So... Sarah Palin?

What a weird pick for McCain's VP slot. But it's been confirmed, he's going with Alaska's governor Sarah Palin. Based on her name and resume, she sounds like she'd be pretty cool. But photos of her evoke the standard Republican tight-ass to me. =X OK, so she does actually look kinda sharp, and not creepy and tight like Cindy McCain.

Annnnd... she's 44, and has only been governor since 2007. And since McCain's likely to die during his first term, that all basically eliminates any legitimate claims McCain can make about Obama's inexperience. Because Obama has like a decade more "experience" than McCain's own running mate.

This should be a fun 66 days till the election. ;)

Clue's been updated!

This is straight from Perez Hilton, courtesy of Kelly.

The board game Clue has been modernized! New weapons, special powers, and "fun" backstories.

51/0/10 WotLK Beta Warlock, 56million DPS

QQ.

Warlock DPS is so OP.

Nerf Warlocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edit: also, this: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765777131&sid=2000.

"What's up with black names, anyways?"

There's an interesting article on salon on the crazy creativity of a lot of modern black names here in the US. Freakonomics even did a study that showed that 30% of black women born in California were granted unique names... and there are 40 million people in Cali. Wow.

The salon author says, "They are names emerging from a tradition of linguistic and musical invention much like those that gave us jazz and rap." I like that interpretation... many of the names are really quite pretty, or regal, or engaging.

And if you're in the mood, you could read an amusing article about a judge who ruled "that black women no longer have independent naming rights for their children. Too many black children—and many adults—bear names that border on not even being words, he said."

Another excerpt:

"His ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by a 13-year-old girl whose mother created her name using Incan hieroglyphics.

“She said it would make me stand out,” said the girl, whose name can’t be reproduced by The Peoples News’ technology. “But it’s really just stupid.”

The National Association of Elementary School Teachers celebrated Cabrera’s decision.

“Oh my God, the first day of school you’d be standing there sweating, looking at the list of names wondering ‘How do I pronounce Q’J’Q’Sha.’?” said Joyce Harmon, NAEST spokeswoman. “Is this even English?”

Hehehehe. Good times. =D

SF #10 worst city in US for commuting

This was forwarded to me by a friend, so I don't have the original source. I'm happy to update that if anyone knows of it.

#10 San Francisco

San Francisco's biggest traffic problems are the result of bottlenecks. Due in large part to the city's geography, traffic gets nipped by bridges which force all traffic to a handful of pressure points, because they're the only ways to get in and out. Between mass transit, subways, street cars, trolleys, ferries, carpooling and walking, 28% of metro residents avoid single-driver commuting, the third best rate in the nation, but the delays of 60 hours a year (the second worst, behind Los Angeles) and the high rate of commuters spending an hour or more en route (10.5%) really slow things down.

pre-WotLK content patch to be released in a couple weeks...!

Ohhhh snap! Blizzard is releasing a content patch in a couple weeks to prepare for the pending WotLK expansion...! It's going to include new spells and talents, the Stormwind Harbor, Inscription, and babershops. I'm really hoping it will include the Achievements system, too... that would be phenomenal.

I'm also a bit strained on what to do regarding my PTO... I need to take a week off when the expansion launches so I can lock myself in my apt and play WoW all week long. But I'm already slated for a 4-week overseas trip in Sept/Oct (I might even miss the WotLK launch! gasp!), as well as a possible 1-week trip to Rio...! I'd be into negative PTO after all that. =P So... I may have to drop Rio from the agenda in favor of WotLK...!!!!

Oh, the trials and tribulations of my life. =P I suffer so greatly.

Wrath of the Lich King - Cinematic Intro (HD)

Oooooooo hotness!!! The cinematic intro has been released for the 2nd World of Warcraft xpac!! It gave me chills to watch... The graphics are intense, but the music is just amazing...

The Guild - Episode 1: Wake-Up Call

So this is absolutely hilarious. It's a web show about a guild of online gamers... loosely based on World of Warcraft. The star (Felicia Day) has been on Buffy and in other projects, but she conceived, wrote, produced, and starred in this series. And apparently she's a big gamer IRL (in real life)!!!

Anyways, watch this episode and if you're not hooked by it then you haven't a funny bone in your body... or maybe you just don't know anyone who plays WoW (though I bet you actually do, statistically, since there are millions of WoWers in the US alone...!).

Annnnyways... enjoy!

Ellen got hitched!

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi got married over the wknd! Only 19 guests were in attendance, but one was quoted as saying, "I only wished someone from one of those anti-gay marriage groups could
have witnessed the great outpouring of love and respect between Ellen
and Portia. Then, they might better understand that love is not about
gender ... it's about two people who are totally dedicated to each
other and their relationship.''

Amen.

Lieberman to get what he deserves

I have to say, I hate Joe Lieberman. If there was ever a man more sycophantic and self-delusional in the world of politics, I haven't met him. This guy claims to be a Democrat, but he votes along Republican party lines and is actively campaigning for John McCain.

Thus, I can't tell you how happy I was to read this quote from Nancy Pelosi: "The Democrats in the Senate are in a tough spot. They have 51 votes.
Joe Lieberman organizes with them," she said. "In 85 days or something,
they will have five more Democrats. They won't need him to make the
majority. And it will be interesting to see what the leadership in the
Senate, the Democratic leadership in the Senate, does at that point in
terms of Joe Lieberman's chairmanship of his committee."

Fuck you, Joe, you slimy dirtbag. =D I can't wait to watch all your power stripped from you, and watch you flip Republican a week after the election. We all know it's coming... don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Oh and also, go go Nancy Pelosi. Thank you heaps for speaking your mind on that situation. I love to hear you give your bare opinion on topics because it reminds me why I voted you into office. =)

Judge says UC can deny religious course credit

From sfgate.com... A judge said that the UC system can deny course credit from Christian high schools that claim that the bible is literal truth, and that evolution is wrong. The plaintiffs (representing the Christian schools) reacted by saying, "It appears the UC is attempting to secularize private religious schools." However, the judge's reasoning was the the plaintifs sought a "religious exemption from regular admissions standards."

The article says that "UC's review committees cited legitimate reasons for rejecting the texts
- not because they contained religious viewpoints, but because they
omitted important topics in science and history and failed to teach
critical thinking."

Can I get a HELL YEAH for this one? I'm so sick of religious fundamentalists taking a relativist view of the world. Just because you believe something, doesn't make it so. And just because it's your belief, doesn't mean you get automatic equal treatment. In this case, these people are deliberately teaching ignorance and an aversion to questioning authority. These are both in direct opposition to a university's purpose...! So I say fuck the fundies (as I used to call them in high school).

They made their narrow-minded, internally-inconsistent bed, and now they have to lie in it.

Pamela Anderson to open a Green Hotel

Oh my... Not that I get my news from Perez Hilton or anything, but according to him, Pamela Anderson is going to be opening a green hotel in Abu Dhabi. Seriously.

http://perezhilton.com/2008-08-01-pamela-anderson

divagate

Today's Merriam-Webster Word of the Day is divagate. Which, as it turns out, is not a reference to that time that Whitney and Barbara got into a catfight at the Oscars. It actually means "to wander or stray from a course or subject." Clearly, this should be part of my vocabulary.

Today's urbandictionary.com Word of the Day is "I'm just sayin'". As in the following:

A phrase that is used when someone is offended by something you said. This phrase then removes all the offensiveness of the previous statement, making it all good.

Ryan: That chick has nice tits!
Rob: Damn, that's my sister!
Ryan: I'm just sayin'
Rob: Oh, okay, it's cool.