"By experience we find out a short way by a long wandering."
--Roger Ascham

9.30.2004

Alas, I have a stats test scheduled for tonight, so I won't be catching the presidential debate. However, if you're going to watch them say the same damn things over and over again, you may want to spice it up with some Presidential Debate Bingo.
(I may catch the post-debate wrap up with Jon Stewart... I have a college degree; we do stuff like that. Haha)
(courtesy of FARK)


9.29.2004

It's homecoming week here at UIowa which you might not realize except that they're blasting the fight song non-stop at the student union. High school was so much better with the spirit days and dress up. If we'd had nerd fantasy dress up day when I was at AHS, I would have gone all out (but probably in something relatively normal, like a Hogwarts uniform).
Maybe I'll have a homecoming dress up day tomorrow, all by myself... (<--idle threat)

9.28.2004

Update to last night's post: Comedy Central compares O'Reilly's audience to The Daily Show's, and The Daily Show wins:
"Viewers of Jon Stewart's show are more likely to have completed four years of college than people who watch "The O'Reilly Factor," according to Nielsen Media Research."
Word to your mama, Bill.

Update to the Update: No one is letting this slide. The Daily Show viewers scored better on a political knowledge quiz than Leno and Letterman viewers. So Stewart knocked out 3XK's other boy- Letterman. Note: If you take the "political punch" quiz on the CNN site, you'll see that Leno actually makes more jokes about Bush than Stewart does (percentage-wise). I have to say I'm surprised, because I noticed how right-leaning Leno can be for the first time last night.

9.27.2004

I know I'm not alone, but I still have to express love for Jon Stewart. This transcript from his appearance on the O'Reilly Factor sums up once and for all that my boy Jon is much more awesome than 3XK's O'Reilly.

Highlights:
O'REILLY: ... "scum of the earth, O'Reilly," I think that's the way you put it.
STEWART: No, I wouldn't have put it that way. I think it would have been, why do you have such je ne sai qua?
...
STEWART: By the way, I couldn't agree with you more about the French thing. They are such an important country, and I think really deserve a boycott.
O'REILLY: Yeah, they do.
STEWART: Because of the influence they wield in the world.
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: Well, you know, I know you don't agree with...
STEWART: They have a variety of cheeses, and...
O'REILLY: I was just going to say, you have to have your brie before you go on.
STEWART: Do you really believe France is, in any way, worthy of a boycott?
O'REILLY: I do. I think France has really hurt the USA, to be...
STEWART: Really?
O'REILLY: Yes, I do.
STEWART: More than like Saudi Arabia? You would advocate a boycott...
O'REILLY: No, I'm not going to say more than Saudi Arabia. But I'm saying we do a lot...
STEWART: So why not boycott them?
O'REILLY: France is supposed to be our friend. Saudi Arabia is...
STEWART: Since when?
(CROSSTALK)
STEWART: Since the revolution they haven't been our friend.
--------
O'REILLY: That's true. But what do you want the audience to get out of your discussion with Kerry? Just yucks, or anything else?
STEWART: First of all, I shall rarely refer to it as yucks, and I think you should reconsider.
O'REILLY: OK, I'm sorry about that arcane term.
STEWART: "Shnicks," we call it shnicks -- shnicks and giggles.
O'REILLY: Thank you.
---------
O'REILLY: What do you think Kerry wants to get out of coming on your show?
STEWART: He wants to get what any politician does: access to a new constituency. He wants to get...
O'REILLY: The stoned slackers.
STEWART: ... that's exactly right, because the stoned slackers, this election is going to rely on the undecided. Who is more undecided than...
O'REILLY: Than the stoned slacker, right.
STEWART: ... the people who are high. Right now, they're thinking to themselves, ice cream or pretzels, ice cream or pretzels.

(link courtesy of LYD, which means everyone has probably already seen this.)