Last night there were 8 Sailors at the meeting. Since I thought I only had 5 1/2, this was rather noteworthy. We had already noted the reemergence of OK last week, and he was back yet again, shockingly enough. He might really be back for the duration. I had talked to the Zip parental units at the parents' meeting, and lo and behold, the Zipster himself was back, although without his fuzzy slippers. And finally, there was this sophomore George, whose name is Robert, who never actually debated last year, who was also back. Presumably this trio were all there simply to eat our brains, so I admit I remained on the alert for the whole meeting. If I have to start bringing a baseball bat to future meetings, so be it. The living dead aren't going to destroy my team, make no mistake about that!
The first-timers' event seems awfully early this year. Usually if follows the Bronx, this year it precedes it. Which means that we're really speeding things up. Oh, well. We can sleep when we're dead. (Which, as I pointed out, may be sooner than we think, if I don't bring my baseball bat.) We covered the structure of an LD round and laid out some themes for cases of Mod Nod. I feel so rushed, though, and that's not a good feeling.
I don't know how much effect my screed yesterday about attending tournaments had overall, but I did get a few responses. The thing is, it wasn't really about Monticello, which is just one of the tournaments that people are letting dangle in the wind. I do think that Monti can be improved, and I know just the people to do it, the Monti team. Plus, as I've said, we have ideas for supporting tournaments officially with some nice bells and whistles. But we can't make people come. The tournament, any tournament, is only as good as the people who attend. I've watched an awful lot of ebb and flow over the years, of tournaments rising and sinking in prominence. I can understand that. Things change. But I have also seen a most amazing case, possibly the most striking example of the community abandoning a tournament, then blaming the tournament for their abandoning it, while the tournament itself didn't change much at all, except in the number and provenance of the attendees. The tournament lost its bids, and the debate community pretty much turned its back on it, not going there and then complaining that nobody went there. Attendance progressively shrunk year after year. It almost died, not of natural causes, but of politics and neglect. I remember tabbing it practically on my fingers. I'm sort of proud that I stuck with it through thick and thin, and in a small way kept it alive, because that means that when it runs again this year, I can say to myself that I'm a part of it. (Big Bronx, obviously.) The comparison to Monti is not terribly invalid, although in the latter case, it is not informed by petty politics and national $ircuit skullduggery. Anyhow, Monti will happen this year, although without the Official Meatloaf of the MHL, and with any luck, we'll start getting it back into contention. I'm sanguine.
Although, to be honest, I'd be more sanguine with a belly full of meatloaf and fewer zombies attacking me.
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, along with Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller, comprised Beyond the Fringe, an early 60s British show that, among other things, spawned Monty Python. Thereafter, Cook and Moore performed often as a duo.
There are about a hundred version of the unidexter on YouTube:
This next one is a later performance of a skit that did spawn a very real restaurant in New Jersey (where else?). Different menu, though, I think:
At the height of their fame, they starred in Bedazzled, Moore as the hapless Stanley Moon, and Cook as one of the best filmed devils ever. Here Cook is introducing himself.
Stanley is granted seven wishes in the film (and each wish is actuated via the uttering of the magic phrase, "Julie Andrews"). As a result of one of his wishes, the woman he loves finally reciprocates his feelings. Unfortunately, they are both nuns, of the order described in this bit:
Python fans with an interest in roots can do worse than scouring the interwebs for these guys.
There are about a hundred version of the unidexter on YouTube:
This next one is a later performance of a skit that did spawn a very real restaurant in New Jersey (where else?). Different menu, though, I think:
At the height of their fame, they starred in Bedazzled, Moore as the hapless Stanley Moon, and Cook as one of the best filmed devils ever. Here Cook is introducing himself.
Stanley is granted seven wishes in the film (and each wish is actuated via the uttering of the magic phrase, "Julie Andrews"). As a result of one of his wishes, the woman he loves finally reciprocates his feelings. Unfortunately, they are both nuns, of the order described in this bit:
Python fans with an interest in roots can do worse than scouring the interwebs for these guys.
More links with little comment: Garbo, snake venom wine, the really original Disneyland, how to use the telephone, Flash fights
More good stuff that speaks for itself:
- Scandals of Classic Hollywood: The Exquisite Garbo It amazes me how dead old movies are to most people. Then again, most old things are dead to most people, and it's their loss. As soon as someone can provide for me a link between new and good, I'll change my tune. Anyhow, Garbo is Garbo, and at least film fans will enjoy this one.
- If you are not a fan of snakes, don't look at this: Asian snake venom wine (It’s a real thing).
- The original concept map for Disneyland, blown up so that you can load it into a separate tab and practically walk around in it! Herb Ryman's Disneyland Map Artwork
- Once upon a time, there were no telephones. Then there were. Here's the online user guide: How to Use the Telephone, 1917
- Caught this one on BoingBoing. My jaw is still hanging open:
His Girl Friday
Haven't ever seen this movie? Just go watch it. Now. Don't come back until you're done.
Now you can thank me.
If you have seen the movie, watch this, which will make you want to watch it again.
Now you can thank me.
If you have seen the movie, watch this, which will make you want to watch it again.
Tuesday, October 02, 2012
Debate: What?
So needless to say, I was rather upset by the lack of entries at Monticello. But they're not alone in not getting their share of attendance. Some of it is their fault, and I have some thoughts for them on how to improve. But most of it is the region allowing them to dangle. I just don't like that. We need to get this tier of tournaments to be strongly attended. I particularly have suffered from loss of second-year students, especially in today's LD world. It is not a generally appealing activity anymore. I don't blame them. Which is why I'm doing everything I can to keep debate available to as many people as possible. I believe MJP does that. As will some ideas we kicked around Saturday during the NYSDCA meeting.
I admit it. I do like fighting the fight.
Last night was the Parents' meeting, with quite a good turnout. I love talking to them, going through what is by now a pretty polished presentation. Of course, this year they were more of the speech than the debate persuasion, and don't need to know about the whole housing/traveling thing that debaters do. So it goes. A couple of parents lit into me for yelling at the speechies about not getting signed up for the team, but I can't get apologetic about that. If they're not signed up by October, then when? They've already had a tournament they could have signed up to observe at. And Bump is in a couple of weeks and I need to make assignments, and we need to get housing. Can't do that from the people who aren't on my list.
Speaking of Bump, it opened yesterday and is now pretty much filled up. I underdid the VPF limit, so I opened that up and cleared some folks off the waitlist. Of course, if anyone is expecting me to supply hired LD judges, good luck with that. I've got the People's Champion and HoraceMan, but most everybody else I'll put into PF, aside from late breaks. I just don't have the alums I used to have capable of doing the judging of that event. Things change...
I admit it. I do like fighting the fight.
Last night was the Parents' meeting, with quite a good turnout. I love talking to them, going through what is by now a pretty polished presentation. Of course, this year they were more of the speech than the debate persuasion, and don't need to know about the whole housing/traveling thing that debaters do. So it goes. A couple of parents lit into me for yelling at the speechies about not getting signed up for the team, but I can't get apologetic about that. If they're not signed up by October, then when? They've already had a tournament they could have signed up to observe at. And Bump is in a couple of weeks and I need to make assignments, and we need to get housing. Can't do that from the people who aren't on my list.
Speaking of Bump, it opened yesterday and is now pretty much filled up. I underdid the VPF limit, so I opened that up and cleared some folks off the waitlist. Of course, if anyone is expecting me to supply hired LD judges, good luck with that. I've got the People's Champion and HoraceMan, but most everybody else I'll put into PF, aside from late breaks. I just don't have the alums I used to have capable of doing the judging of that event. Things change...
