2009 January

Uncontested

Posted by Tim at 20:13 on 2009/01/29

Jan 292009

Here are the No Contest answers. [Does that make them non-answers?] In context they all make perfect sense [to me].

In An Hour Away from Ridin’ on Your Prayers Up in the Sky I wrote about traveling between my homes in central Florida and Louisville. The line comes from Back Home Again by John Denver.

In I’d study elephant and eagle, buffalo and beagle, alligator, guinea pig, and flea! I wrote about the onomatopoetic Bzzzpeak. The line is from Talk to the Animals which I know from Dr. Doolittle, but is performed here by Roger Moore and the Muppets

In Ah, but Who Would Want to Listen to You, Kissing his Existence Good Night I ranted about jaywalkers encountered on my morning commute. The line is from Walking Man by James Taylor.

In The Doctor Say He’s Comin’, but You Gotta Pay Him Cash I joked, slowly, about getting new ceiling tiles in my classroom. The line is from Life in the Fast Lane by Eagles.

In As They Struggle with the Undertaking of Simple Thought I coined the words idiopathy and idiopathetic in my rant over stupidity during exams week. The line is from You’re With Stupid by Aimee Mann. [I LOVE her!]

In The Vagueness in Your Eyes I gave the most obvious of references. The line is from the song Insensitive by Jann Arden which was in that post.

Lest you think this post is just bragging about my cleverness, I have to say it’s really more about explaining my obtuseness. Sometimes even I don’t get me. But really, it’s because I had nothing else that I could post this week.

No Contest

Posted by Tim at 23:55 on 2009/01/27

Jan 272009

For months I have had a post rattling around in my head. Apparently, it is not yet ready to be posted because it remains half-formed, un-typed, not yet transferred from cerebral-space to cyber-space. But I know what I plan to use for the title if when I finally write it:

The Morning Sun, When it’s In Your Face.

[Sometimes a title comes to me like this along with the bones of the post. Sometimes I start to write with no idea what the title will be but one becomes obvious as I write. Rarely do I struggle to find a title for a post that I think is already done otherwise. But good, bad, or indifferent, I never post without a title. Not that it matters to anyone but me.]

These words, “The Morning Sun, When it’s In Your Face,” are from a song [Maggie May]. Certain lines fill my head with pictures. This is one. And even though that post resists being written it got me on a kick of using lines from songs as post titles. I’ve done so before, of course, but I don’t think I have ever done so many so close to each other — six times this month.

If I didn’t think my readership is too small and my references too obscure I would make it a contest to identify the songs from which I have pulled those lines. [I would even put a hint somewhere as to which six posts have those titles.] But, while I have never thrown a party that no one attended, I have posted questions that no one answered. [Wow, I just had the most incredible feeling of deja-vu typing that line!] I would even offer an i-Tunes gift card as a prize. Or something.

Star Wars: Retold... and How!

Posted by Tim at 19:52 on 2009/01/26

Jan 262009

I saw this posted on Meg Fowler’s site and laughed out loud. According to the creator, Joe Nicolosi:

My friend Amanda had never seen a whole Star Wars film. When I asked her if she wanted to watch the original trilogy she said that she would, but that she already knew what happens. So I took out my voice recorder and asked her to start from the top.

I then created some very basic animation in Final Cut to go along with her narration.

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn’t seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

It’s just so… close!

No Bull

Posted by Tim at 00:01 on 2009/01/26

Jan 262009

Happy Chinese New Year! Today begins the year of the Ox.

All Wet

Posted by Tim at 20:28 on 2009/01/22

Jan 222009

For no particular reason, I’ve been making a list:

bay
bayou
bog
brook
canal
cape
cataract
creek
drip
drizzle
drop
estuary
falls
flood
inlet
lagoon
lake
mist
ocean
pool
puddle
rain
rapids
rill
river
rivulet
sea
shower
sound
spray
sprinkle
straight
stream
swamp
tide
water
waterspout
waterfall
wet

The Vagueness in Your Eyes

Posted by Tim at 20:25 on 2009/01/22

Jan 222009

In a non-romantic context, this has been on my mind a lot lately….

What's Your Address?

Posted by Tim at 20:37 on 2009/01/20

Jan 202009

The text of his inaugural address is posted here.

As They Struggle with the Undertaking of Simple Thought

Posted by Tim at 17:57 on 2009/01/16

Jan 162009

When doctors don’t know the cause of your ailment they may refer to it as idiopathic. It’s sort of a polite way of saying, “It’s just you.”

When I see the word idiopathic I think there should be another word, idiopathy. If sympathy may be summed up as, “I feel your pain,” then idiopathy may be summed up as, “I feel your stupidity.” [Alternatively, "I feel you're stupid."]

I’ve been fairly swimming in idiopathy this week — it was semester exam week. And I’ve decided that idiopathy sometimes just isn’t enough to express how I feel when, for example, a student shows up for an exam without a pencil. We have moved into idiopathetic territory at that point.

As a teacher I am a soldier in the war against ignorance. Unfortunately, while education is effective against ignorance, some other cure [if one exists] must be found for stupidity.

Soon please….

Noam More

Posted by Tim at 19:41 on 2009/01/15

Jan 152009

Playing with words is cheap entertainment. [And, trust me, I'm cheap ~~...but not easy!~~.] After observing the similar phoneme pattern of /j/ vowel /n/ in many names, I began to wonder if there are any two consonants that form common English words if you place any vowel sound in between them?

I don’t know whether someone has to think of these things, but if so, you’re welcome. I’ll take the hit for the team. More likely, it’s just that my brain tends to wander in weird directions. After ~~exhaustive research~~ mulling and doodling, I came up with two pairs of consonants that are fairly… um promiscuous. /b/ vowel /t/ and /m/ vowel /t/ make a remarkable [well, I'm remarking on it, anyway] number of words.

bat
bait
bet
beat
bit
bite
bot
boat
boot
but
butte

mat
mate
met
meet
mitt
mite
mot
moat
moot
mutt
mute

The Doctor Say He's Comin', but You Gotta Pay Him Cash

Posted by Tim at 21:26 on 2009/01/13

Jan 132009

Two snails were traveling south.

A turtle was traveling west.

Two snails were traveling south.
A turtle was traveling west.

Two snails were traveling south.
A turtle was traveling west.

Two snails were traveling south.
A turtle was traveling west.
Soon they approached each other.

Two snails were traveling south.
A turtle was traveling west.
They got closer.

Two snails were traveling south.
A turtle was traveling west.
Closer still.

Two snails were traveling south.
A turtle was traveling west.
Just inches apart.

Two snails were traveling south.
A turtle was traveling west.
And then…

…calamity!

One of the snails was directly in the path of the turtle.

It was inevitable, perhaps.

Maybe the turtle just couldn’t stop.

At any rate, it didn’t stop.

The turtle ran over one of the snails.

And kept going.

West.

“What was that?” asked the violated snail.

While the turtle kept going west.

“I don’t know,” replied the other snail. “It all happened so fast!”