Cell Phones

Eppo decides to take a step forward in technology with his newest cell phone purchase. He's replacing his iPhone with this new model from Nokia.

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The Sign of a Good Sushi Restaurant

No cuts rolls at all and a sign at the front door stating as much.

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EMK Hits the Nail on the Head

From TNR:

(T)he fact that Bush was willing to let the law expire rather than compromise is telling--if reforming FISA isn't important enough for Bush to sacrifice immunity, then there's no reason for Democrats to unilaterally give in. Ted Kennedy had the most apt summary of the situation:

Think about what we’ve been hearing from the White House in this debate. The President has said that American lives will be sacrificed if Congress does not change FISA. But he has also said that he will veto any FISA bill that does not grant retroactive immunity. No immunity, no new FISA bill. So if we take the President at his word, he is willing to let Americans die to protect the phone companies.

--Josh Patashnik

Ummmm, More of This Please

I was a little nervous, with George Lucas (post IJ: QFtHG) involved that this might end up like the disastrous "Phantom Menace," but I think Spielberg is a force for good. The title is so-so to me, but it looks like Indy is back and older than ever:

"Damn, I thought that was closer." Classic.

LA

Some things never change:

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Worst Ephing Holiday

I know this probably makes me sound bitter or something, but I hate this stupid holiday. Guys really need a reason to treat their gfs/wives well?  Really?  You can't do something nice just because its a Wednesday?  You need the pudgy, acne faced kid behind the counter at CVS to remind you to buy candy and a card?

Just like every other holiday, this day has been so overly commercialized, it has almost ceased to have any meaning. I would bet money that at least 50% of those polled would have no idea about the story of St. Valentine.  Now, granted, I will be flying solo on the holiday this year. But I still think it lame and thought it lame when I had someone to buy flowers/candy/jewelry/a card for. The thing is, I didn't need FTD or someone on the teevee to tell me to do it and I didn't need a day in the calendar either.

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Mediating Figure or Compromise Candidate?

From TNR:

No More Waiting by the Phone

It's hardly a surprise at this point, but it appears that Al Gore has decided against endorsing a candidate in the Democratic primary. Greg Sargent: I've just spoken to a source close to Gore myself, and this person confirmed that the report is correct: Gore will not endose.... Basically, Gore appears to be preserving for himself the option of stepping in and declaring a winner in the event of a war over superdelegates, and thus being seen as a kind of mediating figure, rather than as someone trying to influence the outcome.

Pleased as I would have been had he decided to endorse Obama, I have to say this strikes me as a pretty sensible posture.

--Christopher Orr

Extremely Early

Up at 4:40am this am for a work related call.  I'm not sure how mgp does this everyday of the week.  I didn't even open my eyes until I had swallowed a couple of cups of coffee.  Now, 2.5 hours later, I feel like death and the day hasn't even started.  I'm not exactly sure how to proceed from here.  Probably more coffee.  Now I understand why wrk goes for the quad espressos in the morning.  I could really a jolt cola or something.

Potomac Primaries

I'm traveling for work and can only get updates via BlackBerry (though I am 3 hours behind, so at least I can watch speeches at early dinner time). Watching the Republican results, I wonder if Mitt Romney is going to endorse anyone at all. I think the initial presumption in the press was that he would fall in line with McCain. Now watching the results of the last few days, I wonder if he will.

Now, I don't think Huckabee is a favorite of the establishment, but I also don't think they hate him as much as McCain. Huckabee's support comes from the most committed of Republican base voters, while McCain seems to be losing his core constituency to Obama. While I still think it might be too late to stop McCain at this point, I think everyone (including Romney) is thoroughly enjoying seeing him twist in the wind. Why should Romney upset his institutional backers by supporting McCain (who really enjoyed trashing Romney for months)?  Additionally, if Huckabee wins a few more states and gets close, Romney could leverage his support (and his pledged delegates' potential support) into something big.

I guess to me, the biggest winner from the Hucka-bump is Mitt Romney (obviously post getting smoked on Super Tuesday). It would be funny if the CW reversed one more time and the Republicans headed for a brokered convention right as the Democrats coalesced around Obama. Mitt could play kingmaker.

Oh the joy. Go Obama...run up the score.

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Back to California

Well, that was a brief respite at home. Now its off to California for a week of work (with a little vacation).  Finishing the week in LA. I'm psyched for my friends that can return to work now that the strike is ending, but I was sort of hoping to see what a traffic disaster LA was with no one really working. Guess I'll have to wait until the next standstill 3 years from now.

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Morning Commute: Bitter Cold

Now this is the kind of winter in Boston I remember. Its 10 degrees outside with 40mph gusts, creating a sub-zero windchill. My car doorlock was frozen. When I pulled into my garage and some water dripped onto my windshield, it froze immediately. People will claim this is an aberration in the midst of a mild winter. In reality, this mild winter has been an aberration. What a perfect time to head to California.

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The 'Stache

I was back in NYC for the weekend, hanging out with some friends and one of my buddy's roommates was walking around with this on:

I was immediately floored by this mustache. Not in a comedic sense, but maybe more just in a sense of its awesomeness. I couldn't grow a mustache like that (as a standalone or as part of a larger facial hair scheme (say beard, goatee, handlebar mustache, etc.) if I had 30 years to do it. When I walked into the party, I actually thought he was wearing a fake mustache.

There was a lot of "this is my son, HW" talk, though I have yet to see "There Will Be Blood." I'm not sure what killed the mustache as a mainstream style among young professionals (the '80s? Magnum PI? Porn?), but it used to be a sign of masculinity and wisdom (note that Mr. Belvedere made the cut). Now, it's been reduced to something we young people do to look like idiots, scare off women and drive our mothers crazy.

Either way, kudos to this guy.

Update (5:39pm): Thanks to the heads up from nurse mayo, there is at least one actor who seems to be choosing roles which allow him to display the power of the mustache (no, not Tom Selleck): Josh Brolin.



Kudos to the former Mr. Diane Lane.