Coachean Feed: robot killers, Pinker on free speech, race as social construct, LWOP = CP, anti-women bias in the sciences
- Lethal autonomous robots. Oh, great. Automated killing machines with a mind of their own. Discuss. Robots at War: Scholars Debate the Ethical Issues
- Interview with Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker about free speech This may be as good as it gets. You should read all of Pinker, period.
- What Do We Know About Race? Simple. It's a social construct, and nothing else.
- LWOP is just as bad as capital punishment, and both should be abandoned? That isn't a lot of help with death penalty cases, but it may be true. The Cruelty of Life Imprisonment Without Parole
- Read 'em and weep. The gender bias against women in science is real (in case you weren't aware of it). Links in the article take you to the source material. SCIENTISTS, YOUR GENDER BIAS IS SHOWING
Debate: Open Letter to Our Colleagues in the Region
Although we are sending this via the mailing lists of the MHL and the NYSDCA, we do not claim to speak officially for those groups in this message. We speak entirely for ourselves.
We are not quite sure what we are up to these days as a region. On the one hand, we are rich in opportunities for debate. On the other hand, schools are not taking advantage of these opportunities. Schools pick and choose what tournaments to attend based on criteria that are seemingly self-defeating and demonstrably tournament-defeating. No one has anything to gain by this. If tournaments disappear from the schedule, venues that have time and again proven capable of hosting complicated contests over the span of a weekend will disappear, as will their desperately needed fund-raising, and the number of rounds available to everyone else’s students will diminish accordingly.
This is not acceptable.
First of all, as a region, meeting and competing week after week, we have a, dare we say, social contract to support one another. You have your tournament, I have my tournament, we all try to get to all of them. Obviously no one can be in two places at once, but given a choice of place to be, local should be first.
However, that doesn’t seem to be the real issue, i.e., folks traveling great distances to attend tournaments rather than those in the region. The problem instead is simply schools not supporting local events. We believe that every program needs to ask itself if it doesn’t have an obligation to support the programs of its neighbors, often on a reciprocal basis. The reason a team attends a tournament is not so that the hosts will attend the team’s own tournament, but by the same token, if a team does support a given tournament, doesn’t that tournament bear some responsibility in returning that support?
Secondly, the tournaments that seem to be suffering from what we see as neglect are not the powerhouse local tournaments. The tournaments that are hurting usually offer no TOC bids, and are perceived as unappealing to the top varsity debaters in search of those bids. Quite honestly, there is sense to this, that the top varsity debaters would seek competition at their own level, especially those with the talent and drive (and money) to attempt to qualify at the national circuit level. But this is not every debater on a team. An active program with members at every grade level absolutely has students who are not on the TOC trail. Some may be some day; some may never look in that direction. Do we abandon them? Do we believe that because they are not as competitive, they don’t deserve the benefits of forensics? Do any of us really want to live in that world?
Obviously we are referring to the immediate situation of the Monticello tournament, but that tournament is not alone in this. But we’ll stick with that. Monticello has no TOC bids. It is not a tournament that will appeal to a program’s top varsity. But it is a proven tournament, for more years than almost any other event in the region. It is a most hospitable school, year in and year out. And on the flip side, it is a program that actively attends virtually every other tournament in the region. They are there, week in and week out. Their own tournament is capable of being a fantastic opportunity for younger debaters in the region, in all three divisions. The SATs always make this a relatively senior-free event. Whose sophomores don’t need more rounds at this point? If they’re coming off great success at Yale, they can have another chance to succeed before being eaten alive at the NYC Invitational. They can amortize the work they’ve done on their Sept-Oct cases. They can get more experience traveling and being housed, with all the maturing benefits that derive therefrom.
It would seem that, looking at the debate calendar, it is sophomores and lightly seasoned juniors who have the fewest opportunities for meaningful rounds throughout the season. Sophomore year is the hardest year of debate, and the one most likely to kill the ambitions of a rising student. This is the year they don’t come back from after continuous defeats at the hand of varsity folks. Sure, for some of them it is a hardening in the forge of competition, but for most of them, it is bleak and unrewarding. And not much fun. They leave forensics and go on to other, more personally rewarding activities. Non-TOCish tournaments allow these younger, less competitive students to enjoy the activity on all fronts.
And it is the non-TOC tournaments, or the not-enough-bids ones, that we are abandoning. Once they are gone, they will not come back. There is no one around here to take their place. Gone will be gone, and maybe their programs will fade along with them. This is not gloom and doom, this is reality.
We do feel that there are some intrinsic issues with the nature of what has hitherto been known as JV or Intermediate debate that should be addressed, and in fact, the meeting of the NYSDCA board last Saturday brought out a basic plan to do so. In effect, it would be the idea of creating a new level of debate and new tournament programs for that level, heavily supported by the NYSDCA and the MHL. But the point now is not to make those proposals. The point is, frankly, to express disappointment with us, as a region, for not supporting ourselves. This needs to change. Dramatically. We all love forensics too much to allow ourselves the luxury of losing programs and tournaments by allowing them to become dispirited.
There is probably nothing we can do to fix Monticello this year. It has lost its PF division entirely, and will run with a small (but we hope productive) LD division and a reasonable Policy division. But there will be other tournaments coming up. We need to support them. All of them.
It’s as simple as that.
Jim Menick, Director of Forensics, Hendrick Hudson High School
Jon Cruz, Director of Forensics, The Bronx High School of Science
We are not quite sure what we are up to these days as a region. On the one hand, we are rich in opportunities for debate. On the other hand, schools are not taking advantage of these opportunities. Schools pick and choose what tournaments to attend based on criteria that are seemingly self-defeating and demonstrably tournament-defeating. No one has anything to gain by this. If tournaments disappear from the schedule, venues that have time and again proven capable of hosting complicated contests over the span of a weekend will disappear, as will their desperately needed fund-raising, and the number of rounds available to everyone else’s students will diminish accordingly.
This is not acceptable.
First of all, as a region, meeting and competing week after week, we have a, dare we say, social contract to support one another. You have your tournament, I have my tournament, we all try to get to all of them. Obviously no one can be in two places at once, but given a choice of place to be, local should be first.
However, that doesn’t seem to be the real issue, i.e., folks traveling great distances to attend tournaments rather than those in the region. The problem instead is simply schools not supporting local events. We believe that every program needs to ask itself if it doesn’t have an obligation to support the programs of its neighbors, often on a reciprocal basis. The reason a team attends a tournament is not so that the hosts will attend the team’s own tournament, but by the same token, if a team does support a given tournament, doesn’t that tournament bear some responsibility in returning that support?
Secondly, the tournaments that seem to be suffering from what we see as neglect are not the powerhouse local tournaments. The tournaments that are hurting usually offer no TOC bids, and are perceived as unappealing to the top varsity debaters in search of those bids. Quite honestly, there is sense to this, that the top varsity debaters would seek competition at their own level, especially those with the talent and drive (and money) to attempt to qualify at the national circuit level. But this is not every debater on a team. An active program with members at every grade level absolutely has students who are not on the TOC trail. Some may be some day; some may never look in that direction. Do we abandon them? Do we believe that because they are not as competitive, they don’t deserve the benefits of forensics? Do any of us really want to live in that world?
Obviously we are referring to the immediate situation of the Monticello tournament, but that tournament is not alone in this. But we’ll stick with that. Monticello has no TOC bids. It is not a tournament that will appeal to a program’s top varsity. But it is a proven tournament, for more years than almost any other event in the region. It is a most hospitable school, year in and year out. And on the flip side, it is a program that actively attends virtually every other tournament in the region. They are there, week in and week out. Their own tournament is capable of being a fantastic opportunity for younger debaters in the region, in all three divisions. The SATs always make this a relatively senior-free event. Whose sophomores don’t need more rounds at this point? If they’re coming off great success at Yale, they can have another chance to succeed before being eaten alive at the NYC Invitational. They can amortize the work they’ve done on their Sept-Oct cases. They can get more experience traveling and being housed, with all the maturing benefits that derive therefrom.
