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Obama is such a great orator, it’s stunning. I’ve seen him in debates and interviews when he’s speaking extemporaneously (or at least as extemporaneously as debates and interviews get when you’re running for president), and he seems weaker if only by comparison. I find myself wondering where is this great man that I’ve seen in the past. But, when he’s in front of a crowd delivering prepared remarks, he’s inspirational and motivating and so charismatic he makes me hope and believe that the US could really elevate itself to live up to its ideals and self-image.

Take a look at Obama’s December 27 speech. I really hope he wins the nomination. I really want a president who can inspire me and quench some of my natural cynicism. It would be so nice not to have to vote for the lessor of two evils, but to be able to vote for the candidate I’d really like to see leading the nation.

The Getty has an exhibit of photographs by Graciela Iturbide, so on Saturday, I headed up there to check them out. I didn’t care for her portraits very much, but some of her earlier work, particularly some work with birds was really great. It was almost grotesque and surreal in a way that was interesting to see captured in photography.

I got there a little later in the day, and so was able to spend a bit of time strolling through the gardens as the sun set. I had my camera, so you can see some pictures. Sadly none of these images are grotesque or surreal. I need to work on seeing the world from a different perspective if I’m going to make photos that I can be proud of.

I was watching the Graham Norton Show, and they had this guy, John, in the audience. John had spent 50 hours tattooing his penis.

Let’s pause for a moment to let that sink in. The dude tattooed his wang. For 50 unimaginably painful hours. He says this was his first tattoo, which is, I have to say, not where I would have started.

Anyway, they didn’t show the tattoo, but they did pique my curiosity. So, being the digital kind of guy I am, I went searching for pictures. I think this is almost certainly the first time I ever went off in search of pictures of some guys junk.

Anyway, I found the pictures, and OH MY GOD! That is one crazy mother right there. If you’d like to see the pictures too, and believe me this is about as not safe for work as not safe for work can get, he has a site dedicated to his dragon penis tattoo. It is impressive looking work. I think the backside is even better if you can imagine that.

Launchball was kind of a fun little diversion for a while. It’s not challenging enough to really keep you playing, but it is amusing through several levels.

As a lark, I took this Traveler IQ Challenge. I scored 170,594, and made it to level 6. I felt pretty good about that, but then it said my traveler IQ was 92. With IQ, average is 100, which means that at 92 I’d be below average (if they’re using IQ the way real IQ is used). I can only assume it’s all those people outside the US blowing the curve for the rest of us. Damn foreigners with their fancy book learnin’ and knowledge of geography!

I drove down to the San Diego Zoo today to make some pictures of the animals. It was a little chilly, and it was a little rainy, which I wasn’t expecting. I spent the latter part of the day with my camera wrapped in my shirt trying to keep it dry. Still, all things considered, it was a nice day.

About a year ago, I heard about this place, Oak Glen, up in the mountains just outside Los Angeles. They have a bunch of U-Pick apple orchards, and trees with leaves that actually turn colors like it’s fall. I’ve been wanting to check it out for a while, and since October is apple picking season for them, this weekend, I finally made it up there.

It was fun, and interesting. Not quite as cold as I was hoping that it would be, and there were just WAY too many people to deal with, but the food was great (apple cider, apple pie, barbeque strangely enough), and it’s worth checking out if you’ve never done it. You can see some Apple Picking photos.

Since I was already going to be in the area, I decided to take advantage and head back to Joshua Tree. I actually went to the desert the day before the apple picking and then grabbed a hotel in Palm Springs. I wish that I could have explored Palm Springs a little bit more because driving down the main drag on Saturday night looked pretty nice. I was just was too tired after running around the desert to do much more than grab an insane amount of Mexican food and collapse at the hotel. You can see my Joshua Tree Photos.

This morning before starting off for Oak Glen, I did have an opportunity to go exploring at Indian Canyon just outside of Palm Springs. Actually, I took the Andrea Canyon loop, so you can see some of those photos too.

Newport Beach held their 46th annual Sand Castle Contest today, so I drove down to photograph it. These things always have this weird mix of really privative children’s creations and reasonably elaborate carvings. I think I may have liked The King Has Two Thrones the best. What can I say? I’m a sucker for the toilet humor.

Santa Clarita has this sidewalk, chalk art festival. I went up there today to check it out. Of course, I took my camera, and you can see some of my sidewalk art photos.

Devo performing Satisfaction on Saturday Night Live is 10 kinds of awesome. I think I probably must have some Devo on my iPod. I’m going to have to rock that tonight.