Pizza and the Prez

Working on a theatre show makes me eat less. While some folks gain weight in rehearsals by eating fast food before or after working the stage, I lose it. I eat a little so my stomach doesn't betray me during a scene. I also do this during performances. You may have noticed I wolfed down an entire pizza at Mellow Mushroom. I usually don't do that. Now that I'm away from the show for a few days, a man's thoughts turn to chowing down like a mofo. Your Sis thought she had laid out lasagna to thaw for dinner, but it was actually hot wings. We just had wings Monday for the traditional night of messy eats and rasslin', and I wanted a big meal. We made tracks for the phone, dialed up pizza delivery, and within a half-hour were up to our elbows in buttery cheese and bread. I even manged to get onto Guitar Hero and discovered it includes Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend," only one of the best air-guitar songs evah. I was practically giggling as I played it.

And then I watched the State of the Union. Bush had a hard sell on his hands, and he delivered quite a nice explanation of why Iraq is a hellhole right now. But I think his level of detail undercut his argument for standing firm. If the region is a growing battlefield between Sunni and Shiite extremists, why should we expect a secular democracy to maintain stability? Saddam's Iraq worked because he was a tyrant, and we're selling a whole 'nother form of doing business in a region where an iron fist could be pretty damn handy right about now. Otherwise, the speech offered a lot of far-off deadlines for fuel alternatives, balanced budgets, and baby-boomer support programs. I liked the ending of the speech as Bush waited until the last five minutes to say the state was strong (usually occurs within the first five) and end the address on a high note.

This may have been his best speech since the 2004 convention, but he's hawking suspect merchandise with the meek accountability of a guy working on a countdown to Memoirville. Also, his choices for the annual roll call of Good Americans was weak: Dikimbe Mutombo, the founder of Baby Einstein, a quick-thinking construction worker, and the requisite military good ole boy hero. If there's anything to glean from the address, it was that Bush is well aware he owns a sinking minority stance on issues both foreign and domestic and needed a speech that would ask for help. He delivered it, doing no further harm but offering no greater notions. My biggest quibbles would be his alleged success stories of foiling further attacks such as the unfounded Los Angeles plot and the British liquid-explosive case that was thrown out of court for lack of evidence.

Picture of the Day
They brought the commercials back! Time to un-pimp yo auto!