Standin' on shaky ground...ever since you put me down...

• Please,  please, please let the golf board be a real thing - Looks fun
• Battle for the Best Song of the Millennium - I have no problems with the winning choice.
• Morning of Owl Crew - Heck of a dance move

• James Blake retires - not the greatest tennis player in American history but one of the great players for America
• Please do not Chillax -  lazy, lazy language...I hate it.
• Justin Timberlake VMA medley - He's a performer. I dig the man.

• Marvel announces that James Spader cast as Ultron in Avengers 2 - I am intrigued, and I loves me some Spade.
• NPR ends credits - I'm sad to see them go, but I understand that you can't possibly thank everyone, and I appreciate that they went out in understated style.
• "Just a theory" 7 misused science words - The distinctions are subtle but incredibly important.
• Bill Hader discusses Stefon's 'possible' return and a scene from the movie he isn't going to make - Stefon is one of my all-time favorite SNL characters, but I still don't want a movie of him.

• Now Here's a Country That Has Education Figured Out - That sounds promising.
• Chicken, Waffles, and Bacon...Count me in! - Me, too!
• Fight Club: the video game -  Really? Irony, we have found you.
• The Underground Map of the Elements - I need a new poster.

• US Open live streaming - happy...very, very happy
• 'Bama Fan - Great shirt
• Man of Steel 2 teaser trailer - It's not real, but I'm convinced.

'Cause they're funny

The Grammy curse

This summer, Calen and I got into a discussion about whether there is a curse on the winner of the Grammy for Best New Artist. In the end we went through all of the winners and divided them into four categories. So, is there a curse?

(Sadly the papers on which the original divisions were written have been lost. I should've scanned them in far sooner.)

• Legends
• Bob Newhart '61
• The Beatles '65
• Marvin Hamlisch '75
• Mariah Carey '91
• Solid careers
• Bobby Darin '60
• Peter Nero '62
• Robert Goulet '63
• Tom Jones '66
• Jose Feleciano '69
• Crosby, Stills, Nash '70
• The Carpenters '71
• Bette Middler '74
• Natalie Cole '76
• Sade '86
• Tracy Chapman '89
• Toni Braxton '94
• Sheryl Crow '95
• Lee Ann Rimes '97
• Christina Aguilera '00
• Alicia Keys '02
• Norah Jones '03
• Maroon 5 '05
• John Legend '06
• Carrie Underwood '07
• Minor careers
• Bobby Gentry '68
• Carly Simon '72
• America '73
• Debbie Boone '78
• A Taste of Honey '79
• Rickie Lee Jones '80
• Christopher Cross '81
• Sheena Easton '82
• Men At Work '83
• Culture Club '84
• Cyndia Lauper '85
• Bruce Hornsby & the Range '87
• Jody Watley '88
• Marc Cohn '92
• Hootie & the Blowfish '96
• Paula Cole '98
• Evanescence '04
• Amy Winehouse '08
• Weak, weak choices
• Starland Vocal Band '77
• Milli Vanilli '90
• Arrested Development '93
• Lauryn Hill '99
• Shelby Lynne '01
• Too soon to tell
• Adele '08
• Zac Brown Band '09
• Bon Iver '11
• fun. '12
• Who?
• The Swingle Sisters '64
• Esperanza Spalding '10

 The count...

• Legends - 4 (but one isn't in music)
• Solid careers - 20
• Minor careers - 18
• Weak, weak choices - 5
• Too soon to tell 4
• Who? - 2

I'm going to say that the award is far from a curse but that it's also not a guarantee of long-term success.

Our idiot children

The Girl and I don't have any kids, but we have two cute dogs. The fool on the left is Hollis (named after the outstanding Christmas tune "Christmas in Hollis"), and the fat girl on the right is Clementine (named before us but fitting the song-dog theme with "Darling Clementine").

Feel free to go 'awwww' any time now.

Admittedly, Hollis looks kind of like a special child there, but he's not. He's a tough little mug.

Bonus points!

UPDATED as of 12:52pm 8/25/13

It's that time of the year...new school year, new students, new chances for bonus points.

Here's how my students can earn bonus points this year:

• first 5 people to leave a comment here on the blog about some post
• congrats to ?? (Mike2500 and James Muffinman need to say who they are) (still available)
• must actually say something substantive about a post that looked interesting (not just "hey, gimme points")
• the account name cannot be your own name...for example, me making an account called Lonnie Dusch wouldn't work. Feel free to mention your name in the comment, though, so I can assign points appropriately.
• first 5 people to join the honors Facebook group or the CP facebook group
• congrats to Fayth, Hannah, Tanner, Karina, and Yuliya for honors (DONE)
• congrats to Emma and Allison for AP (still available)
• congrats to Catherine for CP (still available)
• first 5 people to have a an adult family member (parent, stepparent, grandparent, whatever) join the honors Facebook group or the CP Facebook group
• congrats to ?? for CP (still available)
• congrats to ?? for honors (still available - one joined, but the student already had the points for emailing me)
• first 5 people to send me an email to my school account
• congrats to Jasmine, Rushona, Alena, Michael, and Francisco (DONE)

That's 30 opportunities for extra credit.

No one can earn more than 5 points total here to hopefully spread things out some.

Oh, and the only AP folks eligible are the ones I haven't taught before. Emma, Jonathan, Lira, and Allison - go for it! All of my honors and CP students are eligible.

The Disposable Man

I am absolutely fascinated by the human drive to climb Mount Everest and the utterly ridiculous differences in the world up there from the world down here, what it does to the human body, and all the science involved.

I find the initial efforts to summit Everest brilliant and horrific at the same time. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay - as well as the first oxygen-less summitting from Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler - are heroic and stunning and deserve every bit of the historical notoriety that they have received.

I'm also horrified by the current adventure tourism that is leading to more and more people summitting Everest without anywhere near the proper preparation and skills and doing so on the back of the sherpas, far too many of them are dying because of the job. There is a great article over on Outside Online about that last part. (Thanks to Fresh Air for covering the story.)

It's not something that most of us are ever going to remotely consider, but DO NOT climb Everest.

You will die - or you will pay someone to die for you.

Wilco...wilco...wilco will love you, baby

• A world-class sprinter decides to play rugby sevens - Some athletes are just fun to watch.
• Patton Oswald split Twitter - I warn you, it's offensive. But then you realize just how brilliantly constructed it is, and it's hilarious.

• +1 trailer debut - I am intrigued... 
• SMBC "Beyond the Grave" -  Sometimes Zach goes all heartfelt instead of dirty
• This Turkish frisbee trick is hypnotic probably impossible - Not impossible...just unlikely unless you have that exact cement form in your yard

• Correlation of fracking and groundwater contamination - We need to be concerned.
• 911 call captures school employee talking down gunman - This NPR story hit me more emotionally than perhaps any I can remember. I was in my bedroom and had to sit down because I couldn't stand.

• Damn nature you scary of the day - Louisiana sinkhole swallows an entire tree grove...quickly...

Which side are you on, boys, which side are you on?

Calen mentioned casually that her son had to take a political views inventory on the site ISideWith.com (it's listed under 'quiz' on the site) for his social studies course this fall.

He's apparently fairly well split down the middle, agreeing almost equally with the Dems and the Republicans. I thought I knew fairly well where my beliefs lie, but I'm always curious to take a survey.

So, before you cheat and look at the answers, lemme explain the set up of the survey.

Questions are asked. For example, the first asks "What is your stance on abortion?". A radio button lets you choose "pro-choice," "pro-life," or "choose another stance." If you click "choose another stance," five more options pop up along with an "add your own stance" option. There are 43 total questions, and you can also give each issue a ranking of how important the issue is to you (on a five-point scale).

So, what's your guess on how well (from 0% to 100%), my opinions would agree with these five political parties (listed alphabetically here):

• democrats ?
• green party ?
• libertarians ?
• republicans ?
• socialists ?

My scores are after the jump.

17 for 22

Who's got more than our team's 17 for 22 that our trivia team racked up last Monday?

Answers after the jump, and no cheating.

1. How many wings does a housefly have?
2. What is the name of the newspaper where Peter Parker works?
3. How many minutes are the a quarter of an NBA game?
4. What was Boy George's band's name?
5. On what continent is the Cape of Good Hope?
6. On the cover of the Beatles' Abbey Road album, which Beatle is barefoot?
7. What was the product of the Manhattan Project?
8. What mythical creature is the official animal of Scotland?
9. What was the name of the movie starring Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis as serial killers? Bonus: Who directed the film?
10. What make blue cheese blue?
11. What sport do the Nashville Predators play?
12. Name a year when Beethoven was alive.
13. Was FDR a Democrat or a Republican?
14. Name the explorer who named Canada for the French.
15. Name the actor who was in Reservoir Dogs, From Dusk to Dawn, and National Treasure.
16. Who was president when the Wright Brothers made their first successful flight?
17. What sport is Kelly Slater a national champion of?
18. In what year did Tony Blair become prime minister, the movie Titanic premiere, and ___?
19. What two movies did Jennifer Grey and Charlie Sheen appear in together? 
20. How many countries border Belgium? Bonus: Name them.

Answers coming...

Lego, not Lego

The Lego group has a bunch of adult fans of Lego (AFOL) - me among them.

Some of those fans are dedicated enough that they just aren't satisfied with just the official Lego releases.

So they turn to BrickArms where they can get Lego-scaled rocket launchers...

...or custom Shaun of the Dead figures...

Or they turn to MMCB for their most custom of cloth, minifigure-sized accessories like custom-colored, phoenix-printed capes...or general dracula-style capery for their minifigures...

...or Arealight for their custom Star Wars-themed Lego-ish figures

...of Brickforge to get all sorts of minifigure-fitting weaponry and accessories...

