If you like ballroom dancing, the place to be next week is in Columbus, Ohio. Yes, Columbus - the home of the Ohio Star Ball.
It's about as big a ballroom dance event as you'll ever see, and top pros from all over will be there. It's also the event they'll be taping to produce the latest edition of "America's Ballroom Challenge" for PBS.
The event goes on for days, starting out with people as incompetent as me (I was there in 2004 doing standard, rhythm, and smooth) and leading to Friday and Saturday night with the best of the best.
If you've been watching "Dancing with the Stars" you might get the wrong idea about what a competition is like. Amateur women never compete with amateur men. Nobody knows the music in advance. Only the top pros do the stunts like jumping over one another or sliding around on the floor - for the rest of us it's a no-no. Several sets of dancers are on the floor at the same time and you're subject to running into them, especially during the smooth and standard events, and how you deal with this (floorcraft) is considered in your score.
For big events like this one the earlier heats will be going two at a time on the same floor with very little time in between, and event staff are busy distributing and collecting scoresheets from the judges. If you want to see scores you'll have to wait until the staff compiles and posts them. If you'd like feedback from the judges, good luck - they've probably seen hundreds of people that day, and unless you compete regularly it's asking a lot of them to remember you (although if you go to a lot of competitions you'll see the same judges over and over - usually they're ex-pros). Every score I've ever seen was a rank among all of the dancers in your heat.
By now tickets will be available only at the door If I weren't several hundred miles from Columbus I'd be there.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Geek heaven
Or else Lego Mindstorms for grownups right here. Yep, just snap together some devices, write some code to tie it together and voila! The concept is terrific, now let's see how well they implement it.
No idea how much this will cost, but if it's remotely reasonable I'll have to have it just to play around with it.
No idea how much this will cost, but if it's remotely reasonable I'll have to have it just to play around with it.
Now we can't cough either
Now let's just suppose that you run a private business and you find out that people are having sex in your public bathroom. Just what can you do to make it stop? Really now, is it unreasonable to ask for people not to have sex in your store? Is it unreasonable to get the cops involved?
For those who like to shout "homophobia!", I'm guessing that Sears wouldn't have liked it if straights were getting it on there either.
Unless some marketing wizard determined that it improved sales, anyway. What do you expect from a place that advertises pants half off?
And what's wrong with the dressing rooms, anyway? A couple of weeks ago a sitcom had a couple about to get amorous in one when they heard a discouraging voice from the next stall. But there was a moral after all - they did eventually go and get a room
Is there some etiquette involved when one encounters public sex? Is it polite to use the bathroom per design when others are so encumbered? Or does it just add to an ambience they're seeking?
I once lived in an apartment that was alone the top of a stairwell. One day I came up the stairs to find a partly undressed and fully excited couple just outside my door. We saw each other and thus had to address a situation that probably never occurred to Miss Manners.
I wonder what they were thinking at that moment. Perhaps they blushed - they were black so I couldn't tell. Perhaps they considered inviting me to join them. If so, would it have been ungracious/racist/homophobic/illiberal of me to decline?
As for me, I suppose I could have stepped over them and acted like it was something that happened to me every day. Instead I said "I'll be back in 15 minutes", turned around and left. When I returned they were gone and I never saw them again.
Maybe the public restroom incident wasn't well handled. But really, why the hell do we have to tell people not to have sex in public areas?
For those who like to shout "homophobia!", I'm guessing that Sears wouldn't have liked it if straights were getting it on there either.
Unless some marketing wizard determined that it improved sales, anyway. What do you expect from a place that advertises pants half off?
Is there some etiquette involved when one encounters public sex? Is it polite to use the bathroom per design when others are so encumbered? Or does it just add to an ambience they're seeking?
I once lived in an apartment that was alone the top of a stairwell. One day I came up the stairs to find a partly undressed and fully excited couple just outside my door. We saw each other and thus had to address a situation that probably never occurred to Miss Manners.
I wonder what they were thinking at that moment. Perhaps they blushed - they were black so I couldn't tell. Perhaps they considered inviting me to join them. If so, would it have been ungracious/racist/homophobic/illiberal of me to decline?
As for me, I suppose I could have stepped over them and acted like it was something that happened to me every day. Instead I said "I'll be back in 15 minutes", turned around and left. When I returned they were gone and I never saw them again.
Maybe the public restroom incident wasn't well handled. But really, why the hell do we have to tell people not to have sex in public areas?
There's a right way for everything
Some people give wife beating a bad name. Here's how to do it right.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Friday, November 02, 2007
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Recall Illinois' governor?
I don't know how likely it is to happen, but it's all right with me if Illinois dumps current 2nd term governor Rod Blagojevich. See
this for more.
The sooner he goes to prison, the sooner he can get on with his life.
And while we're at it, let's quit messing around with George Ryan too.
this for more.
The sooner he goes to prison, the sooner he can get on with his life.
And while we're at it, let's quit messing around with George Ryan too.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Scary thought
Are other voters as silly about voting as the ones who vote on "Dancing with the Stars"? Sabrina Bryan should still be there if the actual dancing counts for anything.
This week's Sanjaya Award goes to Jane Seymour and Marie Osmond. Both are talented, but not as much so as Sabrina or the rest of the competitors.
This week's Sanjaya Award goes to Jane Seymour and Marie Osmond. Both are talented, but not as much so as Sabrina or the rest of the competitors.
Poor baby!
Is someone from the Clinton campaign writing headlines for Fox? It seems that some other contenders for the Democrats challenged her during a debate, and now we hear that they're "ganging up" on her.
Ah, Clinton as victim again. Sorry sweetie, but you don't get to be President without going through a campaign.
Ah, Clinton as victim again. Sorry sweetie, but you don't get to be President without going through a campaign.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Waterboarding
Yeah, this is almost a year old, but I haven't linked to it before. Steve Harrigan gets waterboarded on Fox
Saturday, October 27, 2007
So that's how they do it
Need to pass a drug test? Maybe you need a Whizzinator
The site says "enter with caution". I took their word for it and didn't, and I'll assume it's NSFW.
The site says "enter with caution". I took their word for it and didn't, and I'll assume it's NSFW.
The first black vice president?
Well, not really. But it turns out that Dick Cheney is a distant relative of Barack Obama.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
I'm available
If any of you oppressed people out there want me to accept a few million dollars on your behalf, I'm willing to help.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Credit card follies
It's been said that a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged, and a liberal is a conservative who has been arrested. For my money, a liberal is a conservative who has dealt with credit card companies.
(Of course I just ranted about someone possibly signing on for dumb financing deals. Hey, I contain multitudes.)
First off, I know - if you have any reasonable alternative to carrying a credit card balance you probably ought to have your head examined. And there's plenty of fine print, which we consumers are tempted to skim over and generally fail to appreciate fully.
But now imagine that you make at leat a minimum payment on time, then you make the next payment 27 days later, and the credit card company (hereafter known as "thieves") charges you $29 for a late fee.
How did they explain that one? Bill due on 2nd, and I paid it on time (much more than the minimum due). I also paid again around the 5th of that month for the following payment. The billing cycle runs on the 13th, applying the payment on the 5th to the bill due on the 2nd along with the original on time payment, and produced another bill due on the 2nd of the next month. I pay again on the 5th of the next month online (the remaining balance), and wonder why it is that I'm showing a late fee on the bill. The CSRs tell me that this is the way it works.
Well, maybe I missed something in the paperwork. But really, it's not exactly a technological innovation to apply the payment after the 2nd to the following month, and it's certainly a rational expectation. Who would expect to be penalized for paying "too early"?
Imagine Joe Schmuck gets a credit card with his first payment due on 2/2. He pays at least minimum payment on 1/20, leaving a balance. He pays at least the minimum again on 2/5 expecting it to be applied to next bill. But thieves run billing cycle on 2/13, apply 2/5 payment to 2/2 and produce bill due 3/2. Joe pays for the third time on 3/5 intended for the bill he expects will be due on 4/2, but thieves treat it as late for 3/2. If he's not paying attention and continues to pay on the 5th, he'll get hit for a late fee every month, despite starting out current and paying at least the minimum at intervals of no more than a month. Sheesh, if that's how they treat a customer like that, what would they do to someone who actually paid *late*?
The thieves said they'll remove the late charge effective with the next bill. We'll see.
Then there's folly #2 with another den of thieves. Thieves send letter saying accept rate increase or account is disabled. Never mind a 10 year stable record with that company and no changes in my circumstances - CSR says "it's not you, it's us - it's a business decision".
That's OK, I make business decisions too. The twist is that if you don't bend over and take it, you can't use their website to make payments any more. There's no way to pay them locally, and they charge you if you pay them by phone. So those of us who don't get paper bills or who are on the road a lot and have a hard time catching up with our mail can just go to hell. So guess who won't be in my wallet?
(Of course I just ranted about someone possibly signing on for dumb financing deals. Hey, I contain multitudes.)
First off, I know - if you have any reasonable alternative to carrying a credit card balance you probably ought to have your head examined. And there's plenty of fine print, which we consumers are tempted to skim over and generally fail to appreciate fully.
But now imagine that you make at leat a minimum payment on time, then you make the next payment 27 days later, and the credit card company (hereafter known as "thieves") charges you $29 for a late fee.
How did they explain that one? Bill due on 2nd, and I paid it on time (much more than the minimum due). I also paid again around the 5th of that month for the following payment. The billing cycle runs on the 13th, applying the payment on the 5th to the bill due on the 2nd along with the original on time payment, and produced another bill due on the 2nd of the next month. I pay again on the 5th of the next month online (the remaining balance), and wonder why it is that I'm showing a late fee on the bill. The CSRs tell me that this is the way it works.
Well, maybe I missed something in the paperwork. But really, it's not exactly a technological innovation to apply the payment after the 2nd to the following month, and it's certainly a rational expectation. Who would expect to be penalized for paying "too early"?
Imagine Joe Schmuck gets a credit card with his first payment due on 2/2. He pays at least minimum payment on 1/20, leaving a balance. He pays at least the minimum again on 2/5 expecting it to be applied to next bill. But thieves run billing cycle on 2/13, apply 2/5 payment to 2/2 and produce bill due 3/2. Joe pays for the third time on 3/5 intended for the bill he expects will be due on 4/2, but thieves treat it as late for 3/2. If he's not paying attention and continues to pay on the 5th, he'll get hit for a late fee every month, despite starting out current and paying at least the minimum at intervals of no more than a month. Sheesh, if that's how they treat a customer like that, what would they do to someone who actually paid *late*?
The thieves said they'll remove the late charge effective with the next bill. We'll see.
Then there's folly #2 with another den of thieves. Thieves send letter saying accept rate increase or account is disabled. Never mind a 10 year stable record with that company and no changes in my circumstances - CSR says "it's not you, it's us - it's a business decision".
That's OK, I make business decisions too. The twist is that if you don't bend over and take it, you can't use their website to make payments any more. There's no way to pay them locally, and they charge you if you pay them by phone. So those of us who don't get paper bills or who are on the road a lot and have a hard time catching up with our mail can just go to hell. So guess who won't be in my wallet?
Why is it...
...that when medical, drug or financial costs increase, the media busts the providers, but when college costs rise outrageously it's treated as inevitable?
Some local news show just boo-hooed for a girl who managed to run up $100,000 in loans to major in something as remunerative as art.
Nobody questioned her decision. Nobody questioned the college costs. Nope, just the $1000/month loan payments, which would be even higher if she made more money.
It might well be that she could have received a better deal for the college financing. But I dare suggest that anyone who'd accept some of these financing deals is too dumb to go to college anyway.
Some local news show just boo-hooed for a girl who managed to run up $100,000 in loans to major in something as remunerative as art.
Nobody questioned her decision. Nobody questioned the college costs. Nope, just the $1000/month loan payments, which would be even higher if she made more money.
It might well be that she could have received a better deal for the college financing. But I dare suggest that anyone who'd accept some of these financing deals is too dumb to go to college anyway.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Another reason I'm glad I'm not a beetle
See this.
Somehow I'm not interested in ejaculating 10% of my body weight. For a 160lb man that would be about 2 gallons. Sperm banks would have to start hiring dairy farmers to handle the volume.
