Poor sprogs

One day it's one of them --- two days later, it's the other. Colds, coughs, sniffles, feeling miserable. Oh, and needing to crawl into bed with Mummy and Daddy halfway through the night.

Soon, little ones soon, you'll get better soon.

Yours, barely able to wait,
N.

John gone

John, you will be missed.
I'm sorry to see you go.
Now, let's elect Obama, and get you appointed Attorney General!

Yours, in hope, still,
N.

Florida primary -- the Democrats

Since Florida decided it wanted to jump ahead early in the primary process, and since the Democratic party decided it wanted control of the process, the party decided to strip the state of its delegates, and the candidates pledged not to campaign there: a pledge which seems mainly to have been honoured, although it seems that there may have been airdrops of Clinton signs at her victory party last night.

And now, having won Florida (and also the similar situation in Michigan, where she was the only seriously viable candidate on the ballot) Clinton is pledging to seat the Florida delegates.

My problem with this is three-fold:
i. it takes away the disincentive for other states to attempt similar power-grabs next cycle
b. the outcomes don't reflect (especially in Michigan) what would have happened had all candidates campaigned
3. to allow it to happen would be handing Clinton a huge advantage outside the regular process: sort of a Deus Ex Machina hanging chad.

Comments on other sites, notably Talk Left, have made the case that the voters in Florida have voted, made a statement, and it should not be disregarded. And I agree with this: when I last checked, Clinton got more votes in Florida than McCain did. Probably what the party should have done is a harsher version of what the Republicans did: strip most, but not all of the delegates, in a "the earlier you want your voice to count, the fewer delegates you are going to get" approach. Probably what they should do now is to offer the Florida party the option of a caucus or another primary late in the process. And only a half-delegation, as punishment for trying to jump ahead of the game. As long as we have a a primary process (and it is not something that I am hugely in favour of!) it needs certain national guidelines to make it work.

Michigan's delegates certainly should not be seated: the fact that Clinton managed to wait to drop out until after the other candidates had done so, and then was able to say "Oh, I won't campaign, but I'm going to stay on the ballot anyway" was disgusting. I could see sitting all the uncommitted delegates, but none of hers, or in preference, letting them have a caucus or another primary later in the process, and as in Florida, seating a half-delegation.


For now, I'm disgusted with Clinton's approach. As I've said all along, I'll support her over whichever Republican bubbles up through the sludge (and this morning the pundits are all saying McCain is a lock, so it will probably be someone other than him): but this makes me much more likely to donate to Obama in the interim, and to work to keep her from getting the nomination.

Yours, in disgust,
N.

Countries like Asia and India

(sic)

Willard "Mittens" Romney, in his concession speech, more a stump speech, really, in Florida this evening, describing the competition from "countries like Asia, Inda...."

It's bad enough that he lists Asia as a country --- to then list a country that is in fact a country in Asia, well, there is nothing for it but to ridicule him.

A slip of the tongue, of course, is always forgivable, and so, having ridiculed you, Mittens, I forgive you.

Yours, in sympathy,
N.

Thank goodness that's over

The last time I have to choose between staying attentive to politics, and thus having to listen to his state of the union address, and turning off the television in disgust. Oh, to have a President I can respect again --- even one I disagree with vehemently, such as GHWB, would be preferable to this one.

Tell me again, three hundred and how many days till the inauguration?

Yours, counting,
N.

We've created two monsters

Well, not really --- but we are trying to encourage Boo and Skibo to enjoy music, and so I picked up a couple of very cheap little mp3 players, and loaded them with some of their favourite songs. A huge hit --- the two of them dancing round the room, singing away, not realizing how loud they are singing, nor the fact that we can't actually hear the music they can hear....
We will probably have to ration how much time they spend with them, but for now, we are thrilled with their reactions:-)

Yours, in harmony again,
N.

Record turnout

It is already a record turnout by over a hundred thousand votes. With 89% of the precincts reporting, the total vote for Democrats is about 430,000: the Republicans only reached about 450,000 --- so it looks likely that the Democratic turnout will indeed overtake that of the Republicans. In this state, that is absolutely huge!


Yours, trilling,
N.

Update: with 95% precincts reporting, turnout has exceeded half a million! Absolutely brilliant! And coming in distant second, Clinton will almost beat McCain's vote from last week. Obama will almost double it!

Democrats versus republicans

It looks from today's results --- with about thirty percent of precincts reporting --- that not only will Obama get more votes in South Carolina than any Republican did last week, but it is possible that so might Clinton! And Obama might actually get twice as many votes as McCain did! Turnout looks like it was particularly high, which is very good.

Yours, disappointed by Edwards' vote, but thrilled by the turnout,
N.

Update at 50% of precincts reporting --- it appears that there were a lot of low turnout precincts coming in for the past few minutes: Obama should still get more than McCain did, but Clinton may fall a few thousand votes short. Still as stunning result, and the turnout is much bigger than last election.

Primary today, disenfranchisement tomorrow

Here in the US we have a very peculiar political process. Having grown up in the UK, I approach it with fascination, a lack of understanding coupled with a desire to figure it out, and truth be told, a certain measure of ridicule.
Why, for example, does it take a good year or two to elect a president? In this day and age this is ridiculous!
And the whole two party system, combined with historical hangover that is the electoral college, makes things completely idiotic.

Today is primary day here (for those voting in the Democratic party primary): and although we are very early in the primary/caucus process, it actually means that a vote here means more than a vote, say, in Pennsylvania several months from now. Most likely, the candidate will have been picked by then, and their votes will be purely symbolic.

Even here, though, many of my friends already feel disenfranchised: they wanted to vote for Biden or Dodd, Richardson or Kucinich: but they have all already dropped out of the race.
And I am under now apprehension that my choice will win: I voted for John Edwards, not because I dislike Clinton or Obama, not because I am turned off by their campaigning as the media would like to have it, but because I like Edwards more on the issues, on the topics he is choosing to focus on, than Clinton or Obama.
Edwards will not win. He will almost surely come in third place, and not close to second. In that sense, my vote will be meaningless --- except in so far as it is an encouragement to him to stay in the race to be able to spotlight his issues.

In November, I will be effectively disenfranchised. The winner-takes-all electoral college system means that my vote is irrelevant: this state will probably vote republican by at least a ten percent margin, regardless of who the candidates are. And the same is true of most of the country: Texas, New York, California, Wyoming, big or small, states have political trends so far from the parties being competitive that their votes will be taken for granted. Florida, Ohio, and the other "battleground states" will be the only ones taken seriously.

Perhaps this is a part of the root of the disinterest with which the population views the political process, a "my vote won't matter anyway" view which is actually true, in a way that it wouldn't be true in other political systems.

Yours, soon-to-be-disenfranchised,
N.

What the heck does Tingalayo mean?

Does anyone know? Boo asked what the word tingalayo meant, and I told her I'd find out for her. Foolish me! Google, wikipedia, etc fail to reveal even a hint of a trace of an answer, at least for me. The phrase "word tingalayo" apparently appears for the first and only time on the web in this post!


Yours, in the spirit of inquiry,
N.

Children and music

Boo and Skibo are taking music lessons at school, and we were given the chance to buy a cd with all the songs they are learning (and more). Naturally, we jumped at the chance to spend another fifteen bucks on their education. (Seriously, almost every day the dyke springs another leak, and we have to send one or the other of them with another ten or fifteen or twenty dollars, it seems) (Not that we begrudge them it) (Much.)


I do think that this was well spent. I got the cd yesterday when I picked the kids up from school, and we listened to it on the way home. As we pulled into the driveway, Boo asked if we could bring the cd in with us --- and immediately wanted it playing.
I picked the disk up less than 24 hours ago, and we are already on about the tenth time playing it through! And Boo and Skibo are singing along with the songs they are learning, and few others too:-)

Yours, in harmony,
N.

Finally Obama came

and I couldn't go to see him.

Unfortunately, he was here late this afternoon, and I was running the origami club, as I do every Friday afternoon. If I had had more than a few hours notice, I might well have decided to cancel the origami --- but I didn't and so there it is.

Anyway: I think that my decision is firm: Edwards. It will do no good, but I'm sticking with it.

Yours, set,
N.

Emulating Pepys

There are not very many ways that my diary, this blog, could be compared to the famous one of Samuel Pepys -- not favourably, at least! -- with the possible exception of the following: as tired as I feel today after a long day, there's only one phrase for it:

And so to bed.

