The Academics Thread

[Pariah]

Okay, about that concert:

 

Journey put on a spectacular show. They had great energy and engagement. Arnel Pineda (who's my age(!)) was running all over the stage, climbing onto speaker stacks,holding the mic out to the audience ... oh, and singing the vocals like they were written for him. Fantastic range and tone. Neal Schon (the only founding member remaining) was impressive on guitar, slinging out the solos front and center. Longtime guitarist / keyboardist Jonathan Cain took over hosting duties for about the second half of the set, telling some of the stories behind the songs. They played about 20 songs, with two extended guitar solos and one piano solo (during which times the rest of the band changed outfits and presumably took care of basic biological needs). Cain came out for the second half wearing a Utah Grizzlies hockey jersey, which was pretty cool. They played all their big hits and a couple of lesser-known songs. If you've heard the 2-CD The Essential Journey, that was basically their playlist. The mixing was a little off; it was too loud for the venue overall, too heavy in the bass and too light in the midrange. But the band had solid musicianship, enthusiastic performances, and memorable songs. Like I said, they put on a great show.

 

But Toto was better.

 

I mean no disrespect to Journey here, but Toto was amazing.

 

Toto opened the show. They did only nine songs, which kind of bummed me out. Obviously they did "Rosanna", "Hold the Line", and "Africa". They did a couple of other lesser hits, "99" and "I'll Be Over You". They did a cover or Bob Seger's version of "With A Little Help From My Friends". But they also did three non-singles: they opened with "Girl Goodbye" from their first album, played "Home of the Brave" for The Seventh One, and also played "Dying On My Feet" from 2006's Falling In Between. Fewer songs, but they played them flawlessly. The mixing was perfect; highs, lows, and midrange were all clear and the vocals were easy to understand. Guitarist Steve Lukather (Luke) acted as host, introducing and telling stories about all the songs. He also took a few minutes to introduce the band members. Like Schon, he's the only founding member left, though the band does include longtime members Joseph Williams (son of composer John Williams) and Greg Phillinganes. In introducing the band, Luke talked about how his mom and the bass player's mom were both pregnant with them at the same time living on the same street, how the drummer played on all of Taylor Swift's hits the first time around, and how the second keyboardist was actually on loan from his son's band, which also includes Nick Collins (Phil's son). He mentioned how he had met Greg while they were both doing studio work on Thriller—at which point he casually dropped the opening guitar riff from "Beat It". He also had Joseph sing the "Hakuna Matata" bit from The Lion King—Williams was the singing voice of the adult Simba in the film. Luke also mentioned how Toto and Journey were now family, since his son had married Jonathan Cain's daughter. (Cain mentioned it later as well.) Toto came across as a lot more laid back in their part of the show, but their playing was clean and tight. They were like a bunch of old friends who just happened to have got together to play music for 15,000 people one night.

 

All in all, a fantastic and memorable evening.

 

 

Edited March 26 by Pariah

[Starlord]

[Cancer]

"Yes, isn't that how it's supposed to work?"

[Bazza]

Depends on your worldview. 

[Pariah]

I was recognized in faculty meeting today for my students having one of the highest academic growth rates in the district. 

[Bazza]

Congrats. 

[Pariah]

"For every vision, thee is an equal and opposite revision."

 

Practical application: Proofread your exam before making ~100 copies. 

[Old Man]

55 minutes ago, Pariah said:

"For every vision, thee is an equal and opposite revision."

 

Practical application: Proofread your exam before making ~100 copies. 

 

Also proofread them before handing them out to the students.  The most notable example I lived through was the electromagnetism class where the professor would work out the answers while we took the exam.  On one exam, fifteen minutes in, he goes, "Is anyone else having trouble with question three?"  To which the entire class* responded with a resounding and irritated "YES!!"

 

 

* I think there were eight of us.  Might have been ten. 

[Pariah]

Student question: "Where is the paper, Mr. P?"

 

What I said: "On the shelf at the back of the room."

 

What I didn't say: "...which is exactly the same place it's been since August, lackwit." 

 

🙄

 

Edited April 17 by Pariah

[Bazza]

Diplomacy: saying “nice doggy” until you can find a stick. 

[Starlord]

Stanford scientist, after decades of study, concludes: We don't have free will

https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2023-10-17/stanford-scientist-robert-sapolskys-decades-of-study-led-him-to-conclude-we-dont-have-free-will-determined-book

[Bazza]

Free will as it has been known for over 2000 years is within the a priori side of reality and thus “out of scope” to modern science as it is a posteriori. 

[Pariah]

I refuse to believe we don't have free will—even if it's only because I'm predestined not to believe that. 

[Ternaugh]

I see no sign of free will

So I guess I'll have to pay

Pay my way