Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Coming soon; murk; NFL's site unseen; she's the one who carried the tubs; I could have painted that; Revelation?

Plan your summer now: Wall-E.

Last night I finished up the View from Tab podcast of Yale, and got the XML back in operation (I think), but for reasons I can’t determine, the recording of Part 3 was really murky. I wasn’t going to do it again, so I posted it as is, but I’m not happy with it. I don’t know if it’s the hardware or the software, but there needs to be some testing at the chez over the next few days, which is as likely as an attack by the Bolivian navy, given that there’s a Sailors meeting tonight, Monticello data to input tomorrow (and I’m also a little worried about TRPC these days, after the problems at Yale, which is why I think I’ll go with the new version, there being only the one division), and judge training on Thursday. I feel bad that I am leaving my Nostrum fan(s) in the lurch, but I know that he/she/they demand(s) high quality these days. Oy.

Last night I subscribed to Bietz’s podcast. I haven’t listened yet, but I noticed it’s about 11 hours long. Sigh. In any case, Mike was at Yale, and it was a pleasure to have him hang out with us in tab for a while. We commiserated a little over the “new” NFL. They seem to have discovered the online chat. Next up they will no doubt invent the wheel. Their intentions are admirable, but at some point they need to realize that much of their audience is in high school, with all the pertinent electronic connections that that entails. Mind you, the myth that all adolescents are tech savvy is not what I’m promulgating. But all adolescents are savvy about the technologies that they find essential, much like my aged mother, who bristles at the thought of having to use a computer, but who nonetheless is perfectly capable of operating a television set: one chooses one’s tools, if one is not interested in tools per se. For teenagers, that means iPods and cell phones and YouTube and Facebook and MySpace, etc. Anyhow, until NFL catches up with the NFL members, they will remain, at best, strivers. Admirable, but inessential. Too bad, because they do have a lot to offer, and they want to offer it. Lately they’re filling my mailbox with announcements of all manner of things, and I’m still sorting out their new website. So far it’s, well, old wine in a new bottle. I did notice some blogs, but they weren’t clearly presented, so I didn’t grok them immediately. I’ll spend more time with this when the time makes itself available. After all, I am the District Chairman. Which, according to some people I discussed it with over the weekend, is like winning the lottery in a Shirley Jackson short story.

Speaking of the NFL, who’da thunkit? I kept a copy of my ballot, and the Nov-Dec LD topic was my top choice for—you’re not going to believe this—Nov-Dec. How could this be, you ask. Good question. Usually the topics I like are never debated, and the topics I hate are so popular they give them extended runs. This year, following as it does the discussions of criminal justice that come along naturally with the death penalty topic, it’s a bonanza. My guess is that maybe I’m the only one who voted, because no one could figure out the ballot, except maybe Joe V. I’m not implying that I could figure out the ballot, or more to the point, that I thought it through in any great depth. I’m sure, actually, that there are some who analyzed every crook and nanny of the possibilities before sending it in, but then again, there are people in the world who collect barbed wire. (Check out barbwiremuseum.com if you don’t believe me: “Usually barbed wire specimens are collected in 18" lengths to show the spacing between the barbs. Due to space limitations, some collectors acquire specimens in 4" to 6" lengths to show the barb design only. Most collections are mounted on display boards with patent information shown in neat labels as well as occasional comments about the wire.” And if you think that’s a little sketchy, there are even people out there collecting Star Wars memorabilia!) My guess is that, if you pick all the topics in the right order on your ballot, you win some sort of prize like the Irish Lottery. The Ripon Lottery? What could they possibly send me? An autographed photo of the Wunn and Only? An autographed photo of Cherian K? An autographed photo of Paris Hilton (who, as you know, did Policy back in the day). I can’t imagine.

I keep meaning to talk about Yale in some depth, but the podcast took it out of me. There isn’t much that I didn’t include there. One high point was that we arrived early on Friday so to pass the time I took the Sailors I was shepherding into the art museum. The Pups have quite a collection, and we killed an hour or so staring at things like Cy Twombly and thinking cavemanish thoughts. My favorite piece was the blue sea Hopper, but there was plenty of good stuff from many periods. I did end up feeling that the British building across the street was a better display setup architecturally, but once again I felt that this architect just can’t do entrances. He also has some stair problems. Go visit the buildings and you’ll see what I mean. They are free, after all.

Oh, yeah. I didn’t mention that one debater walked into a round, took one look at the judge (O’C), and fainted dead away. What kind of hold does this man have on people, anyhow? Not even Soddy, in his days of highest glory, was able to vanquish debaters with a mere glance. If O’C keeps this up, he’s going to go beyond mere legend into categorically true cosmology. Come to think of it, what if, in fact, O’C is the Supreme Being, just toying with us? Na’ah. If that were the case, he wouldn’t have had to ask Termite to take the Joyful Finalists Embrace While Internally Cursing One Another photo. Still, I’ll try to stay on his good side. You never know.

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