Wine and Vodka
The Days of Wine and Vodka
Is actually the title of an episode in season three of Melrose Place. Fans of the show (ahem, me) will tell you that this is far and away the single best season of the show by. It's really amazing. As I sit here, watching the season three finale and being a little bit sad that this joyous ride of re-living television from my junior year of college is ending and also being grateful to Matt McD for making this MP festival at Chez Jocelyn possible, I am convinced that it is the best season of Melrose Place (though in fairness it does not come close to the brilliance of season two of 90210). In season three of this masterpiece of evening soap opera, we experience all of the following thrills and stresses:
- Dr. Kimberly Shaw has returned from the dead and framed Jane for Michael's murder, but she's crazy and has lost all of her hair. Sydney is convicted of Michael's murder attempt and sent to a loony bin.
- Amanda's father tries to have Jake killed on his boat.
- We are introduced to Jack Wagner and his hair in the role of Dr. Peter Burns. During the first episode he appears in, Dr. Peter Burns utters the following line to Amanda in reference to a chess game: "I'm tired of playing with myself."
- Jane attempts to marry an Australian, but it turns out that he's actually tried to rape Sidney. Michael and Kimberly break up the marriage and then get married themselves. When attempting to tell Jake about the attempted rape, Sydney says the following, "I'm a former hooker just out of the loony bin. Who's going to believe me?" Who, indeed, Sidney?
- Allison becomes an alcoholic, at one point uttering the line to Billy "At least in the morning, I'll be sober. You'll still be a self-centered pig." She then enters rehab where she becomes involved with a recovering sex addict.
- Jo is pregnant with the baby of a drug addicted ex-boyfriend whom she had to kill when he kidnapped her and locked her on a boat during a drug deal gone bad. His parents want custody of the baby, so rather than just give up the baby, Kimberly and Jo conspire to fake that the baby was born stillborn. But then Kimberly steals the baby and refuses to give it back to Jo.
- Amanda loses her job at D&D advertising. Then she and Peter pull a coup and get it back. Then the former president of D&D hangs himself in the office. Then Peter and his lover force Amanda out of her job again. But she rebounds, catches them extorting money and gets her job back. Then Amanda gets cancer and loses her job again. Allison takes over the agency and turns into a bitch. Then Amanda pulls yet another coup and gets her job back again. Oh, and her cancer goes into remission.
- Traci Lords guest stars for four episodes as Sidney joins a cult.
- A far less wholesome Kristin Davis guest stars for five episodes and almost marries Billy, who is left alone because Allison gets transferred to Hong Kong.
- Jake and Sidney have sex. Jake and Jane have sex. Michael and Jane have sex. Michael and Sidney have sex. Michael and Kimberly have sex. Michael and Amanda have sex. Amanda and Peter have sex. Jake and Jo have sex. Jo and Jake's brother, played by Dan Cortes, have sex. Dan Cortes is even less believable playing Jake's older brother than he was as a "VJ" on MTV.
- Kimberly goes to "I'm not a victim" camp. Then she frames Michael for stalking Amanda.
- Jake and Dan Cortes leap from a construction platform. Billy and Kristin Davis may or may not get married in the cliff-hanger finale.
Maybe you didn't want to watch 24 episodes of brilliance. And if so, I say shame on you. But the preview for the dvd release gives you many of the best moments anyway. So enjoy.
People Who Serve Wine and Vodka
So, Saturday was caucus day here. I'm sure you heard by now that Hillary won. Which of course was very exciting for me, and was a key State for her because she didn't have much of a chance in South Carolina and needed to have split with Obama before Super Tuesday.
I would tell you that Hillary won Nevada based on hard campaigning. Most of the state's votes come from Vegas, and she and Bill were both here ALL week. And there were mass public events EVERY NIGHT. You could not miss them. You couldn't NOT be informed about where you were supposed to caucus and how. And by the way, I've never lived in a State with a caucus instead of a primary before, but it's good. It really makes you feel like part of the process, and it keeps politics local. Though, you know, no anonymity.
Anyway, the stats will tell you that Hillary won because of three things.
The women's vote, which makes sense.
The Latino vote, which also makes sense if you look at Clinton's historic voting record.
The fact that the workers of the Culinary Union didn't all vote their union endorsement (which was Obama). Now, given that this cross over of Culinary Union workers to the Hillary camp would be why she won (because it was really close - like you had no doubt that your vote counted it was so close), it still causes me pause.
