History! Victory!

After what seemed like a hundred thousand years, but only a few hours into actual Election Night, the television networks projected Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States and our first African-American president. History was made last night and I couldn't be more excited.

Maybe he won't be able to do everything he has promised, but change is already here--there is no way around that. I wasn't screaming in the streets or bawling my eyes out, but I may have gotten a little misty eyed listening to his speech and watching the new First Family onstage in Grant Park.

INSERT VIDEO OF SPEECH HERE

As much as I'd have liked to see a woman get it first, I am thrilled that history was made in the form of Barack Obama. Now only 90 more days and we'll see what he's gonna do with it.

The Immaculate Election

(A little Arrested Development throwback for you)

So here I sit, stomach in knots, yelling at the TV and cursing Kansas and its lousy conservatives.


I can only imagine McCain, sitting in one of his many (did his staff ever get back to us with how many?) homes in Arizona with Botox Barbie on one arm and Caribou Barbie on the other. Across the country, Joe Biden polishes his teeth and Obama marvels at the crazy college kids sprinting across Grant Park to get a spot as close to the stage as possible... even though nobody will speak there for many hours.

I count down the minutes between poll closings along with Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper on CNN, David Gregory on MSNBC, Charles Gibson on ABC and Brian Williams on NBC. I am undoubtedly a major channel flipper. I am also a multi-tasker--posting here, watching the minute-by-minute electoral map updates on MSNBC.com and checking Bloglines for other updates. Oh and I'm also texting friends and playing Quadrum on my phone.

Obama's electoral count is rising, but will it be enough to put him over the 270 mark?

Honestly? I wish it would just go ahead and happen cause I'm already yawning. Uh oh.

It's Unfair and It's Wrong

I may not live in California, but I still feel passionate about the issue at hand.

Samuel L. Jackson narrates this video, urging voters to defeat Proposition 8 which would ban gay marriage in the state. It is so relevant and effective to compare this issue to a history of discrimination:



If you live in California, vote No on Prop 8. Defeat discrimination and injustice.

RIP Bernie Mac

CNN is reporting that Bernie Mac died today, at the age of 50, from complications due to pneumonia.


Pneumonia? How strange and tragic! He was a very funny man and brought a great comedic presence to so many movies and television shows. Definitely a sudden and sad loss for the entertainment industry.

Read more about Bernie's life at CNN.com

Too Busy Reading to Post

I am not being productive, working on anything for school, cleaning my house or hanging out with friends.

I am reading Breaking Dawn like the cool kid I am.

So don't bother me.

But feel free to read about how it's breaking sales records...

Spell Check

Nice work, NBC Action News. Or was it AP? "Who's" fault was it?:

Woman who's car went into river dies

Last Update: 11:56 am

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A woman's whose vehicle went into the Meramec River has died, a day after her grandson also died.

Sandra Branham, 63, of Crestwood, died Saturday at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on its Web site.

And so on...

Who's vs. Whose
Don't we learn the different in elementary school?

You'd think the headline writer could get it right since it's correct in the first sentence of the article. Guess NOT!

It's About Damn Time

CNN and many others are reporting that the price of gas is finally coming down (at least a little bit).

It's nice to see a gallon under $4 again.***

What took so long? Let's hope those prices keep going down and stay down.

***What a depressing statement. I remember being totally appalled when it went over $2!

Figures

Just as everyone predicted, Batman kicked Spidey's ass at the box office. The Dark Knight beat Spiderman 3's opening weekend record, bringing in more than $155 million.

WHOA. That's a whole lotta Batman.

Read all about the weekend box office results here

UPDATE:
The records keep on breaking-- the movie made $25.4 million TODAY. That's a Monday. Yeah.

Overwhelming Coverage

So... a few weeks ago I was all upset because China was reportedly going to screw with and potentially limit TV coverage of the summer Olympics.

Welllllll now it seems they must have changed their tune because NBC Universal apparently has HUGE plans for unprecedented coverage--some 3600 hours of it.

