CiggityCite

So yesterday the DNC Rules and Bylaws committee met in some shabby hotel conference room to discuss how to deal with this whole Florida/Michigan Democratic primary snafu. They were accompanied by a couple hundred raving Hillary-ites (check this lady out. Damn skippy hon, raving lunatics are no citizens AT ALL!) who properly exemplified just how absurd and innappropriate the arguments surrounding this issue are. The Committee came to probably the only sensible conclusion: Florida delegates seated with half a vote proportioned by the illegitimate primary, and the Michigan delegates were also given half a vote, with Obama getting the proportion of voters who placed an “uncommitted” vote. I still think they shouldn’t get any say, but with the way this argument has been framed as a Florida 2000 repeat chock full of voter disenfranchisement, smart to not piss off too many people. Obama had to recieve a share of the Michigan votes to make this reasonably fair, and the “uncomitted” voters was the only metric availble to the DNC for assigning Obama’s delegates. Kudos to the Committee for getting it done, and to Dean for someone keeping this relatively low key, the despite the inflammatory rhetoric (and here’s to hoping to that the lesson isn’t lost here. Florida and Michigan voters better come down hard on their state party leaders, who are the ones directly responsible for this whole entire problem. That point seems to be lost on all these people, but hey … it IS Florida.)

About that rhetoric though. I’m an Obama supporter, but not a Hillary hater. I view both candidates as smart, talented, and qualified. It just so happens that I view Obama not only as having a better chance to win the general, but also as being the better candidate with a better platform. If he doesn’t get the nomination, it will be frustrating to watch my horse lose the race, but it coulds be worse (MCCAIN!!!) However, those sentiments have shifted over the last few weeks, all because of this Florida/Michigan debacle. For Hillary to argue for the seating of these delegations as they were voted, when Obama wasn’t even on the Michigan ballot, AFTER she herself agreed to invaldiate the elections before she got her butt kicked in Iowa and realized she might lose, is pretty disgraceful. To compare this process to the elections being contested in Zimbabwe right now? Thats downright fucking dispicable. That’s beyond sour grapes. It’s downright unpatriotic. Forget lapel pins, at least Obama isn’t comapring our electoral process to shady dictatorships who intimidate voters and assassinate candidates. Hillary’s willingness to bend these issues into horrible conspiracies is really unbecoming, and for the first time this primary I really do find myself hating Hillary and wishing she would just go away.

Hopefully, after this rulling and the remaining primaries in the next few days, she will go away. I mean, what could be her strategy now? Well, Terry McAuliffe had some interesting ideas on “This Week” With Georgie Stephanopolous (as satirically relayed by Jason Linkins):

Oh, great. Terry McAuliffe is here. He says that by every standard that does not count toward selecting a nominee, Clinton is doing well, and if the Democrats hadn’t decided long ago on a set of rules that governs their process, Obama would be losing.

GS deflates T-Mac, saying, look, dude: she needs 85% of the remaining delegates to win. T-Mac ain’t having it: “But I have arguments and stuff! And…things! HILLARY IS IN GREAT SPIRITS! How many superdelegates do you get for being in great spirits? She will be President of Puerto Rico.”

For all the time and money that has been invested by both government organizations (S.E.T.I) and grass-roots groups (fucking wackjobs) to prove the existence of extraterrestrials, no one ever thought to just ask Jeff Peckman to see his video of alien peeping toms. Don’t worry folks; he’s ready to show it!

A video that purportedly shows a living, breathing space alien will be shown to the news media Friday in Denver.

Jeff Peckman, who is pushing a ballot initiative to create an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission in Denver to prepare the city for close encounters of the alien kind, said the video is authentic and convinced him that aliens exist.

“As impressive as it is, it’s still one tiny portion in the context of a vast amount of peripheral evidence,” he said Wednesday. “It’s really the final visual confirmation of what you already know to be true having seen all the other evidence.”

…..

“It shows an extraterrestrial’s head popping up outside of a window at night, looking in the window, that’s visible through an infrared camera,” he said. The alien is about 4 feet tall and can be seen blinking, Peckman said earlier this month.

Twenty bucks says Jeff is confusing a bad copy of “ET” for proof of alien life. Okay … make it ten.

Any marginally aware sports fan knows about the tragedy of Eight Belles at this years Kentucky Derby. Poor horse comes in second, then breaks both ankles right after crossing the finish line, and is euthanized right on the track. Some modicum of controversy followed, with accusations of trainers not looking out for the well being of the horse, perhaps overworking her or maybe even running her with a known injury. I’m not going to pretend that I know much about horse racing, but I am more or less against horse and greyhound racing entirely.

I happened to listen to Eskin’s show the following Monday to hear him complaining about the way these trainers treat their horses. He spent hours arguing that trainers were sleazy, the horses had a bad deal, horse racing needed to be cleaned up. Fair enough … I would presume that most of those statements are spot on. Problem isn’t the statements, it’s the jerk-off spouting them. What’s the number one reason horse racing exists? Mmmmm … I’m gonna guess gambling. Howard is surely against gambling, correct? Oh, thats right, once a week during football season he has a odds-maker on his show to give good NCAA, NFL, and the occasional NBA picks for the weekend. Hell, the man’s own website, HowardEskin.com, sells gambling picks to people (I can’t tell if horse picks are available because I’m not a member. Imagine my sadness.) Hard to codemn a sport based on gambling when you constantly promote said activity.