I am neither pro union nor anti-union. What I am is a person who wants unions to work. Unions have been good to my parents, and to my grandparents, and possibly in the future to Pookie. I also do believe that people in power will take advantage of people without power, and unions are a good way to protect against that. HOWEVER, the unfortunate thing is that unions have shifted the balance of power, not created an equilibrium. It's the unions taking advantage of owners and executives when they insist that an auto factory worker is valued at $60,000 a year plus a benefits package worth a third of that salary plus a pension plan and then hamstring corporations from moving their labor force from the United States to places where labor is more affordable (and often more motivated). So, at this moment in time, I am certainly not pro-union. In most ways, they do more harm than good these days and just come off sounding whiny and greedy.
That said, I think the institution of unions is a good one and should be preserved.
Which is why I find it troublesome that the workers of the Culinary Union crossed over union affiliation in the primary. I knew that the Culinary Union endorsement of Obama would be hard to make happen. This is a union made up LARGELY of women who serve drinks to men for a living. Of course they're going to want to rally behind a woman. Also, it was already known that Hillary was going to take a large portion of the Latino vote here, and the Culinary Union in Vegas is, obviously, largely Latino.
Now, you will certainly not hear me saying that I think that people shouldn't vote for the candidate that best represents them. However, when you cross your union affiliation, it's a little bit short sighted. You need to support the organization that's going to protect YOU the most. Neither presidential candidate meets that criteria, but your union does. The problem, though, when you cross the union affiliation and vote otherwise, is that you weaken your union. One of the strengths of unions is that they can exert power on politicians, and they can do that because unions control HUGE blocks of MOBILIZED voters - voters you can count on to show up at the polls. When union members cross their union affiliation and vote for another candidate (and in this case in numbers that cause that candidate to win), they weaken the unions ability to lobby for them and get results.
So, while I'm glad Hillary won, and I don't love unions in their current form, I'm a little disappointed at the behavior of the Culinary Union workers altogether. Support the establishment that's supported you. In this town, the Culinary Union does a lot of good for a lot of people. It's possible they'll be able to do less of that in the future because they'll no longer be considered a unified, mobilized force.
But I'm glad she took Nevada.
Is actually the title of an episode in season three of Melrose Place. Fans of the show (ahem, me) will tell you that this is far and away the single best season of the show by. It's really amazing. As I sit here, watching the season three finale and being a little bit sad that this joyous ride of re-living television from my junior year of college is ending and also being grateful to Matt McD for making this MP festival at Chez Jocelyn possible, I am convinced that it is the best season of Melrose Place (though in fairness it does not come close to the brilliance of season two of 90210). In season three of this masterpiece of evening soap opera, we experience all of the following thrills and stresses:
- Dr. Kimberly Shaw has returned from the dead and framed Jane for Michael's murder, but she's crazy and has lost all of her hair. Sydney is convicted of Michael's murder attempt and sent to a loony bin.
- Amanda's father tries to have Jake killed on his boat.
- We are introduced to Jack Wagner and his hair in the role of Dr. Peter Burns. During the first episode he appears in, Dr. Peter Burns utters the following line to Amanda in reference to a chess game: "I'm tired of playing with myself."
- Jane attempts to marry an Australian, but it turns out that he's actually tried to rape Sidney. Michael and Kimberly break up the marriage and then get married themselves. When attempting to tell Jake about the attempted rape, Sydney says the following, "I'm a former hooker just out of the loony bin. Who's going to believe me?" Who, indeed, Sidney?
- Allison becomes an alcoholic, at one point uttering the line to Billy "At least in the morning, I'll be sober. You'll still be a self-centered pig." She then enters rehab where she becomes involved with a recovering sex addict.
- Jo is pregnant with the baby of a drug addicted ex-boyfriend whom she had to kill when he kidnapped her and locked her on a boat during a drug deal gone bad. His parents want custody of the baby, so rather than just give up the baby, Kimberly and Jo conspire to fake that the baby was born stillborn. But then Kimberly steals the baby and refuses to give it back to Jo.
- Amanda loses her job at D&D advertising. Then she and Peter pull a coup and get it back. Then the former president of D&D hangs himself in the office. Then Peter and his lover force Amanda out of her job again. But she rebounds, catches them extorting money and gets her job back. Then Amanda gets cancer and loses her job again. Allison takes over the agency and turns into a bitch. Then Amanda pulls yet another coup and gets her job back again. Oh, and her cancer goes into remission.
- Traci Lords guest stars for four episodes as Sidney joins a cult.
