Hope in Waco

My beloved Baylor Bears blew out they-who-must-be-hated, the Texas A&M Aggies. Maybe, this time, the program will be able to turn it around and become competitive in the Big XII. I have no delusions that we will ever be able to fight for a Division and Conference Title on a year-in, year-out basis, but there's no good reason why we can't get to the point of being bowl eligible every year.

2008 Presidential Election Prediction

After I did so well four years ago, I hesitate to put my prognostication skills to the test again, but here goes:

I foresee a win for Senator Obama, but not by nearly the margin that many predict. I have Obama winning 22 states plus the District of Columbia. That means Senator McCain will win more states (28) but they won't be the right ones to get him to 270 Electoral Votes. I have Obama at 273 EVs and McCain at 265. I believe the most EVs Obama will get is 291

If McCain does not win Virginia, I believe it's all over. I have never believed the possibility of flipping Pennsylvania, so McCain must win VA/FL/NC/OH/IN. Then, he has to pull out Colorado because I think New Mexico is a lost cause.

Here are the states I am calling for Obama with their Electoral Votes in parentheses:

California (55)
Colorado (9)
Connecticut (7)
Delaware (3)
District of Columbia (3)
Hawaii (4)
Iowa (7)
Illinois (21)
Maine (4)
Maryland (10)
Massachusetts (12)
Michigan (17)
Minnesota (10)
New Hampshire (4)
New Jersey (15)
New Mexico (5)
New York (31)
Oregon (7)
Pennsylvania (21)
Rhode Island (4)
Vermont (3)
Washington (11)
Wisconsin (10)

The iMac is Back

After going with the family to story time at Borders, we headed over to the Apple Store to pick up my iMac. Hurrah!

Initial Debate Reaction

John McCain needs to talk to the camera and not directly to Jim Lehrer.

His looking off to the right is off-putting.

Barack Obama sure does stammer a lot and uses the verbal filler "uh" too much.

Wonders never cease

Lo, and behold, they restored access to blogger at work. Just discovered this toward the end of my lunch hour.

Computer Woes

The logic board on our iMac has gone bad. Again. We had it replaced last November, but the new one has gone bad, too. It isn't under warranty.

Even with the cost of the repair, it is cheaper to repair than to replace.

Health Update

Went to the Doctor on Friday. I had lost 15 pounds since March. Cholesterol was down to 142. Bad Cholesterol is down to 88.

Doctor was happy. I'm happy.

I still need to lose about 50-60 pounds, but I've made a start.

Well, that went well

After that promise to start being more regular in blogging, I disappeared for a while again. Work has been nuts. We are short an attorney in our Division, so I've basically been doing the work of 2 people for about a month. We get our replacement on the 29th, and then once I get him trained, I can get back to only handling my duties.

Also, the powers that be at the office have once again blocked our access to much of the internet, so blogging on my lunch hour is much more difficult.

What's Going On?

I've been on a blog hiatus for a little while. No more.

We took a vacation to Half Moon Lake in Michigan a couple of weeks ago. Despite having no air conditioning in the lake house and no hot water the first night, it was an enjoyable time. I read 2 1/2 books and did very little else.

At work, there are some issues that have cropped up in the past week and a half, but I don't like to blog about work things, so lets just leave it at: I could use your prayers.

I'm rapidly approaching my 40th Birthday. If you haven't received an invitation to the party (some went out in the mail, some via Evite) and feel like you should, let me know. I tried to think of everybody, but I'm sure I inadvertently omitted some folks.

Another Review of Damn Yankees

Elaine Liner gives a mixed review in The Dallas Observer. The only mention of my performance gets this line, "The men's voices blend nicely on the miles and miles and miles of 'Heart.'"

Damn Yankees Reviews

The first review is online only. The best parts as far as I'm concerned were:

The singing in this version of Damn Yankees exceeds the film and original cast recording. The emphasis on this production was the vocal performances versus the dancing. The tunes are classic staples of musical theatre and have become ingrained in the popular culture. To hear them sung so well is a delight: a big treat!

