Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Tubular Sausage
Gate and Hard are going to be drinking some beers and eating some brats tonight, unless Deanna gets out the whuppin' stick and makes them have lasagna. I, on the other hand, will be working and then possibly eating leftovers or stir fry, whichever TheGirl cooks.
The forum is clearing out of Chicago this weekend, leaving me short-handed for the Iowa-Iowa State game on Saturday. Should be a barn-burner, but I say we pull away and win by two touchdowns.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Sounds good, Hard. If people want to add their favorite links, just go to the help pages in Blogger.com and see how easy it is. Trust me, it's easy.
Some topics for today- Now that the Cubs are out of it, who do you want to see win the Wild Card in the NL?
And, in light of the W's recent 33 days vacation, does the amount of time the President spends on vacation affect your view of his job performance? W spent almost 1/4 of his time as president at the Crawford Ranch. That, to me, is ridiculous.
Some topics for today- Now that the Cubs are out of it, who do you want to see win the Wild Card in the NL?
And, in light of the W's recent 33 days vacation, does the amount of time the President spends on vacation affect your view of his job performance? W spent almost 1/4 of his time as president at the Crawford Ranch. That, to me, is ridiculous.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Hitting the Road
i'm leaving work shortly to play a practice round and then head up to the Midwest's Golf Mecca to play four courses in three days. It's going to be a lot of golf, but I will try to drink enough scotch and beer to stay energetic. Have a solid weekend forum, and I will post from my hotel room at Whistling Straits whenever I can.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Party Schools and their offensive mascots
I think it is a good thing for schools to be ranked highly in this poll. Why? well, although some, including some in the forum, may have picked their schools based on either overall prestige (Princeton/Georgetown) or excellence in a particular area (engineering at Illinois or forestry at Iowa State), most people do not. Most people ask themselves a few questions-
1. Is this school going to be fun?
2. Can I afford it?
3. Will there be other prohibitive costs (i.e. travel back and forth, remote location, distance from family, etc) that outweigh benefits?
These rankings, for the masses that want to attend college just to attend college, answers two of the three questions. If you are going to a top ten party school, those benefits are going to outweight ancillary costs in almost every instance, and you are guaranteed to have fun.
Now, another huge benefit is that it is a recruiting tool. A TON of the schools ranked are large state schools that the average high school student would not be able to distinguish from one another (i.e. how would a West High grad know, other things equal, the social differences between UMass, WVU, Penn State, etc...). The student that plays the odds will go where there are more parties with more people, thereby giving him or her the best chance to find people they like.
I am proud that Iowa is holding its own. I will say, however, that big schools have an unquantifiable advantage in these things, and I would put the partying per-capita at some smaller schools, including Midd, Princeton, and Williams up against any of these schools.
As for mascots, I say yes to Seminoles and Fightin' Illini (but you have to revise the mascot/halftime dance, which I think would be a reasonable compromise), and no to the Redskins and the Southeastern Oklahoma Savages and other such similar names. Come on. Savages? What if some southern school decided to be the Slaveowners or Imperialists? They could have a big fat white explorer who went out and cracked a whip and spat tobacco juice all over everyone at halftime. That wouldn't be offensive to any white people, would it? That, in my mind, isn't far from calling native americans savages or redskins.
Cubs in ten minutes.
1. Is this school going to be fun?
2. Can I afford it?
3. Will there be other prohibitive costs (i.e. travel back and forth, remote location, distance from family, etc) that outweigh benefits?
These rankings, for the masses that want to attend college just to attend college, answers two of the three questions. If you are going to a top ten party school, those benefits are going to outweight ancillary costs in almost every instance, and you are guaranteed to have fun.
Now, another huge benefit is that it is a recruiting tool. A TON of the schools ranked are large state schools that the average high school student would not be able to distinguish from one another (i.e. how would a West High grad know, other things equal, the social differences between UMass, WVU, Penn State, etc...). The student that plays the odds will go where there are more parties with more people, thereby giving him or her the best chance to find people they like.
I am proud that Iowa is holding its own. I will say, however, that big schools have an unquantifiable advantage in these things, and I would put the partying per-capita at some smaller schools, including Midd, Princeton, and Williams up against any of these schools.
As for mascots, I say yes to Seminoles and Fightin' Illini (but you have to revise the mascot/halftime dance, which I think would be a reasonable compromise), and no to the Redskins and the Southeastern Oklahoma Savages and other such similar names. Come on. Savages? What if some southern school decided to be the Slaveowners or Imperialists? They could have a big fat white explorer who went out and cracked a whip and spat tobacco juice all over everyone at halftime. That wouldn't be offensive to any white people, would it? That, in my mind, isn't far from calling native americans savages or redskins.
Cubs in ten minutes.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
It's not hot when you cry
Well, Pierre finally got his due. That ass clown pleaded guilty to four felonies yesterday, avoided the big daddy (25 years for first degree burglary). My favorite is the allocution in the article- "Did you intend to commit sexual abuse when you grabbed her?" "Yes, your honor, I did intend to commit sexual abuse." What a complete scumbag. Let's hope his career playing basketball is over. Check the article here.
GO TIME
This is the blog and online homebase for the forum of nine, which is a group of nine friends who have moved apart but have continued an online dialogue since the summer of 1997. While the dialogue has traditionally been conducted via email or other such private communication, hopefully this online iteration will be easier for all to access and enjoy. The forum of nine consists of-
Hard- The unofficial founder of the group, originator of the online midnight beer meetings in the late 90's, and graphic artist extraordinaire. Based in Madison, WI, where his sausage and cheese intake is doing bad things to his cardiac health.
E ("House MD")- This quiet, understated doctor lives in Michigan with his wife and chocolate lab, and enjoys golf, Pink Floyd, and re-runs of the Golden Girls, Dallas, and Falconcrest. Has a fondness for minivans and untimely run-ins with high school administrators.
GRide- Born in Florida, raised in Iowa, schooled in the midwest, and now practicing corporate law from the backseat of a convertible in Phoenix, AZ. GRide is tan year-round and once ate at Wendy's 94 times in a one-week period.
Tito Puente- Born in Miami, raised in the VIP lounges at the Bubble Room and Crobar, has engaged in torrid affairs with women from over 95 countries, and now deals in commercial real estate in Denver and is a quality control narc for Porsche.
Tim- Spends days as a corporate cog at a law firm, and nights memorizing the Family Guy, Phish set lists, and Wes Anderson screenplays. Home is the Windy City.
La Cigüeña Loca- or the Mad Stork, finished Princeton University in 2001 and has started 39 graduate programs since then. Currently working through business school at the University of Chicago and engaging in social misfit activities such as stealth bow-hunting, sleeping on subways, and day trading.
Loyd- Is an accomplished forestry stud after recently finishing graduate school at the University of Idaho. Look for him to move in with Yogi bear at Jellystone or a national park near you (preferably one with a high sasquatch population).
Blando- A forester as well, blando spends his free time away from Iowa State University canoeing through flood waters in the middle of nowhere for the DNR and gambling on poker, darts, and golf.
Gate- A Georgetown grad, DC transplant, and Harvard Law alum, Gate now divides his time between two part-time jobs- international finance lawyer and slot monkey at Dave & Buster's in Chicago. It's arguable in which capacity he exhibits more talent.
Hard- The unofficial founder of the group, originator of the online midnight beer meetings in the late 90's, and graphic artist extraordinaire. Based in Madison, WI, where his sausage and cheese intake is doing bad things to his cardiac health.
E ("House MD")- This quiet, understated doctor lives in Michigan with his wife and chocolate lab, and enjoys golf, Pink Floyd, and re-runs of the Golden Girls, Dallas, and Falconcrest. Has a fondness for minivans and untimely run-ins with high school administrators.
GRide- Born in Florida, raised in Iowa, schooled in the midwest, and now practicing corporate law from the backseat of a convertible in Phoenix, AZ. GRide is tan year-round and once ate at Wendy's 94 times in a one-week period.
Tito Puente- Born in Miami, raised in the VIP lounges at the Bubble Room and Crobar, has engaged in torrid affairs with women from over 95 countries, and now deals in commercial real estate in Denver and is a quality control narc for Porsche.
Tim- Spends days as a corporate cog at a law firm, and nights memorizing the Family Guy, Phish set lists, and Wes Anderson screenplays. Home is the Windy City.
La Cigüeña Loca- or the Mad Stork, finished Princeton University in 2001 and has started 39 graduate programs since then. Currently working through business school at the University of Chicago and engaging in social misfit activities such as stealth bow-hunting, sleeping on subways, and day trading.
Loyd- Is an accomplished forestry stud after recently finishing graduate school at the University of Idaho. Look for him to move in with Yogi bear at Jellystone or a national park near you (preferably one with a high sasquatch population).
Blando- A forester as well, blando spends his free time away from Iowa State University canoeing through flood waters in the middle of nowhere for the DNR and gambling on poker, darts, and golf.
Gate- A Georgetown grad, DC transplant, and Harvard Law alum, Gate now divides his time between two part-time jobs- international finance lawyer and slot monkey at Dave & Buster's in Chicago. It's arguable in which capacity he exhibits more talent.
