One word - brovorce

Time to catch up on a few things. Fasten your seat belts.

Barack Obama's media onslaught over the last week. Non pareil. This dude could sell Shamwows to the Shamwow dude. Snark all you want but I give it a full on A rating.

"I Love You, Man" - we saw it last weekend on a date night. My rating - C-plus. Funny. In a sort of "don't pick on the special kid" way of being funny.

The GOP Budget roll-out of their 19-page "blueprint" of a plan yet to be drafted. No rating. Once I clean the milk out of my sinuses I may have something to say about this upchuck of hilarity.

"Important Things" by Demetri Martin on Comedy Central. Wanted to love it. Want to know what Steven Wright thinks of his entire act being stolen by a guy half his age with an entire crew at the ready. Want it to go away. Rating - C-double-minus.

Maya caught a cold and is home today from daycare. Rating - D. Seeing Maya recovering mightily and acting like the cutest kid on the planet. Rating - A. Averaged grade - um...like a B-magic-unicorn or something.

Hope your own Friday afternoons don't include trying to explain why you haven't had prescient/funny/life-changing things to say over the past week plus. Rock on.

It takes a Tucker to know a Tucker

Newsflash - Tucker Carlson jumped the shark 5 years ago. Double newsflash - he's still bitter about the bitch-slap-fest Jon Stewart delivered to him in the waning days of "Crossfire" on CNN (Tucker hosted, before being fired and sequentially being dumped by just about every other network besides Al Jezeera). I'm no fan of Tina Brown's new blog, The Daily Beast. But they are getting the buzz (e.g. Meghan McCain's work). So to connect the dots, Tucker Carlson has a rant posted there today that tries to take Jon Stewart to task for his recent dust-up with CNBC and Jim Cramer. If you've not already eaten a meal you enjoyed, you must read it. However you click through to things inconsequential, I must provide a personal memory of Tucker Carlson's career prior to jumping that shark like Fonzie in two leather jackets.

Way back when it was still cool, Tina Brown started up a magazine via Miramax called "Talk". She'd been dumped by "The New Yorker" (thankfully) and needed a new platform to ruin. "Talk" was inconsequential. But one profile sticks in my mind. A young and not quite as prickish Tucker Carlson interviewed the then Governor George W. Bush as he tested the waters of running for Prezidunt. In that piece, Tucker described a car ride conversation with Dubya wherein he asked about a hot-button issue from those halcyon days long ago - the scheduled execution of Karla Faye Tucker. When asked by Tucker what the female Tucker might say to gain an execution reprieve, Dubya responded mockingly with "please don't kill me" accompanied by frat guy disdain and unbridled assholery. And that, dear reader, is the man Tucker Carlson went on to defend time and time again. Now, after 5 years of being surely mocked by the same reporters he made so much hay from attacking, he's coming back at Jon Stewart. What. A. Dick. I only hope Jon Stewart takes the bait and lights that fuse. Because if we as a society of people willing to tilt at windmills, we might as well shoot for another feeble structure that's almost down on the ground already. Easy targets make Hulk happy.

Hope your own willingness to get in the scrum today isn't due to some sort of St. Patty's Day streetfight gone awry. Rock on.

Goodbye, P-I

Seattle loses one of two daily papers tomorrow. After The Rocky Mountain News from Denver shut down recently. And it ain't over yet. Tough times to be a print journalist. Shutting down on St. Patty's Day? Oy. You won't be able to swing a limp shamrock without hitting a drunken ex-ink sniffer tomorrow.

Hope your own globe keeps on spinning tomorrow. Rock on.

