Fresh Loaf

A side effect of the popularity of viral videos is a renaissance in the novelty song. The increased professionalism of Youtube-able film clips has meant that musical parodies and other comedy songs have increased in both quality and variety while finding bigger audiences thanks to blogs and social networking sites. Here are five of 2008’s definitive musical videos that didn’t involve a cat flushing a toilet.

1. “I’m F***ing Matt Damon”

The “Digital Shorts” of “Saturday Night Live” specialize in NSFW music video parodies like the recent “J*** in my Pants.” (I use asterisks because the clips are probably funnier when the swears are bleeped out.) None has bettered shock comic Sarah Silverman and her musical prank on her boyfriend, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. “I’m F***ing Matt Damon” has catchy hooks that make it fun listening, despite being the most inappropriate break-up song imaginable. Kimmel’s response, “I’m F***ing Ben Affleck” built to a “We Are The World”-style chorus and proved nearly as funny, but the joke was officially exhausted when Elizabeth Banks sang yet another version, “I’m F***ing Seth Rogen,” to promote Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno. (more…)

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While I was up in Washington, D.C. and New York City on a fact-finding mission, it looks like y’all had a helluva time. Mayor Shirley Franklin asked the feds for a life preserver, the Georgia Department of Transportation decided years-old e-mails of a lascivious nature weren’t grounds for dismissal (use Gchat, Gena!), Buckhead was — gasp — called overdeveloped, and the DeKalb County Courthouse was visited by Peter, Ray and Egon. Oh yeah, and some guy who lost a presidential election visited. And there was also this news.

Sure, all I have to show for my hedonistic jaunt are a lot of blisters and FedEx receipts because I shipped all my books, DVDs and tiger-taming gear from my old NYC apartment to Decatur. But it’s good to be back. I’m eager to get back into covering the U.S. Senate and Public Service Commission races and all the other sordid beats. And finally getting the pedicure that I, being the “prominent journalist” that I am, promised a lucky lady. Viva Atlanta! Viva Creative Loafing! Viva chaos!

How was your week, Atlanta?

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Jeanne Cummings of The Politico writes about the Saxby Chambliss-Jim Martin runoff:

President-elect Barack Obama may risk some of his newly earned political capital in Georgia, where a Dec. 2 Senate runoff could move Democrats a step closer toward a filibuster-proof, 60-vote majority in the upper chamber.

Cummings, who was a reporter for the AJC in the early ’90s, writes of “eerie similarities” between Obama’s dilemma and President-elect Clinton campaigning in the 1992 runoff that Democratic Sen. Wyche Fowler lost against Paul Coverdell.

… Republicans crowed that it was a signal of Clinton’s already weakened political standing.

Clinton’s allies scoffed at the criticism, but it stung, all the same.

Clinton’s experience and the history of runoffs suggest that Obama’s safest course may be to keep some distance.

That could be one reason McCain’s committed to campaign for Chambliss while Martin hasn’t yet secured a visit from Obama. Then again, the president-elect’s probably a bit more busy.

Obama may end up helping with support from his campaign’s Internet lists and radio ads geared toward increasing black turnout in the runoff, rather than by stumping the state, according to one of Cummings’ sources.

See the full story: “Senate runoff a test for Obama.”

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• Georgia Democratic Party and the Obama campaign at the Hyatt Regency downtown
• Jim Martin at Park Tavern
• GOP bashes at the Intercontinental Hotel in Buckhead
• Libertarians at the Mansour Center in Marietta
• The Watchtower at Sugarhill
• DeKalb County Democratic Election Night Celebration at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Decatur
• The usual suspects at Manuel’s Tavern
• Election Day Costume Party at Cenci
• Election Party at 595 North Ave.
• Huge Election Watch Party at Amsterdam Atlanta
• Stonewall Democrats Election Night Party at Halo Lounge
• Barack Obama Official Yes We Did Final Watch Party at Fox Sports Grill
• Yes We Have! Obama Presidential Election Results Celebration at Verve Restaurant and Lounge
• Presidential Election Watch Night Party at Encore in Duluth
• One Nation Under a Change Election Night Party at Luella’s Restaurant in Jonesboro
• Election Results Party at McCray’s Tavern on the Square in Lawrenceville

Did we miss one? Leave it in the comments for your fellow election watchers.