Good lord! 3600 hours? Is that even possible? Are there 3600 hours in the two-plus weeks of the Olympics? Let's see-- 24 hours X 17 days = 408 hours. Huh?!

Don't worry, the math isn't wrong--it appears that the coverage will be simultaneous on all of NBC Universal's television network, plus 2000+ hours of streaming live sports coverage online. Pretty cool (especially for fans of polo/archery/synchronized swimming) but maybe a little overkill, even for an Olympics nut like me. Taking a look at the schedule, though, everything I'm interested in watching is during primetime on NBC. Nothing new there.

I guess China's letting everybody in after all... or if not everybody, at least NBC. 30 Days!

Won't Be Bitten Again

According to MarketWatch.com, cheap but chic clothing supplier Steve and Barry's is facing bankruptcy.
This is terrible news! I love Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten clothing line. They had the cutest stuff for so cheap. Especially work clothes! They may not have been the highest quality but they lasted a season at least. Sad!

However, this does explain why they haven't really had any new clothes in the Bitten line in several months.

Just a few months back there was a big story in the NY Times about the success of Steve and Barry's. Must have been the kiss of death!

Fewer Lattes in the World

Starbucks announced it will close 600 of its stores, eliminating 12,000 jobs across the country. The stores they are closing are what they label as "underperformers"--almost 70% of those stores are less than three years old.

I watched The Big Idea on MSNBC last night and they had the Starbucks CEO on who was, unsurprisingly, totally positive about this move. He was also fairly creepy about the Starbucks "experice" and used the word ubiquitous way, way too many times.

Let's hope the two Starbucks by me don't close--they are both fairly new!

Scientific Proof

BBC News is reporting today about a new Swedish study on brain shape and its relation to sexual orientation.

The study found that "Gay men and heterosexual women had halves of a similar size, while the right side was bigger in lesbian women and heterosexual men."

"When these results were collected, it was found that lesbians and heterosexual men shared a particular "asymmetry" in their hemisphere size, while heterosexual women and gay men had no difference between the size of the different halves of their brain."

Still think it's a choice, morons?

Deja BOO

Variety is reporting that studios are already halting production of movies in fear of yet another strike.

Read the scary details here

I can't stand another strike and neither can the rest of the movie/TV-viewing public! Figure it out actors before it's too late. We CAN find other things to do if forced to.

RIP Tim Russert

Today, renowned newsman Tim Russert died after suffering a heart attack at work at NBC.

He was only 58 years old.

What a sad, sad day for journalism, broadcast news and politics! Russert's death dominated national news coverage and local news coverage here in NYC (I'm loving every minute of my NYC vacation--pictures, etc. to come upon my return). The story even trumped the evacuation of flood victims in Iowa--this guy was obviously a big deal!

The presidential election in November will not be the same without Tim Russert coloring states in blue or red and analyzing everything. NBC says it will take at least four people to replace him and all the work he did. Plus, he seemed like he was just a really nice guy.

What a sad loss! RIP Tim Russert--you will be missed by many people. Here is Russert's colleague and amazing journalism Tom Brokaw making the sad announcement:

Not Cool, China.

So Time.com reported today that there is a possibility that the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing may not be televised.

WHAT?

This news is super disturbing. I get sort of Olympics-obsessed every two years. I even tape stuff that is on during the day when I'm away from the TV and watch it later. I even watch the stupid events that nobody likes. Just cause it's the Olympics. And I look forward to it every other year.

And if I can't watch them because China's oppressive crazy totalitarian government won't allow the broadcasters to do what they need to do, well then...

I dont' know what I'll do. But I will be super upset, that's for sure!

Jobs, You Genius, Stop!

Being a Mac freak, Steve Jobs is one of the coolest people in the world to me. Yeah, I'm a geek.

Anyway, yesterday he announced the new iPhone and all its cool new features and specifications.

The biggest news? The iPhone will now be available for ONLY $199!

OH. MY. GOD.

