Month-End Music Meme

Top Five on Friday from The Music Memoirs:

Top Five Albums You Bought On Impulse.



» Falling In Between by Toto
While cruising around a music site one day, I saw an album by Toto that I didn't have. I didn't know that such a thing even existed. I listened to a couple of clips and bought it on the spot.



» Chicago 16 by Chicago
I bought this album for two songs, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" and to a lesser extent, "Love Me Tomorrow". I was pleasantly surprised by how good the rest of the album was.



» Naked and Sacred by Chynna Phillips
I bought this CD at a used music shop based solely on her work in Wilson Phillips. I listened to it once, then sold it back to the shop. Just not my thing. If you're interested, Amazon has this disc starting at $0.10.



» Perennial Favorites by Squirrel Nut Zippers
When I was going through my Neo-Swing phase in the late 90's (like everyone else was), I saw this band's name listed along with names like Royal Crown Revue and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. So when I saw this disc used for $7.99, I bought it. And loved it.



» The Best of Kitaro, Vol. 1 by Kitaro
I went into FYE today to try to find Roger Zelazny's "A Night in the Lonesome October". They didn't have it, but they had this CD for $4.99. I figured that five bucks to add a little more Kitaro to my collection was a good buy.

Inexplicable

I found out just before lunch today that my brother is in the hospital. He fell down a flight of stairs last night and landed on his face. He has skull fractures and other injuries. He's currently in Intensive Care in a hospital-induced coma. Nobody seems to know exactly what's gong to happen; the hospital people are telling my parents that it's a 'waiting game' at this point.

Alcohol was apparently a factor.

According to my parents, my brother had been drinking last night to the point that his wife told him to go sleep in the basement. He left angrily, slamming the basement door behind him. Then she heard him fall down the stairs. He was in pretty bad shape when she found him, I guess. Fortunately, they got him to the hospital pretty quickly.

There are a lot of feelings going through my head right now. I'm worried about my brother and his family, especially my nieces. I feel sorrow at the thought that I may not see him again, and I'm scared about what he may be like when I do see him. I'm feeling a little depressed and helpless and wishing there was something I could do besides pray for him and for the rest of the family.

But mixed in with all of that, there's another emotion that I wish I weren't feeling: anger.

There's a part of me that wishes I could just take him by the shoulders and shake him and say, "What the hell do you think you're doing?! You were clean and sober for two years, and you started drinking again for this? You stupid, selfish son of a b*tch. What gives you the right to put all of us through this? Even if you don't give a damn about your own life, don't you care about your kids? Your parents? Your brothers and your friends? Are you trying to get yourself killed? It was hard enough to lose Granny last Christmas, and we all knew it was her time to go. We're still not completely over that yet. Don't you dare make us bury you, too. Don't you dare make your kids have to grow up without their father like Brian's kids have to. Quit screwing around and wasting your life twelve ounces at a time. Grow up and be a man already."

Of course, that wouldn't change anything, wouldn't solve anything. He doesn't do well with confrontation. None of us really do. Such a conversation would just serve to get everyone more upset. As Neal A. Maxwell once said, "Letting off steam always produces more heat than light."

And as I look back over what I've just written, I realize that I'm the stupid, selfish one. I know that right now, my brother needs my love and kindness and faith and forgiveness. He's got more than enough anger in his life; he doesn't need mine, too. And yet, at this moment, that's what the darker part of me wants to give him. There's a part of me that hurts because this, to my mind, didn't need to happen. And I suppose that part of me wants him to know exactly how much it hurts.

I guess anger is as hard to let go of as alcohol is. And like a recovering alcoholic, I expect I'll be working on this for a long, long time—probably the rest of my life.

Loyal readers, if you would be so kind, please send prayers, hope, and healing thoughts our way. My brother, my family, and I will all need them in the coming days.

