Today’s the first full day of the Obama Administration. Since I know he was up late last night, I’m giving him until the end of the week to fix everything. My first suggestion is to quadruple federal funding to states with black governors. Double it if the Gov has a disability. My one caveat would be that the money has to be spent on green industry investment. We need jobs up here, fast.

Speaking of jobs, I guess I better get ready to go to mine.

So, it’s finally here. In just a few hours, we’ll be rid of the Bush Administration. This really is a special day for this country. A day I never thought would happen in my lifetime. It’s a shame he had to inherit a nation in such horrible condition, but all you have to do is listen to him to know he’s the smartest guy in the room, and if anybody can lift this country up, I think he’s the right man at the right time. I hope so, anyway. He’ll do things I won’t agree with (already has, actually), but, for today at least, let’s all just enjoy being witness to history, and let ourselves be filled with (dare I say it?) the Audacity of Hope.

For those who won’t be able to watch on teevee, but can get to a computer, I’ve put up a page with the Hulu live stream of the events (also linked over there on the right, under “Pages”). Things get rolling at 10 AM EST.

Finally, we come to the last full day of the Bush Administration. Normally, I don’t wish for a day off to be over in a hurry, but I think I’ll make an exception today. Hopefully it’ll be over soon.

Watching yesterday’s Obama musical variety show was interesting (and a little bid odd). I don’t recall ever seeing anything like that for a change in presidents (but then, we haven’t ever had a change like this, have we). Most of it was very good, some downright moving, some a bit on the corny side, and even a part or two that was downright boring (I’m thinking of whoever that white lady was that sang some smarmy crappy thing; I’m sure it was wonderful – just not my thing). A little bit for everybody, which I reckon is what it was supposed to be.

Our national anthem is still a pretty shitty song (can we change it to “America the Beautiful” or “This Land is Our Land” – the highlight of the day, for me, personally – already?), though the Marine dude did about the best job you can do with it. Jamie Fox did a great Obama impression, I thought. Shots of the crowd continued to prove that white people still look really stupid when they try to groove to the music (especially in winter parkas). If you’re going to do “American Pie” (rather odd choice, don’t you think? “Them good old boys drinkin’ whiskey and rye, singin’ this’ll be the day that I die.” Well, maybe it was rather apropos after all), why not get Don McLean to do it instead of Garth Brooks (who really got way too much face time, IMHO, and wouldn’t exactly be my first pick to do “Shout”). Well, gotta through some red meat to the crackers, I guess. Little Stevie Wonder aint so little these days, but he played a lot more on-key than Herbie Hancock, I thought (hard to tell with those jazz types; they can get away with playing lots of off-key stuff, and get praised for being artistic).

Mostly, it was pretty good stuff. And really nice to see so many people (of so many different shades) in DC, there, not to protest something bad, but to celebrate sea change, the likes of which this country hasn’t seen since, well, since ever, I think. People there, not to effect change, but to stand testament to it.

Good luck to the President-Elect, and to all of us.

First off, from yesterday, SU 93, Notre Dame 74.

Next, it’s the final round of Sunday Boobleheads of the failed Bush era.

On Press the Meat, it’s soon-to-be White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. Then there’s a wowntabew with Tom Bwokaw, NY Times dickhead David Brooks, presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Tavis Smiley (I guess they figured they ought to have a black guy on, what with the changin’ times and all), and the sphincter-like Chuck Todd.

On Fux News Sunday, Weaselface Wallace had House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, plus soon-to-be White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. And there will also be the usual Fuxheads, of course.

Over at the Goebbels network, George Snufalufagus hosts soon-to-be White House Senior Adviser Davis Axelrod, and then a roundtable with George :jerk: Will, political mastermind Donna Brazile, asshole Matthew Dowd, PBS’ Gwen Ifill, and the Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne.

Later, on CBS, there is no 60 Minutes tonight. Instead, it’s the AFC Championship game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens.

Speaking of football, it’s the Eagles at the Cardinals in the first game this afternoon at noon Pacific Time (that one was for you, Vernon). Of course, if football isn’t your deal, there’s a bunch of pre-inaugural hoo-hah on, and HBO is providing it for free (on their website, too, if you don’t have cable or satellite).

