In Deference to my Idols

Hiatus coming

2011-12-31T23:59:00.000-05:00

I'm gonna take the month of January off from the blog.

I'll be back in February...probably.

Image source - Ravi M Vasavan

Lonnieburger Baskets: City View Tavern

2011-12-31T08:37:00.000-05:00

Let's close out the year with a tasty burger review.

Or at least a review of a tasty burger...

From City View Tavern's previously mentioned awful website

Here's what Cincinnati Magazine had to say about City View Tavern's Big Ted Deluxe burger

#2 - City View Tavern
$6.75
The Big Ted Deluxe takes about 20 minutes from flattop to table, so just kick back and wait. We promise it's worth it. Because inside that plastic basket, next to a bag of chips (Grippo's BBQ, please), sits a most worthy treat: a hand-formed six-ounce patty, direct from Ebert's Meat Market, so pleasantly seasoned that a peppery sensation lingers on your tongue. Paired with spicy brown mustard, mayo, ketchup, American cheese, onion, chopped iceberg, and tart pickles, it's a drippy, smooth, tangy, savory masterpiece served on a light and fluffy Giminetti bun.

For now, I'll forgo an exploration of the horrible punctuation of the Cincy Mag writer and look at the veracity of the burger claims.

Burger

Man, they're right about the peppery taste to the burger. This is one of the rare, great patties that isn't just high quality beef with a little salt and pepper. This is a creation with Worcestershire, pepper, garlic, and a whole lot more - probably celery salt, onion powder, maybe a little cayenne - in the patty. The beef itself is tasty and nicely moist, but the flavoring mixture makes for a pretty spectacular burger patty, full of flavor and with a great, strong presence. My burger was cooked to medium and was right about on track there with a little pink in the center (sorry, no picture of that - once I started in, I wasn't stopping this time). The burger didn't have any crisp edges which - along with the correctly described 20-minute cooking time - made me wonder if it wasn't cooked at a lower heat than most burgers are. It was done but just not crispy at all. Burger - 9

Toppings

They weren't joking about the chopped iceberg lettuce. That always annoys me because it makes me think they order their lettuce in a bag. Then again, the kitchen in the City View Tavern is tiny, probably twelve by twelve total, so if they need to order their lettuce, I'll give them a little leeway.

But I digress...The burger was topped with nicely melted cheese; American is the only option, however. No bacon is offered or orderable, and the toppings are presented as is on the Big Ted Deluxe. There is also a Teddy Burger offered which deletes a number of the toppings, but this isn't gourmet heaven where there are a half dozen sauces and a wide variety of cheeses. This is a burger presented as such.

The toppings are good, and the spicy mustard really has a nice kick. The toppings are, however, applied a little heavily for my tastes. They make for a good combination sauce, but they almost overshadow the tasty burger itself. Toppings - 7

Fries

They don't offer fries.

I know it's mostly a bar that happens to serve food (a very limited menu of food), but how do you serve burgers without fries?

Instead, you get the option of plain Husman chips or BBQ Grippo's. The Girl went with plain. Her mother and I both chose BBQ.

Ambiance

And there's the City View of the Tavern. That's The Girl's mother, my mother-in-law in the above picture. The view is pretty impressive, probably more so here in the winter (on Christmas Eve afternoon, no less) with the trees denuded of their leaves. The deck holds up to twenty-eight people, and the bent railing suggests that sometimes those twenty-eight get a little rowdy. This is a bar first and foremost. The inside is old school wood panelled with Cincinnati-themed, framed artwork above the rail. While we were there, the railing was festooned with greenery and Christmas lights which was a nice touch but might've made resting your drink there a little tough. I dig the place. It feels real (whatever the heck that means) and comforting. Beers come in pint glasses but cokes come in red Solo cups (and do get free refills).

The City View Tavern is tiny with a front room just big enough for a pool table and a bar area with a half dozen tables. I'd happily come back for the feel of the place.

I don't know how I'd feel about being in the bar when it's packed with Mt Adams bar hoppers on a Friday night, but the location - kind of below but still in Mt Adams - might help decreased that issue a little bit. Ambiance - 10

Cost

The burger (with chips) was $6.75, and the Diet Coke was $1.50. Tax is included in that, and because there's no table service (you order at the bar and pickup there, too), that means there's not much tipping to be done. With those two cheapeners, I'll call it a wash on the lack of fries for the cost. Cost - 7

Other Stuff

Their website is horrible. Seriously. I don't know that it impacts this rating, but it certainly makes finding any information about the place a whole lot tougher.
The view is pretty spectacular, and it looks like they grill out on the deck in good weather. +1
The bun was righteous - nice, fluffy, fresh, not doughy. Quality stuff +1
It's durn near impossible to find the place unless you know right where you're headed. I tried parking in Mt Adams proper and walking around to find it, but that didn't work. You can't really walk there from the main part of Mt Adams. If it helps any, the place is below the Rookwood and the Celestial. The directions on their website are useless as they get you to Mt Adams but not to the City View Tavern. It's like they don't want people to get to their bar.
No bacon available. For me, that's a ding. -1
No fries either. I still don't know exactly how to handle that. -2
The burger took a legitimate twenty minutes even though there were only six people in the whole bar - including us. I can't imagine you'd ever get a burger if the place was packed. -1
Six ounces is a reasonable size for a burger. If I'm going to take away points when the burgers are ridiculously oversized, I should probably reward folks for making their burgers right sized. +1

Let's see where the numbers get us...-2 -1 +1 -1 +1 +1 +7 +10 +7 + 9 = 32 points (out of 40 in this case). That scales up to 40 out of 50. City View Tavern - 40 (scaled from 32/40)

Terry's Turf Club - 45
Cafe de Wheels - 44
Senate - 43
City View Tavern - 40 (scaled from 32/40)
Stuffed on Vine - 38
Five Guys Burgers and Fries - 36
Roxy's - 36
VanZandt - 34
Gabby's - 34
Oakley Pub & Grill - 34
Quatman's - 32 / 34.5
Troy's - 32
By Golly's - 32
Wildflower Cafe - 31.25 (scaled from 26/40)
Virgil's Cafe - 28
The Pub at Rookwood Mews - 28
Smashburger - 28
Habits Cafe - 28
Graffiti Burger - 27
Arthur's - 26
Sammy's - 25
Gordo's - 20

I would agree with that ranking. The closest burger to this is Cafe de Wheels, and they offer fries. They're also a lot more convenient to get to even if they're not open as long. City View Tavern offers a hell of a burger at a great price. Plus it's a reasonable size - 6 ounces. It's a place to go back to...no doubt.

Really...last links of the year

2011-12-31T08:20:00.000-05:00

Seriously, I'm done with 2011...

Traffic in Ho Chi Minh City - And I thought NYC was rough...
Archaia's Dark Crystal: Creation Myths is a proper prequel on an epic scale - been a while since I've seen Dark Crystal...
Physics of Grass, Clay, and Cement - Science and tennis...I just Googsed...
Touchdown of the century - If you haven't seen the touchdown from last week's Bengals game, check it out. It's impressive.
So this happened of the day - My two favorite bears, back together again

Rainbow toy car installation made from 2500 cars - A wonderful rainbow...would've maybe preferred the -bow to the chosen circle, but that's a minor quibble.
How I Take Photos for the Minifig Gallery - Nice, simple tutorial on how to take good photos of small objects. Think I need to talk to my student aides about this.
SNL's Hip Hop Kids - Because it's funny...

Bet you didn't even notice ceiling cat - No, I didn't.
Time's 37 best-ever science photos - wow...especially #37
Five visualizations to grasp the scale of the universe - I'll never fully grasp how tiny we are, but these things help.
Raspberri Cupcakes - another blog of gorgeous desserts that make me drool

New Music for the New Year

2011-12-30T05:58:00.000-05:00

The final 8tracks playlist of the year is songs that are about new things - New Horizons, New Dresses, New Sensations, and more.

The best of the year

2011-12-29T03:45:00.000-05:00

Collected lists of the best whatevers of the year...

Lithium Oxygen Nitrogen Nickel Electron

2011-12-28T04:11:00.000-05:00

How cool is this?

You can get your name spelled out in periodic table images on a big, long banner.

I want this for my classroom.

Actually, I don't know which one I want most...probably the bottom (most-expensive) one, of course.

It's a hard knock life...

2011-12-27T02:18:00.000-05:00

There're a few things here that make this recent Let's Be Friends Again comic a little esoteric.

The character is Mister Miracle, an escape artist who likes to challenge himself.
Mister Miracle is from New Genesis/Apocalypse, a DC comic creation from Jack Kirby. Together, he referred to his Apocalypse/New Genesis saga of stories as the Fourth World.
There's a tumblr called First World Problems which highlights the tough life of somewhat (or very) affluent white people in America. Examples are...

I wasn't served Indian food on my flight to India.
I can’t decide if the X-Men works better as a metaphor for anti-Semitism or a metaphor for homophobia.
The fudge stripe pattern inside my son’s Jamocha shake cup today was really messy looking, so I had to throw it away and demand another one.

I wasn't aware of the First World Problems blog until I scrolled down into the comic's comments.

It's not a far piece, however, from White Whine which posts whiny Facebook updates along the same lines as First World Problems.

Stuff White People Like, on the other hand, is totally different.

Last links of the year

2011-12-24T06:56:00.000-05:00

What do you mean there's another Saturday this year?

No, the calendar I have clearly says...crap.

The Dark Knight Rises trailer - Justin Case + Empire's 17-slide trailer breakdown
Couple takes advantage of UPS laziness, steals over 100 packages from doorsteps - Brilliant...illegal but brilliant
Presented Without Comment of the Day - Could be considered
Do the Grandpa Shuffle of the Day - The remix works

X-Men With Googly Eyes Remixes Classic Covers with New Expressions - Outstandingly simple...brilliant
Get a cold beer with your Crave Case at Indiana White Castle - I'm not entirely shocked that Lafayette is where they're trying this out.
Park Board: Rule allows picnics, sunbathing - This is what happens when you write a general rule to address a specific issue.
Too Late, Nolan: First 'Batman Voice vs Bane Voice' parody video emerges - Chucklesome...

Ben and Jerry's Movie Flavors 2011 - Parody, of course
Wondermark 776 - Dang right

World box - 1/6 Lakor Baby - Terrifyingly well dressed up kid

Enough Christmas music to choke a reindeer

2011-12-23T00:01:00.000-05:00

Kick back and enjoy the holiday weekend, folks, with a little Christmas music.

There's also my Christmas playlist from a couple of years back.

And great stuff like this from Chris Sims...

There's even the entire Holiday Undercover series (including the first year) from the AV Club including gems like...

AOL is streaming Christmas songs on ten stations all the time or AccuRadio that has forty stations.

My eyes! The reviews do nothing

2011-12-22T01:06:00.000-05:00

Powers Definitive collection vol 3 & 4 by Brian Michael Bendis - Holy crap it got better.

The first couple of volumes of the definitive collection laid things out well, dropping us into a world of hard boiled detectives taking on homicide cases involving super heroes. In spite of the cartoonish art style, the main characters in particular were among the more three-dimensional, well-rounded people in comics. Pilgrim, the female newbie of the pair, has pretty much no background but a whole lot of anger. Walker, on the other hand, has a hellacious back story complete with mysteriously lost powers and connections with nearly every super hero in the world.

And then it all comes together in the Forever storyline from volume 3.

Oh...my...lord...

Bendis killed this storyline, absolutely killed it in one of the best story arcs that I've seen, tying together the entire history of our species back to monkeys around a watering hole and linking back to an interview from the first issue of this series. When Bendis brings back the same exact page, presenting it without any changes whatsoever, the entire page reads radically differently in the new light. Bendis takes the identity of our main character and rewrites it in a masterstroke.

And then Bendis starts telling even better stories from there.

This isn't where you should come into the series. This isn't a friendly jumping on point. This one needs background and context - and I'm guessing it would have been infuriating to read a month at a time - but it's an killer...all killer no filler what so ever.

Fables by Bill Willingham - I'm working my way back through the Fables series because it's ~~Christmas~~ ~~Holiday~~ Winter Break. There are three problems with this...

A few volumes have gone missing from the library catalog. Volumes 6 and 9, specifically, are gone. So I probably won't be re-reading those. Lane and Middletown don't have those, either...because they suck.
Some other jerks apparently are also reading the volumes, so I can't get all of the that I want at the instant I want them.
The library doesn't seem to understand my project, so they're letting other people check out the books before I do. AKA The library is staffed by jerks.

I've spoken before that Fables is a hell of a series, and I stand by my comments, but let's see how things hold up on another read.

Vol 1 - Fables in Exile - It's a whole lot of character introduction and paints Red and Jack as a lot less interesting than they would eventually become. I do like the initial strains of relationship between Bigby and Snow. This one's worth reading but mostly just as table setter.
Vol 2 - Animal Farm - A lot like the first volume in that it's mostly table setting. Red does step up and take leadership, but we barely get into the real story of the series - taking back the Homelands.
Vol 3 - Storybook Love - Here we start to get closer to the story. Bluebeard gets his comeuppance and the more violent tone of the series begins to reveal itself. There's also a great backup story of the Barylcorn Brides, one of the first stand alone issues that stand up to the high quality of those that will come later in the story. As we learn much later, however, this standalone issue comes back to importance when Baba Yaga needs to be taken care of finally.
Vol 4 - March of the Wooden Soldiers - Here comes the plot. The Adversary sends his wooden soldiers to take down Fabletown and take Pinocchio back to the Homelands, and Fabletown steps up the game to defend itself. War is afoot, and the main plotline that will dominate the series for the next eight or so volumes is coming alive.
Vol 5 - The Mean Seasons - Snow's given birth to her seven children and has left Fabletown for the farm where Bigby can't go. We get to see Cinderella's true nature (which comes into important play later in the series), and we see what Bigby and capable of. Rose continues to grow as a character, and everything is taking a little break before full on war preparations take place.
Vol 7 - Arabian Nights (and Days) - Brilliant work bringing the Arabian fables into the fold and giving King Cole something to do since he lost his office. The two issue "Ballad of Rodney and June" is striking and emotional (and again comes back to mean so much more than we could ever imagine from the two issues here.) "Rodney and June" is a real knockout. It's brilliant and touching and emotional and perfect, especially because I know where they come back to the story in a few volumes.
Vol 8 - Wolves - It's time for Bigby to come back into the fold and to attack the Adversary on his own turf. We get the first open mention of Isreal, a nation whose existence have been paralleled through the Fables storyline and that I'm impressed Willingham has the chutzpah to openly explain. And again Cinderella comes back - this time as a somewhat less happy diplomatic mission. And Bigby and Snow get married. The marriage is surprisingly touching for a couple of figures that we've been following for forty or so issues.The war is on at this point, and tension is building. Good stuff...
Vol 11 - War and Pieces - The invasion is on. After two volumes of planning (one of which the library doesn't have any more and the other which is checked out), the battle is on, and the Fables are taking the battle to the Homelands. In original reading this would have taken nearly half a year and been painfully slow. Here, however, the war seems too brief, with a campaign taken only to take out the Adversary, himself, with little aim for taking out his entire army spread across the entirety of the Homelands. The plan is excellently well thought out and marvelously well achieved, but after seeing the build up to the war take nearly ten volumes, I wanted more war than we got.
Vol 14 - Witches - Vol 12 is the Fables dealing with trying to win the peace after they've won the war. Vol 13 is the worst collection yet as Fables crosses-over with what was an initially interesting and later horrible Jack of Hearts spin-off. Vol 14, however, returns to the hardness of the Fables struggling both internally - as Ozma openly challenges Totenkinder for leadership of the 13th floor - and externally - as the Dark Man has taken down the entirety of Fabletown, forcing the Fables out to the Farm. I wondered whether the post-wartime drama would be lost from the series, but the Dark Man seems a reasonable stand-in. We get a brilliant background story from the Dark Man that ties, as all of the stand-alone stories seem to, into the coming battle. Great return to form for the series. And the tale of Bufkin taking Baba Yaga out of the pictures - seemingly for good - is a marvelous highlight for what had been a very minor character. All great stuff here.
Vol 15 - Rose Red - Finally Rose gets her head out of her backside and returns to Farm leadership, Totenkinder takes on the Dark Man, and we get a chance to see Rose and Snow as sisters - all the messiness that entails. Another great read, especially Totenkinder's preparations and eventual battle with the Dark Man. We're back in the high life again, folks.

I'm looking forward to Vol 16 again - something I wondered after vol 13 (a horrible mess).

Willow - This is a stupid movie. Seriously, why do I remember it fondly?

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour by Asteroids Galaxy Tour - It's fun stuff. Give it a listen.

2011-12-21T13:47:00.000-05:00

Chicken dinner...

Look who's got a $25 Busken's gift certificate (and apparently a $25 Graeter's gift certificate, too) coming to him.

Thank you, WineMeDineMe!

I've said it before (before I was a winner), and I'll say it again - anybody in Cincy should be checking Julie's blog.

Please Chammer, don't churt 'em

2011-12-21T13:11:00.000-05:00

Happy Chanukah to any of you out there who started their celebration last night. If you get a chance, check out my favorite Hanukkah movie of all time, The Hebrew Hammer.

It's on Netflix if you've got such a service.

(Or the entire flick just might be on YouTube in thirteen minute segments...I'm not saying...I'm just saying...)

Being social

2011-12-21T01:03:00.000-05:00

So, I'm the PHS webmaster this year. It's my first year back on the job after a hiatus of a year and a half. It's also the first year that PCSD has been without a public relations (PR) director in my eleven years in the district. Perhaps as a result of that latter happening, I've been finding myself more and more interested - and sometimes frustrated in Princeton's various online personas.

Today I'm going to run through the various online presences that exist in and around Princeton City schools. This will be an incomplete list because I'm pretty sure there are other presences out there that I don't know. I'll come back early next week with my thoughts, beliefs, and understandings about our online brand.

There's the district website, redesigned almost two years ago now and managed through SchoolWorld, a website/company that managed school websites around the country. The district website is being managed by our technology director and the secretary of the former PR director. Each of the school websites - all a part of and largely indistinguishable from the district site - is managed by somebody in the building.I'm the high school webmaster, but some of the elementary schools are being managed by the building's principal.

There's the high school's Twitter feed, managed by our principal, occasionally by some of his student interns, and - I think - by our athletic director/principal/fotball coach. The feed is branded as being our principal's, self-described as 'leader; innovator; visionary; change agent." In a weird way this seems to make it less official for me because if the principal leaves, I assume that Twitter feed would leave as well. Two examples of that exact problem is here @PCMSViking where the former principal left the building for our central office or @PrincetonSchool, the Twitter feed of our former PR director. When that happened the Twitter feed died, leaving anyone who relied on it as communication to be lost. Makes me wonder what will happen to Dale Even (@EvendaleLilVike) when their principal leaves or @ImproveSchools when Tim Dugan retires...again.

For a while our principal also had his personal YouTube channel that he was using as the high school's channel, uploading videos and linking them to the official website and Facebook page (that's coming in a paragraph or two). At some point, however, that stopped, and the PrincetonVikings channel - which was created a year and a half ago to post a valedictory speech video. I'm not sure how many people upload videos there, but I know of at least a half dozen high school employees who have the password.

The most viewed Princeton online presence might be the high school's Facebook page. There are six administrators there - a music teacher, me, two principals, our librarian, and our technology director. We have 5217 likes there, and this is the place with the most frequent updates from PHS - especially since almost every Tweet gets reposted here. Somewhere along the way, the choice was made that only official posts show up when people land here. There's also the Princeton Vikings 'person' which simply refers visitors to the main high school Facebook page.

A while back - two years, three years maybe - I created the PHS Vikings PicasaWeb account. For $5 a year, we get 20GB (for now, the amount of space for that price will likely go up) to post photos. There's only one person who has the login info for that account, and that's intentional.

The final online official PHS presence (that I know of, anyway) is a Wordpress blog called Leadership 24/7. There our administrative team and invited teachers post entries about, well, leadership. The blog saw six posts in August; none in September or October; then four more posts in the ten days after I asked our principal if I could go ahead and remove the link to the blog because of inactivity. That was in late November and the first week of December.

Now we get to the less official presences of Princeton on the web, the sites that aren't being run by Princeton employees or at least aren't purporting to represent Princeton in any official capacity.

Shades of Grey - This used to be an annually-published literary 'journal' but has turned into a tumblr and YouTube account posting student-read and, I assume, written poetry, prose, photography, and singing. This one is run by a PHS teacher and PHS students but does break the district policy against posting student first and last names with images unless prior, written permission fro a parent is obtained.
Princeton Vikings - This Facebook 'person' says it's PrincetonHighSchool, but it's not run by any Princeton employee that I know of. Instead, it's largely a front for a person/business that sells DVD transfers of Princeton football games from the glory year 80's and early 90's. I have registered a number of Facebook complaints against them as not being any official Princeton capacity.
Princeton BoysBasketball (Boosters) - This Facebook 'person' seems to be run by our basketball boosters, which would mean that it's quasi-official since the boosters is an quasi-official Princeton group. It's probably a Princeton parent or two - maybe with the endorsement of our two basketball head coaches, but it's interesting to wonder how the management of the page passes from year to year.
PHS Pasta for Pennies - This one's mine - with Calen, anyway - and was created as a non-profit entity for our annual campaign for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (speaking of which, it's not too early to sign up for the March 5K.) Princeton certainly didn't authorize the creation of this page in any way. We just made it and have largely shifted forward to our Facebook group instead for most communication.
Princeton Viking Orchestra - This one is also a Facebook 'person' and seems to be run by a Princeton employee, a music teacher or two. I don't know how many of the music teachers have control of this, but I'm guessing it's not Bob Monroe, the person officially in charge of the district music program at this point but whose name doesn't appear once on the district's website.
New Princeton Vikings Middle School and High School - This one is weird to me in that it's not run by anyone at Princeton but is tacitly endorsed by the Princeton administration. It's run by Cole + Russell Architecture. They post occasional renderings and photos of the architects in meetings.
Princeton Vikings - This is another 'person' page that isn't Princeton in any official capacity. It appears to be somehow football-related just based on the content that I can see, but it doesn't appear to be run by the football coach/athletic director/principal himself. There hasn't been any content change here since July.
Princeton Vikes - Another 'person' that is neither a person nor Princeton.
Princeton Vikings - This group has one post and very few images.It's fully public, so I know that's all there is there.
@VikesFootball - This one doesn't appear to be run by the football program. I say this mostly because it isn't the kind of quick updates that a coach would be offering to his parents and players. It's more rah-rah, bragging stuff.
There are also countless Y o u T u b e, Picasa, Facebook, T w i t t e r, and other accounts that include Princeton content but don't title themselves in any way that suggests that they are a Princeton organization or person.

Friendly little Legos

2011-12-20T06:26:00.000-05:00

I heard a story this past week on NPR about a new Lego line- in addition to the addition of the licensed Lego Lord of the Rings line that was just announced. Looks like Lego is trying again to court the little girl market, this time with Friends.

In the past Lego has tried for the same demographic with Belville, Scala, and Paradisa, none of which lasted more than a year. This time the Friends sets don't look drastically different from standard Lego sets - all still made from fairly typical Lego blocks, but the Friends minifigs are radically redesigned while still holding to roughly the same scale. The Friends figures are slimmer and slightly taller, looking almost like Polly Pockets or short Playmobil firgures. (I wonder if Playmobil sells well to girls.)

The Friends line is built around five main characters - each of whom has a profession leading to more role playing, something the NPR story mentioned as being a need to sell well to girls. There's the animal lover, the smart girl, the singer, the beautician, and the social girl. It's interesting to see the sets play to the stereotypes for girls - something I'm guessing Lego may get some grief for.

I'll admit to being a little more excited about some of the other licenses.

The Dark Knight Rises trailer

2011-12-19T18:59:00.000-05:00

Check out thoughts from Andy Khouri at ComicsAlliance here.

It's a long time 'til next summer...

Long Tall Texan

2011-12-19T09:09:00.000-05:00

I searched back through and didn't see a YouTube cache from Lyle Lovett, so I'm putting one together.

I hope you find something to enjoy on this lovely no-school morning.

Click to read the rest...

For two of you...

2011-12-18T08:20:00.000-05:00

I have these two works friends who seem to have some sort of affection for Nutella. I thought I'd share this Christmas idea with them in case they happen to wander through these parts.

School's Out for ever! School's been closed for the holidays!

2011-12-17T09:08:00.000-05:00

Yodeling cat - I know it's a Wal-Mart commercial, but it's friggin' creepy.
Muppet Hats of the Day - so cute
Frog Juice - exactly what it sounds like...
Kids these days - Yeah, it's cute and hilarious, but who the heck films their kids frequently enough to get this kind of stuff...and is this an example of healthy parenting?

Science Getaways - A week at a ranch with biologists, botanists, astronomers there to teach you about the world. Sounds kinda cool...and expensive.
Wisc-Whitewater 13-MtUnion 10 - The tie is broken...for now, anyway.
Fight Club soap - It's available for realzies now.
The disadvantages of summer babies - Thanks to Lakes for the link.

"Jump in the Line" - because it's fun
GI Joe: Retaliation trailer - Stupidly entertaining and tempting
2011 sets records for wet/dry extremes in US - Cincinnati gets a mention and goes at least 5" above the old record. Cheviot is wettest in Ohio history.

Stop motion short of the day - Great visuals...no storyline...can I get a storyline?
50 Best Players not in the Hall of Fame - #5 is a crime.
It's a good life - another occasional webcomic to check out, especially if you understand both sides of this one. (reference if you need it)

Very important interview of the day - An interview with Marcel the Shell with Shoes On that' marvelously well done
The 20 Unhappiest People You Meet in the Comments Section - Thanks to Calen for this one. Why is the topic called Dogs with Wigs?
"House of the Rising Sun" computer remix - Outstanding...

Early bird special - SNL writers reenact Robyn's "Call Your Girlfriend" video...and I had no idea that Sarah Schneider was writing for SNL now.
"Bright Lights" by Gary Clark Jr - Thanks, again to Lakes for the great tune.

The last 80's playlist for a while

2011-12-16T01:14:00.000-05:00

And this clears out the 80s backlog...with the last alphabetically of Lonnie's 80's playlists: Women.

Happy birthday, old fella

2011-12-15T09:42:00.001-05:00

Tim Conway turns 78 today. Tale a minute to point and laugh, would ya?

Click to read the rest...

Things I've learned

2011-12-14T08:37:00.000-05:00

I put this to writing a week or so ago, and it sums up a lot of what I know about the world:

Rules can be bent if you want to bend them.

If you don’t want to bend them, it’s nice to have rules to fall back on.

We all take advantage of and get screwed by that.

It's far from a chipper thought and all, but it's something that I've seen happen over and over again. Teachers and administrators give students second and third chances, but if they don't want to give those second and third chances - because the student's a jerk, because the teacher's in a bad mood, because the student didn't ask the right way - then it's awfully easy to just point at a the rules and say 'tough luck, kid.'

It doesn't matter whether you're a teacher, a student, a building administrator, a politician, a father, a mother, a police officer, a boss, or an underling. There are times when the rules work for you - because you understand the rules better or because you're in a position to make the rules - and there will surely be a time when you'll come out wishing the rules weren't there.

People are doing the best job they can.

There are a hundred reasons why they might be doing a crappy job, but they're doing the best that they can. They might be dumb. They might be ignorant of how to do a better job. They might have things going on at home or with their mistress. They might have your wishes running about fourteenth on their list of priorities, but they're doing the best they can within those limits.

Don't complain that they're lazy. Don't complain that they're stupid. Don't tell them to just work harder. At best you'll get a momentary improvement but rarely anything valuable in the long term.

You get more bees with honey than with vinegar.

There are hundreds of reasons why we could go through the golden rule in any one of its variations, but I find much of the important things about behavior boil down to this - be nice to people. It's not always easy to do. It's not always something that sees quick results. But it's the better path if you can manage to take it.

Fried Cereal!

2011-12-13T01:33:00.000-05:00

Clearly, this need to be made.

I'm totally making this over the break.

Thank you, Charles Phoenix.

Einstein on the Beach

2011-12-12T03:21:00.000-05:00

I'm a fan of Philip Glass.

The Girl is not. She, in fact, hates his compositions. They drive her nuts.

This means that getting her to road trip to Ann Arbor in late January to see Einstein on the Beach as hosted by the University of Michigan. They're apparently getting three preview performances before the production heads to Montpelier, France for it's new premier.

Update: The Girl agreed to go. Tickets have been purchased. A hotel room has been reserved. Holy crap, I'm gonna see Einstein on the Beach in person. How frickin' cool is that?

Check out some old footage of and about the opera...

Click to read the rest...

Hail to the cream and crimson

2011-12-11T12:49:00.001-05:00

Great story about Indiana's victory over UK over at ESPN.

Congrats to the Hoosiers for an awesome victory and what is hopefully a first reappearance on the national stage.

from Chicago Tribune

from Indy Star

from ESPN

both from Vigilant Sports

Today's sports bits

2011-12-10T19:35:00.001-05:00

Indiana 73-72 over the #1 ranked Kentucky Wildcats! Much happiness...

Kansas 78-67 over the #2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes! Not much either way...

Wyoming 3 22-11 over the Sharonville Eagles! Minor sadness but lots of room for improvement, at least. We've clearly only got up to go from here.

The Bearcats and Muskies did what they could to get just about their whole teams suspended.

Mt Union 28-21 over Wesley, UW Whitewater 20-0 over St Thomas to get the same two teams to the Stagg Bowl (DIII championship game) for the seventh straight year. Three wins each so far.

Ryan Bruan, current National League MVP tests positive for performance enhancing drugs.

And Robert Griffin III rightfully wins the Heisman tonight.

Let's go Eagles!

2011-12-10T09:16:00.001-05:00

That would be the Sharonville Eagles, the rec bball team whose first game is this afternoon at 1. Wish 'em luck, folks.

Another Oops?: Rick Perry Misstates Number of Supreme Court Judges - Really? Really?!?!
Rick Perry's Unpopular Opinions - some funny, some not so
Animated Short of the Day - Hot dog vs ho dog vendor...who ya got?

Infographic of the Day - Top ten cereals based on %sugar by mass...holy crap...I would like to see some citation or data, however.
Guns N' Roses - Hall of Famers? One great album...one good album...one okay album...two crap sandwich albums...really? Next up, the Fugees?
Everyone Has a Present for Batman in his Holiday Batcave - What, no Black Mercy?
Worst AIDS Joke Ever of the Day - Warning: Needless slow-cap replay after the joke

Online High School Attracting Elite Names - Stanford High School? Intriguing
Ewan McGregor & Eva Green get naked for the end of the world - Looks like an interesting trailer
Mythbusters cannon ball accident caused by 'unforseen bounce' - It's kinda impressive that they haven't had an accident like this until now.
The Most Hated Buzzword - 1,6,9,12(!),17,19 - Yup, that's where I work.
By My Desk - Cheryl Adams, here I come
PSA of the Day - I could get on this campaign. Community's holiday episode is outstanding.

Awesome Geeky Cooking Hacks -I like the N2(l) ice cream in particular.
Click to donate to Toys for Tots - and win fabulous prizes - Send a bunch of holiday greetings, folks...do a little good.
SMBC - This week things got a little serious. (click for the large version...it's well worth it...outstanding...seriously...)

Bill Dee Williams endorses...

2011-12-09T06:39:00.000-05:00

The most soulful 80s...

"The Chemist to His Love"

2011-12-07T19:03:00.001-05:00

I love thee, Mary, and thou lovest me–
Our mutual flame is like th’ affinity
That doth exist between two simple bodies:
I am Potassium to thine Oxygen.
‘Tis little that the holy marriage vow
Shall shortly make us one. That unity
Is, after all, but metaphysical.
Oh, would that I, my Mary, were an acid,
A living acid; thou an alkali
Endow’d with human sense, that, brought together,
We both might coalesce into one salt,
One homogeneous crystal. Oh, that thou
Wert Carbon, and myself were Hydrogen;
We would unite to form olefiant gas,
Or common coal, or naphtha–would to heaven
That I were Phosphorus, and thou wert Lime!
And we of Lime composed a Phosphuret.
I’d be content to be Sulphuric Acid,
So that thou might be Soda. In that case
We should be Glauber’s Salt. Wert thou Magnesia
Instead we’d form the salt that’s named from Epsom.
Couldst thou Potassa be, I Aqua-fortis,
Our happy union should that compound form,
Nitrate of Potash–otherwise Saltpetre.
And thus our several natures sweetly blent,
We’d live and love together, until death
Should decompose the fleshly tertium quid,
Leaving our souls to all eternity
Amalgamated. Sweet, thy name is Briggs
And mine is Johnson. Wherefore should not we
Agree to form a Johnsonate of Briggs?
– “A Rochester druggist,” quoted in The Medical Age, Oct. 11, 1886

Source - Futility Closet

2 H2O2 (aq) --> 2 H2O (l) + O2 (g) + energy

2011-12-07T13:07:00.001-05:00

That's all it is...

(skip to7:10 for the decomposition, though the rest is fun, too)...

Click to read the rest...

Another thing I need

2011-12-06T05:06:00.001-05:00

So, I this, a year in which I've been required to take on an extra class and all my classes are a little larger due to budget cuts, a year in which I've taken back the PHS website, I've taken on another thing.I'm the coach of the Sharonville Rec Center Girls High School basketball team.

See, three of the team members are I my tenth bell class and asked me if I would be interested in coaching them. I'm always on the look out for ways I can make some sort of connection with my students outside of the classroom - going to holiday concerts, cheering at sports events, whatever. And they said it would only be an hour of time a week.

Hah...

We're four days out from the first game, and the team is ready.

What they're ready for, I'm not sure just yet, but they're ready for something.

Sharonville Rec BBall Schedule - winter 11/12

You know, in case you wanted to come out and support the team...or scout some of the talent for a division II university to make sure the outstanding rec league players don't slip through your fingers and get recruited by some other division II university.

Where have I seen this before?

2011-12-05T07:08:00.000-05:00

I love TinEye.

It's a reverse image look-up, such a simple thing, but one that I'm thinking can be exceptionally useful.

Upload your image or enter a web link, and TinEye searches the web to find where else that image is used.

Nothing fancy...nothing drastic...nothing phenomenal...just basically awesome.

The Black Keys

2011-12-04T11:43:00.001-05:00

New album - El Camino - out this Tuesday...check one of the new songs here...

It feels like Thanksgiving around here...

2011-12-03T05:56:00.000-05:00

Very Mary Kate has returned. Celebrate as appropriate.
Percentage Points - I feel like this a whole lot.
Deleted scenes hall of fame - Grantland's staff's choices are pretty choice
Community gets anime - It'll be sad if/when this show gets cancelled. Ready for your schpanken?
A Bridge, a Speedboat, and a Frisbee - Can we just stop this stupid trick shot crap now, please? Please?

Shopping Prank - I appreciate that they kept this clean.
A Frosty Reception for Coco-Cola's White Christmas Cans - People are apparently dumb.
Drive in cartoon form - A minute to tell Drive.
'Mitt vs Mitt': Democrats target Romney in new attack ad - Does make ya wonder,doesn't it?

"Is it too late for shopping?" - It just might be, yeah.
The Geography of Stuck - go Ohio!
Animated comic covers - Iron Man creeps me out.
Oscar predictions - I've seen almost none of these movies. Sad year, eh?

New York dodges a potential storm surge mega-disaster - Wunderblog continues to do marvelous weather coverage. Check also The City That Plans to be Flooded.
OOTS Family Car Sticker - I'm kinda tempted.
Occasional Comics - He just might be overreacting.
Ten skits that prove The Muppet Show was for adults more than kids - It was an outstandng show...outstanding.

The sappy 80's

2011-12-02T08:08:00.000-05:00

You could make some excellent maple syrup from this week's collection of sappy songs from the 80s.

Try not to cry too much...

A few quick questions...

2011-12-01T09:10:00.000-05:00

Is it a bad thing that I stopped to play Wii Sports Resort when I got home instead of getting right to grading?

Is it a bad thing that I found myself ten (out of eighty) points of interest from completing the Island Flyover game in the daytime?

Is it a bad thing that I went searching on the internet to find a list of all eighty points of interest?

Is is a bad thing that I dropped them into an Excel document and then went through checking off each of the ones I had so I could then use an interactive map to find the ten I was missing?

Wii Resort Island Flyover

Is it a bad thing that I made sure the Excel had three columns so I could go back and find which ones I had in the daytime, evening, and night knowing that eventually I'd want that on the spreadsheet?

It is, isn't it?

Update: Twin Creek Preserve

2011-11-30T08:58:00.000-05:00

Turns out that the newest park in Sharonville isn't much to look at just yet. I mentioned the ribbon cutting of Twin Creek Preserve last week, but when Calen and I wandered to said Twin Creek Preserve on Thanksgiving Wednesday, we didn't find much to explore.

At this point Twin Creek Preserve is pretty much a muddy field of sticks.

That's I-275 in the background. The foreground green is the corner of one of the two youth soccer fields that are largely finished.

Spread between the soccer fields are a trio of plastic coyotes (with 'real' fur tails) designed to keep, I'm assuming, geese off of the fields.

If you want to check out some more, I've taken the liberty of copying the photo albums from the Mill Creek Watershed's photo page on the Preserve.

Aerial Photos of Twin Creek Preserve

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Volunteer Plantings at Twin Creek Preserve

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

You can also check out some pre-construction images...

Pre-Construction of Twin Creek Preserve streams

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

And here are the directions in case you want to check the place out yourself.

There's been some more media coverage of the Preserve, as well...

Here's the full plan for the eventual Preserve...

I'm really looking forward to seeing (and maybe canoeing) the place when spring rolls around and once the plantings start to mature.

Occupy IDTMI

2011-11-29T02:39:00.000-05:00

I'm going to have to straight up open by saying that I don't understand the Occupy Wall Street (et al) protests.

Actually, let me back up a little bit.

Whenever the question of free speech vs governmental restrictions comes up, I side with free speech. I think we should be able to say pretty much anything we want to say, anywhere, anytime - unless it can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that allowing such would cause direct and immediate harm to somebody. We can debate the exact details all over the place, but I'll generally err on the side of allowing free speech. Just thought you should know that.

Pursuant to that position, I'm fully supportive of people's rights to protest. If you're bothered by your local school board's policies, show up at the meeting and have your say. If you're worried that your city is discriminating, call the media and let 'em film your signs. If you think the federal government is turning control of the country over to some world government via secret codes on the back of the highway signs, write to the newspaper and set yourself ablaze.

I may not join you, but I'll defend your rights to say your piece to the ends of the Earth.

That being said, unless you have a specific issue and a solution, I may just ask you what you're hoping to accomplish here, and that's where I am with Occupy Wall Street. I just don't get what the protesters are hoping to accomplish.

I think we can all agree that there is a gigantic economic disparity in our country. The rich are getting richer on the backs of the poor and the middle class. We're in the middle of an economic downturn/recession that's as bad as anything we've had since the late 1970's (or longer depending on what measures you trust). Or maybe we're barely coming out of it - very...slowly. The recession was caused by the mistakes made by large investment banks that didn't seem to suffer too much in the (so far) long run.

And the middle class is getting killed. Jobs are being lost. Homes are being lost. Retirement savings are being lost.

I get the anger. I understand the frustration. I just don't see the way out or what the Occupy Wall Street protesters are hoping to change. Rather, I don't get how the Occupy Wall Street protesters are hoping to turn their Occupy-ing into change.

How are they hoping that camping out, Occupying Everywhere, chanting, cheering, getting arrested, beaten, and trampled is going to lead to this change? And just what change do they want to see happen?

Do they want taxes raised on the ~~rich~~ job creators?

Do they want more regulations on investment banks?

Do they want more jobs?

Do they want more governmental support of unions?

Do they want to end subsidies to oil companies?

What's the specific goal that can be accomplished to make the protesters happy? If their goal is a more equitable distribution of wealth, I'm afraid they're going to be Occupying through a whole lot of long, cold winters.

...

That being said, the treatment that the protesters have received - and possibly that they have given back to law enforcement in some cases - has been deplorable. The video above shows a peaceful protest at UC Davis which was broken up by the infamous (and meme-inspiring) pepper-spraying John Pike. We've seen similar incidents in lots of other cities - including Portland, shown to the right - many of which have lead to extremely violent showdowns between protesters and law enforcement - most noticeably in Oakland.

I am happy to say that all reports here in the Queen City have been that police have done their jobs while being respectful of the protesters. There have been arrests and park-clearings, but there hasn't been violence.

Ryan Adams in Cincy

2011-11-28T22:01:00.001-05:00

Ryan Adams just posted a run of shows that'll include a stop at the Taft Theater in Cincy in January...tickets on sale later this week...

Check 'em...

TableTopics: #32

2011-11-28T09:01:00.000-05:00

Who has inspired you as a mentor and why? (I'll change that last word to 'how'.)

Largely all of my mentors are teachers I've taught with or learned from. They're the ones I've seen in action, the ones I've learned from, the ones who've shown me what to (and in some cases what not to do).

The most prevalent influence on my teaching style was Pru Phillips (that's Pru on the left of the photo - thanks, Wabash, for posting that) of Crafordsville high school. Pru was the wife of the David Phllips, head of the chemistry department at Wabash College when I was a student there. Pru didn't take many student teachers and only then during the second semester, but she was kind enough to take me on for the spring of 1996 - partially at the recommendation of her husband. My students today would likely have recognized the mechanics of Pru's classroom - the BAT sheets, the homework folders, the lab report formatting, the demonstrations - as I picked up many of my techniques from her. She worked tirelessly, put in long hours, and recognized that connecting with the students was every bit as important as presenting curriculum to them. She was a spectacular teacher, and I am lucky to have known her. The Best Man, coincidentally, was lucky to have had her as his chemistry teacher, and he has parlayed that solid footing into a career in chemistry, now at Proctor and Gamble.

Lee Cordrey (sadly I can't find a photo of him online) taught with me at Mount Healthy High School. Lee didn't bring the greatest chemical knowledge to the classroom, having been trained as a middle school science teacher and shifting to the high school at some point. Lee brought a sense of joy to the classroom and an easy-going demeanor that I have hoped to carry along in my years. Yes, there is curriculum to be covered, but there is a lot of fun to be had in the process, and I have Lee to thank for reminding me of that from time to time.

Doug Studer, my teaching neighbor for more than a decade at Princeton High School, has shown me much of how to be a good teacher. I was initially skeptical of Doug's teaching as he asked some questions those first couple of years that made me wonder how well he know the chemistry content. As I learned, however, this was entirely reasonable because Doug was originally trained as a history teacher who slid into chemistry to better his chances of getting a j.o.b. Doug is a year more senior than I at Princeton, and he has been somewhat burdened with a schedule drastically different from mine - initially taking the lowest science classes we had to offer. In the past decade, however, Doug has turned himself into a spectacular teacher, primarily through hard work. For a long time, I was of the belief that teachers were largely born, that the ability to lead a classroom was an innate skill that people either had or didn't have, but Doug has shown me that a willingness to work and improve oneself is easily as important as any natural leanings toward teaching that a person might have.

As much as it pains me to say this - because I know she'll end up reading this and I'll never hear the end of this, Rebecca Heckman (calencoriel, for those of you in the know) has actually taught me a heck of a lot, too. I haven't been able to teach beside her, so I haven't taken much in-classroom material from her, but she does a masterful job of walking the tightrope of being a teacher leader within the building. She has been my department chair under three principals now, and each one has held her in high regard, allowing her to lead our department - in various ways as leadership has dictated - for over a decade. She is far more diplomatic than I, is generous with her time to her students (she was making Facebook groups and IMing her students long before I ever considered it), and is willing to spend hours and hours at Princeton to help her students out. I still have much to learn from her.

I wish I had somebody to list from my year at Terre Haute South Vigo High School, but I only spent one year there. The first year of teaching is mostly just an exercise in trying to keep your head above water, and I don't know how much of what I was learning is anything I was actually, overtly aware that I was learning. I owe thanks to lots of folks there: Melanie Huber, my official mentor and department chair, the other four new first-year teachers in our department (it was a fun year), and loads of other folks whose names have drifted from my brain over the years.

In case you're late to the party, here's the deal...

Here's what I've answered so far...

#25 - "I Know What Love Is" by Don White
#35 - no business
#36 - MLK, Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech on the National Mall
#16 - Scotland...Wabash...my first college visit home
#19 - No
#22 - Skydiving
#24 - Beastie Boys in NYC
#27 - Fight Club / Primer / Hoosiers / Grosse Pointe Blank and Slaughterhouse Five / All-Star Superman

Already requested answers...they'll be answered (probably in this order)...

Feel free to request other answers in the comments.

Turkey hangover

2011-11-27T04:46:00.000-05:00

Is that sweet potato pie in the corner?

Exclusive News of the Day - That's right, Very Mary Kate is back with new episodes next week.
Amazing Google Street View Photos - They're like art.
List of element name etymologies - I'm thinking my honoros chem students should kinda read over it.
The Sketchbook of Susan Kare - She designed the first computer icons. Worship at the alter of design.

"Brinicle" ice finger of death filmed in Antarctic - So much science...
Lego ornaments - I particularly like the tree.
Address is approximate - cute film/ad about desk toys going on a journey
Seven Changes Could Make Baseball Better - I agree with #s 1-5
Lego Santa Yoda - donations and cuteness
Dumbing of Age - I love/loathe Chik-Fil-A.

From the hills of Maine...

2011-11-26T18:49:00.001-05:00

Wabash 29 - North Central 28...apparently a pretty amazing comeback with the backup QB starting because of injury. Check all the details...

Franklin, on the other hand, saw their dream dashed at the hands of the #1 school in the nation. Details here.

By the way, the links post will be up in the mornin'...

The 80's rocked

2011-11-25T04:39:00.000-05:00

The Friday 80's roll on with the second part of the rock theme...

Some advice

2011-11-24T09:52:00.000-05:00

Do yourself a favor and go see The Muppets this weekend.

It's really fun.

I can give more details later, but just take my word on this one.

From SNL

2011-11-23T04:32:00.000-05:00

And because I'm geeked to go see the new Muppet movie today...

~admittedly not Muppet-centric, but they do make an appearance...

Reviews...just because

2011-11-23T02:39:00.000-05:00

Powers: The Definitive Collection vol 1 & 2 by Brian Michael Bendis & Mike Oeming - This was an impulse pickup from the Sharonville branch. The second volume was on the shelf, so I went ahead and reserved vol 1,3,4. I'd heard of but not much about Powers before so I came in pretty blank. The plot can be summed up as a simple enough two-detectives-investigate-super-powered-homicides. The main characters, however, seem to have a whole lot more in their backgrounds than we're initially lead to believe, and their ties to the Powers community become a significant part of the storyline.

The book strikes a tone that is a combination of detective noir and quick-paced,knowing police drama, with the characters speaking to each other in quick, clipped half sentences, requiring the reader to catching the meaning amidst the patter. That combination along with the deepening plot as to the growing dissatisfaction of the common public with their superpowered protectors and a slowly-revealed governmental conspiracy makes for an engaging read illustrated in perfect, drastically cartoon style.

How Baking Works by Paula Figoni - I'm always on the lookout for books that might work for my chemistry extra credit assignment in which the students read a non-textbook chemistry book and answer some questions, make a video, present a project, do sumpin'. I didn't really know what this book was when I grabbed it from the PLCH shelves, but it turns out that this textbook - used in culinary and baking programs - is perfect. The chapters are filled with rockin' science written at a level that is imminently approachable and connected with examples and exercises that the students can perform in their own kitchen.

Great choice and one I'm going to see if I can swing through for the school to buy.

(At this point, I'm going with quick thoughts as I've been writing this post for a week now and haven't gotten it finished...)

Lex Luthor: Man of Steel...

All-Star Batman and Robin...

Superman/Batman: Night and Day

Tangent Comics: Reign of Superman

All are awful. Avoid them.

Flip Flop Fly Ball by Craig Robinson - book of infographics from online designer, baseball fan, and all-around British guy...you can check out his work here...some overlap, lots of unique stuff on each side (book/website)...surprisingly, book isn't all infographics (which I would have also enjoyed)...also interesting stories about Robinson's journey to baseball as a British guy who has lived in Germany, New York, Toronto, and England...seems a nice guy who's open to wandering the US on a trip to various baseball parks and making friends along the way (but not so saccharine that he's above a little mocking of some of those 'friends')...good read...quick, too...lots of info packed into beautifully-designed infographics...

The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures by Dave Stevens - I don't get what the big deal is. Yes, he draws Betty Page as being dead sexy, but that's not really a raison d'être for an entire eight comic book issues. The plot is thin. The characters are one-dimensional...there's no real resolution...check out the visual highlights at the link above but let the rest pass...

The Science of Good Food by David Joachim and Andrew Schloss - This one doesn't work for my EC project as there isn't any sort of thematic chapter. It's mostly just an encyclopedia listed alphabetically by food type. Some of the entries are interesting, and it might be a useful reference tool for cooks who want to know some of the science behind various ingredients, but it's nothing I want or need.

Luther (season 1) - fascinating stuff...only six episodes in the first BBC season...makes for a compressed storyline...great lead from Idris Elba (Stringer Bell of The Wire)...interesting morality play with the titular Luther growing an odd friendship with a killer from episode 1...certainly worth a watch even though the six-hour running time doesn't allow for subtlety or slow character development...second season (only four episodes) came in at PLCH yesterday...looking forward to seeing where this one's going to go as the lead is about as self-destructive as can be...

Batman: Under the Red Hood (DVD) - adaptation of DC's "Under the Hood" storyline with Jason Todd's return from the beyond...the story's good enough, even doing fair justice to the flashback to "A Death in the Family"...the characters work, the storyline interesting, the conflict works...the voices don't work for me...I missed the Batman and Joker that I know, Kevin Conroy and Mark Hammil...it was a noticeable loss for me, and I just couldn't get past it...well done but not right for me...

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - This one's the find of the week. Novel set in twenty or thirty years in a dystopian future in which the entire world spends the majority of their life jacked into Oasis, an entirely immersive online world with thousands of worlds and billions of people. Our protagonist is a gunter (egg hunter) searching for the Oasis's creator's final Easter Egg - billions of dollars and total control of the Oasis. The character quickly - in our story, anyway, it takes nearly a decade, most of which happens before the book opens 0 - moves from nobody to Oasis-wide celebrity when he becomes the first player to unlock step one of the three steps to the Easter Egg. Along the way, of course, our lead falls in (and out of) love, runs up against the great evil of the Oasis (a murderous corporation), nearly loses, comes out on top thanks to his devotion to the hunt, and ultimately learns the value of friendship and the real world.

The real fun here comes from the 1980's references that are the gist of the hunt. Apparently the Oasis's creator's obsessions were with the 1980's and the secrets of the Egg hunt can only be unlocked by obsessively watching the movies, listening to the music, viewing the television shows, and playing the video games of the 1980's. The book is crafted almost entirely of references to Atari and Commodore 64 games, Michael Jackson and Hall and Oates tunes, Family Ties and the anime of the decade.

The book doesn't feel like it's of high quality, but it certainly was an enjoyable read. I strongly recommend it for anyone who remembers early Dungeons and Dragons modules, Adventure on the Atari, or computer games on floppy discs.

Tiny Desk: Goat Rodeo Sessions

2011-11-22T11:20:00.001-05:00

Yo-Yo Ma and friends - including the mandolinist from Nickel Creek and the Punch Brothers stopped by NPR for a Tiny Desk Concert - as well as staying around to record for All Things Considered.

Pretty music...

Looking forward to hearing The Goat Rodeo Sessions, their just-released album that I just reserved from PLCH.

Lonnieburger Baskets: Virgil's

2011-11-22T08:27:00.000-05:00

And we have begun crossing the river...

This weekend's burger foray took us to Bellevue, Kentucky, just east of downtown Cincinnati. It's a forty-minute drive from our place in West Chester, and in the process, we pass by the exit for Terry's Turf Club (our top-ranked burger in the Cincy area). That means Virgil's Cafe (warning, auto-playing Tom Waits) is going to have to be pretty spectacular to merit a second visit.

Was it?

Cincinnati Magazine's review says...

#6 - Virgil's Cafe
Virgil's feels too fancy to qualify as a burger joint. Clean and crisp black linen tablecloths covered with butcher paper and overly polite waiters just don't scream out "Burger time!" But don't let that fool you; the modestly named "beef hamburger" - grilled, succulent beef topped with sauteed mushrooms and caramelized onions on a multigrain kaiser roll - equals hamburger heaven. And do not miss out on their sweet potato fries with a side of ancho-mayo.

Burger

Their 'beef hamburger' (yes, seriously, that's what it's called on the menu - as though a hamburger would be anything but a beef hamburger) is, indeed tasty. The beef is nicely moist if a little greasy. I went for medium and got something on the pink side of that. The Girl went for 'something on the done side of medium' and go exactly what she'd asked for with very little pink left in the center. The patties are plain but high-quality beef (100% prime chuck according to the menu) with almost no spices, something I missed as the burger needed a bit more salt. The patty is oddly perfect - evenly thick throughout, perfectly round - which could be because Matt Buschle (owner, chef of Virgil's - check out his vimeo channel, warning: fat man) makes them in bulk or because they're pre-bought, I dunno. Burger - 6

Toppings

The menu says the burgers come with sauteed mushrooms and onions and a choice of cheeses (Swiss, cheddar, or blue). For an extra $2 each, you can add pastrami, bacon, or an egg. I went for cheddar and bacon. The Girl went with Swiss and her onions on the side. She only likes the onions if they're cooked to death. Her onions weren't nearly dark enough for her, but I enjoyed them and appreciated the double helping. The cheese was - as you can see above - nicely melted. The bacon was tasty and very crisp without being remotely burned (I think they deep fry their bacon.) The onions and mushrooms were sauteed without being too dark. Toppings - 7

Fries

The burgers don't come with any fires, only kettle chips which I'll admit we never saw. For an extra buck and a quarter each, we swapped out the chips in favor of sweet potato fries with the threatened ancho mayo. The fries came out nicely hot and decently crisp (hard to ever get sweet potato fries totally crisp with their high amount of sugar). There wasn't much spice on them at all, and they could have used more salt and pepper. The fries didn't stay hot for too long, but that's partially a product of how thinly they were cut. I didn't see any reason to rave about the fries. They're fine but nothing special. Plus we had to pay extra for them. The ancho mayo was indeed ancho-ey and mayo-ey but just fine. Fries - 6

Ambiance

I was surprised with the ambiance in the place. It's a converted house that's been turned into a really attractive restaurant with beautiful wood work throughout. The seating breaks down into three or so areas, each with a little different flair and rotating artwork (for sale) on the walls. I dug the place, but it is a little more high class than most of the joints we've been getting burgers. Seating is limited, and reservations are strongly recommended (OpenTable is available online). The service was busy but pleasant. Ambiance - 8

Cost

Ah, here's the rub. Burger is $10. Bacon another $2. Fries an extra $1.25. Diet Coke was $2. That's a total of $15.25 for burger, fries, and a drink. This isn't a cheap burger. Cost - 1

Other Stuff

Virgil's is a neighborhood place, and Matt makes nearly every bit of food in house. He's a big proponent of local, quality food. I'm all in favor of that. I hope that their non-burger options were better. The burger was fine but won't be drawing me back in. +1
The burger bun was housemade but far too dense. The bottom was nicely substantial and became tasty as the juices soaked into it. The top, however, was too chewy without that juice. The Girl brought part of her burger home and was almost repulsed at how dense and chewy the top was the next day. The buns are pretty but too heavy. -1
We sampled their appetizers with a serving of their jalapeno hush puppies (pictured above). They had nice flavor and were pleasantly moist. They were, however, small and not terribly numerous. At $4 they didn't feel like a bargain. +/- 0
It's in friggin' Bellevue. That's frickin' far from home.
We did stop at the Party Source on the way home, so there is that.

And our total? 28 points for Virgil's. We were not impressed.

Terry's Turf Club - 45
Cafe de Wheels - 44
Senate - 43
Stuffed on Vine - 38
Five Guys Burgers and Fries - 36
Roxy's - 36
VanZandt - 34
Gabby's - 34
Oakley Pub & Grill - 34
Quatman's - 32 / 34.5
Troy's - 32
By Golly's - 32
Wildflower Cafe - 31.25 (scaled from 26/40)
Virgil's Cafe - 28
The Pub at Rookwood Mews - 28
Smashburger - 28
Habits Cafe - 28
Graffiti Burger - 27
Arthur's - 26
Sammy's - 25
Gordo's - 20

Just for one of you...

2011-11-21T21:32:00.001-05:00

Here's the link to This American Life's episode about money being fiction. It's worth a listen.

And just to fill the space so this is sort of a real update...

Um, here's a link to a recent, fun Family Guy episode in which Brian and Stewie travel to the past to find Brian's tennis ball.

And a nicely done Google music commercial...

Two from the Enquirer

2011-11-21T04:35:00.000-05:00

The Cincy Enquirer is an awful newspaper. Awful, I say...

That being said, two articles from this weekend caught my eye...

Sharonville cuts ribbon on Twin Creek reserve - Very cool little story about Sharonville's neewst park and nature preserve. It's right up against I-275, but it sounds kinda cool.
Knotty Pine restaurant closes - Only temporarily, though. I gotta get down there for some Cajun food whenever they open back up.

College Football excitement

2011-11-20T00:00:00.001-05:00

Great last 24 hours of college football...

#2 Ok State...loses 37-31 in double OT
#4 Oregon...loses 38-35 when they miss a tying FG on the last play of the game
#5 Oklahoma...loses 45-38 with a TD from Robert Griffin III with 8 seconds left
#7 Clemson...waxed 37-13 by NC State
#9 Stanford...barely leading at half 14-13 hosting California (hung on for 31-28 victory, natch)
Wabash beats Illinois College 38-20 to open the DIII playoffs

Oustanding...

We all await Zorp...

2011-11-19T01:44:00.000-05:00

...in the meantime, The Girl and I are going to try out Virgil's Cafe in Bellvue tonight. Their beef hamburger was rated #7 by Cincy Mag a while back, and we need to get us back on the burger train.

Oedipus - These are my people.
Little People - Spectacular tiny folks
Fake Any Thing - See, what they do is take products from movies and make real ads and stuff for them.
Nuna Plati tears it up with Elektra, Green Lantern, Iron Fist, and more... - Grooving it to the style
Offerman Woodshop - It can't get any better than knowing that Ron Swanson actually is that much of a man. Thanks, Katydid, you rock.

Dear John - seriously, these are my people
SuperPunch tumblr - He runs a second blog, too?
"End of the World" - Best episode of Parks and Recreation yet. It's really nice.
From Bill Simmons - Suck it, Bill.
For the past four and a half months, I've been walking across America, raising money for heart transplant patients, raising awareness for organ donation and exploring ways to fight tedium amid eight hours in a cornfield or feed lot. I've even had occasion to read your columns, Internet connection providing. As I was approaching the Queen City this week I thought of your recent QB Power Rankings and the breakdown of Matt Schaub as the league's version of beige window blinds. Then it struck me, that Cincinnati is the Matt Schaub of U.S. cities. Has anything about the city been relevant since 1979 (The Big Red Machine, the Who concert tragedy and WKRP's "Turkeys Can't Fly" episode)? Have you ever heard someone excited to get back to Cincinnati, or conversely, decry what has become of the once-great Queen City? It's just there, as it always is. Couldn't Matt Schaub really be a metaphor for that which that stirs no discernible passions, interest or derision? As in Simon & Simon was the Schaub of '80s detective shows or John Jay was the Schaub of the Founding Fathers?
— Mikey Walks, Los Angeles
Against the Grain -Stop motion doesn't get any more stopy or motionish

Hudson - Against The Grain from Dropbear on Vimeo.

Hoosiers myth: Norman Dale takedown - I've never considered this, but it doesn't change the ranking of the favorite movies.
Online Documentary of the Day - Life in a Day is entirely online...for free.
Afternoon snack - "Green Onions" never looked so good...or so weird
The Miami Marlins - worst home run celebration to-be in the majors

I will never Lego - Not that they have a choice...
Movie Trailer of the Day - Mirror, Mirror may be the first movie with Horseface that looks good to me.
Time-lapse view from space - gorgeous

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

The 80s rocked

2011-11-18T01:13:00.000-05:00

But we're not talking about Guns-n-Roses or Twisted Sister, we're talking about Springsteen, J Giles Band, John Cougar, even Michael Jackson.

Take a listen to today's 80s playlist.

Random ten...a twist

2011-11-17T05:36:00.000-05:00

Today's random ten...iTunes, in this order, pooped out these ten songs.

Here's the closest I could come to actual video of the songs on iTunes...

Click to read the rest...

TableTopics: #27

2011-11-16T08:16:00.000-05:00

What's your favorite book and movie?

Slaughterhouse Five - The emotional connection of this one turns it into so much more than a weirdo sci-fi book, even though that's what it kinda is.
Sandman - Tears by the time I get to the end of this one, once the wake comes around...wonderfully rich characters in a wonderfully looping story. The absolute editions are gorgeous.
Planetary - The finite nature of this comic series, admittedly, helped me get into it, but that's not what's spectacular about it. The combination of so many cultural references surprisingly creates an entirely new something that's beautiful.
All-Star Superman - There's not been a better Superman story told, and there aren't many better tales. We've pretty much never gotten this resonant a story from the comics.
The Electric Brae - This one has a long, long history in my world. The copy I have was sort of stolen from the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library. It came into my world at a very needy time, and it's been perfect for me for a number of rereads. Pretty much everybody I hand it to doesn't believe that it's all that much good, but for me, it's everything I want and need.
Infinite in All Directions - Another one that came into my world at a time when I needed something. The connection with Aberdeen certainly didn't hurt. Intelligent exploration of science and how it affects our world, what it means to one great scientist.
Fight Club - The book is better than the movie, seriously.
Brave New World - I've loved this since I read it in high school. Brilliant exploration of modern culture and eugenics and mass production...and I love the misunderstanding of today's culture from the future archeologists.
Iowa Baseball Confederacy - Found this one in the Wabash bookstore as a frosh. Cost me a whole dollar. Best $1 book I've ever bought. Wonderful balance of magic and sports...great love story.

I'll go for All-Star Superman from the comic world and Slaughterhouse Five from the non-. I read Slaughterhouse Five every couple of years, and I love it every time.

In case you're late to the party, here's the deal...

Here's what I've answered so far...

#25 - "I Know What Love Is" by Don White
#35 - no business
#36 - MLK, Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech on the National Mall
#16 - Scotland...Wabash...my first college visit home
#19 - No
#22 - skydiving
#24 - Beastie Boys in NYC
#27 - Fight Club, Grosse Pointe Blank, Hoosiers, or Primer...

Already requested answers...they'll be answered (probably in this order)...

TableTopics: #27

2011-11-15T09:01:00.000-05:00

What's your favorite book and movie?

I've had a canned pair of answers to these for years,and I don't know that I'll be overthrowing those canned answers, but let's take a little bit to look at the various nominees...

We'll start with movies and break 'em down by genre...

Favorite comedy - Dr Strangelove or The Big Lebowski or Grosse Pointe Blank or O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Favorite kids-ish movie - The Muppet Movie or Spirited Away
Favorite action movie - Hero or Kill Bill: Vol 1
Favorite foreign film - Hero
Favorite guilty pleasure - Road House or LA Story
Favorite drama - Fight Club or The Usual Suspects or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Goodfellas
Favorite sports movie - Hoosiers or Field of Dreams
Favorite documentary - The Fog of War or I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
Favorite war movie -The Thin Red Line
Favorite concert film - Rattle and Hum or The Last Waltz or Purple Rain
Favorite western - The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly or Unforgiven
Favorite sci-fi - Blade Runner or The Matrix or Primer
Favorite suspense - The Player

Let's play knock out again. The goal is to look for a film that I actually think is a great film and one that I'd willingly rewatch at the drop of a hat no matter my mood.

Out first - Road House - It's not actually a good film. I know that.
2nd - The Matrix - As much as it shouldn't be so, the subsequent craptacular films poisoned this one.
3rd - The Last Waltz - It might be ranked higher if it weren't for the Neil Diamond crap and focus on Robbie Robertson.
4th - Rattle and Hum - As background, sure, but to actually sit down and watch the thing from tip to tail isn't one that I'm desperate to do all the time.
5th - Spirited Away - The oddness is gorgeous and beautiful, but it is beginning to age for me.
6th - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - This one's a little tough to watch because it's such a hard ending for me.
7th - Purple Rain - The concert footage is outstanding, and the between is hilarious, but those parts are of such dubious quality that this one doesn't make it any further.
8th - The Fog of War - This one's a thinker. It's a hard watch.
9th - I Am Trying to Break Your Heart - Same reason as Rattle and Hum: it's not one I'll watch all the way through just because I'm killing time.
10th - The Thin Red Line - Too slow for viewing unless I'm in the mood.
11th - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - This cut is tough, but they'll all be tough cuts from here on in. I haven't seen this one enough (only twice) to say that it'll age and stay one of my favorites.
12th - Unforgiven - Man, this one's dark. It's spectacular and amazing, but it's dark.
13th - (From here on, every movie is in the running for my favorite depending on my mood.) - Kill Bill: Vol 1 - As much as I enjoy the hell out of this one, I'm not sure it's a spectacular film. It's stylish, but it's kind of all sizzle not as much steak.

Screw it...strengths of the rest...

Dr Strangelove - Amazing quality performances from the most spectacular mimic that we've seen on film. Marvelous cultural relevance. Brilliant dark humor. Not laugh out loud funny through most of the film.
The Big Lebowski - Tough to pass up no matter my mood. Spectacularly quotable...imminently referenceable...perfectly paced throughout.
Grosse Pointe Blank - Impossible for me to turn away from. Perfect character study. Beautiful Minnie Driver. Most excellent John Cusack part ever, and that's saying something.
The Muppet Movie - Cameos galore...funny at every turn...great message...Charles Durning...inspirational
Hero - My vote for the best movie I've ever seen...highest quality but not my favorite even though I do love it.
LA Story - I know this one isn't on par with the others in terms of quality, but it's a weak spot for me because of the second date thing. I love this one.
Fight Club - I'll watch this one any time. Great performances from all the leads. Hell of a book.
The Usual Suspects - Best film of the 90's...I'm still stunned at the twist every time, and I find something new every time I see it.
Hoosiers - If it weren't for the inexplicable kiss (which is explained in the cut scenes), this might be the perfect sports movie ever. It's not all truthful, but it's phenomenal, and it brings me to tears every time when they head out for the final game.
Field of Dreams - It's a little slow in parts, but I weep like a baby in the last scene. It's perfect in every way.
Blade Runner - First off, the choice is the director's cut. It's marvelous and thoughtful, and the climax with Rutger Hauer is among the finest scenes on film.
Primer - This one's a thinker, probably the most thoughtful film I've seen. It's one that has to be seen over and over to be understood, and I love seeing it over and over. Outstanding stuff.
The Player - Brilliant acting...more cameos than The Muppet Movie...dark as dark can get...great paranoia

I'm going with Grosse Pointe Blank...Fight Club...Hoosiers...and Primer. That's the best I can get, a final four. Take it or leave it.

I referred to my critickr rankings for some help here. I really should go back through and update those.

I'll come back tomorrow with the book choices.

In case you're late to the party, here's the deal...

Here's what I've answered so far...

#25 - "I Know What Love Is" by Don White
#35 - no business
#36 - MLK, Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech on the National Mall
#16 - Scotland...Wabash...my first college visit home
#19 - No
#22 - skydiving
#24 - Beastie Boys in NYC

Already requested answers...they'll be answered (probably in this order)...

32...37

Feel free to request other answers in the comments.

The ultimate in narcicissm

2011-11-14T02:45:00.000-05:00

The new versions of Picasa has a feature called FaceMovie that takes all the pics identified for one person and turns them into a movie with the faces roughly stacked on top of each other.

This would be great for graduation or wedding or whatever videos.

Or just for being a narcissist.

Best night of the year

2011-11-12T08:51:00.000-05:00

Trent Richardson's run vs Ole Miss - Pay special attention to #21 for Ole Miss. He's involved at the beginning and end of the play.
The Evolution of the Joker: Still Crazy After All These Years - Well researched stuff here...
The Duggars are Expecting #20 - Stop it, you sick freaks.
Taste of the World - Tonight The Girl and I and Calen and Her Guy will be volunteering at this event. It's spectacular.
Thirteen Movie Posters Trends That Are Here to Stay - Blech
When Animals Attack Similar Animals of the Day - Bison or Honey Badger? KnowhatI'msayin?

Anonymous 101: Introduction to the Lulz - After the anti-Zeta threats, we all should learn more about these nutcases...or heroes.
Seanbaby: The Hostess Page - I feel like I've pointed this out before, but who cares?
Wilco: Small Moments and Big Lessons - Great new album, by the way
Grown-Ups Must Act Like Grown-Ups - Jane Leavy on Penn State, Victims, and a Personal Memoir of Abuse
Kickass Cover of the Day - Thank you, Jimmy Fallon

The Book of Batman - "And the Batman said, Father, give me a sign: and there was a bat."
Out of This World Bloopers of the Day - Astronauts falling on the moon...I want that chance.
Mail Order Mysteries - Sounds like a whole fun book
Roger Federer back in find form - Yup...but fine enough to add to sixteen?
The Daily Show looks at NPR - clearly the same as Fox radio

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

More 80's

2011-11-11T09:27:00.000-05:00

I'd originally called this playlist New Wave 80's back when I started the 80's collection, but as I listen to it today, I'm not so sure these all qualify under that genre.

TableTopics: #24

2011-11-10T08:57:00.000-05:00

If you could have front row seats to any concert, who would you like to see?

I'm going to chuck the option of traveling in time to see anybody in history - purely an arbitrary choice. I don't feel like going through whether I'd rather see Bob Dylan in 1962 or 1975, Led Zepplin on which tour, U2 in Sun Devil Stadium, Queen at Live Aid, Beatles in whatever year.

The acts in contention...

Beastie Boys*
Richard Thompson*
Ryan Adams*
Avett Brothers
Wilco*
U2*
Chris Isaak*
Beck
Cake*
Lyle Lovett*
Yonder Mountain String Band*

I've already seen many of those in person already (those marked with a *), and some of those were pretty decent seats - Richard Thompson and Yonder Mountain in particular.

I'm gonna go with order of elimination...

1st out - Beck - His past couple of albums have left me cold, so I don't know that I'd enjoy all the stuff he plays.
2nd out - Richard Thompson - I've seen him in concert a half dozen times. While I've never been in the first couple of rows, I've been in the near balcony just over Richard's shoulder at the Southgate House. I can't imagine it'd be much better directly in front.
3rd out - U2 - Bono wanders around a whole lot, and I'm thinking that no one particular seat would do for one of their concerts.
4th out - Yonder Mountain String Band - I've seen the people who hang out in front of the stage at the Yonder Mountain concerts, and I'm not sure I'd be able to handle that level of controlled substances without getting a prescription for glaucoma. I like my teachers license.
5th out - Chris Isaak - The Girl and I saw him a decadeago, and I have no idea whether Isaaks can still rock the concerts, so I'll pass on the risk.
6th out - Avett Brothers - I don't know what kind of show they'd put on, and as much as I dig their music, they just don't quite make the cut compared to the rest of the acts left for me.
7th out - Lyle Lovett - He's a little too laid back to need the front row. His concerts are good enough from a few rows back.
8th out - Cake - Their music is a rockin' experience and would be good from the front row, but their newest album is way weaker than their previous albums...don't know what they could bring to the concert.
9th out - Ryan Adams - Here we start getting to tough choices. Adams isn't a guarantee to show for the concert, so I'm not going to take the risk.
10th out - Wilco - Man, this one's tough. They're without debate my favorite band, and I would love seeing Jeff Tweedy's expressions from down by the stage, but I've seen Wilco a whole bunch of times. They're rock solid, but I'd rather go with...
My choice - Beastie Boys - They're a rocking band, and they're hilarious in concert (one 45-minute set at the Rock the Vote concert in 2008), so I think seeing them up by the stage would be awesome. I'm down with pretty much their entire oeuvre, so I'd be able to sing along with everything.

Beastie Boys...I'm sure they'd be thrilled to have me there. Right there at the first row in their next NYC concert.

In case you're late to the party, here's the deal...

Here's what I've answered so far...

#25 - "I Know What Love Is" by Don White
#35 - no business
#36 - MLK, Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech on the National Mall
#16 - Scotland...Wabash...my first college visit home
#19 - No
#22 - skydiving

Already requested answers...they'll be answered (probably in this order)...

27...32...37

Feel free to request other answers in the comments.

My dream collection

2011-11-09T00:21:00.000-05:00

Did you know there was/is an Internet Database of Periodic Tables?

Until recently, neither did I...

I don't understand the arrangement of lots of these, but I clearly have some reading to do.

Click to read the rest...

In memoriam

2011-11-08T18:19:00.003-05:00

(source)

Byte Size Chemistry

2011-11-08T09:20:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Neatorama for bringing these folks to my attention...

Click to read the rest...

TableTopics: #22

2011-11-07T08:50:00.000-05:00

What would you try if you had no fear?

Well, let's consider my fears...

heights
spiders
general risk

I don't think there are any real other fears that I have. There are things I don't like - eggplants, microfiber, beer, Julia Roberts to name a few - but they aren't things that I'm afraid of. If that's it for my real fears, let's take a look at where that might lead me.

There are a few things I've avoided because of my fear of heights...

skydiving
walking on the skyway over the Grand Canyon
hot air balloon flight

There's pretty much nothing I've missed out on because of my spider fear.

The kinds of choices that I've made because my general fear of risk have steered me toward my career - one where seniority used to protect you - toward a stable house. I'm not one to start a business because it's too much of a risk, not one to throw my money into risky stocks, not one to radically change what I'm doing in the classroom, but none of those are things that I really want to do.

So, the things I've missed out on are because of my fear of heights, and I really do want to go skydiving. The balloon thing would be nice and all, but not as cool, and the skywalk looks neat but seems like it would be disappointing.

Skydiving

In case you're late to the party, here's the deal...

Here's what I've answered so far...

#25 - "I Know What Love Is" by Don White
#35 - no business
#36 - MLK, Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech on the National Mall
#16 - Scotland...Wabash...my first college visit home
#19 - No
#22 - skydiving

Already requested answers...they'll be answered (probably in this order)...

24...27...32...37

Feel free to request other answers in the comments.

Happy Guy Fawkes's Day, all

2011-11-05T10:15:00.000-04:00

Early Bird Special - awesome surfing footage
The 50 Greatest College Basketball Players of All Time - not the usual list as Closterman required the players to be greater in college than in the pros...he underrated #2...
Sign of the Times of the Day - But how will I get my ice cream of the future?
Women Struggling to Drink Water - C'mon, really?
Drug War of the Day - Anonymous? Really? This isn't news yet, but it could be very quickly.
Ask Chris #78: Why the Batman: The Animated Series opening is the best thing ever - He's almost right but mentions the other, better opening in the first paragraph, so I'll give him a pass.
Time Lapse Thing of the Day - Undaming the rivers turns out to be way harder than the Monkey Wrench gang suggested.
10 Signs the Marriage Was One Big Hoax All Along - Reality TV isn't. Say it with me.
Best Art Ever This Week - for The Wire and the trinity of mothers
Perry Being Perry of the Day - I don't see drunk, but I do see a guy who is just very comfortable with his audience and very much not who I am.
Going Down - Always wondered...this sounds very plausible
Eddie Murphy by Bill Simmons - Anything nasty I every said about Grantland is taken back. There's some great writing there.
V for Vendetta bandanas - Timing appropriate
V for Vendetta female adult costume - Timing never to be appropriate...if this is your fetish, please seek help immediately

More 80's movie music...'cause it's awesome

2011-11-04T00:33:00.000-04:00

We're back to our 80's movie music masterpieces...

Laiki remembered

2011-11-03T13:24:00.003-04:00

On this day in 1957 the Russian space agency sent a dog into space. Laika, that dog, became the first animal successfully sent into space, but she did not return. The Russians never intended for her to return but rather for her to pass away aboard Sputnik 2 once she had given her life to research that would eventually lead to humans successfully entering and returning from space.

Today, 54 years later, we remember Laika.

If you get a chance, take a read of Laika, a gorgeous graphic novel about Laika and her handlers. The book is warm and engaging, heart wrenching and hopeful. It's a spectacular tale beautifully told.

Well, hello, Harold...

2011-11-02T09:58:00.000-04:00

Click to read the rest...

Cincy Shirts

2011-11-01T08:05:00.000-04:00

I'm not a born and raised Cincinnatian, so there are a number of shirts for offer by CincyShirts.com that I don't get, but they're still fun.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T12:13:00.000-04:00

via this isn't happiness

Realignment

2011-10-31T09:30:00.000-04:00

Realignment in the past few years...

Big Ten (now 12 teams) - got Nebraska...rumored to get (but probably not gonna get) Notre Dame, Texas, Missouri, Iowa State, Rutgers
SEC - got Texas A&M...rumored to be getting Missouri and dozens of other teams
Big Twelve (now 10 teams) - lost Nebraska, Colorado, Texas A&M...rumored to be losing Missouri...getting West Virginia, TCU...rumored to be losing pretty much everybody at one time or another
Pac-12 (formerly -10) - got Colorado and Utah
Big East - lost West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Syracuse - rumored to be getting Central Florida, Houston, SMU...rumored to be losing Connecticut, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Cincinnati, Louisville - rumored to be falling apart entirely
ACC - got Pittsburgh, Syracuse
Mountain West - lost BYU, Utah, TCU - got Boise St, Fresno St, Nevada, Hawaii
WAC - lost Nevada, Boise St - got Denver, Seattle, UTArlington, UTSan Antonio, Texas St - San Marcos
Big Sky, MVC, OVC, all the other conferences - lost relevance - got screwed in the deal

Clear advantages here...

Chaos makes for thoroughly entertaining chatter for a very short while.
Mo' money, mo' money, mo' money (for the already wealthiest college athletic programs)

Clear disadvantages here...

Incessant chatter from sports talk radio/television about rumors and half truths and things that they generally have no idea about at all
Inability of most any sports fan to name the full roster of teams in his/her favorite conference
Lack of stability of conference rules
More conference championship games (in football and basketball, further cheapening the regular seasons)
Continuing lack of football playoff system
Continuing hypocrisy of college sports 'student-athletes' (The link is to a long article; I warn you. It is, however, an excellent article.)
Ever increasing lack of me giving a crap about any conference
Ever diminishing profile of college basketball relative to college football
Big 10's new logo and Legends and Leaders divisions

Streaming music: Florence + the Machine

2011-10-30T17:46:00.002-04:00

Apparently MySpace still exists.

Who knew?

I only know because Florence + the Machine are streaming their new album (in stores if you're still into that whole tangible music thing on November 1) on their MySpace page (thanks for the pointer, ew)

I'll admit that I haven't listened to more than the first minute or so yet, but their first album was a knockout, and the new album already has a great review from Entertainment Weekly.

Latelinks

2011-10-29T21:59:00.000-04:00

Kid Rocketeer - How cute is he?
Koi observation tower - coolest fish pond yet
Blogger integrating with Google+ - Don't know how this will/won't affect this blog yet.
Is this the end for U2? And if it is, what is their legacy? - This article drastically undersells their legacy.
Daylight savings time explained - I'd always wondered.
Afternoon Snack: Links Edition - Greatest multiple choice question ever
Things That are Real of the Day - American Professional Minigolf

25 Worst Cities to be Young - We're #22.
16 Best Twitter Reactions to Muammar Gadaffi's death - Twitter, best for quick, short humor. Useless for just about everything else.
"Ping Pong at It's Greatest Heights" - Clearly
Old school Muppetteers not exactly thrilled with the new Muppet movie - This is sad to hear.
Is Pujols the greatest hitter of all time? - Probably not...but he's got an argument.
Ben Afleck chosen to adapt The Stand - Again? Why do we need another adaptation of this?

Halloween music - part 2

2011-10-28T01:00:00.000-04:00

More of the same...a little more contemporary than yesterday's list...enjoy 'em...

Halloween Music - part 1

2011-10-27T01:00:00.000-04:00

All appropriate for work or school...play 'em to death this weekend...

TableTopics: #19

2011-10-26T10:08:00.000-04:00

Question #19: Is there only one soul mate for each person?

No.

This one's a little awkward to answer since I'm all married and stuff, but in my head it really all comes down to the math of the thing.

I'm one of seven billion or so people on the planet. I'm a fan of girls, so that narrows things down to 3.5 billion for my soul mate.

Let's look at some numbers to see how many of those 3.5 billion I'll ever meet:

My high school graduating class had about 400 students - 200 or so girls.
Let's include the girls three or so grades each way of mine. That's 1200 more girls.
I went to college with no girls. None at all. Shut up. It was a great school.
By the time my career is over, I figure I will have taught with a couple hundred female teachers.
I teach somewhere in the range of fifty young women every year. If I teach for thirty-five years, that's 1750 female students.
I figure I will have bumped into another couple thousand or so women and girls along my life. Let's say 2000 to be safe.

That puts us at 5500 women I will have dealt with in my life. Let's double that number to assume I'm being gregarious. Heck, let's triple it and round up some to hope I maybe meet 20,000 women in my life - many of whom are pretty far out of any age range where I would be possibly even consider spending my life with them.

20,000 / 3.5 billion is 0.00000571 that means at an absolute outside best, I might meet 0.000571% of the female population of the planet. That's a 0.000571% chance I'll meet my soul mate if she exists, and we can assuredly eliminate a huge portion of the 20,000 because I'm not attracted to them...not age appropriate for them...in a crappy mood when I happen to bump into them...too busy failing them...creeped out by the fact that they're like as old as my Grandma...

