[US Politics] Welcome to a New World

This is a Tri-Blog entry that will appear on all three of my blogs - The Geeky Guide to Nearly Everything, Beyond Dinobot Island and Moonbase 8.

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Some day many years from now when people try asking me that classic question of "Where were you when Obama was sworn into office?" I'll answer as honestly as possible. I'll tell them, "I was at the office without access to a TV and our internet connection was wonky because we got hit by the W32.Downadup worm."

I know, it's not necessarily the greatest answer in the world, but it's pretty much how I'm going to remember things.

I didn't get to watch the live CNN coverage. I couldn't even get alternative sites like Justin.tv, Hulu, Joost or uStream to work for me. I guess the office was just too good at blocking streaming media and what they couldn't block was effectively stopped by the effects of the computer virus on our security infrastructure.

It wasn't a total loss, at least I got to catch news snippets here and there. I tried my best to catch comments on Twitter and I got to read the TIME.com Liveblog coverage of the event. I saw a few images on the various blogs I subscribe to via Google Reader and I noted how while the Oath was not perfect, it was certainly genuine and clearly marks Barack Hussein Obama officially becoming the 44th President of the United States of America.

The 8-year nightmare is over and now I actually feel excited about things. These past years we've feared how the awesome might of the US has been mishandled time and time again under Bush. Obama has a very tall order ahead of him and while I doubt he can possibly live up to ALL of the hype set up over the past few months, even years, but I can see it in his eyes that he's out to make a serious change for the better.

I initially wanted to end this with the full transcript of his speech but then I'm sure everyone's doing that right now and you've probably read it a million times by now. If you haven't then I've linked to it up there and you certainly should get around to it.

You go Obama. Your country and a very significant part of the world is rooting for you.

[US Politics] McCain "Pump" Ad

Okay, so we know that when it comes to politics, anything pretty much goes and the fighting between candidates just gets nastier and nastier as the actual election draws near. Of course US politics on its own always draws a lot of attention given the amount of influence the country holds over the rest of the world and considering just how entertaining things get over there.

I mean take for example the current discussions around the New York Times not accepting McCain's Od-Ed considering they previously posted Obama's. It's not an outright rejection based on political lines but is more related to the way he chose to respond to Obama's Op-Ed, where he outlined his plan for Iraq. McCain was never known to be the sharpest tool in the shed after all. Just compare Obama's Op-Ed with McCain's and you'll see what I mean.

Now throw in his most recent political ad where he's trying to blame Obama for the current fuel crises. McCain's solution - drilling inside the US. Oh right, that's sooo going to work...


#6 - ¨Pump¨ TV Ad

November feels so far away now. =(

[Viral Video Chart] February 17 - 23, 2008

Admitted, the very few non-political videos that make their way up the Viral Video Chart tend to get featured throughout the week. Still, there are a few that escape my posting timing and here they are:


#7 - [Hero] Youngest Baby Beatles Show in Diaper-Hey Jude


#8 - Just Words. Just not Obama's.


#11 - A History of Evil

[Viral Video Chart] January 27, 2008 - February 2, 2008

Surprisingly enough, the world of viral video has yet to really respond to the big news of the Microsoft bid for Yahoo. Sure, it's been only a few days but when you look at the top videos for the week, most of them surged to the top rungs towards the end of the week and not as a slow build-up over the week. It just goes to show how random viral video can be at times depending on who gets "infected" in a manner of speaking.

Still, what we're left with is pretty interesting all the same.


#1 - Barack Obama - Yes We Can music video


#2 - Frozen Grand Central


#4 - Sarah Silverman "I'm Fucking Matt Damon" on Jimmy Kimmel


#20 - Montel turns the tables on a Fox Morning Television show

[TV] Barack Obama on David Letterman

The late night talk show circuit has always been a must for any campaigning political figure in the US, especially for the presidential elections. How can you resist making even a casual appearance if only to get your name out there, right?

Then you have appearances as deeply involved as this one where Barack Obama decides to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman to read out a rather interesting Top Ten list. It even appears on his YouTube channel!


#4 - Letterman: Barack gives the Top Ten