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Bush’s Mystery Bulge

Much flying talk about a mysterious square bulge on Bush’s back, clearly visible beneath his suit during the first debate, leading to rumors that he may have been channeling Karl Rove through a tiny wireless earpiece. Salon has a pretty compelling analysis concluding that the likelihood is high. Mediachannel has another.

One videographer was asked by a Bush crew member what frequency his camera was on – speculation is that the question may have been a probe to prevent another episode like the one in France at the D-Day memorial event, when TV viewers were able to clearly hear a male voice speaking Bush’s words just before he spoke them. isbushwired.com explores the topic in some depth, and includes images. Networks had agreed not to shoot the debaters from behind, but did anyway.

An earpiece isn’t materially different from a teleprompter. But debaters don’t get to use teleprompters. Especially not presidential debaters. If this story blows open, the game changes.

Music: Lou Reed :: Endless Cycle
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VP Zoom

Overheard on campus: “If you watch the debates on Fox, you’ll see that they more often zoom in on the Republican candidates to make them look larger and more authoritative, and zoom out on the Democrats to make them look like weenies.”

Music: Palace Brothers :: You Will Miss Me When I Burn
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The Name of This Band

name-of-this-band-is22 years ago, one of my favorite albums was the double LP The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads — a collection of live tracks spanning the era of “Remain in Light,” “Fear of Music,” “More Songs About Buildings and Food,” and “77.” Name of This Band was released prior to the much slicker (although more afro-oriented) “Stop Making Sense” and Jonathan Demme’s accompanying film, both of which helped push the band into the mainstream, and marked the introduction of the more polished, less angular sound of later Heads.

Somewhere along the line, the album disappeared from my collection. Tried to replace it a few times, only to find it out of print. Thought I’d never hear it again, but the archivists at Rhino (who kick ass, btw) have re-released it in expanded and remastered version that I’ve been listening to non-stop for days.

From the Pitchfork review:

This live album is not simply a fans-only document or a curio or a means of padding the discography or exploiting fans. In many ways, it’s the best one-stop document of what made Talking Heads one of the post-punk era’s most dynamic and urgent bands, and a succinct argument for the merits of synthesizing rock with emerging, potentially oppositional sounds. The latter is a lesson that will hopefully be learned by today’s rock artists.

Name of This Band reminds me of everything that was once awe-inspiring about Talking Heads — artful without being artsy, defiant of simple categorization, inventive, always inspired. Some tracks, such as Animals and an early version of Electricity (Drugs) surpass the studio versions.

Available at iTunes music store for instant gratification, if you swing that way.

Music: Pere Ubu :: Don’t Worry
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Which G5 Whispers Better?

We’re considering our first new Macs in years for the home office. Both of us have fallen in love with the new iMacs, but I’m still inclined toward the expandability of the PowerMac — I’ve got a stack of external drives on my desk that I’d love to mount in the case. One of our goals is to eliminate or greatly reduce the constant hum of computers around here, but I’m not coming up with much concrete info on the relative noise levels generated by these two (aside from trying to listen closely in a store crowded with people and machines). Sent a question for publication to MacSlash last night and they’re running it. Will be interesting to see results from the field.

Music: Kahil El’Zabars The Ritual :: Ocean Deep
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Misleaders

Lebkowski: Cheney said last night that he had never said there was a connection between Hussein and al Qaeda. MSNBC was quick to dig up a clip of him saying exactly that. Cheney said he had never met Edwards before that night’s debate; Elizabeth Edwards was quick to remind him that in fact he had. But both contenders were guilty of an evening’s worth of misleading statements – MSNBC has a breakdown.

Music: Mogwai :: Stop Coming To My House
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Consolidating the Message

No information on the source of this several-minute-long collage of the relentless fear-mongering drumbeat by your favorite politicos, but if you’re not drained by endless repeat of the past three years’ keywords, this ought to push you over the edge.

Hell, just watching the debates is starting to feel like a bludgeoning. Even within 90-second windows and all the facts and interpretations of the world at their disposal, candidates can’t help repeating themselves ad nauseum.

Thanks rinchen.

Music: James Chance & The Contortions :: King Heroin
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Best of the Berkeley Blogs

For UC Berkeley News, Bonnie Azab Powell commemorates the 40th anniversary of the free speech movement by rounding up what she sees as the Best of the Berkeley Blogs. Not sure birdhouse is even worthy of mention in the same breath as Brad DeLong but Powell says:

The Birdhouse, in summary, is the ideal dinner-party guest: witty yet understated, insightful without being shrill.

I’m flattered, though totally undeserving. Must be the first time I’ve ever been accused of being witty… Can’t believe I compared posting here to “doing push-ups…”

Music: Orlando “Puntilla” Rios :: Amanama
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Does America Need a New President?

Went with baald to tonight’s debate between New Yorker columnist / J-School professor Mark Danner and editor of The Weekly Standard William Kristol on the topic “Does America Need a New President?” I thought Danner had a better handle on the facts, Kristol worked more in generalities and was frequently apologetic for certain Bush foibles, which didn’t help his case. Kristol was quicker, if more soft-spoken, Danner more forceful and direct, more energetic. Separating style and content can be a challenge of debate watching — it was for me tonight.

Hecklers were out in force and moderater Orville Schell was the perfect diplomat trying to make certain audience members understood they were there to listen, not to talk. Police finally escorted the worst heckler out, but not until the event was almost over.

Danner made a pretty compelling argument that the past four years have been disastrous in almost every measurable respect. Kristol tried to make the case that anyone in Bush’s shoes would have — or at least should have — made similar decisions in similar circumstances, but for me at least, his points seemed anemic.

Hope all two of the undecided voters in the audience took home something useful.

Music: The Seeds :: Fallin’ Off The Edge
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Super Size Me

Another unanticipated consequence of living with Tivo: With an always-on list of good content, Amy and I had forgotten for the past few months that we actually like to watch movies as well. Rented Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me tonight and were awe-struck. Spurlock challenges himself to eat nothing but food from McDonald’s for an entire month, “three squares a day.” In that period, he gains 24.5 pounds, nearly destroys his liver, shocks his doctors, endures depression, mood swings, and generates 13 garbage bags full of packaging material. His vegan girlfriend even talks candidly about how his erections lose steam over the course of the month.

The film has a few sidebars on topics like the frightening state of modern school lunch programs and the power of the processed food industry’s lobbiests over government. Funny MOS interviews with people who have no idea what a calorie is. But it doesn’t touch the immense companion topic of factory farming, which seemed a bit strange. Focus here is really on personal health. Part of what makes the doc work is that there’s nothing pedantic about Spurlock – he’s a regular guy, unashamed to admit that McDonald’s food tastes great. He’s not preachy, just straight up and ready to turn himself into a guinea pig, even though it half kills him.

Music: Impossible Underpants :: Gordian Pie