It's been too long since I last posted an Odds & Ends.
Henri is a very amusing short spoof of French ennui.
Back in January, Emma and I were being repeatedly shocked
by static electricity.
We would inadvertently discharge by kissing or
otherwise touching each other,
or by touching laptops or faucets.
Eventually, I realised that it was due to a combination
of the microfiber upholstery on our new couch
and the dry, unhumid air.
We solved it by a combination of rubbing an anti-static dryer sheet (Bounce)
on the couch and buying a humidifier.
That led to a spate of jokes about the spark being gone.
It's started coming back again.
I think it's time to fondle the couch with more Bounce.
The Bad Sex Awards are, perhaps, Britain's "most dreaded literary prize".
Read about the 2007 Bad Sex nominees
in the Guardian, with excerpts.
The late Norman Mailer won posthumously
Ian Welsh makes a case that it's not your money,
in rebuttal to anti-tax libertarians.
A few weeks ago I read that the last German veteran
of World War I had died.
Yesterday, I read that the last French veteran
had just died.
Regarding the Spitzer prostitution scandal:
normally, I would have given a Democratic politician
the benefit of the doubt for a sex scandal.
After all, unlike the Republicans—see
Larry ‘wide stance’ Craig;
David ‘Diaper’ Vitter (brother of my former professor at Brown, Jeff);
Mark Foley, et al—Democratic politicians
generally don't make a big deal of “family values”.
Spitzer had done a good job of fighting corruption,
but breaking up prostitution rings had also been one of his
signature issues, as had prosecuting johns.
The whole thing bespeaks such massive stupidity and hypocrisy
that I say good riddance to him.
Several of us went to see Barack Obama at Key Arena last month
(photos here), the day before the Washington state primary.
The crowd more than filled Key Arena,
with at least 20,000 in attendance.
We ended up outside, as you can see from the photos,
which actually served us well,
as Obama stood outside and talked to the crowd for a few minutes
before heading into the stadium.
We got closer to him than we would have inside.
Anyway, John McCain spoke at the Westin Hotel that evening
and only managed to half-fill the ballroom,
which accommodates 800 people.
In other words, the then-presumptive Republican nominee
could only pull as many people as attended
my caucus the next day.
There are hundreds of thousands of Republicans within
an hour's drive of Seattle, but only a few hundred of them
could summon the enthusiasm to see their guy in person.
I thought our caucus went well.
I helped the convener organize the whole event for eight precincts.
As the Precinct Committee Officer (PCO) for SEA 11-1945,
I chaired our precinct's caucus and was elected as a delegate for Obama,
which means that I will be attending the 11th Legislative District
and the King County conventions next month.
I have no intention of trying to proceed further.
I don't want to go to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August.