Bob

There are two movies opening that will work against him and possibly keep his numbers lower than expected: 1.) Yes Man: Jim Carrey has come back to the proven formula of Liar, Liar and it seems long enough since that movie and refreshing considering his pursuits away from his 'typecast' role. I think Carrey will hit big numbers this weekend and extend through the holidays. 2.) The Wrestler: This movie is being praised by critics left and right as something universally appealing. Apparently it has won awards already and Mickey Rourcke is being tapped by USA Today to get an Academy nomination. I love this idea since I'm an avid professional wrestling fan. According to critics and wrestling fans alike, this movie pleases the most scrupulous fan and also the most skeptic observer due to the drama and reality based emotion of a has-been discarded by the industry he so eagerly served. Also, with the economic times, I have reservations against the idea that people really want to be depressed by a movie like Seven Pounds. I even question which of the three movies comes first for me. I love Jim Carrey, Will Smith, and wrestling. ...(waiting for the cheapshots on wrestling fans)...

Wow. Can he do what Chamillionaire did? Turn me from a hater to a person who enjoys his stuff from time to time? ...

It's tough for me to put Paper Trail out there as one of the best. There's a few catchy songs but it feels all over the place. My opinion though, doesn't mean it's awful.

You do know Nas had nothing to do with either track right? Here Comes Escobar is some DJ taking Nas's Vocals from "Surviving the times" (off his Greatest hits CD) and putting on different instrumentals. Real Hip Hop has a clip of a Nas interview as an intro and then some random dude (who isn't Nas) rapping after KRS's verses. Allhiphop.com can be good, but sometimes they really get fooled by internet dj's putting up their own mash-ups.

Lil Wayne sold quite a few records, but that didn't mean it was quality music. I know I went back on what I said, but I just finished listening to all of Kanye's album. Verdict: painful. I can't stand auto-tune, nor beats that are just pounding for the sake of pounding. He whined the whole time, and was quite obnoxious. I thought I was listening to a 7th grade emo wannabe. Kanye would just string out awful rhymes into what he considered singing. I would rather listen to Tony Yayo (and THAT'S SAYING SOMETHING) than put myself through the T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Fallout boy inspired slapdash garbage. I can't say enough negative things to offset the time I wasted. Oh, and here's what is going to happen...mark my words: Kanye is going to go back to some straight up rap, with no one really expecting much. Follow me: The last three albums have increased upon one another's expectations of lyrical ability and beat-making. He needed to release from this pressure, so he went avant-garde. Now people will welcome a return to rap without as much pressure. I'm not saying this hasn't been done before: Common did similar in the early part of this decade. What was different, is he went political afterwards. He had always been socially conscious but he was able to change enough to not just revert. I doubt Kanye will go political or do anything noteworthy. In fact he may relegate to average hip hop. Sorry everyone if I sound angry, I just feel dirty having listened to this album.

If you are hoping for me to review 808's and heartbreak, I have to apologize. I doubt I will even give the album a listen. Even as much as I love Luda's new album, I probably won't review that either since I have had zero time recently. All these final exams, projects, and presentations have been looming over my head. Plus I've been swamped getting prepared for my study in France come January.

I won't. Theater of the Mind is way too awesome to waste time with the vocoding-kanye.

(waiting for the ensuing back and forth: "He's just focused eslewhere, wait until he gets that few months off," "he's done, he said so," "what happened to that brand new funk 2k7 remix?") I think we just gotta let him do his thing...

People, you haven't heard of Trick Daddy?????? I mean, yeah he has his foot in his mouth, but you haven't heard of him? I couldn't escape him years ago.

wait whattttt? We went from Barack, to Nelly? AJ, are enjoying a plant of some sort?