Later tonight, it’s the season 3 premiere of Big Love, the season 2 premiere of Flight of the Conchords (both on HBO), and the series premiere of The United States of Tara on Showtime (which I already watched “On Demand,” and it’s got the potential to become a really good show). And no work tomorrow (at least for me).

Have a good Sunday, and go Eagles!

It’s Saturday,but not just any Saturday, it is Bush-lite Saturday. The Bushie staffers have handed in their cell phones and other implements of mischief, cleaned out their desk drawers and left town (except of course those who have been insinuated into the fabric of the permanent government so that their misdeeds can continue.) Bush is wallowing in myopia at Camp David and Laura is chain smoking in the kitchen (more about that in a moment.) It’s done. It’s over. Of course there may very well be last minute pardons. But, no more neo-con governing. I am relieved, as if that nasty splinter has finally been removed.

As for Laura, I met someone recently whose brother, or brother-in law, is a secret service person who says that Laura is a three pack a day chain smoker. Can’t blame her if it’s true. It’s probably quite unnerving to have your inept, incurious, husband sitting with Dickie Chaney and plotting to change the world. I think I’d smoke too, but I doubt it would be tobacco.

I find myself very excited about Obama’s inauguration and I am surprised, having lived through many inaugurations before this, at all the excitement around me. Schools are planning ways to have the students watch. The receptionist at Hubby’s doctor spontaneously volunteered that she’s going to the inauguration. Hubby and I are planning to go upstate (sorry PJ it’s north of The City so it must be up) to watch with son and daughter and their families. It is not like the usual inception of a prez that takes place while I’m working and I hear about it on the news, that evening.

Hope really does spring eternal. Have a good one.

Finally, the weekend is here. And it’s even a three-day weekend. I think. I’m still a little up in the air as to whether to take Monday off or not, but I hate to pass up a three-day weekend, so I’m leaning towards taking it off.

Pretty big weekend, TV-wise, with the beginning of the end of Battlestar Galactica tonight, SU hoping to bounce back from the pummeling they got at Georgetown when Notre Dame comes to the Dome tomorrow, the Obama pre-inauguration festivities on Sunday afternoon (for those who won’t be watching the NFL Division Champisonship games), followed by the season 3 premiere of Big Love, the second season premiere of Fight of the Conchords, and the series premiere of The United States of Tara, all on Sunday night.

Gotta get through today first, though.

Today is a momentous day indeed. My dad would have been 89 today, if it hadn’t been for him dying and all. It’s too bad he isn’t still around. Martin Luther King Jr would have been 80 today, if it hadn’t been for him getting shot back in ’68. Tough year, 1968. And this day is the day that George W. Bush has picked to sully with his farewell address to the nation. It would be pretty funny if none of the networks carried whatever he has to say (except for Fox News, of course). Maybe he’ll apologize for fucking things up so bad. Maybe he’ll tell us the real story of the pretzel incident. Or perhaps he’ll tell us he’s sorry he never caught Osama. Or maybe he’ll go out being the same arrogant piece of crap that he’s always been.

Whatever. Personally, I won’t be watching. I just wish the asshole was gone already. And I wish he hadn’t picked my dad’s birthday for this.

There’s a reservoir around here that’s got a great hill for sledding. I know I’ve gone there (back when I was still young enough to trudge up a steep hill in the snow dragging a toboggan). It was cool, because it has kind of a two-level hill – a really steep upper part that levels out briefly, and then turns into a really steep and much longer lower part.

Over the years, kids have gotten hurt, since even if you don’t wipe out somewhere along the way, you have the potential to reach the road going at a pretty good clip. A while back, they put a fence around the upper hill, and put huge “NO SLEDDING” signs all the way around it. Naturally, this didn’t stop anybody, but I guess it helped with the City’s liability insurance.

This weekend, a 12-yr old girl managed to slam head first into a parked car, prompting cries of outrage for the City to “do something” about that hill. Sadly, she died last night.

