Awww.

It looks like my new phone may have a shelf life of less than 24 hours. I’m allowed to return it within 14 days, and I think I will be doing so later today (Saturday). Not because there’s anything wrong with the phone per se — the Sanyo 8300 a great little gadget, with many wonderful features. But it’s missing one very important feature, albeit one Sprint doesn’t officially consider a legitimate “feature” in the first place.

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Sorry for the general lack of blogging today. As it turns out, relaxing in Phoenix is more likely to result in actual blog-silence than last-minute pre-exam study sessions are, no matter how many times I say blogging will be light in the latter case. :) Alas, the blogging quasi-hiatus will probably continue tomorrow, as Becky and I will be quite busy moving into our new apartment. Updates on tomorrow’s New Orleans mayoral election may fall to my dad. (No pressure, Dad… hehe.) NOLA.com will have live election returns as they come in. I’ll just say this: GO LANDRIEU!!!

I do want to post a couple of very brief items, though. First off… Harry Reid evidently thinks that 63 of his Senate colleagues, and 83 percent of Americans, support racism. Yep, the Democrats are definitely going to take back the Congress (and, in two years, the presidency), with that sort of rhetoric. Uh-huh. Way to go, Harry.

Secondly, the always-entertaining, never-enlightening Pat Robertson says God told him that “the coasts of America will be lashed by storms” in 2006. Hat tip to Mike, who comments:

The coasts will be “lashed with storms�, eh? Well, I’ll go out on a limb and predict…the Midwestern skies will blaze with lightning this year too.

It’s always great to use grandiose-yet-vague phrasing to predict thoroughly normal events. Instead of saying that there will be a lot of rain in the tropical rain forests (hence why they are called *rain* forests…), you can instead say that the jungles of the equator will be deluged with torrential downpours. Sounds a lot more ominous, doesn’t it?

Heh. Indeed.

In fairness, Robertson does actually predict something legitimately ominous when he adds: “There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest.” Well, David, you’d better “get the hell out” now, because you know, Pat Robertson is never wrong. ;)

This has been your fair & balanced BrendanLoy.com “idiots on both sides of the ideological spectrum” post of the day. :)

Saint Joe 1,004 (66.5%), Lord Ned 505 (33.5%). / Total delegates Voting: 1,509. Total delegates Delegated: 1,607. Undervote: 98 (6.1%). Frauuud. :>

…The bitterness toward Lieberman and his support of the war was evident Friday night. About 60 peace activists protested outside the Expo Center. And some Lamont supporters loudly chanted “Go Home Joe” when U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., nominated Lieberman. Dodd acknowledged the discontent, saying he appreciates people who speak up about issues.

“Unlike the other party, we don’t try to stifle those differences. We honor and respect them,” Dodd said.

Dodd, his voice hoarse, reminded Democrats of Lieberman’s longtime dedication to Connecticut and his support of key issues such as the environment and working to protect the U.S. Submarine Base in Groton.

But Lamont supporters said they believe Lieberman has forgotten his roots.

“Lieberman has just deserted the causes that I think make the party strong,” said delegate Rona Cohen of New Britain.

Max Medina, a Bridgeport attorney who helped to persuade Lamont to run for the Senate, said voting against Lieberman would send a message to the country.

“Our fight for a more just and humane America begins tonight, with you and me. In this place, at this time, you and I have the power to send a message to America, including George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld,” he said.

Lieberman left the convention early because of the Jewish sabbath. U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. planned to give an acceptance speech on his behalf.

The convention results, while not especially encouraging for Party-endorsed-candidate Lieberman re the August 8 primary, do demonstrate that it was his campaign which was being Accurate ~ and Ned’s that was intentionally Poormouthing the Expectations game ~ in the advance Spin:

…Lieberman’s campaign predicted that Lamont will force the primary at the convention by landing 30 percent to 35 percent of the votes.

“That’s crazy,” Lamont’s campaign manager, Tom Swan said, saying Lieberman’s people were inflating the numbers to raise expectations. “If they raise expectations, when we do it, they can say it’s not a big deal.”

Instead, Lamont’s campaign officials predict it will be a close call, and they may have to resort to submitting the thousands of signatures they have begun collecting from registered Democrats.

“We literally have hundreds of people out collecting petitions because we’re not sure what’s going to happen this week,” Swan said. “We’re not taking anything for granted. It is very hard to get 15 percent at a convention.”

Yeah, like they didn’t Know they were going to Double that qualifying threshold & thus not Neeed any Steeenkin’ Petitions. :>

In related News :), Ned Lamont is Rich. NOW who’s the the Closet Republican, hah? Hah? :> And speaking of NOW, they’re for Ned. Well there ya Go. :|

I got a new phone… a Sanyo MM-8300. Becky got one, too. Woohoo!

Eragon poster, woohoo! … Da Vinci was pretty good, though not having read it, there were plot points that confused me. (But I’m easily confused by movies with complex plots.) Ian McKellan rocked. Best line: “Well, I do have a plane.” :)

UPDATE: Roger offers a more thorough review.

Or maybe you want to know what to get your wife for her birthday. Or even ask for dinner advice. Well the good folks at DearNSA can help you find those answers and more!

