Month: November 2008

Celebratory oratory

I’ve mentioned Obama’s speechwriting before. His victory will no doubt be analyzed by political scientists and communicators for years to come. His campaign was a triumph of marketing driven (not market driven) political campaigning, he framed a narrative from very early on (even in his published autobiographies) that carried through the campaign and generated grass roots support never before seen picking up new media technologies, and engaging and organising a community or tribe like nobody else has before – except perhaps Kevin Rudd with his Kevin 07 campaign – but Obama started before Rudd – he has been campaigning for the past two years. Rudd came in the middle.

Here is Obama’s speech in full.

Here are some highlights of modern political speech writing – and in fact of all communication…

His pitch for unity embraces juxtaposition of binary oppositions:

“It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of red states and blue states: We are, and always will be, the United States of America.”

His heartfelt thanks to his family – and promise of a puppy to his daughters was a nice human touch that has already been picked up by news cycles everywhere – a nice contrast to some of the hubris and arrogance that has been attributed to him by both the McCain campaign and his own admission of arrogance.

I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next first lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

Obama is a genuine family man – it will be interesting to see how he juggles parenthood with this new responsibility. Self deprecation is the new black. So he threw in a bit of his grass roots background to resonate with the common man. His campaign – like he himself, was built in backyard suburbia…

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.

Obama is at his oratory best when talking about breaking down the old “two party” mindset – it’s what won his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention the accolades that propelled this push to the White House – so he had to throw some of that in to this speech too…

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends … though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president too.

His call to arms “Yes we can” which was as prevalent in his campaign as Rudd’s “Working families” got a real run in the closing story with a 106 year old case study. It’s stirring stuff – so I’ll put it all here in case you haven’t clicked the link to his speech.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons: because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness, and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen and cast her vote, because, after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

Obama had no doubt been working on this speech for some time. It’s a triumph of triumph. What worries me though is that for all the promise of change there’s still this idea that America is somehow the saviour of the world. And Obama is being painted as this Messianic figure – almost the second coming…

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down, we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security, we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright, tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

I guess the economic crisis is America’s fault through their NINJA loans – I’m still not sure what the “A” is for in that acronym – so maybe it’s their job to fix it. But as for the rest of the world’s problems – just because they have the biggest military stick – sabre rattling is so last millenium… hopefully Obama’s desire for united, unilateral approaches to problem solving in his own country will extend to foreign policy. And h
opefully he’ll know what the G20 is.

The real art in election night oratory is giving a good concession speech. And John McCain’s – while laced with apple pie American sentiment – was that and more. Here’s the transcript. Like John Howard almost this time last year – the concession speech was gracious and humble.

The ingredients of a concession speech are as follows:

1. A gracious admission of defeat.

“My friends, we have – we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly.

A little while ago, I had the honour of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him.”

2. An acknowledgement of the efforts of the victor.

In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

Let there be no reason now … Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.

Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day. Though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.

Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain.

3. A promise of a united way forward.

Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain.

These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.

4. A thanks to supporters – and an expression of hope for their support of the other guy.

I urge all Americans … I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.

It is natural. It’s natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again.

5. A heartfelt thankyou to family/campaign team/VP candidate etc.

The road was a difficult one from the outset, but your support and friendship never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you.

I’m especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother … my dear mother and all my family, and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign.

I have always been a fortunate man, and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me.

You know, campaigns are often harder on a candidate’s family than on the candidate, and that’s been true in this campaign.

All I can offer in compensation is my love and gratitude and the promise of more peaceful years ahead.

I am also – I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I’ve ever seen … one of the best campaigners I have ever seen, and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength … her husband Todd and their five beautiful children … for their tireless dedication to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough and tumble of a presidential campaign.

6. A patriotic promise to serve king and country (or a God Bless America in this case).

I would not – I would not be an American worthy of the name should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century.

Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone, and I thank the people of Arizona for it.

MCCAIN: Tonight – tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama – whether they supported me or Senator Obama.

I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.

Americans never quit. We never surrender.

We never hide from history. We make history.

Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.

McCain’s speech ticked all the boxes.

