April 30, 2004
Zero Tolerance only applies to the kids
Rebecca Perry, school superintendent in Alexandria, VA. was arrested for DUI. She blew a .12. Last night, the Alexandria School Board voted 7-1 to not fire Ms. Perry.
Normally, I would not advocate firing a first time DUI case. DUI is generally an error in judgement, not a willful act of violence. However, Ms. Perry is a very vocal proponent of idiotic zero tolerance policies.
Students, who are genetically predisposed to screw up and make stupid decisions, never get a second chance in Alexandria VA. Highly paid school administrators however, don't have to play by the same rules.
And people wonder who the kid have no respect for the adults in the public school system. Kids are not stupid. If anything, they have finely tuned BS and hypocrisy detectors. Not that you need be finely tuned to smell the BS in Alexandria VA.
Permalink | Comments (0)April 29, 2004
$5 Stun Gun
Tech TV has a HOWTO that describes a 10 minute process to convert a common disposable camera into a 600V stun gun.
I am absolutely not responsible for what you do with this information.
Permalink | Comments (0)The Self-Chilling Beer Can
On the surface, this seems like a brilliant innovation. However, if you think about it for a moment, two things come to mind.
1. You have to drink beer that comes in a can.
2. You have to drink it out of the can.
Good beer generally comes in a bottle. Actually, good beer comes in a keg, preferably one that uses nitrogen and not CO2. However, if you aren't lucky enough to have a keg system at home, bottles will do.
And if you do have a nitrogen keg system at home, I'm available to be your friend immediately :)
So we have a supercharged, expensive can designed to keep your piss water swill cool on a hot summer day.
Yippee!
And even if you are drinking a halfway decent canned beer, pour it into a proper mug and let it get a little air, and develop a proper head. Beer is your friend. You must treat it with respect.
Permalink | Comments (0)New Neighbors
(Click pictures for larger images)
These are the residents of our backyard bluebird box. The kids have imaginatively named them Mr. & Mrs. Blue. She laid 5 eggs total, over 5 days last week. According to resident bluebird expert Delaney, we can expect them to hatch between Monday and Wednesday of next week. Pictures of the baby birds will be forthcoming.
Permalink | Comments (0)
Ourtsourcing is an education issue
Clueless politicians are running around crying about outsourcing and blaming it all on the evil corporations. As usual, they are missing the point. Consider the following...
Barry P. Bosworth, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, points out that the fastest-growing service fields are the engineering and management of computerized sales and supply systems. To shine in those careers, he says, workers have to master at least four skills: computer literacy, typing, an understanding of how complex organizations work, and the ability to deal with people (either in person or electronically). Yet despite the fact that services account for 80 percent of private-sector employment, how many high schools require courses in typing, computer science, operations research, and interpersonal relations? Talk about productivity: If critics want to be truly effective at keeping jobs at home, they should stop scolding businesses and start crusading for better education reform.
I wrote about the importance of typing in the digital age over a year ago. I am so cutting edge :) Both the kids are doing typing lessons this year. In fact, I would say Delaney is already a better typist than I am. She has advanced so rapidly that I am seriously considering spending a few hours with her typing for kids software. It can only help me!
We are also working on a entrepreneurial thing that the kids will be heavily involved with. (More about that later. It's still in the early planning stages). I can't think of any better "education" for kids than running their own business. Homeschoolers can all be looking for ways to promote entrepreneurship with their kids. It can only help them in the future.
via Business Pundit
Permalink | Comments (1)April 28, 2004
More Regrettable Food
Lileks has added to the Gallery of Regrettable Food. This edition includes that staple of american kitchens everywhere, meat jello.
I'm not kidding.
Permalink | Comments (2)April 27, 2004
The Solar Funnel Cooker
While camping with the Cub Scouts last weekend, we saw a Boy Scout troop baking cornbread in a cardboard box oven. Here is a solar funnel cooker that will boil water in a hour using nothing but tin foil, cardboard, and a canning jar.
Building one of this and then cooking something sounds like a fun homeschol project.
Permalink | Comments (3)The Good Wife's Guide
A good wife always knows her place. (don't worry, it's completely safe for work)
Permalink | Comments (4)Doonesbury - 1971
This settles it. He threw the medals away. But we already knew that, right?
