many topics

Dogs (Mine and those of others)

Cassidy is here. We never bothered to move the couches back after the Superbowl on Sunday, and with two dogs in the house, I'm not very inclined to do so. Everyone kind of gets a spot.

Lucy has been much better after her misfire with the rawhide bone the other week. She's been back to normal speed for a while. I do fear she's getting really, really spoiled these days in Mel's absence and with Jeff the Cat spending more time upstairs and peacefully snoozing during the day.

For those of you who missed it, TST has brought a pup into her own life by adopting a retired greyhound. Before Lucy, Jamie and I had talked long and hard about doing the same, as... hey! it's a dog that's already been trained. And they have a great disposition. Unfortunately, we also read in more than one place that they can chase cats. So if you want to blame someone, blame Jeff.

I am thrilled for TST and her new pal. I believe his name is Holley. May they take over Houston together.

Work is Busy

Work has finally caught up with me. I still really like my job, but I'm past the honeymoon period and its work. I have to plan months out. I need to not screw up.

It's a good thing.

The Boss

I think Jason will be trying to get us tickets to see Springsteen. Jamie will, most likely, not go.

Hawaii

I want to take Jamie to Hawaii this year. I want to see her dance about in a grass skirt with a wreath of brightly colored flowers atop her noggin. And we should sip fruity drinks in a lounge chair at 6:00 pm.

Is it totally evil that I hope things sink a little lower so I can actually afford to take my wife on a single vacation in this lifetime?

That said, I am dreading (absolutely dreading) the flight. So I can wait.

Furloughs

Friends at my former employing university are on staggered furloughs. If you don't know what this means, it translates thusly: They are not getting paid to work, so the university is sending them away in blocks of time that will, hopefully, not impact the university too greatly. But, basically, everyone is seeing their salaries decreased.

When they start talking about "freezing tuition" at universities, beware. And when you vote for people who vote against supporting university funding, also ponder what that means. Universities need funding for everything from test tubes to trash bags to handicap parking spot paint. When you have no state funding, and you have no tuition money, you're left with the kindness of strangers supporting your favorite university. And when those strangers realize their pockets are empty...?

There's a slight chance that people might not be able to graduate this semester at that school I mentioned if the furloughs get longer, wider, deeper, what-have-you.

Universities get funded from somewhere. And while tuition is expensive, those fees barely begin to cover the total expenses of most schools. Schools like the University of Texas are hard to understand to the outside observer. We can all agree we need the school for the educational aspect, and we can agree that we need something beyond a "teaching college", but its hard to understand the value of the scholarship, research, etc... going on.

Anyway, its easy to be cavalier about Universities and the fact that they cost money, but its a complicated eco-system. If you're concerned its all a bunch of communism, then I'd point to how universities get their rankings, research funding, etc... in what's a pretty straightforward system of meritocracy. In order to draw the right talent (which equates to rankings and research dollars), you gotta have the dough. So if you want your degree to be worth something (or your kid's degree), it costs money. So ponder what having Stanford has meant to Palo Alto, or what having UT has meant to Austin and its industry. Or what the Research Triangle means to North Carolina as per producing talent, which attracts companies, etc... Its an eco-system, and all of these things need each other.

With such a terrific tradition of public higher education in this country, its my sincere hope that a university education does not return to pre-WWII levels of being accessible almost exclusively to the wealthy. Or that public institutions become second class universities.

Music is Hope at the End of the World (or: Superman Sings!)

Dr. K's 100-Page Super Spectacular: Final Crisis Post Mortem Interlude: The Song at the End of the World

This will mean nothing to you if you're not reading DC's event comic, Final Crisis, but...

My attempt to identify the song that's the secret of life?



I never do these memes. Bear with me.

The League Volunteer Challenge

Jason was trying to beat me to the punch on this, but... The League is going to steal his thunder.

Ladies and germs, I throw down the gauntlet.

At the urging of President and Mrs. Obama to get off our duffs and volunteer, this Saturday I'm headed down the Capital Area Foodbank to spend a few hours, reportedly polishing food cans or some such (apparently we need to clean all the cans because who knows where they've been).

Late Edit: Before you show up on Saturday morning, the Foodbank actually wants you to sign up first before showing up. They do this to manage numbers, I assume. I was also going to gauge interest before moving forward on signing people up for this activity. If its totally awful, then I'm not going to be suggest it as a volunteer opportunity.

Jason had some wheels spinning and began opining that he might try to have an Adventurers volunteer meet-up with the Foodbank. But I say thee nay. Steanso shall not upstage me.

Surely we can recruit Austin Area Leaguers (once I've checked this thing out and find out its not some scam where, once inside, they take your wallet).

Of Local Leaguers, who would be up for spending a morning or afternoon volunteering if Steanso and I put together a meet-up? Not this weekend, but in the near future?

Let's use our power for good, Leaguers.

Not really doing it for me...

Am I the only one creeped out by the sexualization of the Green M&M in the animated M&M ads?

Aside from the obvious (it's an M&M), does the female gender assignment automatically equate to sexiness? And, for the love of mike, wasn't there another way to pitch these fancy-type "premium" M&M's?

And if I'm this creeped out, doesn't it really mean there's someone out there who likes Ms. Green a little too much?

McDuck Family Tree

I really can't recommend the Scrooge McDuck and Donald Duck comics enough for fun, all-ages reading. It's a little cost prohibitive coming from Gemstone, but when the stories are coming from Don Rosa or Carl Barks, I always feel I got my money's worth.

I particularly recommend the very reasonably priced "Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck" and it's companion volume.

The two collections act as a flashback, going back to the days well before Scrooge obtained his moneybin, which you will remember from the 90's-era cartoon, Duck Tales. Duck Tales was based upon a very, very long running comic series which has an insanely devoted, international audience. These days, a lot of new Duck material comes from Europe, where, I guess, the Ducks still have a strong foothold.


The Duck, the Myth...

To give someone an idea of the scope of the Duck comics, but not to intimidate anyone, because you don't need to know all this to like the comics.... here's a family tree of the characters in the Scrooge McDuck, et al comics.

Here.

The series did begin before modern sensibilities took hold, often regarding a dated typical anglo-saxons view of much of the world. And so you do, occasionally, have to grimace through a less-than-PC take on foreign lands, etc...* The Barks and Rosa** stories are well plotted, usually surprisingly well-researched, and as big on adventure as they are on comedy, which is saying something when Donald Duck is a major player.



*While I obviously don't agree with the outdated portrayals, etc... I also am deeply uncomfortable with dismissing material out of hand. Instead, I feel it's healthier to view it as an historical artifact.

**Rosa's stories are from the modern era and don't tend to reinforce outmoded or negative stereotypes

Coachella?

I don't think I'm going*, but the lineup for Coachella is, once again, really very good.

Here.

I can't help but note that My Bloody Valentine is listed. Part of me refuses to believe they'll keep it together long enough to make the show, but if they're doing Coachella, maybe they'll do ACL Fest?

Also:

Paul McCartney
Morrisey (for JimD)
Leonard Cohen
The Crystal Method (your mileage may vary)
Girl Talk
Calexico
TV on the Radio
Jenny Lewis
Peter Bjorn and John
Public Enemy
The Cure
Throbbing Gristle (A bad I've never heard, but always respected the name. Not quite as awesome as RevCo, but not bad)
X

No matter what, ACL Fest is going to pale in comparison.

*Jamie and I are talking about taking a lengthy vacation this summer, so that'd be where I'll spend my vacation days.

Well, shoot

It seems the Cardinals, whom I chose to cheer for, lost Superbowl 43.

I was really pulling for Warner and the gang. Ah, well.