That means if there is a soul mate out there for everyone, I have to assume that I'm never gonna meet mine, and dang near everybody else is never gonna meet theirs. So if I am to believe that there's a soul mate out there for everybody, then I also have to assume that we're pretty much guaranteed never to find that soul mate. For me that's was more depressing than assuming that we just don't have a soul mate.

That being said, I don't view this as an actually depressing thing. For me, it means that I don't have to hunt for that perfect one. I just have to look for someone who makes me really happy, who I find attractive, and who is a pretty outstanding rommate. I'm all good with that.

In case you're late to the party, here's the deal...

Here's what I've answered so far...

#25 - "I Know What Love Is" by Don White
#35 - no business
#36 - MLK, Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech on the National Mall
#16 - What life experience has strengthened you the most?

Already requested answers...they'll be answered (probably in this order)...

22...24...27...32...37

Feel free to request other answers in the comments.

Party Rock Anthem...to death

2011-10-25T03:18:00.000-04:00

Click to read the rest...

A winning combination

2011-10-24T08:31:00.000-04:00

With a blog titled Rainbow Zombies Ate My Unicorn, you might expect a little bit of everything, but you'd be wrong in this case.

They/he/she only post/s things about rainbows, zombies, or unicorns.

See...

(By the by, the focus of the blog is strongly not but there occasional moments. Be warned...)

Pooholes

2011-10-23T13:46:00.000-04:00

With this Pujols fellow I think the Cardinals may be on to something.

Dance, varmit, dance!

2011-10-22T09:52:00.000-04:00

Yeah, excuses...I didn't post enough this week.

My Neighbor Totoro - from Best Art Ever (This Week)
Lunchtime links - greatest baby costume ever?
The wonderful letters OUGH - English is hard.
2011 Wildlife Photojournalist of the Year - Outstanding oil photos
Worth a try - I think I've read this before, but it's a quick classic.
Yoouuutuuube - GO
Everything is a Remix - Kill Bill and The Matrix

Everything Is A Remix: KILL BILL from robgwilson.com on Vimeo.

Sesame Street YouTube channel back after porn hack - That's not funny, folks.
ComicsAlliance Reviews Batman (1966) - Part 1 and Part 2
El Salvador flood among worst in history - They've had 1.513 meters of rain in 10 days. That's almost five frickin' feet of rain. Good lord...
18 Examples of Amazing Long-Exposure Photography - Excellent work, folks.
Keeping Things Interesting - This is how to whistle as you pass a graveyard. Wonder if it's true.
Stuffy SHIELD Agent Coulson takes a turn to bada$$ery in short film - I'm loving the Marvel films thing.
Ten Best of the Worst Comic to Screen Adaptations - I've only seen The Flash
Lyto Light Field Camera Launch of the Day - Cameras are about to change.
Walt Disney's Sin City - Excellent synch

The music of my childhood VHS tapes

2011-10-21T09:43:00.000-04:00

We continue through the hits of the 1980's with this week's movie playlist...

Cry along with me, would ya?

More Wilco...semi-live

2011-10-18T21:56:00.002-04:00

Wilco on Letterman...

Wilco on NPR

2011-10-17T19:18:00.001-04:00

It's two of my favorite things - Wilco and NPR - together again at last.

More college radio

2011-10-14T09:29:00.000-04:00

Hopefully today's playlist is made up of 25 correctly-credited songs.

Berlin & Kim Wilde? I'm embarrassed that I didn't catch that gaffe myself.

We continue with last week's college radio hits of the 80's. They're not nearly all alternative and college-y this week as lots of these were big hits, but they're all adult enough to have fit into a station of college kids who think they're adults but also awesome enough to have gotten the wider play that college kids just want to tap into.

Enjoy 'em...

TableTopics: #16

2011-10-13T09:11:00.000-04:00

Today; question #16: What life experience has strengthened you the most?

There are a trio...

I can't remember whether I've related this story on the blog or not. If so, congrats to the regulars for being around long enough (six years, two months, and twenty-six days as of today) to finally hear me repeat myself. I'm sure I've never done it before...in this forum, anyway.

I'd spent much of my elementary, middle, and high school career unintentionally cultivating a tidy little persona as the smart alleck, smartest guy in the room. I was quick with a comment - most likely an unkind one - and snappy with a comeback to pretty much anything said.

I hadn't entirely noticed the totality of my self pigeon-holing until I came back for my first visit home from Wabash. I was at a friend's house -Todd Kanning's, specifically, if that means anything to you. Many of our group of friends was back together for the first time, and I found myself falling far too easily into the role that I seemed to have written for myself. It wasn't a happy feeling, and I decided to change who I was in my group. I can't say that I am not quick witted or that I don't tend to have a snarky comment at the ready much of the time, but I hope I at least recognize that I don't have to lead with those words all the time.

Next up comes the totality of my time at Wabash. I'll admit that I never felt in high school that there was anyone around smarter than I. I wasn't the valedictorian or anything, but I felt I could have been if I'd wanted to, and I was the best test taker (because that matters in the long run) at New Albany High School. I never felt that I needed to work at much throughout the course of high school. I cruised fairly easily through and ended up doing pretty well (I can still quote my class rank, my SAT, and my AP scores in case you're curious as to the depth of my immodesty).

When I got to Wabash, however, the professors generally weren't impressed. I was an intelligent young man, probably on the high side of the bell curve, but I was surrounded by intelligent young men, some of whom were clearly my academic superiors. Even at Wabash I wasn't necessarily working my hardest, but I was working far harder, at least. During the second semester of my freshman year, I took an English class about short stories. I thought myself a pretty good reader and a talented writer, so I assumed I was in for a breeze. Sure, the class was for juniors, but I was one of three or four freshmen in the class, and I wasn't worried. I got my only Wabash C in that class, and I was the better for it. Prof Stern was a creature I hadn't know before, and he demanded a whole lot more than I was ready or - at the time, anyway - able to give him, and I saw these things happening more frequently at Wabash. Sure, I was pushing work off until later than I should have been, but I was having to start the final push earlier and earlier, to work harder and harder, to spend hours in the library studying where I'd been able to do the same in twenty minutes in high school. Academically, Wabash pushed me, and I'm the better for it.

The single most formative experience for me, however, was my time in Scotland. I went overseas knowing almost no-one (there was one other Wabash chem major there, but Doug and I hadn't necessarily been tight in Crawfordsville, and I didn't anticipate being all that tight with him over there.) I was free to create myself as whomever I wanted to be. I could be more outgoing, freer with a drink, more pursuant of the ladies, more whatever, and through the course of the year I found out which aspects of my personality I was happy with, which ones I wanted to jettison (as much as that's possible), who I wanted to be and who I was comfortable being. I came back a much more confident, fully realized person who was ready for the world to begin. I can't think of any experience that was more transformative than my time in Aberdeen. I can't recommend overseas study high enough for anyone. I was revelatory for me, and the classes weren't bad either.

In case you're late to the party, here's the deal...

Here's what I've answered so far...

#25 - "I Know What Love Is" by Don White
#35 - no business
#36 - MLK, Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech on the National Mall

Already requested answers...they'll be answered (probably in this order)...

19...22...24...27...32...37

Feel free to request other answers in the comments.

Avengers trailer

2011-10-12T00:44:00.000-04:00

You choice of formats.

Ok, I'll go see the movie, but only because you twisted my arm.

TableTopics: #36

2011-10-11T03:43:00.000-04:00

Question #36: Which historical event would you like to (have) witness(ed)?

There's kind of a difference here between witnessed and took part in.

It's we're talking took part in, then there's not even a question for me. I would have wanted to walk on the moon. For my money it's still the single greatest accomplishment that mankind has ever managed. We sent our exemplars to another celestial body where they had to bring every single thing they would ever need (food, water, wait, shelter, all of it), let them wander around (for as much as three full days - check it), and brought them all back safely.

It's an achievement that will be phenomenal to see if we ever manage to top it, and it's still an event that leaves me speechless. I currently have a book of moon landing photos checked out. I've checked it out a half dozen times. There is nowhere or nowhen that I would rather be...or to have been.

Now, in terms of events that I would have wished to witness happening...

Two answers...the first one is to say any of hundreds of hypothetical/mythical/miraculous events from religions. If I could include the qualifier of 'whichever religion is right', then I would want to see some undeniable, absolute proof that religion is correct. I'd be fine seeing God (or whichever god) create the universe or Earth or life or whatever. I'd be fine seeing Jesus's loaves and fishes or to watch his tomb for three days. I'd be fine to see - and be able to comprehend - anything proving beyond any doubts that some religion (and I don't care which one - I don't have a dog in this fight). I have absolutely no faith in religion, believe that science and random chance over a long time span, and I would be fascinated to hear that I have been wrong low these many years.

On the third hand, if I had to go with picking a real, historical, definitive date, that's tougher.

It's tough to pick any science experiments because so many of the that we speak of as being singular events aren't really singular events. They're experiments that come out oddly, are repeated, and are are eventually explained over the next few weeks or months. There is rarely a singular event to see with those.

Some of the historical dates that I would want to see, that are among the most important, were also probably rather nondescript. I'm thinking here of the first books being printed by Gutenberg. The actual event itself probably wasn't the fantastic spectator event that a wish like this one should be preserved for.

Maybe I'd go for seeing the Kennedy assassination. It would be nice to once and for all know who shot Kennedy and from where. I could take back recording equipment (if it's within the rules of the wish) and solve the mystery once and for all.

I'm thinking going back to Roanoke to see what happened to the settlers could perhaps be a bit unsafe for me, assuming that I would be physically present at the event I am witnessing. Since we don't know what happened, I'll assume that I would be vulnerable to it happening to me, as well.

Seeing Columbus come ashore on the new world would be pretty impressive.

Witnessing a great sporting event - Babe Ruth's called shot, Bill Mazeroski's home run, the Milan championship basketball game, the Mexico City Olympics with Bob Beamon's long jump for the ages, seeing Larry Bird's duel against Dominique Wilkins in the playoffs, any of Pete Maravich's games, Jordan's 63 in the Garden, Wilt's100, Reggie Jackson's 3 HR World Series game, Pudge's HR in the '75 World Series - would be neat to see, but this one calls, I think, for something grander.

When it's all said and done, I think I would have to pick something that was a singular event, one that we know to be stirring, emotionally rousing, and historically important. That leads me to think about being in the audience for a great speech. As to which one, I'll pick one that's admittedly fairly recent in terms of the scope of human history, but it's the one that exemplifies great speeches to me: MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

The combination of setting (flanked by Lincoln, the Washington monument, the reflecting pool, the capitol), the speaker (MLK's cadence throughout this one is note perfect), the gravitas of the moment (the pinnacle of nonviolent protest against racial injustice in America) makes this my choice.

I would wish to have been a member of the audience for MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech.

In case you're late to the party, here's the deal...

Here's what I've answered so far...

#25 - "I Know What Love Is" by Don White (way more detail here)
#35 - no business (more details here)
#36 - MLK, Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech on the National Mall

Already requested answers...they'll be answered (probably in this order)...

16...19...22...24...27...32...37

Feel free to request other answers in the comments.

Numberwang!

2011-10-10T02:21:00.000-04:00

8Tracks will return next week, Calen. Don't freak out.

Thanks to SuperPunch for pointing this one out...

As to why this exists, well...um...because...see what they were doing was...if you think about the...because...

Yup...that's right.

In which the links take a look

2011-10-08T07:23:00.000-04:00

Funitivty of the Day - stick bombs...cool...
Out of the Box 2011 - Wanna buy me a gift? Little pricey, maybe, but it's for a cause.
"Dynamite" by Taio Cruz - Took me forever, but I found that 'On and on and on' sample that DJ Earworm used that's been driving me nuts.
McGill Dances for Cancer Research - Click through and watch the video a few times for charity...and this is what made me finally hunt down the previous video. Love the use of obviously real science people.
Science class injuries like one at Richards High School are rare, experts say - NEVER make a dry ice bomb. EVER!
Kickass Cover of the Day - It's creepy but kinda engaging.
Ultimate Batting Practice - Does anybody feel saddened because fake videos like this have ruined my belief in all videos?
Create a Sliding Storage System on Your Garage Ceiling - maybe next summer
Shuffling 110 of the Day - Marching bands, eh?

Lay your hands upon the dial and FEEL the power

2011-10-07T04:04:00.000-04:00

We get a little more serious than last week's bubblegum theme with this week's first College Radio of the 80's playlist. There'll be another one next week. Be sure to tune in.

Thank a teacher

2011-10-06T10:00:00.000-04:00

Taking a week from the TableTopics...haven't had time to write this week's...

In the meantime, take a minute to thank a teacher...

It's a tough enough job that a little encouragement (thanks, Ben Young, wherever you are) helps keep us moving along.

The Devil Made Texas

2011-10-05T10:01:00.000-04:00

Texas is screwed...

From Jeff Masters' WunderBlog...

The devastating Texas drought that has already cost over $5 billion could continue for nine more years, predicted Texas State Climatologist John Nielson-Gammon in an interview with Reuters yesterday. "It is possible that we could be looking at another of these multi-year droughts like we saw in the 1950s, and like the tree rings have shown that the state has experienced over the last several centuries," Nielson-Gammon said. Drought statistics released yesterday by the U.S. Drought Monitor showed that over 96% of Texas is experiencing the two worst categories of drought, extreme and exceptional. The past 12 months have been the driest one-year period on record in Texas. The main blame for this year's drought can be put on La Niña, the cooling of equatorial Pacific waters that deflects the jet stream and takes rain-bearing low pressure system away from Texas. Other large-scale atmospheric/oceanic patterns called the Pacfic Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) have also favored dry conditions for Texas this year. When the AMO brings warm ocean temperatures to the North Atlantic, as it has since 1995, Texas is typically dry. Texas also tends to be dry when the PDO brings cool ocean temperatures to the coastal North Pacific next to North America. This has been the case since 2007 (except for late 2009 and early 2010.) In a post earlier this month in his excellent blog, Climate Abyss, Nielson-Gammon has this to say about the influence of global warming on the 2011 drought:

Precipitation: The balance of evidence does not support the assertion that the rainfall deficit since October 2010 was made larger or more likely by global warming.

