Month: June 2006

How To Cheat On A Test

Be sure the follow this college professor’s hilarious advice on “How To Cheat Good“. Priceless (and if any of you are considering using his “tips”, you have some real issues).

Kevin Federline Cleans Up

While I don’t follow pop culture at all, I have to say, I never saw this coming. Key quote:

“I wish people would ask me about my career. Usually it’s, ‘How’s the wife and kids?’ Not that I mind; that’s my pride and joy. But it would be nice for people to look at me like an artist. The day they judge me as an artist, a CEO, as somebody, not Britney Spears’ husband, that’s the day I am looking forward to.”

Thanks Cheryl for the link.

Juggling in a Cone

It’s 6.6.6…

…and while the end of the world didn’t occur today (the day’s not over yet, I guess), it didn’t stop people from betting on it. Thanks Barn for the link.

My question is if you do bet correctly, are you going to be able to collect?

More Northwest Blogs

The Inland Northwest Blogger’s Association is a group of bloggers from the lesser-talked-about parts of the Northwestern United States: Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon, Idaho, Western Montana, or Northwest Wyoming. According to the site’s webmaster and group’s founder, it’s basically a network of bloggers helping bloggers. They have no dues, or membership fees, and are really just a loose knit group of bloggers who help each other promote their blogs and the image of blogging. Be sure to check it out.

Cascade Winds in Concert at the Tower Theatre

Yes, it’s that time of the year again. Coming next Monday, June 12, at 7:30PM, live in concert at the Tower Theatre is the Cascade Winds Symphonic Band. Yes, we’re moving up in the world and we’re playing at the Tower (to quote Snarky, we’re big tits now!), and we’re expecting a (hopefully) packed house so we can do two concerts next time around.

Among the pieces we’re playing:

Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin

Procession of the Nobles by Nicholas Rimsky-Korsakov

Poeme Montagnard by Jan Van der Roost

In The Winter of 1730 by James Swearingen

Americans We by Henry Fillmore

Tuba Tiger Rag by Harry DeCosta

And let me tell ya — that Poeme Montagnard piece is one of the most wonderfully intense, entertaining and challenging pieces the band has played, and I really think the concert’s worth coming to just for that reason (we’ve been working our rear-ends off on it). Heck, any piece has to be good when it’s stocked with a crapload of percussion, a harp, piano, celeste, and a bunch of recorders (yes, those things we all played in the third grade, just much higher quality and much better sounding).

Tickets are free and are available at the Tower Theatre (they’re in short supply) and they’ll be letting folks in at the door after all the folks with tickets have been let in first. More information is available at the Cascade Winds concert page. That page says that you can get them from band members, but I know I don’t have any extras (and if I manage to get ahold of some, I’ll be giving them to the Tower).

And I know a couple of local bloggers live a few blocks from there, so I expect to see you there </guilt trip>

Some Critter Messed Up My Car After Crapping In It

You ever have one of those days where it starts off so weird that you know it’s going to be an odd day? This is going to be one of those days …

So I got into my car this morning to begin my commute out to Sunriver, and my car’s running really bad, like a spark plug/cable was shot and it wasn’t firing on all cylinders. So I pop the hood, and notice several things a bit odd (though the spark plug wires appeared to be plugged in OK). One, the insulation covering the underside of my hood has a big chunk (1 foot by 2 foot) taken out of it, and there are pieces of the stuff all over my engine and under my car. Two, there’s a little wire loom where several of the wires are now exposed where they weren’t before. And three, there is some sort of critter feces sitting atop the wheel well.

I couldn’t identify the excrement (it sort of looked like cat, but “Feces Indentifier” is not something you will find on my resume). I didn’t have a lot of time to look at it as I just needed to take my wife’s car and get to work. But it appears some little critter somehow got up underneath my car, up into the engine cavity, and did some damage. My guess is that whatever got in there got scared to death that it couldn’t easily get out (I have a compact old Subaru), started freaking out, pooped, cut up some stuff, and then finally wiggled out (there was more droppings under the car). More than likely, my spark plug wires are probably sliced up a bit, but I didn’t have time to look at them this morning.

Makes me wish I had that ultra high-end surveillance system in place (if the crook is reading this, there still isn’t anything worth taking out of those cars).

We’ll just have to see how the rest of the day goes. On the bright side, my wife has the nicer car, and it’s far more comfortable to drive.

Update at 10:03: Had a closer look under my hood. I’m no car whiz, but my guess is you shouldn’t discover more poop when looking under there (it was there before, I just didn’t see it). I tried pulling the spark plug wires, and broke them getting them out (the conducters came out of the things). Obviously, nobody’s open right now so I can buy wires, so I’ll have to go tomorrow and get some replacements, along with new plugs, and then try to fix the wiring that the critter slashed up (a wiring loom was on the ground under the car, and the wires are pretty hosed so it’ll probably have to be professionally repaired). So we’ll see how it goes tomorrow. Meanwhile, I’ll be bumming a ride off my dad this week.

I Say We Roll Kegs Of Microbrew Down Pilot Butte

Similar to that annual cheese-rolling competition in England (where 25 people got hurt this year), I say we get some kegs from the various local microbreweries, roll them down Pilot Butte, and let some lunatics chase after them. Anybody want to organize it?

Thanks Cheryl for the cheese link.