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FiveThirtyEight, one of the most entertaining and informative online resources for this Presidential election, posts an excellent Georgia-centric rundown on the state’s demographics and political dynamics — and how the combination of the two may determine who runs the country come Jan. 20.

From the site:

Since native son Jimmy Carter was on the ballot, Democrats have found Georgia tough sledding. But with African-American turnout soaring to unprecedented levels, Georgia may be a state where the public polling models are off, and indeed Barack Obama has put last minute advertising resources into the state in an effort to both go over 400 electoral votes as well as help a rising tide lift Jim Martin’s boat against Max Cleland-smearing incumbent Saxby Chambliss.

It’s a long read, but it says Georgia’s may be one of the closest races we’ll see on Nov. 4. Definitely worth checking out.

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In the last of its Jawja polls of the day, Rasmussen says John McCain still leads Barack Obama by five points in Georgia.

Interesting tidbit:

In the latest poll, Obama now leads 53% to 44% among unaffiliated voters in the state. Last week, McCain led those voters by an identical margin. McCain leads 73% to 26% among white voters in Georgia while Obama earns overwhelming support from black voters. While men favor McCain 55% to 45%, women are split between the candidates at 49% each.

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… but it was just a vote of Atlanta Public School students. According to an APS press release:

Obama crushes McCain
in APS student mock election

More than 17,000 students in 70 Atlanta Public Schools participated in a national mock election Thursday, chosing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama over Republican rival John McCain by a margin of more than 17-to-1. …

Obama garnered 15,798 votes or 92 percent of ballots cast, compared with McCain’s 910 votes or 5 percent. Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney won 99 votes, independent Ralph Nader won 62, Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party won 59 and Libertarian Bob Barr won 45.

Of course, 86 percent of Atlanta Public School students are black, and African-Americans nationally are polling around 98 percent for Obama. I wonder what the mock vote would have been in Cherokee County.

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The headline’s a bit misleading, sure, but this sounds like it’ll be just as interesting.

Grady High School’s award-winning Speech and Debate Team is hosting “The Final Showdown,” a U.S. presidential debate tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the school’s Main Theater. Seniors Mike Robinson and Demarius Wilson will portray John McCain and Barack Obama and debate healthcare, the economy, foreign policy and other issues. The fundraising event will be moderated by members of the press and Emory University’s Barkley Forum. Students and audience members will be able to pose questions to the “candidates.”

Can’t make it out to the event? No worries, you can watch the debate from home — the team will streamcast it live on its website here.

A chili dinner will be offered at 6 p.m. in the high school cafeteria. Tickets cost $12 and can be purchased at the door or online here.

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This is going to be an interesting week. And a busy one.

Pollster, a website that somehow eats every single political poll IN THE WORLD and then burps them out in color-coded maps, says Georgia is now a “toss up” between John McCain and Barack Obama. Yep, Georgia.

Wonkette says no way, but we’ll see.

Pollster’s also calling “toss up” about Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat. Nearly everyone thought incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss would easily win a second term in his race against Democratic nominee Jim Martin and Libertarian challenger Allen Buckley. Turns out all of ‘em — me included — were wrong. Signs point to a run off in that race.

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The latest poll from Rasmussen is the fourth straight snapshot that shows John McCain with more than 50 percent of the vote.

From the polling organization:

The race for Georgia’s Electoral College votes is getting closer.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state shows that John McCain’s lead over Barack Obama is down to five percentage points, 51% to 46%. In September, McCain led by 11. Earlier in October, that lead had slipped to nine points.

