Coffee Klatch

There’s playing the guitar and there’s PLAYING the guitar! Topher sent me a couple links today to some really incredible guitar performances. What’s interesting is how the guitar is used as a percussion instrument as well as melodic/harmonic. The first link here is of a guy named Rodney Branigan, who plays the WHOLE guitar!
Then there’s Andy Mckee, playing the same way but more subdued. And just for kicks, check him out playing the guitarharp! Half guitar, half harp!

[tags]guitar, music, percussion[/tags]

Well, I got my W-2 forms this weekend and have already filed. Things are so much simpler when you didn’t move to a new state during the year, taking a new job, and then doing some work back in the original state once you’re a resident of the new one. This year, for me, it was ONE W-2 to wait for, no extenuating circumstances like moving or earning income in another state. How cool is THAT?

For the last five years or so I’ve been using TaxACT Online. They offer totally free filing of federal income tax. “Prepare it FREE, print it FREE, E-file FREE, and No Restrictions!” They’re terrific to work with, very easy to use, and they can even fill in the blanks ahead of time with your info from last year, if you remember the password you set up.
Direct deposit is also a great thing. I got my email within 24 hours that the IRS had accepted my filing and my rebate should arrive electronically at my bank on February 9.

I’m not a fan of the current tax system–I totally prefer a national sales tax, which taxes usage, not income–but it sure is nice to get that quick rebate right in your account!

[tags]taxes, IRS, filing, e-file, taxact[/tags]

We had our first Circle City Ringers retreat today. It was seven hours total and was held at the clubhouse for the condo place that one of our members lives at. It was pretty nice, with room for our normal setup (30 linear feet of tables), soft seating for our discussion times, and a kitchenette and tables for our lunchtime.

We spent some time discussing the goals of the group, the results of the last year, the director’s challenge to the ringers, and that kind of thing. We also watched a few songs from the Raleigh Ringers DVD with the purpose of taking notes about what we saw and heard. Then we discussed what elements WE wanted to emphasize in our own group. Nice brainstorming session.

After lunch (carry-out from The Olive Garden), we spent a couple hours ringing. The focus for this retreat was more on the brainstorming and planning than on ringing. We got a lot done that way and found the time well spent. All in all, it was a great way to start out the Spring Season.

Here’s a cool new game I found at CognitiveLabs. They specialize in games and tests to help you improve your brain functions and speed of thinking. I wrote about them back in December. Anyway, the game is called Stackopolis. You have to move the blocks around one at a time, redistributing them around the board to create the pictures they display. In principle it’s easy, but they also have a countdown clock running, which puts more pressure on you. As the puzzles progress, it gets harder and you have to be faster.

Can anybody get past the pyramid one? I haven’t yet!!

[tags]cognition, brain function, games, puzzles[/tags]

Lately I’ve been hearing complaints in the news by people who are friends and family of military personnel, saying that we need to get them home so they can be with their families. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that they’re wrong. Do we have a draft on? Are people being forced to join the military? No! They’re signing up because they want to and because they feel it’s the right thing for them to do.

Military service is a job. When you take a job, especially one like this, you know what you’re committing to because it’s explained up front. Military jobs have a high possibility of being transferred to different locations or to dangerous locations. Sometimes the family cannot come along. People in the military understand this because it’s part of what they signed up for. They may decide to go ahead and have a family, which is fine, but they have to understand that it will be difficult and that their military service may require them to be separated from their family at times.

People, especially non-military people, have no right to tell the world or their country that their loved ones in the military should be at home with their families. They’ll be there when they can, but they signed up knowing that there could very well be times that wasn’t possible. This is one guilt trip that anyone responsible for military action should not have laid on them.

UPDATE: (1/26/07) This morning there was a story on NPR about a homecoming celebration in Fort Drum, NY, that was having to be postponed because of redeployment. While some people were saying how unfair it was, it was nice to hear the military families being interviewed say that it was part of the job and, while it’s tough right now, they’ll deal with it and get through it like they have in the past. Quite admirable!! Nothing but kudos for them!

[tags]military, family, separation[/tags]

Zero Tolerance is something that I think we should have zero tolerance for. That’s because Zero Tolerance treats the world as black & white, without any allowance for mitigating factors. You end up with innocent and/or well-meaning people getting severely penalized for trying to help, like in my recent blog post about Harsh Treatment. Many of the writeups at This Is True tend to highlight these kinds of stories in the news, because they’re so WHACKED!

Related to This Is True is JumboJoke.com, which is written by the same guy and which recently posted Zero Tolerance: Then and Now. It compares life back when I was a kid to life today, with regard to kids and schools and zero tolerance.

Scenario: Jack pulls into school parking lot with rifle in gun rack.

1973: Vice Principal comes over, takes a look at Jack’s rifle, goes to his car and gets his to show Jack.

2007: School goes into lockdown, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

—

Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.

1973: Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up best friends. Nobody goes to jail, nobody arrested, nobody expelled.