Thursday Night Memes

Part I: Friday's Feast
Friday's Feast for Friday, 25 May 2007:

Appetizer Name a sound you like to hear.
I like the sound of steaks, burgers, brats, or chicken cooking on the grill. (Note to self: need more propane this weekend.)

Soup What is your favorite kind of cheese?
Does cheesecake count? I love blueberry cheesecake. It's a birthday tradition for me. Remind me to tell you the story sometime.

Salad Do you sleep late on Saturday mornings? Why or why not?
I sleep as late as 7:30 or 8:00 on most Saturdays. Considering I normally have to be up between 6:00 and 6:30 to get to school on time, I guess this counts as sleeping in. I'd love to sleep later sometimes, but my body won't let me.

Main Course When was the last time you forgot something? What was it, and how long did it take to remember it?
I forgot to bring Lord Mhoram the Stargate SG-1 DVDs he lent us. I had them all in a bag next to the door and walked out without remembering to grab it. I finally remembered just as I turned onto his street in Ogden. Next week, I suppose.

Dessert Fill in the blank: I notice ____________ when _____________.
I notice looks of terror, surprise, or extreme disinterest when I pass out tests to my current 2nd period class.

--

Part II: Top 5 On Friday
Top Five on Friday from The Music Memoirs:

Top 5 bands or albums that I should really listen to more.

» Kansas
I pulled out a mix CD today on my way to Ogden. I'd forgotten how uplifting and technically excellent their stuff is. "Somewhere to Elsewhere" is on my short list of 'next album to listen to'.

» The Moody Blues
I have a bunch of their CDs on loan. So far I've only listened to a couple of them. All I really know of the band is their hits. That needs to change.

» Fleetwood Mac
See 'The Moody Blues', above.

» Reckless Kelly
I recently got the one RK CD I didn't already have, "The Day". Strangely enough, I haven't listened to it all the way through yet. I started one day and got distracted. Got to dig it back up and give it a proper listen.

» Alan Hovhaness
It's been a while since I listened to the 'Mount St. Helens Symphony', 'Celestial Fantasy' and 'God Created Great Whales'. Maybe tomorrow after school.

Bible Humor

I got these in my e-mail a while back. Enjoy! -M

Q. What kind of man was Boaz before he got married?
A. Ruthless.

Q. Who was the greatest male financier in the Bible?
A. Noah. He was kept his stock afloat while the rest of the world was in liquidation.

Q. Who was the greatest female financier in the Bible?
A. Pharaoh's daughter. She went down to the bank of the Nile and drew out a little prophet.

Q. What kind of motor vehicles are in the Bible?
A. Jehovah drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden in a Fury. David's Triumph was heard throughout the land. Also, probably a Honda, because the apostles were all in one Accord.

Q. Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible?
A. Samson. He brought the house down.

Q. Why did Adam say to his children that they no longer lived in Eden?
A. "Your mother ate us out of house and home."

Q. Which servant of God was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?
A. Moses. He broke all 10 commandments at once.

Q. Which area of Palestine was especially wealthy?
A. The area around Jordan. The banks were always overflowing.

Q. Who is the greatest babysitter mentioned in the Bible?
A. David. He rocked Goliath to a very deep sleep.

Q. Which Bible character had no parents?
A. Joshua, son of Nun.

Q. Why didn't they play cards on the Ark ?
A. Because Noah was standing on the deck. (Groan...)

By the way, did you know it's a sin for a woman to make coffee? That's right, it's in the Bible. It clearly says in the New Testament, "HE brews".

Did you know that food fights are mentioned in the Bible? Check out Zechariah 5:1 - "Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll."

Q. Why was Goliath so surprised when David hit him with a sling stone?
A. Nothing like that had ever entered his mind before.

Birthday Loot (Part 1)

Yes, yesterday was my birthday. And it was a good day. I got to sleep in a little due to my first period class being a planning period. When I got out of the shower, I found that Nancy had made me breakfast. French toast and eggs—yum! She also had two presents for me: new shirts! The one I wore yesterday is a burgundy color with thin white stripes. The one I'll be wearing to Saturday's activities is a pale yellow with white and navy blue stripes. They both look great.

After breakfast I was off to school. I had only one period yesterday, during which we reviewed for today's test over the immune system, disease, sanitation, and eating healthy foods. One of the students made up the test she missed last week and got a 25%, about which I've already written. Knowing there's another test in class today, I doubt I'm going to see her again until sometime next week.

After class, I put some gas in the car. Even at the club store, gas is up to $3.129 per gallon. Good thing I've got something to drive these days besides the Dreadnought! Then a quick jaunt downtown took me to my usual monthly barber shop visit. Twenty minutes and $7 later (including a $2 tip), I was freshly shorn and ready for lunch.

Nancy and I are both on the mailing list for Noodles & Company, and they sent me a coupon for a free entree for my birthday. I had my usual favorite, the whole grain Tuscan fetuccini alfredo with chicken, and Nancy had the Chinese chop salad with chicken. Both dishes were delicious. And at lunch Nancy told me what we were doing that evening: dinner and a show at the Desert Star Playhouse. I was excited. She's so thoughtful.

On the way home I stopped and bought myself a birthday present, what Nancy and her family call a "To me, from me, aren't I thoughtful?" gift:

It's the one Enya CD (besides the Christmas one) that I didn't have. And it's quite good. We listened to it on the way to and from dinner. It's a little different sound for her, but I like it.

I got home hoping to get a short nap, but that never happened. As I was reading and responding to birthday wishes by e-mail, my brother Sam called to wish me a happy birthday, and we talked for 40 minutes or so. Then my Mom called, and that was another 30 or 35 minutes. By then it was almost time for Nancy to get home and for us to head to the play.

For those unfamiliar with the Desert Star, they perform comedies, especially of the satire and farce varieties. They make fun not only of the plays they mimic, but of anything and anyone they can work into the script. They focus a lot on Utah 'culture' and poke fun at both sides of the political aisle. Some of their play titles include "My Big Fat Utah Wedding", "Seven Bribes for Olympic Brothers", and "Less Miserables". Last night's play was "Phantom of the Grand Old Opry", where a deformed, scary-looking 'Opry Ghost' (who turned out to be Kenny Rogers after his recent plastic surgery) haunts the Opry and tries to get rid of stars Wynona Jugg and Billy Bob Cyprus in favor of his young protege, Christine Die-ay (or something like that, everyone in the cast pronounces her last name differently). We laughed all the way through.

After the play was over, there were some announcements and recognitions. The audience sang Happy Birthday to me and to a kid who was turning 15. (Nancy set it up when she ordered the tickets. She told them it was my birthday when she ordered the tickets, but thankfully neglected to mention which one.) We sang Let Me Call You Sweetheart to two couple who were celebrating their 34th and 17th anniversaries respectively. And the MC told a few jokes and played Q&A with the crowd. Then the cast came back onstage and did a short (15 minutes or so) program of 'updated' Broadway showtunes. One was "Oh! Tooele!", a rousing takeoff of "Oklahoma" that talked about the joys of living in a community supported by a nuclear waste processing facility. The other crowd favorite was a takeoff of an "Evita" song for the mayor of Salt Lake City, "Rockita". The final chorus went something like this:

Don't cry for me, Salt Lake City
The truth is, I never liked you
I've been a big jerk
A great big weenie
I'll bet you miss Dee-
Dee Corradini...

We got home and I discovered to my considerable surprise that Nancy had two more presents for me:


I used to own this collection, but I made the mistake a few years ago of lending it to a co-worker who got fired while I was in an appointment with a client and took it with him when he cleaned out his office. I read Nancy a couple of passages from the first part of the book. It's good to have a little Douglas Adams in the house again.



