Month: August 2008

Echoes of the Spring.

“‘The most important thing we learned is this: Hillary Clinton won 8 of the last 13 primaries,’ said Steve Schmidt, Mr. McCain’s top strategist. ‘He is beatable.'” Facing an uphill battle against Sen. Obama, John McCain takes several pages from the Clinton playbook. Well, thanks much for pre-plowing that road, Senator. I don’t think it’ll make much difference in the end, whatever the polls say at the moment, but we might as well make the GOP work for a strategy next time.

In related news, Bill Clinton still seems stuck in a moment he can’t get out of. “‘I am not a racist,’ he continued. ‘I’ve never made a racist comment and I never attacked him [Obama] personally.’” Uh, riiight. Tell you what, Mr. President: We’ll forgive you if you just stop insulting our intelligence about it.

Update: He’s still picking at the scab. “‘You can argue that nobody is ready to be President,’ the former President told ABC News.”

A Hole in the Heart.

“‘This is the part of the brain involved in knowing that you want something,’ she said. ‘When people who are not adjusting well are having these sorts of thoughts about the person, they are experiencing this reward pathway being activated. They really are craving in a way that perhaps is not allowing them or helping them adapt to the new reality.‘” It’s darker than you know in those complicated shadows…A new study finds that unrelenting grief works on the brain differently than the usual kind of post-traumatic depression. “The same brain system is involved in other powerful cravings, such those that afflict drug addicts and alcoholics…It’s like they’re addicted to the happy memories.“

D’Antoni Balks.

The Knicks lose their Gamecock on the bench: Energy player Renaldo Balkman is traded to the Nuggets for peanuts (a 2010 second-rounder, Taurean Green, and Bobby Jones, both of whom will be waived.) “Balkman became expendable with the addition of first-round pick Danilo Gallinari. The Knicks also have an increased role in mind for Wilson Chandler at small forward.” (What about Q-Rich?) That’s too bad…I always liked Balkman. You can’t teach hustle.

Inkblot Tests.

“Whatever happened to the American Dream? It came true — you’re looking at it.” Quite a bit of new Watchmen material today. AICN get their hands on high-rez versions of the spiffy painted Comicon posters. (Rorschach | The Comedian | Silk Spectre I | Silk Spectre II | Nite-Owl | Dr. Manhattan | Ozymandias.) Very nicely done — Lots of continuity nods thrown in for the fans, and note the clocks in the top-left corner. Plus, this is the first image of Ozy that I’ve liked so far. (Bubastis helps.) And Empire Online has a few new stills to share, although they’ve logo-stamped them in rather irritating fashion (and the characters look a bit stiff.)

Cera v. Guevara.

In today’s trailer bin, AD, Superbad, and Juno‘s Michael Cera hones his (very-quality) schtick in the John Hughes-ish preview for Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist. (Alas, despite Cera’s talent, this looks bad and/or I’m too old for it.) Meanwhile, Benicio del Toro tries to gets a revolution off the ground in the Spanish-language trailer for Steven Soderbergh’s Che: The Argentine (a.k.a. part 1 of his four-hour Che double feature, with Guerrilla.) I can’t understand a word of it, but it looks promising.

Rocket R-Test | Manny on the Run.

“‘I’ll be a kid in a candy store,’ Artest said. ‘I’ll be a kid in a store with a lot of candy. I’m going to dance with the stars.‘” T-Mac, Yao, and the Houston Rockets try to keep pace in a loaded West by trading for talented head case Ron Artest. (They gave up aging vet Bobby Jackson, new pick Donte Greene, a 2009 first-rounder, and cash.) Interesting…that’s a pretty solid trade for Houston. It’s not Boston’s Big 3, but even in a crowded conference Artest should be enough defensive help to finally get ’em out of the first round. And so far he’s saying all the right things.

Also, I don’t really follow baseball until, I dunno, mid-October, but this even made my radar. The inimitable Manny Ramirez is gone from the BoSox. He’s now a Dodger (and, the Grant Hill of the MLB, Ken Griffey is now on the White Sox.) Alrighty then.