* * * * *

The cast for Damn Yankees is rather large and the entire company chews up the scenery. There are no weaknesses here.

I'm not entirely sure that "chew[ing] up the scenery" is a good thing, but the reviewer seems to have meant it in a positive way.

A second review came out today on the Dallas Edge website. (A guess a warning should be given that the site is a GLBT site).

Damn Yankees opens in a week

Garland Summer Musicals production of Damn Yankees opens Friday June 20th. I play the Catcher for the Washington Senators baseball team, Smokey. I am featured in two songs, "Heart" and "The Game," and I also dance in "Shoeless Joe" and "Two Lost Souls." Our wonderful cast includes Joshua Doss as Joe Hardy, Morgana Shaw as Lola, and John Garcia as Applegate. The rest of the cast is tremendous, too.

The show should be a blast, so please come check it out.

You can order tickets by calling the Box Office at 972-205-2790. If you use my name (Marty Scott) when ordering, you will receive a $6.00 savings off the regular price of $25.00, so you will pay the cast price of $19.00 plus a $1.00 service charge per ticket.

Performances are June 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, & 29. Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm.

Fast, Effective Weight Loss Plan

Want to lose 5 pounds overnight? Get a stomach virus like I did yesterday.

I'm feeling better already, but I was miserable from about 9:00 last night until I fell asleep at 11:30 this morning and slept for 5 hours. My stomach still isn't completely right, but I'm pretty sure the worst is over.

Quick Update

I've been busy lately. I bought a bicycle about a month and a half ago. Then, I joined a local gym a few weeks after that. In all, since I bought the bike, I have lost 11 pounds, and my waist has started to shrink already.

I finished The Philadelphia Story at KCCT in April, and yesterday, I had my first rehearsal with Garland Summer Musicals for Damn Yankees. It should be fun, but tiring.

A little sickness is going around the family. First, it was Hannah, then Erin. Tonight, my stomach started feeling not quite right. I hope I can avoid the unpleasantness the girls have had to go through.

A Theatre Milestone

I just looked again at my theatre resume and noticed that my current show is my 30th in my acting "career." That's a few more than I thought. My full resume can be found HERE.

Blind Refs?

I am no fan of Texas A&M, but they got jobbed in their game in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament against UCLA. Here's the photographic evidence. That was on A&M's final drive in an effort to tie the game at 51-51. In the second half of the game, A&M went over 10 minutes without a basket from the field. Several times, they took the ball inside and got rejected. I have to wonder how many of those "blocks" were really fouls as well.

Daylight Saving Time

Am I the only one who doesn't like Daylight Saving Time? There is just something wholly unnatural about having to get out of bed before the sun has come up.

Johari Window

I created my own Johari Window personality assessment. You can contribute to it here. Or you can get your own Johari Window

Arena (known to self and others) confident, intelligent, observant, witty

Blind Spot (known only to others) complex, dependable, idealistic, independent, religious, trustworthy

Façade (known only to self) friendly, self-assertive

Unknown (known to nobody) able, accepting, adaptable, bold, brave, calm, caring, cheerful, clever, dignified, energetic, extroverted, giving, happy, helpful, ingenious, introverted, kind, knowledgeable, logical, loving, mature, modest, nervous, organised, patient, powerful, proud, quiet, reflective, relaxed, responsive, searching, self-conscious, sensible, sentimental, shy, silly, spontaneous, sympathetic, tense, warm, wise

Dominant Traits

100% of people agree that TheCalvinator is confident

All Percentages

able (0%) accepting (0%) adaptable (0%) bold (0%) brave (0%) calm (0%) caring (0%) cheerful (0%) clever (0%) complex (50%) confident (100%) dependable (50%) dignified (0%) energetic (0%) extroverted (0%) friendly (0%) giving (0%) happy (0%) helpful (0%) idealistic (50%) independent (50%) ingenious (0%) intelligent (50%) introverted (0%) kind (0%) knowledgeable (0%) logical (0%) loving (0%) mature (0%) modest (0%) nervous (0%) observant (50%) organised (0%) patient (0%) powerful (0%) proud (0%) quiet (0%) reflective (0%) relaxed (0%) religious (50%) responsive (0%) searching (0%) self-assertive (0%) self-conscious (0%) sensible (0%) sentimental (0%) shy (0%) silly (0%) spontaneous (0%) sympathetic (0%) tense (0%) trustworthy (50%) warm (0%) wise (0%) witty (50%)

Created by the Interactive Johari Window on 24.6.2008, using data from 2 respondents.
You can make your own Johari Window, or view TheCalvinator's full data.

