and he’s been building houses for the poor while you’re buying complete seasons of friends on dvd through amazon.

he’ll be 81 years old come rocktober.

carter was in the navy for eight years.

“i served under two presidents. harry truman and dwight eisenhower, men who represented different political parties. both of whom who faced their active military responsibilities – with honor,” carter said, and pointed.

what jimmy carter tonight reminds us, is that every once in a while it might be a good idea to have a president who not only was a real military veteran, but one who could also win a nobel peace prize, and earn it.

i could see former president kerry many years from now continuing to serve the country and the world promoting peace the way carter does. and politics aside, a little class in the whitehouse isnt such a bad thing. neither is peace.

i know, wheres my granola.

6:04pm “they knew the horrors of war. and later as commanders in cheif, they exercised restraint and judgement. and they had a clear sense of mission.

“we had a confidence that our leaders, both military and civilian, would not put our soldiers and sailors in harms way by initiating wars of choice unless america’s vital interests were endangered.

“we also were sure that these presidents would not mislead us when issues involved national security.”

this is an old man telling you how it was in the old days.

and thats not so bad either.

“today our democratic party is lead by another naval officer, one who volunteered for military service, and he showed up when assigned to duty.

“and he served with honor and distintion. he also knows the horrors of war and the responsibility of leadership. and i am confident that next january he will restore the judgement and maturity to our government that nowadays is sorely lacking.”

now he’s hammering home the idea of trust.

“When that trust is violated, the bonds that hold our republic together begin to weaken. After 9/11, America stood proud, wounded but determined and united. A cowardly attack on innocent civilians brought us an unprecedented level of cooperation and understanding around the world.

“But in just 34 months, we have watched with deep concern as all this goodwill has been squandered by a virtually unbroken series of mistakes and miscalculations. Unilateral acts and demands have isolated the United States from the very nations we need to join us in combating terrorism.”

old man

kicked ass

science blog + ipod me + free speech pen pics

it needed to be sung again?

maybe he was making up for what that teengirl did to it.

by the way, the place is full now.

but damn is he singing this thing slow.

so this is what they meant when they said that kerry wouldnt accept the nomination until august. fuckin bebe isnt gonna finish the damn song till then.

6. j. osborne $22

al gore walks on with the snl band heavy on the slide guitar. kountry kitchen type feeling.

this is the guy who got more votes than the president, little respect band.

i feel bad for al.

seemed like a nice guy. won. and now hes sorta blackballed.

“you know the old saying, you win some, you lose some, and then theres that little known third catagory.”

“take it from me, every vote counts.”

“let’s make sure that the supreme court does not pick the next president. and that this president is not the one who picks the next supreme court.”

fascinating, a guy who can speak well and naturally.

5:13pm “and it is in that spirit that i sincerely ask those watching at home tonight who supported president bush four years ago, “did you really get what you expected from the candidate you voted for? is our country more united today or more divided? has the promise of compassionate conservativism been fulfilled, or do those words now ring hollow?

“‘for that matter are the economic policies really conservative at all? for example did you expect the largest deficit in history, year after year? one right after another?

“‘and the loss of more than a million jobs?’

“by the way i know about the bad economy, i was the first one to get laid off.”

oh, al. now im sorry i voted for nader.

“and god bless the united states.”

almost buddy, almost.

blogon pictures + buzzmachine + my delicious wife, moxie

told you those dudes were racists.

jk

2:13pm new mexico gov. bill richardson gets a great introduction and an even greater welcome. he’s the convention chair and gives a twenty second speech. my sorta man.

2:25pm hilda solis from california taking the podium to talk about homeland security and energy independence is greated to the snl band playing the ventures’ “wipeout”. is that an inside joke of some sort?

she’s speaking spanish just a little too much. drink.

2:30pm the lights dim, the snythesizer player hits a chord and holds it and we hear jfk reading a speech about passing a torch. drink. drink. drink.

the place is filling up.

2:31pm cali rep antonio villaraigosa is on the stage. slick as hollywood.

he’s national co-chairman of the kerry campaign.

“i was born on the east side of los angeles.” drink.

“my family lived in a hard-working home. racked by alcoholism and domestic violence.” uh.

“my father left when i was five, and my mother raised four children by herself.” drink.

“but america has been good to my family. one of my sisters became a judge.” drink.

“another a community health advocate, and my brother, a commodities broker.” boo.

he is talking about how democrats aren’t going to encourage jobs to go overseas.

third time ive heard that today, and im barely paying attention.

he ends with the three cheesiest words you could ever end a political speech with

god

bless

america.

drink.

drink.

drink.

ive heard enough of the opening act, now im going to fast forward to the big hitters, who tonight include carter, gore, hillary, and bill.

help me get an ipod

andrew tobias from andrew tobias’s managing your money is on there.

when i was a lad i worked in an electronics store. this was 1985-86. i was young so they had me working in the computer department.

i sold some kaypro machines, commodore 128s, amigas, 286 machines from zenith.

there was very little software for the ibm clones except for Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Word, and andrew tobias’s managing your money which was a way to balance your checkbook on your $1,500 computer that was like 512k of memory and had two 5 1/4 inch floppies.

andrew is now the dnc treasurer?

“it is a historical fact that the stock market does better under a democrat than a republican.”

1:48pm maureen white, dnc finance chair is the first hot babe. she has a cleft. how do you describe that? an overbite. great hair though.

shes reading. people should learn how to read better for these things. or how about not read at all. still nobody is there.