- A far less wholesome Kristin Davis guest stars for five episodes and almost marries Billy, who is left alone because Allison gets transferred to Hong Kong.
- Jake and Sidney have sex. Jake and Jane have sex. Michael and Jane have sex. Michael and Sidney have sex. Michael and Kimberly have sex. Michael and Amanda have sex. Amanda and Peter have sex. Jake and Jo have sex. Jo and Jake's brother, played by Dan Cortes, have sex. Dan Cortes is even less believable playing Jake's older brother than he was as a "VJ" on MTV.
- Kimberly goes to "I'm not a victim" camp. Then she frames Michael for stalking Amanda.
- Jake and Dan Cortes leap from a construction platform. Billy and Kristin Davis may or may not get married in the cliff-hanger finale.
Maybe you didn't want to watch 24 episodes of brilliance. And if so, I say shame on you. But the preview for the dvd release gives you many of the best moments anyway. So enjoy.
People Who Serve Wine and Vodka
So, Saturday was caucus day here. I'm sure you heard by now that Hillary won. Which of course was very exciting for me, and was a key State for her because she didn't have much of a chance in South Carolina and needed to have split with Obama before Super Tuesday.
I would tell you that Hillary won Nevada based on hard campaigning. Most of the state's votes come from Vegas, and she and Bill were both here ALL week. And there were mass public events EVERY NIGHT. You could not miss them. You couldn't NOT be informed about where you were supposed to caucus and how. And by the way, I've never lived in a State with a caucus instead of a primary before, but it's good. It really makes you feel like part of the process, and it keeps politics local. Though, you know, no anonymity.
Anyway, the stats will tell you that Hillary won because of three things.
The women's vote, which makes sense.
The Latino vote, which also makes sense if you look at Clinton's historic voting record.
The fact that the workers of the Culinary Union didn't all vote their union endorsement (which was Obama). Now, given that this cross over of Culinary Union workers to the Hillary camp would be why she won (because it was really close - like you had no doubt that your vote counted it was so close), it still causes me pause.
I am neither pro union nor anti-union. What I am is a person who wants unions to work. Unions have been good to my parents, and to my grandparents, and possibly in the future to Pookie. I also do believe that people in power will take advantage of people without power, and unions are a good way to protect against that. HOWEVER, the unfortunate thing is that unions have shifted the balance of power, not created an equilibrium. It's the unions taking advantage of owners and executives when they insist that an auto factory worker is valued at $60,000 a year plus a benefits package worth a third of that salary plus a pension plan and then hamstring corporations from moving their labor force from the United States to places where labor is more affordable (and often more motivated). So, at this moment in time, I am certainly not pro-union. In most ways, they do more harm than good these days and just come off sounding whiny and greedy.
That said, I think the institution of unions is a good one and should be preserved.
Which is why I find it troublesome that the workers of the Culinary Union crossed over union affiliation in the primary. I knew that the Culinary Union endorsement of Obama would be hard to make happen. This is a union made up LARGELY of women who serve drinks to men for a living. Of course they're going to want to rally behind a woman. Also, it was already known that Hillary was going to take a large portion of the Latino vote here, and the Culinary Union in Vegas is, obviously, largely Latino.
Now, you will certainly not hear me saying that I think that people shouldn't vote for the candidate that best represents them. However, when you cross your union affiliation, it's a little bit short sighted. You need to support the organization that's going to protect YOU the most. Neither presidential candidate meets that criteria, but your union does. The problem, though, when you cross the union affiliation and vote otherwise, is that you weaken your union. One of the strengths of unions is that they can exert power on politicians, and they can do that because unions control HUGE blocks of MOBILIZED voters - voters you can count on to show up at the polls. When union members cross their union affiliation and vote for another candidate (and in this case in numbers that cause that candidate to win), they weaken the unions ability to lobby for them and get results.
So, while I'm glad Hillary won, and I don't love unions in their current form, I'm a little disappointed at the behavior of the Culinary Union workers altogether. Support the establishment that's supported you. In this town, the Culinary Union does a lot of good for a lot of people. It's possible they'll be able to do less of that in the future because they'll no longer be considered a unified, mobilized force.
But I'm glad she took Nevada.
posted by pregamejocelyn at
10:57 PM
permalink baby
13 Comments:
Well, Hillary DIDN'T win.
Obama got 13 delegates. Hillary got 12.
Howard Wolfson, Hillary's campaign manager, said that it is a delegate race and that's all that counts.
