I've been meaning to start a category on music, which I don't think I'll write about very often, but whatever. Something came up today, so here it is.

A few nights ago, for some reason, Tears for Fears' '80s hit "Head Over Heels" came up in conversation. Since someone on the copy desk didn't recall ever hearing the song, I proceeded to queue it on YouTube for all to hear. After everyone cleared out, I actually sat down and watched the video to that song, which was very odd. I submit it here: Is this really a music video? Was Tears for Fears being clever or have these music video clichés truly left us as we progressed in time.

Enjoy.

I have produced my second video story for the Visalia Times-Delta! This video covered the story of people waiting in line for the release of PlayStation 3 for over 24 hours. It was difficult to make the story very interesting, but I tried my best, and I think it came out alright.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

... oh, and in case you didn't know, I'm the budding multimedia reporter for the paper, at least when the copy desk gives me some time to do it. I think it's a pretty neat thing to do, and it's what I'd like to continue to do in the future. I'm thinking of going to graduate school in the next year to pursue just such an opportunity. In case you'd like to see the first video story I did for the paper, you can view that here. I think it's much better than my second one.

On another note, the hysteria of the PlayStation 3 reminds me of when I walked confidently into numerous retailers with wads of cash looking for my coveted Nintendo 64. Sadly, I didn't get my prize until after Christmas, but I understand the feeling of asking sales clerk after sales clerk, "Do you have Nintendo 64?"

Luckily, I didn't experience anything like this:

Violence Mars PlayStation 3 Launch
The Associated Press

HARTFORD — Two armed thugs tried to rob a line of people waiting for the new PlayStation 3 game system to go on sale early Friday and shot one man who refused to give up his money, authorities said.

In Sullivan, Ind., a man was in critical condition after emergency surgery for a stab wound after he and a friend tried to rob two men of consoles they waited 36 hours in line to buy, police said.

Nationwide, short supplies of the PS3 and strong demand led to long lines of buyers, some waiting for days outside stores. Once the doors opened Friday, they pushed and shoved their way to the shelves in several cities to get at the limited supply. Two people were arrested in Fresno, Calif., after a crowd trampled people in a parking lot.

It was about 3 a.m. when the two gunmen in Putnam, a town of about 9,000 residents in northeast Connecticut, confronted 15 to 20 people standing outside a Wal-Mart store and demanded money, said State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance.

''One of the patrons resisted. That patron was shot,'' Vance said.

Vance said the gunmen fled after shooting Michael Penkala, 21, of Webster, Mass., in the chest and shoulder. Penkala was in stable condition at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, Mass., with injuries not believed to be life-threatening, Vance said.

I have to admit, it's kind of clever. Robbing a line full of pimply teenagers with their sweaty wads of cash waiting to buy a game console that is not worth the money. I feel real bad for the kid who got shot. I can just see the tears in his eyes as he refused to surrender his cash or his dream of owning a PlayStation 3 so he could play virtual football instead of taking a deep breath of fresh air outside and throwing a real football around.

No, seriously, it's sad he got shot, but I just think if these kids were more patient and actually thought about the circumstances — giving up the money or having the thieves pry the PlayStation 3 from your cold, dead hands — they might realize there's somethings more important than flashy game consoles.

OK, that's enough for now.

I am so happy to say that I was wrong. Not only did Democrats ride the wave of voter discontent that the media had been foretelling for months, they have wrested the needed fifteen House seats and six Senate seats from Republican control needed to command a majority in Congress. I don't think voters could have done a better thing for America. This is exactly what our government needs: politicians who are not afraid to buck the Bush administration and its policies. It's about time we had a check on Bush.

It was an exciting night yesterday in the newsroom. Though Schwarzenegger soundly beat the snot out of Angelides, I can't feel too bad about it. He's not a horrible governor, and just as Congress checks the president, I suppose Governor Schwarzenegger should keep an eye on the Democratic State Assembly and Senate.

