The Show That Masi Oka Is The Star Of

• What I'm Watching/Listening To/Reading:
• The Heroes season remains solid so far. They continue to make it into more of a live action comic book than anything resembling reality. More below.
• Got home from work early today (half day for the holiday) and turned on MSNBC to watch the fun. It was kind of like a video game to see the Dow numbers bounce around the way they did.
• Are the Ravens for real? It seems like it, but I don't want to get my hope up too much.
• Random Thoughts/Links:
• Here are two sites that randomly generate a Sarah Palin-esque response to questions. This one has already-generated questions and has better answers, but this one lets you ask your own questions and has dumber answers.
• I wrote my piece on the high holidays for this "blogger carnival" that my friend at Shtetl Fabulous put together. Her post contains links to a bunch of different posts from different blogs about the Jewish holidays. I would do the same sort of thing, but knowing me, it would be about something like the relationship between Jesse and Andrea on Beverly Hills, 90210 and who would really want to write about that?
• Speaking of the high holidays: shannah tovah, bitches!
• Heroes Comments/Questions of the Week:
• This is nitpicking, but did Nathan really hook up with Niki in the Corinthian hotel? I seem to remember that it was the Montecito, since that was a reference to NBC's show, Las Vegas. I can't find out either way by looking at the Heroes Wiki, so who knows.
• Who is Daphne working for? Angela Petrelli? Mohinder?
• Who is the Haitian working for? He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would just go around trading secrets.
• Sylar is pretty good as a Fed, no?
• Can people pass on powers (i.e., the whole thing with Parkman)?

Dallas Dealt Defeat

• What I'm Watching/Listening To/Reading:
• The big season premiere of Dexter tonight. It seems like a good plot for the season, with Dexter having accidentally killed someone who seems innocent. Most importantly, the level of acting took a bit of a step up. The actor who played Doakes was not so good so with his death, they have a hole for a new character or two. The guy who seems to replace looks okay so far, but they also added Jimmy Smits in a guest role. I guess the show has gotten big enough that major actors are willing to do guest spots.
• Speaking of major actors, another solid episode of Entourage. This one was a bit less comedic than usual, but the show has never been a straight sit-com anyway. The ladies from The View (minus Walters) were on the show and their line reading was pathetic. That whole section came off as so phony.
• Finally, the season premiere of The Amazing Race -- a great show, but I still prefer Survivor. The thing about this one is that the first few episodes are relatively worthless. It's cool to see where they go, but the race doesn't get really interesting until they get down to the really capable teams.
• Random Thoughts/Links:
• We need Sarah Palin to defend us from an event like this.
• Short week coming up with only a half day tomorrow and no work on Tuesday or Wednesday. Of course, I have to sit in services, but it's a fair trade-off.
• Week 4 Thoughts:
• Putting aside the 2000 season, which was a long time ago, is Kerry Collins a Super Bowl-caliber QB? Is Tony Romo? I think both are fair and equal questions, but so totally different. I feel like Romo turns the ball over too much and all Collins needs to do is play it easy and let that defense work.
• Brett Favre threw for six TDs today. In the same game, Kurt Warner turned the ball over six times.
• Didn't the Skins fans want to get rid of Jason Campbell at some point? He's getting near elite status.
• I think we learned that the AFC West stinks. In other words, there's no good football being played west of Dallas.
• The worst football state has to be Ohio, right? That Cleveland-Cincinnati game today was the football equivalent of an Ed Wood movie.

Street Fighting

• What I'm Watching/Listening To/Reading:
• Chris Rock premiered his new special on HBO tonight. You know, that guy is pretty funny. He may just have a future in this comedy thing. Seriously though, he was so funny that whatever attempts I make at jokes tonight will seem sort of lame.
• The cold open on SNL was a spoof of the Katie Couric interview. It was reasonably funny, with Tina Fey still nailing the Palin voice. One of the jokes was that instead of writing lines, Fey just recited the actual responses. It was funny, but didn't have that special something that the first one had.
• On the other hand, the debate skit was pretty worthless. I was hoping for a bit more. They made fun of both of the candidates fairly equally and they totally missed out on the McCain-not-looking-at-Obama thing. Pretty lame. Go after one or the other, but don't hedge your bets.
• The best joke in the news was something along the lines of, "The bailout plan will help Main Street as well as Wall Street. Martin Luther King Boulevard, you're still screwed." I was thinking of jokes along the same line last night -- see below. The dispassionate Clinton impersonation during the news was fantastic, by the way.
• Random Thoughts/Links:
• I'm just going to think about Paul Newman's passing. He hasn't done anything of note for a while, but all I have to say is: Exodus, Cool Hand Luke, The Sting. I may even watch The Sting tomorrow in honor of him.
• Jokes and Jokes and Jokes and Jokes:
• We're all sick of the Main Street/Wall Street thing, right? What we didn't know is that original versions of the plan were meant to help other streets, as well.
• E Street -- $22 million to ensure that they keep running, as they were born to do.
• Sesame Street -- $249,000 stimulus program to help with trash can foreclosures.
• 42nd Street -- $18 for a CD of the show, since it includes the song "We're In The Money" and any bit of positive thinking is a plus.
• Elm Street -- $50 million to change nightmares to good dreams, so people aren't miserable when they're asleep as well as awake.
• K Street -- Oh, never mind. I'm sure that Congress wants nothing to do with K Street.
• 34th Street -- $700 billion because we need a freaking miracle right now.