How long would it take to, um, deliver all that? Hmm, this is sounding better already. Being an engineer, I can't leave this alone.
The world's foremost authority claims that the average volume for an adult male is between 3 and 5cc (don't believe that old story about how they named the 80's band 10cc).
I can't seem to find a reference for how long the pumping or actual male orgasms last. So I'll assume that the orgasm and the pumping are of equal duration, and that this duration is 6 seconds, if only because it gives me a nice round numbers. Using 5cc for the volume I wind up with 50cc/minute flow rate for the average human male.
At that rate, how long would it take to deliver 2 gallons? Almost 3 hours!
Given that most of us can't run marathons, and that running one takes less time and probably happens at a lower heart rate and blood pressure, I'm guessing that most men wouldn't survive such an experience. Actually I don't know if the beetles do either, but there are plenty of other male critters that don't survive reproduction (the most depressing example probably being this.)
Alright, I've wasted enough time. May your sex never be fatal.
Somehow I'm not interested in ejaculating 10% of my body weight. For a 160lb man that would be about 2 gallons. Sperm banks would have to start hiring dairy farmers to handle the volume.
How long would it take to, um, deliver all that? Hmm, this is sounding better already. Being an engineer, I can't leave this alone.
The world's foremost authority claims that the average volume for an adult male is between 3 and 5cc (don't believe that old story about how they named the 80's band 10cc).
I can't seem to find a reference for how long the pumping or actual male orgasms last. So I'll assume that the orgasm and the pumping are of equal duration, and that this duration is 6 seconds, if only because it gives me a nice round numbers. Using 5cc for the volume I wind up with 50cc/minute flow rate for the average human male.
At that rate, how long would it take to deliver 2 gallons? Almost 3 hours!
Given that most of us can't run marathons, and that running one takes less time and probably happens at a lower heart rate and blood pressure, I'm guessing that most men wouldn't survive such an experience. Actually I don't know if the beetles do either, but there are plenty of other male critters that don't survive reproduction (the most depressing example probably being this.)
Alright, I've wasted enough time. May your sex never be fatal.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Crazy Sexy Cancer
I guess if someone wants to curl up and die when they get lousy news from their doctor, it's their perfect right.
Kris Carr wasn't ready for that, and it looks like cancer isn't ready for her either. Her main site here, blog here. Or watch for broadcasts of her documentary on TLC.
She's just released a book about it and she's on tour too - she'll be in Chicago on 9/8 out by O'Hare.
Kris Carr wasn't ready for that, and it looks like cancer isn't ready for her either. Her main site here, blog here. Or watch for broadcasts of her documentary on TLC.
She's just released a book about it and she's on tour too - she'll be in Chicago on 9/8 out by O'Hare.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Good for Scooter Libby
Fox reports that President Bush has commuted Lewis Libby's sentence so he won't have to go to prison.
He doesn't get off without penalties. But as usual any ranking Democrat within microphone range has had to assert their asininity.
I'll say this for Ted Kennedy - he more or less kept his mouth shut about the time the Dems were trying to screw Clarence Thomas. He knew that with his history it might not be a good idea.
Not so Hillary Clinton, the spouse of the man who pulled all sorts of pardon stunts on his last day in office. But she's a Democrat, so she knows the press has her back covered as long as it looks like she might beat the Republicans.
In a way Bush's low poll numbers are a sort of relief. There isn't much to lose, and if you're going to get negative press no matter what you do you might just as well do what you want.
He doesn't get off without penalties. But as usual any ranking Democrat within microphone range has had to assert their asininity.
I'll say this for Ted Kennedy - he more or less kept his mouth shut about the time the Dems were trying to screw Clarence Thomas. He knew that with his history it might not be a good idea.
Not so Hillary Clinton, the spouse of the man who pulled all sorts of pardon stunts on his last day in office. But she's a Democrat, so she knows the press has her back covered as long as it looks like she might beat the Republicans.
In a way Bush's low poll numbers are a sort of relief. There isn't much to lose, and if you're going to get negative press no matter what you do you might just as well do what you want.
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