Geek

Yeah, yeah... I know... three weeks.

I'll get around to updating... but for now



via videosift.com

This is the coolest thing I've seen in a long time (and I was at the Adobe developers conference last week!)

Working, not working

A little distracted today. I keep thinking of the momentous event that took place last night. And listening to that new Springsteen song he debuted a few days back in Ohio. According to Backstreets.com:

"Workin' on a Dream." The song has been recorded for the follow-up to Magic, which Springsteen has been working on this fall, an album expected to see release around the time of the Presidential Inauguration in January 2009.

Been listening so much, I got the lyrics down:

Workin' on a Dream

Out here, the nights are long
The days are lonely
I think of you and
I'm workin' on a dream
I'm workin' on a dream

Now the cards I've drawn
Is a rough hand, darlin'
I straighten my back and
I'm workin' on a dream
I'm workin' on a dream

I'm workin' on a dream
Though sometimes it feels so far away
I'm workin' on a dream
And I know it will be mine someday

The rain pouring down
I swing my hammer
My hands are rough from
Workin' on a dream
I'm workin' on a dream

I'm workin' on a dream
Though trouble can feel like it's here to stay
I'm workin' on a dream
Where our love can chase the trouble away

I'm workin' on a dream
Though it can feel so far away
I'm workin' on a dream
Our love will make it real someday

The sun rises up
I climb the ladder
The new day breaks and
I'm workin' on a dream
I'm workin' on a dream

I'm workin' on a dream
I'm workin' on a dream

I'm workin' on a dream
Though it can feel so far away
I'm workin' on a dream
Our love will make it real someday

I'm workin' on a dream
Though it can feel so far away
I'm workin' on a dream
And our love will make it real someday


Jeez, like I'm in high school again. Guess Hope and Change will do that to you.

(of course, it helps to still be in love with your high school sweetheart)

Happily Wrong

OK, so the Bradley Effect doesn't exist (or didn't rear its ugly racist head in this election). And I was wrong, wonderfully wrong.

Wrong about Florida (+27).
Wrong about Ohio (+20).
Wrong about New Hampshire (+4).
Wrong about Nevada (+5).

And I could still be wrong about North Carolina and Indiana (still too close to call).

(and it looks like I'll probably be right about Missouri... and if so, there goes your perfect record, Mo)

McCain was completely classy in his concession (though members of his crowd were not). I've said it before and I'll say it again right now: Obama should offer a cabinet post to McCain (DefSec, Senator?).

I thought Obama give a very good speech (not transcendent certainly, but solid).

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.

This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.

It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.

...

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

I am hopeful. (and for me, the eternal pessimist... that's saying something)

A Prediction for Tonight

OK, so I've geeked out about tonight... and I'm still not confident... in fact, less so...

The full reasoning of my lack of confidence (despite the pundits) can be found here... but here's how I see it shaking out (by poll closing)...