Exclusively? No. It didn't help him that he wasn't nearly as collected as Obama. I take him as a Joe Biden or Howard Dean. He can go off message and cost himself. For example, his comments towards the Jewish in New York City cost him. Also, (and I can't take full credit for the following; Bill Maher made this point) the scrutiny of being "different" aka black in the United States is that you must, on the national stage, be near-perfect. Every gaffe you make means that much more. So Barack Obama exponentially helped his cause by performing near-flawless. The analogy was Tiger Woods. Tiger would have been shunned from golf if he showed up anyway but as calm and collected as he is. I'll go a step further and say we are still an overtly sexist country, of almost equal weight with the racism. Hillary Clinton's campaign is the model of what Obama's campaign could have been. She took the gender question by the neck and tried to turn it to her advantage, overtly. Her campaign was more closely scrutinized and eventually fell off-message. Obama let the race question simmer, and only addressed it periodically, rather than playing it as a card in his hand.

To answer, it is. Honestly, there is a strong under-current that was never squashed in the rural parts of America. If not for this election being a true referrendum on George Bush, I doubt we'd be talking of a President Obama today. McCain was the best candidate, but was strapped to the most hated President. It's a shame that both in 2000 and 2008, George Bush had an integral place in McCain's losses. Also, if not for Hillary and Barack being the two possible nominees at the time the Republicans picked a nominee, I doubt McCain would have won. It would have been Romney or Guiliani. Even the GOP realized they needed a non-conformist. Now they can blame their loss on the non-comformist, their scapegoat, in McCain. Then they can nominate a Neo-con again, in their hopes that Obama disappoints. Nonetheless, congratulations to President-elect Obama.

Oh my exams take a back seat. There has been no parade during my life. This is my bigger picture: I get a degree to get a job, to have a career, to provide for a family, to enjoy life. This is the pinnacle 'enjoyment' I can have. If I miss it now, then I will never let myself live it down. As a Philadelphian born after 1983, I have no reason to believe other championships will come. And none would be as sweet as the first, especially if we win it after this rollercoaster.

I'm sorry folks but I'm quite frustrated. I arrived at my house Saturday afternoon. Today, I drove into the City of Brotherly Love around 3pm. My friend and I absorbed the atmosphere, anticipating the first championship celebration in my lifetime. We were in the nosebleeds for Game 5 of the World Series, but quite frankly, we had every intention of living a dream. Instead, an act of God coupled with Bud Selig's blunder of a response, has left me dumbfounded. I also am skirting danger in my one course. I have an exam scheduled Thursday. If, and I do say if, Philadelphia does win, I will not miss a parade down Broad Street. The way these things work though, I may end up missing an exam to do so. My professor is a Phillies fan, and if he administered the test, I'd be safe. Unfortunately, there is an administration hold on the exam system, and thus my chances of rescheduling are slim. Oiy, this could be bad. What do you all think of this debacle? What's the (inter)national perspective on this historic absurdity?

It's a barrier for me to vote for Obama. I could possibly vote for Obama, but only if his opponent's policies were more 'pro-death' collectively. So if you can prove to me that McCain supports something that has lead to the death of 48.5 million people, I'd be more than willing to listen. I do agree with the above post... The fact Powell is going against his party shows there is a real problem with the Republican's platform on economic/war issues. .... Addendum: I would probably have voted for Obama/Hillary/Edwards if a Guiliani or Romney candidate was opposing them.

To justify killing a life because of another crime is highly objectionable.

To time the market just right for long term investing is problematic. We know it will rebound and we are pretty sure the Dow can reach at least 12k. So, it would be beneficial to invest now. Also, the actual influence of a presidential election on the market is minimal. The policies implemented take 1 to 3 years from a president to filter down to the economy anyway. Her 'extreme' stance is a consistant stance. Apparently, people are more reasonable if they think something at 3 months of development is more important than something that is 2 months and 28 days of development. It's really absurd to devalue life based upon arbitrary timelines and visual images. The most distinct points we know regarding life are conception and birth, and if you believe birth is the moment of life, then it's only reasonable you support abortion as an option. If you believe conception as the start of life, then you can't honestly play numbers games with the life. And no, if Hitler was running for president and opposed to abortion, it would be a genocide of one kind he supported, another he opposed. The one he supported obviously has caused wars, death beyond the original genocide and thus he promoted an overwhelming culture of death. Abortion has not caused wars or tyranny, and thus would be the lesser of two evils in this specific instance.

This is THE IDEAL TIME TO BUY, if you don't need your money in the next couple of years. Most people buy when the market is doing well and sell in a panic during a downturn. That results in a net loss. This is a 'bargain' market as Buffet stated earlier in the week. Unless you are a senior citizen or someone who expects to be paying large amounts of medical costs (that would sap your paycheck and insurance), this is the time to invest (buy low, sell high). It's also very advantageous for quick sellers since beta (volatility) is high. If you can time right, you can make strong profits in relatively short time (it's also quite risky).

I don't think McCain's plan will be helpful to you in the long term or the short term... it will only be helpful for as long as the 7.5% rate is in effect. The key here is that regardless of the 7.5% rate or the 15% rate, you'll be buying and selling stock any way. The 7.5% rate isn't going to convince you to buy more stock, it's just going to make you more money. This will be the same for a lot of other investors. YES. But a higher rate of 28% would create a prohibitive nature to buying stocks, as you will need more money to gain the same profit. Thus, it limits the small time investor, like a 20 some year old, from investing.

Wait...wait. So every person voting for Obama because he/she wants a tax cut or a healthcare plan is self-serving? Are you voting for the candidate who will best help you? Or are you voting against your own self-interest?

It would be advantageous for people like me, who are 20 years old and can invest with little tax on long term investments. I disagree volatility would increase with an increase in liquidity. Liquidity would ease credit worries, and thus free up the rates at which banks loan to each other.

Obama even admitted right now is not the time to increase taxes even on the wealthy. I'm not talking as someone who, or who's family, makes anywhere near the 250k. I do know that yes, in the long run, those tax hikes on wealthy CEOs will be beneficial. But we're talking short term to stabilize the economy. Oh, and the BIG TAX that everyone kinda shuts up about...Capital Gains tax. Regardless of your income levels, if you make a profit on the market, you would be taxed anywhere around 23 to 28 percent by Obama. McCain said he'd keep the level at 15% and actually temporarily reduce the tax to 7.5% for one year. That is crucial and something that influences me greatly, being that I will be working on trading floors and expecting much of my income to be through the market. I can understand an income tax, but the idea of taxing people who offer liquidity and monetary funds for companies to create products is absurd to me.

I'm voting for McCain because half of Reaganomics is true: If you raise taxes on the rich CEO, you do lead to short term stunts in economic growth (CEO hedges against losing profits so they lower incomes of the small guy, reduce jobs etc). That is the last thing we need right now. Long term, it is better for us, but short term, it shoots us in the foot when we are already hopping on only one. I'm voting for McCain because he was the Senator that pushed through the two Supreme Court Justices who respect life. I'm voting for McCain because he has fought his own party, and the Democrats. Obama has never gone against his own party. Neither party is wholely correct....and thus anyone wanting to be my president should have shown independence from both parties at times. Regarding Palin, she would do wonders in the fight against abortion. Beyond that, yes she is a concern, but quite frankly, when you see abortion as the ending of innocent human life, it really does trump everything else. I

Well I think McCain has been done for some time now. I still will vote for him, as anything can happen, but Powell basically made his announcement after Obama had made so great advances that it proves little to help Obama's already strong momentum. It's in the same category as John Edwards endorsing Obama after he clearly could not lose the Democratic primary. And when has Rush Limbaugh ever been on the side of McCain? I think Obama and his supporters have distorted the record to show Rush and John as friends. Rush said he'd vote Hillary if McCain was the nominee. To lump those two together and to tag Rush's comments to the McCain camp is the same swift-boat tactics people abhore.

Ok this is random, but this is the most sports-oriented topic on the board right now...so I'm on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer....