Bracket Update

Well, despite currently being tied for first place with two others in our group, it's clear that my anti-KU bias has essentially scuttled any shot I had at winning the bracket challenge.

That, and my lack of faith in #2 seed Georgetown, who I had going to the final four after beating the 'Hawks in the Round of Eight (I absolutely refuse to use the term "Elite Eight" - ah damn! I just did!).

Anyway, I wasn't too worried with Duke lost, since I figured most people had them going at least to the Round of Eight. I have UCLA beating them and then losing to Memphis.

But that's all academic. With Georgetown and Vanderbilt both eliminated, it looks like KU's toughest test will be either Wisconsin or Davidson. And even a die-hard KU hater like myself has hard time picking against the Cheathawks in that scenario.

You can click the image to enlargify.
tagged: sports, basketball, NCAA Tournament, bracket, KU, K-State, Kansas

Friday Feast

Welcome to the 3AM Diner. Take a seat at the counter. Your waitress will be with you soon.

Appetizer
Given the choice, would you prefer to live in the country or in the city?
City. No contest. I grew up in "the country," and while the scenery and solitude are nice (I love visiting home), the cultural opportunities even in a small city like KC far outweigh the benefits of Small Town USA (in my humble opinion).

Soup
Who is the cutest kid you know?
My daughter, of course.

Salad
Fill in the blank: I couldn’t believe it when I heard ___________.
It's not butter.

Main Course
If you could star in a commercial for one of your favorite products, which one would you want to advertise?
I'm pretty sure I've already answered this question once, so I'll choose a different product. Hmmmm. I guess I'll go with my favorite Scotch, The Glenlivet, because I could probably work a free case out of the deal.

Dessert
What type(s) of vitamins and/or supplements do you take on a regular basis?
Liquid caffeine supplements (about four cups a day).

Here are some of the other customers at the diner: Logtar, H-Train (Happy B-Day!), Bea, Chimpo, Shane, Sit Stay

tagged: meme, Friday Feast, Glenlivet, caffeine, butter

Friday Blogthing: Mr. Personality

Submitted by Bea...

Sheesh, looking at these results, it's a wonder anyone can stand to be around me.


My Personality

Neuroticism	23
Extraversion	11
Openness to Experience	37
Agreeableness	60
Conscientiousness	36

You rarely get angry and it takes a lot to make you angry, however you are sensitive about what others think of you. Your concern about rejection and ridicule cause you to feel shy and uncomfortable around others. You are easily embarrassed and often feel ashamed. Your fears that others will criticize or make fun of you are exaggerated and unrealistic, but your awkwardness and discomfort may make these fears a self-fulfilling prophecy. You tend not to talk much and prefer to let others control the activities of groups. You tend not to express your emotions openly and are sometimes not even aware of your own feelings. You do not enjoy confrontation, but you will stand up for yourself or push your point if you feel it is important, however you will help others if they are in need. If people ask for too much of your time you feel that they are imposing on you. You take your time when making decisions and will deliberate on all the possible consequences and alternatives.

Take a Personality Test now or view the full Personality Report.

tagged: Friday, test, personality, Neuroticism, blog, Extraversion, meme

Spoiler

tagged: movie, spoiler, humor, pop culture

Bracket racket

Logtar threw down the gauntlet.

I looked down at it, poked it a little with my toe, then decided to pick it up (but only with my thumb and forefinger, like it was something that might be dirty or dangerous).

I joined his NCAA Bracket group on Yahoo!.

I tend to be pretty myopic and emotional about the NCAA tourney. I'm not good at looking at teams objectively and making a cold judgment on any particular team's chances of victory over its opponent.

This perhaps explains why I have picked K-State to advance passed USC (although in my defense, I have them losing to Wisconsin), and why I can't see KU getting to the Final Four (sorry The D).

But, I'm honest with myself. I know I emotionally biased in this situation. And as a preemptive mea culpa, I'm publishing my bracket for your derision and mockery.

You can click the image to embiggen. Then fire away.
tagged: sports, basketball, NCAA Tournament, bracket, KU, K-State, Kansas

YouTube Tuesday: Semi fan

As a K-State fan, I've become accustomed to heartbreak and disappointment.

I think trials and tribulations are character building for sports fans. I mean, it's easy to be a fan of a team that's always winning. It takes depth and complexity to stay a faithful fan to a team that continually disappoints.

I think this theory accounts for the extreme shallowness of all KU fans (not you, of course. You're the exception). But hey, it's just a theory.

Anyway, this is all to say good luck to K-State in their first-round matchup against USC. I'll get my hopes up, cheer loud, etc.

Those comments are just tangentially related to Will Ferrell, who appears also to be a K-State fan.



tagged: movie, YouTube, video, Semi Pro, Will Ferrell, humor, basketball, K-State, KSU

Irish I were Drunk

To you lucky bastards who have the day off, be safe out there. If you drink, don't drive. Just stumble over to The D's house.

To you poor eejits who, like myself, are working for The Man today, join me in chorus of the Irish drinking song.

May those who love us love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping.

tagged: Irish, drinking, song, video, St. Patrick's Day, eejit

Thank God it's Pi Day

I had started a post about this the other day but I nearly forgot to publish it.

Can you imagine the calamity it would have caused if I would have celebrated Pi on 3/14 and all of the circles in the world suddenly had to correct the ratio of their circumference to their diameter? It would have been pandelerium I tells ya.

Thankfully, May jogged my memory and I can now happily report that my birthday is in the top 500,000 digits of Pi.

Also, I hereby challenge you all to test your Pi knowledge in the Pi triva challenge.

But first, check out this music video for a refresher course.



tagged: Pi, Pi Day, mathematics, science

Friday Feast: All you can eat

Just a reminder, the county health department requires that you use a clean plate each time you return to the buffet. Thank you.

• Appetizer
  On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 as highest), how much do you like your own handwriting?
  Like it? Probably about a 6.5, the main problem being that it's illegible.
  
  
• Soup
  Do you prefer baths or showers?
  Are you kidding me? Showers! I can't stand the thought of sitting in a tepid pool of my own filth.
  
  
• Salad
  What was the last bad movie you watched?
  Blades of Glory. Will Ferrell is funny and all, he had some good one-liners ("No exaggeration, I could not love a human baby more then I love this brush."). But still, that's an hour and a half of my life that I'll never get back.
  
  
• Main Course
  Name something you are addicted to and describe how it affects your life.
  I'm addicted to being awesome. It affects my life by the sheer about of awesomeness that I am forced to live with.
  
  
• Dessert
  Which instrument is your favorite to listen to?
  Stan Getz' saxomophone:
  

Others who have bellied up to the buffet: Logtar, Bea, Shane, Chimpo, H-Train

tagged: meme, Friday Feast, Stan Getz, shower, handwriting

Friday Blogthing: Eeeeevil

I'm thinking if I grow a goatee and wear a Nehru jacket, I could ratchet up my ranking a little.

I am 44% Evil Genius.

I want to be evil. I do evil things. But given the opportunity, and a darn good reason I may turn to the good side. Besides I am probably a miserable evil genius.

Take the
Evil Genius Test
@ FualiDotCom

tagged: Friday, test, genius, evil, blog, Dr. Evil, meme