Kim Flournoy

Amy Poehler and Will Arnett had a son this week, and one of the articles linked to this video from the ‘Blades of Glory’ DVD with the two of them talking about (among other things) how funny their kids might be:

Dalek Halloween Pumpkin:

I don’t know how much good ads like this do, but they do help lighten up this increasingly depressing campaign cycle:

I actually have no idea how my parents are voting this year, but they live in a heavily blue state and thus it doesn’t really matter one way or the other…

“I don’t usually bikini-wax my comments, but I will!”

Animator vs. Animated (thanks to Alaina)

In Somalia, fixing a water pump is no simple task.

And yet the Avenging Narwhal Playset from the fine folks at Archie McPhee never fails to crack me up.

This might actually be good, although bittersweet for those of us waiting (and waiting, and waiting…) for the next book the series: HBO turns ‘Fire’ into fantasy series

Also in the “please don’t let them ruin it” category: ‘Dark Crystal’ Sequel Gives Jim Henson’s Puppet Epic A Second Chance

(Thanks to Maggie):

I watched the first 15 minutes or so of the VP debate, and then just couldn’t take it anymore (I started shouting the first time Palin winked - winked! - at the camera, and just got more steamed the longer it went on). Eventually I found a few minute-by-minute commentaries, which allowed me to skip ahead to the important points and ignore most of the blathering.

Anyone else think these debate broadcasts should employ Pop-Up Video technology? Especially during the McCain/Obama debate last week, I really wished for running citations or some other method of fact-checking - perhaps a scroll at the bottom of the screen, or some kind of picture-in-picture with the debate in the top corner and the facts presented in a slideshow.

Otherwise, it’s really difficult to make an informed decision when two candidates are calling each other liars about who voted for what, and how many earmarks their district received. If you don’t feel like waiting until the next day and then wading through multiple articles trying to find something relatively unbiased, then all you’re left with is to try and read body language and listen for who makes a more persuasive argument. This unfortunately tends to reinforce any preferences you already had, so if you were leaning towards Obama, you’ll probably give his statements more credit (whether or not they are factually correct).

I think Jamie has the right idea - save yourself two hours of annoyed viewing, and just read a summary article about the debates the next morning and then go on with your life.

I am so lucky that Jamie is a stoic: