Yes, after a long hiatus, the dredwerkz cartoon of choice has returned: elftor.

Two new episodes are up (one on my birthday! yay!) including an amusing one involving the triumph of evil.

I just pushed the timewindow for the main page back to 10 days instead of 7, as it used to be set to. Why? Well, mainly because my tendency to load up articles on Monday and Friday led to huge chunks of information falling off the front page on those two days, a week later. This way more stuff stays up.

Why is that good? Well, a friend who shall remain nameless noted that they once decided to read all the articles on the site. I assume they merely read the front page, (because going through the archives would be a great deal of effort) which means that they could have only caught a quick snapshot.

Back to your regularly scheduled program.

Things fall apart Achebe-style, for the Bush administration. It's really quite impressive how many things are now going wrong. Imagine if the Romans had discovered, too late, that lead in the pipes might lead to crazy leaders. I hear fiddling in the background...and California is already burning.

If struggle is over, how come my sink wasn't fixed today when I arrived home? And why am I so cold all of a sudden? Go figure. Maybe a little Sun Tzu wisdom will clear things up.

Fincher is flawed solely by subtle maladies, the most odious being an apparent lack of sloth. Much as troubled relatives await the cyclical respite of pain from an ill family member, I've learned to appreciate the few moments that Fincher stops attempting to show up Sisyphus and is able to shoulder her boulder on a side avenue for a few minutes. Fortunately, this often occurs in close proximity to my workplace a couple times a week.

So we roll over to Chinatown (Gallery Place has moved from giant-hole-status to giant-concrete-block-status) and enter a silent shop filled with just a few peacoat-wearing hillies. They leave shortly thereafter and Fincher introduces me to one of the strangest beverages I've ever consumed. Ostensibly, it's a milk & tea mixture with some tapioca balls thrown in for fun. Add a giant straw large enough for a routine laproscopic operation (to suck those tasty tapioca balls up) and you've got a good picture of it.

Nicely, the beverage was surprisingly tasty. The warm version (we had both hot and cold...but no salty balls!) wasn't quite as good as the cool variety, but both were much tastier than your average run-of-the-mill tea beverage. It did take some getting used to, both the drink itself and the requisite double-entendres that floated through my head. But it was definitely worth it. The taste is somewhat hard to nail down, but the sensation of sucking up spongy balls which didn't really taste like anything was definitely unique. I'd recommend everyone try it once, although I myself could go for another (cold) one right now. According to Fincher, they weren't even all that good, which means that other places must make them better. Don't get me wrong...they're not to the level of an Eegee by any means, but they're still pretty good.

Even better, I got some decent stories from Fincher who seems to be some sort of magnet for odd people. I like to think that I end up in crazy situations, but most of the time it's of my own doing (walking around late at night leads to prostitution hilarity, see?) rather than the result of a slightly deranged person. Fincher, on the other hand, seems to run into person after person who appears to have been dropped into her life from some cosmic screenwriter's typewrite, John Candy style. Every single time I think she's hit a straight path filled with normal, ordinary, boring friends who don't rock the boat, some other idiot bounces along saying "Imperalism is Actually Good!" or "She Knows The Answer". It's enough to drive you bonkers...but at the same time, makes for a great back-and-forth. Just as I thought to myself that the conversation and concoction were the highlight of the rapidly diminishing timeframe, I popped open my fortune cookie to read the best fortune I've ever received:

Happier days are definitely ahead for you. Struggle has ended.

Damn. As I walked out a minute later, said goodbye to Fincher and moved back to the office under the clear blue skies, I realized that in fact, it was right. It's all downhill from here. I just have to stay on the right path. And I'm already on it, moving rapidly.

Here

Fight back right here. They never relent, so neither can we.

Oh, another example to clarify the last cartoon? How about this image?

Yeah, you see, the administration has figured out that if they have words behind the president's backdrop when he speaks, it creates reality itself. The perfect example of farce imitating life imitating art. It's a good thing he's not seven and a half feet tall or we'd be in real trouble. Oh, wait, maybe he already is.

Okay, so the "lying" the administration does may be a little complicated for Joe Blow in the street. Let me give you the perfect example right here.

