Grammar Rant

<rant>I think that we can emphatically say that the American education system is completely worthless. A billboard along a major highway here in Topeka has emblazoned on it in gigantic letters, "Topeka: The skies the limit!" If you don't see what's wrong with that statement, go back a re-read it. If you still don't see what's wrong, grab your nearest dictionary and whack yourself firmly in the head with it (just kidding). The problem is that whoever wrote the billboard's text confused "sky's" (the contraction for "sky is") with "skies" (the plural of sky). The statement, instead of meaning that the sky is the limit, mentions multiple skies (and last time I checked, there was only one sky here on Earth) and a limit, but has no verb connecting them. In a twist of bitter irony, this billboard that attempts to make Topekans feel good about their city is instead confirming about every stereotype about the city. </rant>

Oops

Looks like I forgot to post on Wednesday night. This week has flown by after Spring Break, mercifully, passed by quite slowly. By the time I realized that it was Thursday, it was Friday, so I completely spaced the need to post. Of course, I have very little to post right now, as you no doubt can tell by how pointless this post is. I'll try to having something substantial to post next time a post is due.

Global Warming (Again)

Here's an interesting op-ed piece out of Australia regarding the possibility that we might not be seeing global warming now. You can read it here. Remember that it is an op-ed piece in the British style, so there is some "the other papers are idiots" stuff at the end. The initial information, though, refers to other points besides the author's and should be consider as we evaluate the entire global warming situation and what we should (or should not) do about it.

NCAA Round 2

The second round of the NCAA Men's Tournament is here, and both K-State and KU are still going. K-State faces the tougher of the two games this afternoon, playing a Wisconsin team that is one of the best defensively in the country. K-State is going to have to shoot at least as well as they did against USC if they hope to be able to win the game. K-State is also going to have to rebound well, like they did against USC, a team that does not rebound well. Wisconsin, I have a feeling, will be a bit too much for K-State, and the Wildcats will probably lose. Then again, I thought the same thing about San Diego. And I hope I'm wrong about K-State's chances.
KU has a bit of an easier game against UNLV, but the Running Rebels are well-coached and used to tough games in the tournament. As long as KU plays solid defense and shoots average to above average, they will win. It will probably not be a blow out game, though. Both games should be entertaining.

K-State and KU, pt. II

The K-State game has just ended, and they played the kind of game that they needed to play in order to advance beyond the first round. They played great defense, wore USC out, and found ways to score with Beasley in foul trouble. KSU proved that they deserved better than an 11 seed with that performance. K-State's next game is probably going to be against Wisconsin, and that's going to be a much more difficult game. If they play the way they played tonight, though, they have a chance at winning. I was impressed with K-State's play.
KU, in its game, looked like a #1 seed. They will face an actual challenge from UNLV. Still, it should be a challenge that KU should have minimal trouble meeting.
Of course, there's a reason that we play the games: Belmont nearly knocked off Duke (and messed up 3/4 of the country's brackets). Ah, March Madness!

Thoughts on K-State and KU in NCAA Tournament

For K-State and KU, their NCAA basketball tournament runs start today. Just how far they get is anyone's guess. The media "experts" have K-State losing to USC in the first round and KU going various distances, usually quite far. I don't agree with the "experts." I can see the possibility of K-State winning their first round game if they play well as a team. Too often, K-State has been a one-man show, 4 of the 5 guys on the floor for K-State stand around waiting for Beasley to do something. That can't happen tonight. K-State is also going to have to shoot well from three point range. This team seems to like to take threes, and they also seem to like to miss them. A solid night shooting from behind the arc will open up the middle for Walker (and for Beasley). K-State might make it past the first round, but I don't expect them to go much farther unless the team manages to put together two consecutive games like the game they had against KU in Manhattan.
KU, on the other hand, has what should be an easy first-round game. That means, of course, that they could struggle for the first 15-20 minutes because they underestimated the determination of their opponent. Some people seem to think that KU can win it all this year. I would be surprised if they do. This KU team has had some off games this year, and if they play only as well as they did against A&M in the Big XII semi-final round, they will be gone by the Sweet Sixteen. I expect them to make it to the Elite Eight this year before their tendency to have an off game catches up to them. (Unless, of course, there is a team whose name begins with "B" playing them sooner, in which case, they're done.)
Of course, all of this is speculation. There's a reason that they play the games instead of just handing the trophy to the overall #1 seed. It should be an interesting tournament.

