Allyn Gibson

On Things I Tweeted Today (2010-07-29)

Allyn — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:59:00 +0000

Meteorite crashes onto cricket pitch, strikes player; the 5th Doctor not involved http://bit.ly/cDj4rE 28 Jul 2010 @ 11:01
Guillermo del Toro talks why he left THE HOBBIT http://bit.ly/aNIjVd — and it wasn't all MGM's money woes 28 Jul 2010 @ 14:57

On Things I Tweeted Today (2010-07-28)

Allyn — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 06:59:00 +0000

Hospitals are very quiet places at 6 o'clock in the morning; my dad went in for his surgery this morning 27 Jul 2010 @ 12:45
Does not know if it's possible to buy a vuvuzela at Big Lots (and isn't even sure why the question was asked), but thanks for asking! #fb 27 Jul 2010 @ 13:14
Yoinks! "Enrapture" really -is- a word, I didn't make it up… 27 Jul 2010 @ 13:55
I suppose, for the right person, topping a Christmas tree with Yoda instead of an angel or a star makes some weird sort of sense… 27 Jul 2010 @ 15:33
My dad is now out of surgery and into recovery 27 Jul 2010 @ 16:11
@dailydish posted the #drwho title sequences from 63 onward http://bit.ly/c2UEbc but it's missing the Shalka sequence http://bit.ly/cbFLbU 27 Jul 2010 @ 21:12

No related posts.

On Things I Tweeted Today (2010-07-27)

Allyn — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 06:59:00 +0000

Loved reading about San Diego Comic-Con in the morning paper; too bad absolutely none of the coverage about about comic books… #fb 26 Jul 2010 @ 14:05
@feelinglistless I generally liked Torchwood's first season, but yeah, "End of Days" was utterly baffling http://wp.me/p4tCq-ge in reply to feelinglistless 26 Jul 2010 @ 21:17

On Sarah Palin and the 2012 Election

Allyn — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:22:08 +0000

Should Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice Presidential nominee in 2008 and the former governor of Alaska, run for President in 2012? Some Republicans want her to. And, curiously, some Democrats want her to as well.

At the Netroots Nation Convention, a gathering of progressive activists, over the weekend, a straw poll there gave Palin the overwhelming nod (48 percent, with #2, Representative Ron Paul of Texas, garnering 11 percent) for the preferred GOP candidate two years hence.

It’s not hard to see why. Her negatives, especially with independent voters in the center, are very high. She has a rocky relationship with the media, avoids interviews with mainstream outlets, and shuns press conferences. She has demonstrated a lack of perseverance. As a proponent of the Tea Party movement, she has aligned herself with a political group that can be charitably described as “the lunatic fringe.” In short, Palin would be damaged goods were she to be the nominee in 2012; she would have the appeal to a rump Republican base, but among the wider electorate she would be an off-putting candidate.

But there are some who think she is the candidate to beat in 2012. Andrew Sullivan, in referring to her chances, writes “Know fear.” (Or here.)

Me? I think she shouldn’t run in 2012. Or ever. If Sarah Palin is at all sane, she won’t. Which, of course, is the reason why she will — Sarah Palin is many things, but sane she is not.

The reason she shouldn’t run? She is an oppo researcher’s dream, as some recent e-mails from the Journolist mailing list make clear. If the media is aware of the rumors surrounding Palin, her potential opponents — Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum — are certainly aware. Running for President will risk exposure on all sorts of things. Her opponents would even need to go to the rumors and speculation — just spelling out the reckless disregard for human life Palin showed in her son Trig’s birth would be enough to damage her by raising questions of her credibility and her fitness to lead the nation.

If Palin does run, it will be hilarious to watch, especially if she does well in early caucuses and primaries, because then the negative slime will start oozing out. Spend some time researching Palin, and red flags raise themselves. Imagine George W. Bush’s idiot clone running for President, that’s who Sarah Palin would be. The GOP establishment will have to destroy her just to save themselves, to keep the stench of Palin from destroying the party, but they can’t do it in such a way that drives the teabaggers away, so they’re going to have to humiliate and discredit her. That’s going to mean opening the door on questions of character — like the birth of her son, like quitting as Alaska’s governor for no discernable reason — and following that wherever it goes.

If Palin were sane, she wouldn’t run at all in 2012. She would know that she’s an oppo researcher’s wet dream and she has some pretty major skeletons in her closet. Palin may think that she can spin enough lies to make things go away, and she may think that she’s impervious to negative attacks (either because of her gender or because she believes she has the teabagging base sewn up and they won’t desert her).

That’s why progressive activists want Palin to run in 2012. She will destroy herself, she may destroy the Republican Party, and Obama will crush her like Darth Vader crushed Admiral Motti’s windpipe.

Bring popcorn. It will be so much fun to watch.

