Pay attention, you schmegeggie!

In this case, the schmegeggie in question would be me.

Last night I uploaded the latest Nostrum podcast, which also means updating the podcast index page and the Nostrum index page. Needless to say, each has the startlingly original filename of index.html, and I managed to put the one where t'other ought to be, thus sending t'other off into the wisps of memory, and I had to recreate the lost one from scratch. So I used the CSS shell Kt gave me, and got this, which is perfectly fine except that the art isn't scaling, and what I had in hand before already included the episode titles and now I've got to type them as I go along (the Nostrumite, by the way, has no explanation for why this material has gone AWOL on AOL, a phrase he loves repeating in his Mitelike way). It'll do, but it was hardly the way I wished to spend the odd half hour last night. In any case, Episode 6 is now available, in both print and audio; have at it, if that's your inclination.

Early this week I sent a message to the Legion of Doom about a) tweaking their listserver and b) opening a communications line for all and sundry, to open up their closed and gloomy image a little bit, and to provide a place to hear what others are saying on DMV without having to actually suffer through DMVing. Next up, I've got to finalize, or drop, the Modest Novice this week too. I responded to some demurrals that did show how there would be some startup issues if we adapted, but I did maintain that over the long term I think we'd be better off. Next up after that is the MHL revamp. What? sez you. What MHL revamp? Well, not that big of a one, but after a year of operating that particular hoedown, the only thing that irritated me was keeping track of the money. And I've begun to wonder if we really need the money. Not that we're making any profit, but I'm not aware of any school that has money to burn. What if we made it a free league? That would mean, of course, no trophies, which is where the money goes. It would also mean no administrative hassles. I have no idea how this idea will be met. We'll see soon enough. People do like taking tin, as the saying goes. If we went free, they'd be taking certificates. I don't know.

Speaking of the Legion, I was thinking about paradigms for no particular reason, and I realized that my paradigmatic desire is to be able to decide on a course of action after a round. I want to know that if I do either A or B, affirm or negate, I am doing the right thing. I want walk out of a round and into a voting booth, and cast a yes/no on a referendum based on what I've just heard. I want to vote to amend the Constitution to correct the 5th Amendment to include private enterprises, for instance, or to amend the Constitution to specifically exclude private enterprises. I want my eyes opened to the right action (regardless of agency). I wonder how many rounds I saw at TOC were recommending right actions. A Policy round, generally (?), would stir me to think that taking action, or not taking action, would be good or bad because of what would happen. An LD round, generally, should stir me to think that taking this action or that action is right or wrong ethically or morally. When an LD round is simply about the LD round, it strikes me as a sterile exercise, since no action could result. This is that whole thing again, that the proper place to debate the nature of LD rounds is not within an LD round. The sterility of the whole thing is stultifying. Granted that I'm probably not really going to take an action after any particular round, Policy or LD, but if I've grappled with the issues at hand, I could. My thinking will be changed. I will have achieved mental movement. Absent that, I will have done something analogous to doing a crossword puzzle. I mean, I like crossword puzzles, but all I get out of them is a way (for me) to pleasantly pass the time. My vocabulary doesn't improve because I do them; I do them because I have the appropriate skill set to make them pleasant to me. I've already got the vocabulary as part of that skill set. As compared to, say, writing an essay, which I could conceivably publish, and which could conceivably move others to think a certain way, or not. Both actions, writing the essay and doing the crossword, use the same skill set, including the same vocabulary. One is potentially dynamic. The other is definitely static. I would prefer that LD be dynamic, rather than static. For all the reasons stated other times in this blog.

Meanwhile, Caveman, the Audio, continues apace. I've done raw audio of part one, plus maybe half of part two, and begun editing part one. This whole process is interesting both technically and spiritually. Technically you get to sound a lot better than you do in real life (once you get the hang of the software) by editing out blips. If something goes wrong, you simply say it again, then edit out the bad part later on. I wish I could speak so well in person. On the spiritual side, you get to reabsorb what you originally wrote, and maybe amend it a bit as you go, or elucidate complex points, or generally (one hopes) improve the material. Who in their right mind would listen to this (it's going to be LLLLOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGGG) is another thing altogether, but at least I won't have to deliver it in person ever again. I wonder if anyone has listened to S&S. No, there's no extra credit, but I'm curious. Sort of like that dynamic/static thing I was talking about a minute ago. Even if no one ever does, I will have performed a potentially dynamic act instead of a definitely static one. I assert that this is a good thing.

O'C, in case you were wondering, says he needs a new name. I was thinking Chutney. That would work. I mean, he needs a new name in the real world, not here. He'll always be O'C to faithful coacheans. But out there, on those mean streets, well, if he isn't a Chutney, I don't know who is. He loves the idea of experimenting with community ranking, by the way, as long as it's at someone's tournament other than his. Ah, that Chutney. He's learning fast!

And I did start an update of the Hen Hud reading page, which means of course an update of summer reading assignments. Hang tight, there, Sailors. Bind yourselves to the masts for a while or something. I'll get to it ere long.