Obama’s speech was largely free of apple pie American superiority – even with the acknowledgement of renewed global hope at his election – I guess now the proof will be in the pudding. He’ll no doubt at some point be regarded as not the messiah – but just another naughty boy. But hopefully he’ll at the very least end unpopular wars and try to fix healthcare and the economy in the US – which wouldn’t be a bad legacy. And at least we’re spared the horror of a Palin Vice Presidency.

I told you so

For Ben.

Odds on God’s on

British betting agency Paddy Power are taking bets on the existance of God.

Current odds are 4-1 that God exists – down from 33-1 at the opening of betting.

Unfortunately scientific proof is required prior to a payout being made.

Perhaps Dawkins will pull a Satan from South Park and bet on himself then throw the fight…

From the article:

“Interest in the wager has increased greatly following the recent launch of a campaign to have atheist adverts placed on London buses declaring that “there’s probably no God”.

As a result of a flurry of small bets Paddy Power, which also runs books on who will be the next Pope and the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, has cut the odds on proof being found of God’s existence to just 4-1.”

“The atheists’ planned advertising campaign seems to have renewed the debate in pubs and around office water-coolers as to whether there is a God and we’ve seen some of that being transferred into bets.

The new black

I’ve been doing a fair bit of HTML and CSS stuff at work lately.

So I found this shirt particularly amusing. I’d buy it – but my wife is campaigning against stupid shirts.

In other hexadecimal colour news – this site makes converting between RGB and Hex codes a breeze.

I don’t know how I, the colour blind guy with no design sense, became responsible for our website design (note: only the Corporate site – and the design is currently mostly broken and I’m not fixing it ahead of a comprehensive redesign), but that tool makes my job easier.

These made me laugh…

Language warning on both these though – only mild for the top one… it’s bleeped out.

Colour(ed) Bond

The reaction to Obama’s victory is getting silly. Particularly from those Hollywood types – who were so quick to jump on the bandwagon.
The current 007 – Daniel Craig, has suggested that the election of an African American to the position of President paves the way for a black man to breach that last bastion of white culture – playing James Bond.

“After Barack Obama’s victory I think we might have reached the moment for a coloured 007, I think the role could easily be played by a black actor, because the character created by Ian Fleming in the 50s has undergone a great deal of evolution and continues to be updated.”

This is political correctness gone mad.

The character in the novels (and in the movies) is clearly a white Englishman – who is occasionally (in the novels) a racist. Revisionism is stupid. It’s like the scene in Thankyou For Smoking where the Senator from Vermont goes back into the archives and removes cigarettes from old movies. 

Besides – if you want a black bond there’s always Malcolm Turner of Big Momma fame.

Does a duck’s quack echo?

It does if the press corp is busy with the duck’s successor.

While Obama and McCain’s speeches almost wrote themselves on the basis of the election outcome – lame duck President George W. Bush had to weigh in with a speech of his own. Formality dictated it. The stupid American system where Bush is President until January means America is faced with two months of essentially confused leadership. Obama’s attention turns to picking a cabinet (and other furniture for the Whitehouse – hopefully child and puppy proof). While George W Bush – America’s least popular president ever barring criminal behaviour (I think he actually beats Nixon’s disapproval rating – but I can’t be bothered checking) – has to “hold the fort” and was called on to provide his commentary on election day, the campaign and the future.

The President’s speech (and his congratulatory phone call last night) included an invitation to dinner at the presidential mansion. I can imagine that after a campaign based solely on tying his opponent’s shortcomings solely to Bush and his policies – and after Bush compared Obama to Nazi appeasers during WWII – that’s not an invitation that will be accepted any time soon.

Americans to get Summer Heights High…

…or probably not. I suspect it’ll be the latest in a long line of exported Australian comedies to go over their heads thanks to an underdeveloped sense of humour. Still it will be interesting to see how many Americans think is Ja’mie actually a real person. Something the early Australian audience had trouble dealing with when “We Can Be Heroes” was released and “she” was interviewed on radio stations across the nation.

