Isn't it ironic, dontcha think? You betcha!

Bad examples of irony:

• Rain on your wedding day
• A free ride when you've already paid
• Some good advice that you just can't take

Good example of irony:

• The following comment by "Tom in Pleasanton, USA", courtesy this page. All spelling and grammatical errors left untouched.

  At least [Arianna Huffington] came around and saw the light, meanwhile Sarah Palin is still living in the dark ages. And it took her 6 different colleges to finish her degree by the way. Genuis she is not, even if she can gut a moose.

(Yes, I borrowed the label "Palination" from Jim Treacher. What can I say; it's a good label.)

Hey, look! Time Warner's doing it AGAIN.

Is Time Warner Cable's ultimate aim to make everyone get a converter to watch anything on cable television? Well, it certainly seems so. Just months after removing channel 77 (in October) and 20 (in November), they've now set their sights on channel 19. Sure, it's only ACC programming, but who's to say next time it won't be something you actually watch?

However, Time Warner appears to be willing to work with its customers. (Maybe it has something to do with the fallout they got after the KXAN thing.) Per the same page, Time Warner will provide one converter box per household free of charge. Hopefully that means not just free pickup but also no monthly $7 charge. If so, viewers who lost the other aforementioned channels could conceivably get them back. (The return of 20 would be great for the 5-year-old, since KLRU2 is not available on other providers in my area.)

Stay tuned.

Facts? What Facts? So Say Misinformed Voters

Apparently only some of the messages about the candidates in the recent election got through to a lot of the voters. As this video will show, at least some Obama voters are severely misinformed with regard to questions such as which party currently controls Congress, who said they could see Russia from their house (um, that wasn't Sarah Palin, people, it was Tina Fey!), etc. Watch the whole thing. Just don't click through to the comments, which are not part of a healthy discourse.



Lest one think that these interviewees were cherry-picked, a Zogby poll of 512 Obama voters was commissioned, and the results pretty much matched up with this video. Go to http://www.howobamagotelected.com/ to see for yourself.

I believe a lot of this comes down to what the MSM is saying. Many, many "news" outlets were falling over themselves in genuflection toward Barack Obama, to the point that Chris "Snugglebuggle Kissyface" Matthews now believes that his job is "to make this presidency work". It's unfortunate that he didn't feel the same way toward the current (yes, flawed) administration.

So, why pay attention to what people like Mr. Matthews, or their outlets in general, are saying, especially given the wealth of information available that isn't filtered by said outlets? Truly, I don't know anymore.

(Hat tip: Meet the Real Sarah Palin)

Bar-ry! Bar-ry! Bar-ry!

Feel free to check out "your weekly address", courtesy the Office of the President-Elect. That is, if you can get past the fact that the Official Cameraman of the President-Elect doesn't know how to center his shot. Or her shot. Whatever.



The one thing that really jumped out at me (besides the general talking down of the economy) was the line "where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder, and look after not only ourselves, but each other". It reminded me a bit of this guy:



So, good night, and until next time, take care of yourself, and each other.

Unfairly Forgotten Songs #3: I Can't Wait by Deniece Williams

In 1988, Deniece Williams made a final trip to the Hot 100 (#66) and the R&B top 10 (#8) with "I Can't Wait". I truly don't know why this wasn't a bigger hit. I know there were stations playing this at the time because I have an aircheck of Power 106 in LA playing it. Of course, you'd never, ever hear this on good old Bob FM (slogan: "we play anything"). I suppose Jammin 105.9 might be the likeliest candidate to play it, but since they seem to be transitioning to a hip-hop format, I guess that ship's sailed as well.

Whatever. Enjoy.

Edit June 2010:  The imeem widget with this song has disappeared (thanks a bunch, MySpace), but I did find the song on YouTube.   (She's lip-syncing here...this is the studio version.)  Check out the cool 1988 fashions!

Time Warner: Pay More, Get Less

As promised, Time Warner pulled KLRU2 from channel 20, two days after it was scheduled. (Thanks for the false hope, guys.) And sure enough, it changed to the test pattern, instead of, y'know, either putting up information about the change or replacing it with another channel.

Interestingly enough, Time Warner's "programming changes" page now has links to notifications placed in the newspaper (deep in the classifieds, where few people would see it) and sent to the city. This may have to do with the FCC's current investigation into cable companies' bad habit of moving channels from an analog tier to digital-only. (A sample letter sent to another cable company may be found here.) In the past couple of years, Time Warner has done this at least four times.

As an aside: in the past couple of years, Time Warner has doubled basic cable rates. This is not an exaggeration.

As another aside: per the article linked above, Time Warner made better than expected profits last quarter. Somehow, raising rates now strikes me as biting the hand that feeds you.

I have recently learned, in my research, that while several alternate providers are not available in my area, I can get a substantially better package than Time Warner's basic package for about $5 more per month. We're very tempted at this point.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Well, our side lost in most of the big elections around here, with the exception of Sen. Cornyn. There is certainly room for disappointment, with (for starters) the results of these elections, with a Republican Party that has seemingly forgotten what its main tenets are, with a mainstream media that absolutely didn't do its job (to say nothing of the outright campaigning by such esteemed publications as the worthless weekly...stay classy, guys), with a lot of so-called conservatives jumping ship for reasons of political expediency, and with the Kossacks and others who took great pleasure in trying to destroy the lives of people who got in the way of their candidate.

With that said, what comes next? Here's my proposed list of things to do:

Republicans:

1. Now is the time to congratulate President-Elect Obama. Pray that God blesses him, and all our country's, and our world's, leaders with much-needed wisdom.

2. That doesn't mean that there is not room to oppose the policies and programs desired by an Obama administration. Of course there's room for that. But there's a way to oppose a policy without tearing down a person. Our party absolutely lost that way with President Clinton, and the other side threw it back at President Bush fourfold.

3. As several people have said, it is time to figure out what this party is going to stand for. The Contract with America was a concise message that resonated with voters in 1994. There was no message this time, and I would argue that what resonated with the base of the party this cycle was Sarah Palin.

4. And that leads to the next action item: do not let the MSM and quasi-conservative pundits tell you that the road to redemption starts with throwing Governor Palin under the bus. This is also not the time for finger-pointing; it is the time for action.

5. Like it or not, the other side holds a better hand at this time. There will be opportunities to work with them on items that are important to both sides. Don't capitulate on your basic beliefs, but work with Democrats to help this nation, 'cos things won't be any rosier on 20 January than they are now.

6. Absolutely, positively, don't be jerks about it. Yes, half the country disagrees with you. That doesn't mean they're any less intelligent or more evil, or that they hate this country. Do not sink to the level to which the other side descended four years ago. Remember the disparaging cries of "Jesusland"? The contempt directed toward middle America? Jim Treacher will remind you, if you really want to revisit that era. (Some of his examples of that behavior are NSFW/language.)

7. Are you still relying on the MSM for news? If so, why? Seriously. There are few reasons left to continue to take a daily paper, or at least the one we have here. Channels such as MSNBC have given us the likes of Chris "thrill up my leg" Matthews and Keith "get a shovel" Olbermann. Why watch them? Stay informed, of course, but understand that there are many sources of information other than the usual suspects. Check out, for example, a list of post-election questions and reasons why this is not the end of the world (NSFW/language).

8. Hey, 2012 candidates? Don't take public financing!

Democrats:

1. Yes, by all means celebrate this win. You earned it, in all seriousness.

2. Remember that it is possible for people to oppose your policies without being evil capitalistic pigs. And while you're remembering that, phase out the use of the oh-so-original "rethuglicans", "republiKKKans", and the like. Now, please.

3. Please stop telling our party what positions and candidates we should support. (For example, I don't know how many times I heard some of you saying McCain should dump Palin because I lost count.) I mean, come on. I haven't seen any of our party telling you that you should run Dennis Kucinich and Michael Moore.

4. I know this will come as a surprise to the MSM, but bipartisanship does, in fact, include taking some ideas from Republicans. It's not a one-way street.

But Snowed, your side didn't do that! Please. If it wasn't NCLB (or, as Mrs. Snowed calls it, Every Child Left Behind) or the Medicare prescription program, it was a $700B bailout.

5. Again, do not be jerks about it (again, that includes you, Kossacks). And don't go around telling us our viewpoint is invalid because our side lost this one.

And for everyone: be thankful it's over!