There's a guy in a space capsule floating up into the stratosphere above Roswell, New Mexico. It took almost a week to get it going, but today everything was a go and up he goes. There's at least a half hour before he reaches his jump height. A record breaking, possibly sound barrier breaking freefall back down to the desert outside of Roswell. 

Last night I watched To Live and Die in L.A., a strange cop drama about secret service agents chasing down counterfeiters (in this case, a wacked out Willem Defoe) that begins with the lead character (played by William Peterson, who's a TV cop now) base jumping off the same bridge Tony Scott jumped to his death from this summer. Not a bungie jump (I'm not sure if this existed in the early 80s), although it was done with a rope tied around the guys leg (I'm sure there were extra precautions). 

The bridge is pretty famous in L.A., so the metaphor works for the character (who dies, by the way, which was one of the more shocking aspects of the film...the good guy lead character dies?). Of course, the director also directed The Exorcist, so twists are in his game. 

In the late 60s, the Monkees shot a bizarro movie that pretty much killed their careers. It's a hoot, and those Monkees are much better actors than the pop stars they were aping (the Beatles, duh). Head, this wacky Monkees' Major Motion Picture, begins with Mickey Dolenz jumping off the same bridge. He survives and is rescued, sort of, by a mermaid. Or something like that. The flick is positively psychedelic.

During the first presidential debate, I was pacing and a little drunk. The moderator looked like he was about have a heart attack (or maybe he had one during the thing). Romney was bouncing up and down like he was going to explode, and the Prez seemed to be taking everything in stride. Maybe a little too calm. It was kinda boring, and the thing I took away from it was the Romney kept saying he wouldn't change anything (except the things...undefined for the most part...that he would change). 

You want a popsicle? I'll give you a popsicle! Suck on this!

I didn't think it was a debate, really. It was a guy who's used to selling imaginary dreams by saying whatever it was he thought the suckers wanted to hear. And, if we trust him, he'll figure out how to do something. Eventually. But no matter what, he's getting his cut. He's getting the sale.

And Obama stood back wondering what this guy was talking about (because Romney pretty much change his stance on everything during his jibber jabber).

But Romney won because everyone bought his sales pitch (even if none of us can figure out what the hell we're buying).

Biden was a hoot (but the media, all of it pretty much, told us all afterward that the VP debate didn't matter...so that was the popsicle?). Paul Ryan is my age (pretty much), and he's one of those guys I'd have a hard time listening to for more than a few seconds at the party before pivoting to hit on his girlfriend. Because it's so obvious she's pretty hard up hanging with THAT dude.

Felix Baumgartner, the guy who's gonna jump from the "edge" of space, is almost 110,000 feet up, about 10,000 more to go. There's a problem with his visor (which is supposed to be heated, but may or may not be working properly). But he's got to get down, right? He's gonna have to jump because there's not another way out.

And the rest of us are freefallin' out of love with our big expensive election. It started a long time ago for me. I mean, I'm voting. And I'll vote on election day because I am allowed to take an hour or two off work to vote (plus, raising the minimum raise in Albuquerque is on the ballot...go extra dollar!). 

We should get the whole day off, by the way. And it should be connected to a lottery (funded by a tax on campaign contributions). Us voters should get something good out of all this crap. These aren't new ideas for me. I've thought this way since 1996 (about the lottery thing, at least). We need more national holidays, too.

But, really, what are we voting on? Some guy who has no convictions he'd really like to share versus some guy who is saying "Stay the course, thousand points of light." Oh wait, that was from a while back. But this is what it sounds like to me.

From my vantage point of falling through the atmosphere, seeing the alien town of Roswell, New Mexico (predominately on Romney's side, against the majority of NM voters), coming up in my visor.

Hoping that parachute works because I need a beer.

Matt Worley likes Tom Petty, too. P.S. Felix is the man.