Pariah

Meh. I may have two degrees from the place, but in general I don't give a hill of dingoes' kidneys about Utah athletics. Unless they're playing BYU ... in which case I put on anything blue I can find. Go Cougars!

Best. Sweatshirt. Ever.

Four minutes into the second half, Virginia trails Colorado State 37-16. The Cavaliers scored 14 in the first half and went almost ten minutes without a point. They're shooting has been atrocious. The phrase "Couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat" comes to mind. Go Rams!

Scientist: "I'd like to introduce you to my new robot." Me: "Wow, that's cool." Scientist: "He has limited functionality. He can't express emotions or hold a meaningful conversation." Me: "That's okay, I..." Scientist: "I was talking to the robot."

"I don't know what 'HD' is, but I've got eighty of 'em!"

James West

It's funny, I'm having my Astronomy class working on that problem right now. It involves an unnamed planet in a nearby star system; a crew of 20,000 to assure sufficient genetic diversity, and a generational ship that will make the trip in 50 years or so.

Spelunking!

I recently got a copy of The Hobbit on CD from the local library. It's a good way to pass the time back and forth to school. There was a lot of it that I didn't remember; it's been decades since I read it. My next thought was to get The Fellowship of the Ring, but there are 20 some odd people in line ahead of me for it. So instead I checked out a different audiobook, The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley. Again, a book I've read before but it's been a very long time. (Spoilered for verbose summary.) McKinley does a great job with characterization and world building. Her descriptions of the people, the land, the magic, and the otherworldly experiences Aerin has along the way are finely crafted. She tells a good story. It was quite enjoyable to re-familiarize myself with the book after so long. Although written two years later, this book is a thousand-year prequel to one of Robin McKinley's other works, The Blue Sword. That's what I'm listening to now.

I should not be nearly as amused by this as I am.

BYU draws a #6 in the East Region. They'll probably be heavy favorites over Duquesne in Omaha, after which they likely draw a much tougher opponent in #3 Illinois. Win those two games, and the Cougars go to Boston the following weekend and probably get #2 Iowa State ... who has already beaten them twice in conference play this year. I did notice that three of the last four in were Boise, Colorado, and Colorado State. All three get #10 seeds ... and play-in games (Boise vs. CU, CSU vs. Virginia). Crazy stuff.

Wow, the Broncos must be really confident in Stidham for the coming year. Either that, or they're planning to draft someone and throw them to the wolves in Week 1. Cue Zack Wilson 2.0.

I like pickles too much and Cheetos of any variety too little to eat something like that.

Today's trivia question: Which Hall of Fame quarterback went to college at a school named for his great great great grandfather?

I got my final grades posted yesterday, including for the Concurrent Enrollment class, which required some manipulation of the grade book program we use to bring it in compliance with the community college. I knew my CE class was going to be a learning curve; I didn't expect that it was going to look like Mount Everest. And yeah, the concert was amazing. I'll give you a full report later.

Back left. Big burner, harder for little inquisitive hands to reach.

Not right now, per se, but Toto opened last night with this song.

I'll take mine with sausage gravy, thanks. And at this point, you've had an opportunity to make all your picks. If there are any you missed, feel free to fix that now. Otherwise, I'll post roster updates soon-ish.

Arnel Pineda, specifically. He sounds so much like Steve Perry, it's a little spooky.

In my mind, the beginning of the end for Cam Newton was that second strip sack in Super Bowl 50, a/k/a/ the "business decision".

Today's To-Do List: 1. Professional development meeting (w/ breakfast) 2. Post final grades for 3rd Quarter 3. IEP meeting for LBP 4. Toto & Journey in concert Gonna be a busy day!

I've seen projections dropping them as far as 6. I don't think the Cougars will care much. They're just going to be excited to get in and to be favored in a first-round game. Neither of those things has happened much lately. Having said that, BYU has a notorious history of one-and-done in the Big Dance, so a first round upset is in no way out of the question.

Cam Newton reacts to Kirk Cousins' $180 million contract with Falcons: 'Definitely alarming to see' Oh, but that's not even the most entertaining part. Denial. It's not just a river in Egypt.