New Word

As most of my students know, I am the king of coining new "words" by mangling old ones. Tonight during small group, I added a new one to the repertoire: blestprate (instead of breastplate). A blestprate is a combination of two words: blessed (blest, in its older form) and prate (meaning to talk on and on without meaning). So, then, does that mean that a blestprate would be a preacher who talks on and on? I'll leave that for you to decide.

Interesting Notes

During the second half of this week, I've run across a couple of interesting items that I thought I'd share.
First, the founder of the Weather Channel is arguing that global warming is not occurring and that the scientific community is silencing those who would say otherwise. In an effort to get the argument into the public arena, he is suing Al Gore for fraud. The story can be found here.
Second, I've run across a couple of fascinating Star Trek items. Apparently, CBS has the rights to the original Star Trek now, and they are re-mastering all of them to bring the special effects into the 21st century. Re-mastered episodes are being shown weekly in your area. Check your local listings; it may not be on your CBS affiliate. In the Topeka area, the show runs on KTKA 49 at 11:30 pm on Sunday nights, followed by a repeat showing of last week's episode at 12:30 am. If that's too late, you can always set your VCR/Tivo to record it for later. For those who want to watch the show in all its original cheesy goodness, CBS.com now has every episode available for viewing online. You can watch the episodes here. Be sure to check one or both of these out if you're a fan of Star Trek.

Nice Day

Today temperatures feel like they belong about a month later. It's in the 70s here right now, or it was until a cold front started its slow assault on the region. Tomorrow sadly, won't be as nice, with temperatures struggling to hit 50. Enjoy this nice weather while you can. I have nothing else to say.

Daylight Saving Time 2008

Daylight Saving Time (DST) for 2008 has arrived, and with it comes the usual feeling of being jet lagged (or is it clock lagged?) due to speeding ourselves up by an hour in order to get more light in the evening. Personally, I enjoy the result of DST, but I do not like the initial side effects: drowsiness, irritability, insomnia, headache, cold, and backache. Oh, wait, those last three are for prescription medications--sorry. So, with DST here, that should mean that Spring is just around the corner, and the weather here has happily obliged. It's over 50 outside right now, which means that I am done blogging for now; I'm going out to enjoy this nice weather.

Happy Wedtuesmonthursaturfriday!

These past couple of days have been a bit confusing for me. For some reason, I keep thinking that the day of the week is different from the one it actually is. Yesterday, for example, I thought most of the day that it was Tuesday. I would have forgotten to show up at the Study Hall I was supposed to monitor if a student hadn't asked me if I was supposed to be monitoring it. Then, for some reason, most of the day today, I kept thinking it was Wednesday, even though I know better. Ugh. It's quite disconcerting when that happens. Oh, well. I know it's Thursday and that life is going to be busy these next couple of days before it slows down a little bit. So, have happy Tuethurwednesday!

Kansas Weather: As Moody as You Think

Today into tomorrow, a fascinating early-spring/late-winter will push through the Central Plains. Yesterday and today, we've enjoyed April-like temperatures, with highs at/near 70 degrees. However, a strong cold front is pushing through. The rain has already begun to fall here in Topeka as I write this, and the rain is eventually supposed to change over to snow during the overnight hours. Up to three inches of snow could fall, and this time, I'm not going to say that such a forecast is an overestimate, not after being so wrong on the last snowfall we had here.
Regardless, it's going to make for a somewhat abrupt change in the weather, something typical for Kansas in early March. The high tomorrow will only be around 32, with a wind chill in the 20s. Quite the contrast to the last two days of warmer weather. Still, warmer weather is starting to set in, and soon this long, cold winter will be a memory.