Thoughts provoked by an old house in need of renovation, its garden, a marriage lived within its walls, and of a retired Thoroughbred race horse named Fibs and Flannel.
OK. OK, so, was he talking about not showing up on the show, or the Palin choice, his entire campaign, or running for the Republican ticket?
What can I say? Maybe McCain should have run his own campaign? I mean, I think he owned up to screwing up and made his congratulatory concession speech all on the same day.
Partial video of McCain's Roast of Obama
This video skips the very beginning, but the only video I could find that includes McCain's opening comments, including what might have been the longest laughter moment of the evening, is an otherwise edited version from a poster seeking to tie Senator Obama to Acorn, Wright, Ayers and Rezko. I post it at the end for the early remarks, to highlight it's intentional omission of McCain's serious tribute Senator Barack Obama, and show that there are some who cannot be as decent as Senator John McCain was last night at the Waldorf Astoria. The take-off off "American Boy" isn't bad.
But, now, "get ready for 15 minutes of non-stop hilarity," including such moments as,
"From the doorstep, you can see the Russian Tea Room,"
"If I had to name my greatest strength, I guess it would be my humility. Greatest weakness? It's possible that I'm a little too awesome."
"Barack means 'that one' in Swahili," and "my middle name came from someone who obviously didn't think I'd ever run for president."
Get a box of tissues out to wipe the tears from your cheeks, and be careful not to ingest any beverage for fear of snarfing it on your computer screen and keyboard. Dell customer service stinks here in France, and I'd hate to see you have problems like that. I might feel a little bit responsible.
Obama's roast of McCain
And here is the promised edited version of McCain's roast.
McCain's opening remarks, minus the tribute, with an effort to discredit Obama
....
American Boy
sexappealsellsvotes not
(I heard his first choice was Paris Hilton, but she said no.)
Put me on the ticket And we'll win this race. Take me to the White House Mr. John McCain. I really want to Campaign here with you. ....
I'm still dans les gazes. I did the thing I should never do; I went back to bed at 8 AM after taking the dogs out, and slept until noon. I could have slept all day.
Always a mistake to go back to bed, oh, just for an hour, especially when it is drizzly.
Pots asked me on C.H.A.O.S., the few moments I was able to check in, if I were drunk. I was enjoying typing Musta-something's username,
It was lovely, just letting the fingers run over the keyboard, in an uncoordinated and carefree fashion...
Fleur_de_Paris: Musta-hfasfhkj Pots: Are you drunk, Fleur? Fleur_de_Paris: Just punch-drunk, Pots.
Just punchy in a cloud of barely awakefulness. Never sleep late again, never sleep late again, never sleep late again...
Baccarat started barking at the living room door, "I think the contractor might be here, brb." Five hours later, I still wasn't back. I spent the afternoon bonding with Joaquim. Never will a client and her contractor have spent so much time talking.
David and Stephanie know of what I am speaking. I really do have to try to draw a character portrait of Joaquim one of these days, maybe once Obama has won the election, and we have all settled back into our easy chairs to enjoy peace and prosperity without effort. Right.
He wanted to talk. He is still upset about things with the person who brought him onto our job. It's a bit of a story. I listen. He loves to talk about his work, too, and life. It's quite a metaphysical crew. Is that typically Portuguese? En tout cas, ils sont tous très sympa, tous ceux que j'ai rencontré, surtout si on compte Victor chez Florosny, aussi.
(that was for the French person or two who tries to read the blog)
"Can we have a coffee? Ca ne te gêne pas?" he asked.
"Bien sur. I was about to offer." I still had the bottom of the double espresso I had prepared and forgotten a half hour earlier in my hand. He followed me to the espresso machine. He can almost never stay put, certainly not if I stand up.
"I saw a door you would love," he told me, "in Cergy-Pontoise. I stood in front of it a long time, wishing I had a camera with me. It was the color you like, only it was glossy paint, and it was even better." I let him talk. "I thought that glossy would be too much for that color, but, somehow, it wasn't -- it was, it was still, opaque."
I had just asked Georges the other day to tell Joaquim that I wanted to see the same color in gloss. I have noticed that when I want something, it seems to work itself through his brain and finds a way to become an idea that comes from him. It's okay; he needs to like what he is producing, too. Or, it was a coincidence.
"Did you see that I want to see a sample for the motifs in that color?" He walked towards the door to go look at the paint. I repeated the question, following him.
