The Emmy Awards

I must say, TiVo has made award show watching far more appealing. Don't get me wrong, I catch every major award show with or without TiVo but now I'm not forced to sit through three hours of commercials. I started watching the show about 45-50 minutes after it started and caught up to live TV in the last half hour.

This year's ceremony was pretty good. Conan was a great host overall but the controversy surrounding his opening "crash" skit is simply absurd. There were a number of other one-liners that were far more offensive than that skit. It was a spoof on Lost, one of the best shows on TV so let's all get a grip. Celebrate the winners and the tributes to Dick Clark and Aaron Spelling! Conan's sing and dance routine at the beginning of the show was creative and well done. I can't wait until he takes over for Jay at The Tonigth Show.

The line of the night went to Helen Mirren when she won for best actress in a mini-series. She said she, "almost fell hand over tit on the way up here." Hilarious!

Congratulations to the winners!


DRAMA SERIES
24

COMEDY SERIES
The Office

ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Kiefer Sutherland, 24

ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Alan Alda, The West Wing

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Blythe Danner, Huff

ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Tony Shalhoub, Monk

ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine

Onto the MTV Video Music Awards, this Thursday at 8pm(EDT)

The Secret Front-Runner for President

The Hotline's Chuck Todd writes about an '08 presidential front runner and no, its not Hillary Clinton, Mark Warner or Evan Bayh. I really think he's on to something!

Biden's plan for Iraq

Folks, the great Senator from Delaware and Ranking Member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Joe Biden, has a plan for Iraq. Regardless of party, you can't deny the fact that Biden is the only person who has put forth an actionable plan. Great work Senator!

First, the plan calls for maintaining a unified Iraq by decentralizing it and giving Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis their own regions. The central government would be left in charge of common interests, such as border security and the distribution of oil revenue.

Second, it would bind the Sunnis to the deal by guaranteeing them a proportionate share of oil revenue. Each group would have an incentive to maximize oil production, making oil the glue that binds the country together.

Third, the plan would create a massive jobs program while increasing reconstruction aid -- especially from the oil-rich Gulf states -- but tying it to the protection of minority rights.

Fourth, it would convene an international conference that would produce a regional nonaggression pact and create a Contact Group to enforce regional commitments.

Fifth, it would begin the phased redeployment of U.S. forces this year and withdraw most of them by the end of 2007, while maintaining a small follow-on force to keep the neighbors honest and to strike any concentration of terrorists.

Read the entire opinion from the Senator at The Washington Post.

The Fertility Gap

Apparently liberals are losing the fertility or baby gap against conservatives. How much so? View this food for thought segment as aired on this morning's Good Morning America. This is only a theory but it's something to think about when we liberals are thinking about having kids.

A Tearful Time at Subway

Last night we went to Subway to grab a quick bite to eat. Suddenly, while the sandwich artist was making our sandwiches, my eyes began to sting. About three minutes later, my eyes were gushing with tears streaming down my face. I asked the employee what was going on and he said they were cutting onions in the back room. I could barely pay because my eyes were burning so much.

There were about five of us in the line tearing up like it was the saddest day ever. I could only imagine what the people coming into the Subway were saying when we were leaving with tears dripping down our faces.

Now I'm laughing at the situation but Subway, please cut your onions during off-business hours!

HD Radio is Growing on Me

The growing popularity of satellite radio has sparked worry in the minds of radio mega giant Clear Channel Communication. As a result, the company invented "HD radio" Until recently, I didn’t have any inclination to switch or even try out this new form of radio but I came across the HD radio website within the last two weeks and I am so excited I did. From this one page site, you can stream a number of HD radio stations from across the country. I do still enjoy listening to a radio station's live broadcast online but when I’m tired of the constant commercials, HD radio offers up a great alternative.

With HD, the sound is great and there are no commercials but the best part about this innovative listening experience is the broad playlists these stations are incorporating to attract new audiences. There are tons of undiscovered artists out there and Clear Channel is helping them gain attention by putting them on these unconventional stations. I am always tired of hearing the same songs over and over and over again so these "alternative" stations are very refreshing.

Apparently, if you have an HD radio receiver you can access these stations from the car or home too and the sound quality is far suppierior to the standard AM and FM stations. Traditional radio has been homogenized to the point that every DJ and song sound the same, event when you jump from city to city. It is no wonder that satellite radio is succeeding.

I am proud of Clear Channel for doing something that is innovative and in the best interest of the listening audience. I am not quite to the point of buying the HD radio receiver but the online streams are making my workday that much more pleasant.

Bloggers Impacting News Coverage

A great editorial appeared in this week's Capitol Weekly about how the blogosphere is taking on traditional news media and how political coverage is changing as more and more blogs become available to voters. Take a short read at Bloggers provide focus, attention, nuance in political coverage.

