Tuesday, September 30, 2003

Stupid line of the day

"Oh, I hope we can get it on tonight. (Short awkward pause.) ... Let me rephrase that: I hope tonight we can get it on. ..."

- Me, making a fool out of myself, talking about something completely unrelated to sex.

posted by D-Bo @ 11:49 PM 0 comments

something positive

So the whole "let's study hard so I'll be free over fall break" (yours mind you, as I don't get one) has suddenly become much more difficult. Partly because I just heard today that, guess what?, I have to know all about asylum law by next Friday, and partly because I've found a new vice to distract me in class.

posted by weiss @ 9:52 PM 0 comments

clarification
click on this link and then keep clicking on the rumsfeld face to get more quotes. es muy bueno
posted by meg @ 9:16 PM 0 comments

it's like a 31 day rumsfeld-a-day calendar, oh man, it's a riot.
I made it
posted by meg @ 6:10 PM 0 comments

When I was 17, I fell asleep during the math section of the SATs, true Meg-style.

Therefore I find it extremely ironic that I am now a math tutor. It isn't without it's enjoyment, though. I understand the logic, and yes, some of the beauty of numbers after years of college science classes.

And the high schoolers are great. Today one of the girls told me about making cookies with her toddler. And I managed to calm a young woman who was studying "real life math" about taxes and paycheck deductions. She said what I would have at her age (yes, I am soo old): "This stuff is stupid. Someone else can just do the math for me."

I explained that if she knew how deductions are made, she could make sure her employers weren't screwing her over by taking too much out of her paycheck.

This seemed to make sense to her, and she continued working.
posted by celestial @ 5:46 PM 0 comments

Orgies of unusual size

China is being invaded. ... It's gross.
posted by sasha @ 5:17 PM 0 comments

Ants of unusual size

Commie House is being invaded. ... It's gross.
posted by D-Bo @ 4:36 PM 0 comments

I like the Brittany Spears Smiley

Here's a funny story:

so, I fell asleep during a 9:00 mid term today.

oh man, that's funny
posted by meg @ 10:46 AM 0 comments

oh my god, who knew life could be so good!
this is exactly what i need

posted by kate @ 2:27 AM 0 comments

News Clippings That Came Across My Desk Today (If I Had A Desk, Instead of A Monitor Balanced On Top Of Two Stereo Speakers):

• So China is still having trouble in the Xinjiang region...

• Meanwhile, "Rumsfeld…is known to be a typical stupid man for professing neo-conservatism censured and mocked at worldwide". Gotta love the DPRK rhetoric, especially the part about Rummy's "desperate shrill cry of a psychopath on his death bed".

• Oh, and the DPRK also wants to declare war on Japan. Just for fun, kinda like a practice war...

• Is it because of the soccer game? 'Cause really, they could have played better. Use the "Juche" idea of self-reliance to put the ball in the imperialist goal!

Anyway, time to study and go to bed. Good night, y'all.
posted by sasha @ 10:10 PM

Derek,

Having watched a good fifteen minutes of "Coupling" last night I want to fervently assure you of this: you are missing nothing. I was watching this show with Ang. Her statement was, "It seems like they chose people who were attractive, not people who could act." My statement was, "Good lord." I assure you that I am not making an inappropriately superlative statement when I say that "Coupling" is the worst sitcom I have ever seen, bar none. The lighting looks like bad stage lighting combined with that girl's senior picture. (Eric Meyer where are you when I need you? Oh.) The costuming looked like a gravely ill attempt at '70s nostalgia. The acting, well, Ang was right. True, the actors were attractive, but plugging "porn" into Google is a lot easier and you'll probably find better plotlines.

Fortunately, Ang's friends showed up and saved us. Though I'm still embarrassed that I watched a full fifteen minutes of this. Yes, censorship is a bad idea. For this, however, I might admit an exception.
posted by weiss @ 5:58 PM 0 comments

Want to "Couple"? Too bad.

Not that I mind, I have watched virtually no television since school started (except for one show that will go unnamed) and I do not plan to watch any more, but it looks like our own church-owned WNDU station is making national news since it is refusing to let us see the new (sinful) sitcom "Coupling" because of its sexual references. (Yes, the show looks atrocious, but that's beside the point!) "The NBC affiliate, owned by the Catholic University of Notre Dame, said that the show pushes 'the envelope well beyond the boundaries of our community's standards.'" Yay, censorship!
posted by D-Bo @ 3:26 PM 0 comments

Lucinda Williams v. New Model Army

So it seems that I won't be seeing Lucinda Williams and the Jayhawks. $30 was right on the line anyway, and when Ang lost her enthusiasm and the monthly National Lawyer Guild meeting was at the same time I bailed. But New Model Army is coming to the Black Cat on Friday and Guilarme, one of the few people at law school that I like, is all stoked to go.
posted by weiss @ 8:48 PM 0 comments

Jeanette ... Yoder???

My mom is now officially married and on her honeymoon. She and her new hubby (Ray Yoder) are now cruising the streets of Michigan on their motorcycle and will return in a week or so. If you happen to stop by Financial Aid (once she returns, of course) feel free to say, "Congratulations!" (Not to be confused with Janette Yoder who also works for the college!) The song my sister and I sang went well. And Mike, thanks for the guitar! Tomorrow (Celebrate Service Day) I will swing by home and pick it up and drop it by Brick.
posted by D-Bo @ 10:47 PM 0 comments

Yay college
posted by sasha @ 1:29 PM 0 comments

margo, we should leave
posted by meg @ 9:38 PM 0 comments

let's go hour after
posted by meg @ 9:38 PM 0 comments

This morning my Botany class went on a canoe trip. An excellent time, except that Alisa and I could hardly be called expert canoers. We managed to spin around often at the beginning, but once we let go of that feeling of complete incompetence, it was actually enjoyable to be spinning around in the Elkhart river. Luckily not actually in the water though, because, dude, there is a lot of E. coli and mercury in there.

I asked my professor, Lisa-Renee, who is from Arkansas, whether she considers D.C. to be northern or southern. She answered that everything north of Virginia is north, because Virginia was a defender and the states above it fought with the Union in the "War of Northern Aggression." I don't know if she was kidding about the "War of Northern Aggression" part, but I half chuckled when she said it. Then I thought, she does have a point. Northern economic interests were certainly a factor in the war, and the Union Army's campaign to burn down and destroy the entire south, its factories, major cities, and farms, was unnecessarily cruel, while it served its purpose in aggressively destroying the south's economy and fledgling industry.

I don't know that she and I will talk politics much this semester, though. Probably better that we stick to plants.
posted by celestial @ 3:59 PM 0 comments

After the biochemistry test

Dan Smith: "So, any surprises?"
Me: "No. All the things I didn't know I knew I should have known them."
Dan Smith: "Oh. Well, have a good weekend!"
posted by sasha @ 3:37 PM 0 comments

New children's book to be published

see two photos from the preliminary press run
1



2
posted by joel @ 2:40 PM 0 comments

did i just vote for sasha in student senate elections? yes, i did. also nik yoder because my sister seems to like him.
posted by weiss @ 2:11 PM 0 comments

Bin Laden tape voice suggests he is ill or dead: report

I am so not even making this up.
posted by sasha @ 12:22 PM 0 comments

The story of the hurricane

involved waiting in line for an hour at Blockbuster (though this was somewhat alleviated by getting to read a trite article in "O" about dating younger men), one episode of The Sopranos, several meals, and two games of Settlers of Catan (both of which I lost. Oh, and finding out that we don't have the appropriate Dylan recording.

The law school is closed again tomorrow. I just don't know what to do with myself. Maybe I'll play guitar. Maybe I'll read the book Celeste gave me for my birthday. Maybe I'll actually do some classwork.
posted by weiss @ 12:02 AM 0 comments

Cheesy Guerilla's
mac and cheese making tonight before the game
before the storm

don't have anything to do on a friday night?
how 'bout some old fashion fem art? i''m not exactly sure what it is, excpet that it's a bunch of women dressed up in gorrila masks and they do art stuff, anyway, it could be neat... if you're bored... it's at st. mary's college at 7pm tomorrow... and it's free!

is't this crazy? -->


oh yeah, http://www.guerrillagirls.com
posted by kate @ 4:54 PM 0 comments

The brakes are underneath the handlebars?

I was having a bad day a few days ago and to top it all off, something was definitely wrong with my bike as I rode it from Commie House to play practice at the Umble Center. The wheels didn't seem to be working right and I couldn't turn correctly. So, I got off my bike at Umble and tried to push it to the bike rack, but the wheels just locked up, so I had to pick it up and put it in the rack. I ended up not locking it because I figured that nobody would end up stealing a f*cked-up bike. I walked into Umble and Adam Roth turned to me and said, "Did you realize as you were riding over here you had your handlebars turned the wrong way?" "No, I didn't realize that ... but that makes sense," I said. It did flabbergast me that the brakes were underneath the handlebars instead of on top as I tried to brake one time! I thought, I don't remember that! Let's just be thankful I didn't have to make any right turns or I might be injured right now!
posted by D-Bo @ 10:26 AM 0 comments

How does he know about Hump Night?





















www.toothpastefordinner.com. Dig it.
posted by sasha @ 4:06 AM 0 comments

Hurricane, Shmurricane

Yeah, I'm not scared. But I am enjoying the sunshine for the last few hours we'll have it.
posted by weiss @ 3:29 PM 0 comments

Michael Moore at Butler University

I know October 13 is a good way off, but this looks kinda great, as the Tool might say.

Oh, and I don't hate Physics anymore. And I got just got out of, like, a bajillion Linguistics courses by offering to write a paper on l33t. And Katherine is coming this weekend. Things is looking good.

Addendum: So about an hour after I posted this, Dean Johnson tells the Pax listserv that Plowshares will provide free transportation to see Moore. Kewell!
posted by sasha @ 3:31 PM 0 comments

Good Idea

Go to the Black Cat with Tasara. Seize a couch. Drink two pitchers between the two of you. Make fun of the insanely hip clientelle. Especially the girl in the white plastic minidress who doesn't sit down. And the people who sit on couches by themselves. Give them names by thinking of people from Goshen who they remind you of.

Another Good Idea

A movie with three characters, none of whom speak the same language. It's all subtitled, so we the audience know what they're saying to each other but they don't. It's called Cuckoo and you should go see it sometime.

posted by weiss @ 6:19 PM 0 comments

outline, damn
when looking at my hand to find a cool title, I remembered an assignment I had forgotten. Good thing that class is credit/no
2. (I realize there is no "1")...here, that is. (in the mac lab)...who understand me. (snif snif)
2a. ("a" for appendage or amendment or addition)
2b. the climb will be at noon on the 21st, we will be meeting in west lawn lounge. The meeting will be at 9:00 in the game room this Sunday, the 14th
3.
-meg

posted by meg @ 9:18 PM 0 comments

Sometimes people are just stupid!

I read this article on imdb.com today:

"Straight Guy" Backlash?
The long-predicted middle-America backlash to the hit Bravo series "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" may have been ushered in in Helena, Montana, where the conservative Montana Family Coalition has condemned the show as "outrageous." Executive Director Julie Millam told the Helena Independent Record Wednesday: "A really good reality show for gay people would be five gay men dying of AIDS." Furthermore, the group decried the increasing visibility of gay characters on primetime TV. "I'm hearing from people left and right, that every time they turn on the TV it's something to do with gay people. It's not reality," Millam told the newspaper. But Karl Olson, director of the gay rights group PRIDE, dismissed the coalition's complaints, saying that anti-gay groups are "losing the culture war."
posted by D-Bo @ 5:07 PM 0 comments

Knock knock
Who's there?
Duane
Duane who?
Duane the bathtub I'm dwowning!
posted by kate @ 3:00 PM 0 comments

Trickle-down effect? "It's so last week, dahling".