On Things I Tweeted Today (2010-07-26)

Allyn — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:59:00 +0000

@Lyzer_S "The Pandorica Opens" felt -really- choppy in the pre-"The Big Bang" repeat, and I'd swear that some scenes were shuffled in reply to Lyzer_S 25 Jul 2010 @ 02:03
@KRADeC I wrote product copy for the Big Lebowski figures many months ago; I guess they didn't stand out in the mind like Zombie Perfume in reply to KRADeC 25 Jul 2010 @ 02:11
Stepped outside, had my breath taken away by the baking heat, wilted in the humidity, and decided this heat was unnatural. Like a frog. #fb 25 Jul 2010 @ 13:22
The youth consulted the grimoire and thought to conjure love, only to discover the futility of attempting to create the intangible #twitfic 25 Jul 2010 @ 13:32
"I think I'll skip the rest of the rewind. I hate repeats." 25 Jul 2010 @ 18:15
Heavy (and cold) rain, strong wings, thunder and lightning — a welcome summer storm that brings respite from the inhumane heat 25 Jul 2010 @ 19:56
My Top 3 Weekly #lastfm artists: George Harrison (40), Coldplay (36) and Travis (36) http://bit.ly/dcZ3mg 25 Jul 2010 @ 20:29
@MisterChinn I go through phases with the solo Beatles work; recently, it was Paul, last week I acquired an album of Harrison outtakes in reply to MisterChinn 25 Jul 2010 @ 21:18
@MisterChinn I hesitate to say that Harrison's later material is underrated; people who know it know how great it is in reply to MisterChinn 25 Jul 2010 @ 21:18
@MisterChinn I'm also amazed by BRAINWASHED; it's the work of a dying man, but listening to it is such a joyful experience in reply to MisterChinn 25 Jul 2010 @ 21:19
I don't think of myself as being mechanically inept, but installing a carseat for my niece induced a state of utter embafflement #fb 26 Jul 2010 @ 00:24

On Things I Tweeted Today (2010-07-25)

Allyn — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 06:59:00 +0000

Saturday morning routine — listening to @nprscottsimon on @NPRWeekend, looking forward to Simon's reminiscences on Daniel Schorr 24 Jul 2010 @ 12:07
Watching the Doctor Who marathon on BBC America is the only sensible way to spend this blistering scorcher of a day #fb 24 Jul 2010 @ 22:22
Is it my imagination, or are there some brutal edits in BBC America's repeat of "The Pandorica Opens"? #doctorwho 25 Jul 2010 @ 00:42

On Twitterology and WordPressery

On Things I Tweeted Today (2010-07-24)

Allyn — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 06:59:00 +0000

Don't usually remember my dreams; last night I dreamed that I interviewed Stephen Fry, though I don't recall on what topic 23 Jul 2010 @ 11:56
New Sherlock Holmes drabble "Theatricality" — http://bit.ly/9dHnO9 23 Jul 2010 @ 15:43
Note to self: Use the word "alchemy" more; it has a nice ring to it, it feels nice rolling off the tongue 23 Jul 2010 @ 21:28
Not my best writing day — just 4k — and I'll blame the stultifying heat for that, but the text "feels" productive and solid 23 Jul 2010 @ 21:39

On Daniel Schorr

Allyn — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:28:49 +0000

I have a routine on Saturday mornings. I fix coffee. I listen to Weekend Edition Saturday with Scott Simon. And one of the things I listen for each week is Simon’s weekly discussion with Daniel Schorr.

Simon tweeted a few minutes ago that “My longtime friend and colleague Dan Schorr has died. Please find a moment today to say goodbye to him today in your own way.”

On Saturday’s edition, I didn’t recall hearing Schorr. I kept waiting for it, and then the show was over, and no Daniel Schorr. I wonder, now, if Schorr, who was 93, was already ill and hospitalized.

Simon reflects on Schorr’s career at greater length than a Tweet will allow on NPR’s website, and NPR offers their own obituary of their Senior News Analyst.

I read one of Schorr’s books, Come To Think Of It, a few months ago.

I’ll miss hearing Daniel Schorr’s voice. I’ll miss his insights and his wisdom. Journalism has lost one of its giants.

On Things I Tweeted Today (2010-07-23)

Allyn — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:59:00 +0000

Okay, yeah, I can definitely picture Karl Urban as Judge Dredd… http://bcool.bz/dsxuqI He'd better not take the helmet off, though… 22 Jul 2010 @ 02:34
The managerial tone of voice, the body language that comes with it, it just comes flooding back, familiar and comfortable like an old friend 22 Jul 2010 @ 21:00
The news reader on the BBC World Service had an unusual accent; Caribbean, maybe? Possibly Jamaican? Definitely not RP 22 Jul 2010 @ 23:36
Man exited the train at Mondawmin, he wore a deerstalker; I'd never seen a deerstalker "in the wild" before 22 Jul 2010 @ 23:37
Uncle Scrooge's advice has long stayed with me: "Work smart, not hard." 23 Jul 2010 @ 01:32

On the End of the Week

On Things I Tweeted Today (2010-07-22)

Allyn — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 06:59:00 +0000

Idea for a nonfic article rattling around my head; will sleep on this… 21 Jul 2010 @ 02:48
Didn't sleep at all last night, but I wasn't thinking about Almond Delight 21 Jul 2010 @ 11:00
Nick Clegg should be commended, not condemned; he dared to speak the truth — the Iraq war was illegal and wrong http://gu.com/p/2tg7x/tw 21 Jul 2010 @ 18:18
Absolutely gorgeous day; I could watch that butterfly, now about 100 feet off the ground, all afternoon as it flutters in the breeze 21 Jul 2010 @ 18:46
Got an e-mail from a friend today, unfortunately he's been dead for 2 1/2 years; hackers hacked into his account, I guess *sigh* 22 Jul 2010 @ 00:00