I didn't take too many pictures during the road trip of our fifth traveling companion, but in case anyone was wondering, Patriot the betta fish made it to Arizona safe and sound. :)

Becky and I are off to see The Da Vinci Code. I realize many critics don’t like it, complaining that it has too much exposition and gets bogged down in its own plot. But whatever. I’d pay $8.50 (or $6.50 in this case, since it’s a matinee) to watch Ian McKellen and Tom Hanks standing in a garden watching grass grow. They’re that good. :)

P.S. And if you think I’m exaggerating, consider: I did, in fact, pay $8.50 to watch Tom Hanks sit on a desert island all by himself and talk to a volleyball for an hour and a half. :)

The CT Democratic State Convention endorses a candidate for U.S. Senator tonight. In the runup to the roll-call,

Ned Lamont aired the first television commercials of his Senate campaign Wednesday, two spots by an adman known for edgy and offbeat ways to make his clients stand out during busy campaign seasons.

The initial ads by Bill Hillsman on behalf of Lamont’s challenge of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman leaned more on cute than edgy - with a surprise gesture to an important constituency: Internet bloggers.

“But they’re edgy cute, not Ziggy cute,” said Liz Dupont-Diehl, a Lamont spokeswoman.

A 60-second spot that aired Wednesday with heavy play begins as do dozens of other political ads: The candidate is seated on a couch, staring earnestly into the camera.

“Hi, I’m Ned Lamont. I’m a Democrat. I’m running for U.S. Senate,” Lamont says.

Then a young man stares in from outside the window over Lamont’s shoulder. He soon is joined by others, who listen excitedly as Lamont says he is running “because George Bush is wrong.”

Finally, they burst into the house.

“We saw the commercial. We love it,” says the young man. “We’re all here to volunteer.”

“This commercial?” Lamont replies. “We’re still shooting.”

“This is important,” the young man says. “Look, everybody is here, ready to go. So hurry it up.”

The young man is Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, known on the Internet as Kos, founder of perhaps the most popular political blog, Daily Kos - a site that has promoted and helped raise money for Lamont.

“We are the fun and hopeful campaign,” said Tom Swan, Lamont’s campaign manager. “It was only natural that we’d have some humor in our spots.”

A second ad that airs today spoofs Lamont’s underdog status. It opens with a dog barking at a Lieberman lawn sign…

Awww. You mean, no more Dogs for Joe? :) Read the whole thing. But speaking of mutts :> I wonder whether there are any moderate-Democrat pro-Lieberman bloggers out there who’d like to do a counterbalancing Cameo for Saint Joe. ;>. (Always assuming that Forty Acres & a Mule Inc. will give Them a waiver from the Exclusive Screenproperty contract they made Them sign. :) It’d be Nerdy cute, if not Spikey cute. :>

The Courant also reports that Lieberman, having worked the phones fiercely of late,

…is virtually guaranteed of winning the convention, but his anti-war challenger, Ned Lamont, is expected to carry at least 15 percent of the vote, qualifying him for a rare primary against a sitting senator. Even if Lamont should fall short, he still can petition his way onto the ballot.

… Lamont’s supporters wear buttons picturing the infamous kiss Bush planted on Lieberman’s cheek after the 2005 State of the Union address.

…In recent weeks, Lieberman has labored to calm and cajole restive Democrats, dialing hundreds of the 1,607 delegates who will convene in Hartford at the Connecticut Expo Center.

…Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, will be absent from the convention Friday night in observance of the Sabbath. In other years, he has recorded a message accepting the nomination.

This year, Lieberman has decided that a prerecorded message would be inappropriate. His acceptance speech will be delivered by a surrogate, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District.

Meanwhile, CT Dems are trying to Cook a Deal to avoid a nasty Credentials battle over the Hartford delegation which, if it happens, could render the Gubernatorial nomination (also likely to be Decided in the August 8 primary) even Less than worthless ~ the latter being its current estimated value as the hugely-popular Repub Gov. M. Jodi “Not Rowland” Rell seeks election In Her Own Right.

Sorry for getting drool on your keyboard… But given my nerdiness growing up with Brendan (OK, so I’ve never actually outgrown it), I felt that I had to post this one on his site … Thousands of props, uniforms, etc. from Star Trek, its spinoffs, and its movies are going to be auctioned off later on this year.

I may not be the nerd I used to be, but this does make me wish that I had a few million bucks to spend :-)

So ends CamryCast 2006. Check back in August for CamryCast Reloaded! :)

We’re officially in the Phoenix Valley, on the 101 in Mesa, heading toward the 60, which will take us to Gold Canyon. Woohoo!

Here’s the official Brendan & Becky Road Trip Photo for this, our seventh cross-country (or, um, cross-a-significant-part-of-the-country) road trip:

The pic was taken at a rest stop in Winona, AZ… not a particularly scenic view, but I knew it was going to be our last stop, and I wanted to get a picture of the two of us, since we have at least one such photo from each of our previous road trips. :)

And here’s a really cool photo which makes me wonder whether, when J.R.R. Tolkien wrote “The Road Goes Ever On and On,” he was thinking about I-40 in New Mexico:

:) Pretty cool, eh?