Is this the change he means?

Take a gander at this picture taken in the Houston Barack Obama Volunteer office.



Just in case you aren't up on your Communist iconography, that's the national flag of Communist Cuba with the image of Che Guevara superimposed on it.


The image is a screen capture from the video located HERE.

Yet Another Reason I Like Mike (Huckabee)

At the California GOP debate at the Ronald Reagan Library, the last question was asked of all 4 participants. "Would Ronald Reagan endorse you for President?" Governor Huckabee was fortunate to get the final word of the evening, and this is what he said:

I think it would be incredibly presumptuous and even arrogant for me to try to suggest what Ronald Reagan would do, that he would endorse any of us against the others.

Let me just say this, I'm not going to pretend he would endorse me. I wish he would. I would love that, but I endorse him, and I'm going to tell you why.

It wasn't just his specific policies, but Ronald Reagan was something more than just a policy wonk. He was a man who loved this country, and he inspired this country to believe in itself again.

What made Ronald Reagan a great president was not just the intricacies of his policies, though they were good policies. It was that he loved America and saw it as a good nation and a great nation because of the greatness of its people.

And if we can recapture that, that's when we recapture the Reagan spirit. It's that spirit that has a can-do attitude about America's futures and that makes us love our country whether we're Democrats or Republicans. And that's what I believe Ronald Reagan did -- he brought this country back together and made us believe in ourselves.

And whether he believes in us, I hope we still believe in those things which made him a great leader and a great American.

Those, my friends, are the words of a true Statesman.

Picked up at Church this Morning

It's easy to love God. It's hard to love God most.

Republicans and Limited Government

To hear some Republican establishment types, the raison d'etre of the G.O.P. is to reduce the size of the Federal Government. This has been the basis for some of the criticism of Mike Huckabee in the Presidential race. The truth is that the only candidate with any credibility on this issue is Ron Paul.

And just how many of those establishment types are supporting Ron Paul?

Exactly!

So, the next time you hear this attack aimed at Huckabee, you can ignore it because you know it's insincere.

Right Wing Nation

I used to be able to post comments at Right Wing Nation with no problem, but apparently I committed the mortal sin of defending Mike Huckabee over there, so now I'm on "administrator must approve" status.

So much for the free exchange of ideas.

The offending comment was made on this post. After rightwingprof's response, I pointed out that his calling Huckabee a "a soft on crime socialist who spits in the faces of crime victims" is no different from those who attack by calling John McCain, MCSHAMNESTYMCCAIN! And that was the type of attack that he was condemning in the original post.

People don't like it when their hypocrisy is exposed.

UPDATE: Now, he's calling me an amoral idiot. Yup, really bringing the level of discourse up over there. Really avoiding the ideological nonsense he was condemning.

Hello kettle, this is the pot . . .

Fracture

Just wondering:

Why is Mike Huckabee accused of trying to fracture the so-called Republican coalition, but Giuliani, Romney, & McCain aren't?

Social Conservatives' values are ignored by Giuliani, belittled by McCain, and pandered to by Romney.

When less than desirable candidates from a social conservative perspective are nominated (Bush '92 & Dole '96 spring immediately to mind), values voters are told that we have an obligation to support the Republican Party because the Democrats are much worse. That may be true, but it's no less fracturing than Huckabee would be in asking fiscal conservatives to come along for the ride this year. In fact, I believe that fiscal conservatives have far less to fear from Huckabee than social conservatives would have to fear from Rudy, John, or Mitt.

