Monthly Archives: September 2008

God I Love Sarah Silverman (and envy Matt Damon)

Here we see a video by the lovely, profane, and lovely comedian Sarah Silverman, in which she tries to convince young Jewish voters to visit their grandparents in Florida to get them to vote for Obama.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “God I Love Sarah Silverman (and envy …“, posted with vodpod

McCain Bails, Letterman Shines

John McCain’s poll numbers are plummeting, so he’s now trying to run out the clock. He’s realized that the more voters see of him and his fulsome running mate, the worse things get. So he’s trying to take cover behind the financial crisis, trying to appear presidential by “suspending his campaign” in order to go to Washington and personally save the economy.

To John McCain, this does two positive things. First, and probably most importantly, it gets him out of the line of fire for a while, he can pretend to a statecraft that doesn’t allow for the pettiness of campaigning and duck questions even more than he’s already been doing. He can put off a potentially disastrous face-off with the more charismatic and far more intellectually vigorous Barack Obama by “postponing” the first debate, hoping all the while that since time is so tight before the election, they’d never be able to get around to it again. Ideally, he’ll be able to get Palin out of having to debate Biden as well, if he can wrangle the schedule just right.

Second, if he’s in Washington looking all serious and such for the cameras, once the bailout bill goes through, he can pretend he was integral to its passage. It’s not statesmanship, its photo op politics at its most cynical.

In the process of starting all this, he’s already shown himself yet again to be an utter liar. Scheduled to appear on David Letterman’s show, he called the host to cancel, claiming he had to race back to Washington. Unfortunately for McCain, Letterman discovered that McCain hadn’t actually left by the time the show was taping, and was instead still in town sitting down for an interview with Katie Couric at CBS.

Letterman’s response was true must-see TV:

I Been Blurbed

Just got news from my editor  that Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom officially has its first blurb:

“Doc Wilde and the Frogs of Doom is an adventure yarn in the old tradition.  It gets that reading is an intellectual activity, and that an adventure, to be really good, has to engage the reader’s brain.  I love a smart book!” —Daniel Pinkwater

If you don’t know Daniel Pinkwater, you should. He’s a marvelous, witty, and prolific writer, and a frequent commentator on NPR. I’m thrilled that he’s blurbing the Wildes.

Gilty As Charged (That’s a pun, not a Bushspelling)

I watch commercials. Sometimes. I dislike the narrative disruption they bring when I’m watching a TV show or movie (though I almost never watch movies that are edited altered or interrupted anyway), but I do enjoy the wit and style of the really good ads. At times, they’re better than the show they’re disrupting (I’m sure there were a few examples of this during the last season of Heroes).

Bad ads are generally just bad, hardly worth a cringe, made to scan past on the ol’ DVR.

Recently, though, there are some ads that I consider abominations. They hurt me inside when I see them because of what they say about at least a segment of humanity. John McCain’s ads fall into this category, and, upon reflection, I guess a lot of political ads in the past have as well, but you expect Rovian tactics from Rovian politicians, and it’s easy to dismiss them.

But the ads I’m really addressing today are the two new ads for American Express’s small business gold card. These ads are chilling in their lack of humanity, their embrace of business class values so goose-stepping and mean they’re on an ethical plane with kicking puppies. Continue reading →

Say Yes, and, to Colbert

A cool new acquaintance (Hi, JoJo!) of mine is involved in improv comedy classes locally, and talking with her reminded me of what may be the single best piece of motivational writing I’ve ever read. So I decided to share.

It’s from a commencement speech given last year, I believe, by master jester Stephen Colbert: Continue reading →

Tim Byrd and The Blogs of Doom

Hi.

For those who don’t know me, or have known me but don’t have great memory, or those who know me but are in denial, my name is Tim Byrd, and I’m a writer and a dad.

That is not in order of importance.

Anyway, I’ve blogged a bit in the past [NOTE: on 3/11/09, I imported the earlier blog and those entries are now available as part of this blog], and as part of a personal campaign to re-engage the world, plug my work, and make new friends, I’m blogging again. I’m also on Facebook, MySpace, and maybe shaking a tin cup outside your local Starbucks (I probably need a shave).

Next year, G.P. Putnam’s Sons is going to publish my first novel, Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom. The book is the first of a series depicting the adventures of Doctor Spartacus Wilde, super-scientist, gadgeteer, physical exemplar, warrior, and the coolest dad in the world except for me.

Doc has two brilliantly capable kids, Brian and Wren, who join him for his perilous travels, often saving the day (and the planet) themselves.

Anyone who enjoys grand old pulp adventure in the Doc Savage/Indiana Jones/The Shadow style should enjoy Doc Wilde. It’s written for young readers, but full of literary allusion and other stuff for smart folks of all ages.