Permalink | Comments (0)
Java Programming for kids
Learning to write java code with my son...that would be a cool homeschool project.
Permalink | Comments (0)April 26, 2004
Spotsylvania County Budget Cuts
With it becoming apparent that the VA legislator is going to show some fiscal restraint and not rubber stamp Gov. Warner's $2 billion dollar spending increase, the schools are starting to go into panic mode. Because, you know, $7689 (2002 data) just isn't enough to educate a child.
Below is the text of a letter sent out last week by the local PTA, and here is the draft spreadsheet of the actual cuts being proposed.
Dear Fellow Freedom Parents,Permalink | Comments (3)Children’s education should be a priority when it comes to funding programs. After all, our children are the leaders of tomorrow. Each child deserves a quality education and Spotsylvania is striving to do just that. However, we have some serious budget issues that are currently being faced by our school board.
On behalf of the Freedom PTA, I am asking for your support with the current budget situation that our school board is facing. The attachment provided details the information at hand. We must let our legislators, both at the local and state levels, know that our children’s education is our priority.
Our Superintendent, Dr. Jerry Hill, and the budget committee have proposed a budget that needs to be fully funded. Without your support, this will possibly not happen. There may be many serious repercussions to our school system if the budget needs are not met.
I am asking that you take a few minutes to talk with our legislators either by letter, e-mail or a phone call. We can make a difference if we let it be known loudly enough that our children’s education is important to us. I have included contact information for our local and state legislators. You may also obtain additional information about the budget at the Spotsylvania County Schools website at www.spotsylvania.k12.va.us . If you have any questions or comments about this letter, please fill free to e-mail me at dwholmes21@yahoo.com
Thank you in advance for your interest in our children’s future!
Sincerely,
Dianne Holmes
PTA President
Freedom Middle School
13 Ways to Raise a Non-Reader
THIRTEEN WAYS TO RAISE A NONREADER: From Horn Book Magazine. (link is a PDF file)
- Never read where your children can see you.
- Put a TV or computer in every room. Don't neglect the bedrooms and the kitchen.
- Correct your child every time she mispronounces a word.
- Schedule activities every day after school so your child will never be bored.
- Once your child can read independently, throw out the picture books. They're for babies.
- Don't play board games together. Too dull.
- Give little rewards for reading. Stickers and plastic toys are nice. Money is even better.
- Don't expect your child to enjoy reading. Kids' books are for teaching vocabulary, proper study habits, and good morals.
- Buy only 40-watt bulbs for your lamps.
- Under no circumstances read your child the same book over and over. She heard it once, she should remember it.
- Never allow your child to listen to books on tape; that's cheating.
- Make sure your kid reads only books that are "challenging." Easy books are a complete waste of time. That goes double for comic books and Mad magazine.
- Absolutely, positively no reading in bed.
We are 0-13. Just like Jeter in the last Yankees - Sox series :)
Permalink | Comments (7)Marlins stadium deadline approaching
The Florida Marlins recently extended their deadline for new stadium financing out to May 6. However, they have never said what the"or else" is if the stadium deal falls through.
Could they be moving to Vegas, or DC?
Note: I'm opposed to public financing of stadiums, which seems to be the hold up in Florida.
Permalink | Comments (0)Corporate Indoctrination in the classroom
It's not just the government that wants to indoctrinate our kids. The move and music business is in on it too. They have developed a 45 minute course and supporting essay contest to promote their anti media downloading agenda. Schools in Boston and LA are teaching this crap to the kids.
Yet another reason to homeschool...
Beyond the obvious questions of why our already failing schools are wasting time on this, we also have the problem that what they are teaching the kids is flat out wrong.
"Students learn to repeat the program's motto: ''If you don't pay for it, you've stolen it.""
Wrong, wrong wrong. Hundreds of thousands of artists encourage fans to freely download their music. "Fair Use" doctrine also provide legal cover to copy digital works. There are many instances when downloading a digital work is completely legal.
"The students played roles such as ''The Film Producer," ''The Starving Artist," and were asked questions such as ''Has anyone ever copied your homework? How did this make you feel?"
This is wrong on so many levels. First of all, there is no evidence that downloading music hurts record and CD sales. It may actually promote record sales. Second, the starving artist was starving long before the advent of digital downloads. Actually, digital music provides a way for the starving artist to get out from under the tyranny of the music industry and sell directly to the fans.
That is what industry is really afraid of.
via Techdirt
Permalink | Comments (0)April 23, 2004
Excel Geek
Anil Dash is talking about his Excel geekiness. I probably shouldn't admit this stuff in public, but what the hell.
- I've got our master grocery list in Excel, sorted by aisle so that the list matches the aisle layout of the store we shop at . I used to do the shopping and I would get really irritated when I was on aisle 14 and then notice something Michelle added to the bottom of the list, in aisle 1. Back in the dot com boom days I even wrote a business plan to turn that basic idea - customizable, sortable shopping lists, into an advertising supported web site.
- I track all the maintenance on our vehicles in a spreadsheet.
- My CD player inventory is a spreadsheet that gets posted to this web site.
- My hard drive is littered with small text documents, directions to various places, assorted lists I want to keep, emails I'm saving, all sorts of stuff.
- I also keep a notes.txt file open at all times, where I keep my to-do and project list, list of CD's to buy, books to read, DVD's to rent, and all kinds of snippets of information that I want to save for a short time.
- When I started commuting to DC I kept a spreadsheet at work tracking commute times to figure out if the bus or train is more efficient. The answer is bus Mon-Thur, train on Friday. Although financial considerations usually keep me on the bus on fridays.
But none of this surprised you, right?
Permalink | Comments (1)Compare and Contrast
Pro homeschooling essay written by a 13 year old homeschooler.
Anti homeschool screed written by a "certified" public school teacher in Canada.
Compare and contrast. Pay particular attention to paragraph construction and the presence (or absence) of examples that support the author's arguments.
via H&OES
Permalink | Comments (2)Pat Tillman Killed In Action
Pat Tillman, the Arizona Cardinal Linebacker who made national news by walking away from a lucrative NFL career to join the Army, is being reported killed in action in Afghanistan.
If there was ever a textbook definition of a real American hero, Pat Tillman is definately it.
Permalink | Comments (2)Ricky Gervais interview
The Onion AV club has a great interview with Ricky Gervais, aka David Brent from The Office.
If you have no idea who he is, do yourself a favor, turn off reality TV, and find The Office on PBS or BBC America. (PBS may edit the content, so try for BBC). It's some of the best, and funniest TV ever made.
They are making a US version. I'm sure they will ruin it.
Permalink | Comments (0)WHat happens in Vegas...
Great "guys weekend in Vegas" story from ESPN's Bill Simmons.
I wonder if Michelle will let me go to Vegas so I can write a cool story for the blog?
My Vegas trip report from Jan 2002.
Permalink | Comments (0)Canadian teachers can be idiots too
Darby delivers a rightous fisking to a teacher who wrote a completely ridiculous op/ed in the Calgary paper.
Permalink | Comments (0)April 22, 2004
Ego Blogging
There is no reason for this post, other than to point out that I got quoted over at HEM.
Last issue, I included Gina Martin's opinion piece in the Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Virginia, "Home schooling may 'teach' sectarian animosity," April 7. A number of well-spoken letters have been posted at the Free Lance-Star. On April 18, Chris O'Donnell of Spotsylvania writes a response that strikes to the heart of the matter. "The author seems to believe that cloistering children of the same age together in a government-controlled institution somehow leads to greater understanding, harmony, and peace in the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, it is that institutionalized system, which has dominated education since the beginning of the 20th century, that has produced the society we have today....Public school, because it lacks any real competition, is a big part of the problem; it is not the solution. Free and open education is the answer to ignorance and bigotry. Today, the only place to get that type of education is at home."
BTW, I did not find this ego surfing. Daryl sent me the link. (Not that there is anything wrong with ego surfing...)
Permalink | Comments (3)Phrase of the Day
Wrap Rage - I suffer from this every Christmas morning.
Permalink | Comments (1)Virginia's New Budget Plan
The Virginia legislature has been stalemated for over a month on the budget. However, they have come to an agreement that will reduce education spending and boost state revenue by eliminating higher level math classes to reduce math literacy, which should also boost lottery participation.
It's really brilliant if you think about it.
There is also this angle.
