Ebertfest Plug and Shameless Self-Plug
Aside from Thursday night's County Board meeting, The Daily Illini has the scoop on what I've been up to lately:

The festival, now in its 10th year, is still buzzing in downtown Champaign's Virginia Theatre. Both Rodman and Matt Gladney of Champaign are in their eighth year of attendance at the festival.

"I think it's a great opportunity to see films that normally wouldn't play here in Champaign-Urbana," Gladney said.

If you haven't had a chance to experience Ebertfest, then you really should try. It's a film (and life) experience like none other.
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- posted by Matthew @ 5:02 PM

 
Saturday Video
Here's another great bit of music from Vampire Weekend. Entertainment Weekly refers to the video for A-Punk as being "adorable" and, gosh darn it, I think they're right.


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- posted by Matthew @ 4:33 PM

 
The Sins of Clinton Cove
As the long campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination soldiers on, the tactics of Hillary Clinton are now becoming fully realized for the crass, back-handed and just plain untrue reality that they inhabit. Do we really need to go through the laundry list? Sure, we do. It's important not to lose sight of who we might put into the Oval Office.

First up, there's pledging that Florida and Michigan don't count, except later on, when she needs them to in order to catch-up in delegate and popular vote count. Then there's saying that Barack Obama is less experienced for the job than either herself or John McCain, but that, hey, he'd make a great Vice-President! Just this week talking about how there's "no such thing as a pledged delegate," when in fact those are delegates that really should vote for the candidate the American people voted for in their respective areas. We're not talking Superdelegates here. And, of course, there's the whole bit about landing in Bosnia and taking sniper fire and running for her life, which (shock!) turned out to be a lie. Oh, I'm sorry, she just "mis-spoke." Multiple times.

Columnist Leonard Pitts is, like many of, growing pretty darned tired of all this, and goes to town on the problem with Hillary:

So bald and bold is the lie that it leaves me wondering if maybe she honestly remembers it that way. Science has shown we're all susceptible to false memory; it's not unheard of for a person to believe she's had an experience she has not, especially after years of telling and embellishing a story. As it happens, the events that Clinton recalls did occur -- just not to her. The Post reminds us that Sen. Olympia Snowe came under fire on a visit to Bosnia six months before Clinton got there. So perhaps Clinton has transferred the memory?

Let's be clear: neither Pitts nor myself, nor many Barack supporters, think of Obama as some sort of modern day saint. The man has his flaws. This is no great revelation. Yet he has conducted himself with much more grace and dignity on the campaign trail than has his chief rival. Some have said that they feel bad for Clinton when people talk poorly about her, but honestly, what is one supposed to do when faced with her atrocious tactics?

Hillary Clinton is often commended for her tenacity, her ability to stay the course and to never give up. It is looked upon, even by many of her detractors, as a huge strength. Color me unconvinced. You see, that sort of tenacity and uber-willingness to stay the course reminds me all too much of someone else. And in this case that's not a good thing. In fact, the one thing that we can probably say is true about Hillary is that she wants to be president really badly. But as Leonard Pitts writes in the closing sentence of his article, "there's something scary about wanting it too much."
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- posted by Matthew @ 5:53 PM

 
Comments
Some of you may have noticed that comments are now being moderated. This is an unfortunate and, sadly, unprecedented step in the blog's 4 1/2 year history. A terrible troll has made this necessary, however, so until further notice, comments will not appear until they've been cleared.

Apologies to the 98% of great commenters who've come through this little space on the 'net over the years, but hopefully this will only be temporary. Please, feel free to keep commenting if the inclination takes you.

Take care.
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- posted by Matthew @ 8:22 PM

 
The Great Debater
Have you ever known someone that you like immensely, but at the same time they have the ability to drive you up the frigging wall? I mean, talk about a man who can press your buttons. Lord Jesus!
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- posted by Matthew @ 5:28 PM

 
Five Things
I've been tagged by Gamera to post five facts about myself. Why anyone would be interested is beyond me, but here goes:

1. My favorite simple, easy meal since childhood is a plate of two cheese hot dogs, accompanied by potato chips of some sort, and cereal of different varieties (currently, it's Fruit Loops -- no jokes!). People always think I'm strange whenever I tell them this, and that's ok.

