maybe he was pissed that Obama voted against him and was the president of the Harvard Law Review, while Roberts was only managing editor. Update:Obama has retaken the oath out of "an abundance of caution."


-This from the NY Times story "For City Used to Pomp, a Legend is Born": "'Today, we’re hoping to see history,' Anad Thomas, a 32-year-old nurse from Westchester County, N.Y., said as she rode down 16th Street on a crowded bus just before 7 a.m. Her personal survival kit included peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and plenty of tissues, along with a camera."

NOOOOO Anad! Don't eat the peanut butter!!

Ted's Top 26 Songs of 2008

It's nearing the end of the year and that means finals (boo) and end-of-the-year best-of lists (yay). The following is a list of my favorite songs of 2008, but it is not necessarily indicative of my favorite artists or albums of 2008. So, without further ado, here are my top 26 songs of 2008, in no particular order:

- "Electric Feel" by MGMT (Oracular Spectacular)
- "The Most Beautiful Girl In The Room (Album Version)" by Flight of the Conchords (Flight of the Conchords)
- "Shove It (Switch Remix)" by Santogold (I Believe In Santogold EP)
- "He Doesn't Know Why" by Fleet Foxes (Fleet Foxes)
- "Let The Beat Build" by Lil' Wayne (Tha Carter III)
- "Golden Age" by TV On The Radio (Dear Science)
- "Chemtrails" by Beck (Modern Guilt)
- "For Emma" by Bon Iver (For Emma, Forever Ago)
- "Violet Hill" by Coldplay (Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends)
- "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" by Vampire Weekend (Vampire Weekend)
- "The Rip" by Portishead (Third)
- "Mikey Rocks" by The Cool Kids (The Bake Sale)
- "Trick For Treat" by Neon Neon (Stainless Style)
- "Evil Urges" by My Morning Jacket (Evil Urges)
- "A Little Better" by Gnarls Barkley (The Odd Couple)
- "Gila" by Beach House (Devotion)
- "Control" by Kid Sister (Scion CD Sampler Vol. 22: Fool's Gold Remixed)
- "Oil" by Jonny Greenwood (There Will Be Blood OST)
- "Mykonos" by Fleet Foxes (Sun Giant EP)
- "Grounds For Divorce" by Elbow (The Seldom Seen Kid)
- "Circus of Horror" by Quiet Village (Silent Movie)
- "Dance Wiv Me" by Dizzee Rascal (Dance Wiv Me Single)
- "A Milli" by Lil' Wayne (Tha Carter III)
- "Sentimental Heart" by She & Him (Volume One)
- "Still Here" by Girl Talk (Feed The Animals)
- "Kamphopo" by The Very Best (The Very Best Mixtape)

Baghdad by the Bay

According to the SF Crime blog, San Francisco has surpassed 100 murders for 2008. If you believe the blog, this is the second straight year of 100 murders in the city (the SFPD recorded only 98 in 2007). The 104 murders recorded to date by SF Crime is the highest amount since the 104 reported in 1995.

It might be interesting at this bloody moment in SF to recount an August column by C.W. Nevius in the San Francisco Chronicle:

In July 2004, Mayor Gavin Newsom was confronted by a morning radio show caller who complained about the homicide rate. Newsom's flip reply was that if homicide rates didn't drop in a year, the caller could "begin a campaign to recall me. And you know what? I may be right there as a co-signer of that effort."

When it comes to wisecracks the mayor wishes he never said, that has to be at the top of the list.

Oligarchy or Democracy?

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has produced a seven-and-a-half hour State of the City address that is being presented in various "webisodes" on YouTube. This is all you need to know about it: