January 31, 2003
I can't type (but you already knew this)
My wife has decided her purpose in life is to read ODonnellWeb and IM me with typos she finds on the site. There are plenty, she has not chosen a difficult task. Maybe I should set her up with a blog where she can post her grammatically correct prose. I have never been good at proofreading my own work. I can read my own writing over and over again and I'll be totally oblivious to typos that are very obvious to others. Grammar and spelling were never my best subjects anyway. I try to check my posts by cutting and pasting into Cetus Notepad, spellchecking, and then returning the text to the Moveable Type. Sometimes I forget, and I think sometimes I copy when I should paste, and vice versa. I'll try to do better now that she has made me self conscious.
Also, I never learned to type properly. That wasn't an important skill for guys when I was in school. I wish I could type 60 wpm with 99% accuracy. I would guess I'm more in the 25 wpm range, with maybe 90% accuracy. I will definitely encourage Breck (and Delaney) to learn to type, because in the digital age typing is a critical skill, in my opinion.
Permalink | Comments (1)January 30, 2003
Down & Out in The magic Kingdom
In his new book, Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom, Cory Doctorow has created a world where people never die, they just backup their consciousness to the Net and then download later into a new and improved clone. Nanotechnology has eliminated the concept of economic scarcity, your central nervous system is wirelessly connected to the Net, and the only currency that matters is Whuffie, a running tab of your personal social capital, easily visable to all on the Net in real time.
Oh yeah, and nothing has really changed at Disney World.
It's a fun, entertaining read that gets you thinking. You can read it for free online at Cory's web site, or you can buy it from the usual sources. I bought it. I like to read in bed and I'm not taking my laptop to bed with me.
Permalink | Comments (0)January 29, 2003
10 days till Spring Training
Pitchers and catchers start reporting in 10 days. One of these years I'm going to make it to Spring Training. I started daydreaming today about hanging out on my deck this summer, cold beer at my side, listening to the Red Sox on the radio. (If you can't be at the park radio is the second best option for baseball. TV is a distant third.) It was too noisy in our old neighborhood to do anything outside.
I live 600 miles from Boston, and although when weather conditions are right, I can pick up AM signals from Boston, its not something you can ever count on. I started googling and found this. It looks like for about $30 I can turn my PC into a low power FM transmitter. That, plus a subscription to MLB.com, will get me the radio feed for every Red Sox game this year. Not only will I be able to listen on the deck all summer, I'll be able to fall asleep to the Sox when they are on the West Coast. I did that all the time as a kid.
I have an 802.11b network up in the house, so I could just take my laptop out on the deck and pull in the games that way. Something just doesn't feel right about it though. I need a cheap transistor radio out there with me. The games just sound better that way.
Michelle is not going to share my excitement about this :)
Permalink | Comments (0)Purdue is Homeschooler Friendly
It's no surprise that my alma mater would recognize the quality of a homeschool education. They have stated that the admission requirements are exactly the same for homeschoolers as any other student, and that a homeschool diploma is just as valid as a government issued diploma. I don't know why so many other schools have a problem with this. (Actually I do...)
Now I just have to figure out where I am going to get the $40K per year I'll need for the kids to go there.
Daryl found this story before I did.
Permalink | Comments (2)Spamcop has been compromised
Yesterday I started getting spam addressed to my spamcop address. This is the email address that I use to log into spamcop. It has never been used for anything else and in fact I don't think I've logged into Spamcop in well over a year. Since I don't believe that Spamcop is selling email addresses, they must have been hacked. I guess somebody could be sending spam to spamcop@every domain on the planet. Great marketing idea huh? Send spam to the specific email address people have set up to avoid spam. I'll bet they are just getting overrun with orders.
Permalink | Comments (0)January 28, 2003
Gators 27 - Buckeyes 21
So now we are 3-2. Learning to lose, and why you lose, is an important part of learning a game. This loss was all about lack of effort. I don't know if it was a long day at school, kids not getting enough sleep, etc. However, we were about 1/2 step slow all night. The Gators got every loose ball, and I'm sure they had a huge rebounding advantage too. The kids just seemed lethargic out on the court. Even when we do get a rebound, we don't hang onto the ball. Looking back, I should have spent more time in practice on the simple act of catching a basketball.