Thom Yorke gives a big middle finger to the WTO meetings in Cancun. [Insert witty Radiohead song reference here.] In unrelated news, I'm tired, I'm hungry and I think I hate Physics.

Really, the only thing keeping me going now is the image I have of Desmond Tutu clapping his hands and saying "The wonderful thing that I learned is that human beings, who are so finite, are made to serve the infinite!

peace
posted by sasha @ 12:37 PM 0 comments

Problem Solving: When does $100.00 = 18 postage stamps?

Boy, was I surprised today when I visited the ATM to get $100. I needed to pay for a book that the bookstore just got in for me. So, I'm patiently waiting for my cash when a little sheet of paper shoots out of the machine. 18 postage stamps...and no money! I read my receipt and they withdrew $100 from my account. Tool can empathize with me, he experienced the exact same thing yesterday.
posted by D-Bo @ 4:10 PM 0 comments

Who's busy?

Oh right, it's me. I haven't had time for anything lately. Tuesday my schedule was four hours at the switchboard, two classes and four play practices. Yes, I am involved with four drama productions!!!! Two of which will be really funny, one average and one, well ... let's just not go there.
posted by D-Bo @ 12:19 AM 0 comments

Well, first off thank you to Sasha for the numbers.

My backpack broke today. My aunt from Fort Wayne gave it to me for high-school graduation, so while I do think it could've tried a little harder, over three years is I guess good enough.

So the lesson for today is: buy backpacks in early September because there are sales going on. Oh yeah. I got a $30 Columbia backpack for half that. I feel so proud of myself.
posted by weiss @ 5:37 PM 0 comments

Only 9 days away...

posted by sasha @ 3:11 PM 0 comments

Check Your Planner, Silly Head!
Dear Meg (and anyone else who might have authority in this situation): Is climbing thing this Sunday (as you say in the body of your announcement on the Shoup page) or is it the 21st (next Sunday, as you say in the heading of your announcement on the shoup page)? I'm all confused. I am also all for this Sunday because otherwise i'll be sitting next to crazy Chris Seitz, pretending to understand a Greek Orthodox church service while the rest of you are scrambling up walls.
posted by julia @ 10:40 AM 0 comments

"More than the federal government will spend on education this year": Bush commits $87bn to Iraq

How the bill breaks down

$66bn to fight war on terror in Iraq, Afghanistan "and elsewhere"

$21bn on reconstruction

Iraq

$51bn to support continuing military operations, including:

$800m on transport and support for non-US troops; $300m on body armour; $140m on Humvees.

Plus:

$20bn for reconstruction, including:

$5bn to train new Iraqi army and build judicial system

$15bn on infrastructure

Afghanistan

$11bn to help "track down terrorists and provide stability"

$800m for "critical remaining security and reconstruction needs"

Total bill: $87bn

---

Fortunately, Condoleezza Rice says these costs "will be won back over and over again"... as soon as we can liberate our oil, I guess.

posted by sasha @ 1:04 PM 0 comments

Now this has just so much potential for comedy. Really, what's the point of using "red," "yellow," and "green?" Let's just cut to the colors that matter.

"Form two lines! White on the left! Brown on the right!"
posted by weiss @ 9:11 AM 0 comments

Fundraiser

Howard (Jr.) is involved with a fundraiser for school, so I thought that I would just put a plug in for that here. If any of you are interested in buying anything I would suggest going to see him soon (I think the order form has to be in shortly). They have some chocolates and chip dip (which are what I ordered) and various other things.
posted by D-Bo @ 4:43 PM 0 comments

Networking

I dread "Networking." The word strikes a chord of fear in my heart. A heavy minor triad, I think. Root, octave jump to the next root, the third, the fifth, root again, and finally the second third. It brings up images of walking around in a tie, drinking brandy that I don't want, and trying to figure out what the hell to say to people that I want to hire me but that I don't want to make smalltalk with.