It would seem that, looking at the debate calendar, it is sophomores and lightly seasoned juniors who have the fewest opportunities for meaningful rounds throughout the season. Sophomore year is the hardest year of debate, and the one most likely to kill the ambitions of a rising student. This is the year they don’t come back from after continuous defeats at the hand of varsity folks. Sure, for some of them it is a hardening in the forge of competition, but for most of them, it is bleak and unrewarding. And not much fun. They leave forensics and go on to other, more personally rewarding activities. Non-TOCish tournaments allow these younger, less competitive students to enjoy the activity on all fronts.
And it is the non-TOC tournaments, or the not-enough-bids ones, that we are abandoning. Once they are gone, they will not come back. There is no one around here to take their place. Gone will be gone, and maybe their programs will fade along with them. This is not gloom and doom, this is reality.
We do feel that there are some intrinsic issues with the nature of what has hitherto been known as JV or Intermediate debate that should be addressed, and in fact, the meeting of the NYSDCA board last Saturday brought out a basic plan to do so. In effect, it would be the idea of creating a new level of debate and new tournament programs for that level, heavily supported by the NYSDCA and the MHL. But the point now is not to make those proposals. The point is, frankly, to express disappointment with us, as a region, for not supporting ourselves. This needs to change. Dramatically. We all love forensics too much to allow ourselves the luxury of losing programs and tournaments by allowing them to become dispirited.
There is probably nothing we can do to fix Monticello this year. It has lost its PF division entirely, and will run with a small (but we hope productive) LD division and a reasonable Policy division. But there will be other tournaments coming up. We need to support them. All of them.
It’s as simple as that.
Jim Menick, Director of Forensics, Hendrick Hudson High School
Jon Cruz, Director of Forensics, The Bronx High School of Science
Monday, October 01, 2012
Debate: The MHL Workship 2012
Saturday was a great day.
First of all, there’s something about looking out at that sea of new faces at the beginning of the year. Most of these people are not only here for the first time, they’re here at some new place to learn some new stuff that they really don’t know much about. I’m really proud of the workshop and what it does. We had great attendance, and I think we learned a lot about improving it for next year. I think we also had some great discussion about working with the debate community as a whole, either for the NYSDCA or the MHL, depending on which might be relevant. (And of course there is a lot of overlap between the two.) That’s one of the nice things about this day, the chance for coaches to sit down and talk in a relaxed atmosphere, when we’re not trying to get out a round or whatever. How often does that happen?
I think the biggest takeaway this time out was the need to trim the sessions down to 45 minutes. We just go a tad beyond the traditional attention span, not only for the listeners but for the presenters. We can still cover all the same stuff, just in more, shorter sessions. Simple enough. We also saw a lot of benefit in the solid local seniors working with the young ’uns that we want to develop, and I’ll talk about that separately some time this week. In the event, in any case, how sweet is it that one of the top debaters in the region and one of the rising debaters with the most potential to become likewise, staged the demo round? And, of course, no one paid for any of it. Good stuff.
My sessions were, first, the parents. Quite a good turnout, which surprised me. I went through the hoo-ha of what to expect at tournaments and why we need them to help out and all that, and then walked them through PF, which nowadays is mostly where they’ll land. I do sort of think that the age of the LD parent judge is fading away, if it hasn’t already.
The next session was O’C and I and the Monk (this is why there’s a glossary, people) going over the life with the new coaches, of which there was quite a large number. We talked about what tournaments were the best to try, the skinny on the Ivies, invitationals, travel, housing, etc. When I was a new coach, I pretty much had to figure out things on my own. I also had to register for everything by snail mail. Times have changed for the better.
Then we met, i.e., the NYSDCA, and discussed all sorts of business. As I said, I’ll relay that here over the next few days.
The final session was the most fun. Kaz and I were going to do separate sessions with the noobs to brainstorm the Modest Novice topic, but given the numbers that were left at the time, we decided to pool our resources. Hence we did an ad hoc team leadership deal that was absolutely great. We complemented one another’s thinking, while meanwhile keeping a reasonable amount of control on the group (i.e., the usual number of people who always have their hands up versus the others who need to be recognized if they even blink). Anyone who was in that session and is debating next week at the first-timers’ got a really good leg up. And Sheryl and I had a ball doing it. Almost as much fun as the DiDeAd. But not quite.
First of all, there’s something about looking out at that sea of new faces at the beginning of the year. Most of these people are not only here for the first time, they’re here at some new place to learn some new stuff that they really don’t know much about. I’m really proud of the workshop and what it does. We had great attendance, and I think we learned a lot about improving it for next year. I think we also had some great discussion about working with the debate community as a whole, either for the NYSDCA or the MHL, depending on which might be relevant. (And of course there is a lot of overlap between the two.) That’s one of the nice things about this day, the chance for coaches to sit down and talk in a relaxed atmosphere, when we’re not trying to get out a round or whatever. How often does that happen?
I think the biggest takeaway this time out was the need to trim the sessions down to 45 minutes. We just go a tad beyond the traditional attention span, not only for the listeners but for the presenters. We can still cover all the same stuff, just in more, shorter sessions. Simple enough. We also saw a lot of benefit in the solid local seniors working with the young ’uns that we want to develop, and I’ll talk about that separately some time this week. In the event, in any case, how sweet is it that one of the top debaters in the region and one of the rising debaters with the most potential to become likewise, staged the demo round? And, of course, no one paid for any of it. Good stuff.
My sessions were, first, the parents. Quite a good turnout, which surprised me. I went through the hoo-ha of what to expect at tournaments and why we need them to help out and all that, and then walked them through PF, which nowadays is mostly where they’ll land. I do sort of think that the age of the LD parent judge is fading away, if it hasn’t already.
The next session was O’C and I and the Monk (this is why there’s a glossary, people) going over the life with the new coaches, of which there was quite a large number. We talked about what tournaments were the best to try, the skinny on the Ivies, invitationals, travel, housing, etc. When I was a new coach, I pretty much had to figure out things on my own. I also had to register for everything by snail mail. Times have changed for the better.
Then we met, i.e., the NYSDCA, and discussed all sorts of business. As I said, I’ll relay that here over the next few days.
The final session was the most fun. Kaz and I were going to do separate sessions with the noobs to brainstorm the Modest Novice topic, but given the numbers that were left at the time, we decided to pool our resources. Hence we did an ad hoc team leadership deal that was absolutely great. We complemented one another’s thinking, while meanwhile keeping a reasonable amount of control on the group (i.e., the usual number of people who always have their hands up versus the others who need to be recognized if they even blink). Anyone who was in that session and is debating next week at the first-timers’ got a really good leg up. And Sheryl and I had a ball doing it. Almost as much fun as the DiDeAd. But not quite.
More articles we didn't finish reading
These headlines are all real, directly copied from our RSS feed without editing. When we say we didn't read them, we mean it. They didn't exactly pull us in, for some reason...
- What’s the Difference Between Life and Death?
- Here's what it's like to swim in a feeding frenzy of 100 sharks
- Mr. Peanut’s lasting impact on Vancouver
- Justin Bieber Threw Up On Stage In Arizona
- Don't Be Afraid Of Opera - It's Just Like Baseball
- Cat Sings Star Wars Theme Song [Video]
K-Pop
I've posted a lot of K-Pop in the past. I sort of feel that this stuff is beyond criticism, which may be why I'm intrigued by it.
Let's move over to BoingBoing for a great post from them with lots of videos. Post-"Gangnam Style," America wakes up to K-pop
Let's move over to BoingBoing for a great post from them with lots of videos. Post-"Gangnam Style," America wakes up to K-pop
Friday, September 28, 2012
Riding off into the weekend
We've talked about Landmark Entertainment before. They're the folks who wanted to build the Starship Enterprise in downtown Las Vegas. (Damn, but that was a good idea.)