I really should have spent a lot more time on rebounding. We did work on rebounding a little, but it is a tough concept for an 8-year to pick up in a couple of practices. They don't go after the ball. They stand there and wait for the ball to come to them. Same thing on passes too. As you can imagine, there are a lot of missed shots at this age, and a lot of opportunities for offensive rebounds that lead to easy scoring opportunities. Oh well, I'm learning as I do this too. I'm having fun though, and the kids are too. That is all that really matters. Hopefully some first year basketball coach will stumble into this site next year and avoid a few of the mistakes that I made.
Permalink | Comments (0)The 3 C's of Web Design
Back in 1996 at Homecom we were preaching the 3 C's of web design to our clients. Every site had to focus on Content, Community, and Commerce. And of course, they needed to pay us big bucks to make sure it was done right.
Take a look at your typical weblog. Content is king. As Kottke recently noted, the design on a weblog only matters if it is bad and gets in the way. Weblogs are also all about community. Even a blog without comments can have a community effect. Andrew Sullivan definately has a community of readers. Commerce is the unknown. Can you make a livng as a blogger? Sullivan can for the next year at least. Nick Denton is giving a shot too, with encourging early results.
What does this mean? I have no idea. I just thought it interesting that the "hot new thing" is based on 7 year old ideas about what the web should be.
Permalink | Comments (0)January 26, 2003
Buckeyes 17 - Hokies 11
We are 3-1 now. It was a very odd basketball game. We were losing 8-0 at the end of the first quarter. I have my best rotation in for the first quarter. I suspect maybe they were a little cocky after the blowout win in our last game. Our practice last week was not good either. The kids weren't listening, weren't paying attention at all. So they were introduced to suicides. Any of you that has played competitive basketball knows that those are not fun.
So, its 8-0 and I have my weakest rotation in for the second quarter. I got on the kids about the need to play defense hard all the time and that there is no time for taking it easy on the basketball court. They pitched a shutout in the second quarter and we went into halftime tied 8-8.
We were outscored 1-0 in the third quarter.
The Hokies scored the first bucket of the 4th quarter on an offensive rebound putback, and them my kids clamped down on D, stole a couple of passes for break away layups, and won 17-11. Breck finally scored too. He made 1/2 freethrows with about 30 seconds left for the final points of the game.
Normally, you would expect to lose if you didn't score in two quarters. However, the Hokies only scored 3 points over the final 3 quarters of the game. That, my friends, is defense :)
Permalink | Comments (2)Happy Birthday Delaney
Delaney is 7 today. Halfway to being a teenanger. Hopefully when she is 14 she'll remember her 7th birthday and have some mercy on us! Delaney is obsessed with horses. Horse books, horse toys, everything revolves around horses. So, for her birthday, we took Delaney and her best friend for their first riding lesson. If my posting here gets less frequent over the next couple of weeks you'll know that I've had to cancel my DSL line to finance the regular riding lessons that I'm sure are coming very, very soon.
January 23, 2003
Save Our Libraries
The ALA is launching a Save our Libraries campaign to raise public awareness of the hit public libraries are taking in the current budget crunch.
As a libertarian, I should probably be arguing in favor of private libraries, but I won't. If you accept that government is going to continue to confiscate your money at alarmingly high rates, then libraries in my opinion are one of the better uses for that money.
Homeschoolers are highly dependent on the public library. We go once a week. Breck and Delaney get 10 books each of their own choosing, plus Michelle usually gets a few that relate to whatever is on the curriculum for school that week. After years of just buying books, I've been making more of an effort to use the library. Primarily, this is because John Udells Library Lookup tool makes it so easy to check my local library before I buy something at Amazon or BN.con.
via Michele
Permalink | Comments (0)January 21, 2003
Catching up on my Reading
One of my goals for this year is to read more, a lot more. I'm off to a good start, having knocked off 3 books since Christmas.
