Inside Patrick's Mind

Cracker Sees the Light

2009-08-27T13:40:00.001-04:00

Enjoyed a Cracker concert at Waterfront Park last night. Here is "I See the Light" from that show.

Interviews with My Two Favorite Authors

2009-08-03T14:36:00.001-04:00

Michael Chabon

Dave Eggers

Funny People

2009-07-30T14:41:00.002-04:00

I'm getting really excited about seeing this flick. It's getting great reviews, as well.

All Too Real Monty Python Skit

2009-07-30T14:38:00.001-04:00

Lots of Great Comic Con panels

2009-07-29T15:40:00.003-04:00

Smallville

Kevin Smith

Chuck (Jeffster)

Chuck panel

Lost

True Blood

Avatar

Dollhouse

Peter Jackson/James Cameron

Iron Man 2

Terry Gilliam

A Friday Night With Radiohead

2009-05-08T22:10:00.000-04:00

Radiohead - Kid A : Amnesiac in Paris (2001)

No One Needs an Assault Weapon for Personal Use

2009-04-27T10:01:00.002-04:00

Here is an excerpt from a recent NY Times op-ed written by former president Jimmy Carter.

"Heavily influenced and supported by the firearms industry, N.R.A. leaders have misled many gullible people into believing that our weapons are going to be taken away from us, and that homeowners will be deprived of the right to protect ourselves and our families. The N.R.A. would be justified in its efforts if there was a real threat to our constitutional right to bear arms. But that is not the case.

Instead, the N.R.A. is defending criminals’ access to assault weapons and use of ammunition that can penetrate protective clothing worn by police officers on duty. In addition, while the N.R.A. seems to have reluctantly accepted current law restricting sales by licensed gun dealers to convicted felons, it claims that only “law-abiding people” obey such restrictions — and it opposes applying them to private gun dealers or those who sell all kinds of weapons from the back of a van or pickup truck at gun shows.

What are the results of this profligate ownership and use of guns designed to kill people? In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 30,000 people died from firearms, accounting for nearly 20 percent of all injury deaths. In 2005, every nine hours a child or teenager in the United States was killed in a firearm-related accident or suicide.

The gun lobby and the firearms industry should reassess their policies concerning safety and accountability — at least on assault weapons — and ease their pressure on acquiescent politicians who fear N.R.A. disapproval at election time. We can’t let the N.R.A.’s political blackmail prevent the banning of assault weapons — designed only to kill police officers and the people they defend."

Green Day/Blink 182 2002

2009-04-22T12:20:00.001-04:00

I had tickets for this show but my best friend bailed on me for a chick. At least they are engaged now, and it wasn't a one night stand.

Part 1

Part 2

Still the greatest shot in my lifetime

2009-04-13T09:47:00.001-04:00

The Power of the iPhone

2009-04-06T15:28:00.001-04:00

Chicks play MGMT's "Kids" with only their iPhones.

The Greatest 7 Minutes in Movie History

2009-03-04T10:47:00.000-05:00

The Bale Freakout REMIX

2009-02-03T11:08:00.000-05:00

Outstanding "Coraline" Trailer

2009-01-30T12:28:00.000-05:00

Pee on the former president

2009-01-27T14:05:00.002-05:00

Ringing 2009 in with My Morning Jacket

2009-01-25T15:03:00.001-05:00

Snubbed from the Oscars

2009-01-22T13:39:00.000-05:00

Bruce Springsteen's "The Wrestler."

Rollin' with Saget

2009-01-12T12:59:00.002-05:00

I heard Jamie Kennedy on the Adam Corolla show and it reminded me of this video. A classic, by my standards.

Not proper form

2009-01-12T12:07:00.001-05:00

Zooey Deschanel surprise

2009-01-05T15:23:00.003-05:00

Great little short film starring Paul Rudd and Zooey Deschanel from 2003. It's also adapted from a Michael chabon short story.

Fort part two, click here.

Here's another good short film by Bob Odenkirk, as well.

200th post

2009-01-05T15:14:00.001-05:00

Is anybody still here?

Two screwups in the same place

2009-01-05T15:13:00.001-05:00

American bigotry towards Muslims still prevalent

2009-01-02T09:27:00.002-05:00

Courtesy of The Washington Post: Officials ordered nine Muslim passengers, including three young children, off an AirTran flight headed to Orlando from Reagan National Airport yesterday afternoon after two other passengers overheard what they thought was a suspicious remark.
Members of the party, all but one of them U.S.-born citizens who were headed to a religious retreat in Florida, were subsequently cleared for travel by FBI agents who characterized the incident as a misunderstanding, an airport official said. But the passengers said AirTran refused to rebook them, and they had to pay for seats on another carrier secured with help from the FBI.

Bush's Top Ten, by Letterman

2008-12-30T16:31:00.001-05:00

Classic journalism (or not)

2008-12-23T15:19:00.001-05:00

The Dangers of Being a Television News Reporter
Top Ten Angry On-Camera Meltdowns
The Best of TV News Lip Slips

Merry Christmas from Chevy Chase

2008-12-23T09:18:00.000-05:00

Underrated band: Feeder

2008-12-19T20:47:00.000-05:00

Song: "Morning Life"

Excellent creative parenting

2008-12-17T15:10:00.003-05:00

Dennis Baltimore Jr. was caught vandalizing school property at Long Beach's Wilson Classical High School. He was sentenced by his dad to walk the streets of Long Beach and Signal Hill on Tuesday for five hours in two locations wearing a sign saying, "I am a juvenile delinquent who should be punished. I have wasted your tax money with dumb acts of vandalism in the public schools." Click here to read more.

More "Lost" goodness

2008-12-16T15:16:00.000-05:00

A guide to poor interviewing

2008-12-16T12:27:00.003-05:00

Ouch!

2008-12-15T15:15:00.000-05:00

I love geeky comic book movies

2008-12-15T12:31:00.000-05:00

This looks flat out cool

2008-12-15T08:51:00.001-05:00

How can I not post this?

2008-12-15T08:38:00.001-05:00

Does pregnancy do this to woman?

2008-12-10T14:08:00.001-05:00

Vera Farmiga just doesn't seem here during this David Letterman interview.

A great unreleased song

2008-12-08T13:50:00.001-05:00

I was, and still am, a fan of the band Live. This song was in "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" and is a return to their "Throwing Copper" days. The problem with the song is that it will probably never be released officially because of recording royalty issues. So enjoy here until the record company takes it down.

I'd see anything with Benicio in it

2008-12-05T09:56:00.002-05:00

The "Che" Trailer.

Jackie B is back!

2008-12-05T09:50:00.001-05:00

I'm excited about this new season, even though the last one sucked. I liked that they've moved to Washington D.C. The one thing I am skeptical about is how they brought back Tony. Will I believe it?

Prop 8 - The Musical

2008-12-03T14:56:00.002-05:00

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Turbulance fail

2008-12-03T12:24:00.001-05:00

I am ready for "Lost" to begin

2008-12-03T08:44:00.001-05:00

This could have turned out bad

2008-11-25T15:16:00.001-05:00

Anger management or idiocy?

2008-11-21T15:24:00.001-05:00

Chicken Dance Fever!

2008-11-21T15:09:00.003-05:00

The best of the chicken dances from "Arrested Development." There has never been a greater comedy show on television in the last 10 years.

What does this say about us?

2008-11-11T15:01:00.001-05:00

There are a whole bunch of these on YouTube.

The Best Roller Coaster Ever - AKA Massacre

The Best of Obama

2008-11-10T13:16:00.000-05:00

Election Night

2008 DNC

"Race Speech"

The real first black president

2008-11-10T08:19:00.001-05:00

Bad parenting?

2008-11-07T09:24:00.001-05:00

That's professionalism

2008-10-28T15:26:00.001-04:00

Reporter of the year

2008-10-27T08:55:00.000-04:00

Make sure to watch until the end.

I can't wait for the new Harry Potter

2008-10-27T08:47:00.001-04:00

My final statement before election

2008-10-24T09:30:00.002-04:00

Ben Folds Five Reunion

2008-10-23T14:27:00.001-04:00

Ben Folds Five - MySpace Front To Back concert

This is the way to decide the election

2008-10-23T14:10:00.001-04:00

Unbelievable McCain Vs. Obama Dance-Off - Watch more free videos

The best baseball non-fight ever

2008-10-20T12:43:00.000-04:00

Call off the dogs!

2008-10-12T13:53:00.002-04:00

Frank Rich of the NY Times talks Sunday about McCain and Palin's dangerous rhetoric.

Very entertaining SNL Thursday

2008-10-10T12:18:00.002-04:00

A dreadful marriage

2008-10-10T09:54:00.002-04:00

Gen. Petraeus agrees with Obama on talking with enemies

2008-10-10T09:00:00.001-04:00

McCain is inciting these people

2008-10-10T08:48:00.002-04:00

Props to the camera man for going to the McCain events and getting this footage.

"Once it's locked, it's safe"

2008-10-09T14:36:00.002-04:00

Water won't help that, son

2008-10-09T14:36:00.001-04:00

Some conservatives like their candidates served dumb

2008-10-09T10:04:00.002-04:00

ONLY ELITISTS CARE ABOUT PRONUNCIATION.... Barack Obama pronounces "Pakistan" correctly, with a soft "a," just like a lot of people who know what they're talking about, including Gen. David Petraeus. Apparently, having completely run out of compelling policy arguments to make, some high-profile conservatives have decided to make this their latest campaign hobbyhorse.
The National Review's Mark Stein, for example, said that Obama prefers the "exotic pronunciation." He added, "[O]ne thing I like about Sarah Palin is the way she says 'Eye-raq'."
This came after the National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez posted an email that argued, "[N]o one in flyover country says Pock-i-stahn. It's annoying."
The inanity of what the right decides to whine about never ceases to amaze me. That Obama's pronunciation is accurate is irrelevant. Mispronunciation apparently makes some conservatives feel better about themselves, and raises doubts about candidates who care to get this right. "Elites" care about country names; real Americans don't.
My friend Adam Serwer's take was spot-on:
To pronounce something correctly is to be "ostentatiously exotic," while pronouncing something incorrectly is raised to the level of something like a presidential qualification. Meanwhile, there are thousands of Americans of Pakistani descent who are themselves "ostentatiously exotic" by virtue of their names (and it would be elitist of them to expect anyone to pronounce them correctly) and ancestry.
Keep in mind that these are the same people who insist that a culture of ignorance that hold black people back while lauding Sarah Palin's vast ignorance of public policy as some kind of tremendous virtue. They demand merit from others and only mediocrity from themselves, because said mediocrity is touted as proof of authenticity.
The right's anti-intellectualism seems to be getting worse, doesn't it?

A sad sight

2008-10-09T09:38:00.001-04:00

From The Daily Dish:

"Sit down, take a deep breath and get a better idea of why the people introducing Palin and McCain keep referring to Barack Hussein Obama."

Does she really expect someone to believe this?

2008-10-09T08:22:00.002-04:00

Amie Parnes reports from a McCain speech in Pennsylvania that Cindy McCain again went after Obama directly today, and accuses him, more or less, of endangering her son's life. “The day that Sen. Obama cast a vote to not to fund my son when he was serving sent a cold chill through my body let me tell you,” she said. “I would suggest Sen. Obama change shoes with me for just one day. I suggest he take a day and go watch our men and women deploying.”

My fellow who?

2008-10-09T08:20:00.000-04:00

What is patriotism?

2008-10-08T11:13:00.002-04:00

Thomas L. Friedman's latest NY Times column looks at Sarah Palin's version of the word.

Also take a look at Maureen Dowd's latest.

Roger Ebert chimes in on presidential politics

2008-10-08T08:43:00.001-04:00

I do not like you, John McCain. My feeling has nothing to do with issues. It has to do with common courtesy. During the debate, you refused to look Barack Obama in the eye. Indeed, you refused to look at him at all. Even when the two of you shook hands at the start, you used your eyes only to locate his hand, and then gazed past him as you shook it.

Annual Telemarketer Awards rudely interrupted

2008-10-07T13:32:00.002-04:00

The keynote speaker at this year’s prestigious Telemarketer Awards ceremony was disrupted by an ill-timed phone call from a Citibank operator offering a very competitive rate on a Visa card. The audience grew impatient with the caller’s persistence and became further annoyed moments later when a Satellite TV company called to say they had installers working in the neighborhood and were offering three months of free subscription service. Organizers of the Telemarketer Awards say next year they hope to avoid these types of rude interruptions by including their phone number in the government’s Do Not Call list.

Keating 5 video

2008-10-07T09:20:00.002-04:00

CNN fact-checked this video and it's verdict was that the content is true.

Press blocked from McCain supporters

2008-10-07T09:18:00.002-04:00

Constantly under the watchful eyes of security, the media wasn't permitted to wander around inside Coachman Park to talk to Sarah Palin supporters. When reporters tried to leave the designated press area and head toward the bleachers where the crowd was seated, an escort would dart out of nowhere and confront him or her and say, "Can I help you?'' and turn the person around.When one reporter asked an escort, who would not give her name, why the press wasn't allowed to mingle, she said that in the past, negative things had been written. The campaign wanted to avoid that possibility Monday.

SNL VP Debate

2008-10-06T18:50:00.001-04:00

Battle of personal property

2008-10-03T15:16:00.001-04:00

Enjoy a game of Pac Man

2008-10-03T15:07:00.002-04:00

Since it's the weekend, here is a link to a free game of Pac Man. use just need to use the arrow keys to play. The site also has classics such as Galaga, Super Mario Brothers and Sonic The Hedgehog.

Who is to blame for the economy?

2008-10-03T14:39:00.002-04:00

I would say greed.

Here's what FactCheck.org says:

"So who is to blame?"

The Federal Reserve, which slashed interest rates after the dot-com bubble burst, making credit cheap.
Home buyers, who took advantage of easy credit to bid up the prices of homes excessively.
Congress, which continues to support a mortgage tax deduction that gives consumers a tax incentive to buy more expensive houses.
Real estate agents, most of whom work for the sellers rather than the buyers and who earned higher commissions from selling more expensive homes.
The Clinton administration, which pushed for less stringent credit and downpayment requirements for working- and middle-class families.
Mortgage brokers, who offered less-credit-worthy home buyers subprime, adjustable rate loans with low initial payments, but exploding interest rates.
Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, who in 2004, near the peak of the housing bubble, encouraged Americans to take out adjustable rate mortgages.
Wall Street firms, who paid too little attention to the quality of the risky loans that they bundled into Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS), and issued bonds using those securities as collateral.
The Bush administration, which failed to provide needed government oversight of the increasingly dicey mortgage-backed securities market.
An obscure accounting rule called mark-to-market, which can have the paradoxical result of making assets be worth less on paper than they are in reality during times of panic.
Collective delusion, or a belief on the part of all parties that home prices would keep rising forever, no matter how high or how fast they had already gone up.

"The U.S. economy is enormously complicated. Screwing it up takes a great deal of cooperation. Claiming that a single piece of legislation was responsible for (or could have averted) is just political grandstanding. We have no advice to offer on how best to solve the financial crisis. But these sorts of partisan caricatures can only make the task more difficult."

Palin's eyelash snafu

2008-10-03T09:17:00.000-04:00

My wife pointed this out to me last night.

A nod from "You talkin' to me."

2008-10-03T09:14:00.000-04:00

The steadier hand

2008-10-03T09:11:00.001-04:00

Much has been written about McCain's mercurial temperament during the past few weeks. An election campaign that was supposed to be all about Barack Obama has turned out to be all about John McCain. In the process, the other side of the equation — Obama's steadiness throughout — has been pretty much overlooked. Just after the House shot down the bailout, Obama took to the stage in Colorado, and the contrast with McCain couldn't have been greater: "Now is not the time for fear, now is not the time for panic," he said. "We may not be able to do everything overnight ... But I want you to understand, I know we can do it ... Things are never smooth in Congress. It will get done."

Read full article from Time.com here.

Union man takes on racism

2008-10-02T15:09:00.000-04:00

A pretty amazing speech by the AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka. To see a white union man take on racism this way is very moving. Something truly profound could happen in this election, if we want it to.

Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley voting for Obama

2008-10-02T15:01:00.002-04:00

Now this is a good ad. A Virginia Democrat sends over a new radio spot that Obama is airing in the southern part of the state -- it stars homegrown bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley vouching for Obama's values and character to the tune of some banjo pickin' in the background.

It was Senator Barack Obama who crossed the aisle

2008-10-02T14:51:00.002-04:00

Reported from the NY Times:

On Wednesday evening, as the senators gathered to vote on the $700 billion financial rescue package, Mr. Obama, Democrat of Illinois, walked over to the Republican side of the chamber to extend a greeting to Senator John McCain of Arizona. While it took Mr. Obama several seconds to make his way over to Mr. McCain, the actual handshake lasted barely a second, as Mr. McCain responded with a chilly look, a turn of his head and a brief return handshake.

A little heavy handed, but I like the sentiment

2008-10-02T12:00:00.000-04:00

Illegal voter purging rampant

2008-10-02T09:07:00.002-04:00

With Election Day rapidly approaching, a new report, obtained exclusively by CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian, raises serious questions and exposes flaws in the way states maintain their voter registration rolls. States and counties regularly update their voter registration rolls for accuracy, removing people who have moved, died, or committed a felony. It is known as "voter purging." But, the new report by the non-partisan public policy and law institute, the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law provides troubling new insight into the process. There are no national standards and as a result, the cleaning up of voter rolls is not as precise as it should be and eligible voters are often wrongly removed.

Check out the report here.

Homer Simpson tries to vote for Obama

2008-10-02T09:05:00.000-04:00

Really.....I mean really?

2008-10-01T14:06:00.003-04:00

This is almost a parody.

From the Hartford Courant:

[State Rep. Livvy] Floren, who represents some of the richest neighborhoods in America, said she is more concerned about the younger bankers with large mortgages and little children. She bumped into three people during the past week who are now unemployed — two from Lehman and one from the investment firm Bear Stearns. With no bonuses that they once relied on, the mid-level Wall Street workers will likely pull back from buying the fanciest cars and the largest boats.

McCain's contradictions

2008-10-01T09:31:00.003-04:00

McCain has stated many times recently that he is the candidate that will cross partisan lines to improve America, but yet he continues to go against that logic in his many campaign visits. Here are two stories that echo that sentiment.

Story 1

Story 2

The U.S. is embarrassing itself

2008-10-01T08:15:00.005-04:00

Remember, she was a journalism major.

A bright moment in my day

2008-09-30T14:54:00.000-04:00

McCain's Economic Crisis Response "Katrina-Like...Just Sorta Stood There"

2008-09-30T08:25:00.000-04:00

Playing house

2008-09-29T13:31:00.002-04:00

Churchill's wisdom

2008-09-29T12:28:00.002-04:00

"The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."

"Americans always do the right thing, but only after they've exhausted all other options".

"In a democracy, people get the government they deserve."

- Winston Churchill

Constructive criticism for Obama

2008-09-29T08:17:00.003-04:00

Maureen Dowd, columnist for the NY Times, offers some excellent advice for Barack Obama. Click here for the entire column.

Here is an excerpt:

McCain kept painting Obama as naïve, and dangerous, insisting that he “doesn’t quite understand or doesn’t get it.”

Obama should have responded “Senator, I understand perfectly, I’m just saying you’re wrong.”

On the surge, he could have said that McCain was the arsonist who wanted to be praised for the great job he’s doing putting out the fire he started.

When Obama took quiet umbrage at McCain’s attack about troop-funding, he could have pounded the lectern and said with real anger: “John, I am sick and tired of you suggesting that I would take funds away from our brave soldiers. I no more voted for that than you did when you voted against our funding proposals that would have imposed a timetable. And unlike you, I did not vote against funding increases for the troops that have come home with devastating physical and mental injuries.”

Tina Fey hits a home run

2008-09-29T08:02:00.001-04:00

Make sure you watch the Couric-Palin interview before watching this outstanding SNL parody.

The world according to Sarah Palin

2008-09-29T08:00:00.002-04:00

Oh shit!

This one is the worst of all.

Off to California

2008-09-16T09:29:00.002-04:00

I'm off to California for a week. Inside Patrick's Mind will return Friday, Sept. 26.

Even Fox News is dissing McCain

2008-09-16T09:26:00.002-04:00

And check out this exquisite column from Richard Cohen of the Washington Post.

The joys of bubble wrap

2008-09-15T13:28:00.001-04:00

Russia by osmosis

2008-09-15T10:07:00.003-04:00

I love the writing of NY Times columnist Maureen Dowd.

"I’ve been in Alaska only a week, but I’m already feeling ever so much smarter about Russia."

Read the rest of her Sunday column here.

Vote Barack Obama, please

2008-09-15T09:41:00.001-04:00

Really, Karl Rove?

2008-09-15T08:46:00.002-04:00

When Karl Rove is saying your political ads have gone too far, you know you must be doing something dishonest. The former Bush chief strategist, appearing on Fox News Sunday, said that John McCain had stretched the truth in his recent round of attacks against Barack Obama, in the process opening up the Arizonan to a round of effective counter-attacks.

Former hurricane strikes Louisville

2008-09-15T08:02:00.002-04:00

It was nice to have power back on this morning.