O'Guinnicus.com

I just wanted to make a quick post before my battery dies, but tonight I went to see Maritime play at the Illini Union Courtyard Cafe. The venue was absolutely horrible, the show was under-publicized, and it started over an hour later than we were told it would, but it was still a great experience.

I showed up at 7:30 and caught Davey Von Bohlen hanging out before sound checks. He was a terribly nice guy. He told me a couple stories about the times he had been in Champaign and Collinsville, and even signed my business card for me (it was all I had on me at the time). The show finally started at 8:45, and after three ok bands, Maritime headed up. My friends Ashley, Kevin and Joel and I grabbed a spot right in front of the stage and enjoyed the rest of the show. Afterwards, I bought a t-shirt and a copy of their newest album. Even though they were busy tearing down their equipment, each member of the band happily took a little bit of time to sign my CD and thank me for coming out. Incredibly nice guys.

Posted by Jameson at 1:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After last night's pretty impressive run by John McCain (and Huckabee), Romney looks as good as dead in the water. The New York Post responded today with this column that says why McCain is such a leftist and that conservatives think that a McCain presidency may actually be worse than a Hillary presidency.

I guess I don't see McCain as a left-leaning Republican as a bad thing, and maybe that's why I'll be voting for him in November. They attack his skepticism for tax cuts, but I don't know why. Yes, everyone loves a tax cut, and yes, tax cuts are traditionally the hallmark of Republicanism, but let's be responsible, here. McCain wants to stay in the war, and he's said he'll stay as long as it takes. Wars, as we know, cost money, and I'd really like to know where the money's coming from if it isn't coming from taxes. Sure, we can cut wasteful government spending, but that isn't going to cover the difference. And drastically cutting government jobs can save money, but it also increases unemployment. I guess my biggest beef is that for years those fearful of taxes have been saying that Americans aren't willing to make concessions in times of war, yet here we are, in a time of war, and we're faced with a chance to prove how committed to the cause we really are.

So my question to Rush is who really cares if it is the end of the Republican party as we know it? What is the Republican party as we know it? It's President Bush, whose approval ratings have hit all time lows, a couple of Congressmen who can't keep their morals in line with the ones they'd like to impose on the rest of us, and an economy that has produced the lowest competition against the Pound and the Euro in history.

There's nothing wrong with conservatism taking a clue from liberalism. It isn't conceding defeat, it's learning to adapt. I'd love nothing more than to have a Republican in office come next January, but it doesn't have to be one of the same old Republicans we've lost faith in.

Posted by Jameson at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Watching CNN's coverage (sorry, Mike), I've decided that Paul Begala is a total waste of airspace. His voice annoys me, his analysis is ridiculous. What have you done that doesn't suck, Paul Begala.

Posted by Jameson at 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Each day in Professor Ira Carmen's Supreme Court class, one of the eight of us students have to present the day's case. It's a lot like a law class, or so I hear.

It's an absolutely terrifying experience the first time out. He stands directly in front of you, leaning on whatever chair is nearest. He slides his glasses down the bridge of his nose, points a pair of fingers, and fires questions like tracer rounds. The first day of class saw one girl nearly break down in tears under his tireless grilling.

When he looked around the class today for the student who would state the facts of Rasul v. Bush (2004), I had a sinking feeling that it would be my turn. He went up and down the rows asking if everyone had done a case, and with the exception of one lucky guy in the corner (how he was skipped, I'll never know), I was the only on who hadn't.

I started out explaining how Rasul and his cohorts were comprised of 12 Kuwaities and two Australians who had been captured during military operations in Afghanistan, and how the district courts had rejected jurisdiction based on prior cases. This much I remember. After that, every thing I said was a complete blur. Which is a bad thing.

A couple minutes later, after I had completed my treatment of the case, Carmen started asking the probing questions. Was this a Constitutional or statutory case? Which justice had penned which part of the decision? These were easy enough, but when he asked me to repeat what I had said a few minutes earlier, I found myself strangely at a loss. I couldn't remember.

I felt completely stupid as the people around me started sniping the questions with this sudden expertise about all things Supreme Court. It was like they all had Scalia and Kennedy whispering the answers in their ears.

On the way out of our class, which couldn't have ended soon enough, I muttered to my friend Dustin that I had been completely destroyed during Carmen's questioning. Dustin, always the pragmatist, reminded me that when the class cherry-picks answers like that, it's often due to the presenter's thoroughness. In the end, I think we both realize that it's a whole different ball game when you're staring at the longest serving professor at the University; the man who has written you recommendation letters; the guy who gets phone calls from the White House asking for his opinion.

Posted by Jameson at 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My good buddy Alan and I decided that neither of us were too terribly interested in watching the forgone conclusion that is this year's Super Bowl for its sporting aspects, and have instead decided to liveblog about its commercials. We'll be getting blitzed on Point Amber Beer (the choice of professionals), so expect the entries to get progressively less coherent/frequent. Stick around for updates.

5:36 p.m.
Bud Light's fire breathing commercial came on. Kind of funny. Got a buzzed giggle out of me, but Alan is refraining since the agency he's applied for has the Miller account.

Audi's Godfather inspired commercial prompted Alan to declare that he has a "semi", which I can only assume refers to erections, which thoroughly creeps me out.

