it's...

I've been a closet political junkie (perhaps closeted only in my own estimation) ever since the election of 2000 when I stayed up watching that endless election coverage in three green. Remember how ABC's studio caught on fire! You can relive that night here. So please forgive me this indulgence, but I just wanted to draw your attention to the following...

Unless you were watching PBS or C-Span, you might have missed two of the best speeches at the Convention. Yes, they were primely scheduled, but on Monday and Wednesday the networks both chose to show us their punditry instead of the good political theatre we all craved.

As a keynote speaker, Mark Warner disappointed me. But then Brian Schweitzer lit things up with a barnstorming call & response that was aped time and time again this convention, but never as effectively. You just need to see it. Schweitzer is just fantastically good at speaking plainly but pointedly (like Bill Clinton but stylistically very different). "Clean, green and American made" should be the rallying cry for all the energy initiatives that the country now seems primed to adopt. Coining the phrase "Petro-dictators" was another highlight. Oh, and he wears a bolo. How can you not love this? How can it not make you want to move to Montana, even just a little?

The other entertaining speech you might have missed benefited greatly from low expectations. John Kerry gave his best speech -- ever. He did a great skewering the McCain of today over his differences with the McCain of 2000. The Bush/McCain slip just seemed too perfectly timed to have been accidental. Then again, does anyone think Kerry is that good of an actor?

Both are 15 minutes, and some of my favorites from the convention. Like any good speech give it 3-5 minutes to build up.

Brian Schweitzer


John Kerry

Has anyone else noticed how Astronomers (or more correctly astronomy-related careers) keep popping up in TV spots for giant corporations? First, I noticed a brainy looking guy pimping LCD TVs, with tiny text identifying him as an... astrophysicist?. Now there's a guy who works on models of planets at the Hayden planetarium hawking Avodart (he has a going problem). Anyone else catch the planet du jour for shrinking prostates? Almost surprising that the guy wasn't Neil deGrasse Tyson, who's Colbert Report count stands at 5, by the way. So maybe there is a burgeoning income supplement for astronomers who have the looks for TV... Then again, two data points do not make a trend. Back to fishing for postdoc postings.