This is the new Rush CD, released May 1st. Lord Mhoram and I and our wives are going to see the group in concert in August. It's the first real rock concert I've been to in decades. I'm pretty excited. One of the songs on this CD is called "The Larger Bowl (A Pantoum)." The lyrics are very interesting, structurally. The song has five verses of four lines each. In each verse, the second and fourth lines become the first and third lines of the next verse. And the final line of the final verse is the same as the first line of the first verse. Very cyclical, and very interesting to listen to if you're paying attention.

And that's pretty much my birthday. Like I said, a really good day. Nancy takes great care of me. Being with her was the best part of the day. I couldn't ask for more on my birthday—or any other day.

Return of the Memes!

Part I: Friday's Feast
Friday's Feast for Friday, 18 May 2007:

Appetizer List 3 emotions you experienced this week.
Surprise - on learning about last night's birthday dinner and activity.
Amazement - on having a student 'take' a test in about a minute and a half, half-heartedly guessing on everything, and being satisfied with the 25% she got as a result. "It's better than getting a zero!" ::teacher bangs head on wall::
Ennui - on homework. I've got to get more motivated.

Soup Name a car you'd love to have.
A 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid. An SUV that goes 500 miles on a tank of gas? I'd be good with that.

Salad Describe your typical morning routine.
Wake up.
Go to the bathroom.
Wash hands.
Brush teeth.
Shave (most of the time).
Shower.
Get dressed.
Check my e-mail.
Grab a bite to eat.
Gather stuff for the day's teaching assignment.
Kiss Nancy good morning (she doesn't have to get up as early as I do, so I let her sleep).
Out the door and off to school.

Main Course Have you ever e-mailed someone famous? If so, who, and what did you say to them? Did they reply?
I once sent an e-mail on the Rocket Scientists' web site asking about a CD that was out of print (Earthbound). A couple of days later, I got a reply from Erik Norlander, the group's keyboardist and producer. He said they didn't know of any copies still available but said they'd be releasing a Special Edition of the disc with bonus features soon.
(That never really happened, but apparently, fueled by the success of their most recent CD, Revolution Road, they've now decided to release special editions of ALL their earlier discs within the next year. Pretty cool!)

Dessert Do you listen to podcasts? If so, which ones?
I've never listened to a podcast.

--

Part II: Top 5 On Friday
Top Five on Friday from The Music Memoirs:

Top Five Songs you love from artists you hate

» "La Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin
I'm guessing this song would be on a lot of people's lists today...

» "Sweet Child o' Mine" by Guns 'N Roses
I've never been a big GNR fan, but this song was just intoxicating, especially the vintage 70's guitar solo. I'll always have fond memories of my college days with this song.

» "Larger Than Life" by Backstreet Boys
The entertaining video notwithstanding, this song is included in behalf of pretty much all boy bands. Musically speaking, there hasn't been a really good boy band since the Beatles (in my humble opinion).

» "...Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears
If we're going to have a boy band in the list, we have to have a pop tart, too. Equal treatment and all that. This is the one Britney song I like, though Dweezil and Ahmet Zappa do a much more interesting version.

» "State of Shock" by Mick Jagger and the Jacksons
The Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson—two birds with one stone.

Triviality

Question: What do all of the following people have in common?

» Bartholomew Roberts (aka Black Bart), notorious Welsh pirate
» Edward Jenner, English medical researcher
» Erik Satie, French composer
» Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist and Nobel Prize laureate
» Maureen O'Sullivan, Irish actress
» Bill Bruford, English musician (Yes)
» Bill Paxton, American actor and film director
» Enya, Irish singer and songwriter
» Trent Reznor, American singer and music producer
» Tahj Mowry, American actor

Answer: They all have the same birthday—May 17th.

Happy birthday, everyone!

--
Birthday list from Wikipedia

Arrrrr-I-A-A

Just when you thought the music industry couldn't get any more anal:

Music Piracy Crackdown Nets College Kids

From the article:

At first, Sarah Barg thought the e-mail was a scam. Some group called the Recording Industry Association of America was accusing the University of Nebraska-Lincoln sophomore of illegally downloading 381 songs using the school's computer network and a program called Ares.