The gig is simple: each week underreport the total number of jobless claims by a significant amount, say, 6,000. Then, the next week, sublty "adjust" the amount up 6,000 and (under)report the preliminary numbers as being a net "decrease" from the previous week, even if the number is higher than the prelim number from the week before, or if both real numbers (available a week later!) are increasing.

So by the administration's logic, each week we could have falling number of jobless claims, hence, the inevitable result. Despite emperical evidence suggesting the contrary. Black is white and up is down.

Read this. It's a perfect illustration of the divide between old Dems and new Dems, myself included. One of the better graphs:

The yuppies are culturally liberal and fiscally conservative. They deride President Bush's tax cuts as unaffordable but suspect we can't afford big new spending programs either. And, reflecting a middle-class, progressive tradition that dates back a century, they are skeptical of anything that smacks of machine politics. They like anti-politicians who tell hard truths.

It's this progressive, anti-machine politics, tempered by fiscal conservatism, that is at the heart of the new Dems. Practically libertarians in the bedroom, we still want tighter regularory control of capitalism in order to balance the budget, create jobs and grow the economy. Want proof? Well, just read Dr. Dean's latest piece in the Union Leader. We believe in fair markets to solve problems, but that the government can do better than the private sector sometimes.

Finally, and most importantly, we believe in empirical truth. Old Dems machine-style politics was based on power, not the people. Why? Because people were easily misled. Our current administration has taken advantage of America's trust: by subtly equating Iraq with 9/11, by naming projects that pollute the air "Clean Skies" and by promising "reform" which is no reform at all. Bringing back the truth to American politics will be tough, for trust, once lost, cannot be easily recovered. But when the American people are told the facts, they can decide for themselves what policies are good and what are not. They don't need help from "experts" as long as they are presented correct information rather than spin. That's why 43 keeps lying to the public: if he actually said "we embrace tax cuts for the rich" we'd boot him out of office. That's why they say "we're compassionate" all the time: to cover their tracks. Only by replacing 43 can we achieve truth at all levels of government.

I just saw Lost in Translation. A perfect movie, from start to finish. It made me want to take a trip, to pick up a plane ticket and just jet, to increase the random factor of my everyday existence a hundred-fold. It's those times, when you're up late, can't sleep and are pleased to discover notes slipped under your door that make life worth living. When you meet and greet disposable friends faster than you can throw them away with no chance of recycling. When you run into the Girl with a Pearl Earring and she manages to stop time for a single instant, even if she doesn't remember the moment later. When you make a series of horrible mistakes which only end up adding clarity to your previously muddled mind. When you finally hit rock bottom and get the Girl right before the credits, leaving everyone wanting more.

The rest of life is just choosing carpet samples. And they're all burgundy.

Nicely, the psychohistory of the Lycos 50 appears to be backing Howard Dean over General Clark. Draw your own conclusions, but I think this marks a specific turning point in the race for the Democratic presidential primary process. The new numbers out of New Hampshire, along with the lowering of expectations in Iowa (plus Joe and Wes pulling out there!) should al combine to give Dean the electoral triple-crown: DC, NH and Iowa victories.

When DC rolls around, and Dean wins, the press will hold it up as a triumph of Dean's ability to connect with southern and African-American voters. Throw in an Iowa victory and he gets the "liberal midwesterner" voters. Add the "cranky independent" New Hampshire voters and Dean starts to look unbeatable. My prediction is that Lieberman will drop out before the Feb. 3 date, as will Gephardt (after an Iowa loss) and Edwards. If Dick manages to beat Dean in Iowa (he's running neck-and-neck right now with Howard) then he'll stay in along with Kerry and Clark. We'll see if I'm right.

Evidently, some other people have noticed that the Boondocks was pulled last week. The strips are funny, regardless of Condi's sexual orientation...it begs the question of why the Post is so sensitive to something that shouldn't be an issue at all. I'd like to think I was responsible for this, but I didn't e-mail Taegan, and I won't flatter myself to think he read my site.

after a quarter century, let me just say that i have the best friends in the world. you know who you are. two new faces/names: sigourney and jodie. anyone who makes a cake for me on my b-day is priceless. and sigourney, well, she's priceless and irreplaceable.

then i came home and fought with my two housemates in a great ps2 game. my life is close to perfect. it's that final push to perfection that drives me on from day to day.