Dem Votes	Dem Win	State	GOP Win	GOP Votes
0		Indiana	+ 11 (slow)	11
0		Kentucky	+ 8	19
0		Florida	+ 27 (slow)	46
0		Georgia	+ 15	61
0		South Carolina	+ 8	69
3	+ 3	Vermont		69
16	+ 13 (slow)	Virginia		69
16		Ohio	+ 20 (slow)	89
16		West Virginia	+ 5	94
23	+ 7	Connecticut		94
26	+ 3	Delaware		94
29	+ 3	District of Columbia		94
33	+ 4	Maine		94
43	+ 10	Maryland		94
55	+ 12	Massachusetts		94
55		New Hampshire	+ 4 (slow)	98
70	+ 15	New Jersey		98
91	+ 21 (slow)	Pennsylvania		98
91		Alabama	+ 9	107
112	+ 21	Illinois		107
112		Mississippi	+ 6	113
112		Missouri	+ 11 (slow)	124
112		Oklahoma	+ 7	131
112		South Dakota	+ 3	134
112		Tennessee	+ 11	143
112		North Carolina	+ 15 (slow)	158
112		Arkansas	+ 6	164
143	+ 31	New York		164
147	+ 4	Rhode Island		164
147		Louisiana	+ 9	173
164	+ 17	Michigan		173
164		Minnesota	+ 10 (slow)	183
174	+ 10	Wisconsin		183
174		Arizona	+ 10	193
183	+ 9 (slow)	Colorado		193
183		Nebraska	+ 5	198
188	+ 5 (slow)	New Mexico		198
188		South Dakota	+ 3	201
188		Texas	+ 34	235
188		Wyoming	+ 3	238
195	+ 7	Iowa		238
195		Kansas	+ 6	244
195		Montana	+ 3	247
195		Utah	+ 5	252
195		Nevada	+ 5 (slow)	257
195		North Dakota	+ 3 (slow)	260
250	+ 55	California		260
250		Idaho	+ 4	264
257	+ 7	Oregon		264
267	+ 11	Washington		264
271	+ 4	Hawaii		264
271		Alaska	+ 3	267

My (really depressing) prediction: Obama: 271, McCain: 267. Obama wins the Electoral College barely along with the popular vote.

Then again, what the hell do I know? The professionals all have Obama winning (from comfortable to big)... they should know more than I... I hope so.

And tomorrow we'll see how wrong (hopefully) I was, er, am.

The Price You Pay

As I listen to the last post's "This Land is Your Land," I'm a little disappointed, Bruce isn't singing the verse I heard him perform 24 years ago:

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;
Sign was painted, it said private property;
But on the back side it didn't say nothing;
That side was made for you and me.

I've always thought that was the real dangerous part of the song... one that meshed perfectly with 1980's The River's "The Price You Pay":

You make up your mind, you choose the chance you take
You ride to where the highway ends and the desert breaks
Out on to an open road you ride until the day
You learn to sleep at night with the price you pay

Now with their hands held high, they reached out for the open skies
And in one last breath they built the roads they'd ride to their death
Driving on through the night, unable to break away
From the restless pull of the price you pay

CHORUS
Oh, the price you pay, oh, the price you pay
Now you can't walk away from the price you pay

Now they'd come so far and they'd waited so long
Just to end up caught in a dream where everything goes wrong
Where the dark of night holds back the light of day
And you've gotta stand and fight for the price you pay

CHORUS

Little girl down on the strand
With that pretty little baby in your hands
Do you remember the story of the promised land
How he crossed the desert sands
And could not enter the chosen land
On the banks of the river he stayed
To face the price you pay

So let the games start, you better run you little wild heart
You can run through all the nights and all the days
But just across the county line, a stranger passing through put up a sign
That counts the men fallen away to the price you pay,
and girl before the end of the day,
I'm gonna tear it down and throw it away

... this is an alternate take of the studio version, with an alternate third verse (I'd love to have a live version, but since he hasn't performed it for like 28 years)...

Working on a Dream

So tomorrow is Election Day. Am I any more optimistic than three days ago? I don't know. I want to believe Obama can pull this off. But as a Democrat, I've watched my party snatch defeat from the jaws of victory too many times.

If the polls can be trusted, Obama will win (though at a much tighter margin... I've got him currently at 275). If not, it's going to be a long night Tuesday, and I will need some rum (worse case scenario at this point for me is 314-224).

For those trying to follow along, here are some great accessories:

electoral-vote.com

pollster.com

A great discussion of what to watch for tomorrow night from those guys at fivethirtyeight.com...

A map with the poll closing times

With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey what else can we do now

Had planned to stop there. But I found another clip, and then in the midst of watching and listening and crying a little... dad called up from the living room: Obama's grandmother has passed away. And the tears flow a whole lot easier.



If nothing else, we can cry together. And laugh together. And work together.

And win together?



Yes, we can.