5:42 p.m.
Eli Manning has decided he is, in fact, an NFL quarterback, and has assembled what looks to be a scoring drive. This is a shock.

5:45 p.m.
Really? The Night At The Roxbury theme? What is this, 1997? Alan and I don't approve of a worn out meme for a bad campaign. We don't want to wake up, Pepsi. We don't want your terrible product. Red Bull does what we need it to do, and their commercials don't have Chris Kattan.

5:48 p.m.
Another Bud Light commercial. Guys sneaking things in to a party concealed in cheese and chablis. Yawn. Yeah, we get it. Guys like beer.

5:49 p.m.
The Under Armour commercial wanted to be Apple's 1984 commercial, but didn't have the stones. I doubt anyone will be talking about this after... now.

By the way, what happened to when stars on the team would introduce the defensive and offensive lines? The lineup just scrolls on the bottom now like the stock exchange. I guess Fox thinks we need to hear more of Troy Aikman.

5:52 p.m.
Fox just reminded us to log onto MySpace to watch the commercials we've missed. Alan says, "No thanks, MySpace.com." But seriously, who goes to MySpace any more?

5:59 p.m.
The Bridgestone commercial started off like a Geico commercial I had seen years ago, then got kind of funny, but ultimately sucked. We lost interest somewhere between the squirrel living and the end.

And Alan doesn't like having to read during a Super Bowl Commercial. This commercial for the Doritos and iTunes marriage blows. We also think the pairing is quite odd, and probably shouldn't have happened
More to come as the commercials progress.

I'm really sick of American Idol. Who's with me? I know ratings are down, so it's justified, but damn.

6:03 p.m.
Derek Jeter walking through the street, blah blah blah. Is anybody else tired of seeing Peyton do commercials?

GoDaddy's commercial to generate web traffic isn't working for me. I'd rather see Danica Patrick right now instead of having to navigate to your page. Thanks.

Dell's product Red commercial seemed interesting for the 15 seconds it was on, but like Alan says, "Such a cool commercial for such an inferior product".

6:05 p.m.
FedEx delivers in a big way with the carrier pigeons wreaking havoc on the city. Alan and I agree that it's the best so far. Not ground breaking, but pretty funny.

Death Match Cars.com, got a chortle, but nothing to write home about.

Tide's My Talking Stain seems pointless, too. I don't want to visit your website. I'm sorry. Compel me to go there. Give me an incentive.

As a side note, where did Eli Manning come from? Give him better play clock management, and he might be an actual big-boy quarterback. Wait. As I write this, he throws an interception. Hold the Eli train.

6:14 p.m.
Budweiser uses the under-played Rocky Montage theme for poor Hank the horse. This will probably play to the "Nickelback" demographic. In other words, I didn't like it, but smart choice by Budweiser. Also, Iron Man looks cool, and I don't care what you say.

6:19 p.m.
The best thing about the Garmin commercial was Napoleon's tiny horse. This Super Bowl has lacked awesome commercials thus far. Wow us, ad agencies. Wow us.

6:23 p.m.
Although I liked CareerBuilder's commercial, Alan's only comment was "CRT monitors? Is this the 1996 Super Bowl?" Neither one of us thought the Thriller Life Water commercial was even mildly entertaining. Companies: cute animals are no longer funny. Maybe try people getting hurt again.

6:29 p.m.
Oh, Carlos Mencia, why do you still have a job? Budweiser: please do not encourage Carlos Mencia.

6:39 p.m.
The Planters commercial with that hosebeast causing a ruckus was pretty hilarious, especially the cleavage shot. Good job, planters.

The T-Mobile fave five thing wasn't bad, either.

6:42 p.m.
Please get hit by a car, Justin Timberlake. Nope. Drown? Nope. It started off well because I thought he was going to die, and then it got lame because he lived. Oh well. Pepsi, you've failed me twice. Please go consult with Planters.

Oh, and Doritos, you've been ignored all night.

7:30 p.m.
And we're back. Thank you, racist pandas, for making the best unintentionally funny commercial in history.

Oh, and Shaq riding a horse for the win. I love Vitamin Water commercials.
More to come as the night moves on.

7:37p.m.
The Bud Light commercials have been extremely disappointing this year, but the caveman one had a redeeming second or two at the end with the bottle opener.

CareerBuilder's second was pretty good. Take a hint, Bridgestone. Cute animals getting eaten are way more funny than cute animals that live.

7:52 p.m.
And the Bud Light miss parade marches on. Gift of flight, not funny. Sorry, Bud Light.

8:02 p.m.
The NFL kind of saves part of the day with their Chester Pitts commercial. Cute.com, as Alan would say. I don't know what that means, but it sounded funny.

The new Coke commercial wasn't too bad, although a nice twist would have been if the monster from Cloverfield had gotten the Coke bottle in the end. Who cares about Charlie Brown anymore?

8:12 p.m.
James Carville and Bill Frist sharing a day on the town is an awesome commercial. I'm a little surprised Frist was down for it, but I'm glad he was. Coke is coming in as the darkhorse to win this year's "Most Consistently Interesting Commercial" award.

8:27 p.m.
Bud Light finally throws a strike with the new Will Ferrel movie promo. Semi-pro looks decent, to say the least, and any commercial that ends with "suck one" is at least mentionable in my book.

Posted by Jameson at 5:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)