2007: Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.

—

Scenario: Jeffrey won’t sit still in class, disrupts other students.

1973: Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by Principal. Sits still in class.

2007: Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.

—

Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his father’s car and his Dad gives him a whipping.

1973: Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.

2007: Billy’s Dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care and joins a gang. Billy’s sister is told by state psychologist that she remembers being abused herself and their Dad goes to prison. Billy’s mom has affair with psychologist.

—

Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some headache medicine to school.

1973: Mark shares headache medicine with Principal out on the smoking dock.

2007: Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations Car searched for drugs and weapons.

—

Scenario: Pedro fails high school English.

1973: Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college

2007: Pedro’s cause is taken up by state Democratic party. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro’s English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he can’t speak English.

—

Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.

1973: Ants die. Johnny observes the flying dirt clods and realizes the power of explosives and is more careful from then on.

2007: Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated, Johnny’s Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again. PETA throws “ant blood” on Johnny, and the resulting PTSD causes him to become a serial killer.

—

Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.

1973: In a short time Johnny feels better and goes on playing.

2007: Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison.

[tags]zero tolerance, news, children, foolishness[/tags]

I‘ve been mulling over my medieval persona that I’ll be using for the SCA and I’m liking the idea more and more. I’m even seeing ways for me to use that persona in the SCA. If I’m a professor of some kind at the university, then I could obviously teach. They’re always looking for people to teach classes in the SCA and I could actually research and then demonstrate medieval pedagogy. So the content would be of at least partial interest, but I think more people would attend for the reenactment benefit, since it’s another way to learn about ways of thinking and communicating in the Middle Ages. Plus, I’d get to use my theatre background along with my teaching background, both in a whole new way.

Right now, the hardest part for me is getting a good idea of garb. Yes, the scholar/academic garb of the day was similar to today’s academic regalia used for graduation ceremonies, but try to find patterns or even full costumes that are even semi-authentic. I’ve found one “scholar costume” (on several different websites) that actually looks pretty good, but it’s one size fits “most” and only goes up to a chest size of 46″ or something, which is way too small for me. I’m basically looking at something between either the “cappa clausa,” which was a black robe that was closed in front, and a houpelande, which was also very long, but also very full throughout. I do know that I’ll probably want it to be an open front, because it will get really hot in the summer otherwise. Who’d have thought it would be so hard to figure out how to buy or make something like this? I may have to just resort to finding or making a basic black robe to get started. We’ll see.

Tonight I’ll brainstorm with some people about costume details and what subjects I might research and teach. Should be fun!

I got a nice laugh out of this today. It was in the signature of an email from my friend Art and it’s a bit of “poetry” that was created by a neural network. It’s a funny article on The Daily WTF. The article itself is pretty humorous. Especially if you’re into odd uses of technology, which this site seems dedicated to.

Anyway, the article was about the creation of a neural network in a business setting. One extra task given to this network (in order to more effectively use the “several hundred thousand dollar investment,” was to get it to create prose. Yes, using the neural network as an author. They regularly run its creations in the company newsletter. Here’s a recent sample:

The pig go. Go is to the fountain. The pig put foot. Grunt. Foot in what? ketchup. The dove fly. Fly is in sky. The dove drop something. The something on the pig. The pig disgusting. The pig rattle. Rattle with dove. The dove angry. The pig leave. The dove produce. Produce is chicken wing. With wing bark. No Quack.

How “zen!” I’m so moved!

[tags]neural networks, technology, humor, prose, poetry[/tags]

Hallelujah! After so many years of having New England as their nemesis, the Indianapolis Colts are finally going to the Super Bowl! And this AFC Championship game was as close and tough as anyone would have hoped for, despite the 21-3 score at halftime. What an amazing second half for the Colts! Now at least nobody can say that Payton Manning hasn’t gotten to the Super Bowl. It’s nice to see an AFC Championship instead of just an AFC South Division Championship. It means so much more. Plus it means going to the Super Bowl! When the game finished tonight, Alaric and I were chanting lines from some recent commercials, like “We’re going to the Super Bowl! We’re going to the Super Bowl!” and “I… get… a Diet Pepsi! I… get… a Diet Pepsi!”
Congratulations to the much-improved Colts Defense, the diligent Special Teams squad, and especially to Manning for finally getting to the Super Bowl. Woo-hoo!!

On a side note, this game was especially important for the city of Indianapolis, which is in the process of building a new Colts Stadium and is hoping to be selected for the next available Super Bowl venue. The city and game had a chance today to demonstrate that they’re able to manage all the details that come with a Super Bowl game.

Also, interestingly enough, the Colts haven’t been in the Super Bowl since Super Bowl V, 36 years ago, when they were the Baltimore Colts. The Bears haven’t been since Super Bowl XX, 21 years ago. Great for both teams and it should be a great game in two weeks!

[tags]Super Bowl, colts, Peyton Manning, AFC, NFL[/tags]