Electoral Vote

I find the Website Electoral-Vote.com to be sooooo useful. I refer to it everyday. It shows a map of red and blue states as compiled with the latest polls of the day. It changes every single day and shows which presidential candidate is leading based on the electoral vote count (which is the only thing that matters). My impression is that too many of the news outlets are focusing on popular vote counts and ignoring the electoral vote count, especially now that Tim Russert is gone. He was very good at giving us run-downs of how things could play out with this-or-that state going red or blue. We miss ya Tim!!

(By the way, Barack has been ahead on electoral votes counts almost the entire time, with a very short Palin-bounce for McCain after the convention. The badge at the top of my post is accurate for the day you are reading this.)

The site also has great information on the close congressional races as well, although it does not focus on the individual polls for those.

And, if you're trying to figure out who should get your vote in November, go to GlassBooth.org. It looks at the various issues-of-the-day and tries to match your views to Barack Obama or John McCain. This was especially fun when the primaries were going on. A lot of people I know found out that their views closely matched Dennis Kucinich, and boy, were they surprised!!

The Hemp Revolution

We just watched a sort-of documentary called "The Hemp Revolution." It looks like it was produced in the 1980s but it is really informative on the many, many, many uses of hemp. A source of Omega-3 oils, of protein, the best fiber for making clothing (from silkier-than-silk to jeans) and a great way to produce cellulosic ethanol. And it is illegal to grow hemp in the U.S. ... why??? 

(No, it isn't good to smoke. Hemp is different from marijuana.)

You've gotta see this movie.

NOTE:  I say "sort-of-documentary" because it is really slanted toward the good side of hemp and doesn't give any information on the (there's gotta be) downsides of the crop.

Cutting the Cable

Okay, we are trying something new. We stopped out DirecTV satellite TV service this month and we're going without. We are going to use the Internet and NetFlix as our only entertainment sources.

Wish us luck! I'll update this blog as we progress.

(photo by afred on Flickr)

Darwin Awards - One of the Best Movies

My wife and I just watched one of the best movies we've seen in a long time. The Darwin Awards with Joseph Fiennes and Winona Ryder is billed as a "dark comedy" and, while a lot of people do die, it is truly funny and insightful. Fiennes is hilarious (don't miss the shower scene) and Ryder is lovely and a great kick.

I can't recommend this movie highly enough. Why didn't I hear about it in 2006 when it came out?? And why does it only get 5.8 / 10 on IMDB.com??