However, while Obama continues to gain ground, this is the fourth straight poll of Georgia voters to find McCain at the 50% level of support or above. In August, McCain led Obama 50% to 43%.

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of voters in the state expect McCain to win Georgia on Election Day.

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– The race between “that one” and Johnny Mac isn’t the only thing on the November ballot. Even beyond the race between the “Sax Machine” and “Big Ears,” there’s some more obscure, but equally important, questions to decide. DriftGrift gives the lowdown on Constitutional amendment No. 1, which preserves forests and who doesn’t want to preserve forests? But wait ’til you read the fine print.

— Sure, “that one” is ahead in the polls. But optimists thought Gore and Kerry were going to win, too. Can the Republicans steal another election? You betcha. Reporter-Cub ponders the possibilities.

— In Catch 22, there was the Major Major, who looked like Henry Fonda and never did much of anything. But at the Daly Report, there’s the one and only Sergeant Major. Daly’s days in Iraq are coming to an end. And he looks back at his favorite officer.

— DownRight, cries out, “Where have you gone Newt Gingrich? A lonely nation turns its eyes to you.” They also give J-Mac a reluctant endorsement.

— The lovely Sara at Going Through The Motions reveals that she is a Red Sox fan. She likes Greek food. She thinks she jinxes FSU whenever she shows up at a game (go to as many games as possible, Sara). But in her “this & that” post, she also has this sobering reminder: the state of Georgia will kill Troy Davis, who is likely an innocent man, next week. And whatever happened to American justice?

— And, finally, Left On Lanier has discoverd a candy that is the world’s most … well … you know … I suppose it all depends on your point of view. Is it tasty? Or tasteless? Either way, it’s definitely perverted.

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A recent Democracy Corps poll focused on Georgia shows a slight 46-44 margin for John McCain over Barack Obama and a 48-44 margin for U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss over Democratic challenger Jim Martin.

But it was a question about the 2010 Governor’s race that caught my eye:

(more…)

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Was anybody else weirded out by McCain’s freaky laughing last night?

Paper mache doll by the Missile Dick Chicks outside the 2008 Democratic National Convention

More info on the Missile Dick Chicks here

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Tomorrow night the final presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama takes place in Hempstead, N.Y., and with the presidential election three weeks from today, this is pretty much the last chance for John McCain to make one of his game-changing Hail-Mary-pass campaign stunts. The political blog FiveThirtyEight.com offers a handy risk-assessment-level graphic (right) to determine how likely a stunt would be, based on the McCain campaign’s mood.

To foresee what actual shape a stunt may take, Slate recently predicted McCain’s next Hail Mary stunts, including:

1. Returns to Vietnam and jails himself.
2. Offers the post of “vice vice president” to Warren Buffett.
3. Challenges Obama to suspend campaign so they both can go and personally drill for oil offshore.
4. Learns to use computer.

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After Thursday night’s roller-coaster ride on the YouBetchaExpress, this evening’s presidential debate was relatively staid. I thought Barack Obama clearly led the night, but McCain’s final two answers were stronger.

Your thoughts?

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A friend wrote: “Palin aside, I thought Biden really nailed it. Very likeable and quite the
dignitary.”

I agree. Biden’s objective was to attack McCain and tie him to Bush. Palin’s was to start getting taken more seriously — essentially a defensive objective at a time when her ticket needs to go on the offensive (but she had no choice).

They both pretty much did that. But people still aren’t going to forget Palin’s Couric interview. And Biden did a bit better at achieving his goals than she did, which means that the momentum should stay with Obama-Biden.

Your take?

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— Ah, a fresh “Morning Wooten” from DriftGrift, this time on how Johnny Mac has demonstrated that he is on top of our economic crisis and how he loves us so much that he’s suspended his campaign in order to take personal care of us. DriftGrift, of course, is a little cynical of that explanation. He’s shocked, SHOCKED, that gamesmanship is going on in here.