...and Custom Crazy's Shop for war hammers and skull armor (and lots more)...

...Brick TW's store for oriental accessories and fully-chromed minifigs...

...or Citizen Brick's ink or 'botany' enthusiasts...

Me, I'm just going to be happy with the collectible minifigs series 11.

Links are back...

...with a vengeance...

• History of the World (through WWI) in one chart - Beautiful...larger version at the link...
• Rhyming trouble - try reading it aloud...
• The Dallas Mavericks pitch video for Dwight Howard - hyperbole, I believe we have it... 
• Disturbing the spirits - pretty photography manipulation, especially the second one
• Cake batter ice cream bread - two ingredients? Heck, I can make that.
• Pecan sugared bacon recipe - four ingredients? Heck, I can make that.
• Ashton Kutcher acceptance speech - I would've never guessed, but Kutcher did a great job here.

• Who whitewashes the Watchmen? - Not everyone loved Before Watchmen, particularly the Minutemen/Silk Spectre one
• The Long Journey - Great comic...scroll down
• Brain Divided - cute...then terrifying little cartoon

• AWOL - Who knew autopilot worked that way?
• Episodes 1-3 of Wonder Woman short - gorgeous art style, three one-minute shorts...watch 'em
• Everyone's a little crazy - sick webcomic...
• Brian Williams: "Regulate" - mount up...

They call me 'her'

That's not my name! from PHSChemGuy on 8tracks Radio.

One last chance to guess the theme of today's playlist (which is also the theme of Wednesday's playlist).

Give up?

8Tracks returns, too

They call me "hell" from PHSChemGuy on 8tracks Radio.

If the blog is coming back - and it is, I promise three updates a week, maybe more if the muse strikes - then 8tracks are coming back, too.

I'm not telling what today's theme is.

Friday's 8tracks will have the same theme, though, and I'll reveal it then...if nobody has guessed it first.

Thoughts on the ubermench

Thoughts on Man of Steel...in purely rambling form...

Spoilers abound...

Lots of Rock Lists

I think we're pretty much all suckers for lists.

If you are, check out UltimateClassicRock.com's page of classic rock lists.

You'll find the best songs by dozens of artists (Queen, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and LOTS more), the best guitar solos (of Randy Rhodes, Eddie Van Halen, the US national anthem, more), best rock feuds, career-saving albums, career-killing albums, and lots, lots, lots more.

And start with these lists...

The Pale, Blue Dot

Each week ZenPencils illustrates a quote, a speech, a something.

Recently they hit one of the most wonderful quotes around, Carl Sagan's Pale, Blue Dot speech. Take a look at the full comic on their site.

And see the original photo (from NASA)...

(You have to know where to look to see us.)

...and an animated response...

Pale Blue Dot from ORDER on Vimeo.

More images of Earth from space can be found over here, too.

Update: Hope ya like the new me

source

It's been seven years (almost to the day) since I posted a list of things that I would buy/do when I won the lottery.

With the lottery PowerBall jackpot currently up in the $300 million range again, The Girl and I spent another ride home from The Hometown daydreaming about how we will be spending our clearly inevitable dosh.

Lots of the things haven't changed, but there are a few updates and additions.

First, the job at PHS is almost certainly going to go by the wayside. I'm more eager to travel than I was back then, so I'm not going to hang around in Cincy for nine and a half months of the year.

Next, The Girl and I are going to rent a house somewhere on a warm beach every summer. We'll also invite a bunch of close friends (and their kids, since pretty much all of 'em are breeders at this point) to join us for as much time as they can manage (a week, a weekend, a couple of weeks), and we'll pay to fly them there.

I'll sponsor a couple of ASM's summer camps. I may or may not still work at them. I enjoy the heck out of doing that.

I'm going to pay to have Richard Thompson play the Southgate House (Revival, officially) and reserve myself the table just over his shoulder when he's on stage. My mom gets to pick where Bob Dylan gets to play for her. The Girl and I are going to see John Mellencamp at the Bluebird in Bloomington (I know, sis, you've seen him there already.) And we'd be flying Calen with us to see U2 at some bar in Dublin. Heck, she's been there, so I'll let her pick the bar.

And, in the biggest change, we'll be buying 7475 Lesourdsville-West Chester Rd (google maps & bing). It's not too far from where we live. It connects diagonally with The Best Man's backyard. It's got a whole bunch of trees and space to keep the subdivision rats a bit away. Then we're going to call up This Old House to build us a new old house. We have some ideas of what we want in this new, fantastic house...

• lots of windows (like this house)
• a sound system built into the walls and with ipod docks around
• a deck with built-in grill and a hot tub
• a room for the dogs to hang out in when we're gone, with outside access to a fenced run
• LEED certification
• a great garden layout from Roger Cook
• a guest house for friends 
• more trees - probably in a variety of species so no one pest can kill 'em all