Update #2

McCain cursed at Obama. Seriously. Check out 4:30 on this segment. McCain clearly says, "Horseshit" twice:


Update on the Update: Maybe he said, "Course not." Not sure. Whatever, he was angry the whole night.

Early Morning Update On The Debate

Point of clarification -- if you want to know why I was so sure last night that Obama had won the debate handily, even in the face of pundits saying McCain made better points, here's why:

• Studies (that I've read but can't seem to find right now) have shown that people remember what they see, not what they hear. Also, it's obvious that certain impressions of debates stick with us much longer than the content. Bush 41 looking at his watch while Clinton spoke. Gore sighing. Kerry being long-winded. Other than "fuzzy math," do you remember anything that was actually said at those debates?
• That being said, the visuals were obviously well in favor for Obama last night. We knew all along that he would have a huge boost because he's younger, better-looking, and taller (though the cameras were stationed so as to take away that height advantage). But did McCain have to feed into it by being hunched and condescending? He looked like a mean old man. Which, funny enough, is the stereotype that haters tried to put on him this year. He could have seemed very warm by just LOOKING OBAMA IN THE EYE. That easy. Instead, he was disrespectful and people noticed. It's a disrespect that I've written about a number of times over the last month or so (see: Giuliani and Palin at the RNC).
• As for the impressions we'll take from it, that's going to be up to certain media (or as Sarah Palin might say, "mediums") to point out certain moments. In 2000, it was Saturday Night Live that parodied Gore's sighs and brought them to the forefront. So what will SNL parody tonight? It could be Obama agreeing with McCain, but I'm 99% sure it will be McCain's condescension. Hence, why I thought that will be the big story that will take hold.
• Finally, McCain may have done well with the pundits, but were they the real audience? Nate Silver breaks down the internals from the polling last night (that showed overwhelmingly that Obama won the debate) and points out some very surprising numbers.

Liveblogging: Debate #1

10:37: It's blessedly over. Game. Set. Match. The big story will be McCain's inability to look at Obama and his constant chuckles. This sucker is over.
10:34: Wait, wait. McCain is stumbling over himself, trying to compare Obama to Bush? Nice.
10:32: He's closing so strong with knocking Bush. "Hey, did you all forget that Bin Laden is still out there?"
10:30: What a fantastic closing shot by Obama about world faith in the US. And McCain won't touch it. Wow.
10:27: I like that McCain came out against torture. Thank God for that, at least. (Though he did vote for it in the Senate).
10:26: Great last question about 9/11.
10:24: Is it as obvious to anyone else as it is to me that McCain doesn't take Obama seriously? I mean, it's been obvious all along, but he's treating Obama like a little kid.
10:19: I don't think this patronizing tone is so good. Oh, and by the way, the KGB hasn't existed for quite some time.
10:16: Mac got a good blow in with that "Oh, please!" line.
10:08: Oh, John. You didn't screw up a name. Please, say you didn't do it.
10:07: "Russia and China, which I think Senator McCain might agree, aren't democracies." That was pretty good.
10:04: Ok, I'm done with the censorship for a moment. I'm fucking tired of McCain and Palin bringing up "the second Holocaust." Sick and fucking tired of it. It couldn't be more insulting.
9:59: This discussion of his record is the best thing McCain has said yet.
9:56: Ok, this is mostly boring. But that actually helps Obama. McCain needs a game-changer.
9:48: This sounds horrible, but I'm kind of getting emotional over this. Obama is so concise and so forceful that I'm kind of overcome with joy. This is going better than I could have ever dreamed.
9:45: John, just f***ing look at him! Stop smirking! This is the equivalent of Al Gore's sighs in 2000.
9:38: All along, McCain won't look Obama in the eye. Even when Obama is addressing him directly, McCain looks at Lehrer like Obama is a joke and smirks. This will be a huge thing, I guarantee.
9:35: Jim Lehrer just said that the President "rules" the country. I can't think of a funnier joke than just pointing that out.
9:31: Of course, I'm watching on MSNBC. On Fox News, McCain is probably winning.
9:30: On the liveblog at fivethirtyeight.com, they're talking about how hard it is to judge debates objectively. It's true, I'm going to make fun of McCain no matter what, basically. Can't imagine he's doing so well objectively, though.
9:28: McCain to himself: "Broad band? What's that? Is he talking about The Supremes?"
9:26: McCain to himself: "Don't smile. No creepy smile. Can't help it... No, stop! Don't!"
9:24: Jesus, why don't we get off the earmarks already? 'Cause I just got off yours. Or something like that.
9:19: This site is interesting. It's tracking partisan response during the debate.
9:15: Was McCain just unbelievably stupid enough to knock animal DNA-testing in Montana??? After that seal crap in Alaska? Wow, that was dumb.
9:14: Ok, let's stop this Main Street/Wall Street crap. I'm tired of it. If the Yankees can go away, so can this.
9:13: That line about regular people having their own financial crisis at the end of every month is going to be a big sound bite for Obama.
9:09: I just noticed that Obama is wearing the flag pin. That was one of the big (quiet) caves of the campaign.
9:07: People will lose their "credits"! Will my degree be taken away? Will the quarter I put into Ms. Pac-Man not count?
9:06: Hey, J-Mac -- Sen. Kennedy actually was already released from the hospital. But whatever, that's nitpicking.
9:04: Wow. right off the bat with the bailout... This could set a bad tone for Hail Mary McCain.
9:03: Wait, one of them is black???
9:01: The Comissar of Cute keeps barking. I think he's as excited as I am. Either that, or he's pissed that I trapped him in the basement. Which, coincidentally, the McCain campaign is doing to Sarah Palin until November 4.
8:53: Ok, here's what they need to do.
Obama: show up and stand on the stage with McCain (see: Reagan, 1980).
McCain: Um, apologize to the American people for his mess of a campaign? Tell everybody that Sarah Palin was a big joke and introduce Mike Huckabee? Hmm... I'll think about it and get back to ya.
8:52: Getting ready... I wasn't sure if I wanted to do this, but since I'm watching it anyway, might as well. Why waste my good jokes on forgetfulness?

