The event occurring tonight involving Kerry and Bush is not a debate. However, I'll watch it, since the outcome will influence the home stretch heavily, shaping the rest of the election and framing the candidates in the news.

However, I, like others, do not want anyone to imagine that they're watching a real debate. So, using a link provided by Steve Laniel, I'm posting this list of The Top 10 Secrets They Don't Want You to Know About the Debates by Connie Rice, for NPR's The Tavis Smiley Show.

Read on to preview the list without the attendant explanations.

My sister-in-law just found out that she passed the Pennsylvania Bar today. Knowing what I know now about the Bar Exam process, I realize that most people would be worn to a raw emotional and mental nub, somewhere around the level of a wet cat. Well, that appeared to have happened to Rebecca*, but she was still able to show up, take the Bar, and kick its ass.

That is some very, very impressive stuff right there. Congrats, Becca.

*Oh, I kid.

Hurricane Jeanne decided to visit Philadelphia today. I guess all of the tourism advertising really paid off. It even attracts the attention of major meteorological events. Well, I hope it drops a lot of cash at the Liberty Bell gift shop, 'cause I'm sick of it. This evening Jeanne intruded into my life and became more than a news story for me. Feh. Fortunately, no one around me was hurt.

My drive home typically takes about 30—40 minutes. Tonight, it took two hours and fifteen minutes. Now, at face value, that may not seem like much. However, there were a few extenuating circumstances: 1) It was raining like crazy. 2) It was dark out. 3) All major arteries running from the NW Philly suburbs (where I work) to the Philly limits were flooded and/or blocked.* 4) I don't really know my way around that area very well. 5) Apparently, neither does anyone else, and there are, oh, just a few people who live and work in and around Philly.

Go home, Jeanne! One Philly cheesesteak is enough! They don't get any better, so go to New York now. I know you've been meaning to see the Statue of Liberty and now it's open, so just get out there and have yourself a good time in someone else's state. There's a lot of coastline left for you to see.

*For those of you familiar with the area, the Schulkyll Expressway (76) was closed in both directions. That's just WRONG, people. WRONG.

I'm sitting in a StarbucksBose conjoined store and am facing a Philips 50" plasma TV that's looping a segment from Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. I remember Lucas' new installments being criticized for their CGI work, which looked fake. I read an article talking about how they were optimized for some kind of THX digital theatre, which made the movie look ultra-realistic (or so I read).

Well, let me tell you, the plasma TV makes it look like a low budget BBC sci-fi series. The clarity and crispness (I guess) of the screen throws the weak and unimpressive CGI work into sharp relief. I keep expecting Dr. Who to run past or an Anakin vs. Dalek fight to break out. The characters look as realistic in their environment as a person standing in front of an episode of Star Trek on TV looks like they're in space.

Take my love.
Take my land.
Take me where I cannot stand.
I don’t care, I’m still free.
You can’t take the sky from me.

Take me out
to the black.
Tell ‘em I ain’t comin’ back.
Burn the land and boil the sea.
You can’t take the sky from me.

Have no place
I can be
Since I found Serenity.
But you can’t take the sky from me.

If you watched Firefly, you'd feel the same way.

As I write this, we've finished almost all of the 3rd season 1 disc, which is sad since season 1 is the only season of this show. I admit that I blew it off when it was on TV. Partially because I don't watch much TV and partially because the premise sounded incredibly lame. But, after too many recommendations from too many people I know and trust, Alisa and I decided it was time to give it a try. Man, that's some good TV.

It's even getting to the point where I like the theme song, which is sick. Go rent it right now. You won't be disappointed (unless you are lame).

This past weekend I learned a little about myself as a child. However, I didn’t gain this wisdom through reflection or reading, but through the bane of The Home Movie. The unforgiving eye of the Camcorder magnetically inscribed my youthful eccentricity on video, in the hands of my father. And, in spite of what my brother claims, I was by far the weirdest person on tape. However, it wasn’t because I said anything particularly odd for a young child, or because I hit my dad in the crotch with a wiffle ball bat in a Funniest Home Videos kind of way (I never have). No, it’s because I, apparently, was incapable of being still.

I’m not sure whether it was the camera, a glandular issue (Alisa would probably claim the latter), or both, but my main tenet of childhood seemed to be:

Always have one or fewer limbs on the ground at any given moment. More is bad. If at all possible, perform any action with the maximum percentage of one’s body, preferably with as much leaping and acrobatic contortion as possible.

I showed more promise of being a dancer than anyone in my family, and at the same time showed that I couldn’t possibly have handled the constraints of what is formally known as ‘dancing’. I almost certainly had/have some form of… whatever it is that makes you run around like a tweaker.

Because my brother is fortunate enough to have a system that doesn't completely gag on heapin' helpin's of data dished out by high-end games, I got a chance to play some of Doom 3 on his laptop* for the first time. My first impression is that it's an intense game that amps up the fear and adrenaline, not by demanding a twitchy finger, but by keeping you in a constant state of fear. However, the rush of combat and breaking tension is dampened by the fact that fighting ghouls on Mars is like firing ammunition into an unlit closet.

*In the interests of honesty, I'll add that his laptop could only play with medium-to-low settings, but with Doom 3, this still means great graphics.