Leadership - Rudy Giuliana: A nice satisfying tour of Mayor Giuilana's career, organized around his management principles. Nothing earth shattering that you haven't heard before, but when told by him it comes alive.
Take On The Street - Arthur Levitt: I was disappointed in this book. The "what Wall Street doesn't want you to know" stuff was all stuff I already knew. Too many chapters wandered off into a discussion of the wonderful things he wanted to do for us investors as SEC Chairman, if only the nasty men in Congress, or the Lobbyists, hadn't got in his way.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert T. Kiyosaki: - Entertaining read. The author's key point, that rich folks buy assets that create additional income, and the middle class and poor spend all their money on expenses, is a good one. One I'm going to have to give some deep thought too, as to how it applies to my life. Another point, that a house is not really an asset because it does not create a positive monthly cash flow, is interesting too. It might be a very long term asset, but next month, its an expense, and a big one too! The tone of the book is a little too rah rah, too infomercially for me. I Would not be surprised at all if the author is pitching is wealth creation system on late night TV. Sort of like Anthony Robbins, the message is good, but the messenger drives you mad if you listen too long!
Permalink | Comments (0)Pretty good foresight...
The flagship of the liberal cause is Social Security...We are told that here is a government insurance program in which we and our employers pay into a fund so that someday in our non-earning years we will call this money our own, to see us through. Of course, this isn't what officials of Social Security told the Supreme Court in a recent lawsuit. They said Social Security wasn't actually insurance - but they used that term to sell it to the people. Social Security dues are a tax for the general use of the government and payment of the tax does not automatically entitle anyone to the receipt of benefits. The benefits are a welfare program which can be canceled or curtailed by Congress at anytime.Ronald Reagan
OK, it's not terribly surprising that Reagan said this. However, he said in 1962, in a speech to the Advertising and Executive Club of Kansas City. A friend found a copy of the speech in his grandfather's effects and sent me a copy. (Thanks Johnny!). The whole speech reads like an amazing prediction of the future. Here are a few more points he makes in the speech.
- The foils of farm subsidies
- Freedom is the best weapon against Communism
- Government is so complex that only the career bureaucrats really understand - what going on. We are being governed by a class of people that were never elected and answer to nobody.
- Spending programs, once authorized, never end.
- Middle class getting screwed by income taxes that are supposedly targeted to the wealthy
- Government doesn't tax to get the money it needs, government will always find a need for the money it gets.
It goes on and on. It would have been a brilliant and completely relevant speech at the 1980 Republican National Convention. To think he gave it in 1962 just shows how ahead of the curve on the dangers of big government Ronald Reagan really was.
Permalink | Comments (0)From the Glad We Moved Dept
Date: 1/17/2003 Time: 0353 Location: Residence
600 block of Nathan Place NE Incident: Simple Assault
An incident of an assault was reported to police. The parties involved were advised of warrant procedures.
Since I moved in Sept, there have been 2 assualts, 1 domestic violence, and one credit card fraud investigation on my old street of about 40 homes. When you factor in the amount of crime that doesn't get reported.... And to think people are paying in the $300K neighborhood to live there. Yikes!
Permalink | Comments (0)January 20, 2003
Buckeyes 40 - Bulls 17
Wow. From now on ya'll will address me as Mr. Wooden :) What a game. Granted, the other team was smaller than us across the board, but still, the kids played a hell of a game. Our total offensive output for the first two games was 36 points. We had 28 at halftime tonight. They really understand the concept. Pass to the wing, pass it into the big guy in the middle, shoot. I tried to keep it simple for them. What is especially gratifying is that a couple of the kids whose skills were really well behind the others are catching up. I can see that their understanding of the game is growing with every practice and game. And understanding is what I am after. If they know how to play the game properly, as they grow and their physical skills develop, they will be way ahead of the other kids their age.
Breck again played very tough D. He's got a nice short range jump shot, honed from hours and hours of shooting in the driveway. But their was no defense in the driveway and he is having a hard time getting himself free for shots. He also understands that shutting down your opponent on defense is just as important, and I think he pitched a shutout in his two quarters in the game tonight. I'm not sure the guy he was covering even touched the ball, let alone got a shot off.
