UNDERDOG of PERFECTION

…in that it perfectly simulates ridiculously outdated technology.

Granted, if you weren’t a kid in the late ’70s or early ’80s, you probably aren’t interested in LED Football for the iPhone. But I had one of those old Mattel LED football games and, for some reason, I loved it. And I also love the developer’s sense of humor in the game description*:

Reach the end zone and you will hear the sweet sound of victory beeps. TOUCHDOWN! This is electronic sports at its best…. See the LED display, so bright and hi-tech.

*But I do not love the fact that iTunes doesn’t let you copy and paste description text. Boo!

I just read a couple of great articles on Alternet. Now before you (as a McCain supporter) go dismissing Alternet as liberal fringe media, I would ask you to just carefully read the following two articles.

First, a roundup of excerpts from newspapers and news magazines around the country calling the McCain/Palin campaign to task for some of the egregious lies they’ve been perpetuating lately, both against Obama and for themselves.

And second, a very well-thought-out article debunking conservative myths about national security. This brilliant article shows us what’s wrong with our current administration’s clumsy assumptions about the threat of Islamic terrorism, and also points out the things we should be worried about, but aren’t. (Or at least, aren’t worried enough about.)

Seriously, I may have a joking tone but I really do not think I could sit through Sarah Palin’s interview with Charles Gibson. As it is described in the New York Times, it is painful enough. I’m starting to have a visceral discomfort over the prospect of her winning the vice presidency. She is so obviously grossly unprepared for the job that it turns my stomach. Again I just have to ask, how can this even be close? If enough people choose to be willfully ignorant or just don’t care enough to pay attention, well then, they get what they deserve. But that leaves the rest of us with little option besides emigrating to Canada. Too bad I didn’t get my passport renewed already.

So I stop reading crap like this or this.

My God people, come on! How is this even a contest? What the hell is wrong here? AAAAARRRGGH!!!!

I never would have made it on the debate team.

But as long as we’re on the topic, I just wanted to give a shout out to Jw and suggest that if you’re considering making a donation to the Obama campaign, you do so by saying “Make Mine Barack.” I would have, but I just made a donation directly to the campaign yesterday hours before he tipped me off to this.

Don’t tell SLP, but I’m in love. It happened this afternoon at the new Best Buy at the Mall of America. No, it’s not an affair. It’s a Jaguar Bass.

I’ve been planning to buy a new bass for several months now. My standard Fender Jazz is OK but it’s just not cutting it. The pickups are the big problem. Too buzzy. And one of the volume pots slips. I took off the cover plate and tried to tighten it, but I couldn’t. It’s a fine bass, but I just want something better. I got spoiled when I had an American Jazz Bass a few years ago. So I’ve been planning to upgrade to the Deluxe Jazz. Not quite as nice (or as expensive) as the American, but it has the same Made-in-USA pickups, plus active electronics, at a more reasonable price. And of course it is a 5-string, which has become second nature for me.

So as much as I was dazzled from the first time I saw it a few years ago by the Jaguar’s overwhelming array of switches, knobs and dials, the fact that it doesn’t come in a 5-string model was always a deal breaker for me.

But as long as I was there at Best Buy today, and it was too, I figured, why not just pick it up and try it? Big mistake. Before I even plugged it in, I could tell what it was going to sound like, and that I was, like, totally going to want it! And I did.

The sales dude really knew how to work it too. He was friendly and helpful from the get-go, and then he backed off and just let me play. After a couple of minutes of noodling around and testing the intonation across the fretboard (the next most critical thing about a bass after good pickups), I started playing a bit of the bass line from my favorite Yes song, “Heart of the Sunrise.” A minute later, “Roundabout” started playing on one of the PA demo units across the room. Wrong song, but right album. Kudos to him. If I do get the Jag (which seems more likely with every passing second as I write this), I’ll probably go back there for it. And he doesn’t even get a commission!

It doesn’t have 5 strings, but it sounds great and it looks great (and it comes from Fender’s Japanese shop, which is second only to the one in Corona, California for quality, at a significantly lower price), and it’s pretty much the same price as what I was planning to pay for the Deluxe Jazz. Good deal! (Of course, I also want to get a microKORG, but maybe I can kill two birds with one stone.)