— At Politits, Dcup isn’t shocked, she’s angry and going all dominatrix on poor J-Mac. She wants a debate tonight and tells him: “You should be spanked so hard your teeth fly out of your mouth and land in the next state. That, my friend, is not the good kind of spanking.” Well, no, it’s certainly not.

— Left On Lanier takes a different, more bemused approach to deliver the same message: Get your butt to Mississippi and talk to people.

— The world may be falling apart, but that isn’t stopping Gov. Perdue from going on vacation … oops … going on a taxpayer-funded junket … oops … going on a fact-finding mission to Europe. As Lucid Idiocy notes, get ready for toll roads everywhere. Except they’ll be empty because no one will be able to find any gasoline.

— The crisis-here-crisis-there-everywhere-a-crisis of the past couple of weeks has Reporter-Cub frightened. It’s the end of the world as we know it, and he doesn’t feel fine.

— Even Duane Moody throws aside his habit of posting lists of favorite songs to go political today. He’s amazed, as are we all, at how many people embrace candidates without even having a clue about what they stand for. He’s so upset that he disses his own mother.

— Perspective, people, perspective! Don’t be so cranky. As Disposable Income reminds us, it’s National Pancake Day. Go find a gas station, sit in line for hours, then go have some yummy pancakes this weekend. You’ll feel better on a full stomach.

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I’m not going to be able to finish the story I was supposed to write this week because I need to go to Washington to save the economy. This has nothing to do with the fact that I’ve fallen behind on my interviews. It’s because I love my country more than you do.

If you truly believe in putting your country first, my friends, you’ll join me in dropping all your previous commitments for this week so that you too can contribute to this bipartisan effort.

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 — At Live Apartment Fire, CL gets some props from Doug Richards for the “delightfully evil” cover photo of Bob Barr that was shot by Joeff Davis. And Doug contrasts that with the shadowy photo of John McCain in the Atlantic that made Johnny Mac’s crew go ballistic and forced the magazine’s editor to apologize because the photographer altered the pic to make McCain look sinister.

– Over at Politits, DCup has a little fun with the government’s trillion-dollar bail-out of what seems like every financial company on Wall Street. Since they aren’t paying their debts, then surely they don’t expect her to pay what she owes them. Right?

— A.man.I is concerned by speculation that white folks are having a difficult time voting for a black man. At My Urban Report, he throws in his two cents worth.

— Wednesday is “Car-Free Day” in Decatur. And Decatur Metro isn’t happy because it’s the one day of the week that being carless isn’t practical for him. Don’t worry. Your’s won’t be the only automobile clogging Poncey on the way to downtown Atlanta and then back again on a “car free” day. But at least he’ll feel guilty about it.

—  Dave at Rather Than Working has a new crib. Living up to his blog’s name, he makes a list of all the things he was supposed to do over the weekend … but didn’t. Ah, the fine art of procrastination lives.

— And, finally, at Oh The Joys, there’s a poignant post  where she recalls a visit to the psychiatric ward to see a suicidal friend, and taking with her a tape player cued up to her friend’s favorite U2 song. More proof that music heals.

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Neil Peirce of the Washington Post Writers Group weighs in:

My short analysis: With Obama, we’re likely to get an activist federal government in areas from transit and infrastructure to housing. But it won’t be the Democrats’ historic center-city “urban policy.” Instead, Obama’s looking for ways to shift and coordinate federal programs to help boost the fortunes of entire metro regions.

McCain? One has to be a super-detective to discern any city-metro policy at all. We know what he’s against, starting with pork-barrel spending, particularly earmarks for politicians’ pet local projects. We know he’s for less government regulation and lower taxes for individuals, small businesses, corporations.