The Virginia Algebra Resource Center has protested to the Superintendent and is organizing a sit-in at the Board of Education. The governor has said he is taking "proper precautions."
"You know, I'm told "algebra" is actually a word of Arabic origin," he said to reporters in a press conference, raising his eyebrows significantly. "Do I need to say more about this so-called 'resource center?'"
I'm glad Governor Warner is on the case. I feel safer already ;)
via Joanne Jacobs
Permalink | Comments (0)April 21, 2004
Review: Cinderella - Heartbreak Station
I was in an 80's mood tonight - so I somewhat randomly picked Heartbreak Station by Cinderella. I had forgotten just how good this album is. Cinderella may have followed the herd early in their career by doing the pop metal and power ballad thing, but Heartbreak Station is a down and dirty rock and roll blues album, full of slide guitar, horns and what sounds like a jew's harp.
Highly recommended.
Permalink | Comments (1)Just The Ten Of Us
On Jan 6, 2000 The Daily Ping launched with a post about Just The Ten Of Us. Over 4 years later, the post is still receiving comments, including a comment just last week from show co-creator Steve Marshall. (If it was really him that left the comment)
Is the Internet great or what?
Permalink | Comments (1)Freaks & Geeks Interview
Largehearted Boy found this very cool interview with Freaks & Geeks creator Paul Feig. I really want the DVD set, and Father's Day is in June.
Yeah, it would be easier to just tell my wife. But this is so much more fun :)
Permalink | Comments (0)Spam-a-licous
My @ODonnellWeb email addresses have received 843 spams between 8:08 AM yesterday and 8:08 AM today. I was averaging about 200 a day until last week. Has anybody else seen a dramatic increase in spam recently?
I did notice that my domain is being dictionary spammed. I'm getting thousands and thousands of spams to non-existant addresses.
I also noticed that my double secret, only given out to a few select friends email address received it's first spam this week. It has only received one, so maybe the dictionary attack happened to get lucky and hit it. More likely is that somebody saved it to their Outlook address book and then picked up a spam virus.
I won't go as far as some on the Web and claim that email is broken beyond repair. I do think it is finished as a mass communication tool though. RSS feeds are a much better solution for one to many communications. Listservs still work well for small group communication, and email will be relegated to person to person communication only.
Permalink | Comments (2)April 20, 2004
Not Just a School Shooting
Interesting article on Slate about the Columbine shootings, and why the kids did it. Hint, it has nothing to do with the trenchcoat mafia, jocks, or bullies.
"...Harris, they believe, was irretrievable. He was a brilliant killer without a conscience, searching for the most diabolical scheme imaginable. If he had lived to adulthood and developed his murderous skills for many more years, there is no telling what he could have done. His death at Columbine may have stopped him from doing something even worse."
RTWT.
Permalink | Comments (0)Protect Your Bannana
with the BannanaGuard
"...allows for the safe transport and storage of individual bananas letting you enjoy perfect bananas anytime, anywhere."
Why don't I think of this stuff?
Permalink | Comments (0)Brush with greatness
Ryan is only 3 degress from Kevin Bacon.
ShitBeGone Toilet Paper
I don't need to make this stuff up. (The URL may be an issue for some content filters)
From the site, "100% recycled toilet paper for those who don't need to pay for top-notch softness— like businesses and single men."
Permalink | Comments (2)April 19, 2004
4 reasons to homeschool
HSLDA President Mike smith has published a very balanced Op/Ed in the Washington Times. I may "occasionally" criticize HSLDA, so it's only fair that I point to their good deeds too.
He hits an often overlooked point. Homeschooling is not just about school violence, education, and winning spelling bees. It may start as a purely educational or safety related decision, but it quickly becomes a lifestyle. Once it's a lifestyle, you don't turn back.
I can't even imagine being subjected to the whims of the government school schedule. We educate on our terms. If that means blowing off a week in February because the weather is unseasonably nice and the kids have cabin fever, we do it. It also means we can travel when we want to, make doctors appointments when its convenient for us, and generally run our lives with the our family as priority one.
So often we hear ( I did growing up) that school is the top priority. We saw our parents juggling schedules to meet the arbitrary whims of the school schedule. That sends the wrong message. School is not the priority, family is. School, err ongoing education, is just a part of family life. It's totally integrated, not some separate thing totally disconnected from family life.
via H&OES
Permalink | Comments (0)50 worst artists of all time
Blender gives us the 50 worst bands of all time.
Not a whole lot to quibble with in the list. I'll take exception to Toad the Wet Sprocket. The are harmless, and a lot of their stuff was kind of catchy.
I'll also argue with Whitesnake. Obviously there is no redeeming value in Whitesnake, but Slide It In was a very good hard rock album. Also - Tawny Kitaen and the Jag. Need I say more?
I'm not sure Live belongs on the list either. Again, mostly harmless alt rock from the 90's. They weren't great, but I can think of lots of bands that were much worse. Really, any 50 worst list not including Fred Durst is just wrong.
via The Agitator
Permalink | Comments (3)April 18, 2004
Home-schooling may 'teach' sectarian animosity?
The writer of this letter to the editor of my local paper is concerned that homeschoolers are deprived of all the wonderful multi-cultural learning opportunities in the public schools.
I'm replying with a letter to editor of my own, which I'll post here later today. I have to actually write the letter first.
Update: My reply. I'm batting .000 on letters to the editor, so I don't expect to see this in print. Writing with a 250 word limit is a real challenge. I missed the unlimited word count of my blog :)
On April 7, a reader replied to a May 29 Free Lance-Star article on homeschooling with concern that homeschooling somehow contributes to the "growing chasm between the different cultures, religions, and socioeconomic groups" in the local community, and the world at large.
The author seems to believe that cloistering children of the same age together in a government controlled institution somehow leads to greater understanding, harmony, and peace in the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, it is that institutionalized system, which has dominated education since the beginning of the 20th Century, that has produced the society we have today. How is more of the same going to close the chasm that the writer is so concerned with?
The author goes on to ask, "Have we learned nothing from the hatred that so many cultures around the world harbor for Americans now?"
Where exactly do Palestinian kids get the idea that Jews are pigs? Where do Iranian children learn that America is the Great Satan? The answer is school. Or more accurately, government controlled school.
Public school, because it lacks any real competition, is a big part of the problem, it is not the solution. Free and open education is the answer to ignorance and bigotry. Today, the only place to get that type of education is at home.
Update 4/18/2004: My letter was published today (Sunday). The paper dedicated a 1/2 page to responses to the silly drivel, publishing 4 letters. I didn't see them online this morning but Daryl found them so I've linked all 4 letters below.
My letter
Letter 2
Letter 3
Letter 4
April 15, 2004
CT Coach Jim Calhoun: Hero of RSN
Jim Calhoun, coach of the NCAA basketball national champion Connecticut Huskies, has refused an offer from the evil empire to throw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium. Calhoun, a lifelong Red Sox fan, is reported to have said something along the lines of "over my dead body" when advised of the offer.
He will be throwing the first pitch at Fenway though!
via Portland Sox Fan
Permalink | Comments (0)Dan Quayle Was Right!
"...on average, children in married, two-parent families do better than other kids by every measure of success."
That won't surprise readers of this blog. However, according to this article, societal trends indicate that the millennial generation (kids born between 81-99) are much more serious about getting and staying married, and they are using drugs, alcohol, and having sex and much lower rates than their parents did. (I don't think the alcohol, drugs, and sex connection is a coincidence either. Without booze, most high schoolers would never have sex in the first place!)
Today's kids are rebelling by being better, and more responsible than their parents were. Gen X is showing a lot of the same too, we just waited until a little later in life to get serious. Sociologists seem to think this is basically a backlash to the culture of divorce our parents left us with. We've seen the results of divorce, and the kids are not necessarily better off just because both parents are happy.
via Joanne Jacobs
Permalink | Comments (0)April 13, 2004
AC / DC Bootlegs
The AC / DC Archive - A new bootleg to download every month. I'm downloading a 20 song live compilation right now.
Cool.
Permalink | Comments (0)Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
Izzy links to this homeschooling website that declares "Every family homeschools! Some may choose to delegate a portion of their education out to the public school, private school or just keep it all in house!".
She almost had me. I was ready to start fisking. However, the design of the site is circa 1998, which caught my attention, so I took a look around. As far as I can tell, the site has not been updated since 2001.
Nothing to see here folks. Move along.
Permalink | Comments (1)Doug Glanville - Baseball's Alpha Geek
Discovered in a thread on Slashdot, Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Doug Glanville is a geek. He talks about hitting two homers off of Curt Schilling as revenge for Schilling killing his character in Everquest, taking a trip to Africa, and hanging out with the Astronomy club during spring training.
Permalink | Comments (0)April 11, 2004
I scooped Instapundit
The greatest blogger in the world is concerned about the rise of cat blogging.
O'DonnellWeb - 1, Instapundit, err, huh probably about 6000. But I'm catching up!
Permalink | Comments (1)My CD Jukebox
The CD Jukebox has been updated. I let it rot into oblivion (again), and once again I've brought it up to date. No promises on keeping it that way though.
Permalink | Comments (1)Wore out the remote
I think I took 2 years off the lifespan of my TV remote this afternoon flipping back and forth from the Red Sox game and The Masters. I was checking The Masters between pitches of the Red Sox game.
The good news is the Red Sox won on a David Ortiz walk off homer in the 12th. The great news is that Phil Mickelson finally won a major. He sank a 18 ft birdie putt on the 18th to get the green jacket.
Permalink | Comments (0)Resumes & The Web
I've got a few questions for the geekier element of my vast reading audience.
I did my monthly download and review of my log file today. I got curious about the 250 hits to my resume, so I manually scanned the log file and I'm a bit confused by what I found.
1. I got over 100 hits from google on "sales resume" or similar terms. That is good, I think. However, if I punch "sales resume" into google, I'm nowhere to be found in the first 10 odd pages. I can't believe that more than a handful of people in a given month would click that deep into google to eventually find my resume, wherever it may be on that search term. I thought maybe it was an automated tool crawling google for resumes, but the originating IP address seems to be different for every hit, again leading me to somebody looking, or maybe a widely used software package that you download, and it pulls resumes off of Google. Any ideas?
Another thing - all those google hits are not showing up in my log analyzer report. I'm using freeware, so it may just be crappy software.
2. To the person searching on Qwest sales resume. Don't call me, I'm not going back to telco.
3. This joker appears as a referrer about 5 times. There is no link to my site at that page. He also shows up way high on Google for "sales resume." That can't be a coincidence. So what we have here is a log file spammer? What can I do to thwart him?
4. I had several hits on very specific searches that would only return a handful of valid pages. Things like "DC area internet consulting sales resume sun certified." I did get a couple of emails from headhunters last month - so maybe they were in that group. If not - on a search that specific you'd think I'd hear from somebody.
As I was doing this, I had this thought that the web really needs a specialized search engine for publicly posted resumes. Expert Google users might be able to manipulate boolean expressions and get what they want. But most people are just going to enter a general term on Google and get back an unwieldy list. Maybe something with enough intelligence to know not to return my resume on Atlanta related searches, since I haven't worked there since 1998. For it to work, the semantics of the resume would have to be "understood" by the software. However, since resumes are fairly consistent, that doesn't seem like an unreasonable idea.
Permalink | Comments (0)April 09, 2004
Scary Thread
This thread, from the CF (Child Free) Community at LiveJournal regarding the award winning homeschool mom who is expecting her 15th child, is a tad bit scary. The main poster seems sane, but some of the commenters...
A note to any of the CF community that may eventually trackback to here...the over population argument has been dead for years. Find a new boggieman.
Permalink | Comments (0)Guinness is good for you
But you already knew that, right?
Permalink | Comments (1)Give me an Amen!
From the comments at Bambino's Curse.
"If the Red Sox are my religion, Ed is my pastor."
Amen to that :)
Permalink | Comments (0)April 08, 2004
Matt Painter to take Purdue coaching reigns from Gene keady
Former Boilermaker player Matt Painter has accepted to the position as Associate Head Coach at Purdue. he will work under Keady next year and then take over the program as Keady retires or moves on to another opportunity.
I think this is a great move. Painter is a young stud in the coaching ranks, having taken Southern Illinois to the Big Dance in his first year as head coach. He is a proponent of hard nosed man to man defense, just like Keady. I' m very excited about this.
Permalink | Comments (0)April 07, 2004
Red Sox 4 - Orioles 1
A good game. Schilling looked quite sharp for his first outing. The weather was nice, the company was good (Ed, Daryl), and the beer was cold. As usual, Red Sox Nation turned out in force. I would guess it was pretty close to a 50-50 split. And I happy to report that Daryl does not appear to have suffered any permanent damage from his day as an honorary member of Red Sox nation :)
Of course, even a bad day at the ballpark would beat a good day in the office.
I think I got some good pictures of the Sox, I'll post them tonight.
Update: Pictures!
Permalink | Comments (4)April 06, 2004
A dollar won is twice as sweet as a dollar earned
I was in three tournament pools - finished near the bottom in all three. That will happen when none of your final four picks actually makes it to the final four! One of the pools was comprised of Purdue sports fans that are longtime members of a purdue sports listserv. That pool was won by my ten year old son.
Unfortuantely for him, there was no money in that pool.
Permalink | Comments (1)April 05, 2004
I heard a bird so sing, Whose music, to my thinking, pleased the king
One of the coolest things about homeschooling is that we have time to follow the kid's interests in depth. Right now one of those interests is birds. What started as a simple WalMart bird feeder in the backyard has progressed to the point that Michelle is now on a first name basis with the owners of our local Wild Bird Center.
The project for this Spring is to attract bluebirds to the nest box in the yard. Sounds simple right? I thought so too.
Bluebirds are very picky about their nests. This, plus the infestation of the evil, nasty, english house sparrow, has led to a dramatic decline in the bluebird population. Our nest box was immediately checked out by a bluebird pair. (They usually mate for life.) The box also attracted the interest of a male house sparrow. The sparrow started a nest, we disposed of it. We also acquired a sparrow trap, but before we could use it the bluebirds started building a nest. We thought we were doing great until the sparrow viciously attacked the male bluebird in the nest box last Friday. The male bluebird flew away, leaving a mess of feathers and blood in the box. we haven't seen him since.
This, of course, means war. Something in my Irish blood just can't allow English aggression to stand, even among the birds. Small game pellets for my son's BB gun were obtained. Sparrows are such nasty little creatures that even the Federal Government refuses to protect them. I am free to eliminate as many English sparrows as I want. In the meantime, stringing fishing line around the box seems to freak out the sparrows but doesn't bother the bluebirds.
The weather was pretty nasty all weekend, there were not too many birds at all in the yard. So, I haven't even got off a shot yet. Also, the bird center folks gave Michelle a loaner bluebird box, which we fitted with a hole reducer so that bluebirds can't get into the box, and set it up in the yard with a sparrow trap attached. I will rid my yard of the nasty english vermin.
Update: The kids called me this morning to let me know that the male bluebird is back. Or at least a male bluebird is back. And the male sparrow is checking out the new box.
Update 4/6: The male english sparrow population has been reduced by one.
Permalink | Comments (0)April 04, 2004
Great Album by Gin Blossoms guitarist
Jesse Valenzuela, of The Gin Blossoms, has released a fantastic solo album titled Tunes Young People Will Enjoy. You can buy it at CDBaby, or you download it from Itunes.
You can definately hear the Gin Blossoms vibe in it, although it has a little more of a southwestern feel to it than The Gin Blossoms stuff. It's all good though.
Permalink | Comments (0)VA Budget stuck on education increase
The final sticking point in the ongoing comedy / tragedy known as the VA state budget is education. The Senate wants to increase education spending by $1.6 billion over the next two years. The cheapskates in the House only want to increase spending by $800 million. There are 212 school districts in VA. So that works out to either $7.5 million or $3.8 million per district.
I have an idea. How about zero? How about every school not meeting the arbitrary state standards gets a 10% reduction in funds every year until they start actually educating kids, or they cease to exist. Whatever comes first.
Permalink | Comments (0)April 03, 2004
Johnny Damon: My Hero
Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon says sitting around drinking beer is an important part of his off-season training program.
Permalink | Comments (0)The Cicadas are coming
The 17 year cicadas are expected to come up above ground in about 2 weeks and start their very noisy mating cycle. The article says VA doesn't get hit nearly as bad as DC and points north, so we'll see.
Permalink | Comments (1)Citizen Kane
I watched Citizen Kane last night.
Wow.
The cinematography, camera work, lighting, etc. were just amazing. I'm not sure it's been matched to this day. The movie itself is good, but really, I think the point of Citizen Kane was the making of the movie. I'm not a movie geek, and normally wouldn't even notice stuff like camera angles and lighting. You can't not notice it in Citizen Kane.
There is a lot of theory on the meaning of "Rosebud" in the movie. Everything from Kane longing for the simple life he wished he had, to his hating his mother for shipping him off to boarding school and making him a ward of the bank.
I have a different theory. There is no meaning. It's a dramatic device to give us a reason to watch the movie. Without the quest for the meaning of Rosebud, there is absolutely no reason to watch. The main character is already dead, who cares? The quest for the meaning of Rosebud gives us a reason to watch Wells amazing work as a director.
I think I'll have to buy this DVD too. This is a movie that can watched over and over again, with new revelations in every viewing.
Permalink | Comments (5)April 02, 2004
Tigger busted for wandering paws
A Disney cast member who plays Tigger has been arrested for coping a pawful while posing with a mother and daughter.
Maybe I wasn't being paranoid when I thought Tigger was hitting on my wife.
Permalink | Comments (4)Coolest.Name.Ever.
Ryan has Exploding Head Syndrome. I guess if you are going to have a disease you might as well go for one with a great name.
Permalink | Comments (1)Breastfeeding in public
Finally! An answer to the question, in which restaurants is it acceptable to breastfeed a child?"
And people think they never learn anything at O'DonnellWeb....
Permalink | Comments (1)April 01, 2004
I give up
- I'm giving the government thousands of dollars to educate kids, and mine get no benefit from it. Then I have to go pay for all their educational supplies on my own, and I get no tax break on any of it.
- My wife is home with the kids all day building a deep and wonderful relationship with them, while I'm stuck working for the man. It's not fair. She should be working too. If she was working, we could both be driving BMWs instead of Mazdas.
- My kids are way smarter than their peers. Why should my kids have such a great advantage? It's really not fair to all the other kids in government school.
- My daughter is 8 years old and he has no idea who Britney Spears is. What am I doing to her?
- My son reads more books in a week than the average kid reads in a year. He also likes Star Wars, Star Trek, Tolkien, along with professional sports, college sports, snakes, US military history, and Pokeman. This homeschooling thing is turning him into a one dimensional droid.
- We get to vacation after Labor Day, when condo rates at the beach drop by 50%, and the beaches are almost empty. Why should we get a relaxing, stress free beach vacation every year? We should be fighting the crowds and waiting two hours for a table at Chili's like everybody else that goes to the beach in the summer.
- If 98% of the kids are in public school, who am I to do something totally different? That might imply I'm smarter than the masses, and we can't have that in this country. We all need to be the same. It's the only fair way.
It's obvious what we have to do. The kids go to public school immediately.
Permalink | Comments (2)Why I dislike WalMart
This article does a good job of explaining the difference between free marketeers like myself, who have issues with WalMart, and the hysterical left who just hates them because they are successful.
For the record, my issues with WalMart are:
1. My local WalMart is in a very inconvenient location, requiring us to traverse the worst traffic in the F'burg to get there.
2. Product quality sucks. I'm convinced manufacturers are making special WalMart versions of their products, with lower quality components and less quality control in the manufacturing process.
3. Eminent domain abuse. The article discusses a case in CO. I'm also aware of a case in AL where the developer got the local government to condemn private property because it would create more tax revenue as a WalMart. WalMart claims it is all the developer, but I don't see them distancing themselves from the practice.
4. The stores are ugly, the layout sucks, and it's just not a pleasant shopping experience. And I really hate the practice of putting racks of crap in the middle of the aisles. I'm surprised that the practice is not a violation of the fire code. In an emergency, getting out of a Walmart would be a tricky proposition. The put a lot of obstacles in the main aisles.
5. WalMart was my customer at my first job out of college. They were the most arrogant and difficult to work with. Rule 1 of being a WalMart vendor is that Walmart never makes mistakes. Rule 2 states that if you catch Walmart in an error you are to refer back to rule 1.
(Note: Two WalMart posts in a row is just a weird coincidence. It's not a trend.)
Permalink | Comments (4)