Obama won the delegates; that's all that counts.
By
Political Scientist, at 4:39 AM
Dude. Your candidate is McCain. Even though you have a PhD, do you think it's possible for me to take you seriously when your candidate is McCain?
By
pregamejocelyn, at 12:52 PM
Let's put it this way- I *really* wish I could find a You Tube clip/story but whatever- three weeks ago, at a live speech, Madame Clinton said that people who have Wall Street careers "don't work for a living." Whether it's politics or gamesmanship, it was a pretty dumb thing to say and marginalized many Wall Street Democrats (there are a surprising bevy of them). Nobody talks about that, but this is why the numbers have come back in for her.
As for me, her simply being that mean-spirited instead of using political speak for "I think taxes should be raised for Wall Streeters" showed true classlessness and caused me to lose any respect I had for her.
By
iubraves95, at 1:14 PM
A few things:
1) Blaming unions for being the reason companies have shipped labor overseas is not so well thought out. Let's break it down a bit: let's say i get some workers together, and because we've organized, we always lobby for our workers to make living wage. You may think $60,000 a year is alot for a factory worker to make, but in the grand scheme of what's going on in housing and cost to send children to college, it's not really much at all. In fact, $60,000 is well below what inflation would require for someone to pull a comfortable middle class living, but hey, the middle class is pretty much a gutted reality at this point. Anyway, i think labor was bound to go overseas because there is no labor regulation there, and what corporate asshole wouldn't want to increase profit margins and look good for a promotion or to increase the company stock. Problem being, those increased profit margins would never go back to workers without unions. So, obviously companies go overseas. It's not because of unions as much as it's because other countries don't HAVE unions. Capitalism will always seek the bottom dollar, and as much as everyone will always tell you competition is what makes capitalism so healthy and vibrant, it rarely has humanity at the forefront of its interest. Case in point: we're okay with sweatshop, child labor, as long as Walmart can really say "Always Less. ALWAYS." and not be committing false advertising. Well, guess who doesn't allow unions in their ranks...
2) I like alot about Hillary. In fact, under different circumstances, i'd vote for her. But you know what I hold against Hillary more than her own policies? The fact that if she is elected, there is no doubt in my mind that Bill and all his old boy advisors will be quite present in her decision making...and i'd like to see the maximum clearing out of old political blood that is humanly possible. I realize we still have the formality of rigged elections to get through in this country, but I'd still like to think of us as a country that chooses progress over political dynasties, eventually.
Deluded, i know.
Cheers!
-pook
By
joel, at 2:19 PM
Weak. The fact remains: the popular vote result doesn't matter in a caucus. It's how the delegates are apportioned. As certain precincts are weighted differently, Obama was able to eke out one more delegate than Clinton and currently leads the delegate count. Your post and the media have ignored this important fact. Just ask Al Gore about the popular vote.
As for my supporting McCain:
He's a friggin' war hero who was given the opportunity to get released early and REFUSED.
Hillary says she's tough. John McCain would eat her alive, along with Osama bin Laden.
Now, if I supported Ron Paul, you might have a leg to stand on.
By
Political Scientist, at 8:07 PM
Joel - There is NO world in which a factory worker is worth $60,000 + benefits. I CANNOT BELIEVE WE ARE HAVING THIS ARGUMENT AGAIN. I've lived on well less than that in some of the most expensive cities in the world WITH an honors college education and been just fine. Not everybody needs to own a home, two cars and an HDTV.
Dave - I REFUSE TO DEBATE THIS ELECTION WITH YOU. I know that you wait every four years to argue politics. I refuse to do it. I refuse. Unless, of course, we are in the same room with a bottle of wine and I can augment my argument by doing imitations.
By
pregamejocelyn, at 10:00 PM
Jos, what exactly do you think happens in factories? Parties?
People don't walk into factories and make $60,000 a year. They work for 30 years, 40-70 hours/week, and they get pay increases if they stick around.
Why do so many people seem to be under the impression that people like factory workers, nurses, just get a dumptruck of money every month for doing nothing.
*sigh*
Alright. We;ll talk about this again, i'm sure;)
By
joel, at 10:10 PM
I'm not asking you to debate preferences (Hillary versus Obama versus McCain).
I am simply asking, as a political scientist who has a reputation among his students for being very nonpartisan in the classroom, that you acknowledge the FACT (not opinion) that Hillary did not win in Nevada on Saturday. My supporting McCain (or having a certain fascination with Obama) has nothing to do with this. I am merely trying to dispense truth, justice, and all of that.
We will be in Bozeman in early March to find a house. Bring the wine and we'll debate the merits of McCain, Hillary, Obama, etc.
By
Political Scientist, at 5:12 AM
In fact, there is some evidence that capitalism can sometimes create a "race to the top".
The Big Three automobile companies recently indicated that the wanted the federal government to establish a national healthcare plan. Why? Because for every car produced in the US, something like 2-3,000 bucks is tacked on for healthcare costs. In Europe and Japan where universal systems exist, these costs do not get passed onto the consumer.
In short, this is a very good example of where increased government regulation in another country combined with free trade markets can push capitalism to advocate for increased social spending by the government. A goodly number of US corporations, in seeking to make the biggest profit, want government to pick up the healthcare tab.
It works both ways. Sometimes capitalism pushes corporations overseas due to fewer regulations. Sometimes regulations in other markets push companies to advocate for increased federal involvement, benefiting the worker. Capitalism, free trade, and corporations do not always result in the worker getting screwed.
By
Political Scientist, at 5:53 AM
Dear David Christopher William,
I will certainly concede that Obama is ahead in the delegate race. I also point out that Bill Clinton did not capture a delegate majority until June 2nd during one of his election terms. Obviously, it's a delegate race and I'm not going to argue with you on that. Though I fear for the Democratic party if, ultimately, their delegate winner doesn't match their popular winner. Whatever. I fear for the democratic party anyway.
What's next? You'd like me to tell you that Brady is a better QB than Manning because he statistically won the touchdown record?
See you in March.
xo,
jos
By
pregamejocelyn, at 12:57 PM
Oh my. I'm so late to this.
1. For as much as I like Barack Obama, I like the idea of electoral reform more. I'm a Barack supporter, and I'm glad he won the delegate vote in Nevada. But I don't want another 2000. I felt the pain of it when the person I voted for won, but didn't win.
And how ironic would it be if Barack won the primary on delegates and not the popular vote. How he would respond to that would force him to walk the walk, I think. It would be interesting to see how he'd handle that.
The Clinton Tyranny would have no problem with something like that. They don't care how they get there, just as long as they get there.
2. I work somewhere that has an incredibly strong union. It's the second-highest paid newspaper in the country, behind the New York Times, but first if you factor in cost of living. This is true even after the recent negotiations called for reduced paid vacation and personal days, and a salary cap. The union has done good things. It has especially been good for the men and women who work in hazardous areas (chemicals) in our pressroom. Those people work very hard. Some of the writers, however, feel free to work at their own leisure, and it's not unusual to see people rolling in two hours late. Nobody complains about this. Nobody seems to have a problem with it. But I can see how sometimes being a member of a union can make you feel like you have room to fail. When I worked at a paper without a union, I was well aware my ass was on the line the whole time. It's a totally different environment. And there were power struggles in both.
3. It's a shame John Edwards doesn't have more money. He's an honest, grassroots guy for the people. One of my friends works on his campaign, and I'm always enchanted by his stories about a politican who sincerely cares about the people of this country. There's no denying that Hillary has some good experience and is willing to fight for what she believes in, but this recent catfight among her, Bill and Obama is just annoying. And I just keep waiting for someone to say, "Hey, Bill, where was that commitment when..."
As for Obama, the rythym of our writing is the same--yes I said that, and he's an open person. I like that he throws it all there. I like that he's an eloquent speaker. He may be the most literate president we could ever have. Maybe eloquence isn't enough to change Washington, but when you can inspire people the way he does--particularly young people--and give them hope, I believe the possibilities are endless.
4. Tom Brady IS a better quarterback than Peyton Manning. But if my son grows up admiring an athlete, out of the two, I would hope it was Peyton Manning.
By
Candy, at 3:25 PM
That's David CHARLES William, thank you very much.
Tom Brady is not the better quarterback because of the touch down stats.
He is the better quarterback because he is clutch, and has three rings.
Peyton Manning, however, is not clutch. In fact, had the Colts NOT played games with the temp in the RCA dome and had the Pats not have most of their defense sick with the flu, Peyton wouldn't have his Super Bowl ring and Brady would have four--soon to be five--rings.
By
Political Scientist, at 5:29 PM
I have to say, I find it uplifting that given that 90% of that entry was about Jack Wagner's hair, we've debated politics and Tom Brady instead.
By
pregamejocelyn, at 10:28 PM
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