This piece is a collection of concept art for some other projects that never got built, drawn by former Imagineers. The Monopoly park is just one of them; maybe this one never got built because a lot of visitors weren't able to throw doubles to get out of jail.
Check out the rest of it (and it's all gorgeous) at When WDI Legendary Imagineers Designed Landmark Entertainment Projects
Check out the rest of it (and it's all gorgeous) at When WDI Legendary Imagineers Designed Landmark Entertainment Projects
More articles we didn't finish reading
These headlines are all real, directly copied from our RSS feed without editing. When we say we didn't read them, we mean it. They didn't exactly pull us in, for some reason...
- Mitt Romney: Richer Than You Think
- Finger found inside trout traced to owner
- Frequently Asked Questions About Tights
- Filling your forehead with saline solution is the grossest way to cosplay as a Klingon
- America’s Most Successful Bank is a 40 Person Operation in Queens
More links with little comment: SFF art, "Ed Wood", Mad Ave 70s, design 40s, Bond music
More good stuff that speaks for itself:
- A Visual History of the Best Professional Artist Hugo Award Winners: Luscious stuff.
- Ed Wood is Burton's best film? Well, yeah. This essay might convince you, too, if you need convincing. (What were you thinking? Mars Attacks? Ed Wood (1994)
- These look more 60s to me than 70s, but Madison Avenue usually took a little time to catch up with the real world, at which point they spit it out in their imitative fashion and the originators made sure they had moved on completely. Anyhow, interesting snapshot of a time and style. Bedding Ads, 1970s
- On a similar (but different looking note) graphic design in 1942. Quite intriguing. Selling Design in 1942
- After 50 years of Bond, we need to look at all the theme songs, regardless of whether they were covered by GNR. The James Bond Theme Song Dossier
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Debate: This and that
Princeton is beginning to simmer. There's a template up on tabroom, copied from last year, and the Tiggers are playing with it and drafting an invite. Looking to a 10/15 opening. Last year we opened registration in the middle of Big Bronx, to the annoyance of many and sundry. This year we successfully got O'C to move his little tournament away from our registration date. The noive of these people!
I'll definitely be tabbing Monticello. As I've said before, I think this is a great opportunity for younger debaters to get some rounds in at an invitational without having their heads handed to them. And the judge food is excellent, although I don't guarantee that we will once again see the Official Meatloaf of the MHL. I'm hoping, though.
The MHLW registration has picked up as we head into the event. Even I have a couple of people, a Pfffter and a Plebe LDer. I think Jake is coming along just so that my novice won't have to suffer through driving down with me solo and having to listen to the Baroque Hoedown over and over all by herself.
On the technical brilliance front, I turned on my television Monday to discover what I had suspected a week earlier, that I wasn't getting reception, or more to the point, getting only some channels. I had only sort of noticed it earlier when I was flipping around trying to watch a DVD; it's not like I really watch TV that's actually on. I dread getting old (okay, older). In the Aged P's nursing home, TVs are everywhere and always on, and everyone seems to be following every precious word, especially when it's on Fox News. For that matter, will I start watching Fox News when I switch to Depends? Oy. Anyhow, when we dragged in the cable guy to fix our reception problem, it turned out that someone, presumably Tik (pronounced teek) had undone something behind the television. He's the only one who ever goes back there on a regular basis, after all. So I ended up fixing the problem myself. As I was doing this, I managed to pull out three cables that seemed to be connected to each other, and nothing else. After I did so, everything was working fine. If you need me to set up your TV, just let me know.
I'll definitely be tabbing Monticello. As I've said before, I think this is a great opportunity for younger debaters to get some rounds in at an invitational without having their heads handed to them. And the judge food is excellent, although I don't guarantee that we will once again see the Official Meatloaf of the MHL. I'm hoping, though.
