A message to my loyal viewers

I am currently on hiatus mostly because I'm incredibly lazy. Expect a Zootopia review sometime in the future.

Final State of the Union......for Obama that is

7th and last State of the Union for Obama!

"More about legacy than legislation" says the CBS reporter. He's a lame duck president.

Nuns!

Lots of people coming in. The CBS reporter says Obama was working on the speech all night. He had a draft at 3 am.

Here comes the prez! Lots of hugs and kisses and handshakes. He's kissing all the ladies. A hug from Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The CBS reporter says that Paul Ryan disagrees with everything Obama says, even though he hasn't said it yet.

My mom says Michelle Obama looks awesome.

Obama gave copies of his speech to Ryan and Biden. I wonder if this is for souvenir purposes?

So far, Paul Ryan doesn't look as crabby as Boehner always did.

Obama wants to work on criminal justice reform and drug abuse. He hopes the Republicans will help.

Tie report: Ryan = solid red. Biden = red and white stripe. Obama = blue and gray stripe.

Nuns!

(I looked it up. The nuns are Little Sisters of the poor and are challenging the affordable Care Act because of birth control. Paul Ryan invited them.)

Oh man, this is going to be a lot of standing up and sitting down and clapping.

Gay marriage! I wonder if it is only the Democrats standing?

"Let's talk about the future..." how to give everyone a fair shot in the economy? How to make technology work for us? How to make America safe. How to make politics reflect what is best in us.  Sounds like good goals!

Obama says the US has the strongest economy in the world. Do we?  The CBS reporters said that Paul Ryan disagrees with all of this.

What is Paul Ryan doing? Is he chewing GUM?

Pre-K for all! I hated pre-k.

Obama wants to cut the cost of college. That's good. Jack is going to college in 2 years.

Ha ha. Obama made a joke about how the only people who will have the same job and benefits for 30 years are in that room.

JOe BIden stood and clapped. Paul Ryan did NOT.

18 million people have gained insurance through the ACA.  He says he guesses "we won't agree on health care any time soon."  Someone clapped REALLY LOUD at that.

Paul Ryan wants to tackle poverty.

CNN reported that Ryan had to practice his poker face for this speech.

"how do we reignite the spirit of innovation?" 

"Protected an open internet."

Biden wants to cure cancer because his son died of cancer :-(  Let's make America the country that cures cancer! That would be great.

We also need to have clean energy. He says that people who deny climate change at this point are dopes. "American businesses should produce and sell the energy of the future!" Wind power! Solar power!

I wonder what Paul Ryan is thinking?

The US is the most powereful nation on earth. Period. CLAPPING.

Everyone stood to applaud the armed forces.

We have to pretect the American people and go after terrorist networks.  Is it ISIS, or ISIL?

Maybe when Obama leaves office, he can go fight terrorism as an armed vigilante.

ISIL does not equal Muslims

Lindsay Graham doesn't look impressed.

He's still talking about terrorism. He's got 10 minutes left. Will he talk about terrorism for 10 more minutes?

We can't go fix all the countries. He's right about that.  We will protect Americans and our allies.

South Carolina governor Nikki Haley is going to give the Republican response. I don't know if I want to watch that. We had a field trip today and I'm really tired.

He's talking about Cuba. My mom's friend Wendy just visited Cuba. She's in Argentina now.

He wants to shut down the prison at Guantanamo.

He quoted Pope Francis and there was crabby noise in the audience. Don't these people like Pope Francis?

"We the people..."  All the people!

Last things he wants to say:  we need to work together to make things happen. Everyone needs to stop being jerks to each other.

Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg asleep, like she was last year? I'm ready to sleep. Sorry Obama, your speech is kind of boring.

Obama regrets that all the politicians hate each other.

We need to make it easier to vote. My mom says Jack will be able to vote in the next election. SCARY.

Who is that kid in the audience? Oh, Braden Mannering from Let's Move.

We all have to uphold our duties as citizens. Vote, stand up for people.  Blah blah. Wrap it up.

The State of our Union is STRONG!!!

The Peanuts Movie

It's my new favorite animated film of 2015, the end.

Just kidding! I freaking love the movie! I love how they squeezed in the entire Peanuts franchise into one 93-minute feature, I love that they implemented a one-shot character into Snoopy's side-story (the character in question being Fifi from "Life's a Circus, Charlie Brown" here voiced by Kristina Chenoweth), I loved how they got actual children to voice the major characters, I love how they let Charlie Brown, pretty much the poster boy for hapless underdogs, WIN at the end, I love how beautifully animated the Red Baron sequences were, I love how it's another Blue Sky film that isn't an Ice Age sequel & is actually worth watching (other than Horton Hears a Who), I love how they stay true to the source material rather than going the Alvin direction (okay, there's one Meghan Trainor song in the movie, but still), I love how Vince Guaraldi's original music is recreated here by THE Christophe Beck, I really liked the Scrat short that played in front of it, IT'S JUST SO AWESOME!!!!! (blacks out)

(wakes up) Whew, anyways, while I still enjoy The Spongebob Movie 2, Home, Inside Out, Minions and Hotel Transylvania 2, The Peanuts Movie is now officially my favorite animated film of 2015. Plus, I've heard the tie-in game released for the 3DS, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Xbox One looks good too.

The Big Adventure

On Monday, I had an unexpected adventure. First of all, I stayed after school to audition for the talent show. I did a great job with my Charlie Brown comedic monologue. Ms Itter allowed me to leave early. I was supposed to wait for my mom, but I got impatient and decided to walk home by myself. We live 2 miles from school and I had never walked home before, but like I said, I was impatient.  I took the route that my mom drives home. I was a bit a nervous, but I kept walking. I had a heavy backpack that day, so I got kind of sweaty. Finally, I made it home and walked in the door. "Hello!" I called. To my surprise, Jack was home. He took one look at me and got on the phone to call mom. She was at school looking for me with the principal, the security officer, and the teachers. She was very worried.

I feel bad that I worried everyone and in retrospect, I wish I had waited for mom and not walked without telling anyone.  However, I didn't die in a ditch, so that's good.

Republican Debate -- Part Deux

Okay folks, More Republicans, more debating. The tv listing says that this debate is 3 hours long. I'm telling you right now, I am not watching 3 hours of this. First, I can't imagine listening to these people talk about how awesome they thing they are, second, last time no one answered the questions they were asked and that was annoying, and third, I have other homework.

11 candidates entered the stage. That's a lot of candidates.

I don't understand how Donald Trump is the most popular. I think he's a jerk. He's right in the middle -- did they arrange the candidates by popularity? The center is Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Jeb Bush.

(Short commercial break. Also, I can eat my mac and cheese.) My dad just got back from Amsterdam today and he's asleep in his chair. Hope he doesn't snore. I'd hate for him to drown out Donald Trump! Ha ha.

The moderator is Jake Tapper. He will guide the discussion. Will he make them answer the questions? Who knows.

Rand Paul spends his days defending the constitution.

Mike Huckabee thinks they are the a-team. Trump is Mr. T.

Marco Rubio brought his own water.

Ted Cruz blah blah blah.

Ben Carson was a pediatric neurosurgeon. People need to take their rightful place.

Donald Trump used the word bragadocious. Is that a word?

Jeb Bush believes America is on the verge of its greatest century.

Scott Walker thinks Reagan was the greatest president. My mom wonders how oldhe was during the Reagan years?

Carly Fiorina is an American success story.

John Kaisich loves his kids. He flew on the Reagan plane WITH Reagan. Special!

Chris Christie slammed Barack Obama. yawn.

Bush and Kaisich were the only ones who were positive.

I think if Trump's fingers were on the codes, we should prepare for the apocalypse.

And we start the evening with Carly Fiorina NOT answering the question. What a surprise.

Ha. Rand Paul burned Trump! He thinks Trump is in junior high. Insults, insults. blah blah.

Trump claims he's been in politics all his life. He's dealt with people all over the world, and has been  a success all over the world. He's a businessman. My mom says Rauner is a businessman and he hasn't been good for Illinois.

Bush was asked about the nuclear codes thing and didn't answer the question.

Scott Walker doesn't like Trump.  Trump doesn't like Walker.  Are we going to hear any facts in this debate, or will these guys send their time insulting each other?

Kaisich says if he were watching this at home, he'd turn it off! AMEN.

Christie is blabbing about how he's a outsider. Who cares?

Ben Carson is asked if experience is important to being president -- he kind of answered the question.

Carly Fiorina thinks outsiders are good.

Is a Bush a puppet for his donors? Bush is too mild mannered. He's not going to win this thing. Trup says Bush is making things up. I feel like no one has addressed any issues in 34 minutes.

Russia! Russia supports Syria and a government hostile to the US. Trump thinks he would get along with Putin and all the world leaders. That's how he'd solve the Syrian crisis. He'd get along with him.

Rubio says Putin wants to destroy NATO. He gave an interesting answer, but didn't answer the actual question.

Fiorina answered the question! She would mobilize troops. She wants to rebuild things and arm people.

Cruz says he would rip up the Iran deal on his first day. Kaisich says Cruz is a moron. And, Cruz didn't answer the question. He just blabbed.

Would Rand Paul cancel next week's state dinner for China? No real answer.

Walker thinks something something. Also, Iran deal is bad.

It's so stupid that they're all insulting Obama. He's leaving the WHite House. Didn't these guys get the memo?

This moderator let Huckabee run him over. Bad moderator. Huckabee would be a bad president.

Trump says Obama doesn't have courage. He says the three senators on stage bear some responsibility for the Syrian refugee crisis. Rubio says they have ZERO responsibilty. Thanks, Obama.

A vote for Hillary is a vote for the Ayatollah!

All this hyperbole is driving me crazy. I hate politicians. Maybe that's why people like Trump. He just insults people straight out, no hyperbole.

John Kaisich looks mad at Ted Cruz.

Oh no. It's the Kim Davis topic for Huckabee. The Supreme Court can't make a law. Separation of powers, judicial tyranny, accomodations, criminalization of Christianity. But he says Jeb Bush is a nice guy.

Bad answer, Bush! Very weak.

No one has really answered if they support a government shut down.

Carly Fiorina is mad.

Trump respects women. My mom is laughing.

How did we get from women's health to North Korea? I missed something.

Oh! Fiorina burned Trump!

Time for a break.  I'm done. Time for science homework!

This debate

My family is watching the Republican debate and eating Chinese food. I'm eating tacos, since I don't like Chinese food.

10 candidates! That's ridiculous. This looks like a game show.

Ha ha. Of course, Donald Trump says he won't support the chosen Republican.

These guys all look very orange. Did they all apply fake tans, or is it our tv?

Dad was surprised Ben Carson is in the top ten. Carson thinks it is very important to have a brain. Sadly, many of the candidates are brainless! Zing!

Jeb Bush says they called him Jeb in Florida because he earned it. Huh? I don't get it.

Oh, Trump. Why are you so mean to women? Because he doesn't like being politically correct. Okay. What does this have to do with being a jerk to women. Wow! Now he's a jerk to the moderator! Trump thinks he can says anything he wants. How come I get in trouble when I say things without thinking?

Here is Scott Walker: he defunds Planned Parenthood, but didn't really answer the question. I think this is a trend tonight. Don't answer the questions.

Huckabee is being hyperbolic. Hyperbole annoys me. "Huckabee annoys me," says Jack.

Rand Paul -- didn't answer the question. I hate to point this out, but if I answered questions like this in school I would not get good grades.

Immigration!! Bush is actually answering the question. He's written a book about this, you know. Bush says Barack Obama has done nothing for 6 long years.

Here comes da Trump! He has evidence that the Mexcian government is sending criminals. Oh, no, he's not sharing evidence. His evidence is that he visited the border and the border patrol says the American government is stupid. Good to know.

Commercial break -- this debate is stupid. No one is answering any of the questions they are asked. They are just blah blah-ing about whatever they want

This Ohio governor didn't answer the question. Rubio says people from Mexico aren't coming here. It's people from Guatamala and Honduras. But he still didn't answer the question if the American government is stupid.

Scott Walker claims he listens to the American people. Um, what?

Ted Cruz is the only one wearing a striped tie, I think.

Topic switch -- onto TERROR

Off topic: Chris Christie's hair looks very weird.

Rand Paul stands for the BILL OF RIGHTS!