After all, Huckabee is the only candidate proposing to completely do away with Corporate Income Taxes.

And personal income taxes, and estate taxes, gift taxes, social security taxes, medicare taxes, self-employment taxes, and capital gains taxes.

Republican Debate: Final Assessment

Thompson disappeared in the final segment.

Final Grades:

Thompson B+
Giuliani B+
Huckabee B
McCain B-
Romney C+

The focus group was completely opposite me on First and Last. They liked Romney most and Thompson least.

They thought Huckabee's first response was weak and waffling.

The focus group thinks Romney can beat Obama. They are deluded.

This woman just said "He speaks off the cuff and is very, very well-versed." I don't think she even understood that her statement was internally contradictory.

Republican Debate: Closing Arguments

Why are you the candidate to beat the Democrat?

Giuliani: I've fought the battles and gotten things done. Has worked successfully with Republicans and Democrats

Thompson: Only one at the table who has never lost an election. National Security, tax cuts, balanced budgets, good judges, pro-life. Has the courage to speak the truth to the American people.

Huckabee: Lived a life like most people live. Believes in lower taxes, lower spending, pro-life, Second Amendment, Experience in governing and practical problem-solving.

Romney: "I got in the race because my family told me I oughta." I know how to draw on the American spirit. I will work to change Washington.

McCain: We need leadership, and I bring the experience and the knowledge necessary to make the decisions. Will reach out to Independents.

Republican Debate: McCain's Age

McCain will not pledge not to seek re-election. He's exactly right. Making that pledge would make him a lame duck from Day 1.

Huckabee took the opportunity to compliment McCain.

Republican Debate: Giuliani Scandals

Giuliani admits some mistakes, but points out that some of the attacks that have been made against him were shown to be untrue in the New York Times. He just wished it hadn't appeared on page 39.

He had a good line that if anyone hasn't made any mistakes, then that person probably hasn't ever done anything.

Republican Debate: Flip-Flopping

Romney tries to put the best face on his flip-flops. He says that yes he changed his opinions on some things. Then, he turns around and fires off his litany of negative attacks on Huckabee.

Republican Debate: Negative Campaigning

They showed clips of two of Romney's attack ads against Huckabee and McCain.

Huckabee echoed something I've said, that people want to vote FOR somebody and not AGAINST somebody.

Romney claims his ads are not attack ads. I think the voters in Iowa told us differently. Romney recited his tired line about not touching his hair. Can this man be any more plastic?

Republican Debate: Second Break Assessment

Whew, that Immigration section was painful.

Interim Grades:

Thompson A-
Huckabee B
Giuliani B
McCain B-
Romney C+

Republican Debate: Immigration

Boring. Nothing new from anybody.

Republican Debate: The Table Dynamic

Once again, it seems to be coming through that 4 of these guys like each other, but none of those four really like Romney.

I think the sitting down works against Huckabee. He seems to be more in his element behind a lectern than sitting around a table.

Republican Debate: Huckabee on Foreign Policy

Huckabee promotes his travels abroad. Nothing new there. Now points out that he has more Executive experience than anyone else in the race. Maybe non-political junkies haven't heard this, but nothing new is coming out here.

Huckabee says that his convictions and moral clarity count for more than experience when it comes to Foreign Policy.

Republican Debate: Too much Romney/McCain

I guess it makes sense since they are polling 1 & 2 in New Hampshire, but it's making for a boring debate. We need more Giuliani and Huckabee to liven things up.

Republican Debate: Leadership vs. Experience

Romney sounds too much like a CEO. People want inspiration, not cold, calculating analysis.

McCain tries to sound cute, and it falls flat like his "you are the candidate of change" remark last night. When he says that some of those Governors who got elected President didn't work out too well, the Republican audience is more likely to think of George W. Bush & Ronald Reagan than Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

Republican Debate: First Break Assessment

Nobody is doing great. Nobody has completely lost it though.