2. I am not a religious person, and as strange and incomprehensible as it is for folks to think of there being no god or no divine plan for our lives, it's just as strange and incomprehensible for me to think that there is.

3. When I was roughly twelve years old, my dad and I took a ride on his motorcycle and, when we stopped at my grandmothers, I got off and leaned against it, burning my calf on the still-hot muffler. Much skin was burned away, and there is still a faint, healed scar there to this day.

4. I like a wide variety of music. It's probably easier to say the types I don't like: country and rap (with a few exceptions).

5. As a kid I used to suck my thumb - my right thumb to be exact. That is why, now, my right thumb sticks straight up, but my left thumb curves back at the nail, as all good thumbs should.

I'm going to spare tagging anyone. :-)
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- posted by Matthew @ 7:12 AM

 
"I See a Salty Message Written in the Eaves"
Over the weekend I discovered the song Mansard Roof by Vampire Weekend, and it's been on a loop in my car and on my home stereo ever since. It's got a great melody, a catchy pace, quirky lyrics and, lest we not be too shallow, the lead singer is rather dishy. Here is the video for the song:



Following is a lyrical sample:

The Argentines collapse in defeat
The admiralty surveys the remnants of the fleet
The ground beneath their feet
Is a nautically-mapped sheet
As thin as paper
While it slips away from view

Good stuff.
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- posted by Matthew @ 7:45 AM

 
D-I-A-L
Kevin Drum links to a host of bloggers who seem to have no love for using the phone. Kevin describes himself as "fairly introverted," but that he doesn't hate to use the phone. I would describe myself as somewhat introverted, and that the phone and I have lost that loving feeling over the years.

In my teens, I would spend hours - literally, hours - on the phone every night with friends. This would cut into quality homework time, among other things, but I just couldn't get enough of talking with people that way. My friend Susan and I would chat for 3-4 hours a night about life, love, philosophy, film and whatever else tickled our fancy. In my late teens/early twenties I would spend time on the phone talking with prospective boyfriends who were long(ish) distance, enraptured by the cadence of their voices.

Then, something happened. Life, as it typically does, became busier. There was more to do, yet still the same amount of hours in the day. College and work forced a lot of of one-on-one interaction with people that made reliance on the shyness aspect of the phone less of a crutch. Over time the phone has, for me at least, become much more of a tool to utilize rather than a luxury to enjoy.

If I need to text someone to set-up dinner or find out if they're available to meet, then the phone is great. If I need to call someone to check-in with them really quickly about how they're doing, then the phone is great. If a constituent wants to call to ask a question, then the phone is great. But for lengthy, rambling conversations about life, love, philosophy, film and whatever else tickles one's fancy, the phone... not so great.
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- posted by Matthew @ 7:51 AM

 
Reach Up
The Daily Illini ran an article earlier this week about the construction project at 309 E. Green St. in Champaign. It is going to be a 24-story apartment complex in the heart of campustown, and will be the tallest builing in Champaign-Urbana. Currently, it looks like they're working on floor eight of the structure, and work began last Fall. Some people, who are supposed to move in this August, are voicing concerns. Roland Realty doesn't seem worried:

"All apartments are scheduled to be completed before the lease move-in dates and no delays are anticipated. We have noticed little concern (with clients and) the completion of 309 Green," said Rachel Singer, leasing coordinator for Roland Realty, who is in charge of leasing 309 Green.

If they can get the remaining 16 floors done by this coming autumn, then that's great. I've always marveled at people who can do construction - big or small - and I've always had a liking for tall buildings. The fact that C-U's skyline is changing so dramatically in such a relatively short period of time is quite exciting, although I hope the folks signing the leases actually have a place to live come this Fall.
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- posted by Matthew @ 7:43 AM