Christie says Paul is a dork. I agree. Rand Paul says Christie hugs Obama. So? I'd hug Obama if he offered. Hugs are great. My great grandma Helen said everyone needed 8 hugs per day to grow.

Back to Ben Carson! He was afraid he wouldn't get to talk again! My cartooning teacher Rich likes Ben Carson. He says Carson has a remarkable life story.

Boy, Trump thinks he's awesome. What does he think about health care? I didn't even understand him. Neither did Rand Paul. Trump says he buys politicians. Do we want a president who just buys things???

Walker says Hillary Clinton has screwed up every country she's touched. "All 112 countries?" Jack asked.

They are all blabbing about education. I'm taking a taco break. Mom says she'll type whatever I have to say.  [He has nothing to say. Too busy eating tacos.]

Michael Fassbender as Steve Jobs -- I'd see that movie.

They are NOT answering the questions we want asked! They're just flapping their gums.

Ben Carson doubts that Hillary would be the Democratic nominee??

Now -- the ECONOMY!!

Jeb Bush -- just said a bunch of stuff. It was like all the topics in one answer.

These candidates keep saying "I'm the only one on this stage who..."

How long is this debate? I'm tired of these guys. Jack says "only 53 more minutes of insanity."

Obamacare is to blame for EVERYTHING. Jack and I are going to start blaming everything on Obamacare. Jack wants to retroactively blame his Geometry grade on Obamacare. Dad says "keep dreamin'"

Can you even imagine Trump as president?  How many people could he insult? Ha ha. The moderator is laughing because Trump is ridiculous.

I think I'd like to be a small business owner. I don't know what I'd make or do, though.

I don't know how much more of this I can watch.  I should be keeping a list of who actually answered their questions.  But social issues are next, so lets see what they say.

http://www.vox.com/2015/8/6/9113893/republican-debate-bingo

This is the debate bingo card. We've been going through the squares to see what we get.

Ha ha. Is Trump even a Republican? He's evolving. He says Reagan also evolved. Ronald Reagan stopped evolving, though, since he's DEAD.

I think I like Jeb Bush best. He's cheerful and positive and I like his glasses. Even Trump thinks he's a gentleman.  The rest of these guys are kind of goofy.

Top goofs: 1.) Trump (goof in chief) 2.) Rand Paul 3.) Scott Walker  4.) Huckabee  5.) Ted Cruz

Not very goofy: 1.) Bush 2.) Kasich

Jack is looking us how much everyone has spoken. Trump has spoken for 7.5 minutes. Rand Paul has only gotten to talk for 2.5 minutes. I think I'd rather listen to Trump.

Huckabee says the purpose of the military is to kill people and break things.

Benghazi!  It only took someone 1 hour and 42 minutes to say Benghazi!

I'm having an ice cream sandwich. Mom has the keyboard again.

Chris Christie has an American flag pin in the shape of New Jersey! We can't make fun of NJ because mom was born there.

After the break, the candidates and God are going to make their final statements.

There was just a Dulcolax commercial. Mom wants to know if that is their target audience -- constipated people?

Does this count as Cruz's final statement? Or was that just his God answer?

Kasich is not answering the question. Did God speak to you, Y/N? Not hard.

Walker said God didn't give him a list.

Rubio thinks God has blessed the Republican party. Jack wonders if God really pays attention to the US political process.

Walker is nodding like a Ben Carson fanboy. That's the second time they've shown him doing that.

uh oh -- here comes Rand Paul!  Blah Blah Blah. He says he's a different kind of republican. "Yes, he's a libertarian," says Jack.

Jack is swearing while Cruz speaks. Watch your language, Buster!

And we're done. Dad changed the channel to watch Jon Stewart's last show. He asked if we thought the candidates would say anything new in the closing statements. We all agreed they would NOT.

HOT!

It was very hot and sweaty today, but mom says it is supposed to cool off, so I shouldn't get used to it. Chicago weather is so weird.

Some Hawks game last night, eh? I wonder if the Hawks will be able to beat the Ducks and make it to the finals?

I need a haircut like nobody's business.  Because of the Chicago heat, and all. Mom says I have Mayer hair -- enough hair on my head for 2 people. I get it from my grandpa.