But it might happen anyway, the networking (chord again). I am trying, better judgement coming in on both sides, to go to the Peggy Browning Fund's Fifth Annual National Workers' Rights Conference for Law Students on October 3 & 4, 2003 where I will attend workshops on labor issues delivered by people in suits and make contacts for summer jobs. Or I might just wimp out and not go and work at McDonald's next summer. Good god, why am I in law school if the idea of getting a job as a lawyer scares the beejesus out of me.

Maybe this is why lawyers have the highest rate of alcoholism of any profession.
posted by weiss @ 8:38 PM 0 comments

‘Anti-establishment’ students retain power in major varsities
MalaysiaKini.com

‘Anti-establishment’ candidates retained control over student representative councils in four key public universities in yesterday’s nationwide campus elections.
This is despite a major campaign by 'pro-establishment' students, allegedly supported by campus authorities, to take over the country's top universities.
'Anti-establishment' students remained in power in Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA) - some with a lower majority - and succeeded in regaining control in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).
posted by sasha @ 4:39 PM 0 comments

brought to you by sojo.net

*Flash mobs
What do you call 300 New Yorkers with synchronized watches eating bananas in a department store? It's no joke! Flash mobs are groups of people who communicate via email and Web logs, meet in public en masse, perform harmless acts, then vanish. So what's the flash mob mentality? Enthusiasts say the events are acts of "nonviolent surrealism"
For more on flash mobbing, link to:
TheWordSpy - http://www.wordspy.com/words/flashmob.asp
FlashMob.com - http://flashmob.com
posted by kate @ 2:46 PM 0 comments

Climb Kalamazoo
The newly formed F.o.R.C. Club (fellowship of rock climbers) is taking a trip to Kalamazoo to go gym climbing! All students are welcome! We will have rented the climbing gym exclusively for Goshen College use. Pizza, equipment, and transportation provided. To register, come the the first official F.o.R.C. Club meeting on Sun, Sept 14 at 9:00 in the game room or email megss@goshen.edu. Registration deadline: Friday the 19th at 12:00. The bus will leave at 3:00 PM on Sunday, Sept. 21. Cost: $8.00. Money is due upon departure.
posted by meg @ 12:11 PM 0 comments

Why? you might ask...

posted by sasha @ 1:29 AM 0 comments

...'cause it's more fun than homework.

posted by sasha @ 1:11 AM 0 comments

After a marvelous ordeal retrieving my user name and password, I am now posting on the Blog.

Here is my story of irony, fear, and euphoria ...

Last night at the party at Rub-yer-house, my place of residence, Julia came outside to tell me Alisa needed some painkillers. I went upstairs to retrieve some, and on the way back down, I forget that the carpeting ends and missed the last two steps completely, bending my foot backward at a vicious angle.

In horrible pain myself, I reached Alisa only to find someone else had already gotten her some ibuprofen.

I woke up and could barely walk. I hobbled around all day worried that if I went to the health center I'd have to pay hundreds of dollars, since I don't have their insurance this fall. With amazing fortune, I talked to a baseball player, and he told me Bill Kinsey, the trainer would fix me up for free.

I limped over to the Rec Fit and walked down the hall. After Bill gently massaged my foot to find the strained tendons, I knew there was electricity between us ... or maybe it was just the current pulsing out of the machine into my foot. Either way, Bill repaired my damaged foot without expecting anything in return, and even used big words like "extension," "digitor," and "tendon." I've always been a sucker for men with vocabularies.

Bill the trainer guy, your t-shirt may say "Football is Life," but I am devoted to you.
posted by celestial @ 10:47 PM

Another actor speaks out

Star attacks US culture of fear
The American actor Tim Robbins broke his silence yesterday after being attacked for putting US troops "in danger" by speaking out against the invasion of Iraq.

Robbins, whose partner and fellow actor, Susan Sarandon, has also been criticised for her anti-war stance, said the cold shouldering they received had been "a gift" which had rallied liberals to the cause of free speech.

"It's sparked a lot of people in Hollywood who would have spoken out and felt intimidated to say something," Robbins said at the Venice Film Festival.

"Too often people abdicate their freedom in their minds and choose not to speak. But once you abdicate that freedom you may as well not have it."
posted by sasha @ 9:15 PM 0 comments

comcast sucks!
so does the social security office.
so does jack the flippin ripper.

and what are we going to do about gyso.org?
posted by eric @ 9:04 PM 0 comments

An interesting snippet I read on imdb.com about Johnny Depp

Depp Slams "Dumb Puppy" U.S.
Actor Johnny Depp has hit out at his home country, comparing the U.S. to a stupid, out-of-control puppy dog. The Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas star lives in France with long-time love Vanessa Paradis and their two children, and insists he won't be returning to his home country - especially after the war on Iraq proved all his worst fears. He says, "America is dumb, it's like a dumb puppy that has big teeth that can bite and hurt you, aggressive. My daughter is four, my boy is one. I'd like them to see America as a toy, a broken toy. Investigate it a little, check it out, get this feeling and then get out." Depp also slams George W. Bush's administration for its reaction to the French refusal to support the attacks on Iraq. He adds, "I was ecstatic they renamed French Fries as Freedom Fries. Grown men and women in positions of power in the U.S. government showing themselves as idiots."
posted by D-Bo @ 4:21 PM 0 comments

the sun also rises
Hi bruce! yes the sun is rising, did i tell you about this dream i had? i dreamt that around two in the morning i heard a phone ringing and eric calling my name, fortunately i didn't respond, had i responded i would have wandered over to the record hub in a sweater and pajama bottoms after only an hour of sleep. also, it's a good thing i didn't have anything to drink in the hours before i could have been sleeping.
boy am i glad i have no responsibilities or classes today! okay bruce, well, as always i enjoy these incoherent chats with you after a long night of not working for the record! later...
posted by kate @ 6:17 AM 0 comments

yes folks, it's that time of year again. It's 5:45 am and I'm still working on the record. go away sun, I want to go to bed.

Ross, apologies for 2:30 am
posted by meg @ 5:52 AM 0 comments

Holy shit Kate that's hilarious

Hey, I don't know if anybody's seen this, but man, I just about messed myself.
posted by sasha @ 5:46 PM 0 comments

Car alarm sounds from 2am to 3am. Which sucks because I just got to bed two hours earlier. But at least it was a chance to get up, go to the bathroom, and get another glass of water.
My new favorite CD is Johnny Cash's "American III." He covers Tom Petty and U2, and does it better than they do, but hey, that's expected.
posted by weiss @ 9:15 AM 0 comments

Well, it's 3:30pm
and I have cleared off my Amish Palm Pilot (that's John D. Roth for "writing shit on the back of my hand").
Unbelievable.
I don't even know what to do with myself until 6:30 at the stockroom.
Maybe I'll eat something. Maybe I'll read. Maybe I'll do both. Oh Boy!

cheers.
posted by sasha @ 3:41 PM 0 comments

what will happen to the shoup page?
join me, and hopefully sasha (if i can get a hold of him) at 7, for a meeting to determine the fate of getyourshoupon.org.
we actally tried smoking it last night, but it didn't pack right and it produced an awful stench, with that plan scratched thoughts are now leaning towards changing it, but we'll see.
see you then. (at brick, or rubber, or your mudder)
posted by kate @ 2:46 PM 0 comments

so i think something aught to happen with getyourshoupon.
it either ought to be updated.
or killed.
or changed.
or given away.
or sold.
or smoked.
or something.
what do you say?
posted by eric @ 9:39 AM 0 comments