At practice Wednesday, I'm going to teach them to back cut, that should help get them free for a pass and shot.
Permalink | Comments (1)The Hookup
The Washington Post is running an article on this "new" trend of teenagers having sex outside of committed relationships. Apparently you don't even have to shell out for a dinner and movie anymore in order to get lucky. They call it "buddysex." Which begs the obvious question, what came first, the AOL buddylist, or buddysex?
They dress it up in a bunch of feminist psycho babble about freedom of expression and the girls having power, blah blah blah. I'm sure the average teenage boy is real upset about this turn of events.
Casual sex has been around as long as, well, as long as there has been sex. If you read between the lines of this article, it comes down to young people get drunk and have sex.
Yeah, thats big news.
My initial thoughts on this were:
1. Teenagers have been watching too much Oprah and Dr. Phil, and they have learned the lessons well. They actually spin this as safe because after all, their partners are also their friends.
2. Thanks to Clinton's willie, The Washington Post can run this article and nobody even blinks.
3. How the hell am I ever going to be ready to deal with this as a parent? Both of mine are over half way to teenage status.
I really need to get busy on buying that 100 acre ranch in Montana.
Permalink | Comments (0)January 19, 2003
With friends like these...
The Intentional Death Committee of The North Carolina Family Policy Council is advocating that the state should step up actions to detect abuse that may happen in homeschool families.
Don't you just love that its the "Intentional Death Committee" that is working on this? I guess all those deaths associated with the public schools were "unintentional."
I did a little poking around their web site. They seem to be a pro-life, anti-gay, anti-gun organization.
Some more poking around with Google turns up that they are the NC affiliate of Focus on the Family.
I'm no fan of Focus on The Family, but my impression of the group is that they are generally supportive of homeschooling, and even tolerate those of us that don't work bible study into the daily curriculum.
So why would their state affiliate in NC be targeting homeschoolers like this? Something here doesn't make sense. Izzy? Darryl? Any ideas?
Permalink | Comments (1)January 18, 2003
Game 2
Woo Hoo! The Buckeyes won 22-14. It was so exciting to see the kids start to "get it." Ridiculous wild ass shots on the offensive end were at a minimum, and the man-to-man defense was downright stifling. They are starting to find the open guy on the offensive end too. Most of the other teams points came from offensive rebounds and a couple of long prayers from way outside. I only remember one or two serious breakdowns on defense that led to points.
Breck has decided that he likes to play in the paint with the big boys. Since Breck is at best in the bottom quartile for height/weight for his age, you would think he would be more comfortable as a guard. You would be wrong. He plays some tenacious defense on the inside. I saw him and the other kid talking in the 4th quarter and when I asked Breck what they were talking about, Breck replied that the kid was telling him to go cover somebody else! Seriously, Breck does great job of denying the ball. I haven't even tried to teach that concept to the kids either!
A parent called me after the last practice to withdraw her son from the team. They were concerned that her son didn't really understand what he was doing and he was getting frustrated. I thought I talked her out of it, explaining that as long as her son was having fun on the court, nothing else really mattered. And that most of the kids really didn't know what they were doing. They didn't show up for the game, so I may have lost him after all. On the bright side, everybody else will get more playing time.
Update: I asked Breck where he learned to deny the ball on defense. As I mentioned above, I have not covered that concept in practice. The answer?? He borrowed Curly Neal's Basketball Camp from the library. I should have known...
Permalink | Comments (1)January 17, 2003
Danger Danger Storm Approching!
It started innocently enough yesterday morning. The forecast was for 1-3 inches of snow. By noon, the forecast was for 2-4 inches of snow. By 6 PM we were full Washington DC snow panic mode. The forecast was up to 4-8 inches of snow, schools were announcing that they would be closed today, the local news was dominated by goofy weatherman standing by the side of the Capital Beltway as file footage of salt trucks lining up were flashed on the screen over and over again. Reporters interviewed school kids and parents alike that were excited by the coming 4 day weekend (snow day Friday and MLK Day on Monday). We even told our kids that we would blow off schoolwork on Friday and play in the snow.
We got a 1/4 inch of snow.
I know forecasting the weather is part art, part science. But I'm sick of the local weather forecasters all shrilling the same thing all the time. All they are doing is reading the freaking National Weather Service forecasts to us on the air. A true weatherman who had been working in the DC area for the last 20 odd years should be able to say something like this.
Although the computer models are all predicting heavy snow, we've seen this pattern many times in DC winters, and about 1/2 the time it ends up being a very minor snow event. So, be prepared for 8 inches of snow, but don't be surprised if this storm ends up being a non-event."
Just once, I want to hear the so called experts put some original thought into the forecast. Append the computer models with their experience and wisdom. I can go to any of 20 different web sites to get the computer forecast from the National Weather Service. What I want from a TV weatherman, or even better, a hot TV weather babe :) is some expert analysis on what might really happen.
Permalink | Comments (0)Is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
The fruit so identified with sexual innuendo is in danger of extinction within 10 years because it has no mechanism to reproduce.
Who said Mother Nature doesn't have a sense of humor?
Permalink | Comments (0)January 14, 2003
Muslim homeschooling
Ryan just sent me this interesting article about Muslim homeschoolers and how similar they are to the early Christian homeschoolers back in the 70's. One interesting comment from a Muslim homeschooling Mom is that she wasn't comfortable with the academics in the local public school, or the religious / political extremism that could fester at the Islamic school. Note that she didn't give evidence that there IS an extremist issue at the Islamic school, just that the environment might be conducive and she didn’t want her kids in that environment.
The establishment likes to accuse homeschoolers of encourging extremeism by keeping our kids out of the mainstream. I wonder if they will level the same charges at Muslims?
Permalink | Comments (1)January 13, 2003
Diary of a Youth Basketball Coach - Game 1
We lost our first game tonight 29-14. The other team had one player that scored at least 20 of their points. I'm dissapointed, but the game was about what I expected - pure chaos. My kids forgot everything we worked on in 7 practices. They did not run the pass and cut offense a single time, and they had the absolute worst time remembering to get back and find their guy on defense. They are 8, all of this is completely expected. Most of them had no idea what to expect from a basketball game. However, we outscored them 8-2 in the fourth quarter and played some tenacious D in the process. If I can get them to play like that every quarter we will rock!
The problem is these kids have grown up watching Iverson and his streetball junk and they have no concept of team basketball. I don't have one kid who can dribble around, break down the D and score every time. Even if I did, I wouldn't coach that way. it doesn't teach the kids anything. So, on practice Wednesday it back to the basics. The shell drill for offense, emphasizing again the pass to the cutting point guard. And more work on defense. I thought they really understood rebounding after the last practice, but I was wrong. You would think the ball has cooties they way they avoided it!
Maybe I'll give them a homework assignment and have them all watch Hoosiers.
Update: Michelle videotaped the first half and I feel a lot better after watching it. We had 4 or 5 shots roll off the rim in the first half, and there was a lot of evidence that they are "getting it." Also, I got the game scores today and we outscored two teams that won last night! I'm psyched about practice tomorrow.
Permalink | Comments (1)January 12, 2003
CD Review: Shania Twain - Up
I didn't ask for it, but I found it in my Christmas stocking anyway. It's really not a bad album. Happy fun jangly boucey country pop, its a nice background CD for reading the paper on Sunday morning. It an interesting, although useless gimmick, the double CD set includes one CD done "country" style and one "pop." The country version is mostly acoustic and the better version IMO. The pop CD is over produced, with too many soaring harmonies and too much going on in the background of the songs.
Permalink | Comments (0)CD Review: Paul McCartney Live in the US
Yeah, so its a little contrived. He's a knight, he gets a little leeway. The double CD serves as a nice greatest hits live compilation of his career.
Permalink | Comments (0)Homeschooler's in primetime
Harry (Judge Reinhold, Beverly Hills Cop) and Ellie O'Keefe (Kirsten Nelson) are loving but eccentric parents who've home schooled their three children to protect them from the loud and libidinal world.