My favorite part:

"The rise of local blogospheres is good news for anyone who wants more information, increased choice and a wide variety of opinions from all sides of the political spectrum, and who don't want political reporting that falls back on familiar tropes and content-free process politics. As this new media environment expands, voters will have a wealth of knowledge with which to make decisions on their representatives in government, and the end result can only be positive for democracy."

Weeds

After months of anticipation, Weeds premiered last night and it was tremendous! Mary-Louise Parker continues to amaze me with her acting abilities. As a sidebar, I am still upset with the Emmy’s that she didn’t even get nominated. Elizabeth Perkins, as Celia, however did get nominated in the Best Supporting Actress in a comedy series category. Anyway, Parker plays an upper-class suburban housewife who deals pot in order to make ends meet after her husband dies suddenly in the first episode last year.

Nancy, played by Parker, struggles daily to raise her boys to have a solid character but like most of us, has tremendous difficulty managing the two teenagers while being the sole breadwinner.

Last night's premiere did not disappoint. Nancy continues to have an edge while her many levels of emotion are unyielding. There is not one character in Weeds without a great deal of depth to their personality. This is a show where the talented ensemble raises the show to perfection. The only beef I have is that it should really be an hour long instead of 30 minutes.

Houseing Prices Dropping!!

Yes, even in Washington, housing prices are dropping. I know because I am in the market for a house although I still won't be able to afford a single family home. Regardless, I started my search in January and almost cried during my first day out with the realtor. Today, prices have dropped between thirty and fifty thousand dollars.

I knew the housing craze would get to the point where people would be priced out the market. Now things are leveling off to a "normal pace" and those crazy house bidding wars are no more. Thank God!! I hope to buy something at the end of the year and it's looking like my American dream will become a reality!

PS - The second season of WEEDS premiere’s tonight at 10pm EDT on Showtime. I will report back tomorrow.

Lamont won but it's too soon to predict 2006

Ned Lamont defied gravity. He began as an unknown candidate and trailed Lieberman in the polls for quite awhile. Analysts from Conn. to Calif. will say Lamont won because of the liberal bloggers, otherwise referred to as the ‘netroots’.

What this really boils down to is that the voters voted but the online community spoke loudly and raised Lamont's profile. Bloggers shook an election that would have otherwise been about maintaining the status quo.

It must be said that voters in Connecticut are not a representation of voters throughout this country. Yes, the blogosphere has the ability to propel a candidate and message to a national audience but it's the voters themselves who actually go to the polls. I must caution those that believe this election will force other democratic candidates to mimic Lamont’s positions. This election was held in one state where the message resonated. Look at the Iowa caucuses in 2004. Dean was supposed to sweep but his online community did not turn out a win at the caucus. Why, because his message did not resonate with caucus goers, despite his ‘front-runner’ status.

This election did send a message to the grey-haired consultants and lobbyists in DC that the online community is a powerful force at raising awareness and spreading a message. The community is not going away and should be closely monitored as part of every campaign’s arsenal from here on out.

As a final note, we must realize the primary in Conn. only involved Democrats. How this compares to an election involving Republicans is a different animal to deal with. Most Americans are not extreme left or right. It is clear that the 60 percent of American’s are opposed to the war in Iraq but the Dem’s have yet to propose a solution that addresses the problem.

This is a great New York Times article about the blogosphere’s affect.

UPDATE - This TIME article is great and mirrors what I was trying to say

Goodbye Carolyn Hightower; See you soon

Wow! I can't believe I now have my own blog. I've heard about these things for some time now so I figured I would jump on the bandwagon. I never dreamed it would be so easy.

For my first posting I will reflect on a small going away party I attended last night for Carolyn Hightower, Deputy Director, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). This was only my second time meeting Carolyn and I am deeply sad I won't be able to get to know her better as she and her family will be moving to Chile in the coming weeks.

Carolyn has worked for OVC for the past 23 years as a dedicated public servant. The victims rights movement started in 1980s with the Violence Against Women Act and as I learned from her colleagues who flew in from across the country, she is the one that really turned the movement into a profession. Others commented about how she exudes compasion to whom ever she meets, from her colleagues in DC, to her colleagues in the field all the way to the victims themselves. Carolyn has led the fight for victims rights for most of her life. Others commented that she is a life-long learner who is not afraid to learn from her subordinates and take on new experiences.

The evening came to a climax, when Mrs. Hightower spoke herself. She spoke about what really is important in her life..her husband...her two children and asked herself, "Am I giving my all to my husband and children? Or am I giving what's left over?" This was a true wake-up call for me but for others in the room as well.

As I mentioned, this was only my second run-in with Carolyn but I immiediatly could feel the genuine human spirit about her that was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stuffy government beurocracy.

Carloyn, Thank you for your devoted service to victims. You defyed gravity and made the world a better place because of the work you did. Press on.