Should we call it "The Obama Bowl?" Or, "The Super Obama?"

Finally, I found a reason to watch Sunday's game.

2008....AF&F style.

Thanks to Brett's great suggestion to do a "year in review" post, I'm doing a "year in review" post.
If you look back on 2008 with that 20/20 vision everybody always talks about, one word sticks out in your head: "Shite." I mean, barring Obama's wonderfully emotional and uplifting election, some great individual holiday/family/personal moments, some good food, and an occasional (and I mean REALLY occasional) Newcastle victory, 2008 was littered with economic crises, joblessness, wars wars wars, bad baseball, bad football, and even bad American football.

I'd have to say my favorite moment of the year was, of course, the moment when CCN predicted Obama's victory on the big screen at Grant Park, and I let out of surge of joy and excitement with all my friends there that night. From that point on through the rest of the night it felt like we were all together, on one team. Walking back home on Michigan Avenue, all was right with the world. People singing and dancing in the streets, not a single frown on a face as far as you looked, and somehow, we would all come out of this mess that the GOP had put us through for the past 8 years.
Some other highlights were: Of course, our trip to Japan, Christmas with my little nephew and some great food prepared by my Mom, the day Keegan was announced to take over NUFC's reigns, our emphatic victory over Spurs last season at White Heart Lane, our trip to Via Osteria, and another trip we took to a little restaurant called Bistro Campagne in Chicago, which I did not document on this site.
The lowlights were: definitely the day that many of my friends and coworkers got laid off at the firm, and it sunk in REAL QUICK how tough the next year or so is going to be, if we're lucky enough to stay employed for the next year, and the day that King Kev left Newcastle. I like to keep this place a happy one, so I won't get too into the downers of 2008.

So, it certainly was a tough one to get through, especially the last few months. But look - we're all here. We've made it. Let's get our chins up off the dirt, and keep walking forward. Because at the end of the day, as long as there is still architecture to enjoy, football to watch, and good food to stuff your face with, the world is still worth hanging out in.

Special Comment

I'm sitting here watching the Charlie Gibson interview with President Bush. I've read articles poking fun at it. I watched John Stewart do his usual, hilarious bit on most of what was said. (I, too, will feel a pain in the heart when I can't hear him rail on Bush every night...but I suppose there are other things having to do with politics that might be marginally more important than my giggles.) But as I sit here and watch it again - how dare this guy say these things without the slightest bit of regret, remorse, or even acknowledgement that he has put this country, and the world as a whole, through some of the worst times in modern history.

"You know, I'm the President during this period of time, but I think when the
history of this period is written, people will realize a lot of the decisions
that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so, before I arrived
in President, during I arrived in President."

Okay - THIS IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. He's acting like, to put it in terms I can understand, a junior architect at a small architecture firm. He's saying "Well, you know - it's not my fault. This shit was already here, so I was like 'whatever.' I mean, who am I to change it?" If he doesn't take responsibility - who does? Apparently, his father. (which is even more weird - "over a decade or so" hits his father's term dead on...some serious Oedipal stuff going on here...) And not only that - and this is obvious - "before I arrived as President, during I arrived in President" - ARE YOU SERIOUS? I know we don't all speak perfectly during live interviews, but 90% of my international friends who use English as their 2nd or 3RD language don't butcher it like this. And oh yeah - have I mentioned that THIS IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

GIBSON: Did you call him on Tuesday about the Fed putting up $600 billion, and
Treasury $200 billion --
BUSH: Yes, yes.
GIBSON: You called him about
that, too?
BUSH: I sure did -- oh, no, no, no, I have not on that.

---HUH?? So what exactly did "Yes, yes" mean? That first yes might have been just a 'kneejerk' reaction yes - kind of like when Cheney said "Hey G - you want to give those mo-fos some shock and awe?" And then Gibson saying, in complete shock "You called him about that too?" And George, starting with "I SURE DID." Can you get more affirmative than that? And on the dime, he does a 180. "Oh, NO, NO, NO." Like "Oh, silly Charlie. Silly, Silly Gibby-Wibby. What do you think I am, a TARD?"

BUSH: Oh, yes. As I said, some times are happy, some not happy. I don't want
people to misconstrue. It's not -- I don't feel joyful when somebody loses their
life, nor do I feel joyful from somebody loses a job. That concerns me. And the
President ends up carrying a lot of people's grief in his soul during a
presidency. One of the things about the presidency is you deal with a lot of
tragedy -- whether it be hurricanes, or tornadoes, or fires, or death -- and you
spend time being the Comforter-in-Chief. But the idea of being able to serve a
nation you love is -- has been joyful. In other words, my spirits have never
been down. I have been sad, but the spirits are up.

Well, I'm exceedingly happy for you, Mr. Pwesidennn. Those hurricanes you speak of...any idea that those were actually partly caused by YOU and your irresponsible ecological decisions? Those deaths you speak of - were you referring to the innocent Iraqi civilians who lost their lives because of the war you started based on false pretense, ego, and bigotry - ALMOST 100,000 OF THEM??? Well - I'm sure the families of the 100,000 dead are having a rough day every now and then - but at least you haven't beaten yourself up about it. I mean - the last thing anybody in this world wants is for your feelings to be hurt.