But Whoever Should Be The Secretary Of Cluelessness?

• What I'm Watching/Listening To/Reading:
• Big TV night for premieres and started with My Name Is Earl. This remains the only sitcom I watch on network TV and it's well worth it. There was some great Beau Bridges action tonight (the second episode being better than the first) and some great lines as well. Here's one that's catching on for me -- when Randy found a suit behind a dumpster with a litter of kittens and when he was told he would be the President in the movie, he responded by saying, "And here's my Secretary of Cute," before pulling out a little kitten. Awesome. I spent the entire night calling my dog everything from the Grand Poobah of Cute to the Assistant Undersecretary of Cute.
• A very solid Grey's Anatomy premiere picked up right where the last season left off, which is good. Sloan was badass, as usual, and they made a great choice on the new character with household-favorite Kevin McKidd (Rome, Journeyman) joining the show.
• Finally, my favorite show, Survivor, kicked off its new season. Best of all, this year it's in HD. I don't know what they were waiting for (CBS has been notoriously behind on HD coverage of the NFL), but it looked pretty spectacular. They have a beautiful location in Gabon and a couple of interesting people already. My favorite to win out of the chute has to be Marcus. My favorite to make fun of? Easily, it's Charlie, the gay lawyer who immediately developed a super creepy crush on Marcus (who's straight, but very nice about it). This should be fun to watch and I can only hope that we end up with a weird version of Ozzie's super-wussy love-speech to Amanda from last year's final council.
• By the way, if I didn't say it before, I dropped Fringe like a hot piece of crap. Which, coincidentally enough, it is.
• Random Thoughts/Links:
• You realize that if 90210 continues to be successful, we'll see more shows like that being brought back. Which means we could be headed down the dangerous path to Charles In Charge: The Retirement Years or Golden Girls In Heaven.
• We know that Sarah Silverman is very funny (when she's not on Comedy Central, at least). You must watch this video that she cut for a new site called The Great Schlep, which aims to get young Jews to visit their grandparents in Florida and convince them to vote for Obama. I'm not kidding.
• If you're a Republican, you should really come on over to the good guys for this election. You're missing out on such wonderful humor. While you're cringing at every hem and haw in front of Katie Couric, we're laughing our asses off at what a dolt they picked for a running mate. It really is freeing to have a candidate that you trust implicitly not to screw up. You should try it.
• Crap day tomorrow with an 8:30 meeting followed by what should be a very rough funeral. I will be liveblogging tomorrow night, the night I've been waiting for more than any other since June or so, as we have the first debate, where Barack Obama will be matched up against either John McCain or his own hand with a face drawn on it.
• Daily Rant:
• I was at a class today that took place in a library and someone pointed out this book, a children's book about September 11. It includes a very simple telling of what happened and some hand-drawn pictures of wonderful things like a plane about to fly into a building or a plane crashing into a field. Great stuff for little kids. Also, it talks about how the country really came together and everyone is very patriotic and nobody argues over politics. Seriously. Yeah, that lasted about two minutes.