Temperature: Compared to long-term averages of summer temperature,the rainfall deficit accounted for about 4°F of excess heat and global warming accounted for about 1°F of excess heat. Warmer temperatures lead to greater water demand, faster evaporation, and greater drying-out of potential fuels for fire. Thus, the impacts of the drought were enhanced by global warming, much of which has been caused by man.

And, yes, I did see Brian Dwan live in college. He and his electric dulcimer opened for They Might Be Giants.

The lyrics, in case you needed them...

Oh, the devil in hell they say he was chained,
And there for a thousand years he remained;
He neither complained nor did he groan,
But decided he'd start up a hell of his own,
Where he could torment the souls of men
Without being shut in a prison pen;
So he asked the Lord if he had any sand
Left over from making this great land.

2. The Lord He said, "Yes, I have plenty on hand,
But it's away down south on the Rio Grande,
And to tell you the truth, the stuff is so poor
I doubt it will do for a hell anymore."
The Devil went down and looked over the truck,
And he said if it came as a gift he was stuck,
For when he'd examined it carefully and well
He decided the place was too dry for a hell.

3. But the Lord to just get the stuff off His hands
He promised the Devil He'd water the lands,
For He had some old water that was of no use,
A regular bog hole that stunk like the deuce.
So the contract was signed and the deed was given,
And the Lord went up to his spread up in heaven.
The Devil soon saw he had everything needed
To make a good hell and I'll say he succeeded.

4. He scattered tarantulas over the road,
Put thorns on the cactus and horns on the toads,
He sprinkled the sand with millions of ants
So the man that sits down must wear soles on his pants.
He lengthened the horns of the Texas steer,
And added an inch to the jack rabbit's ear;
He put water puppies in all of the lakes,
And under the rocks he put rattlesnakes.

5. He hung thorns and brambles on all of the trees.
He mixed up the dust with jiggers and fleas.
The rattlesnakes bites you, the scorpion stings,
The mesquito delights you by buzzing his wings.
The heat in the summer's a hundred and ten--
Too cool for the devil and too hot for men,
And all who remained in that climate soon bore
Stings, cuts, bites, scratches, and blisters galore.

6. He quickened the buck of the bronco steed
And poisoned the feet of the centipede.
The wild boar roams in the black chaparral.
It's a hell of a place that we've got for a hell.
He planted red pepper beside of the brooks;
The Mexicans use them in all that they cook.
Just dine with a Mexican and you will shout,
"I've got hell on the inside as well as the out!"

Reality Television...oxymoron

2011-10-04T02:53:00.000-04:00

This is why I hate 'reality' television.

It's clearly not 'reality' in the least. It's a manufactured, manicured, groomed simulacrum of reality.

It seems painfully obvious to me that the judges (including a thoroughly creepy Randy-Jackson-alike on the left) have been told to open the scene looking angry and dismissive of the schlub in front of them. Handlers have already screened this schmuck and seen that he looks like crap but has a great voice.

A story...a storyline...ratings GOLD!

Everything about this entire scene - the pauses, the edited crowd reactions, the dramatically lit mixing board, the distantly-shot but immaculately mic'ed reaction shots that make us think we're somehow seeing intimate moments between mother and son - just smacks of so much fakery and image management that it makes me want to throw crap at my computer monitor.

Ashes and Fire streaming

2011-10-03T09:51:00.000-04:00

Thanks, again, to NPR for streaming another full album before its release.

This time it's Ryan Adams's Ashes and Fire. Check it...nice, easy, pleasant music.

The links...what else were you expecting?

2011-10-01T09:50:00.002-04:00

Rock 4A Cause tonight...c'mon out...

Table 7 - Short brilliance
Running Diary of Game 162 - It was a heck of a baseball night.
ComicsAlliance Reviews The Dark Knight part 4 - I haven't had time to read it yet, but I'm sure it's enthralling
National Geographic photo of the day - Best one yet...maybe
Early Bird Special - Slow-mo water balloon that doesn't pop. Gorgeous...and there's a sequel

The Walk-On - Joel McHale's a funny guy.
15 Songs by This Year's Rock and Roll HOF nominees - The Beastie Boys - yay or nay?
The Whole Love - Rolling Stone's review says it's good...I'm dying for the two-disc set to show up in the mail today.
Lego Tower of Orthanc Breaks Seven-Feet Tall - You wouldn't need an electron microscope to see this one, would you, Calen?
It's the 90's Supercut - Did this same thing happen in the tv and movie of the 80's?

IT'S THE 90S! from Everything Is Terrible! on Vimeo.

2011-09-30T06:22:00.001-04:00

Enjoy the finest 80's bubblegum hits this week.

Be careful to chew out all the sugar before trying to blow a musical bubble.

My life, simplified

2011-09-29T06:47:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the math department for sharing today's video.

TableTopics: #35

2011-09-29T03:08:00.000-04:00

Today, question #35: What kind of business would you love to start?

Ok, the most honest answer is that I pretty much have no desire to open any business of my own. Running a small business has to be exhausting, terrifying, and all-encompassing for your life. I don't want to take on the risk associated with mortgaging my economic future and putting it in the hands of market fluctuations, fickle consumer tastes, changing tax laws, and utter random chance. I don't want to put in the long hours that are required when you're the be all and end all boss of things.

I know that every get-rich-quick scheme ad assumes that everyone hates being bossed around and desperately wants the freedom that comes from setting your own schedule, running things the way you want to run them, and holding your future in your own hands, but I don't want any of that. I may grouse and complain about the bosses above me, but I don't want their jobs. I like being a cog in the wheel. I like being guided. Sure, I might not enjoy the way the bosses guide me a lot of the time, and I may not like where they're guiding me, but I don't have the desire/guts/chutzpa/cajones/stones to be the one doing the guiding.I'm not going for my principal's certificate for a definite reason.

All that being said, if you gave me a few million dollars and said 'open your own business,' let me have the financial safety net needed to not worry (and to hire enough help that I didn't have to kill myself just getting the business afloat), and told me to open my own business, I'm not entirely sure what I'd open up. I can see problems and advantages to most any option I can come up with:

book store - The neighborhood, comfortable, homey book store concept has been done to death by people way more business savvy than I am, and I feel like the chances of making money on a brick and mortar book store at this point is pretty much slim and none, and slim just left town with the growing popularity of iPads, Kindles, Nooks, and the like. Book store's nice and sort of romantic and all, but it's not a business to be starting at the point. Take me back to the 1960's, and maybe a book store would be my choice, but not in the the 2010's.
comic book store - To some extent I get the same feeling about a comic book store that I do from a book store. Digital is coming, and there's no stopping it. It may not be coming as quickly as the digital general book market is, but it's coming, no doubt. Plus, the number of players that have to figure things out (mostly DC and Marvel for like 80%+ of the comic market) is smaller meaning that once they figure things out, the business is going to change radically and instantly. Might be fun to run a comic/gaming store and all, but the market isn't growing,and it's not a social enough thing for me to do. I've been in comic stores throughout my life, and there are enough times that I'm the only customer in there that I'm guessing it's a lot more lonely lot than most gamers and comic readers imagine. Sure, you can hire all your friends to just hang out with you, but that's pretty much a disastrous business decision.
music (record/cd) store - Same problems as both of the above. The digital revolution is gonna kill them entirely in the next decade or two. Sure, Record Store Day helps, but it can't be making and realistic change in the market. Yeah, I'd get to hear the newest music all the time, but the novelty of running a record store seems like it would wear off very quickly. Rob's isn't the life I'm looking for.
restaurant - No interest. I love eating at them, but I can't cook and don't have any clue for a restaurant that's better than or different from anything already out there. I'd pretty much want to recreate Troy's or Waffle House or Jeff Ruby's or the Knotty Pine, and they already exist. Why would anybody want to come to my place when they're already there and established?
blog writing - There's no money in what I write. Unless you folks are each willing to pony up like a few hundred bucks a month to read my drivel, that's a failure of a business model.
media critic - I could do that, but I'm guessing it's a pretty tough market to break into as there are like a million other people who are every bit as good as I am at writing about music, movies, television, and that YouTube video they saw yesterday. Plus, I don't think that really qualifies as opening a business. Freelancing, maybe, but not opening a proper business.

I think my answer is gonna have to be 'I don't want to open one.' I'm happy teaching and eventually retiring and traveling around some.

In case you're late to the party, here's the deal...

Here's what I've answered so far...

#25 - "I Know What Love Is" by Don White (way more detail here)

Already requested answers...they'll be answered (probably in this order)...

36...16...19...22...24...27...32...37

Feel free to request other answers in the comments.

Charles Durning, everyone, Charles Durning

2011-09-28T10:12:00.000-04:00

Charles Durning...hell of a man...hell of a hoofer...

Durning appears at about 1:10

Click to read the rest...

Whatta bunch of blokhedz

2011-09-27T04:48:00.000-04:00

Over at Brothers-Brick recently there was a post about a store in Beaverton, OR that had a nice after-market Lego selection. In the comments, the author asked if anybody knew of other, similar stores anywhere around.

Turns out there's an after-market Lego store up in Yellow Springs, OH, just east of Columbus. Looks like I've got a destination for a road trip.

Check out Blokhedz...on Facebook...on their website...in the news.

Now, if they can only get a better photo taken...

The media! The media!

2011-09-26T04:40:00.000-04:00

The things that I've seen...

The Darjeeling Limited - Wes Anderson's films are of a definite style, full of timeless situations, eccentric characters who live in an idle wealth and discuss emotions and their dysfunctional family lived with a disjointed, quasi-mature detachment.

I've yet to see Bottle Rocket or Rushmore, but I enjoyed Tenenbaums, Steve Zissou, and Mr Fox, so I was willing to give Darjeeling a try. This time out was the first I'd seen the film but the fifth or sixth time I've checked it out from the library.

With both Tenenbaums and Zissou, I remember experiencing a general malaise about the films throughout but having my opinions change dramatically in the course of a climactic scene. Throughout Darjeeling I kept waiting for this emotional turn, this chance for me to connect with the dry and unsympathetic characters, and I'm still waiting. The film did have a climactic 'emotional' scene in which the main trio (Jason Schwartzman; Owen Wilson, natch; and Adrian Brody) throw their physical baggage to the side and dive into a river to try to save three local boys - unsuccessfully with one, leading to the film's silent, slow-motion funeral scene, but the scene was so out of place with these cold fish characters that it felt more out of place than emotionally resonant with me.

There's nothing to see here of note.

Dog Day Afternoon - Here, however, is certainly something to see.

Al Pacino owns this early career highlight in which he and two barely functional accomplices attempt to rob a Brooklyn bank and find themselves bumbling into a kidnapping situation.The movie is basically Al Pacino and a whole lot of lesser lights - Charles Durning being the greatest find (as he always is).

The movie is a great exploration of a real-life media circus with undercurrents of homosexuality, class warfare, race baiting, and police procedures in the 1970s.

Certainly worth a watch as Pacino really puts on a masters class in acting here.

100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello - PLCH got new copies of all thirteen volumes in this well-respected series recently, and I'm not one to pass up the opportunity to read an entire series tip to tail, so I grabbed the volumes and read 'em through.

The setup's engaging - that of an uber-conspiracy, The Trust, running America for centuries and needing a team of enforcers, The Minutemen, to keep each other in line. The writing is intriguing leaving much for the reader to figure out as the series moves along.

But the artwork is annoying to the point of frustration.

I had trouble keeping the characters identified as so many of them are drawn almost identically. I had trouble following the plot because the imagery would jump from current to flashback without any mention. The writing even was hard to follow because it's based so much on unspoken understandings between the characters.

Avoid this one.

Invincible (Ultimate hardcover vol 6) -At some point Kirkman has to give this guy a break. The last couple of volumes have felt like nothing but nonstop action seeing the eponymous hero get the snot kicked out of him left and right.

This volume, then, is more of the same - battles with alternate-reality versions of himself, battles with Viltrumite conquerers, and battles with the returned Sequids. It's rough to be Invincible even though his girlfriend is there to help him (and rebuild herself with a rather interesting body-adjustment choice by the author).

Invincible is excellent. The series is one of the better superhero comics ongoing right now, capturing perfectly the high-concept of 'what if Spider-Man was Superman', but this volume felt like the wheels were spinning a bit. How many times can Invincible face off against his biggest opponent yet without suffering from reader fatigue?

Sadly, next volume will have some more of the same as Invincible and his father, the reformed Omni-Man, will head to the Viltrumite home world to battle the entire surviving race.

Good luck to 'im.

I'll keep reading, but I'm not as desperate for the next volume as I was to get my mits on this one.

Drive - Ryan Gosling can do no wrong.

It's that simple.

Drive is a stylish film that avoids exploring Gosling's character's motivation, feelings, or anything other than his pure actions. This isn't to say that he is unshielded id but rather that he appears to be a man entirely devoid of introspection. He doesn't need to know the why or the how. He's a man of when, where, and maybe how fast.

Gosling and director Refn have put together a gorgeous, smooth film that manages to shock with the appearance of a hyper-violent side to our main character. When pressed to the wall, he comes out hammer a blazin', taking care of business without hesitation or remorse.

While Katydid may find fault that the film heads down a too-predictable path, I found myself happy enough to enjoy the excellent performances from Goslin, Albert Brooks, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, and especially Ron Perlman. Admittedly, Christina Hendricks is wasted in her moments on screen, but who cares when the rest of the cast is so well suited to their parts.

This one should be seen big because it's my guess that it'll suffer from the little screen.

Classics by Ratatat - This week's topic musical choice is an outstanding instrumental album from Ratatat.

I know nothing at all about the band and don't know that I could explain what they sounds like with any confidence or skill, but they're outstanding.

Take a few listens...