The MHLW registration has picked up as we head into the event. Even I have a couple of people, a Pfffter and a Plebe LDer. I think Jake is coming along just so that my novice won't have to suffer through driving down with me solo and having to listen to the Baroque Hoedown over and over all by herself.
On the technical brilliance front, I turned on my television Monday to discover what I had suspected a week earlier, that I wasn't getting reception, or more to the point, getting only some channels. I had only sort of noticed it earlier when I was flipping around trying to watch a DVD; it's not like I really watch TV that's actually on. I dread getting old (okay, older). In the Aged P's nursing home, TVs are everywhere and always on, and everyone seems to be following every precious word, especially when it's on Fox News. For that matter, will I start watching Fox News when I switch to Depends? Oy. Anyhow, when we dragged in the cable guy to fix our reception problem, it turned out that someone, presumably Tik (pronounced teek) had undone something behind the television. He's the only one who ever goes back there on a regular basis, after all. So I ended up fixing the problem myself. As I was doing this, I managed to pull out three cables that seemed to be connected to each other, and nothing else. After I did so, everything was working fine. If you need me to set up your TV, just let me know.
Thurber
I didn't want to toss this into a pile with other entries because I just love Thurber way too much. Most people can't write funny. Thurber could, consistently. I don't know how much he is read these days, but most of his work is timeless. Certainly "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is probably tossed about in classrooms somewhere, as it should be. Pocketa-pocketa-pocketa and all that.
I wasn't the only person rather taken aback by the idea of a Ben Stiller Mitty movie. Nor was I the only person who was taken aback by the old Danny Kaye movie. This is Thurber writing about the script: "He [the notoriously inarticulate Sam Goldwyn] told me the first sixty pages were all right and asked me not to read the last 100 pages, which he said were too 'blood and thirsty.' I read the entire script, of course, and I was horror and struck." Thurber wasn't particularly fond of the finished product either, needless to say.
The Hollywood Life Of "Walter Mitty" by Maria Bustillos does a great job of profiling Thurber, then talking about the disaster that was the first movie. Read it, think of Ben Stiller, and pray.
The Hollywood Life Of "Walter Mitty" by Maria Bustillos does a great job of profiling Thurber, then talking about the disaster that was the first movie. Read it, think of Ben Stiller, and pray.
A new series is born on the CL blog. Dozens cheer.
Those of you who know my DJ will appreciate this. For years, the magazine was filled with regular articles like "Life in These United States" and "Humor in Uniform." During those years, my buddies and I wondered why we couldn't start a new feature, which we would call, "So-and-so, What an Asshole."
Separated from the DJ in this blog, I realize that I am free to do that thing I longed for lo these many years ago. I was reminded of it when I saw this book trailer. On the other hand, I feel marginally compelled to watch my language, given that I do not believe in public expressions of vulgarity. Ergo, some softness must be put into play. So, what can I say to kick this off, other than:
Arnold Schwarzenegger: What a Schmuck!
Separated from the DJ in this blog, I realize that I am free to do that thing I longed for lo these many years ago. I was reminded of it when I saw this book trailer. On the other hand, I feel marginally compelled to watch my language, given that I do not believe in public expressions of vulgarity. Ergo, some softness must be put into play. So, what can I say to kick this off, other than:
Arnold Schwarzenegger: What a Schmuck!
The Firesign Theater
I don't know if anyone is aware of these guys anymore. Those of a certain age will at least remember them ("I never lie and I'm always right"), I hope.
Their first album came out when I was in college, and we thought it was the coolest thing ever. Thanks to the wonders of technology, you can now listen to it yourself while staring at nothing on your computer screen. When we listened to it, we didn't have computer screens, and had to stare at nothing in empty space. You kids today are spoiled rotten!
Their first album came out when I was in college, and we thought it was the coolest thing ever. Thanks to the wonders of technology, you can now listen to it yourself while staring at nothing on your computer screen. When we listened to it, we didn't have computer screens, and had to stare at nothing in empty space. You kids today are spoiled rotten!
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