We watched the debates tonight. I was embarassed for Bush. I thought they got all of the questions in advance! And why was he slouching against the podium? The sound guy must have been having a heart attack every time he banged his fist on the podium. I wanted him to be better.

Kerry on the other hand, came off looking and sounding like a president. Standing tall and proud, I was impressed with his debating skills. He was always able to get in his last thought before the red light, and if the light came on, he cleanly wrapped it up. Bush kept breaking the rules and getting an extra 30 seconds to respond, when he shouldn't have had the last word.

For me, the turning point was early on, when Kerry said he had soldiers' families telling him they were buying flak jackets on the internet and sending them to their kids in Iraq for their birthdays, because they didn't HAVE THEM. Bush's face puckered right up, and he never responded to that point, and it all went downhill from there.

Bush kept to the talking points- Hard Work, it's a Hard Job, hard working people, freedom, democracy, hard work. This post 9/11 world. Kerry kept the jabs coming- Haliburton, Afganistan, WMD, North Korea, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin. Stat after stat. A bunch of generals just endorsed him. And now we know it.

Kerry came off as a smart, cultured, man of the world. Too high-falutin'? Bush came off as the hometown guy who owns the local Bait and Tackle (2 locations to serve you) and is a Rotary Club member. Too good ol' boy? The question will be which one does Middle America want running the country?

Why must first wives wear those horrible suits? I'm sure the GOP's force poor Laura Bush to shop at JC Penny's for an off the rack Jones NY suit, but for chrissakes, Theresa Heinz has more money than god. Oprah's stylist needs to take her shopping. Get whatever designers Oprah wears.

Tonight was the first time that I allowed myself to even consider that Kerry might win. After tonight, I do feel like he's at least up to the task if he gets the chance. I still fully expect 4 more years of W.

This year's Soccer Moms are the Security Moms. What? Moms who are concerned about security?

Finally getting back into the swing of things.

Steve's mom stayed with us over the weekend, and we brought her on the final leg of her journey back to Santa Barbara. Spent Sunday with everybody up there. Betty, Carolyn and I took Finn to the Santa Barbara Bunny Festival, which was cute and fun for the under 6 set, and somewhat disturbing for us grownups. Everybody has a hobby, but some people get into their hobbies more than others.

Located in the garden area of the Santa Barbara Courthouse, a beautiful building that is an excellent example of California Mission architecture, the Bunny Festival benefits B.U.N.S. which seems to be some kind of rabbit rescue. Like for dogs and cats, but for rabbits. They then try to place them in homes. I didn't ask what happens to bunnies who overstay their welcome. To me, there are no extra bunnies. They are all future ingredients for stew. I politely did not mention this to the bunny enthusists. As Carolyn pointed out, if it's a rabbit, it's food, if it's a bunny, it's a pet.

They had booths of bunny themed items for sale such as tote bags, pot holders and ceramic statuettes. Another booth held a couple of ladies with spinning wheels and a big Angora rabbit, spinning away and shilling little mittens and hats. You could get your face painted and decorate a bunny shaped cookie. Most Disturbing Booth Award goes to the photo booth. A table set up with a bunny scaled sofa, chairs and othe props for photo opportunies. And there was a line.

Many people were toting around their pet rabbits. It seems like pet rabbits are more popular with girls than boys. The average age of a kid hauling a rabbit around seemed to be about 9 or 10, and were almost all girls. There must have been a "dress your dog as a bunny" contest later in the afternoon, because we saw a couple of those walking around, too.

We spent about an hour, then headed for home.

Not really related, as there were no children present at Bunny Festival who appeared to be raised by wild rabbits, but I saw this site about Feral Children on Boing Boing, and it's great.

Our friend Andrew Quintero (Steve's LARP huntin' pal) saw the Meow Mix commercials during ABC's Good Morning America, and whatever CBS' morning offering is called.

I can't believe it, but the Computer Fairy stopped by as well. And she brought me an eMac. The Computer Fairy is a very old friend who is of generous soul. I just cried and cried. It was like that Oprah clip that keeps popping up everywhere this week.
In the spirit of pay it forward, my computer will be passed to other friends who just need an extra computer and had been looking for something just like it on Craig's List.

Steve made the "posted by Steve" go away, and the Xanax Fairy stopped by, so hopefully the rest of the week will go smoother.

We are back, but not quite up and running at full speed. Just trying to get back into the rhythm of regular life.

I keep changing my template, but the only one that won't say it's posted by Steve has the blog title in 64 pt letters as if I'm screaming. My email account is rebelling, so that is the latest techno fire to be stomped on.

As a Luddite, these seemingly small tasks are putting me at the edge.
I feel like Neil from the Young Ones. Boom Shanka.

I have been enjoying the Young Ones again on BBC America. I think it's raw style and shoddy production values still hold up after (gulp) twenty years. Rick is even a bigger twat than I remember. And Mike is very short. A tiny little man who's Brit stereotype I didn't appreciate back in the pre-"Snatch" 80's.

If anyone has seen the Meow Mix ads with the Cat Raincoat, please let me know.

Dear Blogland,

Steve had an unexpected death in the family, so we will be heading back to NJ for a while.

Hellhouse and LARPers will have to wait...

Robyn

Our friend Paul Hungerford is participating in Hollywood Hellhouse which is running every Saturday night between now and Halloween. Somebody bought the real kit, and they are putting on the show. Except instead of being staffed by the local youth group, you'll see faces from Teevee Land. And the show is exactly like you saw in the documentary "Hellhouse."

"Hey! Isn't that guy on Scrubs?"

"Isn't she a Jew?"

According to Paul, they have the blessing of the guy who runs these things down in the Bible Belt, and they are playing it absolutely straight. The material speaks for itself. Paul is playing the role of Suicide Death in the Rave/Rape scene, where he does an interpretive modern dance about dying. Oh yes.

I don't know who put the money up for this thing. I'm sure the actors and techies are working for free on this one, but rent, insurance costumes and gallons of fake blood still cost something. Whomever it is, they have kept their name off the publicity I have seen. So not Hollywood!

We are going to see it this weekend, take photos and file a full report.