Interim grades

Giuliani B+
Thompson B
Huckabee B-
Romney B-
McCain C+

McCain would have graded much higher, but his crowing about pushing Campaign Finance Reform cost him dearly.

Republican Debate: Change part 3

Thompson needs to stop mentioning Social Security. He's starting to sound pessimistic.

Giuliani makes a good point that change for change's sake is not good. We need good change, not bad change like the Democrats would promote.

Republican Debate: Change part 2

Romney tries to ride the coattails of Huckabee on his success in Iowa. Romney claims that his 2nd place finish shows that they liked him as an agent of change.

That's new spin from Romney for his colossal collapse in Iowa.

Republican Debate: Change

McCain claims to have been an agent of change for years. His specific example is his encouragement to the Administration to get rid of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld.

Touted Campaign Finance reform.

YIKES!!!!

Romney once again backs off an attack he made when the object of the attack wasn't around because now the object is sitting right next to him.

Republican Debate: FairTax part 2

Candidates are asked if they think the FairTax is a good idea or a bad idea.

Giuliani: Went off on a tangent about his WorkFare program in NYC. Never answered.

Thompson: Likes certain elements of the FairTax. Fears that we wouldn't get rid of the Income Tax, so that we would end up with both Consumption and Income Taxes. Wants a flatter Income Tax. Said any plan must be revenue-neutral. My question would be Why??? Why not reduce spending?

Republican Debate: FairTax

Good move by Huckabee swinging the Corporate issue to the FairTax. He touted that he's the only one promoting a plan that would completely eliminate Corporate taxes.

Republican Debate: Populism

Huckabee is talking about the struggles of average Americans. I saw a stat yesterday that 80% of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck. It's that 80% that Huckabee is talking about. It doesn't make those people think the economy is in the toilet, but they don't think things are great just because the Dow Jones is hitting record highs. That's not class warfare. Rather, it's a recognition that the Republican Party needs to be the Party of the MIddle Class, not just the Upper Class.

Republican Debate: Fred Thompson

Fred is sounding much better than he did last night in the Facebook debate. Last night, he came across as gruff. Tonight, he sounds energetic.

Live Blogging the Republican FoxNews Debate

I just got my wireless network back up. First question goes after Romney for his Fee (read: Tax) increases.

Romney has a hard time articulating when things aren't going his way. He stammered and sputtered regularly. He tried to attack Huckabee on his record as Governor of Arkansas. Huck should have flipped something Romney said about prior funding. Romney had claimed that certain fees were too low (in Taxachusetts???), so he had to raise them. Huckabee could have pointed out that nobody in Arkansas history had allocated taxes to preserve and improve the infrastructure (read: Roads), so the tax increases were necessary to provide basic services, such as education and roads.

Reading Lips, etc.

It looked to me like Hillary Clinton just told Rudy, "You were great."

What was up with McCain hugging everyone? I didn't see if he hugged Hillary, but he gave Obama and Edwards big hugs.

McCain's Barb at Romney

John McCain tried to get a hit in on Romney by saying that he wanted to say that Romney is definitely the Candidate of Change.

I say "tried" because it took more than a few seconds to figure out that it was an attack, and what that attack was supposed to mean. I finally figured out that it was supposed to refer to Romney's flip-flopping, but because I had to take those few seconds, the moment had passed.

Facebook Debate

I'm watching the Republican ABC/WMUR/Facebook debate. I don't pretend to be objective, but my take is this:

Positive: Huckabee & Giuliani
Negative: Romney & Paul
Mixed: Thompson & McCain

Thompson comes across as a bit gruff, even when he's making a good point. Actually, especially when he's making a good point.

McCain was practically absent most of the debate. When he did speak up, he sounded okay.

Romney looked old and tired at first, but he livened up. Unfortunately, he was lively but wrong most of the time.

Paul sounds like a kook, even when he's right.

Huckabee got solid hits every time he spoke.

Giuliani defended himself well without sounding defensive. He also got the best zinger of the night when he mentioned that Reagan had an Amnesty plan, so he would have ended up getting attacked in one of Romney's negative ads.