Play with the bull, deal with the horns

Everyone's talking about it, so I need to follow the lemmings. Jon Stewart interviewed Jim Cramer last night after a week of shtick and dickish retorts. Anyone who regularly reads what I have to say in between impossibly cute pics of my family knows that I'm a big fan of "The Daily Show". I love where their writers and personalities have come from and I believe that they do a better job of media criticism than anyone in the muddled age we live in. Last night was one of their most exemplary moments deserving of said praise. First off - I won't feel sorry for Jim Cramer. I'm way too acquainted with his horrific dotcom venture - theStreet.com - which promoted, um...the dotcom bubble and little else. And his show "Mad Money" is the worst of the worst in terms of trying to expand an audience for business reporting using nothing but crappy gimicks and bombast. But that pinata got beat down like none other last night and I feel some of Cramer's pain. He's screwed. Let's not forget that Jon Stewart almost single-handedly destroyed Tucker Carlson and led to the cancellation of "Crossfire" on CNN. In this case, I don't see how CNBC can possibly run "Mad Money" using the same format as they did up until yesterday. Overstatement is the crazy aunt living in the basement of anyone that spends time blogging. But last night was a slaughter. Jon Stewart is the smartest man working in the media today. Hopefully he continues to do the same thing for many tomorrows to come. Don't take my word for it, though. Watch the whole unedited interview for yourself.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Intro - Brawl Street: Get Ready to Buy Low! And Sell Die

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Hope your own media appearances don't change your life today. Rock on.

"Also, don't talk about puppet farming."

Part of our morning routine, admittedly, includes letting Maya watch "Sesame Street" during breakfast. It's the perfect carrot and stick ("if you don't eat more Grape Nuts, I'll need to turn off the TV for a while"). And since it's on a non-TiVo TV, the threat sinks in and Maya always wants to get back to the Street. I've always loved "Sesame Street" including the vintage volumes we bought a while back that began the year I was born. The celebrity visits usually rock. But I haven't seen anything as funny in the outtake sense of that venue than when Ricky Gervais showed recently to tape a segment for next fall's 40th anniversary opener. Absolutely hilarious.


Hope your own puppets have a taste for improv today. Rock on.

Ah, the raw elements of an inspired costume idea come together.

Ah, the raw elements of an inspired costume idea come together.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

For all of you fans of Jewish holidays, today's probably the coolest. Purim. Jewish Halloween. To an extent. Maya decided weeks ago that she wanted to be a bunny. So I went a bit overboard with my vision. She probably would have been happy with only some face paint. But here's a few pics to show what we put together. Hope your own costumes hold together at least until lunch today.

Gettin' the paws in place.

Gettin' the paws in place.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

A picture of Maya's bunny costume before the pieces start falling apart.

A picture of Maya's bunny costume before the pieces start falling apart.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Maya in the driver's seat of our local Station's engine.

Maya in the driver's seat of our local Station's engine.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

The following trio of pics come courtesy our Maya's best friend's dad, who is a very skilled and famous photographer. He and an assistant shot many hundred great shots of this weekend's festivities. But it leaves me wondering, if you've got a fire truck and a few dozen cute kids to work with...well, even a blind squirrel can find a nut on occasion. Regardless, Jock rocks.

Sarah in the jump seat.

Sarah in the jump seat.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

What the start of distributing two cakes to a few dozen kids looks like.

What the start of distributing two cakes to a few dozen kids looks like.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Double Birthday Party. Double Cakes.

Double Birthday Party. Double Cakes.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Earlier this afternoon we had an utterly awesome Birthday Party for Maya and one of her friends (Marina). After some serious pole greasing (sorry, had to go for the inappropriate joke) we got our local fire station to send out a truck with four amazing crew members to excite the kids even beyond what the cake did thereafter. Any crew that uploads and unloads 20 4-year-olds for pics and the like deserves some sort of medal. Hopefully made from leftover carrots...because we've got a few.

Hope your own parties today feature firefighters, in whatever fashion (know what I mean). Rock on. And rock on Seattle Fire Department!

Maya is sworn in as a firefighter. It was a beautiful ceremony.

Maya is sworn in as a firefighter. It was a beautiful ceremony.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

"Do I need to double-clutch this puppy? Oh, and can you hand me a halligan - I can't really reach the pedals."

"Do I need to double-clutch this puppy? Oh, and can you hand me a halligan - I can't really reach the pedals."
Originally uploaded by emaggie