Now, they’re scrambling to put up some of that orange plastic snow fence about 1/3 of the way up the hill (and at another, similar, reservoir in the City), which they say will come down in the spring and go back up in the fall (it’s a rather huge area, so even that plastic stuff will cost a bundle). Now, it’s very sad that this poor kid died, don’t get me wrong. But this is Syracuse, and it’s winter, and sledding is something fun for kids to do. Is it dangerous? Potentially. Care is certainly advised (for instance, try not to aim for the road). But it’s a dangerous world out there, and in the scheme of things, sliding down a hill isn’t the worst thing in the world. Something like 40-50 thousand people die in car accidents every year. Sonny Bono slammed his face into a tree while skiing. People drown, fall off of (and into) things, crash in airplanes, and die from all sorts of things. Hell, a block of toilet water ice can fall off an airplane and smack you in the head (it happened in Six Feet Under, anyway).

I mean, do we outlaw every potentially dangerous activity in the world, never leaving the house unless we’re wearing chain mail suits, inside portable shark cages? Kids (and adults) are gonna do some dumb things. They’ll get hurt, and some will die. It’s always sad when it happens, but that’s the nature of life on this planet. Nobody gets out alive. There’s no point in going out of our way to get ourselves killed, but while we’re here, we can either live our lives the way we’d like to, or cower in fear at the possibility that something horrible is about to happen.

If we want to expend time, energy, outrage, and, yes, money over something, why not put some effort into ending poverty, starvation, and war? Why not stop poisoning our air and water (and maybe quit shooting wolves from helicopters)?

Or isn’t there enough money in that?

Hard to believe, but the day we’ve all been waiting eight long years for finally arrives one week from today. After 2004, I wasn’t sure it would ever happen. Part of me still wonders if they’ll try and pull something funny, but these Republicans – and the Bushies, in particular – have been exposed as being so pathetically inept, corrupt, and incompetent, I don’t think they could get away with it. They’re fortunate they’ll never have to answer for their crimes.

No, I reckon they’ll be content to sit back and be obstructionist for the next four years, blaming Obama and the Democrats for not fixing everything they’ve destroyed. Then we can look forward to the Palin Administration. I wonder who her VP will be? Paul Wolfowitz maybe?

Ah, another weekend shot to hell.

Sports-wise, it was a good weekend (for me, anyway), as the SU basketball team took advantage of a relatively easy Big East opening schedule to go 4-0 in the league (16-1 overall), most recently pummeling Rutgers on Saturday night. No doubt they’ll move up a bit from their #9/#11 national ranking. With games against nine top-25 teams (including #1 Pitt) in their next 10 games, that isn’t likely to last long.

Then the Philadelphia Eagles earned a trip to the NFC Championship game by beating the Giants 23-11. Geographically speaking, I’m supposed to be a Giants fan, but as long as Donovan McNabb is the Eagles QB (and the Jets continue to be, well, the Jets), the Eagles are my team. And I actually got to sit down and watch the whole game for a change, which was nice.

I realize you non-sports people think all this is stupid, but, hey, it gets a bit dark, cold, and snowy in these parts during the winter, and it sure makes trudging out to work at zero dark-thirty on a cold Monday morning a little bit easier when “your team” is on a roll (for one thing, you can kill lots of time on the ESPN website and sports blogs – at least if you spend your workday in front of a computer the way I do).

Speaking of winter, we seem to be getting a hell of a lot of snow here this year (even by our standards). As of midnight last night, almost 94 inches had fallen this season, which is about double our average. At this rate (which I doubt will continue, but one can always hope), we’ll wind up with over 200 inches for the year, which would be both a record, and pretty nifty (I rather enjoy the snow, personally; as long as you’re going to get it, you might as well embrace it. Plus, it’s really pretty and the dogs love it). And it’s supposed to get downright frigid by midweek here – looks like we’ll be struggling to get above zero by Thursday.

I watched a little bit of Jurassic Park yesterday morning before I went out and shoveled the driveway (rather shocked to find another 8 – 10” had fallen overnight). It’s not a bad movie, I guess (the book was better), but I realized that the reason things turned to shit was that the computer dude was using a Mac. No wonder it all fell apart. I mean, when your dinosaur containment system starts acting up, you don’t wanna rely on somebody who needs to set up an appointment with a “genius” at the Apple store, do you?

Speaking of Jurassic Park, Laura Dern was just so goddamn great playing Katherine Harris in “Recount.” Her old man is great in “Big Love,” too (though my favorite Bruce Dern movie will always be Silent Running).

Oh well, guess I’d better go and get ready for work.