That’s not even the worst offense though, and admittedly a little indirect. For all his spouting off about animal cruelty and the horrors of horse racing, one can only wonder if maybe this all wouldn’t have registered on Eskin’s selfish, contradictory self if they had turned dear Eight Belles into a coat and given it to the King himself. The man is a walking poster board for animal cruelty, yet he finds no problem contradicting himself so he can stick it to a sport he probably hasn’t ever liked. Do us all a favor Eskin, stop championing causes you clearly don’t actually believe in.

While there may be no accounting for taste, at CiggityCite we hold you accountable for your taste! And what better grounds to duke it out on then movies, where opinion rules and subjectivity is the name of the game. Strokes and Cite now go at it over whats the best and worst of this recently expanded genre. We are trying to stick to main comic book character movies (Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Xmen, etc…) and not lesser know ones (Blade, Constantine, HellBoy) or graphic novels (SinCity, 300).

Strokes: Oh Dibs, can’t wait to hear your bullshit counter arguments. Here’s my top 5, in reverse order:

5) Batman- While this is clearly a different “type” of comic book movie, it is fantastic. When I first saw it in the theater, it straight-up blew my mind. Michael Keaton is great as the lead, but he is completely upstaged by Jack as the second-best comic book villain ever (see below). He is unforgettable as the Joker, and sets the bar ridiculously high for all comic book villains that follow. Burton did a great job producing a dark, yet mainstream comic movie, and the largely Prince soundtrack is amazing. Honestly, without the success and impact of this movie, I don’t know how many of the following movies on this list would have been made or been as good as they were.

Strokes’ final 4 and Cite’s top 5, after the jump.

CiggityCite is Philadelphia born and bred. One thing I love about Philly is the Sixers, Eagles, Phillies, and Flyers. Philadelphia is by far one of if not THE greatest sports towns in this country. We have great teams, tons of history, and for better or worse, incredibly passionate fans. With passionate fans come passionate opinions, and 610 WIP has always been a great sounding board for these opinions, a forum where we can test the waters with our own ideas, seek out some validation, counter unfair perceptions, and just blow off some steam every once in a while. For the most part, the commentators on WIP do a great job of facilitating this function. Unfortunately, not all of them do.

In a nation founded upon democratic principles, including perhaps most importantly, freedom of speech, in the city where the papers documenting these rights were drafted, Howard Eskin has found a niche in radio that allows him to skirt these basic rights. Consequently, sports fans everywhere feel oppressed, voiceless, and most importantly, angered when they try to present logical arguments on his radio show. It’s no coincidence that the man is nicknamed “The King,” as calling his show is like entering the court of a tyrannical ruler. His biggest power is oppression of voices, his biggest weakness his lack of appreciation for those who put him where he is. When you present facts that invalidate Howard’s perspectives, he rigorously denies it. He’ll call you a dope, a nitwit or a moron, and hang up on you. Is this ignorance what America is all about? Is it what Philadelphia is about? Of course not. It is our right to demand the answers we want and show that Howard Eskin survives simply because of his ability to opress.

So we’re going to have this recurring column on CiggityCite were we talk about why and how much we hate Howard Eskin. The point to not only vent, but to end this King’s reign, to give all of us what he doesn’t want us to have: a voice! Here he cannot hang up on us. Here he cannot call you a nitwit. The only option for him on this site is to hear your opinion, the one thing he doesn’t want. Got something to say about Howard Eskin, post it in the comments and let’s PUT THIS BURGER KING ON THE GRILL.

Perhaps one of the most impressive signs of globalization yet, a telescope was recently completed that allows people in New York to see people in London, and vice versa.

In all its optical brilliance and brass and wood, there stood the Telectroscope — a 37 feet long by 11 feet tall dream of a device allowing people on one side of the Atlantic to look into its person-size lens and, in real time, see those on the other side via a recently completed tunnel running under the ocean. (Think 19th century webcam. Or maybe Victorian-age video phone.)

And all the credit goes to British artist Paul St George. If he had not been rummaging through great-grandpa Alexander’s personal effects a few years ago, the Telectroscope might still exist only on paper, hidden away deep inside some old box.

But fortunately St George could not bear that thought — and thus decided he should be the one to finish what his great grandfather had started. It was quite simply the right thing to do. Plus it would make a pretty cool public art exhibit.

I personally am pleased to know that now I can now verify the existence of London without actually going there. Hooray for technology!

Compliments of I Watch Stuff.

I had one of those mornings today where I woke up and was so fucking hungry, I was about ready to polish off that 4 day old cheesesteak in my fridge for breakfast. Then I started thinking about a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit from Wawa.

Then I started thinking about how that might not mesh well with the pork roll and cheese I had late last night… Then (and here’s the important part) I started thinking about what my favorite breakfast meat is. Seems like a simple question, seeing as by my count there are really only 9 breakfast meats. But they’re all so damn good! After some deep thought, consultation with the Gapermaker, and a lot of meat, I think I’ve made up my mind. In reverse order:

#9 - Turkey Bacon - OK this was actually a test of how closely you’re paying attention. Turkey bacon isn’t a meat, it’s a farce. Gapermaker’s comment? “That shit don’t count.”

#8 - Ham - Ham is good, don’t get me wrong. Nothing beats a finely glazed ham on Christmas, Easter, some sort of formal event. But for breakfast? I do not like my eggs with ham. Ham is strictly a dinner item in my book, although I can see how it could be good. Everything on this list is a viable option (well except turkey bacon.)

Click me for more meat!