The high price was really the only justification I could create for not buying one when they first came out. I have no reason to have one but I WANT ONE. I want one so very badly. And I even have a super cool green RAZR--but, alas, I still dream of an iPhone.

Literally.

Last night after reading about the new iPhone, I dreamed someone gave me one. I carried it around and rubbed it in people's faces that I had one (apparently I am mean in my dreams). And when I woke up and didn't have an iPhone, I nearly cried. Okay, not really, but I was disappointed. I hate dreams like that.

Anyway what do you think? Should I get an iPhone when the new model comes out in July?

Damn you, Jobs! Quit releasing new amazing Mac stuff month after month. It's impossible to keep up! And I want it all!

Hill's Still a Key Player

Well, she's officially done. Hillary finally conceded victory to Obama today in a (more than) 30 minute speech in which she threw her full support to his campaign. It was a great speech (not a surprise) and really showed her solidarity for the party. It must have been so hard for her to do that but it just illustrates what a classy lady she is.

Fortunately, even if she's not the choice for VP, Hillary will be very important to Obama in the months before the November presidential election. CNN posted a great article about how she is needed to reunite the party and no matter what, she may have a very key role in the election. No matter what, she's going to have to get her supporters to do what they have fought so hard not to do these last 16 months-- cheer for Obama.

Cuba Gets Cooler and Cooler

The new Cuban President Castro (the younger one) is already up to good as he and his administration have approved free sex-change operations for Cuban citizens.

How cool is that?

But also, come to think of it, how can a third world, sorta-Communist, crazy island country be so ahead of the US in terms of being open-minded and accepting of different sexual identities?

It actually makes me sad.

They have even gone so far in their support of transsexuals that they have created a a clinic for transsexual health! Some radical Christians don't even want clinics for heterosexual health here in the US.

What is wrong with this country?

Maybe Michael Moore can sneak a bunch of US people wanting sex change surgeries down there to get them for free. And then he can film it and President Bush can get upset again. I like that idea.

Hillary to Call It Quits

Poor Hill.

ABC News and BBC News (and every other news) are all reporting that Hillary Clinton will call it quits as of Saturday and throw her support to Barack Obama.

I guess I'll have to keep waiting for the day we have a female president. I really hope it is in my lifetime. This seemed like the best chance, at least for a while. Hillary, you put up a great fight and should be damn proud of yourself. I know I am!

Now that we FINALLY have our democratic nominee, it's time to focus on the VP. Will the dream ticket become a reality? It seems like a long-shot but I'll keep my fingers crossed. Beyond Hillary, there's Edwards (ugh), Dodd, Biden, Bill Richardson (I'd vote for him), etc. etc.

Over on ABC.com, they took a different route. Instead of listing a top 10 list of possible VP's, they created a video report of the BOTTOM 10 list of possible VP's. I can't embed it, so click here to watch the video.

Even though one chapter may be closed, this story is far from over.

Obama Takes the Nomination

Well, folks, it's all over. Obama has won the nomination.

And by it, I mean primary season. We've still got a crazy presidential campaign to go through before November 4th. I feel like this should be it--Hillary and Obama were the choices. I sort of forgot McCain was even a factor.

Maybe he isn't. Maybe it'll be all Obama from here on out. I'm okay with that. After all, originally I was all about Obama. Then I jumped on the Hillary train. Now that her train is, well, derailed (like the puns?) I guess I'll throw my support back to Obama. Above all, we need someone who will change how things are now. Barack Obama promises change; let's hope he can deliver.

In a strange move, Hillary has yet to concede Obama's victory. Honestly? I don't blame her. She has won more actual delegates (not counting superdelegates) and more of the popular vote. The CNN reporters (i.e. Obama Fanatics) are all over her lack of concession, questioning her loyalty to the party, etc. etc. Whatever. Let her bow out gracefully in her own way.

Now that we have a number 1, let's throw our thoughts to a potential number 2. I hear the dream ticket calling: