Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I know the next iPods will walk on water; the next iPods always 1, walk on water, and 2, arrive in stores a week after you’ve bought the previous iPod. I can live with this, mostly because I’ve thought long and hard about the video aspect, and ultimately, it’s not that big a selling point for me. On the other hand, if they come out with the also rumored wireless to other iPods, then I’ll be kicking myself. I so want to connect through the ether to OC’s notorious heavy metal collection. In any case, the pod is in the mail, according to Amazon ($30 cheaper than Apple). Will I live to rue the day? Only time will tell.

And speaking of OC’s notorious heavy metal collection, Johnny, Tim and…Steve? Are you still living there with Burton, OC? Could you see if maybe he’s been bitten by rabid dogs or demented Tiks or something? Of course, there’s a possibility that Johnny’s baritone will surprise us all; his singing in Corpse Bride was passable, but “Who, sir? You, sir? How about a shave?” requires more than just hitting the notes. And he’s a lot younger than he ought to be, isn’t he? I mean, I know he’ll do his best, and Burton will knock off a nicely appointed mise en scene, but I don’t know, the whole thing sounds just wrong to me. Can you remember Elizabeth Taylor singing “Aren’t we a pair?” Come to think of it, Liz would make a pretty good Mrs. L, although she’s probably too old. So’s Angela, more’s the pity. Please not Helena B C; give her a rest, Tim, for pete’s sake. On the other hand, you have to give everyone involved credit for trying. They could have just gone on to make Batman 43.

So maybe my initial instincts were wrong (there’s a surprise). Maybe Sept-Oct isn’t absolutely terrible, just misguided. We talked about it last night at the chez, and I did a little research first, and yeah, I guess you could make a justice argument or two despite the fact that it’s all about policy, but we did sort of end up feeling that there’d be one standard aff and 100 random negs. (Private note to Richard, Jr: Foucault doesn’t apply, unless mumps are not real. Stay tuned for my hammer/nail lecture, Real Soon Now.) Still, at least we saw some reasonable areas of argumentation. I sent the Sailors off with the charge to do some research. There’s no doubt much to be learned if one studies the socialized medicine situations already extant. I will do likewise.

I’ve signed us up officially with the Bullpups, and begun communicating with them directly. I hate to admit that I’m rarin’ to go, but it’s true. I do miss debate when I’m not doing it. I miss the Sailors, I miss the tabfolk, I miss the buzz. Golf, which I always say dovetails so neatly in season with debate, simply is not the same. I could quit golf tomorrow and never miss it. I could not quit debate and never miss it. That is, I could quit it, but I’d miss it. But I don’t want you to think that I am going to quit it, because I’m beginning to enjoy the position of grayest eminence on the street (except I’m not gray, really; what’s the French word for “slightly receding hairline?”). Anyhow, I’ll go back to my original Yale notes and see what’s what and what needs to be done. Having bought that little copier might help. I just have to figure the best way to keep things moving with two divisions at the critical Saturday night juncture; the rest will work out fine.

The High Muckamuck Council of MHL has set a date for an organizational meeting (later in August). That’s me, Kurt and Cruz, who will be the runners of the organization going forward. I like having Bronx Science not as merely consumers of MHL but part of the operation, given that Sodikow was one of its original founders (as was, if I remember correctly, Malcolm Bump). Which of course means that I like having Jon firmly in place going forward as the Bronx coach. Jon seems interested in debate, if you know what I mean… (Cruz and Jon, by the way, for those of you who have trouble with nicknames, are various references to OC. I know, where’s the challenge in that?) Anyhow, the High Muckamuck Council will sort out the dates of tournaments, the venues, costs, trophies, operation, etc. I do want to use Chris Palmer’s registration software (which Yale and MFL uses). I’ll try to work something out with him when we’re in New Haven.

There seems to be a million things going on all of a sudden. For instance, Juan and Kwan and the stoners cut the cable, which is why my wireless wasn’t working. And it’s been fixed, so that’s one less headache. Then there’s some Legion stuff I’ve been avoiding, there’s the classification of NY State as a Red Light District (that doesn’t sound right) by the NFL (aaarrrghhh!) and all sorts of this and that, including, according to HoraceMan TSWAS, the film Zizek!. (Yep, it really exists, exclamation point and all.) Which means plenty of fodder going forward for the Vast Coachean Army. Aren’t you glad you visited today? You’ve spent five minutes learning all sorts of random nonsense, and added two new movies to your Netflix queue. And always remember: demons’ll charm you with a smile, for a while…

(Extra note: Holy crap! I just discovered there's also a film called Derrida!!!!! No Netflix queue is long enough for that puppy.)