I’m not really fazed by the failure of the American audience to appreciate Kath and Kim – I didn’t like our version the first time round (or second, third or subsequent screenings for that matter). But Chris Lilley is a comic genius – so it would be a shame to see it not receive critical acclaim worldwide.

Anyway – this post was entirely based on the heading – and the fact that I suspect they won’t get it. I should stop writing posts purely on the basis of a pun laced heading.

Summer Heights High to screen in US

I told you so

For Ben.

Tractor joke redux

I posted the all time best ever joke in the world here some time ago. We’re talking June 2006.

Today I got a comment on that post from someone I don’t know rewriting the tractor joke to make it longer and slightly more awesome.

Kudos to you Michael Edwards.

“Ok so there was this man who was fascinated by tractors he liked tractors so much he changed his name to tractor. He brought his own land and called it tractor and then changed his house to tractor and his road to tractor so his address was tractor, tractor, tractor, and tractor. He even reshaped his own to a tractor design he woke up one day in his tractor shaped bed and wearing his tractor print pyjamas and went down his stairs which had tractor carpet on and then he sat down on his tractor shaped chair at his tractor shaped table eating his tractor shaped toast reading the tractor times. When he read in the tractor times that there was a tractor convention in the local fields near his house in tractor. He was so excited he changed from his tractor pyjamas to his tractor outfit and put on his tractor shoes. He left his tractor house in tractor, tractor and got onto his tractor he had lots of tractors almost every tractor he could find… when he got to the tractor convention he saw the most amazing tractor. He thought it was the best. No he knew it was the best tractor he had ever seen… he went up to the guy who owned it and said. “Excuse me How much is your tractor?”… The guy who owned it thought “hmm I could get a lot of money for this” so he said, ” how much are you willing to pay?” now Tractor being the joker he is said “will a tenner cover it?”, the man who owned the tractor didn’t find this very funny, he thought he was insulting his tractor so he punched him and knocked out Tractor for a few hours. When he woke up he realised he was in a tractor convention and without knowing what had happened he saw this most amazing tractor and asked the guy how much he would sell it for so the owner thought “hmm I could make some money here” so he says, how much are you willing to pay. So Tractor being the joker that he is and not knowing what had happened previously said “will a tenner cover it?” so the man who owned it was very angry he thought he was insulting his tractor, so he hit him hard on the nose and he was knocked out. He woke up the next day and had no idea what had happened but realise he was in a tractor convention and he saw best tractor he had ever seen… he went up to the guy who owned it and said. “Excuse me How much is your tractor?”… The guy who owned it thought “hmm I could get a lot of money for this if he jokes again I will kill him, so he says “how much are you willing to pay for it” so Tractor being the joker that he is and not knowing what had happened previously said “will a tenner cover it? The man was Furious, he punched Tractor so hard he was out cold for a week… when he woke up he hadn’t remembered a thing the convention had gone and all he knew was that he didn’t like tractors anymore. So he changed everything back so he lived in an ordinary house number in an ordinary road in an ordinary town with an ordinary name. He woke up and got out of his ordinary bed in his ordinary pyjamas and wearing his ordinary slippers he goes down his ordinary stairs to his ordinary table eating his ordinary toast reading his ordinary newspaper. And he is very bored so he decides to go to an ordinary pub to order an ordinary beer. He goes into a pub and it is so Smokey he can’t even see his hand In front of his face so he leaves and goes out to find another pub buy he cant find one so he decides the last pub would have to do… he goes into the pub and breathes in all the smoke and breathes it out the door… the barman goes up to him and says, “how did you do that? I’ve been trying to get rid of that smoke for weeks”. The ordinary man says “oh That’s easy I’m an Extractor Fan!”

Red vs Blue

Red vs Blue was a cool machinima production featuring Halo characters.
If you haven’t discovered it – you should.
Today is all about this Red v Blue (a map of election results)  – I want to be able to say “I told you so” my first endorsement of Obama was in March 2007 – right here. I really want to say I told you so in particular to Ben who tried his hardest to pick candidates nobody had heard of and assure me they would do well.

shoe croc, don’t bother me

Ok, so these ones do. And that title is a really bad pun. But fresh from talking about a sticky situation involving the Coogee Bay Hotel, we have been confronted with our own PR crisis.