GIBSON: ...do you feel you were in any way able to change Washington? Or do you
feel --
BUSH: I think we did. I think we brought a results-oriented
government, and we insisted that people focus on results...

You dick.

GIBSON: Is there one more deal in you? Is there one more thing you really want
to achieve?
BUSH: ...wouldn't it be interesting for baby boomers not to
retire in nice places, but to retire -- during their retirement, go help people
deal with malaria or AIDS. In other words -- and I'm not suggesting that's
what I'm going to do, but it is the kind of thing that intrigues me.

John Stewart hit this one out of the park. He said something like "That's like going up to a homeless man on the street and saying 'Hey, wouldn't it be great if I just walked up to you and gave you, like, $10,000 or something? Heh. Man, that'd be something. Well, see ya!" I mean - THIS GUY IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!! He's been giving these interviews for 8 years. He just a)distanced himself from "normal" baby boomers, and b)said that he's really NOT THAT interested in helping the world after he leaves office, such as his father and Clinton are doing right now. Ugh. Can you even imagine Barack Obama saying anything remotely as stupid as this?

Look, I have to stop typing about this or I'm going to have a heart attack. It just makes me mad and depressed that after this whole emotional lift of Obama's victory, and even with all the high expectations of what will come, there are still people in the world who still think this guy deserved to be President. They don't realize that he lowered expectations for our most important position of Government. They don't realize how he ripped the constitution to shreds on so many occasions. They will continue to believe crap that he spews out, and similar crap spewed out by similar evil politicians in the future. And with two wars, the worst economic crisis since the great depression, the whole evil, evil Proposition 8 debacle...there's just still so much evil, negativity, and stupidity in this world. And I'm not blaming John Stewart for joking about it. John Stewart is a freaking comedian. It's his job. But Charlie Gibson - PLEASE. Act like a f****ng journalist. Please. Take your job seriously, Sir. An "Uh-Oh moment?" He actually asked Bush if he had "an Uh-Oh moment." Why is he being let off the hook like this? Why don't we look at these crimes more seriously? As the great David Cross once put it, we're treating this guy like he just won a bronze medal in the Special Olympics.

Hopefully more upbeat commentary tomorrow.

Once again, proud to be American.

So I tried to write a funny post about Barack Obama winning the presidency and just couldn't do it. I tried writing an Onion-esque article poking fun at the fact that all of the sudden, every SINGLE person with a mouth and a microphone, no matter what they said prior to election day, just can't get enough of our new president. But I just couldn't do it. I tried to play this whole thing down, but it didn't work. I know it's got something to do with the fact that I'm an incredibly unqualified author. But I'd like to think it's also got something to do with the fact that I'm so damn happy, and proud, and excited about what's gone on in the last 48 hours that I just can't trivialize it, even if I tried.
I'm going to describe it the way I heard it described earlier today, and pardon the language, but it's just bar none, the most effective description I've heard yet.

"It feels like we f***ing blew up the Death Star."

I LITERALLY could not have said it any better. I've tried. And this is the best. Think about that scene in Return of the Jedi, when the Ewoks, after recently emerging victorious in their ground battle, look up at the where the Death Star once was in their sky, but has been replaced by an enormous expanding ball of flames. Then they all begin to rejoice at once, and it cuts to other cities throughout the galaxy, all rejoicing at the same time, over the same event, and their collective hopes for a more peaceful and productive future. In one amazing, powerful, joyous instant, all of their lives had changed for the better, and that invisible, heavy burden of the Dark Side had been lifted from their shoulders. There will be a better tomorrow, and as the Ewoks knew it then, every nation on our planet, on this day, rejoiced together, as one human race, because we all know it now.

Barack Obama is not a perfect man, and he will not be a perfect president. But he is many things that we can ALL get behind. His intelligence will lift our struggling nation up and get us back on a pragmatic, positive path. His elegance and wit will make him and the US a leader of other nations once again, and America's respect will be restored. His passion and dedication will demand respect from all the world's leaders - friends and foes alike. And his race, as much as it has been covered in the media, IS true proof that anyone, with any background, any skin color, any personal difficulties, can do ANYTHING in this great country of ours.
Last night I had the absolute privilege to celebrate with Mr. Obama himself and 250,000 of my closest friends at Grant Park. While being too crowded, uncomfortable, and incredibly draining physically, I will never forget the moment that the announcement was made that he had made it over the 270 vote hump. An infinitely deep bellow was let out by all of us there, and as we were all screaming at the top of our lungs, jumping up and down, dancing with each other, smiling, crying, and trying to capture it all on our digital recorder devices, nobody was thinking about the last 8 years of tyranny and secrecy. Nobody was thinking about the problems that await Mr. Obama when he takes office next January 20th. Nobody was thinking about the deception created by George Bush and his divisive Republican cronies. We were in love with America, in love with our new president, in love with the new, positive world we live in. And we couldn't put this into words, so we just cheered, cheered, cheered. I'll never forget that night, and we can all feel so lucky that we are alive to have witnessed an achievement so great, not only for Mr. Obama, but for our country and our planet. If a black kid from Kansas with a funny name can become president of the United States of America, then why can't you or I do anything we want to do? Of all this talk about "hope" from his campaign, he's gone out and proven it. He's shown us. You ALWAYS have hope.

I'll finish with the video from the very moment his victory was announced.