Despite a ban on all things pop culture, teenagers Danny (Joseph Cross, Jack Frost) and Lauren (Tania Raymonde, Malcolm in the Middle) and younger brother Mark (Matt Weinberg) are growing increasingly curious about what lies beyond the walls of their school/dining room. They can speak six languages, but are unable to converse with kids their own age. The answer lies in their father's worst nightmare - public school.
Based on a true story, The O'Keefes is a whimsical, family-oriented comedy from executive producers Mark O'Keefe and Becky Hartman Edwards with director Andy Ackerman (Seinfeld, Frasier) produced by Turner Television.
The WB! has ordered this a replacement series for the Winter. Lucky us.
Like I've said many times before, I liked it better when the world thought we were fringe group wackos and left us alone. If there was any doubt that homeschoolers have entered the mainstream, being the basis of a situation comedy ought to finish it off.
Of course, this is not exactly a new idea. Change homeschooler to alien and you have a synopsis of Mork and Mindy, or Alf. Change homeschooler to nerd and you get Freaks & Geeks, or any of about 100 other shows. I'm sure homeschoolers will rise in protest, they always do. However, I think we need to have a sense of humor about ourselves, because the underlying basis of the show really is pretty true. If you took kids that had been homeschooled their entire lives and threw them into a public high school they would be totally confused. My kid are only 8 & 6, and one of the reasons we don't discourage the Pokeman and Yu-Gi-Oh fad is that it gives them something to talk about with the other kids at Scout meetings or baseball practice. One of the primary benefits of homeschooling (for us anyway) is the ability to minimize the pop culture influence on our kids lives. Then again, Breck strongly prefers Nike shoes, so we are not perfect ;)
Permalink | Comments (0)CD review: Great Big Sea - Sea Of No Cares
Another one of those bands I never would have found without the Web and MP3's. I can't remember how I found my way to their web site, , but I was instantly hooked after a few sample downloads. It's Irish folk with a pop sensability and just enough traditional influences to keep it honest. They are from Cananda, eh.
Permalink | Comments (0)Steinbrenner as Darth Vadar
The evil empire extends its tentacles even into Latin America,"
Red Sox president Larry Lucchino commenting on losing the bidding war for Cuban star Jose Contreras.
This story was all over the news a couple of weeks ago, but the crack investigative team here at O'DonnellWeb has uncovered even more startling evidence that Yankee's owner George Steinbrenner is indeed Darth Vadar.
Just as young Anakin was once the embodiment of all that is pure and good before turning to the dark side, we here at O'DonnellWeb have learned that the evil Steinbrenner once had a good side too. In fact, he started his sports career as an assistant football coach at Purdue University.
We have not yet determined what unfortunate events led young George from the wholesomeness of Big 10 Football to the cesspool that is The New York Yankees, but we are working on it.
And speaking of young Anakin Skywalker, we obviously haven't seen the next movie yet, when we expect to see the events that lead to his joining the dark side. But the guy was looking at a lifetime of sex with Queen Amidala, and we here at O'DonnellWeb can't even imagine the event, or series of events, that would make The Dark Side look better than that!
Permalink | Comments (0)Headbanging Messiah
The original point of this post was to bring to light the rather odd fact that former Skid Row front man Sebastian Bach and Phoenix Coyote Goalie Zac Bierk are brothers. However, when I went in seach of a link for Sebastian Bach I discovered the he is currently starring in a national production of Jesus Christ Superstar.
The mind just reels.
The show will be in Richmond VA this Spring, and at Wolftrap in late summer. I'm tempted...having never seen the show before. I do remember my parents having the soundtrack though.
Permalink | Comments (0)January 09, 2003
Diary of a Youth Basketball Coach - Chapter 1
This may or may not be a reoccurring feature on ODonnellWeb, we'll see how it goes.
We had our 6th basketball practice last night. This team we scrimmaged is playing a 1-3-1 half court trap, except that there really isn't any defense after the trap. His entire team is built around intimidating the ball handler at half court, stealing the ball with no regard for the possibility of a foul, and them scoring on a breakaway layup. If we had a ref calling fouls he would have been out of kids by halftime. It was more like a Rugby match than a basketball game.
Did I mention these kids are 8? A half court trap at that age defeats every purpose of youth basketball.Its only purpose is to win games. If your stealing the ball at half court every other trip your kids don't learn to play defense and don't learn to play offense. That was apparent last night as we did an OK job when we got by the trap, and we stopped them most of the time when they had to actually play basketball against our defense.
I'm teaching my kids straight man-to-man defense, which explained to an 8 year old becomes, "stay between the basket and your man," and that we play defense with our feet, not our hands. The offense has two steps:
1. If you can drive to the basket for a layup, do it.
2. If not, pass to somebody and cut to the basket.
That's complicated enough for 8 year olds.
I'm hoping this guy is just a bad coach, and that in a game situation with refs, the fouls will mount up quickly on the other team. However, I was awake pretty much all night worrying about the possibility that I'm the only coach in the league that expects his kids to play by the rules. I'm not going to lower my standards just to win. I will spend most of this Saturdays practice on beating the trap through. The next coach that tries that crap against the Buckeyes will abandon the strategy quickly.
Permalink | Comments (4)January 08, 2003
Lyrical Prophets
After all these years, I can finally retire my totally worn out vinyl and jam to the digital audio goodness from the minimalist hip hop masters Lyrical Prophets. Trust me on this, it's the best hip hop ever produced in the 20176 zip code. Laze was fly long before anybody ever heard of Emimen. If your only going to own one hip hop album, this is the one you want.
Permalink | Comments (1)Calvin's House of Snowman Horrors
For your mid week viewing enjoyment...a collection of the classic Snowman cartoons from Calvin & Hobbes.
Permalink | Comments (0)January 07, 2003
Carolina Panther Julius Peppers is NFL Rookie of The Year
It seems to me that getting suspended and missing 25% of your teams games for violating the leagues substance abuse policy should automatically disqualify you from all post season awards.
Permalink | Comments (1)January 06, 2003
WWHS: Reason #1,689,321
You simply must read Michele's account of dealing the with local PS establishment in trying to get some help with the class bully who is terrorizing her son, among others.
I was always the smallest kid in the class until I was about 15 years old, when I finally hit a growth spurt and at least got up to average. I was often the target of the class bully. My father had taught me that standing up to a bully was the only solution. In my case, it always worked. The mere act of placing my face in front of their rapidly accelerating fist must have bought me some measure of respect, because I was never a target after I got the first fight out of the way. Being a military brat, I had to repeat this every couple of years.
Of course, back then, kids didn't bring knives and guns to school. I don't think I would counsel someone today to push the issue with a bully the way I did 25 years ago. The worst thing that ever happened to me was a black eye, which among young boys is kind of a badge of honor anyway. Today,the results could be much worse.
Permalink | Comments (3)January 04, 2003
Fredericksburg Battlefield pictures
Pictures from my day spent exploring the Fredericksburg Battlefield are now available in the gallery.
Permalink | Comments (0)January 02, 2003
Frist Aid? BFD
So Senator Frist stopped and rendered aid when he came upon the scene of an automobile accident. This is news? Every friggin website on the Net is going on and on about it.
What is the news here? 99% of the people in the country would have done exactly the same thing. The fact that Senator Frist is a doctor was just a lucky break for the victims. I'll bet Frist isn't the only doctor to stop and help at an accident scene today.
Now, if Senator Frist had pulled a Ted Kennedy, and drove away from the accident scene without helping, now THAT would be news.
On being Rob Gordon
Some time ago, one of those silly internet "who are you" quizes said I was the John Cusak from Hi Fidelity. This was interesting in that Hi Fidelity is about the only John Cusak movie that I had not seen at the time.
I finally saw it last night.
I'm nothing like Rob Gordon. He is a music elitist. My tastes are much more blue collar. 99% of my music collection would never be allowed on the stero system in his store. Further, I could never have a Top 5 breakups list. I don't have 5 meaningful breakups. I don't have one meaningful breakup. I married the only woman I've ever loved.
Who would have thunk it. Those internet quizes are not accurate ;)
Permalink | Comments (2)