All the Things I've Seen

First, a comment to Anonymous: Yes, I saw the ducks. On the roof patio, there's a building made up to look like a house but, as I was told, is really just a storage space, and on the other side is a large cage called the "duck palace," which had a male mallard and four females inside, as well as a stone duck fountain that spit water out its beak. Everything else was duck-themed, too. It was nice up there, too. You could see the ballpark, which was lit up, even though nobody was there.

I haven't seen much television since I've been out here, since I haven't been able to reset my TV to the proper channels (my remote is now on its way here from home), so I've only seen a few things, down in the commons. I've been able to catch part of several movies, but the broadcast TV is usually only watched by the RAs on duty, who let other students come back to their area and watch with them.

I've really only seen two things... the first was President Bush's speech at the Republican National Convention. And while he certainly won't go down in history as an eloquent president, he did well in this instance. I particularly appreciated the joke he made about his own poor English skills ("I knew I had a problem when Schwarzenegger started correcting me.")

I find it rather interesting that so many people (not just in the liberal side, but even a few more conservative folks) are just so profoundly anti-Bush... No, he's not the greatest president, and given another candidate with conservative values (or even a candidate who's a better politician that John Kerry... if it were a Bush/Edwards race, it would actually be a hard decision), then Bush couldn't count on my vote. After all, I would like to have a president who's more responsible with government money - yay for fiscal conservatives! - and someone who knows the proper use of language - yay for pronouncing it "nuclear"! - but I don't necessarily see why so many people think he's an incompetent moron who needs to be voted out of office as soon as possible. Isn't there even the slightest chance he could be better than the alternative?

I've come to think that the reason sentiment against him is so strong is that he outlived the expectations those people had. They expected him to behave like a moron and cook his own goose, killing his own chances of a second term. However, he's proven that he may not be a GREAT president, but he is halfway competent in the office, so those that hated him from the outset have to increase their volume in proclaiming how stupid he is... or at least, how stupid he was supposed to be. That's just not a very good argument.

Okay, political speculation over. Back to television...

The only other thing I've been able to watch is "The Amazing Race," which has something of a following here. (The director of my residence complex actually knows one of the contestants - Brandon, the big-haired model guy - after working with him at a summer camp. "He's a nice guy, but a pansy," apparently.)

There are quite a few people who say that if they were to be on TV, they'd be on the Amazing Race, and they just need to find a partner. So if any of you are reading this... I'd do it, too.

Anyway, that's about it for today. Classes were good, and I stopped by the Student Activities Council poster sale earlier and bought some movie posters for my room. Pictures of my room will be coming soon.

Off to dinner!