And he has a sense of humor!

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5SWQJWm6Tg] "And I got my middle name from somebody who obviously didn't think I'd ever run for President." I just got around to watching Obama's speech at the Al Smith Dinner the other night and it's funny as hell, taking shots at McCain, Clinton, Schumer, Bloomberg, Giuliani, Wall Street and, most importantly, himself, showing a sense of humor that has rarely been on display during the campaign or in the majority of SNL's political skits.

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McCain “I Screwed Up”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiBqHczYJYo] Funny how he can admit that he "screwed up" by ditching Letterman's show last month to save the economy talk to Katie Couric and make an appearance at a Bill Clinton event, but when Dave presses him on his and Palin's "pals around with terrorists" nonsense, he sticks to the same B.S. line about Ayers and their nefarious connection to ACORN. Loser.

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Moment of Zen

121 On the eve of my 39th birthday (aka 13 x 3!), it's probably a good idea to take a step back from the craziness of the past few months, inhale deeply, focus on the many good things, and then exhale deeply....Ah!We're off to a mini-getaway this weekend that includes the Renaissance Faire, my first time. We watched A Knight's Tale with the kids a couple of weekends ago and they were fascinated by the whole thing -- India cheering on Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein of Gelderland's battles was hilarious! -- so it should be lots of fun. Salomé has…

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Things to Do

Montclair Honeybee Fest
Originally uploaded by bloomfieldguy

Last night, we were suprised to hear the sound of jazz music coming through our front window, at first thinking our neighbor might be having a party, then realizing it was LIVE music from a concert going on in Watsessing Park. According to the Essex County website, it was the Carrie Jackson Quartet, performing as part of the 2008 Essex County Free SummerMusic Concert Series, which I only know because I Googled it this morning out of curiosity.

Last month’s Dionne Warwick concert in Brookdale Park, which I first heard about the night of while having dinner at Vinnie’s, was part of the same series and while I wouldn’t have attended that one, it was a little disappointing to find out about last night’s as it was happening because we would have probably shaken the Sandy Hook sand out of our Neat Sheet, grabbed a couple of chairs and walked over to check it out. I don’t recall seeing any promotion for the concert series in The Star-Ledger (which I pick up sporadically), or Bloomfield Life (which I pick up weekly), or Baristanet (which I check daily), or even a flyer stapled to a telephone pole somewhere between the Park and the train station, but maybe I just missed it?

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Online vs. Print Reality Check

Buried in a glowing American Journalism Review article about the success of The Politico -- a politics-only news website that launched a couple of years ago and is getting 25 million page views/month -- is the fact that 60% of its revenue comes from its laser-targeted, thrice-weekly 27,000 circ print edition, without which, the site would  "be losing catastrophic amounts of money." THE PLIGHT OF POLITICO -- AND EVERYONE ELSE. The success of Politico actually seems like an incredibly discouraging sign for the media. Here you have this forward-thinking, primarily virtual venture to create a political news organization that marries…

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Favre Comes to Jersey

Brett Favre, Post-Retirement
Originally uploaded by purpleslog

As atheletes go, I’m a big Brett Favre fan. I admire the guy’s passion and grit and, hypothetically speaking, if I were a head coach, would love to have him be the QB of my team for as long as he was able to play.

That said, I completely understand Packers coach Mike McCarthy not welcoming him back with open arms after his changing his mind about retiring. There’s an extreme selfishness underlying the whole situation that reflects poorly on Favre and is the kind of thing that has tarnished the reputation of way too many atheletes who didn’t know when to hang it up and move on. (I’m looking at you, Vinnie.)

As a Jets fan, I’m not the least bit excited about them trading for him and unceremoniously shoving Chad Pennington — a real stand-up guy and true team player who’s been treated like a red-headed stepchild ever since Mangini took over the teamout the door before he had a chance to prove his worth working with a revamped offensive line and a more experienced head coach and offensive coordinator. That Favre stands to benefit from the major roster overhaul this season instead of Pennington is disappointing as I believe the Jets will turn things around and a have a realistic shot at a 10-6 season, at worst, and will be poised to make a serious run through the playoffs.

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