For those of you not familiar with the story here’s the précis, the tourism dependent community of Magnetic Island was recently in lock down as a rogue crocodile terrorised the bays and streets of the island. But the plot thickened – it turned out the EPA, in its infinite wisdom, had captured the crocodile in Far North Queensland and released it near Townsville. Then, as it began wreaking havoc upon the poor island, they couldn’t catch it. This of course led to calls from the ever reliable walking quote machine, Bob Katter, for a croc cull. Crocodile leather is desirable for shoes, hand bags and other accesories – they also interfere with our right to enjoyment of nature – or so the argument goes. It was eventually caught – only to die in captivity a day later – an autopsy revealed that the croc’s stomache was lined with plastic bags, and other rubbish which led to its untimely demise. Untimely, arguably because it should have died three weeks earlier.

This was a PR nightmare for all involved (except Bob Katter).

In particular:
The EPA now stand accused of killing some small businesses due to their ridiculous “crocs in space” program. They had an electronic tag on the crocodile and still couldn’t find it. They mishandled the situation allowing operator after operator to front the media lambasting them and demanding compensation – the State Government pretty much ruled it out on the spot – and now can count on no votes from Magnetic Island at the upcoming election. Even the greenies hate them because the croc died. It’s all their fault.

The Magnetic Island operators themselves have done as much as possible to tarnish the region’s image – by yelling “CROC” from the roof tops and going about dealing with the Government in an inappropriate manner. They shot themselves in the foot (they should have just shot the croc). The local tourism industry – Magnetic Island is the “jewel in our crown.” That’s the official line. I know because I wrote it. Now, in the mind of the uneducated consumer it is no longer a pristine island destination with safe beaches – it’s a garbage filled wasteland populated by deadly crocs. The tourism minister proclaimed crocs as “good for tourism.” That, according to those on the ground was untrue. That line only works when describing Australia Zoo and other crocodile farms. Crocodiles on public beaches are bad for tourism. The plastic bags, in all likelihood, came from far north Queensland, where the waters are messy. I wanted to run a media release on that basis titled “Far North Queensland full of old Cairns and plastic bags” – but I was outvoted. Common sense prevailed.

Word up

I’m seriously considering moving this blog to wordpress. So, my five loyal readers, I am humbly seeking your advice.

While I enjoy being part of the google family (ie blogger, gmail, picasa, reader etc…) WordPress just seems so much nicer, cleaner, more functional… but to get some of the real functionality I’m after I may have to pay some money.

Incidently, I have been playing with WordPress and imported this blog to a WordPress account – I average about 4 comments per post – I seem to be pretty down on comments in the last six months though, I guess that’s what a long lay off will do. Or maybe I’m now boring.

Here are my pros and cons so far:
Blogger:
Pros
1. Allows me to email posts to my blog using a special, secret email address – but from anywhere – this is handy because it means I can appear to be working but actually blogging.
2. Allows Ben to receive my posts by email – I’m not sure he’d be able to get them so passively if I made the switch.
3. It’s what I’ve always known so the status quo bias probably plays some part in making me stay here.
4. It allows me to easily edit the layout CSS – which gives me freedom to significantly change things up if I so desired.
Cons
1. (Big one) Blogger doesn’t have all the functionality that I like in WordPress (ie creating pages that aren’t posts, other nice layout things, the ability to post delicious bookmark lists as a post quickly and easily)

WordPress
Pros
1. It looks nicer
2. It has a better user interface
3. It’s a properly dedicated blogging service – not part of a huge, all powerful global conglomerate.
4. It has developed some really nice little tools – and the third party plug in developments don’t all look like stupid games created by stupid people – seriously, check out the list of add ons for Blogger some time…
5. You can have extra pages, better tag sorting (not that I use tags much, but I think I should), it is very functional while still being stylish.
6. I only have about 5 readers anyway – I reckon most of you would make the move with me (other than Ben).

Cons
1. I’m scared of/resistant to change.
2. Ben would have to use a browser or RSS reader to access my rambling posts.

So there you have it. Comments? Here’s the wordpress version with a default template that I’d play with…