The letter said she might be sued but offered her the chance to settle out of court.

Barg couldn't imagine anyone expected her to pay $3,000 - $7.87 per song - for some 1980s ballads and Spice Girls tunes she downloaded for laughs in her dorm room. Besides, the 20-year-old had friends who had downloaded thousands of songs without repercussion.

"Obviously I knew it was illegal, but no one got in trouble for it," Barg said.

Three thousand dollars? Are you serious? I don't think I've spent that much money on CDs in the last five years!

But wait, it gets better:

At least 500 university students nationwide have paid settlements to avoid being sued, Engebretsen said. Students who don't take the offer face lawsuits - and minimum damages of $750 for each copyrighted recording shared if they lose.

$750 for a Spice Girls song? You heartless monsters!

I'm half tempted to engage in a little Internet music piracy myself, just as a form of civil disobedience. But as it turns out, I've got about a hundred other things I'd rather do with three grand at the moment....

Obscure Math Jokes

If these don't make sense to you, it may be because you haven't taken Calculus.
Be grateful.

Q: What do you get when you cross an elephant and an eggplant?
A: elephant • eggplant • sin theta

Q: What do you get when you cross a mountain climber and a mosquito?
A: Nothing. You can't cross a scalar and a vector.

Life is complex. There's a real part, and there's an imaginary part.

With appropriate thanks to Lord Mhoram.

Sharpton: The New Imus

I don't know if anyone outside Utah cares or even knows about this story. If you haven't heard about it, here's a link to the story on MSN:

Sharpton denies questioning Romney’s beliefs

Here's my understanding of the issue. During a political debate in New York, the Reverend Al Sharpton said, "As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don't worry about that; that’s a temporary situation".

Question: Was 'the Rev' disparaging Mitt Romney's religion by suggesting that anyone who "really believes in God" wouldn't vote for him, or simply questioning his individual beliefs? The comment could be taken either way. And either way, it's thoughtless at best...and bigoted at worst.

Big Al, of course, denies that he really meant it that way. He wasn't talking about Romney at all; he was talking about Christopher Hitchens, the author and atheist he was debating at the time. And then he added this: "What I said was that we would defeat him, meaning as a Republican....A Mormon, by definition, believes in God. They don't believe in God the way I do, but by definition, they believe in God."

My first reaction to Sharpton's explanation is pretty succinct: Bullsh*t. If he were really talking about atheism, he would have said something like, "Those who really believe in God will elect the right candidate, so don't worry about that." He wouldn't have singled out one candidate that he didn't even have the guts to identify by name, just by their religious affiliation. So I don't buy that one.

My second reaction is also succinct: So what? Even if he really was talking about Hitchens—and I don't believe for the merest fraction of a second that was the case, mind you—the comment that he made advocates voting against a candidate solely on the basis of his religion. Guess what, Al? That's religious intolerance. And advocating religious intolerance makes you a bigot.

Reverend Sharpton's was one of the loudest voices of reprimand against Don Imus for his racially insensitive remarks about the Rutger's women's basketball team a few weeks ago. 'Bigotry' was a word that got thrown around a lot. If what Imus said is bigoted—and the overwhelming consensus is that it was—how are Sharpton's religiously insensitive remarks any different?

Strangely enough, there is one significant difference. Don Imus eventually apologized for his comments. Al Sharpton, at least so far, shows no signs of doing so.

If Reverend Sharpton had a milligram of integrity, he'd demand the same accountability for his own comments as he did for Imus'. He'd apologize publicly, profusely, and immediately. And then he'd resign from his radio show.

If anyone thinks this will actually happen, please leave me a comment and I'll get back to you. I'd like to talk to you about some swampland.

Question of the Day

Click here if you missed the first part.