I hope everyone's Tuesday was as fun as mine. And if you're up for a chuckle, be sure to visit all those red blogs today. It's funny to watch an elephant walk around with its tail between its legs. And I have admit, Michelle Malkin's blooper reel was pretty funny.

I'll be sure to chime in later!

I know there's an election going on and everything, and I have to go to work like right now to pop out a newspaper, but did anyone read the story about Britney Spears filing for divorce from Kevin Federline?!

Thunder in paradise! Sadness...It's may not be true, but I think it's really funny. Anyways, more later...possibly.

Well, the gay-sex preacher story just keeps getting better and better:

Church tries to cope after minister’s dismissal
By Kirk Johnson
New York Times

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Long before the first tissue boxes were passed down the aisles for mopping tears, and before the first guitar chords were struck to begin the worship, many of the thousands of people who gathered on Sunday morning at the New Life Church here knew that it would be a service unlike any other in their lives. ...

“We’re living this in real time,” said Rob Brendle, an associate pastor, as he bustled through the 14,000-member evangelical church making last-minute preparations for the 9 a.m. service.

A male prostitute in Denver said in a radio interview on Wednesday that Mr. Haggard had been a monthly customer and a buyer of methamphetamines. Mr. Haggard issued denials, but by Saturday the brief, explosive standoff was over. The board members had heard enough — mostly from Mr. Haggard himself, they said at Sunday’s service — to justify his removal.

What was left for Sunday was to begin sorting the tangled skein of spiritual and political implications, betrayal, anguish, anger and sadness that the episode left behind in the church and across the evangelical world. Speakers urged the church’s members to find a way forward without recrimination or bitterness; a letter from Mr. Haggard was read from the 8,000-seat auditorium’s center stage.

Wow. I can't believe he wasn't in church on Sunday. I mean, seriously, the one day he probably should have gone.

It's that time again. Midterm elections. And this is the biggest midterm election. Well, since the last one.

Everyone in Washington is going nuts over this election. It's been on all the pundits minds since the first few days of January 2006 — hell, even the first few hours on Wednesday, November 3, 2004, the day after the last national election.

One thing that I have noticed in the past two years is the media's obsession with the Democrats and their supposed return to power. Since the beginning of this year, after Republicans lost traction on their legislative agenda in 2005, the Democrats fared well in the offterm election and the response to Hurricane Katrina sowed discontent in the minds of the electorate, the media has framed this election in favor of the Democrats. I credit this with the prevailing conception that Republicans will be on the defensive on election day.

After being burned two-straight years in a row, I'm not going to be duped this time around. I believe that the Democrats will make gains on election day, and they may retake the House of Representatives, but they will not pull off a "blue coup." Election Day will be a victory for some Democrats, but it will always be a stark reminder of the voting power of the Republican majority that has twice in recent memory relegated Democrats to second string.

Think about it. After the 2002 midterm election, Democrats lost two Senate seats, dropping from 50 seats to 48. In 2004, the election proved even worse for Democrats, when their minority was widdled from 48 to 44 seats. Now, Democrats are carrying on about how they may be in striking distance of a Democrat majority in the Senate. I find that hard to believe.

After two election cycles — straight losses for Democrats — do they really expect to be handed Congress on a platter? As crucial as this election is to Democrats, President Bush and his miserable failure of a war in Iraq are not on the ballot. Local politicians from across the country are, and they exist in microcosms that are often very different from the national debate that rages in our country. Democrats will fare better in this election, but Republicans will not do too bad either.

Republicans have performed very well in the Maryland Senate campaign, where an open Democratic seat could have been an easy win for Democrat Ben Cardin. Instead, moderate Republican Michael Steele has managed to put the race into serious play. Basically, as they have proven in the past two election cycles, Republicans put on a great campaign. Democrats have a lot to make up if they are going to catch up to the Republican machine.

I'm so excited for tomorrow, I love elections, they are always so very interesting. Also, at the newspaper, we get pizza.

I will probably vote for Democrats when I fill out my ballot tomorrow. Mostly because I feel the only way we're going to change direction in this country is if we elect politicians that won't function as a rubber stamp for the Bush administration. We'll see how much good it does in Tulare County.

Apologies for being a little short with the film picks. I can't believe the last Netflix film I highlighted was Un long dimanche de fiançailles, and I had already seen it. I think this week I'll be doing something on All About Eve, the excellent celluloid precursor to the Showgirls.

For now, enjoy this YouTube clip of a scene from Beetlejuice, which had me and my coworkers laughing. I don't know how that movie popped in my head, but you've got to love Tim Burton. Enjoy:

P.S.: For anyone picking this entry up via facebook, you should know the only way you are going to see any YouTube applet is if you go to the original entry on my blog at http://endlessone.com/blog.

Just when you thought a tripping evangelical preacher having gay sex with a prostitute was as good as it gets ... something like this comes across the wire.

Naked man arrested with concealed weapon
The Associated Press

EL CERRITO, Calif. — A naked man was arrested on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon after telling police he had a screwdriver in his buttocks.

The man was lying on a tree stump masturbating beside a nature path near the El Cerrito Bay Area Rapid Transit station Thursday, police said.

John Sheehan, 33, of Pittsburg was initially arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure. But when asked if he was carrying anything police should know about, Sheehan mentioned the tool, said El Cerrito Detective Cpl. Don Horgan.

"You can't get much more concealed than that," Horgan said.

Officers drew their weapons and firefighters were called to the scene, but Sheehan removed a 6-inch metal awl wrapped in black electrical tape without incident.

Sheehan, who was paroled from state prison last week, was then booked into the county jail in Martinez on suspicion of parole violations, indecent exposure and one felony count of possessing a concealed weapon.

"When you're talking about an awl or an ice pick and you're dealing with somebody who's fresh out of prison, it's a weapon. That's a stabbing instrument," Horgan said.

He noted that the rear end is a common hiding place for weapons being smuggled into prison.

It was not immediately clear what Sheehan was on parole for.

When the nutgraf of an AP story contains the words "naked" and "masturbation", you know it's got to be interesting. At work this evening, I came up with the perfect subhead for the headline.

Headline: Naked man arrested with concealed weapon

Subhead: Guess where he put it

These are the moments you want to savor. You wish time would stop so you could live them over and over again:

Evangelical leader says he bought drugs
By John Holusha and Neela Banerjee
New York Times

The Rev. Ted Haggard, the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals and one of the nation’s most influential Christian leaders, admitted today that he had purchased the illegal drug methamphetamine from a gay escort in Denver, but denied that he ever had sex with the man.

Mr. Haggart resigned as president of the evangelical association and stepped aside as senior pastor of the New Life mega-church in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday after Michael Forest Jones, a self-described former gay prostitute, accused him of having a sexual affair for three years and using the drug, commonly known as crystal meth, during those encounters.

Though the story is throughly lurid and very damning for evangelicals, I was very pessimistic about its truthfulness. The man who is leveling the allegations is a male prostitute and we are merely four days from an election. And his explanation as to why he's coming forward now is not convincing:

"People may look at me and think what I've done is immoral, but I think I had to do the moral thing in my mind and that is expose someone who is preaching one thing and doing the opposite behind everybody's back," said Jones.

OK, I get the whole "doing the moral thing," but he cashed the checks, took the cash for years! I guess it's only immoral in an election year (But even if that were true, it seems like it would have been much more immoral in 2004, considering what was at stake). I'm sure we'll take what we can get, though.

Despite all the questions, this whole situation is freaking awesome. You can't tell me this guy just took a massage from the prostitute and tossed the meth. He was so having sex with the guy, and he's one of the most important evangelicals in the entire country. He talks the the President and his advisers every Monday! This is huge. This is better than Christmas! I can't wait to see what happens.

I know all the most popular blogs are posting it, but I just had to do it. It's from my soon-to-be-favorite documentary, Jesus Camp, about crazed evangelicals. You have to watch the trailer.