Death Cab for Cutie - “I Will Follow You into the Dark”

Here’s the official video, but it messes with the song itself, so I prefer this fan vid of animation reminiscent of The Velveteen Rabbit. Regardless, it’s one of Ben Gibbard’s best.

From Reuters:

also from Reuters:

and this:

AlJazeera reports on the life and times of Benazir Bhutto

Wolf Blitzer reports that Bhutto emailed friend Mark Siegel telling him if she was murdered, Musharraf is responsible.

Notice the first date, December 30th, will be the candidates playing the religious. Ugh…….

From Reuters:

The presidential nominating contests for Democrats and Republicans begin next week. Here are some dates that will chart the course to the White House, ending with the election on November 4, 2008:

December 30: The last Sunday of worship ahead of caucuses in Iowa, a state with a large church-going population. Candidates will likely spend the day seeking support from the pulpits.

January 3: Iowa holds caucuses where voters go to meetings in their neighborhoods and pledge their support for candidates. In the Democratic contest, a candidate must receive at least 15 percent support from voters to place.

January 4: U.S. Department of Labor issues the December 2007 employment report. This final report on the jobs picture for 2007 could give further indications of where the U.S. economy is headed amid growing concerns among voters it is veering towards a recession.

January 5: Republican and Democratic candidates hold separate debates in Manchester, New Hampshire, trying to make a final impression on voters just three days before they go to the polls in the state’s primary vote.

January 8: New Hampshire holds its Democratic and Republican primary elections. Independent voters will be key because they can vote for either a Republican or a Democrat.

(more…)

When all else fails, fall back on what you know works.

“During the day of September 11, living through the things that I saw and observed. Immediately, when I saw people helping each other. I saw the picture of the firefighters putting the flag up at ground zero. I said these are the children or grandchildren or great-grandchildren of the greatest generation. They have the same resolve. The same understanding.” -Rudy Giuliani

From CNN:

– Ex-Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has died, according to media reports.

I hope you all had a nice holiday! I’m still recovering from TMT……too much turkey. I need to take a good long swim today. Here’s a good Christmas story for you. My Mom can’t see very well at all. She’s next to blind. She’s obsessed with the time. Every 10-15 minutes she asks, “what time is it?” So, being the thoughtful creature that I am, I got her a talking clock for Christmas. A little clock she can carry around with her. You press a button and it tells you the time. It also has an AM radio that is really easy to turn on and off. So she’s thrilled to death with it. I am so delighted that I got something useful that makes her happy. She carries the thing around with her for two days, and is so happy she doesn’t have to ask for the time. So last night, I’m busy doing dishes and cleaning the kitchen up and she’s in her bedroom calling me…..and calling me. And she’s been sick, so it freaks me out. I think to myself, oh please don’t let her be puking again!! I go in the bedroom and she hands me the clock. She says, “press this button and tell me what it says.” So much for talking clocks……..