I read an interview a few years ago with the guy who trains most of the animals that are in Broadway shows. (I think the article was when Legally Blonde was opening.) He said that, when he's getting new animals, he goes to a shelter and tries to find the one dog that's just coolly hanging out in the middle of all the other dogs barking and running and being crazy. He said that pretty much any dog can be trained to follow commands, but not any dog can do it in the middle of all the lights and music and everything.

I stage managed a student theatre production of Brighton Beach Memoirs a few years ago, and that show had a ton of food. There's a scene where the family sits down to dinner, and it would just look wrong without real food. And since the first bunch of lines in that scene are the kids complaining about the food, it had to be the specific food mentioned. We ended up using canned green beans to stand in for cabbage (it was the vaguely cabbagey-looking thing I could find in a can that didn't require a can opener), instant mashed potatoes, and slices of pumpernickel bread to look like meat.

My one Orthodox coworker is pretty firm that McCain is "better for Israel" (I don't know what she means specifically, because I refuse to engage), so I'm sure he's just trying to shore up that opinion.

I confirm this popular, almost baseless belief.

You see, most of the people here are convinced that without state-of-the-art military experience you're incapable to lead this country. When it comes to leaders of other countries, they believe they can't understand the Israeli position without that experience, and that the other leaders may tilt towards the Palestinian POV, God forbid (see how every time Israel agrees to stop the building in the settlements, it continue doing so, and act very surprise every time its been asked to stop it).

Personally, every time people tell me they prefer McCain, I ask them if they read the candidates' platforms, listened to debates, etc.. Answer's always "no". They just "know it's true" because "that's what everyone says". I ask them who are those "everyone", and they start to stutter. Not that it's helping to change their minds, but I just love to research people's unbased (is that a word?) choices and opinions.

It only took six months but I finally mistakenly grabbed my iPod thinking it was my iPhone.

Gonna be a lonnnnnng day.

Personally, every time people tell me they prefer McCain, I ask them if they read the candidates' platforms, listened to debates, etc.. Answer's always "no". They just "know it's true" because "that's what everyone says". I ask them who are those "everyone", and they start to stutter. Not that it's helping to change their minds, but I just love to research people's unbased (is that a word?) choices and opinions.

This is less concerning when it's people who aren't actually voting in the US election, but of course we have plenty of those people here, too.

Mac keeps waking up toward the end of my sleep cycle (bad dream/wet bed) and it makes my body want eleventy billion more hours of sleep.

I skipped the debate - I just don't have the stamina for them any more (it occurred to me - McCain was tortured so now he's returning the favor?).

And, for Loki.

My one Orthodox coworker is pretty firm that McCain is "better for Israel" (I don't know what she means specifically, because I refuse to engage), so I'm sure he's just trying to shore up that opinion.

Very generally speaking in America, Reform Jews vote Democrat, Orthodox vote Republican, for exactly the reasons Shir outlines. (I'd say that makes Conservative Jews the swing voters, but it's such a tiny little demographic I'm not sure anyone's actually fighting for it.)

There's also the need to be Strong On Israel for the sake of that slice of the Christian right wing for whom Israel features prominently in their Rapture plans.

"You know, a lot of you remember the tragedy of 9/11."

GRRRRRR.

From what I could see on the CNN percepto-thingy, the most positive audience responses were from whichever candidate answered the question more directly. McCain's "Everything is important and priorities are for pussies!" response got no traction compared to Obama's "Energy, healthcare, entitlements in that order." And I suspect he could have put them in any order as long as he was answering the question instead of evading it. I don't know what that says in terms of actual votes, but I hope somebody from both campaigns was watching.

Puppies!

One IRWS (6 month old pup) meets some very fluffy baby goldens.

Well, I know that's not Nutty, but it almost looks like a court of some kind, if not necessarily for squash: [link]

unbased (is that a word?)

Baseless

You see, most of the people here are convinced that without state-of-the-art military experience you're incapable to lead this country.

The problem with this argument, which people also make here, particularly in terms of which candidate would deal better with terrorism, is that McCain has typewriter military experience in an internet world.

McCain at one point said something to the effect of "Only I have a plan that will fix this crisis." I was yelling, "Quick, tell somebody. I don't think we can wait until January."