But do we have even a hint of a federal partnership with urban/metro America under a McCain administration? So far no. The silence could be intentional. The Sarah Palin vice presidential selection, the Republican National Convention’s celebration of small towns and invective against “cosmopolitanism” and community organizing, smacks of a calculated anti-urban message.

Read the rest here.

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— Travis may be in Arizona shouting “Go Dawgs!” until his voice is gone, but that isn’t stopping him from exercising his fingers on Lucid Idiocy. Today he wonders if John McCain is elected president, which McCain will we get? The maverick of the past or the bullshit artist of the present?

— Whichever, and whomever, it is, the next president will have to deal with an economy that may be at its worst since the Great Depression. And with all that’s going on with our economy, Reporter Cub is feeling a wee bit unsettled. He also wonders what we all wonder: Why is gas still over $4 a gallon in Atlanta?

— But Jason Pye is even more unsettled. First, he notes that McCain has flip-flopped on the federal bail-out of AIG. And then he takes us into “deep breath” territory: the feds have spent over $800 billion in bail-outs so far. And that’s on top of a $400 billion federal deficit. Isn’t anyone keeping an eye on the house up there?

— The candidates are finally starting to get it that people are freaked out about the economy. And now that the dust has settled, more and more folks are looking at Sarah Palin and going WTF? She could be a heartbeat away from being our president? Well, not everyone, as Drift Grift notes in an especially sour edition of his “Morning Wooten.”

— Speaking of the paper that used to cover Dixie like the dew, the fine ladies at Pecanne Log poke a little fun at Atlanta at the expense of the AJC and how the paper of record always seems to want to put a happy face on things.

— And finally, Live Apartment Fire has the real skinny on the state of modern print journalism, courtesy of Doonesbury. Again, it’s all about the economy.

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Barack Obama’s chances in Georgia aren’t as strong as once thought, according to a new survey from InsiderAdvantage.

When asked who they would vote for if the election were held today, more than 56 percent of 506 registered likely voters said John McCain. Obama trailed with 38 percent. (Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate who’s been considered a possible vote-stealer from McCain, was not included as a choice in the survey.)

Says InsiderAdvantage’s Matt Towery:

“This is a huge slide from what had been, in our prior surveys, a relatively close race. The reason is simple—Obama lost serious ground in virtually every demographic.

“At first glance it would seem that Obama is headed for no better than the low 40 percentile level achieved by John Kerry in 2004. But let me warn observers that in both our national tracking and surveys in other states, the biggest change has been a near parity between the two candidates among the youngest of voters.

“Should that group return to Obama and the African-American vote end up where we expect it to be, the race could be closer in November. But as of now Georgia is no longer a “leans McCain” state. As of this survey, Georgia is in the McCain column.”

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Even after the unveiling of Wonder Woman, reminding us for days that he was imprisoned FIVE-AND-A-HALF YEARS in a POW camp, and saying he’d work with Democrats after he lashed them in front of his pachyderm brethren, John McCain still lags behind Barack Obama.

From Electoral Votes:

(Hat tip to Nick Douglas)

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A Republican war hero picks an inexperienced right-winger as his running mate.

Questions quickly arise about the upstart VP candidate’s qualifications, and a scandal gets national media attention. But the running mate wows the party’s conservative base with a scrappy televised speech, turning the table with attacks on Democrats and the media.

Sound familiar? Yeah, I’m talking about Richard Nixon.

There are remarkable parallels between Nixon’s famous “Checkers speech,” which saved his spot alongside Ike in 1952, and Sarah Palin’s speech at the Republican convention, which … well, which may have done the same thing for her.Here’s one of the speeches:

I know that this is not the last of the smears. In spite of my explanation tonight, other smears will be made. Others have been made in the past. And the purpose of the smears, I know, is this, to silence me, to make me let up. Well, they just don’t know who they are dealing with. (more…)

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Your daily dose of wacky Sarah Palin art, courtesy of The Searcher on Flickr. (Click the link for an excellent pseudo-interview, as well.)

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