"Ah! You want to see the chaux in that color, is that it?" Yes.
I walked over to the door and looked at the sample, "Yes. My son came home the other day, saw the latest samples and said, 'That ochre with that color for the half-timber motifs,' and he pointed to the door."
"Which color?"
"That color, Joaquim," I pointed to the door from the first day we began looking at colors, "that one. I know you don't agree, but I see the house with that color, and my son saw it, too, right away. He sees things that way, too." He stood and took a step to stand in front of the samples.
"No --, no," he sucked in a breath, "it's not that I don't agree. It would be more somber -- "
"The ochre is enough for me. I don't mind that somber. It's still rich." And, the flowers and the green of the leaves will add the color in the place of the red of the half-timber banding.
"They aren't so different, really --," he said, begining the work of convincing himself of this idea of mine, "they both have brown in them --," he reached out and touched the chaux sample, "I'll make it for you tomorrow. Could we have that coffee?" He followed me back into the house, and as I got out the sugar, he said, "You draw really well. I like your drawings. Could you maybe take a client and take what they have and work out some ideas for them?"
It went on awhile that question. Joaquim isn't one to minimize his word count.
"Yes, I can." I reached for my book, and that set us off on an afternoon of comparing projects, stories, pride, love of materials and light, appreciation of people who care about their work and who see passing a tip, making a recommendation as a service that will come back one day.
"Sort of like karma," I said.
"No, no -- I believe in Providence," he said. "Do you?"
As for the glassed-in entry, he isn't talking about extra charges, and thinks it should be bigger. I can't make it much bigger, but it's true. I knew that.
"What about the verrière?"Audouin asked this evening. I told him.
"He'd better mention extra charges now so that we don't have a big surprise later." I promised to press the issue, but I also know that Joaquim likes to offer extra things sometimes for his own soul. I think he knows that it really does always come back.
Always, one way or another.
That's what makes life a little more wonderful.
....
A nice looking parrot
"Not 5% thinks she's good enough to run the United States, and she's running as the partner of a 72-year-old cancer survivor! Bwahahaha!" -- John Cleese on Sarah Palin
....
And everyone's talking about
Joe the plumber with Barack Obama Holland, Ohio
Update: October 17 -- According to the Kos, we're sucker bait. Consider the age factor. Keating's son-in-law was 37 in 1991. Joe the Plumber's father was 83.
Charles Keating's son-in-law's close relative, Joe, the tax evader.
If Steve Schmidt had any hair left, I hear he would have been pulling it out tonight. He reportedly screamed at John’s debate prep team tonight (out of earshot of reporters, of course). “You idiots - he’s related to Charles Keating… of the Keating Five scandal!” They thought they had a real live Joe Six-Pack who’s spurned Barack Obama’s tax plan. But what they forgot to do was check on Joe Wurzelbacher’s background. -- Martin Eisenstadt's Blog, October 15, 2008
Ok, that's not his fault, and who hasn't owed some taxes? Especially not a guy who doesn't like Social Security and the government acting like his mom and dad.
Take it away, Diane.
Samuel J. Wurzelbacher on "Good Morning America"
....
Thank you, Iceberg Slim
Joe the Plumber is a REGISTERED REPUBLICAN (UPDATE X2 and from OHIO AFL-CIO)
Is this true? Along with rumor of family ties, possibly in Alaska?Family money ties? I don't know what it means, but is there a reason to all of a sudden cut off the media per David Shuster, when Joe was supposed to go to NY for interviews? Too close for comfort? Just sayin'......
I have been getting email all morning but this should pique your interest, h/t to uniongal for sending me this:
This was to Tim Burga, AFL-CIO:
Good morning Mr. Burga
I know, you've probably gotten a ton of these inquiries, but I'm hoping, I'm a little different.
I run a union website, am a registered voter and native of Ohio (Ashtabula) and I'd like to know how to find out if Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacker is a member of a pipefitters, steamfitters or plumbers unions. How would I go about that for the Toledo area. I've gotten a couple of the locals numbers, should I just call them?
You can quote me as saying, "Joe is not a plumber he's a businessman. If we don't elect Barack Obama, the plumbing business and working families dreams will go down the drain."
::
Any questions, contact me. Totally legit. Oh, the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters already endorsed Obama.
Put me on the ticket
Put me on the ticket
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