1:51 alice germond, dnc secretary walks to the podium and the band sounds like a high school band.

like the weird little jazz band on snl in that one skit, i forget which.

alice has a problem with her cleft too.

this sure is the party of inclusion.

1:56p the executive vice chair of the afl cio linda chavez-thompson is up there.

“im the child of cotton sharecroppers in texas.”

drink.

shes got a bright pink suit on. a lot of spunk this chavez-thompson. shes the dnc vice chair. i can see why. she reads way better than those others.

she doesnt like bush cuz hes anti union. a lot of people have glasses im noticing. i thought lasek was more popular.

shes intertwining “this land is your land” in her speech. drink.

shes short.

diary of a lost boy

is clearly reading, and sadly she wrote her own speech.

i always knew michigan was in sad shape, sen. stab(m)enow is as sad as those dilapidated homes i saw in 8 mile.

my question is, why then does kid rock and eminem refuse to move out here to cali?

1:18 the mayor of atlanta shirley franklin is exactly what jada pinkett smith is going to look like when she turns 60: thin, stylish, and powerful.

the flower in her lapel is gigantic. i dont think jada will repeat this mistake.

mayor franklin just “paraphrased” mlk. time to drink.

1:23 pm jersey rep bob menendez just said, “my family fled cuba, for this, the greatest democracy in the world.

drink.

1:30 california rep robert matsui is blabbering about some shit. he’s old. 63? 64? japanese looking. but he talks out of the side of his mouth and has a weird old timey accent.

not a japanese accent. but one like jimmy stewart in its a wonderful life.

it’s freaking me out man.

hes not reading from the teleprompter. hes reading from a pad.

1:31pm big apple rep gregory meeks has the mic. half hour in, and a real brotha it laying it out there. nice tie. nice hankie in the suit pocket.

meeks reads off the center teleprompter only. he squeezes his fists for emphasis.

i could pass that dude a thousand times and never know he would be a congressman.

i think thats good.

he cant say massachusettes, but he says cal i fore nuh with soul.

the secret exploits of a girl in her mid 20s

by tony pierce, 110

all times pacific

1pm: terry mccauliffe starts the show on time. theres a lot to be said of people who can get shit started when it’s supposed to.

sad thing is, far as c-span is showing, theres only about 100 people on the floor to enjoy it.

he’s shouting. i dont like people who shout on the mic. its why god invented mics.

1:02pm: rev. stephen ayres gives a nice little talk about the heroics of the guy who had to put the lanterns in the steeple so Paul Revere knew if the brits were coming by land or by sea.

it’s a good speech, and it made me shiver thinking what would it be like to see two lanterns up in there.

biggest best navy coming to get you.

he breaks into a prayer and people are walking behind him, smiling. so not cool.

1:08 an honor guard presents their flags. the colors. when i see military guys i usually dont think democrats. im not sure why.

1:09 a pennsylvania state rep comes on stage and gives the pledge of allegiance. the 150 people who are on the floor clap. the world doesnt end.

within the first ten minutes church and state has mixed with the military and nobody got hurt. if anything, it was pretty much ignored. as usual. as it should.

1:09 miss teen new mexico walks on stage. shes hot. sorta looks bitchy. maybe shes nervous. doesnt look like a teen.

starts singing like a teen. sings like she wants to be xtina. holds notes way too long. accents weird parts of the word. the two hundred people find it impossible to sing along.

oh no. she cant hit the high notes at ALL. wtf? i worked for the sf giants for a year in ’97. i heard the anthem done almost 80 times. do people not listen to the tapes? in all of beantown, this is all you got?

time to crack open a cold one.

linda

when i do i wont throw from in front of the mound like the next president of the united states did last night.

when i do, i will throw it from the rubber, atop the mound. like you should.

i know why people throw from the infield grass. because it’s easier.

not like 60 feet, 6 inches is far. but it is far for those of us who dont throw baseballs every day.

but that is where the problem lies.

sure basketball is what everyone talks about these days. and football’s tailgating and hoopla has had the nation in its bosom for years. and nothing beats the superbowl.

baseball is our national pasttime. simple and passive at it is, it’s the game we all love. and because of that we should be throwing baseballs every day.

and on top of that, the guy who wants to lead this fine land should be able to huck a four-seamer across fenway no problem.

shit, carnies can do it left handed and knock over thick steel milk bottles.

yes, i want to throw out the first pitch one day and when i do, if i did it at beautiful fenway, i will have to do a Luis Tiant wind-up

look up at the sky like fernando

and knuckleball that sonofabitch like the niekros.

and when i do it, i will do it from the rubber.

like a man.

one little caveat: in San Francisco there are many great things. one of them is called the Exploratorium.

many moons ago when i lived in frisco the Exploratorium had a few special exhibits celebrating the grand game of baseball.

one of the exhibits had a plastic mound, a home plate and a radar gun.

the idea was to throw the ball over the plate from the mound as hard as you could.

but what i discovered was it was difficult for me to even get the damn thing over for a strike.

and my speed was a paltry 60 MPH.

granted, i was 106 years old at the time. but it was a mean 106.

perhaps this is why you see people like Sen. Kerry scooch up a good 15 feet or so.

either way, the next leader of the free world should have a little mustard on his fastball.

lord knows castro can still bring it.

hit & run + aaron’s baseball blog + get me an ipod before the day is done

today we will find out how long it will take

for the busblog to get an ipod

from its wonderful readers

click the ipod to donate $10 to 20.

if you wish to give more than $20, feel free.

all the people who contribute will be on my permalinks

on the left side of this blog for the rest of the year.

i thank you in advance.

1. M. Mills $10

2. J. Sutter $10

3. E. Case $10