Yours, in plagiarism,
N.

Freezer burn

I burned my fingers this evening. On the freezer. Yes, and I do mean burned. As in with heat.
Who would have thought it? It turns out that in the icemaker in our relatively-new freezer -- 2005, I think it was that we bought it -- has a very hot, very very very hot piece of metal in it. I am guessing that it is there to cut through ice cubes so that they will pop out nicely -- that or the freezer is malfunctioning, and big time!
And I discovered this piece of hot metal by touching it with two fingers, and swearing loudly as a result.


Fortunately this time Boo and Skibo were in bed, and so they didn't risk learning any new phrases from this adventure.

Yours, burned,
N.

A great gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair

and other mumblings were heard in my vicinity today... I had to communicate some information with people who only use windows, and office, and.... and I had to use a proprietary program to create a part of this document, on an old computer which claimed I had no license to use said program... it finally gave in and agreed that "yes, you do have a license after all" --- but not before Boo and Skibo had come dangerously close to learning some new phrases.

But I'm done. And should remain done with that particular problem for a few months.
Yours,
Relieved,
N.

Now that Thompson has dropped out

we can hope that McCain can choose him as his running mate, and we can finally get to the real slogan:

"This is not your father's republican party.
This is your great-grandfather's republican party"

Of course, I joke.
Your great-grandfather may not have been a Republican. And actually, I think that I prefer the Republicans of the 1950s to those of today, perhaps with the exception of a few such as McCarthy.

Yours, wondering: "McCarthy or Rove? McCarthy or Rove?"
N.

Just desserts

I finally made the dessert pizza I've been threatening --- following a suggestion by Joke, I settled on toppings of raspberry coulis (a quarter cup of water, a quarter cup of sugar, a 12 ounce bag of frozen raspberries, this not being the season for fresh --- simmered for ten minutes or so, then blended with a stick blender and sent through a coarse sieve) and drizzled white chocolate, to mimic tomato sauce and cheese.
Photos will follow at some point, and you can judge for yourselves, but I think I did a pretty good job of making it look like a pizza.
As for flavour, the brioche was superb, light, delicate and delectable: the toppings matched well together and with the crust, and at one point near-orgasmic moans were being elicited from all the adults eating it. Who also insisted that the children only be allowed tiny slivers, and no seconds!

I don't think that I've ever before had a reaction quite like it!

Yours, chuffed,
N.

We were supposed to watch football

today, but our friend's little boy had a 102.8 F fever this morning (lower now, thank goodness -- that is scarily high), and so we are instead at a loose end. Naturally we invited friends over for dinner instead --- I'm throwing together a risotto alla sbiraglia (a chicken risotto, but doesn't it sound more impressive in the Italian?) and am making focacica with some dough I happened to have lying around for just that (sort of) purpose. I decided on a dual topping: one half is rosemary alone, the other is sliced onion, sauteed until golden in olive oil, with about half an ounce of finely chopped pancetta sauteed in with it.

We are starting with a smoked salmon pate that I made yesterday (appropriate quantities of sour cream, ricotta, smoked salmon, salt, pepper, lemon juice, in a food processor): we had bought some smoked salmon which turned out to be west-coast style rather than lox-ish, and it wasn't suitable for the purpose we had in mind for it: but since it reminded me very much of smoked trout, I decided to use a smoked trout pate recipe with it. It's not bad --- a little heavy on the sour cream and ricotta, but quite edible.


Yours, on the spur of the moment,
N

Charlie Brown, Lucy, football

No snow. Well, some lovely large flakes a couple of hours ago, mixed with a little rain, but nothing stuck.
The one-to-three inches of accumulation during the day, followed by an inch this evening, is now looking like "Hah hah! Fooled you!".

Bah.

Yours, muttering,
N.

Snow again!

Despite the fact that we usually get exactly one snowfall a year, whether we need it or not, it turns out that we have another snowfall coming tomorrow. And looking at the weather, it might even be cold enough that it will stick around until Sunday afternoon or so!

I'm so thrilled, especially as Boo seems somewhat better today, and I will feel much less nervous about her being outside in it than yesterday.

Yours, waitin' for the white!
N.