Andreas Matern’s Weblog

From here:

Obama Clinches Democratic Race

Sen. Barack Obama has claimed the Democratic presidential nomination after outdistancing rival Sen. Hillary Clinton in a history-making campaign that has energized the party’s base.

Obama’s declaration Tuesday night came in the same Minnesota arena where Sen. John McCain will officially accept the Republican nomination for president in September.

“Because of you, tonight I can stand here and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for the president of the United States of America,” he told cheering supporters.

Obama was magnanimous to Clinton, who has so far declined to officially withdraw her candidacy.

Speaking of the New York senator, he said she had “made history not just because she is a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she is a leader who inspires millions of Americans.”

While Clinton refused to concede the race outright, she told supporters Tuesday night that she was “committed to uniting our party so that we move forward, stronger and more ready than ever to take back the White House this November.”

Obama promised to steer away from divisiveness in the general election and acknowledged his presumptive opponent in the general election.

“We honor the service of John McCain and I respect his many accomplishments even if he chooses to deny mine,” he said.

Now, the big question becomes Hillary. What’s her next step?

Have you seen Questionaut yet?  Very well done flash game, and answering the questions will make you feel smart.

I loathe time travel as a plot line.  Freakin’ loathe it.  But I found this Wikihistory short short very entertaining.

I have some long train rides coming up, assuming I get my work done (no last minute working on the train!) I hope to be able to knock out some writing.  Here’s a good post on writing conversationally.

Now I’m trying not to procrastinate by driving around Google maps.  (Thanks metafilter)

Enjoy the day…

They found the gene that gives you blue eyes. Don’t It Make Your Brown Eyes Blue? — Quill 2008 (201): 1 — ScienceNOW Interestingly, it appears that this regulatory gene mutation may be traced back to one person. Perhaps Sinatra and I were related!

I’ve made a decision:

I’ve even donated to his campaign.  I think it’s the right decision, the right leader to move us forward.  

The latest tune from rileysmile is up. Check it out!

Saw Cloverfield today - and … it … ruled.

No spoilers, but the monster … looks just like Dick Chaney!

Here’s a great interview. I love Jon! Link from here. Found the original link here:

Christine has a webpage where you can learn all about her Holistic Health Counseling.

Most people pay more attention to the gas they put in their car than they do about the food they put in their bodies. Christine will change all that!

Two fun things in my e-mail. One: amazon.com has shipped Chuck Palanhniuk’s new book, Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey, to me! Two: there’s a review of Chuck’s new book at the end of this post.

So nice to sleep at home!!! Traveling stinks, and I’m doing it again on Monday! Woohoo!

I also learned that I’m going to see the Police at Fenway with my brother and two cousins, how fantastic is that?

The Sausage Factory Never Closes
A review by James Boice

Chuck Palahniuk novels are not written; they are manufactured.
They are material poured into a mold, then sold to disciples.
They are escapist, mindless entertainment. This is not bad in
itself. This is bad because they give the illusion of being above
a culture of escapist, mindless entertainment. That’s Palahniuk’s
genius.

The mold of Palahniuk’s eighth novel, Rant, remains the same.
There’s a pain-and-violence-obsessed young outcast. There is rabies,
there is time travel, there is incest. Maybe. The characters are
indistinguishable. They toe the company line. They raise their
right hand and repeat after me. It’s like Fight Club. Again. And
Again. And again.

Perhaps Palahniuk’s age, success, and popularity have diluted
his ability to keep up with young outcasts with crap jobs. If
that’s the case, he should consider doing a bit more market testing
and sign up for a MySpace account before writing the next installment.
Because Rant isn’t an interesting book to read. What would be
interesting is if for the next book Palahniuk had the part of
his brain that knows how to write Chuck Palahniuk books surgically
removed. Then wrote a book about it. Unless he has an eye on a
particular yacht. In which case, carry on.

Read the review online at:
http://www.powells.com/n/218/esq/review/2007_05_02

BBC NEWS | Europe | Clashes in Athens as Rice visits

Sure am happy I’m home from Athens….