May 8th: What is your favorite month? Why?
Tough question. I could make a case for a lot of different months, with my birthday, our anniversary, and other special events playing significant roles as the year goes by. But I'm going to go with December. I'm a winter person, and I love to see everything covered with a fresh layer of snow. I like the opportunity to look back on the year and see how things have gone. And of course there's Christmas. Yes, it's overcommercialized and we seem to see the merchandising earlier and earlier each year. But to me, Christmas still symbolizes rebirth and renewal, and the hope that there really can be peace on earth and goodwill towards men. I love those feelings. I wish I could find a way to keep them with me all year long.

Science Factoid

Each red blood cell contains about 200 million hemoglobin molecules. If this much hemoglobin were suspended within the plasma rather than enclosed within the cells, blood would be so thick the heart would have difficulty pumping it.

(Mader, S.S. Human Biology; Fifth Edition; WCB/McGraw-Hill: Boston, MA, 1998, p. 109.)

It's amazing what you can learn in high school biology.

Questions of the Day

This week I started my final substitute teaching assignment of the 2006-07 school year. I'm covering for a Biology teacher who's out on maternity leave. Sure, this means I need to find a new job in less than a month, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

This assignment is quite different than any other job I've had all year. I only teach two periods, which means I'm out by 11:00 each morning. That's kind of nice. What makes it challenging is that I'm working with two small Resource classes. That's right, we're talking about Special Education. And I don't have a lot of The kids in the two classes I teach are classified as having mild to moderate learning disabilities. There are a couple that are not very good readers, and a few that have bipolar or ADD/ADHD issues. Generally they seem like pretty good kids; it's just a little hard to keep them focused sometimes.

The first period class I cover is Directed Studies—in other words, a structured study hall period. As part of this class, the students have a journal to help them improve their writing skills. Every other day in class, they have a journal assignment, a topic about which they are supposed to write a paragraph of so. Some of the topics looked interesting, so I figured I'd write along with them. Here are the questions, along with my responses:

May 2nd: What is your favorite song and why?
This is a hard question for me to answer. There are so many songs that I like, and so many of them could be 'favorites' at different times and under different circumstances. But if I had to choose a single, all-time favorite song, I suppose I'd choose Kansas' "Carry On Wayward Son". The music is catchy, complex, and well-performed. But what I really love about the song is the lyrics. They tell a story of a man on a journey to enlightenment. As he tries to rise above the noise and confusion of everyday life he meets with struggles and sorrow and self-doubt. But in every circumstances, the voices encourage him to carry on. In the end he finds meaning, fulfillment, and rest. Sometimes I need to be reminded that good things await me if I will only 'carry on' through my current trials.

May 4th: What is something that really bugs you?
People quitting really bugs me. That's something that's really been driven home to me this school year. I've seen too many students who, at the age of 15 or 16 or 17, have already decided that they're failures. They may not actually admit this, even to themselves, but their behavior tells me that they've given up on themselves. They've decided that they can't succeed, so they've stopped trying, and not surprisingly, they fail. It's a classic self-fulfilling prophecy. That really bothers me. I wish I knew how to let these kids know that there is so much more awaiting them if they would just hang on and keep trying. I wish I knew how to keep their spirits high through multiple failures until they get a real taste of success. Because I know that once a lot of these kids begin to feel success, they'll find that it suits them and they'll be unstoppable.

And I can't quite tell what this means, but I'm sure it's important...

Your results:
You are Daniel Jackson

Daniel Jackson 76% Jack O'Neill 74% Samantha Carter 64% Thor 57% Teal'c 44% General Hammond 40% Dr. Frasier 35% A Goa'uld 33%

You are sensitive to the needs of others and are a good communicator. You always stand up for the little guy.

Click here to take the StarGate SG-1 Personality Test

Minutiae

I saw a guy in the neighborhood today walking his dogs in a rather unique way: with a motorcycle.

We live on a small, quiet, dead-end street. This guy was zipping up and down the block on his cycle, with his dogs chasing him along the sidewalk. And those dogs were having a grand time, to all appearances. Of course, they were black labs. Labradors have a great time doing anything.

It looked like great exercise for a couple of cooped-up dogs. Probably not so much for the owner, though.

--

So rookie shortstop Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies had an unassisted triple play in a game against the Braves over the weekend. Click over to the page, watch the video clip and listen to the play by play. It's fun.

An unassisted triple play has only happened thirteen times in Major League Baseball history. And now Colorado is a part of that history.

It's sad, really. May 1st, and the best of the Rockies' season is already behind them. ::sigh::

--

Sports fans, reason with me for a second here. If there are eight teams from your conference / division / league going to the playoffs, and your team is seeded fourth, doesn't that mean you should have home field advantage? The answer, of course, is "yes". Except in the National Basketball Association.

In both conferences, the #5 seed had a better record than the #4 seed (Chicago over Miami, Houston over Utah). Utah and Miami were both allotted the #4 seed, since they had both won their divisions. But since the #5's had better records, they got the home court nod.

My question: If you have to open a playoff series on the road, doesn't that make you the de facto lower seed?

This whole mess grew out of the fact that the Dallas Mavericks—who are currently the #1 seed and one game away from watching the rest of the playoffs from their sofas—had the second-best record in the West last year (or was it the year before?) but were relegated to the #4 seed because they hadn't won the division. So it was decided that the top three seeds would not automatically go to division winners, but that a division winner could be seeded no lower than 4th. However, the home court advantage would still go to the team with the better record.

If the goal is to reward teams with better records, why lock division winners in at all? If a team wins their division but has the conference's 7th best overall record, seed them 7th and be done with it. Don't call them a #4 and then make them play on the #5's home court the first two nights. That's stupid.

--

The rant above should not be interpreted to mean that I've given up on my time-honored mantra of "It's hard for me to care about basketball during hockey season." That's not the case at all. But with my Avalanche becoming this season the winningest team in NHL history not to make the playoffs, I'm a little distracted.

In the absence of my favorite team, I'm inclined to root for the Buffalo Sabres, the Vancouver Canucks, and the Ottawa Senators. For the latter two teams, I'm rooting for the sake of tradition. No Canadian team has won Lord Stanley's Cup since the 1992-93 Montreal Canadiens. It's time for the Cup to go back North, eh? As for Buffalo, I still think they got hosed in the 1999 "Creased lightning" incident against Dallas. They're due.

Of course, I could also root for San Jose, at least in this round. Because they're playing against Detroit. And my two favorite NHL teams, as I've said many times before, are the Avalanche and whoever's playing the Red Wings.

--

I was teaching three Algebra II classes last week. They'd had a series of review days to prepare for an upcoming standardized test. The 1st and 3rd period classes looked like they were preparing for it pretty intently. The 4th period class, however, was just blowing it off. So I was inspired to put together a pop quiz to get their attention.

The quiz included 6 problems, all taken verbatim from the worksheet we'd gone over in class the day before. It was worth 40 points, with a 5-point bonus question: "Where did your teacher get these problems from?"

The results were interesting:
Overall high score: 44
Overall low score: 6
Overall average: 25
1st period average: 27
3rd period average: 28
4th period average: 17

That's right, on a quiz where all the problems had been given to them two days before as homework, the 4th period class averaged well under 50%. Note that the average score of 17 includes the 5 bonus points for about a third of the students—which is to say that about two-thirds of them didn't even look at the homework enough to recognize the problems, two of which I even did on the board for the class, one class period later.

It's also interesting to note that the highest overall score (44) came from a kid in that 4th period class. (He's going to kick himself when he realizes that he dropped that negative sign, I'm pretty sure.) But nobody else in the class was within 15 points of him, and the class average shows it.

You can lead the kids to school, but you can't make 'em think.